how did you learn....

Orchestral scoring-

Here is the short answer then I'll expand on them below:

1) Listen to as much orchestral works as you can!
2) Playing in a large ensemble always helps (esp. if its the actual one you want to write for!)
3) Knowing all of the harmony and orchestration rules- and then knowing how and when to break them! :)

Okay long answer:

You pose an interesting problem- one that I had faced in college as well. I would spend way too long on pieces, and the result is the passion and fire would burn out leaving me with little of a composition. The break through for me? Getting the software (like Sonar and Reason) which, for the first time, allowed me to capture my ideas and then play them back to me. Before I only composed with only pencil and paper- which is very handy and worthwhile, but at that stage of my development it was hindering me. Once I could hear my ideas back to me- and add on to them, my compositional pace increased ten fold. Now I'm assuming you already have such software b/c you talk about laying down drum beats and such.

I think your problem is another one- you might be focusing in too closely to every single measure. One composition prof put to my class like this:
(I'm paraphrasing of course)
"Guys, some of you spend so much time on the first ten measures- making sure everything there is perfect and ready for the orchestra. You're focusing in on one small part of the piece and losing the goal and concept of the much bigger picture!"

Or something like that. The point is- it seems to me you are expecting everything to fall into place- the melody (like the dark scene of the city) to fall upon you from up above. Sometimes composition works this way- and when it does it ROCKS- but other times it doesn't. At least for me, this is the case.

My solution- you say you know music theory? Try this approach sometime when you're having a hard time hearing the piece in your mind: Open up the staff tool in your software (Sonar and Finale has it- Reason has a piano roll) and create the melody that way. Start off just laying down whatever comes to mind- or experiment if nothing comes to inspiration. Do this for ten measures. Then (not before) play it back. It may be perfect- or terrible...but now you have something to work with. Take it, sculpt it into what you'd like to hear. Wrong note? Change it! Rhythm here weak? Fix it!

The point is sometimes we, as humans, do better with what to "fix" instead of what to create. I think you might find this helps.

As far as my personal compositional techniques, its much like yours. I'm not sure if I'm lucky, but many times I just hear what I want. I'll play back and hum or sing the next part that I want. Then its just a matter of inputting the new content.

Also- the three steps mentioned in the start help greatly. Especially step one- the better you know the orchestral sound (or whatever genre you're after) the better you'll know how to emulate it.

I hope this helps!

Thanks!

thanks for the time you took to respond it was very helpful! I like the idea of creating then fixing, I'm not sure if I have ever tried that. I really need to buy some good film/game music cd's I can realy analyse, any suggestions?

I would suggest starting with a little Elfman. Pee Wee's Big Adventure. I know it sounds unusual, but I find that the orchestration and the harmonic language in that movie is diverse, complex, but yet is easy to listen to and understand. He combines timbres like a mad man. :p

Sean Beeson

Yeah, that's actually one of my favorite soundtracks! Elfman sometimes gets a bad rap- but he has a very individualized style and a good track record.

I started piano when I was five, and was quite good at it until I dropped it around fifteen. I started cello in the school orchestra when I was ten, and this is what I've maintained as my primary instrument ever since. So, the grand total is 16 continuous years on cello, and I've been reading music about as long as I've been reading English.

When I decided to get into composition, I knew I had to pick up the piano again, if only at a rudimentary level. My keyboard skills are enough to pound out some chord progressions and melodies to get general ideas to work from. Once I have basic ideas in place I usually start notating music on my sequencer, and usually do any variations and orchestrations on the computer using GPO.

While most of my experience leans towards the classical realm, I've also played cello and electric bass for an industrial band, and I'd like to be able to branch out further and develop my own individual style.

My piano teacher taught basic theory and piano as one integrated subject, so I had a pretty good grounding to work from later in life. Starting a year or so ago I took two semesters of harmony at a local county college. This was like a divine revelation. I had previously had an aversion to thinking of music in mathematical terms, and I just plain hate math in general, but finally understanding the mechanics of what makes music actually function had the effect of flipping a switch in my brain. Suddenly I could analyze Bach and Beethoven's music and understand why it flows the way it does.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486224619/sr=8-1/qid=1152823123/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1338350-0481432?ie=UTF8

The above book I highly recommend for the serious devotee of music theory. Here, one of the great grandfathers of Western tonality lays bare the methodology and mathematics behind music. It's good, but man is it DENSE!

My orchestration is probably my main strength. It comes from a lifetime of listening to music closely, paying attention to what instruments are used when, to what effect, and how their characteristcs are employed to convey a musical idea. Listen to how Mozart and Shostakovich use a violin section, for instance.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130771619/sr=8-1/qid=1152823039/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1338350-0481432?ie=UTF8

This is a good book to use as a reference. It's good to be able to look up an instrument's range, what it can and can't do, etc. I managed to find an earlier edition of this book at Half Price Books a year ago. It was only a few bucks, which is a steal because the new edition sells on Amazon for almost $80. If you think that's outrageous, you should see what Barnes & Noble is charging for it!

Brian