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Monthly news items, video links and blog on the Frans Absil Music website
News Archive 2024
December 2024: 5,000 YouTube subscribers, a new tutorial and closing the Patreon account.
On November 16, 2024 I reached the number of 5,000 subscribers on
my YouTube channel with video tutorials on music composition and arranging techniques.
See the full list of
YouTube videos here (descriptions and links). Since the tutorial set on the Schillinger System of Musical Composition has been growing significantly, there now is a PDF document in the
Document Library that will help you with where to start watching.
The above number of subscribers was reached after uploading a fresh video tutorial:
Orchestral Continuity from Melodic Form and Polychord Harmony (20:36).
This music composition tutorial is based on two musical source elements: melodic motifs and a two-layer triadic polychord progression. The almost four-minute long full composition is in five sections that demonstrate melody variations and different instrumental forms.
I will terminate the Patreon account by Jan 1, 2025 for several reasons. 1): I feel unable to maintain reader interest. Neither can I think of further benefits for my Patrons. 2): For more than a decade I have been creating YouTube tutorials and trying to keep the Schillinger System legacy alive. Episodes have become more elaborate over time. With over 100 tutorials and an average of 50-100 hours to produce the videos, plus 20-30 hours to create the companion documents, I must have invested almost 10,000 hours on content creation. Typical numbers of views per episode after a year lie around 1,000 with average view duration somewhat below 4 minutes (22% of length). Producing tutorials at a monthly rate seems irrational; the video channel simply has insufficient relevance. 3): I tried to build a supporter fanbase on Patreon, but failed. I am proud to find that some of you have demonstrated appreciation for my work. But the number of one-month subscribers, paying 3 Euros, then download over 700 document pages and cancel, I consider theft and an insult; a mechanism that Patreon does not prevent. This disgusting behaviour is wearing me out. I will add the companion documents to the webshop. For incidental or periodic financial support you may still use the PayPal/Credit Card Donate button (top of page).
August 2024: Chromatic Harmonization of a Chromatic Melody tutorial series.
Watch the set of two video tutorials on
Schillinger Chromatic Harmonization of a Chromatic Melody (Book 6, Chapter 3 from his System of Musical Composition):
Part 1 The Fundamentals (21:11), and
Part 2 Orchestral Composition Example (23:58).
Learn this specific harmonization approach for a given melody. In Part 1 you'll see an overview of the essential elements of the chromatic system of harmony and a demonstration of the two-step harmonization process. Part 2 is an application example: a four-minute orchestral composition.
You'll find this and more video tutorials on the
YouTube channel. See the list of
YouTube videos here (descriptions and links). Since the tutorial set on the Schillinger System of Musical Composition has been growing significantly, I do get questions about where to start watching. There now is a PDF document in the website
Document Library that will help you answer this question.
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June 2024: SWAM Solo Strings and TouchOSC Controllers
Audio Modeling released the v3.7.3 update of the SWAM instruments in April 2024.
Therefore, the time was right to replace my earlier Solo Strings YouTube video from April 2021.
In
SWAM instruments playing Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and Ravel string quartet excerpts (20:20) you'll hear how these model-based virtual instruments perform in well-known classical music string quartet phrases. I recorded these with Akai EWI and MIDI controller keyboard. The details and performance evaluation are in the video.
The Hexler TouchOSC app was used to develop more MIDI controllers for my virtual instrument and sample library collection.
There was a bug in the VSL Synchronised Dimension Strings controller; correcting the error implied an opportunity to improve this controller and make it more complete. On my to-do list was the replacement of the old Lemur controller for the Ample Sound guitar collection. It is nearly finished and now also includes the three bass instruments.
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April 2024: Harmonization of a Diatonic Melody tutorial series completed
The YouTube tutorial series on
Schillinger Harmonization of a Diatonic Melody (Book 6, Chapter 3 from his System of Musical Composition) is complete with two more episodes.
These are successors to the two first episodes on the diatonic melody and the diatonic harmonization technique, respectively.
In
Part 3 Chromatic Harmonization (37:50) you'll learn about the single chromatic alteration operation, the parallel double operations, overlapping and coincidental chord groups, and how to modify an existing diatonic chord progression.
In the final episode,
Part 4 Symmetric Harmonization (31:32), we use members from the S13 chord structure family (chords in thirds) to harmonise the melody and evaluate the result. You'll find examples in various musical styles. The companion document with text, diagrams and score fragments is ready and available
in the Webshop >> (PDF, 70 pages).
You'll find this video in the YouTube music composition techniques playlist. See the list of YouTube video tutorials (descriptions and links).
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January 2024: Schillinger Harmonization of a Diatonic Melody tutorials
Happy New Year! I wish everyone a healthy, prosperous and creative year 2024. Hopefully there is a more peaceful year ahead of us. We could do with that, as the condition of the planet requires more attention to a set of long term and very serious problems. Thank you for the support for my music education efforts over the last years.
I started a four-part YouTube tutorial series on Schillinger Harmonization of a Diatonic Melody,
a subject presented in his System of Musical Composition, Book 6, Chapter 3, on the correlation of harmony and melody. In my series I discuss the three alternative harmonization approaches: diatonic, chromatic and symmetric. Thus far I have finished and uploaded
Part 1 The Melody (20:55), and
Part 2 Diatonic Harmonization (36:27).
These tutorials cover the fundamentals and contain a set of examples.