Film Music and Video Sound Course

The Film Music and Video Soundtrack Course is in Rome and is semiannual. It is a new, innovative and complete didactic proposal in the educational panorama of film music and music applied to other audiovisual forms, the only one with Official Midiware Certification.

Duration of the course: from January to June 2021.

The Film Music and Video Soundtrack Course is in Rome, is biannual and is coordinated and held by a large staff of exceptional teachers, including Renato Marengo (historic record producer and talent discoverer, journalist, author and radio host of “Demo”, for Rai Radio 1, director of the monthly Cinecorriere and of the Cinevox Contest “L’Immagine del Suono”) and Vincenzo Ramaglia (composer, teacher of audiovisual language, among the greatest Italian experts in teaching music applied to images). Some of the numerous teachers of the course have released interviews on their modules: the interviews can be viewed here.

There are many aspects that make this course an unedited, innovative, complete and unique teaching proposal in the educational panorama of film music and music applied to other audiovisual forms, also for the opportunities of direct contact with the realities of the sector.

– First of all, it is the only one with Official Midiware Educational Certification. What does this mean for students? Simple: at the same time an exclusive guarantee of technical / didactic seriousness and an unrivaled reference (black on white on the end of course certificates) by the first and most important Italian reality of import and distribution of music software and hardware, an authority undisputed in the field of Computer Music and its teaching (dedicated to the training of teachers even before students). Needless to say, between Griffith students and Midiware there will be conventions, preferential channels and substantial educational facilities in the mare magnum of products nowadays essential for any musician.

– For the first time a revolutionary bifurcation appears in two Addresses (one Orchestral and one Electronic) which finally makes it possible to welcome students both from conservatories and academies, and from the world of producers and performers of electronic music, DJs, bands, musicians from various backgrounds, experimenters, talented self-taught.

THE ORCHESTRAL ADDRESS (edited by Vincenzo Ramaglia, but with specific insights by Stefano Maccagno, music teacher for silent cinema, film music teacher, pianist and official composer of the National Cinema Museum of Turin) is in fact dedicated to composers and to musicians who want to learn or perfect the art of developing scores on images.
THE ELECTRONIC ADDRESS (edited by a real reference point of electronic music and analog synthesis: Enrico Cosimi) is instead conceived for producers, performers, musicians and groups who have an approach to music not mediated by writing on staff, as well as by composers eager to expand their sound background in the electronic field. Not only that, but the Management will encourage those who have the desire and requirements to follow both directions at double frequency, with the consequent increase in the number of hours. Everyone will work according to the method most suited to their background, but at the same time they will have the opportunity to deal with musicians of different backgrounds and to expand their skills exponentially (which is really valuable in the field of applied music!).

– The Film Music and Video Soundtrack Course is organized by the Griffith Academy of Cinema and Television (initiative of the Hiram srl production company), which – with its Director, Screenwriting, Photography and Editing Courses – trains professionals in the various sectors of cinema and television, and produces their first works during the Academic Year. This means that on the one hand the students of the Film Music and Video Sound Course will develop contacts with future generations of filmmakers, on the other they will experience their first audiovisual collaborations, directly sounding the first exercises and the first short films of the students of the other courses. This preferential channel between the music of the students of the Film Music and Video Soundtrack Course and the short films of the students of the cine-television courses represents a great novelty and is a fundamental point of the educational program and its objectives, of which it constitutes an essential added value.

– It follows that in this course to compose music for cinema there will be very little chatter and many facts. The structure, almost exclusively laboratory, provides painstaking and tireless work on images, on DAWs (under the guidance of Silvio Relandini themselves, among the best experts in computer science and new musical technologies applied to cinema, and Stefano Maccagno), on scores and software of musical notation, on Enrico Cosimi’s arsenal (which ranges between Moog, Korg, Roland, Arturia, Acidlab, Doepfer, Buchla, Electronic Music Studios, Strymon, Electro Harmonix and NI Reaktor, Massive and Absynth software), on recording, syncing, editing, mixing and mastering (under the guidance of Leandro Piccioni, master of film music, director of important orchestras in Italy and Europe, pianist and historical keyboard player of Ennio Morricone) …

– There will be numerous meetings with masters and well-known professionals of cinema and film music, many of which suggested by an exceptional partner, who offers support, promotion and an important network of contacts to the Film Music and Video Soundtrack Course. and his students: the Cinevox Record, the historic film music label of Morricone, Piccioni, Gaslini, Auric, Goblin, Emerson, Wyman, Trovajoli, Umiliani, Piovani, Rota, Carpi, Cipriani, Ortolani, Rustichelli, Lurie and many others . Including the famous soundtracks of “Giù la testa”, “Investigation of a citizen above all suspicions”, “Put, one evening at dinner” (Ennio Morricone), “Adua and his companions” (Piero Piccioni) and of numerous films signed by horror masters such as Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento. Including: “The bird with Crystal feathers” and “Four flies of gray velvet” (Ennio Morricone), and the timeless soundtrack of Goblin, legendary Italian rock band, for “Profondo rosso”, “Suspiria”, “Phenomena” , “Darkness”, “I’m not sleepy”.

– During the lessons, guests of clear fame, such as Stelvio Cipriani (composer), Franco Bixio (film music editor, composer), Manetti Bros (directors), Paolo Logli (screenwriter), Michelangelo La Neve are regularly invited to speak. (writer), Vince Tempera (composer), Massimo Nunzi (composer), Marco Testoni (music supervisor), Paolo Zefferi (RaiNews24 journalist), Davide Marengo (director), Carlo Principini (producer), Andrea Guerra (composer), Fabio Frizzi (composer), Claudio Simonetti (composer – Goblin), Alessandro Pondi (writer), Nicola Piovani (composer), Luis Bakalov (composer), Piernicola Di Muro (composer), Marco Dentici (set designer), Ciccio Merolla (composer), Laura Delli Colli (film critic, writer), Italo Moscati (director, writer), Giancarlo Passarella (MusicalNews director, writer), Giulio Tedeschi (music publisher, record producer), Toni Esposito (com positor), Eugenio Bennato (composer) and many others … So the student will have the real opportunity to collect important and real business contacts, to be exploited for professional opportunities at the end of the course.

– Furthermore, Griffith weaves a relationship of close synergy with Have a Sync, a prestigious company that provides musical content and user licenses through its authoritative and revolutionary platform, as well as with the Cinevox Academy, a new training reality in the sector to which students will have access – through a preferential lane – once their path to Griffith has been completed.

– The Film Music and Video Soundtrack course makes use of a dense network of respectable Partners, including (in addition to those mentioned): IITM – Italian Institute for Musical Technologies, Radio Città Futura, Cinecorriere, Musicalnews, ColonneSonore. Net (the main Italian site on film music), Dino Audino Editore, Udu Records, Le Cool Roma, Fonderie Sonore (well-known Roman school for electronic music producers who will take care of the audio postproduction of the best works), the IUC (University Institution dei Concerti, La Sapienza University of Rome) and many others …

– The precious collaboration with the National Cinema Museum of Turin is also a boast of the Corso, which makes available to Griffith, so that students can play it, a short film (between 5 and 15 minutes) of the Ten Years. The students of the last edition of the course were rewarded with an important recognition: the publication of the music composed for the films of the Film Library within the official Vimeo channel of the National Cinema Museum!

– Another highlight of the course is the collaboration with Estemporanea – Art, Music, Theater, an association that organizes specialization courses in the sector affiliated with the Film Music and Video soundtrack course, as well as brings Griffith musicians of great value to reveal to students the secrets of the individual instruments of the orchestra;

– Finally, excellent partners of the Film Music and Video Soundtracking Course will be real orchestras, ensembles, chamber ensembles, associations and institutions dedicated to the organization of concerts and shows, which will enhance and promote the most deserving works to which students will give life. By way of example: the Opera Orchestra conducted by Massimo Nunzi (well-known composer, arranger, musicologist and trumpeter, among the most authoritative voices of the orchestral arrangement and jazz) will arrange and perform live the soundtracks that will be judged at the end of the course most deserving; She Lives (cultural association founded by Fabiana Piersanti and Guido Barbieri, historical voice of the Rai Radio 3 music programs, created to raise public awareness and institutions to the art music of our time), believing that all the music that belongs to the contemporary world authentically interpret the present tense without distinction of gender and belonging, it will assign a special mention to the work that best combines the encounter between the expressive peculiarities of video and those of music, with the possibility of inclusion in one’s artistic programming; the Cabiria Ensemble, the Pessoa & Leandro Piccioni Quartet, Stefano Maccagno’s Wo-man ensemble, the Fiarì Ensemble, the Skrjabin Trio, Music Without Future and other chamber groups, bands, orchestras will evaluate the students’ work, with the possibility to perform the most deserving within a concert and / or a recording studio.

COMMON MATERIALS
1) Vademecum of the composer / producer of music applied to images.

Teacher: Renato Marengo.

The module will deepen (bringing them directly to class!) The professional figures who deal with the different declinations of audiovisual soundtrack and in particular of film music, providing examples, notions and advice from a historical, artistic, working, deontological, practical, commercial point of view , promotional, legal, economic.

Program:

examples of the inseparable relationship between images and sounds
the professions of cinema and their relationship with the figure of the composer of film music
the professions involved in the relationship between sound and image: musician, composer, arranger, adapter, director, producer, publisher, music supervisor, screenwriter, editor, television journalist, etc.
the role of the writer and director in the choice of the author of the soundtrack or of the songs characterizing the historical period, action, etc.
problems and suggestions regarding the relationship between composer and director
music for images or images for music? Considerations on a specific case, the Cinevox Contest, and on its meaning
soundtrack from silent films (for example “Napoleon” to “Metropolis”) to sound films (for example “Limelight”)
musical comedies, great musicals, musical films, musical shorts
“The Wall” (Pink Floyd) by Alan Parker, “The Rocky Horror Show” by Richard O’Brien, “Tommy” by Ken Russel, “Jesus Christ Superstar” by Norman Jewison, “Hair” by Milos Forman, “The Ghost of the stage “by Brian De Palma, the” Macbeth “by Roman Polanski
the video clip: where images are … serving music
“Thriller” by Michael Jackson
documentaries, acronyms, promos and commercials
the relationship between music and image outside the video
evolution of images in music: the covers of musical scores (graphics, futurism, deco, librety, etc.), the covers of discs between Pop Art, photography and real works of art

live photos, significant photos, music videos, video clips, jukeboxes, advertisements
examples of musicians who become directors: from John Carpenter (“Escape from New York”), Rob Zombie (“The house of 100 bodies” and other horror films) and David Byme (“True Stories”), to local cases (Ligabue and Zampaglione )
identification of the professional figure of the film music composer, of his rights and duties
music applied to images is not only film music: the professional outlets of the musician within other audiovisual forms
the first steps of the music composer for images in the world of work
the promotion of oneself and one’s work
film music and press office
music in relation to the film and television industry
the role of cinematographic music in the launch of a film
music for images and record market
music for images and SIAE: the copyright attached to the soundtracks
music for cinema: composition vs music consultancy
when music becomes repertoire: music licensing for synchronizations
not all the music of a film is original: dynamics necessary for the acquisition of synchronization licenses on repertoire music tracks for various types of video projects (films, commercials, TV series, trailers, showreels, etc.)
main sector problems and solutions proposed by the “Have a Sync” platform
find effective content, respect deadlines, re-enter the budget, obtain clearance of rights
identify the ideal piece for a video project starting from a description by qualitative parameters (genre, mood, style and instrumentation)
obtain the necessary permits for the use of a piece of music, publishing rights and master rights, pieces in the public domain, license agreements, difficulties related to the identification of those entitled and to negotiation
the right compensation in relation to the budget of the film: in Italy and in the rest of the world
how much does film music cost in Italy?
alternatives from digital and foreign formations
information on the Cinevox catalog
considerations on different formulas of adhesion of a composer to specific audiovisual projects
MEETINGS WITH MASTERS AND PROFESSIONALS of cinema and film music

2) Analysis of the functions of sound and music in cinematic sequences

Teacher: Vincenzo Ramaglia.

The objective of this module – based on the audiovisual analysis of numerous cinematographic sequences – is on the one hand the sensitization of the student to the vital, dynamic and essential role of sound and music in the cinematographic language, on the other the identification and deepening of principles and techniques that make the relationship between the sound and visual levels of cinema functional and effective, from both an aesthetic and expressive point of view.
The sound will gain ever deeper and more complex functions than the subordinate and passive one of accompanying, supporting, supporting, illustrating the visual course. It will be able to subvert the visual message, that is, to give images an added value, a new sense, both by opposing them and by emancipating themselves from them.

Program:

in, off and over
the “invisible mystical gulf”
unreality, ambiguity and absurd diegetics
genesis of asynchronism
parallelism and counterpoint
the theory of “synchronic relativity”
the advantages of diachronic analysis
over empathy and diegetic anempathy
anempathy and isolation of the character
anempathy and suspense
latent counterpoints in anemphatic combinations
music as a pretext, matter and dimension
film without diéghesis
playful delay of the story
playful suspension of the story
playful conclusion of the story
the value of silence in the sound film
diegetic and over silence, relative and absolute
tragic, dreamlike, comic and absurd silence
one exception: absolute diegetic silence
audiovisual analysis of the short films made in the Academy

3) IT tools at the service of applied music

Teachers: Silvio Relandini, Stefano Maccagno and Enrico Cosimi.

The module will enable each student to be able to use their own sequencing software in all its potential, aiming it at the best performing synchronization between compositional work and video.

Program:

overview of the most popular DAWs
Steinberg Cubase and its optimization for the creation of soundtracks: programming and midi techniques, use of sound libraries, virtual orchestration (Silvio Relandini)
The synths of Ableton Live (Enrico Cosimi)
Apple Logic Pro and its optimization for the creation of soundtracks (Stefano Maccagno)
Other DAWs and their optimization for the creation of soundtracks
analysis of students’ autonomous workstations and resolution of any technical problems
exercises and general tests

4) Sound system for film sequences

Teacher: Vincenzo Ramaglia.

The module consists of a series of exercises assigned weekly by the teacher. Each student, every week, will be given a file containing a cinematic sequence to be independently sounded. Collective analysis, class commentary and further work will be an integral part of the lessons.
5) Elements of recording, syncing, editing, mixing and mastering audio aimed at cinema and television (LESSONS / SESSIONS IN THE RECORDING STUDIO).

Teacher: Leandro Piccioni.

spatialization of a soundtrack according to the multichannel audio coding system of the film
syncing, editing and mixing according to the images and other sounds of the film
my music is ready: and now?
how to deliver your work
mastering and audio formats required by the mix room of a production and post-production company
sound editing elements

6) Laboratory on the scores and / or tracks developed on video exercises and short films of the Griffith Academy of Cinema and Television.

Teacher: Vincenzo Ramaglia.

This module represents the final goal of the course. The subject of the laboratory will be the students’ own musical proposals for video exercises and short films that will be assigned to them and that will have to be soundtracked. These proposals will be developed through an enrichment and refinement of the tools available, carried out by the modules of both addresses (see below).
The musical ideas – be they chamber / orchestral scores or acoustic / electronic tracks – will be analyzed, corrected, perfected, functionalized and synchronized with the images of the audiovisual works assigned, through hard work on the pieces.

ORCHESTRAL ADDRESS

Orchestration elements aimed at interacting with images, music notation software (Finale and Sibelius) and their optimization for the creation of soundtracks.

Teachers: Vincenzo Ramaglia, Stefano Maccagno and Silvio Relandini.

The module is aimed at composers who follow or have followed the conservatory or other academic courses (classic or experimental), as well as any musician who has acquired, through other paths (also within the course itself), adequate skills related to written music and to the instrumental idioms of the classical orchestra: the work will take place on the scores.

ELECTRONIC ADDRESS

Analog & digital sound design.

Teacher: Enrico Cosimi.

The module is aimed at producers and performers of electronic music, DJs, musicians from the most varied backgrounds, experimenters, enthusiasts, composers who wish to expand their sound baggage in the electronic field, also (but not only) according to the versatility required by the professional figure of the composer / producer of applied music.
Through a laboratory carried out directly on an arsenal of analog machines chosen specifically by the teacher for their functionality to the training path, the module on the one hand will transmit complete skills on analog synthesis and on timbre production regardless of use in the audiovisual sector, from the the other will integrate these skills by offering some ideas aimed at application in the film music sector.

Program:

– Evolution of electronic musical instruments: from the experiments of Theremin, Trautwein and Martenot to Tape Music and, beyond, from the birth of the synthesizer to the adoption of the micro processor. Consequences on creativity, production, performance and film music, linked to the increase in technological possibilities.

– Synthesizer: basic concepts for its “manipulation”. Differences between hardware and software systems, between modular, semi modular and integrated structures; mono timbral and poly timbral behaviors; polyphony and monophony. Hardware and software virtual analog behavior. Software: stand-alone and plug-in systems; DAW and performative organization structures.

– The main synthesis techniques: subtractive synthesis behavior, for FM, AM, RM modulations, for physical modeling. Operation organization for sound sources (oscillators, external signals, noise generators), signal modifiers (filters, mixers, amplifiers, delay lines, non-linear treatments, frequency shifter and pitch shifter), control sources (keyboard, step sequencer , envelope, lfo), control modifiers (logical operators, sample & hold, track & hold, dividers). Functional organization for tonal production, performance and electronic production. Management of digital audio signals under sound granulation and sampling.

– Production of timbres with an emotional impact for static, rhythmic, percussive, melodic, harmonic and effective use. Sound design and organization of electronic production for multimedia performance and sound reinforcement.

Educational materials: an analog arsenal that ranges between Moog, Korg, Roland, Arturia, Acidlab, Doepfer, Buchla, Electronic Music Studios, Strymon, Electro Harmonix machines. To which are added the N.I. (Massive, Reaktor and Absynth) and Arturia.