thatboy

So, Young Composers. Who do you consider to be your favourite film composers. OR If you can't name just one, name as many as you want. I think mine are: Hans Zimmer James Horner Howard Shore

Thanks to you both for your replies. I'll be sure to take your advice and put it to soe good use -Phil

Hey everyone. I'm trying to write an epic piece, but it's really not working. I was wondering if any of you would be kind enough to share some knowlege and tell me what factors need to be in the typical epic piece. The other problem is instrumentalising it IE: what the second strings should be doing while the first ones perform the melody? Thanks a lot. -Phil

Is anyone entering the BBC Young Composer's Competition for 2012. For those of you who don't know, the BBC YCC is a free entry competition for 12-18 year olds. The entries are judged by top composers and the winners are perfomed at the BBC Proms! Also, all highly commended and winning entries are recorded with a live orchestra, and there are no limitations as to what instruments to compose for. Here's a link, for the website, unfortunately, the BBC haven't updated since 2011, so all information is 'old', but stay tuned :) http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2010/youngcomposers/introduction11.shtml P.S, if anyone finds out anymore information about the competition, please let us know. Thanks. -Phil

I actually don't really know too much about composing for games. But from what I do know, when you consider the score, don't make anything too fancy, or too 'thin', if you know what I mean. I think what you really want is a five minute or so piece (for general game play) which is very plain, but just lingers in the background, and can, obviously be listened to for hours. Of course, the main title wants a big finale, and battle scenes speak for themselves in terms of what music to put to them. Hope this helps. -Phil

Thank you, my friend. That is brilliant advice. However, my next question is this: what type of orchestra should I send my score to?... I'll explain: I live in the UK, and around my area, there are three main orchestras that I know of, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (RLP), Crosby Symphony Orchestra and The Wirral Symphony orchestra. I know the names probably mean nothing to you, but my point is that only the Liverpool Phil' is based on professional players, the other two are amateur orchestras. So I don't know what one would be the best to go for if they were all to say they were interested. And would there be a cost, do you think, if I sent the score to the RLP?

Thank you, my friend. I had considered that, and will have to be reasonable in my thinking when waiting for a reply. Also, my name is Phil too. Nice to meet you :)

Thanks for replying, and for the link, which I just read, and am happy to say that I have not made any mistakes so far. I was wondering though: should I send the conductor's sheet, the instrument parts and a CD, or just send CD and conductor's sheets? Thanks

Hi, I'm planning on printing the score of a recent piece I made, called 'A Feather on the Wind'. And my plan is, that after printing the score, I was going to send it off to an orchestra and ask if they might consider playing, or just some general feedback really. Anyway, I was wondering if this is a good idea; I would love to have my music played (and heard) but I don't know whether they would charge me, and whether they would appreciate me sending them something or whether they might find it a bit rude or something. So any advice would be great, thanks.

Thank you friend. I will have to start uploading scores

Thank you, my friend. I will have to start uploading scores too, thanks again for the kind words. -Phil

Hi Bruno. First off, I really enjoyed this piece, however there were a few improvements I found that you could add. First: At the very start of the piece, you have chords with breaks in between. This is fine for the start, however, after that beautiful chord sequence, around 0:22, I would add a slow violin solo, to add texture. I would also have the chords roll into each other after 0:22, and not have the breaks anymore. Keep the violin solo running with the first vocals. I've got to say, that after the first vocals, the piece really took off and blew me away, it really was beautiful. After the take off, in the piece, it was perfect, and I cannot think of any improvements that can be made. Overall: at the moment it's a brilliant and beautiful piece, if you make the changes that I and some other reviewers have said, it will be a perfect work of genius. Good job!! Hope this helps, -Phil

Wow, this actually isn't as bad as you're making out. I love music like this, and it really was quite good. This was definitely 'epic', however I can see why you don't think so, it was more like a piece that leads up to the 'epic', if you get what I mean; this was more of a tense piece, like a calm before the storm. After listening again, I would say to add a brass section, maybe even for 10 seconds near the end, but give it an epic melody of its own. I think if you did this while keeping the strings, it would be a much better piece. So, definitely not as bad as you think, and definitely has potential. -Phil PS: are you using VSTs? which ones are you using?

Thank you, my friend. You're the first person to comment. Yes your points are very applicable, however, my music is played using virtual instruments, and they're not the best, so it is hard for me to create a human sounding sound. Thanks again for the review. -Phil

Hi,This is a the next track in the series from my 'Empire Overture', and is the theme of the main character to a book I'm writing.Once again, I made this a while back, but would love some feedback and support. Empire- Okrol's Theme