DONNIE THOMAS » Film, TV and Game Composing

Majestic Serenade

dthomas — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:13:50 +0000

This is a song that I composed about a year ago. I was actually working on setting up a film scoring template when this song was given to me. It is one of my favorites. It meshes the sound of a “Chamber Orchestra” with a few modern twists and turns. Enjoy!

Avatar Soundtrack

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:44:58 +0000

Some say that James Horner’s score for Avatar does not stand well on it’s own apart from the film. I felt the same way about the music while listening to the soundtrack before going to see the movie. After watching Avatar however, I had an entirely different opinion. It is not that the music does not stand well on it’s own, it is simply that it is PERFECT for the Avatar experience. Once you see this film the music really starts to make sense.

Now even when listening to the soundtrack apart from the film, I thoroughly enjoy the experience. As a matter of fact that is the perfect word to describe the soundtrack; “an experience”. That is exactly what Avatar is. It is not merely a film, but an in-depth almost interactive experience and the music is inexplicably tied to it, a lot like the alien world in the movie is connected to it’s inhabitants.

Cubase 5

dthomas — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:19:13 +0000

I finally started using Cubase 5 and I must say. I am very impressed with the software. Whoever came up with the idea for VST expression deserves much love. As a composer for film and other modern media, this tool is making my job exponentially easier. I even thought to myself that Steinberg must have had help from some of their celebrity customers, such as the well known film composer Mr. Hans Zimmer. The product is too well thought out not to have had input from working professional musicians and composers. It’s also important to me to note that I was using Cubase long before I ever even knew who Hans Zimmer was. So I am not simply using the software to be more like Hans.

So if you have been waiting to upgrade to the latest version of Cubase, I think now may be a good time to do it. Since last week, Steinberg has been offering free 30 day trial of Cubase 5 for those wanting to test the waters before making the leap. I highly recommend you check it out.

http://www.steinberg.net