Composing Cartoon Music - The Basics

A quick breakdown showing how I wrote underscore music for Pencilmation.
Finished Episode ("Last One Misunderstanding"): • Pencilmate Learns Resp...
My Pencilmation Underscores on Soundcloud: / pencilmation-underscores
You can find a complete archive of my Pencilmation underscores (along with some bonus material) here: drive.google.com/drive/folder...
00:00 Intro
00:13 Markers
00:48 Tempo
01:08 Piano Sketch
01:45 A Balancing Act
02:12 Importance of Silence
02:44 Orchestration
03:17 Musical Sound Effects
03:31 Quick Tips
05:30 Revisions
06:01 Spot Check with Voices & Effects
06:31 Outro
www.michaelpichermusic.com
/ mike33776
#soundtrack #ost #DAW #MIDI #composer

[@AlmaLibreStudios]

Insightful and right to the point. Thank you for tackling a genre of music that is quite often overlooked! The music of composers like Scott Bradley and Carl Stalling continue to blow my mind everytime I watch a cartoon rerun...

[@dbp_pc3500]

Bro that was great!

[@musicianlaurenceUK]

Just the pep talk I needed! Thank you!

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Glad I could help!

[@auditect950]

I like that "piano slide" at 1:38, I personally would have propably kept that in the final mix.

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

I noticed that while putting this video together. Either I thought it was too much while orchestrating, or it was lost in translation.

[@chrisgallagher85]

nice breakdown

[@JayCLM]

Even though I'm 2 years late, this was a fascinating breakdown! I've been into music for about a year and I just started to get into composing for fan projects. I started doing undertones a few months back but I need to make that a habit because it helps out in the long run. Now all I need to do is have a consistent formula for projects 😅 Fantastic video! Take my sub!

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Good grief, this video is already 2 years old?! Part of me wants to completely redo this video and expand on it, but I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for the sub and good luck with your music!

[@annarowan8816]

Thank u so much for such information!

[@fishoscine1220]

Incredible!! Do you have a patreon account? I'd LOVE a deeper dive into the harmonic, rhythmic, melodic, gestures going on in here. Like a super in-depth breakdown of even a 30second snippet. How you approach the orchestration, textural, colour/ instrumentation decisions. And why you choose to score each small gestural event the way you do. Do you provide one-on-one Skye lessons?

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Thank you so much! No, I don't have a Patreon, but there are other ways to support me, such as Bandcamp and my sample library store. Probably won't do one-on-one lessons either, but you're welcome to message me any time with questions. I'll definitely consider doing a deeper dive using another score! It can be a challenge to expressive some of the more abstract elements in words, but I'll do my best! A lot of it is personal intuition. If you want to see my process in it's rawest form, I recorded a couple of videos a while ago, where I composed something from scratch for 30 minutes with no cuts (for better or worse): kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWLbgHZ9o8aShpIsi=El7G_owH1AXPPMTF&t=80

[@zstolfi]

Woooah, awesome!

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Thanks!

[@RepentInReprise]

Awesome! Love the breakdown and insight into your process and workflow. Again, it is GREAT to see you back on the KZbin side of things; I really do think you have a future on the channel... or Soundcloud! Or whatever platform you would prefer. What I learned is that you should continue doing what you love (and making money off of it is a great supplement), and maybe one day you will become Internet 'famous' (relatively speaking)! And even if you don't, hopefully the people that have come across your channel commission and endorse what you do. After all, KZbin is how I found you!

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Thanks! I sure once I find my audience, things will pick up. Being consistent, and maybe predictable, might help as well. Thanks for sticking around!

[@user-ho6ff1ee3y]

Hello!... if you know where you can start working as a composer, which sites should you visit?.. thank you very much! Sorry for the possibly inaccurate translation.

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

You can post on student or indie filmmaker forums. I've gotten work just by posting on KZbin too. You can also try contacting independent creators directly. Good luck!

[@user-ho6ff1ee3y]

@@MichaelPicherMusic Thank you very much!!! I like chromatic, halftone moves in music, and the tritone interval of course!.. you are doing well!!! , please tell me if the online translator translates my thought well?... you are the first person to whom I write,.. thank you very much!!!

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Translation worked fine. You're welcome!

[@alirezanikkhah2884]

Bro what library did you use for Brass?

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Cinematic Studio Brass. I also made my own custom library for muted "wahs".

[@alirezanikkhah2884]

@@MichaelPicherMusic Thanks bro and just out of curiosity is there any way to see or even listen to the composition entirely?

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Yes! It’s on Google Drive. Just fixed the link in the video description. Go to “Final Music” and it’s #52.

[@auditect950]

So, is the entire Episode's music all in one track?

[@MichaelPicherMusic]

Normally, the score is exported as a single WAV file, but if there is certain diegetic music, I would sometimes separate that out, so that the editor can choose how it's mixed. One example is the video game music heard in "Now or Neverland".