CHOICE BOARD

EXPLORE BOARD

Instruments

Listening

Reading

Emotions

techniques

Composing

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

• Think about how musical instruments can be used to create specific kinds of sounds
• Different timbres, tones, and sound colors can be used solo or mixed to produce new sounds
• Instruments can also play special effects through extended techniques.
• Think about what kinds of instruments you hear (or think you hear) when you listen to media music.

Reading

Reading music, and more specifically being able to sightread, is an important skill to know when it comes to producing media music. Musicians hired to perform for the recording don't always get the music ahead of time to practice, so they come to the studio and read their part on the spot! Think about what steps you might need to take (short-term and long-term) to be able to walk into a recording session, briefly look at the music, and record it. Would it be different if you were the composer of the music, or the audio engineer?

Listening

• Think about the difference between hearing music live in a concert hall vs in a movie theater vs on your headphones.
• Composers can experiment more freely with new way of producing sounds in soundtracks. This can surprise our ears and enhance the emotion of the story in a new way.

• When it comes to media music, recognition is probably one of the most important characteristics. The "hook" is what draws us in.

• Characters in stories often have melodic themes and soundscapes can add debth and mood to environments we see on screen.

Composing

Every creator has an artistic process. Think about how composers go about creating media music. Which comes first? The music or the visuals? Well, it depends. Composers create libraries of music and samples that can be used later, and some compose new material for a specific project. Music from past generations is sometimes brought back if it fits the intent of the sale for a product or scene of a movie. Composers use traditional pen, paper, piano methods of writing music, while other use technology and sometimes a variety of instruments and their voice to find new ideas.

Emotions

"I'm a storyteller and collaborator. I hear character, location, and story as music. For me, a score is there to both heighten the story and to actually tell the story with the unique emotional and narrative powers of music."

David Raiklen

Techniques

What we hear is what we we feel.

There are additional techniques that go beyond the instrument's natural tones made through traditional playing methods called extended techniques. These new sounds produce unique special effects and interesting textures that expand the color pallet of possibilities. Used in the right context, these techniques can be highly effective in adding to the emotional experience of a piece of music. Film composers, musicians, and foley artists absolutely love experimenting with what sounds are possible. New sounds are discovered every day. Film music and cartoons are two common places you'll hear these kinds of sounds.

Can you name that sound?

There are many playing techniques when it comes to performing instruments. The technique refers to the HOW of playing an instrument to all us the ability to produce a particular sound with ease and efficiency and often to prevent injury.