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.
Book Examples Audio Package – 10+ hours of music in DRM-free MP3 Format! That’s right, over 10 hours of full orchestral music, recorded live in Europe, licensed from eClassical.com!
Why so much music?
Well, it all has to do with the teaching philosophy behind Professional Orchestration. Listening to a snippet that’s only a few seconds long is, on one hand, very efficient. But how does that example fit into the whole score? What’s the dramatic impact when you hear it? How did the composer set up the example? And how did he exit? These are all questions professionals ask when they study a typical orchestration text. Before now, to answer these questions was a first class pain in the butt! You’d have to find the score, then the CD. All time-wasting, time consuming stuff. But not with Professional Orchestration. That’s because you get the complete symphonic movement the example is found in! So not only do you hear the example, you hear it’s place and dramatic impact in the work. Something every film/TV composer not only wants to know, but must know if their writing is to be effective.
And value? Well, one orchestration book on the market today only has a single CD that comes with the book, while another has a separate CD package, snippets only, that costs over $100. But with the Professional Orchestration™ Basic Home Study Package, you get all 10+ hours of music included for the one price.
But that’s not all. Thanks to the way Alexander Publishing has developed the audio package, you can build your MIDI mock-up skills the same way professionals do. Just import the MP3 into your sequencer, open to the matching full page/full example in the
Professional Orchestration™ book, and start your sequencing.
So not only do you build your MIDI mock-up skills, but also your recording skills, too!
Do you know the term, DRM? Well, DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. When you download MP3s from some sites, they’ll only work on the Mac, the iPod or selected players. You can’t just play them anywhere. To be DRM-free, means that once downloaded, these MP3s can be imported into your sequencer and played on any MP3 player: iPod, computer (Mac or PC!), even your cell phone. You can even burn a CD and play these MP3s on your car CD player (if it reads MP3s, of course!). The big benefit for you is that you can listen and learn wherever you go. No restrictions.
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.
SAMPLE PAGES (Click to open in a new window)
Professional Orchestration Vol 1: Introduction
Professional Orchestration Vol 2A: Introduction & Chapter 1
Professional Orchestration Vol 2A: Review by BioShock Game Composer - Garry Schyman
TABLE OF CONTENTS - Professional Orchestration Volume 1
The First Key: Solo Instruments and Instrumentation Notes
Chapter 1 - String Section Overview
Chapter 2 -The Violin: Basic Information
Chapter 3 - The Viola: Basic Information
Chapter 4 - The Cello: Basic Information
Chapter 5 - The String Bass: Basic Information
Chapter 6 - Bowings, Effects, & Bowing Effects
Chapter 7 - String Stops
Chapter 8 - Divisi
Chapter 9 - Muted Strings
Chapter 10 - Pizzicato
Chapter 11 - Natural and Artificial Harmonics
Chapter 12 - Woodwind Basics
Chapter 13 - The Flute
Chapter 14 - The Piccolo
Chapter 15 - The Oboe
Chapter 16 - The English Horn
Chapter 17 - The Clarinet
Chapter 18 - The Bass Clarinet
Chapter 19 - The Bassoon
Chapter 20 - The Contrabassoon
Chapter 21 - Brass Basics
Chapter 22 - The Bb Trumpet
Chapter 23 - The Tenor and Bass Trombones
Chapter 24 - The Tubas
Chapter 25 - The French Horn
Chapter 26 - The Harp
Chapter 27 - Piano, Organ, Celeste, & Virtual Orchestra
Chapter 28 - The Percussion Section
Bibliography