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On this piece I started with a rather long complex key shifting chord progression.. I created clarinet melody first. Because the chord progression was so complex, I cut and pasted two sections to repeat, to add continuity to the piece. In the repeat sections, I replayed some instruments, so you wouldn’t notice that it was a cut and paste job. I started with playing improvisations for the length of the piece. I eventually keep carving the improvisation lines into smaller sections. Replacing with other instruments and motifs. After a while I totaled removed the blocked piano chords I started with. I focused on finding interesting sounds (to me anyways), and worked out parts for them. As many keyboardists discover; when they come across an interesting patch on a synth keyboard, it inspires them to write a song using that patch. I searched thru my Kontakt and UVI libraries, found some unique sounds, and used them for individual parts. The bass part actually consists of three instruments. I found this wonderful contra Balaika library, and made it share bass duties with an electric bass, and an acoustic staccato Double Bass. Since the bulk of sounds are ‘imaginary instruments’.. I am struggle with the layout of them in the orchestral score. Melodies it seems obvious should be first, Then supporting lines, with bass and percussion parts at the bottom. To add to the confusion, I often kept the name of the patch, rather than try to categorize it to a traditional instrument name.. So to others, the terms of instruments are not very helpful I’m afraid. All the one stave instruments don’t have well defined pitch centers, many of these are more like sound design effects, rather than an instrument. (and also couldn’t fit all on page, with regular clef. Since the chord progression is constantly transposing, The Key Signature changes, but I don’t have the patience to analyze that. I wanted the chord progression to be kind of changing, striving to find something, hence changing it’s mind. At first it was just too wandering, the brain couldn’t find enough coherency in it to stay interested. So I copied a large section (rewriting individual parts, so not so noticeable), then here and there I copied/pasted a few chunks to bring it closer to (not so far out. I did make use of the same melodic curve (motif) with some climbing variations of later notes, a recognizable pattern (to give continuity,) and a sense of stability (not just mindless wandering). The last track added was the mute trumpet solo, which I am very surprised and pleased with, in one take. I did a quick edit to remove note smudges.

Here is my latest piece. I used two drum tracks, trying to emulate Ringo's drumming, more fills, less steady rock drumming. I made the piece migrate into chaos at the end, I've felt like experimenting with more atonality lately, but not willing to totally jump into at the beginning.

Hi fellow composers! My name is Kian, a Shanghai, China based composer and visual media audio specialist. I'm a graduate of the world prestigious Berklee College of Music and have had more than 10 years of industry experience working on a range of projects including AAA+ games such as Eve Online, Dishonored, Spec Ops: The Line, Dust 514 and block buster Chinese films notably Wolf Warrior. You may find more information about me and my works through my website: www.kianhow.com After more than 10 years of being in the industry and having spent considerable time working in the East and West, I have accumulated much highly valuable experience which I believe will help composers navigate through their careers with much ease. And considering the rise of the economic powers of Asian countries in recent years, there will be more opportunities for composers to explore in this region and I will have highly valuable information that can help aspiring composers intending to exploit the growing markets of the east. I have written a series of articles with the specific purpose of assisting composers achieving their goals. If you find my articles to have provided any value to you, do share it to others as sharing is caring and if there's any questions or topics you'd like me to write about, do get in touch with me :) https://www.kianhow.com/single-post/2017/08/08/Truths-About-Being-a-ComposerThat-You-Should-Know-1-Understanding-the-realities-of-being-a-composer https://www.kianhow.com/single-post/2017/08/08/Truths-About-Being-a-ComposerThat-You-Should-Know-2-Understanding-the-function-of-a-“work-for-hire”-composer Thanks and I wish all of you the best of luck with your careers! -Kian Music Composer | Visual Media Audio Specialist www.kianhow.com

Hi, (this is about cinematic composing) I've been on many composer forums and I keep coming across this problem: - people underestimating the power of good sounding content or not being able to get the sound quality they want. so I'll give some tips on how to get this done: - where do I find good sounding sample libraries? I find the library's from heavyocity, output sounds, cinesamples and native instruments a good place to start. they are expensive though. they all require Kontakt 5. Don't underestimate free sample libraries. they might work just as good as professional libraries! - how do I mix them in a track? every single sample library is different and has a different sound. choose the ones you like most and maybe layer them with others to get the ultimate sound. make sure when you make certain articulations, that you use the samples designed for this. (example: when strings need to do spiccato don't use legato samples.) if not, the track will sound very unprofessional and cheesy. this sounds really stupid that I say this, but I've come across this mistake dozens of times. don't underestimate dynamics. I tend to do this as well. if you have your melody's and chords ready and you have a decent sample library, they will sound pretty normal without dynamics. this is just something to mess around with. keep in mind that dynamics improve your track dramatically. so try something. if you use a keyboard that has a modulation wheel, try some stuff out. make sure that the panning of all instruments is correct to your liking. if all instruments are in one place it will sound unprofessional and unrealistic. make sure there is a good variety of places where the instruments are placed. choose reverb and other effects individually per section. this gives you maximum control over the sound. - synthesizers synthesizers are a great help when it comes to building your sound. they can be used to boost a certain section of the orchestra or to give a feel to your track that organic instruments cannot accomplish. - live playing when you have the chance to play something live, take it. playing something live is in almost all cases easiest. if you are a bit of a musical person the dynamics will go automatically. just import your recording, put some reverb and EQ on it and done. if you are a string player, you might use autotune to make sure your notes are all spot on. I hope this was helpful Cheers! p.s. I've got a track attached that I created under 20 minutes or so, to show you what synthesizers do to the sound of a track. (Don't mind the ending though. it sucks.)

Hello, I'm William. I am a 16 year old composer. I have been looking for something new to put in my projects... And sound design is, in most cases, very unique. I have a pretty great microphone to record samples with, but I need something that I can use to manipulate the sounds I record to make very unique textures and such. It would be great to find such a thing in free or low priced VST instruments, but a standalone software can work too. I need something that can turn a sample into something totally different from what it originally sounded like. Anybody got any ideas? I know there is Audacity, but the gui in Audacity is disgusting. I was just wondering if anybody had any ideas outside of Audacity. Thanks, William Ellis