5 Things I Learned - While Rethinking My Workflow

Time to rethink everything. Your workflow, the way you work. is a major part of your music.It saves you time and allows you more time to do what you do best, create things. So award winning composer Guy Michelmore took on a new project and decided to rethink everything. He came up with five major takeaways from this sometimes fraught process. Want to know what they were?
Check out Guy’s "How to Write Music" course!
Download our FREE guide: thinkspaceeducation.com/htwm/
- - - - How To Write Music - - - -
How To Write Music explores the fundamental skills that underpin every great piece of music whether it’s a song or a film score, string quartet or video game sounds track.
Check out the free guide here to get you started: thinkspaceeducation.com/htwm-...

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Want to find out more about our online postgrad programme taught by workdclass professionals? Tomorrow is open day? July 10th 10am (GMT+1): zoom.us/webinar/register/1216... July 10th 6pm (GMT+1): zoom.us/webinar/register/4716...

[@mindspanconsultants]

Hi Guy -- welcome back! We missed you! What are the prerequisites for acceptance to your postgrad programme?

[@1CT1]

Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you will be saved. John 3:16 (Share the good news of the gospel around the world!)...... ,,.. Have a wonderful rest of your day/night everyone, may the LORD bless you all, and farewell!.,,,,,,.....,.,,,.,,.

[@Simbasnax]

Clearly, Guy has been saving up all 4 weeks of jokes for this video and I'm here for it

[@therealmattmann]

Oh, we have MISSED you, Guy! Welcome back!! I’d love to see more “real world” composition. I love watching you compose works that really work in a film and/or TV context.

[@ThunderSlav]

Im really sorry for the people who are not into making music for missing all this gold content from Guy... The entire channel is so wholesome...

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

wholesome! I like that

[@ThunderSlav]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation It is refreshing to see a professional not treating music as a competition. I love Your energy..

[@vspflatcat]

On "your first idea might not be your best": my old friend, the legendary songwriter Jack Hardy, used to say, of lyric writing, that you should always use your third rhyme. Going with your third rhyme when working on lyrics can take you in creative directions you might not otherwise try. I have always found that to be really valuable advice.

[@EvanWeeks]

Guy, I'm an old hand at arranging existing work (I just recently finished a marching band show for the local high school), but I'm new to composition from scratch. Specifically, I'm new to Cubase and Dorico and the workflow of trying to "perform" parts into a DAW instead of writing them first as music and then massaging them afterwards. My tool of choice up to this point has been Musescore since it's free, but I'm probably going to make the jump into the aforementioned Steinberg products shortly, based in no small part on your videos. I'm also going to pick up a cheap(ish) MIDI controller and see if I can't make the workflow I'm watching in your videos work for me. All that said, what I'd love to see are: - More Cubase and Dorico tips and tricks! Anything that would help me get from zero to hero in these pieces of software is a win in my book. - Discussions and demonstrations of how to connect one's musical "palate", ie: the catalog of sound and musical experiences one has, to a "composition" mindset that starts to utilize those things as the building blocks of a new piece. - Discussions/Demonstrations of scoring to film, perhaps take some old B&W "silent" vaudevillian stuff and rescore it to today's standards and talk about cueing and the thought process that goes into choosing how to approach each section of film, etc.

[@dudleyspikeclarke1355]

Welcome back Guy. You mentioned about using templates and Ensemble Pro. It would be nice if you did a small session on setting a template in Ensemble Pro and Cubase or Logic combined. Explaining the routing and multitrack / timbral stuff ...

[@dudleyspikeclarke1355]

@Thomas Anderson I did find this memory overload series of videos on Ensemble Pro and Cubase template making... OMG definitely not a "Template in a weekend", kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnKxeZeEi5aGqLc

[@dbmusicproductions9181]

Welcome back above the surface, Sir Guy! How about a series that walks slowly through strings, woodwinds and brass voicing in different circumstances?

[@slavatrostianitser]

Great to see you back, Guy! As always, your videos are so inspirational and informative, a real joy to watch. Thanks a lot for all the hard work you put into making them!

[@edemerperson6199]

I'm so glad to have you back! I missed your enthusiastic encouragement.

[@finneasmoore]

I would love more orchestral mixing videos, specifically the process after the initial writing and bouncing the midi- thank you guy we love you!!

[@bookstuart]

Good to see you back Guy! Your so right you only know what your doing and reflect on it by trying to teach it.

[@NickHoad]

The variety of content from the channel is one of its main strengths for me, I really enjoy the mix of videos. If I *had* to choose one it'd probably be the "real world" scoring scenarios, but only by quite a narrow margin.

[@unexpected8166]

Your upload notification was a huge relief for me - in these dangerous times you never know what will happen. Glad to see you posting again, missed your content!

[@lindenwoods]

Finally a new episode! :) It has struck me recently, when Guy was busy with other stuff, just how addicted I got to these videos. My favourite channel on youtube hands down.

[@jedstephens5959]

the part about tellnig someone what you're doing helps you work better reminded me of a tutor at uni saying when yo're stuck on something tell your dog what you're trying to do and you'll figure it out, works more often than not. brilliant video full of great advice, thanks.

[@sanfrangarfinkel]

Really nice to see you again... and thanks for the war stories!

[@adamwade8515]

I really enjoy your crashing around writing music. It's the element that drew me into your channel, and encouraged me to sign up for a couple of your classes!

[@peterlepahin]

Great to see you again, Guy! I like all types of videos you make - music theory, writing tricks, live scoring, library reviews, professional insights... just do any of those and we will be happy!

[@anthonydunlavey3240]

Happy to see you back and hope you're happy and doing well. Looking forward to more videos, personally I like the old way of a mix of subjects with something for everyone from professional to beginner and with a bit of wildlife thrown in.

[@georgegarside5131]

So good to see you back looking forward as always to the next video I do like the mix of subjects many thanks

[@NicStride]

Hey guy, to answer your question at the end - I like it when you smash stuff out and write some whatever, and I also enjoy the software reviews. When you do them both at the same time in a slightly longer format (Like the BBCSO reviews you did) I think those videos are really good. I also enjoyed your random shed streams where you'd answer peoples questions and literally go "Oh, you want to know about Cubase, let me address your random and niche request" and would pull up Cubase, or whatever the piece of software was, and demonstrate your understanding of it to the best of your abilities. Those streams were like 3rd year university lectures. No need for all the formalities, you just crack on teaching the relevent information in a casual and friendly way. :)

[@borisb922]

What a wonderful way to start the saturday here in NZ with a new video from you 👍 I‘d love to see more composition videos from you, either in Cubase or Dorico (also recently started using it).. showing a bit more your workflow/process for developing orchestral ideas would be awesome!

[@will20042]

Great to have you back! I got hooked on your videos during your time off, and you inspired me to pick up composition and start writing new things for the first time since college. I can't thank you enough for making music production seem a little less daunting. I think an interesting exercise for a new video might be to show off how to combine different styles (like orchestral and electronic) and how to mix that in a way that sounds good.

[@andrewwainwright8421]

You can’t help but love this guy! Keep the great videos coming!

[@aaronbird9437]

I enjoy ALL of your videos! I learn from each topic, and am grateful for a chance to learn from you.

[@BaraMatahariPagi]

Great to see you back Guy! Learned so much!

Welcome back, sir! We missed you so much. Hoping next videos are soon available.

[@terrycaster4976]

No way it would ever be dull Guy. Keep on going as it is.

[@boogie2266]

Great to have you back! What type of content I would like to see? Hmm...doesn't matter, I'm not into film scoring or orchestral work at all I'm just watching because you're so entertaining!

[@stiffiron]

You’re back! I’m so relieved! I was worried something dreadful had happened to you!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

No Im absolutely fine but sometimes there is just too much to do and some things need to take a back seat

[@danacme5806]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Hi Guy ! You seems to be in a really great shape ! Thanks for your videos and courses...

[@1CT1]

Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you will be saved. John 3:16 (Share the good news of the gospel around the world!)...... ,,.. Have a wonderful rest of your day/night everyone, may the LORD bless you all, and farewell!.,,,,,,.....,.,,,.,,.

[@1CT1]

Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you will be saved. John 3:16 (Share the good news of the gospel around the world!)...... ,,.. Have a wonderful rest of your day/night everyone, may the LORD bless you all, and farewell!.,,,,,,.....,.,,,.,,.

[@DaveDickens]

I really learn a lot from watching you compose a piece, using different approaches, instruments, scales etc. Thank you. Cheers Dave

[@MusicTheatreAcademy]

Great to see you back! Would love to see a comparison of Sibelius and Dorico and the reasons for jumping ship (I work in cubase and use Sibelius for orchestra arranging...the orchestra with 10 clarinets at the moment!!!) Anything to improve import and export from one to another would be most welcome!!!! ( He says while banging his head on a desk).

[@paulmarriott7683]

Great insights Guy, thanks for sharing your wisdom as ever.

[@AllanGildea]

Top Chap ! Fabulous to be in your company again. Congrats on your exciting new project and thanks for sharing your learning curve with such clarity and creativity.

[@sprkymrt]

Glad to have you back! I kept checking the channel to see when you would start again, but I knew you were up to something.Hey, I like the shirts.👍🏼

[@robduff]

Its great to have you back Guy. I really enjoy all your Cubase insights, advanced and beginner. I would be interested to see reviews on plugins and vst libraries that were ground breaking when they came out and are still relevant today.

[@nightnoodler812]

So nice to see and hear you again Guy..really missed your vids. I actually had to move 3200km couple weeks ago for a job, after really struggling last few years, and watching your vids... It may be a possiblity to take a course.. you are always very inspiring to me..Thank you very Much..Really look forward to your next vid. Good Luck on your New Project..

[@joeharrisoncomposer]

Glad to have you back, I've missed your videos. The cool thing about scoring to picture but then kinda putting that first go to the side and scoring it a second time is that, no matter which version you use and which you don't, the work won't necessarily go to waste, because you may find a much better use for the unused bit in another project later on! This has happened to me a couple of times; I have a folder on my drive containing the Cubase project files of all the "unused" cues I've done, and I've had many chances to repurpose them.

[@lesfuller5984]

Great to see you back on KZbin, Guy! Was getting worried, but then thought it was either you were on holiday, or scoring a film at short notice! 😁

[@LindaMissad]

HI GUY, great to have you back. Missed you, but glad you had a good gig. Regarding your #2 point, I learned that being a piano teacher -- I became a much better sightreader during that time. Answering your last question: I love to see you "smashing out" music and seeing your creative process -- but anything is fine. Hope all is well in the UK. Take care and thank you!!

[@AndreasvanHaren]

Welcome back, Guy! And good to see that you are using Dorico now, I started using it from version 1 and are finishing up a musical for a client right now with it.

[@LizardEatsFlies]

as a dorico fan, im so glad to hear its worked out on this scale of a piece

[@ryanknaggs]

Hey Guy! Glad to see that you are back! We missed you! So happy to see you again!

[@MarikaSchanz]

Finally!!! I was waiting for you so badly!

[@SteamvilleQuintet]

Smashing away writing stuff for me, but really, enjoy everything you do. Glad you're back, but you no doubt needed a break from us.

[@alexandrelevy3916]

Really good helpful video, Thanks Guy!

[@junevortexmusic914]

Dude . Great video .. always inspired by your work . Thank you

[@cruachfilms]

So glad you’re back, missed you Guy :)

[@project1265ffo]

Definitely missed you here in the youtube community!!! welcome back Guy :) Hope to see a few stuff of everything lol

[@GeorgeHammondMusic]

YEY New Guy Vid!! You always learn a lot from these videos!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Hope so :)

[@vicsardou9654]

I like everything all smashed together.

[@rdru2ner82]

Writing is why I watch your videos, your very funny and make learning music fun and relaxing. So please for example go over harmony that’s the biggest help I or most of the newbies needs to know writing good music. Thank you again!!!

[@DarkSideofSynth]

The best Guy in the universe is back!!!

[@Ferdz_fr]

Very instructive, thanks

[@MaximeMoura]

Thanks for all these advices

[@ryanknaggs]

Hey Guy, I really look forward to everything, not just one thing to talk about, but Music Theory, New Software, Tips, Tricks etc... Just everything you can possibly think of.

[@chrisharrison809]

Love your channel! Would love to see a detailed video on how you’re integrating Cubase and dorico. Ie, good sounding music in Cubase, and correct looking score in dorico, and the communication between the two. Do you export xml and the touch up? Are you orchestrating in dorico? Are you syncing video in dorico? How do you deal with midi that’s alll lush and programmed, but not “on the grid”, then orchestrate in dorico, then, back to daw? I’ve been kind of just redoing stuff. Would be nice to draw things in dorico, export and still have the sound (dynamics, articulations) work well. I’ve settled on noteperformer in dorico because it’s light and let’s me go fast. Reads the score very well. But doesn’t let me spit back to Cubase and maintain all the details on the score, so you kinda have to reprogram. Fingers crossed they integrate sooner than later

[@ClubCreative23]

Good to see you again... I've been doing your free courses to keep in touch! I would love to see how you would go about arranging someone else's music - update a standard and change the feel... something like Bye Bye Blackbird as a "jazz-blues" number. i.e. how you go about changing the original chords to ones that fit with a new feel. (I hope that makes sense!)

[@leerichardson551]

Great to see you back Guy, I'd highly recommend looking into track archives on Cubase as it allows you the freedom of a blank page when composing and the convenience of importing tracks with all the routing already done :)

[@lowkeykokey]

Welcome back guy...like legit I've been wondering where you've been cause I'm always waiting for a Guy video...But welcome back

[@sopastar]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom with the world! It's really helped me. I would like to learn more about instrumentation. If you have an idea for a melody; how do you decide which instrument should play it, and what instruments compliment it. And also, when one calls, which one should respond.

[@dustinsteiniger3762]

I'd love to see you do videos on how to play piano/keys. Either thru KZbin or as a paid course. Your teaching style is great, and I think you'd keep people entertained enough to actually learn!

[@MarcShake]

I love your content. It's just awesome. I subscribed a while ago, but now I am activating that bell.

[@Limbiclesion]

I think your subject format prior to the recent professional sabbatical from KZbin was comprehensive and catered to most folks needs . 👏🙏🙏🏿

[@gesslr]

Looking forward to learning about the actual project Guy!

[@maryshaw4399]

Welcome back, Guy! I'd love to know how you establish a regular writing schedule, whether you're on a deadline or creating library music. Thanks!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Deadlines drive everything for me - Im really bad at self motivated music

[@famosguider205]

You are such an inspiration bro.

[@StephenSE9]

Welcome back. Yeah! What would one like to see 🤔 My first thought was seeing your good self trying out LMMS... Live! No testing before shooting your video. Then it occurred to me doing it "live" live. Because I want to get my feet wet/beak whet using a DAW and to see you open the software for the first time and hit the ground running would be educational and interesting. Perhaps I should have thought this through before replying to your question immediately. Did I say welcome back? Welcome back 😊

[@vdub4216]

You're so easy to watch Guy... funny, informative and educational.. keep up the good work. Respect from Australia.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Thank you

[@maximiliandreier4531]

Nice to see you back. A video about developing a 2 or 3 min orchestral piece, would be nice. I have struggles to finish a project.

[@monkeysinmygarden]

Great to have you back! , I would love to see you put together a course on Cubase that could be available through Thinkspace.

[@IEProd]

Learning Dorico myself and agree with the problems you mention. Dotted notes are also an issue for me but love Play mode. Would love to see more about how you use it in your workflow.

[@joegrint6280]

Welcome back - we've missed you!

[@peterreynolds8146]

Glad you’re back! I would like more information on Dorico please. Thinking of changing from Sibelius……. so why should I do this? Best Peter ( already using Cubase)

[@DrMax0]

More workflow stuff would greatly be appreciated. But your other stuff is great too especially the mindset and philosophy bits.

[@anatomicallymodernhuman5175]

Watching you keeps me thinking about music composition in fresh ways. The content is less important to me than the inspiration.

[@samferrell229]

Glad you’re back.

[@lonewolf_wayne8248]

@Guy Michelmore I’ve been following you for over a year and am subscribed to your channel. Due to what ever changes KZbin has done, I am not able to get any notifications of new content. The bell is crossed out and won’t allow any notification option to be selected at all. I have tried using multiple browsers getting the same results. I truly enjoy your content and have learned allot, as I have started my own path into music creation. I’m not sure if this is something you have control of or not but felt it should be brought to your attention.

[@katharineseaton8961]

I loved the Cubase tips - thank you! I'm also a new Dorico user, so any content on using that also sounds great. :)

[@mannmusica]

Cubase and Dorico have been game changers for me as well

[@elliottgoldkind]

Bravo!

[@nickexarchos6984]

Hooray!!! Guy is back! :D Maybe it would be a good idea to create some videos about orchestration techniques, instruments combinations with real time examples!

[@joetowers4804]

Your Swahili is coming along nicely!

[@jonathanbrooker8193]

Good to see you back Guy. Thinner, more tanned, and as happy go lucky as always 👍👍. How about a video to show how you have personally taken your project’s cues, orchestrated, exported, and then follow the process through recording, to film editing and final dub staging? Maybe a 4 parter rather than a short video 😉

[@OrchestraEclipse]

So happy you uploaded today, nice video

[@chrismoule7242]

Keep going as you have been, please!

[@lauraduff6155]

Great to see you back Guy. I'd like to know if it's worth me upgrading to Pro 11 from Artist 10.5. A year into my music production & Cubase journey, I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all that is on offer as it is! Would really like to learn how to make my tracks sound 'bigger'.. Sometimes feel that adding more instruments and lines makes a decent 'thin' track too crowded. Interested in learning about 'panning' also. Many thanks for all you do. 🙂

[@vincent_ray]

Glad to see you're back! Could you do more writing? Maybe another video game rescore? I really enjoy your videos!

[@wsimpson53]

Love the videos! I would like to hear more about harmonic techniques to convey specific moods and emotions. I saw a video a while back describing how chromatic mediants are great to convey fantasy themes. There must be more techniques like that and I know they are in your head somewhere. Please let them out so we can meet them!!!

[@peavynation]

What do I want to see more of on this channel you ask? I'm happy just seeing you Guy, you could be eating a shoe and I'd rejoice. But besides that, I like watching you write, being inspired, and walking us thru your process, combined with music theory and how you're applying it. If I only had one channel to watch on KZbin, this would be it. I mean, seriously.

[@brianandolina7091]

Welcome back, Sir Guy! Love your educational courses as I have purchased few of them. Would love if you could do a video on Fills between chords whether 1st inversion or 2nd inversions. How are you liking the Komplete Kontrol s88 MK2 I have that same one in my studio.

[@robertphilip1832]

Glad to see you are back. I had worried about You.

[@ZayaMillis]

You are my favorite person on the internet!

[@David-nu5cj]

All of it smashed together. Don't change a winning formula. Learn and be entertained. Still top of the premier league!

[@RobertRodriguezMusic]

Great to see you back!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

thank you

[@dw2185]

Soooo relieved you're OK in these challenging times! (I am now recovering slowly from Michelmorealitis - I was reduced to watching THAT video with the coffee spill) Since it's YOUR fault I purchased Cubase (as a keen amateur) and wasted a lot of time trying to get to grips with Sibelius (as recommended in your music theory courses - groan!) and other notation software (double groan) I am proud to see you got to the same point as I did on Dorico (smug face) ....(pause for breath as this is a long sentence) THEN I feel it only right and proper you show us how you use the 2 together as those nice people at Steinberg have yet to integrate these seamlessly (Wish #1). In retrospect I wish I'd gone to Dorico first as the automations are easier to implement together with the templates for Spitfire BBC SSO core (YOUR fault again - but thanks!) and VSL. So, next on wish list is to see how you have set up your Dorico (wish #2). Finally (wish #3) some more on templates (yes you have done some excellent videos already) going deeper into the practical aspects of setting these up (I only recently obtained this ability with Cubase Artist when the last update removed the restriction on the number of tracks) Thanks again and welcome back!

[@lyskmusic]

A chronic disease characterized by uncontrolled composing and preoccupation with music: yes I am a Guy Michelmoreholic .

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

So true

[@pjdahmen]

Great tutorial

[@AndyD2011]

Great to see you’re back!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Nice to be back

[@AndyD2011]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Friday afternoon's just weren't the same without you!