Composing Woodwind Runs (like John Williams)

[@ginnglassblock]

Thank you... I greatly appreciate your time and effort on this... The added bonus was seeing the midi notes along with the standard notation. It's easier to see where the instruments fall in range with one another.

[@Bslites]

10:21 Although you’re right about Williams’ scalar runs usually being at the unison or in octaves, there are quite a few examples where he harmonises the lines. What is more surprising to me is to see a descending line like that, I can’t think of anywhere else where he does that.

[@michaelcooley5056]

Hi, great video! I would only say that a lot of the trills you orchestrated are not very practical, as a woodwind you can only trill minor and major 2nds (sometimes minor 3rds) effectively in altissimo registers as trill fingerings exist for those intervals, otherwise the fingerings are extremely complicated to go back and forth between very fast. You'll likely not get the desired effect, as large interval trills tend to sound frantic and primal. Hope this helps!

[@finnsclarinet]

yes, this is very important!

[@blacklistnr1]

faster, faster! the audience wants the fancy run :))

[@MarsziParszi]

Very valueable comment, thank you!!

[@polkmusic]

This was really great. I am working on my first orchestral piece and I needed help with the woodwinds. This is perfect.

[@AlexHeppelmann]

That's great to hear! Thanks for watching!

[@jameseverett4976]

Would be FAR better if you let us HEAR the examples before, again a few times during, and after the commentary. "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture". For me there are few things more frustrating [as far as learning goes] than listening to someone talk about music. Unless, and until I hear the example, anything said is simply meaningless, and I have no way to relate to it. Of course if your channel is only for people who can read notation and hear it in their heads, then by all means continue doing what most youtubers do.

[@ZachSprowls]

Stunning video. Incredible. I can't imagine how much time and hard work went into it. Thank you for doing this!

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Thanks! Hope you check out some of my other orchestration videos!

[@MiloPaulus]

Very interesting topic and video! Thanks for sharing.

[@davidesonzini]

Amazing, thanks a lot for this

[@FraserMyersMusic]

amazing breakdown, tthank you so much

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Thanks, Fraser!

[@iamfrankbiesta]

Excellent and very helpful analysis! Thanks ever so much!

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Very welcome!

[@remofritzsche]

Thanks

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Thank you!

[@sebby4457]

crazy good stuff - thanks a lot man!

[@bennissimov]

EXCELLENT video! Subscribed 😊

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Awesome, thank you!

[@MaGorSeven]

excellent! loved it, keep up the good work..

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Thanks a lot!

[@ScoringStageEu]

great lecture

[@nono-qu4dl]

Yes

[@jakobsaterdag-vq5sl]

Hey, thanks for your video! That’s great information! However, I would like to point out a couple of things in your composition. First, the tremolos are really hard for a conductor to coordinate properly. Additionally, there is an unpleasant tremolo in Oboe 1 and 2 in measure 3. They move in parallel motion from F to D-flat and A-flat to F. You have written a D-flat major chord (bIII), so the oboes jump from the fifth to the third and, at the same time, from the third to the root. This creates an unstable harmony. Furthermore, for oboe players, it is not as easy as for the flute or clarinet to perform tremolo jumps. It is very important to check the fingering for the oboe, especially if you plan to present this music. If you want to keep the oboe tremolo, the easiest solution would be to lower the lower part by an octave, or, as I would prefer, write a tremolo from A-flat to D-flat upwards to the third with an A-flat to F tremolo or something similar. Lastly, I would suggest reviewing the registers of the woodwinds and brass instruments. I don’t have specific notes, but it feels like the flute lines escape the harmonic “prison” built up by the trumpets, which carry the melody. Try to make the upper flute and piccolo more independent by supporting them with the woodwinds (you could also use chimes and percussion for this). I would recommend adding a bassoon and a bass clarinet (playing in unison) to support the middle section with woodwind textures while writing the low brass parts lower. This would give you a broader tonal range typical of film music and a more balanced, natural sound. That said, you’ve already done great work, and these are just some ideas to consider.

[@loopinglars101]

Hey, great video! How is your work progress when composing a piece? What kind of software do you use at what specific steps? Sometimes I find it very difficult to visualize my score when writing in programs like Cubase where only the midi tracks are shown. But when using MuseScore or other software that illustrates the score all at once in actual notes, I find myself spending very much time transferring a score into Cubase etc, to have it played by e.g. Berlin Orchestra or other VST instruments. Thank you for your help

[@VFXCommander]

Excellent!

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Many thanks!

[@julienmichel8013]

Such a great video. Do you plan to make more ?

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Thanks! More woodwind flourish videos? Or something else?

[@julienmichel8013]

Well if you take requestsand/or questions. I suppose most of the times regarding runs and flourishes you use the scale of the theme right ? So you ever spicy things up ? I started using scale-chords theory from jazz for my runs, it seems to work, but it is a bit surprising if not a little bit jarring. (Dorian scale on a minor chord, lydian over a major chord, mixolydian and mixolydian b6 over dominant chords) - do you use the same approach scale-wise for harp glisses ? - maybe a video comparing the use of harp glisses and woodwinds glissandos ? When is it too much, when to use one or the other. I'd appreciate your insight.

[@dwdougherty]

Hi Alex. I liked this video a lot. I would love to know how to do this effectively in Logic or Cubase. Maybe this is something you can touch on in a future video?

[@AlexHeppelmann]

Thanks! I've gotten a few requests for a video like that. I think it's completely dependent on what woodwind sample library you have. I could demonstrate with Berlin Woodwinds at some point, if that's of interest!

[@dwdougherty]

@@AlexHeppelmann I have OT's Berlin Orchestra, Berklee, so that would work for me. :)

[@felixmarques]

The examples would be easier to follow if the different instruments had different spaces on the stereo field, too.

[@felixmarques]

I find it a little exhausting that these videos wait so long before letting us *hear* what's happening.

[@jameseverett4976]

My #1 gripe too. I'm thinking of starting a channel that teaches music mostly by hearing examples. That way it would also get past all language barriers. It would take some creativity, but I think most people would be able to catch on better by hearing things than having them explained, perhaps with a little text added, which is faster than waiting for someone to enunciate it. "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture". author unknown

[@JensSchellhammer]

I love John Williams. But these are not good woodwind runs. They are just runs.

[@musical_lolu4811]

So, what are 'good' woodwind runs?

[@MarsziParszi]

@@musical_lolu4811 Would love to find out too :P

[@edgenovese]

Brother, I tried to follow you, but your clinical analysis left me dizzy. I admit I have no "Formal" education" These schematics of form and function are lost to many of us with "Ears and instincts." Although I admire your depth in the technical weeds of this. It's not always about technique or painting by the numbers... It's about imagination. I often dream what many cannot write down. It's organic. Perhaps I have stumbled upon the wrong lesson. You are very talented. I wish you the best. I suppose some music is about architecture, but for some, it is about the dreaming of the sound. God Bless you....

[@BaileyFamFC]

You think someone like John Williams doesn't have "ears and instinct?" Understanding musical theory and orchestration isn't about composing by numbers -- it's about understanding how to take what you hear and turn it into reality. And furthermore, the more theory you understand, the more your inner ear can actually hear -- technical understanding doesn't nullify imagination, it BROADENS it.

[@MarsziParszi]

@@BaileyFamFC very well put!!