Compose Thrilling Orchestral Runs

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WHO AM I?
Hey there! I'm Zach - full-time media composer, passionate online educator, and obsessive coffee roaster. Through my YouTube channel, weekly newsletter, and online courses, I'll teach you how to grow as a composer so you can make cool music and spend your life doing what you love.

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[ZachHeyde]

Want more free music tips? Check out my 5-step film scoring guide here!

[wildflute]

A small note from an actual instrumentalist: choose the scales based on how we actually play and learn our fundamentals and not by whether it’s symmetrical on a keyboard. ‘Octatonic scale’ is a diminished scale and we do work on those but for gawdsake, unless it’s strictly necessary harmonically, use chromatic or the basic diatonic scale the piece is in. It does not enrich my life to have to flare my tendinitis over a twee scale decided by computer and not by understanding of how instrumentalists function. We are humans not robots. Make fast things predictable because most of the time we have one rehearsal at best to nail these things. I will add that the orchestration suggestions here are spot on. Thank you for listening to my TEDTalk!

[FishOscine]

THIS IS A BLOODY MASTERCLASS!!!
I've spent 2 hours on this video alone, pausing, trying, replaying. Thank you!

[jimrogers]

The descending runs are very reminiscent of what Carl Stalling did in Warner Brothers cartoon scores. It gave me pause to smile at how this technique evokes the speed of a chase. Great video! Thanks!!

[anatomicallymodernhuman]

Super helpful to have it broken out like this! I absolutely love that last example. It took me right back to watching the old Warner Bros cartoons as a kid.

One thing that many of your viewers may not be aware of is that you can’t just write octatonic for harp willy-nilly. They’re limited to seven pitch classes per octave. You can write it for two harps, omit one of the notes, or live with a virtual harp sound.

[KontramanN]

Bassoonist here- velocity wise that's no problem at all. 7:08 The bassoon is a much more versatile instrument than you would expect. Very often people are not daring enough with using the bassoon resulting in boring to play parts.
Anyway- great content!

[emilyrln]

This is really useful! I've only ever written melodies, harmony, and basic accompaniment (chords and arpeggios lol), but I've been branching out more recently and this is exactly the sort of info that helps me incorporate more complexity into my music. Excellent video! You've earned my sub 😊

[BrianMagnan]

Awesome video. As someone who is still learning the subtle nuances of orchestral scoring this was an awesome learning experience.

[LG-bisr]

Stuff like this are so valuable. It can bring so much energy to your piece and also function as a link between modes or keys or sections. Great work!

[lionmane]

absolutely love the orchestration in every one of these examples, great job

[JustKevVideoStorage]

I've struggled to find a good runs video forever, and then this video just shows up in my sidebar. This is everything I needed. Thank you!

[electronicheart]

6:04 I recognize this sound from some parts of the soundtrack of Monsters Inc, one of my favorite soundtracks. It’s amazing to learn how compositional techniques are similar between different composers, yet with each composer’s own style.

[LoneWolfAudio]

I've always wanted to learn to do runs like this. I've always just used patches in my VSTS, but this video was really helpful in explaining how to actually DO them. You did a great job explaining and I can't wait to go and try it myself.

[DmitriPchelintsevComposer]

I was going to write that octatonic scale gliss is impossible to play on a harp, but then I've noticed that you've omitted the Db 😁

[TheSoundConnoisseur]

The first example with the run going downwards, I had to listen to that 100 times. It was beautifully done.

[captainbeastazoid]

Great video! I have a bachelor's in composition and I wish the professors at my university were this clear and succinct.

[ckm]

One of the best orchestration videos I’ve ever watched

[TheSoundConnoisseur]

Do you want to know what really baffles me ?that I’ve only seen two of your videos, and I already want to subscribe to your premium. I have never even considered this with anyone else. But I’ll pay the price for what you’re teaching. Somehow Grasps my mind perfectly.

[kell_]

I had the sparkle, chord, and melody but I needed some woodwind flourish and had no idea where to start, this helps so much!

[AngadUday]

One of the most precise videos about runs. Thank you for this!