Overview

If you bought Professional Orchestration Volume 1: Solo Instruments and Instrumentation Notes as a single title, you're going to want the 2010 Professional Mentor PDF package that comes without the MP3 audio package of music scores.

For 2010, we've completely revised and expanded our Professional Orchestration Basic Home Study Package by including the Spectrotone Chart™, created by Academy Award® nominee Arthur Lange, which explodes our ability to teach you our common sense way of learning orchestration, MIDI mockup skills, compositional techniques, recording, and mixing - in one value priced package - all at your pace.

Now, more than ever - learn and do!

End Result - you learn how to write and produce your own music!

You accomplish this by using our exclusive 117-page Professional Mentor™ workbook which guides you from score analysis all the way through writing and recording 12-13 two-minute original works, plus, an optional full orchestral assignment.

The Professional Mentor™ – much more than a workbook. The Professional Mentor is the heart of Professional Orchestration Volume 1 because it turns Professional Orchestration into a complete home study course that you can do on your schedule at your own pace. There’s never a rush.

Here’s how it works.
With the Professional Mentor, rather than taking a self-test to see if you know the material, you write one piece for each of the 13 solo instruments covered (the equal of roughly a semester’s worth of work at college) before you do your “final” project – a full symphonic orchestration. With this approach, you create 13 publishable works that become the basis for your own publishing company, and, you can go to the next step, and create your own CD by doing a MIDI mock-up of your piece.

Instruments you write original works for are:
Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, French horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Harp.

Now, here’s where the Professional Mentor goes to the next step. The good folks at the Vienna Symphonic Library, and composer Jay Bacal, have allowed us to give you, at no extra charge, 13 solo compositions with MP3 and MIDI files created by Jay for the Vienna Instruments sample library. Just load the MP3 and MIDI file into your sequencer. You’ll see how Jay created the composition by studying velocity, expression, and mod wheel data. By the time you’ve gone through each instrument, including solo strings, you’ll know what you need to not only write for each instrument, but how to approach doing a MIDI mock-up. It’s a professional education you can apply to any library, too.

2010 Professional Mentor Contents (Digital Download)

Spectrotone Chart™ - $29.95 Retail Value
Professional Mentor™ Workbook for Volume 1 - $24.95 Retail Value

Total Value - $54.90
YOUR PRICE - $39.95

Plus! Your FREE gift from the Vienna Symphonic Library - 13 MP3/MIDI files to help you learn the techniques of MIDI Mockup!

Professional Mentor™ Contents
1. Lesson Planner
2. Score Analysis Guide
3. Orchestral Sketchpad PDF
4. Spectrotone Analysis Guide
5. Spectrotone Range Sheets
6. Recording Spectrotone Combinations
7. VSL Self-Study MIDI Mockup
8. Professional Mentor Writing Assignments
9. Orchestral Sample Library Evaluation Spreadsheets

Professional Audio Lectures™
1. Professional Mentor Overview
2. Score Analysis Overview
3. Spectrotone Analysis Overview
4. Spectrotone Range Sheet Assignments
5. Recording Spectrotone Combinations
6. VSL Self-Study Overview
7. Professional Mentor Writing Assignments Overview

Spectrotone Chart

Because Professional Orchestration™ is the first orchestral scoring series to come out of the scoring stages of Los Angeles, we’re excited to announce the addition of the Spectrotone Chart™, created by Academy Award® nominee Arthur Lange, who was also music director for MGM and other studios.

In Arthur Lange’s own words, the Spectrotone Chart is, “a colorgraphic exposition of tone-color combinations and balance as practiced in modern orchestration.”



The Spectrotone Chart has applications to any style of music. It shows orchestral balance and color at a glance. With the Spectrotone Chart, visual colors are used to describe instrumental tone-colors, making it possible to determine in advance the true balance of any orchestral color effects. Because the Spectrotone Chart does away with trial and error guessing, you can use it when arranging, composing, recording or mixing. With its color coded approach, you can quickly work out combinations by instrument, by range, and by specific notes.

Alexander Publishing’s Spectrotone Chart Instructions also includes the Dynamic Equivalents Chart which demonstrates combining woodwind, brass, and other instruments with varying-sized string ensembles.



The Spectrotone Chart also teaches about intensity. As an instrument’s sound goes higher up the scale, there are timbre changes with color, intensity, and sound.



For mixing purposes and applying EQ, we’ve added the Hz frequencies for each pitch under the music note display.



Because the Spectrotone Chart is a must have for all arrangers, composers and recording engineers, we've made it a part of our Professional Orchestration curriculum, and the Professional Orchestration Basic Home Study Package.

The chart above compares the contents for Basic, Master, Super Learning Packages.

The Basic Package is comparable to the materials used in a college class on Orchestration and then some since we also cover MIDI mockups and recording.

The Master Package builds on the Basic by adding in additional audio resources plus the Strings Position Workbook so you can effective string writing.

The Super Learning Package was created by customer request to include "the works" in a single package.

All of these packages are value priced.