Alex Moukala Tutorials

Hey gang!
I'll be teaching a class during the Composer Summit in Prague this April!
My class will focus on Social Media Strategies for Composers. I'll share mindsets and strategies that have changed my career, and that led me to work with many of the clients I collaborated with, and many dream projects, including an official God of War Ragnarok Remix album, an Attack on Titan videogame, and plenty of other stuff.
I'll also be talking about insights from other musicians and composers who've had their careers changed by social media and how they've done that.
If you're attending the Composers Summit, I hope to see you there!

I personally went last year as a student, and what I learnt there from people like Conrad Pope (John Williams's Orchestrator!), Jesper Kyd, Chris Egan & plenty more changed my music forever.
If you're at a stage of your career where you've got all the basics figured out, and want to take a quantum leap forward in terms of skills, and also expand your network, I highly recommend you to consider going, as the event will not only feature legendary composers who will teach a lot, but will also include music supervisors who work in the film, advertisement & gaming industries, and who are on the lookout for new talent!

In case you're interested, this is the event:
composers-summit.com/

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1 year ago | [YT] | 153

Alex Moukala Tutorials

Hey gang!
Hope you're well. For those of you who are still sifting through Black Friday Sample Library deals and are indecisive of what to buy, I thought I may share some of my personal favorites.

One thing to keep in mind when buying libraries is: art is subjective. Just because a sample library has immaculate design, has great marketing and everybody talks about it, it doesn't automatically mean it'll be a great purchase for you. The best sample libraries are the ones that help you achieve your own unique musical goals and craft the sound that's in your head.
For example, personally, for me, ever since I moved a bit away from writing music for trailers and started writing music mostly for several games, all of which are entirely different in style, the way I write music changed drastically, and so I find myself buying libraries I would've never looked at before. And libraries that would've appealed to me before are kind of useless.
Your journey is unique to you, so arm yourself with the tools that will take you where you personally want to go.

How to tell if a sample library is for you? Listen to the demos, watch reviews, do research, read their manuals before you buy them so you get an idea of their strong points, weak points, and what articulations they feature (very important!).
Also, it's always best to aim at libraries and plugins that are great at something that your current tools are unable to do well by design.

With that out of the way, here's my very personal list of libraries / plugins / resources that changed the game for me, in my journey, which are currently discounted due to Black Friday. I expect most of these deals may run out soon tho!

0) Freebie: Magic7 Reverb
This reverb hits different. It's an emulation of the famous Bricasti M7. I just got it and I wish I had it years ago for how good it sounds.
- www.wavealchemy.co.uk/product/magic7/

1) Audio Imperia Chorus
Simply put, the most powerful and easiest to use choir library I ever tried. They also have a lite edition which is even cheaper
- www.audioimperia.com/product/chorus/
- www.audioimperia.com/product/chorus-lite-edition/

2) AVA Prism Retro Pop Drums
This sample pack and library was designed by one of the most talented sound designers I've ever encountered.
It's a staple of my sound now whenever I write on something electronic, and it's one of those libraries that actively taught me a lot about music production thanks to its construction kits.
- avamusicgroup.com/products/prism-retro-pop-drums

3) Heavyocity Damage 2
A great sequel to one of the most iconic percussion libraries ever. Hard hitting but still quite organic.
- heavyocity.com/product/damage-2/?srsltid=AfmBOoreI…

4) Woodchester Piano
My favorite way to bring atmosphere to a track.
- fracturesounds.com/product/woodchester-piano/

5) AmpleSound Chinese Woodwind Libraries
I'm shooting myself in the foot by recommending these to be honest. They're a bit of a secret weapon of mine that I've been using lately.
Would be cool to see more wind libraries based on the same approach as these.
- www.amplesound.net/en/index.asp

6) GetGood Drums Modern & Massive
Amazing drumkit. I found that using drumkits as a main rhythm carrier in orchestral music, instead of trailer percussion, can give it way more energy and a more interesting vibe. But I also use this library a lot for writing rock and metal music also.
For people who have no idea how to write for drums, GetGood Drums also has a whole bunch of cool MIDI packs created by some formidable drummers.
- www.getgooddrums.com/collections/homepage-collecti…

7) Metropolis Ark 1
If you heard my music, you surely heard it in action. I use this thing almost all of the time. They're not joking when they call it the "Monumental Orchestra". Small tip if you use this, try to play around with the release knob in most patches, and using the Close mic more than the Ab. Carve out some of the mud with EQ or OTT on top and it'll make an already formidable library sound twice as good.
- www.orchestraltools.com/store/collections/metropol…

8) Metropolis Ark 3
This is awesome for adding rhythm and bite to your orchestrations. Focuses on short articulations and rhythmic phrases which sound very alive and expressive. And loud of course. I find myself using this all the time also.
- www.orchestraltools.com/store/collections/metropol…

9) Glory Days - Big Band Horns
This one is a bit niche, but definitely a kind of tool that opened a whole new world for me personally, giving me access to articulations I rarely found elsewhere.
Another set of libraries that gets close to this is the Swing! series by ProjectSAM.
- www.orchestraltools.com/store/collections/big-band…

10) FabFilter Pro-Q 3
Phenomenal EQ.
- www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-q-3-equalizer-plug-…

11) Gullfoss
Another great tool for mixing.
- www.soundtheory.com/gullfoss

12) The Evenant Courses
I talk about these in almost every video I make. They're great and they're varied!

13) My Orchestral Composing course on ArtMaster (use coupon "BF35")
This one is exclusively aimed at total beginners know close to nothing about how to write orchestral music and want to get started quick. If you feel lost when watching my tutorials and want something slower, simpler, and edited to be as concise as possible, this is the resource for you.
This is not for intermediate nor advanced composers who already write orchestral music.
- www.artmaster.com/course/orchestral-music-producti…

There's plenty of other great deals online from way more companies, and again, plenty of stuff that may fit your music more.
These are just things I personally recommend based on my own experience (and sound).

Now go and write some great music!

1 year ago | [YT] | 197

Alex Moukala Tutorials

What DAW are you writing orchestral music with?

2 years ago | [YT] | 63

Alex Moukala Tutorials

One of my favorite YouTube series is this show where different Composers score the same film scene in their own style, and then they react to each other’s music.
Pretty fun and educational!

I was recently a guest in one of the episodes and it’s finally out.
You can watch it here -> youtu.be/hDGFFkvT958

3 years ago | [YT] | 139

Alex Moukala Tutorials

Hey gang, Alex here!
For several years, some of you have been asking me for a resource to get started with making orchestral music from absolute 0.
For some of you, when you see this channel it makes you very excited about learning, but then my tutorials are too advanced, or too long, or you don't know what's the right order to follow them for you.
I finally decided to put together a resource to answer all that.
A series of succinct, highly edited, easy to understand fun video lessons, with the highest production value I could muster, aimed at guiding you from absolute zero to writing your first orchestral piece.
I put this online course as a collaboration together with the brand new online courses platform "ArtMaster", not as a competition to the already existing online courses from other schools, many of which I personally vouch for, but more as a missing piece.
This course is aimed solely at getting beginners started in the most efficient and least overwhelming way possible, and as such, it's much cheaper and concise than the rest.
If you're interested, you can get at www.artmaster.com/course/orchestral-music-producti…

I underline once again, this course is meant for beginners who want to get started.
So many of you here are so advanced that you don't need this.
If you're one of those people who want to make orchestral music and don't know where to begin instead, this is for you.
PS. Use coupon code ALEX20 for 20% off!

3 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 253

Alex Moukala Tutorials

I plan to make another tutorial soon where we'll look more into how to write Big Band Jazz, with ‪@Orchestral-Tools‬ Glory Days!
What questions do you have about writing Jazz music? (especially Big Band Jazz)

4 years ago | [YT] | 115

Alex Moukala Tutorials

What was the most mind-blowing Film Music / Trailer Music track of 2020 for you?

5 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 85

Alex Moukala Tutorials

Hey gang, happy new year!!
Hopefully 2021 will be the year when many musical dreams and ambitions come true.
I'm not posting here often lately, but I haven't stopped teaching music for a single second.
-
Check out this playlist of fast-paced, easier to digest tutorials on Videogame Music I made these past months on ‪@AlexMoukalaMusic‬ : youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT...

Some of these tracks will be the subject matter of longer tutorials here.
On top of that, I think I'll keep cranking those "4 Levels of Orchestral Music" videos.
Y'all seem to consume them more easily than the in-depth stuff which may be harder to digest.
We'll see!

5 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 660

Alex Moukala Tutorials

Next short Orchestration tutorial:

5 years ago | [YT] | 153

Alex Moukala Tutorials

My first Orchestration vs one of my Latest (2013 -> 2019).
Hear the difference here: www.instagram.com/p/CGQVtjsKeM9/

5 years ago | [YT] | 331