Learning Film Scoring: Instruction on Movie Music Composition via Bandlab, Soundtrap, and GarageBand
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- Scoring a Film Clip: A Step-by-Step Guide for Composing Movie Music in GarageBand, Bandlab, and Soundtrap
🎥 Well, Hey There!👋
Welcome back to our kick-ass music tech blog! Ever thought about how fucking amazing it would be to score a film clip for your students? It's an opportunity to bring a story to life, and create one hell of an emotional rollercoaster for the audience.
In this blog post, I'll walk you through the process of teaching your students to compose enchanting music for both action scenes and a "hero theme" in GarageBand, Bandlab, and Soundtrap. We'll cover my basic process for aligning music and film scenes, ways I introduce this project, musical aims, objectives, and important music tech skills for students to learn along the way.
💻 How Do I Get This Entire 'Film Scoring' Lesson?🔥
While this post is your free ticket to a tasty appetizer, this project is one of many in a full course that I share inside my GarageBand, Bandlab, and Soundtrap Online Course for Music Educators, available exclusively within the Midnight Music Community. Get access to:
- Software, Gear, and Set-Up Guides
- Teacher Videos (to help you plan lessons)
- Student Videos (I'll teach your class for you!)
- Student Worksheets
- A Designated Community Forum
- Share Your Projects, Receive Feedback, and Get Expert Tech Advice if Needed!
- + Hundreds of other digital lessons, handouts, and digital activities, as well as access to all of my other courses! 😉
🎯 Musical Aims & Objectives🎼
After completing this Film Scoring Unit, students will be able to:
- Analyze and describe how music impacts a scene
- Discover common film music cliches
- Create a score for a short film clip
- Identify different musical instruments used in different scenes
🌈 How Scoring a Film Impacts Mood: An Introduction & Hook🎬
One of my favorite ways to get students to understand the power of music in films is by showing a "recut scene" or a "recut trailer." Check out these two mind-blowing examples that'll prove it to ya:
Insert Recut Scene from Disney's 'The Lion King'
Insert 'Scary Mary' Recut Trailer
📹 Working with Clips: A Quick Tip💪
Unfortunately, Bandlab and Soundtrap won't let you straight-up import a clip into the platform (GarageBand does, though), so here's my best workaround: Teach students how to split their screen if working with Bandlab or Soundtrap; they must have constant access to their film clips while composing.
🔁 A Basic Process for Film Scoring🎧
- Choose a short silent clip for your students to work from
- Check the total length of the clip
- Help your students understand how their chosen tempo will affect how many measures of music they'll need to write (slower tempo = fewer measures)
- Compose music to fit
- Export your music and the film clip together (GarageBand only) or export your music and use a tool like HitFilm Express or iMovie to combine them (Soundtrap and Bandlab)
🛠️ Music Tech Skills That Students Will Learn🕵️
- Learning to explore various software instruments voices to determine the best sound for each scene and film clip
- Composing via a "piano roll" vs. live recording
- Adjusting note velocity
- Volume and panning automation
- Arranging regions and mixing the result for different timbres and moods
🎥 Example of a Completed Film Scoring Project🎥
[Insert Example of Completed Project by Claudia Sousa]
🎯 Special Film Scoring Resources💎
- A collection of short, silent video clip files which can be used directly with your students
- Sources for locating short (silent) movie clips
- Visual aids
- Listening Worksheets & Cuing Worksheets
- Student Walk-Through Videos
- And so much more!
🕓 Want This Complete Project & More?💭
To get this complete project, including ready-to-play student videos (I'll teach 'em for you!), student worksheets, expert help, and detailed teacher instructions with videos, check out the GarageBand, Bandlab, and Soundtrap Course inside the Midnight Music Community.
💬 Final Thoughts🤔
I hope this preview has piqued your interest! Inside the Midnight Music Community, you'll find this project and so many others waiting for you.
Do you have any questions regarding the GarageBand, Bandlab, and Soundtrap Course or the Midnight Music Community in general? What music platform are you using with your students? Have your say in the comments below!
📨 Download Your Copy📥
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💖 Looking for More Resources for Music Educators?💖
Now that you've finished this post, take a moment to check out some other awesome resources I've got for you inside the Midnight Music Community!
| Course | Description ||------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| Digital Music Composition 101 | Learn the essentials of music composition using digital audio workstations (DAWs). || MIDI Mastery: Using MIDI Controllers | Discover the power of MIDI controllers in your music-making process, no keys required! || The Beatmaking Course | Learn beatmaking from scratch, covering everything from selecting samples to mixing and mastering. |
Sign up to gain access to these resources and more! Learn More and Take a Sneak Peek Inside.
Never felt happier in my job!THANK YOU, MIDNIGHT MUSIC!!! WOW! We loved our introduction to GarageBand... What's In A Name is so fun and easy to follow. I used your teaching video, pausing it where appropriate for the students to go off and record. I was so proud of MYSELF when I tried it out that I KNEW the kids would love it too!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎥🎧🎬📹🕹️🕯️🚀🎤📋🎨🎹🪕🎼🎶🎵🎸🎸🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🎵🎼🎶🎸🎹🥁🎷🎺🎺🎺🥁
- This blog post will guide teachers on composing movie music for students, creating an emotional experience for audiences.
- The process will be covered for teaching students to align music with film scenes, starting with a free guide and an in-depth course available in the Midnight Music Community.
- Students will learn to analyze the impact of music on a scene, discover common film music cliches, create a score for a short film clip, and identify instruments used in different scenes.
- Recut scenes or trailers can be used as an introduction to show students the power of music in films.
- Due to restrictions in some platforms, working with film clips requires splitting the screen to have constant access to the clips while composing.
- Students will learn various software instruments, composing via a "piano roll" vs live recording, adjusting note velocity, volume and panning automation, and arranging regions to achieve different moods.
- Examples of a completed Film Scoring Project will be provided for inspiration and guidance.
- Special resources for Film Scoring, such as short, silent video clip files, sources for short, silent movie clips, visual aids, listening worksheets, and student walk-through videos will be provided.
- The complete Film Scoring project can be accessed in the Midnight Music Community with ready-to-play student videos, student worksheets, expert help, and detailed teacher instructions with videos.
- teachers can find more resources for Music Educators inside the Midnight Music Community, including Digital Music Composition 101, MIDI Mastery: Using MIDI Controllers, and The Beatmaking Course.
