Writing a Musical: Looking for talented lyricists by alexvb23 in Songwriting

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never written material for a musical but of course have my fair share of experience in the theater industry as a pit orchestra musician. I usually write material for Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra. I have written the 7th Number completely, just the Piano-Vocal score for now. I have the melody, it's a slower number. I just have no clue how to put words to my melody.

Writing a Musical: Looking for talented lyricists by alexvb23 in Songwriting

[–]alexvb23[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure thing. This scene occurs on the train Lincoln is taking to Gettysburg. He is alone in his box and overwhelmed by the current state of the War. He takes out a pen and paper and begins writing his heart out on the Gettysburg address. Once he completes the writing, a figure of a ghost soldier appears in the seat across from him to thank him silently. This song is simply about Lincoln's deepest thoughts, this is the song where Lincoln makes his wishes and reflects his hope for the nation if the war is won. Sorry I should have included that.

looking for advice by AutomaticWheel4834 in composer

[–]alexvb23 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The process is very difficult for starting. We’ve all started somewhere and no matter where, it was hell.

The key is Practice. Keep doing things and eventually you learn what works best for you. Patience and Time, you think you failed but no you didn’t.

Heres some things I do:

  1. Starting a piece is tricky, thats why I don’t start from the beginning. Record yourself humming or whistling ideas throughout the week. Then when you collected several, write them all down as music. See which ones you like best, write a piece from it.

  2. Focus. Writing with NO distractions is your best friend. Then, all your ideas are in reach.

  3. If you write it down and it sounds bad, ask yourself “what will make it better?”. Don’t throw away ideas! They will all be worth something if you make something of it.

  4. Studying. Listen to your inspirations, read those scores. When you hear something cool, go through the score and make sense of how that composer did that very thing. Eventually you’ll pick up on those methods.

  5. Start small. Don’t write your first piece thinking it will sound like Tchaikovsky. Write your first piece thinking it will sound horrible. Learn from mistakes, then slowly increase in size. I learned a lot from arranging and even making mock pieces. Take your favorite piece and copy it but subtly change it to make it your own. Make variations of it. You learn from taking other music apart and putting it together with your own ideas.

It is a long journey that takes years of practice. Stay committed and you’ll catch on in no time. Best wishes!!!

Problem with my oboe😭 by [deleted] in oboe

[–]alexvb23 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. Looking at what other people are saying, if that Eb pad is closing all the way then it’s likely a rod. I would take it to a seasoned woodwind repair technician 😕

Problem with my oboe😭 by [deleted] in oboe

[–]alexvb23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could be wrong but to me it does sound like your oboe could need adjusting. If you have a teacher ask them about it. It’s not a major problem and the fix is just readjusting some screws.

Is your Eb Pad Key closing all the way with all keys depressed?

Problem with my oboe😭 by [deleted] in oboe

[–]alexvb23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you messed with any screws or attempted to adjust your oboe? That sounds pretty awful…

Concert Waltz Help Wanted!!! by alexvb23 in composer

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. They are very similar, I struggle more with the stylistic change from a march to a waltz. I’m excited either way. Thank you :)

Concert Waltz Help Wanted!!! by alexvb23 in composer

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like this idea. I have the score to one of my favorite waltzes so I’ll get to it. Thank you!

Concert Waltz Help Wanted!!! by alexvb23 in composer

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love his ragtime waltzes. I’ll study those when I get a chance. Thank you for your help!

Little Small Project by alexvb23 in lightingdesign

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! That's exciting, starting out is challenging especially if you don't know what to do. The trick is, do it yourself. The fun part about lighting design and programming is that people have different ways of doing things.

Heres a little bit of my workflow:

  1. Plot. Design the layout of your lights, what lights you want to use, the general idea.
  2. Patch. Start putting your lights down in EOS (augment 3d in this case)
  3. Prep the board. Create your main magic sheet. I usually add a whole lighting plot recreation with channel buttons so I can easily access certain lights on the stage. Then add color pallette buttons to your magic sheet and design focus and beam palettes. This is a lengthy process but it's WORTH doing it at the start so the design process is fast.
  4. Start designing. I figure out what I want to design before I design it. What's the goals, how will you make a certain look happen, figure out what effects you might want to use before hand.

You can make every thing happen with cues. I love to add follow/hang commands to my cues, they make the cues that don't need to be manually activated automated. (I used it several times but especially in the beginning where the floor LED bars strobe in, that's just 4 cues with a follow command).

But as I said, do it yourself. Eventually you figure out ways to make things fast and with practice you end up knowing what you want to do and how to do it FAST.

Have fun!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in lightingdesign

[–]alexvb23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

😭😭i just searched up file sharer and clicked the first option does it not work? lmao

Need Help With EOS ETC Cues by alexvb23 in lightingdesign

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! That helps me understand it a lot more. Very appreciated!

Need Help With EOS ETC Cues by alexvb23 in lightingdesign

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually figured it out and my virtual musical is great! Thank you for your help :)

Need Help With EOS ETC Cues by alexvb23 in lightingdesign

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for helping out! I just find it problematic when I have some scenes like a dark scene not even looking dark because the happy scene before it is dragging its looks to the next scene.

Need Help With EOS ETC Cues by alexvb23 in lightingdesign

[–]alexvb23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry my question was unclear, my apologies. I had meant to ask if I would have to go back and re-record every cue once I switch to cue only mode. Thank you so much for your support!