How To Write Orchestral Music - 4 Tips To Make Cinematic Arrangements More Interesting

In this tutorial, I explain a few strategies I use to make my cinematic arrangements more interesting and less predictable.
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[@AlexMoukala]

Project Stems: - www.patreon.com/posts/7661707 Libraries & PC Specs: - Strings: Hollywood Strings - Brass: Hollywood Brass - Choir: Vocalisa - Percussion: Damage - Trailer SFX: Shredders Vol.1, Juggernaut - PC Specs: 3.4 GHz i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD + Extra HDD - DAW: FL Studio 12

[@Nickoking12]

Alex Moukala hi man glad youre back, and thanks for including the libraries!

[@DarthTingleBinks]

Honestly, the beginning kind of sounds like the Heroes theme from Ultimate Alliance 2.

[@xemy1010]

That atmospheric guitar section at 3:16 is sublime - you could make a whole track around that theme. Great stuff!

[@excorific2205]

No one does tutorials and explanations like you, Alex! For Orchestral music, you're one of my biggest inspirations because you give out these kinds of knowledge for free! You're too kind and for that thank you! You give a lot of tips and tricks! 🙂

[@millsmixx5080]

Alex I'm so glad you put the libraries that you use in the notes on your tutorials. It really helps. Thanks for another great walk though of tips!

[@breezyjohnson7115]

I really connected with the first part of giving the listener something to hold on to. It reminded me of good comedians. They tell something funny, go on to other things, then bring you back to the first joke. Thanks for the vid.

[@cataclysmichael]

Just discovered your channel the other day and have gone through pretty much all your videos now, great stuff! I'm always more inspired by "normal" people who doesn't have years musical education and started composing when they were like 4 years old and so on, haha. Keep it up!

[@AlexMoukala]

Haha, yeah same here! Nowadays more than ever, I think music is at the reach of everyone regardless of age. :) Thanks for the kind words man!

[@zakur0hako]

What a find man. I'm a beginner film composer who landed a job recently and been going through a lot of struggles. I'm sure this channel will help

[@varunm.s5597]

Hey Alex, do these kind of tutorials more frequently....These are pretty informative and gives new idea for compositions..

[@MitchellBroom]

Love your work, has helped me so much to get to where I am now!

[@AlexMoukala]

Glad to hear that, Mitchell! Keep it up. :)

[@Pur1st]

Thanks! Very helpful. can't wait to watch more!

[@OfficialFront]

man its so chill to watch your tips. they're great and honest, and you explain them very well!

[@blaudiss]

Really great help to your fellow producers - thank you!

[@joshsterckx]

Great video, love the soundtrack and great tips, you've got yourself a new sub!

[@StratosKokkaliaroglou]

OK seriously, what the fuck - in a good way. I came to watch your (so far top quality) videos on composition because I'm a hobbyist-hoping-to-turn-professional game dev I'd like to learn how to compose music for video games. I'm still 5 minutes in and can't get over how *epically awesome* that track was. Amazing. Excellent. Well done to you, sir. You bet your ass I'm watching every minute of that tutorial. Liked and subscribed.

[@rickymolina7390]

Great blending of effects and rhythm in your composition. It kinda reminded me of Led Zepellin's Kashmir for a second or two early on in the piece. If you haven't heard this Led Zep tune, it's really worth listening to as a cinematic composer such as you (who like me is also a guitarist by training). Thank you, great stuff.

[@sikkis4007]

Man, your work is amazing! Thank you!

[@astrofunkofficial]

and wow this is really good man (the music) Love the break section with the guitar and the haunting vocal harmonies tucked away

[@Izzymarizee]

Really cool video Alex!! Very helpful tips, and you're really fun and engaging to listen to!

[@AlexMoukala]

Hey Izzy, thanks!

[@PaulCassidyOrchestrations]

Nice tips Alex. Also I love the way you compare it throwing a sausage to a dog lol!! Also good to see I'm not the only one who uses FL studio. I've tried other DAW's but they leave me scratching my head. I find FL simple to use and I don't see any reason to change it. I don't understand why so many musicians don't rate it.

[@AlexMoukala]

Haha, you guys will have learnt by now my metaphors are one of a kind. :D FL is a great DAW indeed, just like the others. It has quite some features other DAWs don't have, but it's also the way around too. Other DAWs have features that I wish FL Studio had, like the ability to change the time signature in the middle of a track.

[@kurttomlinsoncompositions1067]

Don't change, Paul. Seriously, they're all horrible haha

[@kurttomlinsoncompositions1067]

Alex, apparently time signatures are coming in FL Studio 13. I have no idea when FL 13 is gonna be released, but that's what their Facebook page told me. I hope it's soon.

[@PaulCassidyOrchestrations]

Nah not me mate better the devil you know ay! Plus I reckon with the lifetime of free updates they will eventually have it so it does everything all the other DAW's can do ;)

[@lameimpala8426]

I feel that Cubase is very easy to use and definitely recommend it

Amazing tutorial Alex, definitely one of the bests (if not the best indeed)!

[@cgx33]

This is amazing stuff which few people normally take time to really explain, thanks!

[@AlexMoukala]

Cheers :)

[@danseit]

Yes Alex, I'm learning quite allot from your videos. Thank you for sharing your tallent! Dan Seitzinger - Artist

[@anand10ful]

Thanks a lot for the great tutorial. Learnt a lot from you

[@Pendo46]

wow, this is awesome 🔥🔥 trying to make orchestral music too, it would be awesome to make soundtracks for series & movies

[@ScottK4NE]

Nice Alex!!! Best tips ever!!! Keep it up man!

[@patrikherman_]

Another awesome and super informative tutorial. Thank you! :)

[@dominicsaviodawson5881]

Hi Alex, Fantastic video. I really like your approach to composing. Thanks for sharing.

[@mehdiwadoud8098]

Hi Alex Moukala, I think this is the best tutorial ever, and it was really very helpful for me, thank you for this free lesson.

[@lyondaddio]

Great video. I like the concepts you presented. I often try to build tension up or down mostly through pitch and note changes but this gave me some interesting bits of info to work with and a couple of cool ideas.

[@Huetete]

I would like more tutorials about transitions and good techniques and fundamentals to introduce parts of the track, your vids are very excellent and impressive, I've learned so much from you and yet I'm still learning nowadays from your videos!

[@jimsession]

amazing as always!

[@EminoMeneko]

Super tutorial man. :) You obviously have issues to express yourself properly but I have just the same issue as you. Keep going you'll grow better and bigger. The lack of FX is one of my biggest culprit in making music. I used to have fun making music like very soon 20 years ago. Back then I was much more daring and creative than today. I hope the spark would come again for it was a lot of great fun. I also learned that you can input an LFO into automations which is awesome. Thanks man and keep up the good work.

[@alexmathew406]

Thanks bro for the points ... it really ll help a lot

[@AjOoppaaN]

Amazing track broh💓💓💓🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@chrisshollinrake6826]

Great stuff Alex...I'm going to try some of those ideas right Now.

[@astrofunkofficial]

so happy i found your channel just now. This is something I really want to get into. Thanks for sharing I will be checking out your other videos!

[@AlexMoukala]

Glad to hear that, cheers!

[@skyvolmusic]

You are talented man, Alex! It's useful video for me. Thank you!

[@AlexMoukala]

Glad to hear that Suley!

[@downianajones1038]

That whole thing was fucking legendary

[@Love2PlayPianoMusic]

This is just amazing but, if I were you, I would add more "tension" I would say. Like, high pitched strings and something like that. But this is also just perfect. And also, when that first "build-up" came, I needed more tension there, I missed it. But still, it's great! Well done :)

[@yangli8379]

Great stuff! I learned so much,THX!!!

[@spiralsofdanu]

Very cool - thanks for the tips

[@Clue_of_starlight]

You are the best. Thank you very much for the best tutorial.

[@rockymountainrocker5630]

Awesome composition

[@amritgillredhotflame]

it's the details, thanks Alex

[@hmizou]

this is pretty cool stuff man !

[@KrystianPaluchKRPMusic]

Hans Zimmer hides himself after he heard it :P Great job Alex! Thank you :) I'm waiting for new films ;) Sorry about mistakes if there are any.

[@waveoflight]

That song is amazing.

[@ceciliafbrown373]

Nice one Alex!

[@vella6967]

Thank you sir for teaching us...

[@fandlpetroleum]

Love the dog and sausages analogy.

[@davidnazarashvili3015]

Thank you Alex very much!!!

[@YugenMusicOfficial]

OK so because of your genuinely fantastic help, a nfreind walks into my room saying, oh wow are you making classical? I reply with hang on I'm chasing a sausage........... Yup I actually said that.

[@guinness4life201]

Great stuff! Thx

[@richardwilliamsmusic]

You said that this track took you about 10-15 hours to finish? How long does it take for you to finish trailer songs on average? Say 2 minutes worth? I loved this tutorial, and great song, really creative!

[@AlexMoukala]

It depends on the complexity of it and how much time I can afford to work on it, can go from 8 hours up to way higher numbers like 40.

[@richardwilliamsmusic]

Thank you!

[@SergHalen]

Very nice track, love it.

[@rajeshmusic2490]

Gr8 Tutorial!!

[@LingziChong]

Thank You so much for your sharing ～

[@scherlenson]

Amazing

[@manzoormahamood]

Alex... Amazing music.. nd tips too ❤️ which is that string library... Can u pls comment...

[@wizardancient]

Meme xD Backgrounding sound - meh throwing sausage sound - interesting So coping and adding new layer is a thing. I have a memory about that technique, but never be sure is this real memory xD So now i can rest in peace xD Besides this funny things thanks for saying about meaning this "rising sounds" before next part of piece. I want to say many things, but when i start i can not end xD So, big thanks for you and your channel :)

[@remybillion1168]

Very useful tips thanks. You seem to be interested in how music affects the brain, any documentation you'd advise looking at ?

[@jcrod9467]

How do you transform a sound from a library into a sample? Like at 15:57

[@juancarlosbernabeaviles]

Great.

[@ethenjoseph9176]

Can you do a video on what each instrument does and when to use them. Such as when to use a Legato violin or a Spizzicato Violin. Please help because im stuck on what instrument or variation of instrument to use. Also please tell us what the jobs are of each instrument and that includes variation.

[@sunnyrey393]

very good bro...

[@DarthTingleBinks]

So, which do you think is better? FL Studio, or FL Studio Mobile?

[@jeevia]

Great!!!!

[@deveshyadav4504]

it help a lot

[@themusicman4382]

How did you make the pulse sound in the beginning? great vid tho!

[@Zi9makin9]

HOLY SHIT THIS IS AMAZING!!!

[@manugentoodrums]

Sick!

[@RachelHardy]

You're amazing at layering and mixing but the track does get boring for a listening. On a good track though! It just needs a more memorable melody

[@MBGardnerMusic]

Great walkthrough, Alex. But one question: The sample at 16:07, did you add any high-pass filter to it, because it sounds like the treble kicks in too, like when recorded you took the treble off or is it the nature of the recording?

[@nunativs]

Alex did you click all this in with a mouse? How long does it take you to finish a track like this if you are clicking it in? Good job man, nice track!

[@AlexMoukala]

This track didn't take more than 10-15 hours I think. But that's also because it's much more based on samples and sound design than MIDI stuff. I'm also a bit used to write via mouse so that might be another reason why it didn't take me a lot, but I think that to be able to write directly from recording yourself is the best and fastest approach, if you're capable to.

[@nunativs]

Alex Moukala OK thanks for responding Alex, I've wrestled with that myself. I'm a decent keyboard player, not great but adequate and have found getting the track sketched out is faster with keys with the drawback that I can get into habits from my limited skills. That being said, I practice keyboards almost daily to get past it. Much success!

[@brunoflohr9625]

Hi Alex! Your channel is great, congratulations! How many hours did you spend to produce this piece?

[@AlexMoukala]

Thanks! This one was written much quicker than my other tracks, I was very close to the deadline for it, so I only had two days to write it. Took those two full days. :)

[@donaldsuitemusic8902]

Hey Alex : I might be doing online tutorials on Sample Librarys I notice you have great capture software .What do you use to do your tutorials?I've been googling cant find anything that does Video,Audio,Dialog.Thanks Hope all is well.

[@jnhrns]

It sounds like Tyler Bates (he was doing music for Atomic Blonde)

[@EminoMeneko]

Alex. How do you make this LFO thingy on the violet automation by the end of the piece. That's pretty interesting and tutorial I found was about activating LFO which is nice but you seem to have applied an envelope to it. How did you do that? Many thanks.

[@bpenguin]

Can you recommend any good sample packs for the pulses and other hits / swoops?

[@cheezuscrust_thealmighty8629]

Hey Alex. First of all, great job with the tuts; I really enjoy watching them (even though i'm new to your channel). Second, I plan on buying the Complete Evenant Collection, buuuut.. as i saw the don't use FL in any of their courses, and this makes me anxious, because in the end $1000 is a fair amount. I don't know if it's worth it to get the collection if i can't make it in FL. As a pro in this, what is your opinion on this??

[@MikeBurnsArrangedAccidents]

I'm getting a huge amount out of this Channel and I'm using Pro Tools. The courses should translate well across all DAW's if they are anything like these vids.

[@TigerGamerGirl]

Does anyone know how to create a riser string sound played at 22:40 ? Or where I can get a sample?

[@AlexMoukala]

Oh, that was from Rise & Hit. It's a Kontakt Library made specifically to design risers / wooshes and has lots of interesting sounds for that kind of stuff. You can find some cool risers in Boom Library's Cinematic Trailers Designed too.

[@heikkiketola7127]

Which would you prefer, Eastwest libraries or Cinesamples? Are there any big differences?

[@AlexMoukala]

I personally do not love the sound of EastWest libraries in general, they sound too "flat" to me, personally. So between the two, I'd pick CineSamples. The good thing about EastWest, howver, is that they have ComposerCloud & they offer very frequent discounts on their site!

[@heikkiketola7127]

Yea, I used composer cloud for a few months and thought that the sound was a bit "meh" too. Though the platinum versions have better mic positions. Time to save for some cinesamples then :P

[@ladibeats]

Wow

[@Y0nex]

What are those volume automations at the bottom of the project?

[@richarddunn367]

how did you make those notes there in the top, "Intro" "calm" etc

[@coleashmore]

Great vid what synths did you use for the pulse intro, and the one around 2:47?

[@aleserver2454]

what is the program called

[@nickyelovich3872]

So what program is this?

[@donaldsuitemusic8902]

Just curious :How long did it take you to score this Alex?

[@AlexMoukala]

About 10~15 hours as far as I remember!

[@ThePotatoPrductions]

Well now that you've answered that my estimate time is probably about 10 to 15 weeks if i made one.

[@Danzobi]

Alex, what version of FL Studio are you using? Thinking about buying but don't know which one to buy.

[@AlexMoukala]

I suggest you to either get the Producers's edition, or the Signature Bundle.

[@novideosatallyet6453]

Does anyone know the name of the percussion instruments used at 3:36? I don't actually have Damage, so I was wondering if I could find a sample of the instrument(s) used.

[@AlexMoukala]

I don't remember well but I think it was damage. It's a hand drum of some sorts.

[@novideosatallyet6453]

@@AlexMoukala ah ok, thanks anyway. Do you happen to know of any free VSTs or sample libraries similar to Damage or VSTs/libraries of cinematic percussion in general? Free because I don't have money to spend haha.

[@nerden456]

what program is that?

[@simonarchibald103]

Hey Alex, I was wondering how you recorded your computer screen for videos. Thanks

[@AlexMoukala]

I use Xsplit. :)

[@randomchannel9778]

Where did you find these samples?

[@jay-vproduction7485]

Hey, What drum pack is it ?

[@VFXCommander]

How can I send you the links to get your feedback on my tracks?

[@AlexMoukala]

On the contact section of my website: alexmoukala.com/#contact

[@guilhermereis7811]

what vst did you used for the guitar at 3:16 ?

[@stewrock5919]

where do you get the transition effects? or do you create those?

[@stewrock5919]

like the three sounds at the beginning of the track

[@AlexMoukala]

Boom Library Cinematic Trailers Designed, Audio Imperia Scenes From The Multiverse

[@stewrock5919]

Alex Moukala thank you fantastic. work as always

[@Michael_H_Nielsen]

is LASS the staccato cello library your are using?

[@AlexMoukala]

LASS !

[@J7o7s7e7p7h]

Hey Alex Which Program do u use to compose this piece?

[@AlexMoukala]

That's FL Studio.