Books on composition (orchestra, filmscore, videogame, etc)

[countrymath]

Hello!

I want to restart my studies on music composition. My goal is to write 'Hans Zimmer' stuff, like soundtracks, videogame music, etc. I mean, some contemporary music for orchestra.
 
I'm searching for books that lead me to that, like harmony, voice leading, etc. RIght now I'm studying Harmony, by Walter Piston. It's a great book, but I need something that has an audio CD with the examples.

Online  courses are also an option!

Does anyone know of some books or courses like this?

[xdjuicebox]

Yay! Composition!

Honestly though, a lot of composition is "learn by doing," but the theory background is important.

Here's what I'm going through:

-Counterpoint in the Style of J.S. Bach (Benjamin)
-Introduction to Tonal Theory (Kostka-Payne)
-Form in Tonal Music: An Introduction to Analysis (Green)
-The Study of Orchestration, 3e (Adler) <---VERY good book

If you're serious about composing, I definitely recommend finding a teacher to help steer you in the right direction, but make sure you tear about scores and analyze them to death, and just practice your stuff.

Don't get too obsessed with a composer's education right away, as it might stifle your voice. Your voice is a lot more important than you think.

[countrymath]

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately, a techer is not an option where I live, that's why I'm looking for an online course :/

[j_tour]

I'm searching for books that lead me to that, like harmony, voice leading, etc. RIght now I'm studying Harmony, by Walter Piston. It's a great book, but I need something that has an audio CD with the examples.

I'm not much of a composer at all, but I've read a lot and hung with a bunch of "real composers" in grad school.  Walter Piston is a good start -- kind of the basics.

I also highly recommend Schoenberg's *Harmonielehre*.  Lots of examples, in the "model key of C," -- it's a very good book.

If you must have an audio CD, the only one I can think of is Dave Liebman's *Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony* -- I bought the book without the audio a long time ago, but even though it's "jazz harmony," it's extremely relevant.  I assume the audio CD is just some guy playing the many ideas, but it's all in the book assuming you can read.

Besides that, Slonimsky's Minitudes.

I am very skeptical that there is a program/course to "learn composing in 21 days":  just study and do.

If you're still getting the basics with Walter Piston (and, I assume, George Perle's texts on serialism), I'd just stick with that.  I don't see how you can run before you can walk, but you should be able to read widely and see the forest to keep yourself motivated.

ETA I see I assumed a little bit in writing my reply.  If you don't already have it, you need a keyboard and be able to read music.  Or a guitar and that rare ability to sight-read in standard notation.  And, in this day and age, the ability to record and playback with a minimum of fuss -- in other words, a basic digital keyboard or some facility with basic DAW software.  You'll also need good handwriting (with pencil and staff paper) or really good abilities with engraving software.  I prefer pencil and paper, but whatever.  Just going back to basic tools, and didn't want to assume too much.

[countrymath]

Thank you for the reply!

Yes, by course I meant a long therm studies, not these "learn everything in five minutes"

Piston's book is really great, but it really bothers me to need tô play every example at the piano. Recording them in a daw might be a solution

[j_tour]

Oh, sure.  I didn't mean to suggest you were looking for the impossible magic composing and music pill -- just a general statement.

That is a tough one, about the lack of audio examples.  

You might be onto something about recording the examples yourself, maybe put them on your phone/mp3 player, and just play them whenever you're out and about.  I'm no medical doctor, but that probably couldn't be bad for internalizing the sounds.

As well, this could be a great opportunity to combine ear-training with your studies -- you could develop that pretty rare ability to "hear" what's on the page with much greater accuracy and precision than, say, your average musician.

I'm sure there's a way to use the lack of supplementary materials to your advantage.

And, not to say the obvious, but Piston's *Harmony* was used, and for all I know still is, quite a bit in music schools, and so forth.  Many universities and colleges have all sorts of syllabi, exams, homeworks, and so forth online these days -- you could very legitimately "take" any number of classes that way, by doing the readings and assignments, if you have the motivation.

Costs nothing, and the only thing is you don't get a piece of paper, but you get the same knowledge, minus the occasional amusing anecdote by the professor during lecture.  That's just my opinion, and I know people can legitimately disagree, but self-study used to be a much bigger thing.  For most of the 19th century, most people didn't "go to law school" in the US, for example:  they "read law," either on their own or in the back room of an established law office.  Lots of other examples from the natural sciences, classical languages, and mathematics from that time period and before, as well.

ETA I couldn't let my screed go unpunctuated without one of my favorite non-rhetorical bits of wisdom from the American lawyer Abraham Lincoln:

If you are absolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself the thing is more than half done already. It is a small matter whether you read with any one or not. I did not read with any one. Get the books and read and study them in their every feature, and that is the main thing. It is no consequence to be in a large town while you are reading. I read at New Salem, which never had three hundred people in it. The books and your capacity for understanding them are just the same in all places. [...] Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.

I suppose you can have guessed I'm a big fan of DIY, except for things like piano-tuning or home appliance repair, when I'd rather call in the experts.  However, I think my perspective is a little out-of-whack, since I'm ignoring that I've had the benefit of private teachers and higher education of all sorts, and I'd be a liar if I said it didn't make a huge difference for me at a certain age.

Like all old people (I'm 40), I make the mistake of assuming everyone's about my age and forgetting what it was like back in the day.  Well, I still think I'm trying pretty good to balance that out with good advice/explanations.

[countrymath]

Thanks again!

As well, this could be a great opportunity to combine ear-training with your studies -- you could develop that pretty rare ability to "hear" what's on the page with much greater accuracy and precision than, say, your average musician.

Yes. I think that recording it is the best solution, as unfortunately I dont think I can find something with audio

And, not to say the obvious, but Piston's *Harmony* was used, and for all I know still is, quite a bit in music schools, and so forth.  Many universities and colleges have all sorts of syllabi, exams, homeworks, and so forth online these days -- you could very legitimately "take" any number of classes that way, by doing the readings and assignments, if you have the motivation.

I didn't know that. It's such an old book that I didn't think it was still used.

I suppose you can have guessed I'm a big fan of DIY, except for things like piano-tuning or home appliance repair, when I'd rather call in the experts.  However, I think my perspective is a little out-of-whack, since I'm ignoring that I've had the benefit of private teachers and higher education of all sorts, and I'd be a liar if I said it didn't make a huge difference for me at a certain age.

Yes. I love this "self-teaching everything" method. It's very hard to get a good education where I live, so I always learned everything by myself (music, english, etc.)

[j_tour]

It's all right -- I'm not online all that much, but when I am I like to chat about stuff that interests me.

Can I ask where you are from out of curiosity?  Not that it matters, but although I almost certainly don't know somebody you know, I might know someone from your country and can relate a little bit more precisely.

Or, skip it. That's just chit-chat.

I came back to strongly re-recommend the Liebman book with audio CD -- I think the atonal (or HIGHLY chromatic) melodic material might fit in nicely with your goals to create contemporary-sounding music -- I don't know what to call it, not "program" or "mood" music, but maybe "grounded" versus "abstract."  There are some very nice engraved transcriptions of highly chromatic improvisations for piano and saxophone, with Liebman and Richie Beirach in there, in addition to the numerous isolated melodic fragments.

In my basically non-existent experience as a composer, but having been friends with a number of doctoral students (now doctors) of music at a well-regarded university in the US, the one thing I can say is that, as academically-serious, to a man (sorry, ladies, that's just my experience), they were well-aware of what was happening in basically everything music. 

The Liebman book has the advantage that it puts a big chunk of avant-garde, but not "free" or political jazz in a convenient, primer format.

As an aside, I can think of about ten years ago (maybe less) when I did a similar thing with making recordings of some stuff I was trying to learn (I put every solo Al Stricklin did in Western Swing, every jazz solo by Dr. Lonnie Smith, and so forth) on my phone and listened to them while doing my daily walks.  It really burned it into my brains.

Lots of other tricks, like EQ'ing out the piano from pop/rock records, and making my own "play alongs" by recording me with LH bass, but that has nothing to do with your question, just giving you an idea that it's certainly nothing new to "roll your own" by making your own practice materials.