ASMAC VIDEO ON-DEMAND

Chris Walden's master class from October 19th, 2013 "Arranging Big Band and Strings for Commercial Projects," was moderated by Chris Guardino and features works arranged for artists including Michael Buble, Rod Stewart, and his own jazz orchestra.

“Whenever I hear your music, I get the sudden urge to retire!” That’s what legendary Jazz arranger Sammy Nestico once said to our featured guest: Gordon Goodwin, GRAMMY-winning arranger, composer, musician and last but definitely not least, founder of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. In this first first of two parts, Gordon takes you on an exhilarating journey through the world of arranging for Big Band. Specifically, he recounts and analyzes the arrangements for his Big Phat Band around the re-recordings of existing tracks by Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. Discover how Gordon placed the instruments around the piano as to not intrude upon the Jazz giants’ work, how his live performance once brightened the day of Tatum’s widow who had been suffering from dementia, and which of his instruments he would save from a fire (and which other instruments are not so lucky). Hear him play tenor sax as well as piano and share the most important lessons he learned in his long and colorful career—lessons that, he acknowledges, have had a lasting effect on him as an arranger, a business owner and a human being. Goodwin’s ability to combine jazz excellence with any musical style makes his writing appealing to fans across the spectrum. That’s why both beboppers and headbangers dig Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. The keyboardist and woodwind player has built a larger-than-life reputation throughout the music industry for his composing, arranging and playing skills. Ray Charles, Christina Aguilera, Johnny Mathis, Toni Braxton, John Williams, Natalie Cole, David Foster, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Tormé, Brian McKnight and Quincy Jones are just a few of the artists who sought out his multi-hyphenate skills. The GRAMMY winner has also conducted world-renowned symphony orchestras in Atlanta, Dallas, Utah, Seattle, Toronto and London. His cinematic scoring and orchestration craft can be heard on such films as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Escape to Witch Mountain, Get Smart, Glory Road, National Treasure, The Incredibles, Remember the Titans, Armageddon, The Majestic, Con Air, Gone In 60 Seconds, Enemy of the State, Star Trek Nemesis and even the cult classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Goodwin’s soundtrack to Bah HumDuck! – a wacky Looney Tunes riff on the classic A Christmas Carol – also features the Big Phat Band’s patented sound.

Renowned saxophonist, composer, arranger, educator and past ASMAC President Kim Richmond presents a three-hour comprehensive study writing for large jazz band, with a focus on style, weight (or transparency), techniques and voicings. Kim demonstrates his own process of composition and arranging, and relates many of his tried and true voicing rules. This "recorded live on Zoom" event will provide a guide for the young composer, but also will benefit seasoned writers of all genres.

Hosted by Kim Richmond

Recorded February 24th, 2018 at LA Valley College - Moderated by Kim Richmond

Recorded March 28th, 2009 and hosted by Kim Richmond, saxophonist and composer/arranger Bob Mintzer’s ASMAC master class features in-depth analysis and discussion of Bob’s charts and arranging techniques. Scores studied include “Each Day”, “Swangalang”, “Something Else” and “My Shining Hour”.

In this masterclass, from 09/23/17 at The Evergreen Stage in Burbank, California, Scott explores some of the ways a composer can extend the harmonic, rhythmic, orchestrational and emotional language of large ensemble jazz writing. Topics include: •plastic meter - moving rhythms in and out of the grid •box and spacial notation •linear harmony, melodic pedal points, stratified harmony •free and group improvisation •writing "free" for rhythm section in a large ensemble •cross-doubling and transparent orchestration techniques Los Angeles-based Scott Healy is a composer, producer, pianist, multi-keyboardist and educator who multitasks across the musical spectrum. He is best-known for playing in the house band for Conan O’Brien. "Hudson City Suite" by the 10-piece Scott Healy Ensemble, received a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition. In addition to his composing, recording, and live television work, Healy works in LA as a hired-gun session musician in Los Angeles

From the archives, this 2008 master class features legendary Los Angeles composer and arranger Bill Holman. Bill Holman, is an American songwriter, conductor, composer/arranger, and saxophonist working primarily in the jazz idiom. Although he has performed and recorded as a tenor saxophonist, Holman is best known as an arranger. Through his acquaintance with Gene Roland, Holman was auditioned by Stan Kenton and hired as a tenor sax player around 1951.

ASMAC Premier Master Class - March 27, 2021 Bruce Broughton, shares insights from his successful career on the small screen, the silver screen and the concert stage alike. Topics covered will include composing and orchestrating music for film vs. concert music with examples of music scores and recordings. Bruce Broughton is best known for film scores such as Silverado, Tombstone, The Rescuers Down Under, The Presidio, Miracle on 34th Street, Homeward Bound, and Harry and the Hendersons; his television themes to The Orville, JAG, Dinosaurs, and Tiny Toon Adventures; TV mini-series and movies (The Blue and Gray, Warm Springs, O Pioneers!); as well as countless episodes of TV series such as Dallas, Quincy and Hawaii Five-O. He has been nominated for an Oscar, a Grammy, and twenty-three Emmys, having won the latter award ten times. He has composed music for many of the Disney theme park attractions throughout the world, as well as the first orchestral score for a game, Heart of Darkness. In 2020, he released an album of arrangements for Seth MacFarlane, Great Songs from Stage and Screen. Broughton’s concert music includes numerous works for orchestra, symphonic winds, and chamber groups, commissioned and performed by ensembles such as the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. A Board member of ASCAP, he has served as chair of the Music Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has served as a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Board. He is a past president of The Society of Composers and Lyricists and has been a taught music composition and orchestration at both USC and UCLA. He is currently composer-in-residence at the University of North Texas.

Composers Julie and Steve Bernstein present an in-depth discussion and demonstration of the full production process of scoring for animation, from spotting and concept to computer/DAW sketch and mockup through live session. Recorded February 23rd, 2017 at Valley College in LA.

Deep Dive Into Theme, Variations and Delivery ASMAC International Masterclass Online Series from June 13th, 2020 featuring composer Alex Wurman, moderated by Sylvester Rivers. ● Chord by chord and phrase by phrase, Alex deconstructs his favorite theme from the EPIX original show, Perpetual Grace LTD (starring Jimmi Simpson, Ben Kingsley, Jacki Weaver). ● Using the final mix ProTools session from the show, Alex demonstrates his approach to writing the theme and how he writes thematic material that can be used in many different ways. ● A deep dive into Alex's process, which is a hybrid of traditional composition and contemporary recording techniques. ALEX WURMAN EMMY® Award-winning composer Alex Wurman is highly versatile with a broad musical palette. He is able to work with directors in many different genres. Whether writing critically-acclaimed music for an Oscar®-winning film, supporting comedy with musical punctuation for box office giants, or capturing the essence of brainy ideas for indie films, Wurman traverses the film-score landscape with ease. This is exemplified by his eerie piano melodies of Confessions of A Dangerous Mind, groovy ’70’s themes for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, contemporary interpretations of French impressionism for Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, and soulful melodies combined with ethereal orchestrations for March of the Penguins. Most recently, Alex scored Perpetual Grace LTD starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Jimmi Simpson, and Between Two Ferns The Movie, starring Zach Galifianakis. SYLVESTER RIVERS Composer, arranger and pianist Sylvester Rivers has recorded with numerous hit artists including Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, The Jacksons, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, New Edition, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Barry White, Marc Bolan & T. Rex, Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio, Deniece Williams, The Fifth Dimension and many others. Composing, arranging and orchestrating for television and film, as well, such as the television series, “Fame,” songs for the Kevin Bacon/ Laurence Fishburne film, “Quicksilver,” “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,” “The Arsenio Hall Show” and numerous others, he has been prolific in producing music throughout a wide spectrum.

Storytelling through Music and Compositional Strategies Featuring Charles Fernandez Programmatic Writing Inspiration Ideas How to Get Started Compositional Techniques to Expand Your Music and Keep It Interesting Award-winning, Emmy and Annie-nominated composer Charles Fernandez will take you through some of his works and share ideas you can use in your own compositions. Discussion includes how to address and solve problems and how to get started when that commission comes in! This educational webinar focuses on concert works; using examples of music written for the concert stage. Lessons learned here can certainly apply to composition in any situation.

“Whenever I hear your music, I get the sudden urge to retire!” That’s what legendary Jazz arranger Sammy Nestico once said to our featured guest: Gordon Goodwin, GRAMMY-winning arranger, composer, musician and last but definitely not least, founder of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. In this first first of two parts, Gordon takes you on an exhilarating journey through the world of arranging for Big Band. Specifically, he recounts and analyzes the arrangements for his Big Phat Band around the re-recordings of existing tracks by Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. Discover how Gordon placed the instruments around the piano as to not intrude upon the Jazz giants’ work, how his live performance once brightened the day of Tatum’s widow who had been suffering from dementia, and which of his instruments he would save from a fire (and which other instruments are not so lucky). Hear him play tenor sax as well as piano and share the most important lessons he learned in his long and colorful career—lessons that, he acknowledges, have had a lasting effect on him as an arranger, a business owner and a human being. Goodwin’s ability to combine jazz excellence with any musical style makes his writing appealing to fans across the spectrum. That’s why both beboppers and headbangers dig Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. The keyboardist and woodwind player has built a larger-than-life reputation throughout the music industry for his composing, arranging and playing skills. Ray Charles, Christina Aguilera, Johnny Mathis, Toni Braxton, John Williams, Natalie Cole, David Foster, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Tormé, Brian McKnight and Quincy Jones are just a few of the artists who sought out his multi-hyphenate skills. The GRAMMY winner has also conducted world-renowned symphony orchestras in Atlanta, Dallas, Utah, Seattle, Toronto and London. His cinematic scoring and orchestration craft can be heard on such films as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Escape to Witch Mountain, Get Smart, Glory Road, National Treasure, The Incredibles, Remember the Titans, Armageddon, The Majestic, Con Air, Gone In 60 Seconds, Enemy of the State, Star Trek Nemesis and even the cult classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Goodwin’s soundtrack to Bah HumDuck! – a wacky Looney Tunes riff on the classic A Christmas Carol – also features the Big Phat Band’s patented sound.

In this informative and entertaining masterclass, Chris Young discusses his early experiences and then discusses in depth the influences of not only specific film composers but famous concert composers and their influence in film. You’ll learn examples of gestures and song form in film scoring and how they can be used to great effective. Please join Chris and ASMAC as he discusses “Scoring Genre Films” Chris Young Short Bio Golden Globe-nominated composer Christopher Young has scored an impressive number of features in virtually every genre, all with strikingly original music. The spine-tingling “Hellraiser” showcases the composer’s seminal upbringing in horror; the new-techno sound of “Swordfish” displays his versatility; the resonant, genuine Celtic sounds of “The Shipping News” display his attention to detail; to the heart-pounding rhythms of “Spider-Man 3” are all evidence of his willingness to experiment. These scores are among the nearly 100 films that embody the work of this prolific composer. Born in Red Bank, New Jersey (birthplace of Count Basie), Young graduated from Massachusetts Hampshire college with a BA in music, and did post-graduate work at North Texas State University before moving to Los Angeles in 1980. At the time, Young was a jazz drummer, a precursor to some of the edgier scores he would later complete. His talent was recognized with a Saturn Award (given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films) for his unsettling demonic orchestral-and-choral score for “Hellbound: Hellraiser II”. For his work on MGM’s “Species”, he received a Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel nomination for his work. He also received 2 emmy nominations for “Last Flight Out and Norma Jean and Marilyn. Young likes to say that he has two distinct sides: one side that is attracted to abstract ideas and 20th Century music, and the other side that enjoys writing “The great American tune”. That dichotomy serves him perfectly as a film composer, constantly called on to write the most dissonant music for a suspense cue one minute and collaborate with a lyricist on an R&B track (“Give me a Reason” with Dave Hollister for “In Too Deep”) or a love song (“Against the Wind” with vocalist Lori Perri for “Set it Off”) the next. When not working, Young spends his time delving into a rather eclectic hobby. Though he ascended from the ranks of solely scoring horror and science fiction films, his ongoing fascination with the macabre is evident in his vast collection of jack-o-lanterns, masks and autographs of many horror film stars of the past. Christopher Young says he has been blessed with his career so he gives back to the film music community. He has taught a film scoring class at USC for over ten years, a two-term past president of The Film Music Society, and the president of the Madrid Film Music Festival in Spain.

Renown Los Angeles composer, orchestrator and conductor Tim Simonec in a freewheeling two-part master class.

Part 2 of LA composer, orchestrator and conductor Tim Simonec his a freewheeling and informative ASMAC master class.

Join us for a fantastic journey with a legend, Conrad Pope, the premier orchestrator in Hollywood and an award-winning composer. In this classic 2012 ASMAC Master Class hosted by Ira Hearshen, Conrad Pope presents a historical look at music orchestration for films. Conrad has worked on virtually every style of production, from the Harry Potter series and Star Trek, to Pirates of the Caribbean and Marilyn Monroe films. He goes into deep detail working as an orchestrator in Hollywood, and does a deep dive into specific cues of composers such as John Williams and Alexander Desplat. The tidbits of life and rich anecdotes from musical Hollywood are endless in this 2 ½ hour masterclass. About Conrad Pope: Among his peers, Award-winning composer Conrad Pope is not only regarded as a "musician's musician," but he is recognized as an imaginative musical dramatist, able to contribute a meaningful dimension to a film's story. Pope's passionate commitment to telling a film's story with persuasive and compelling music has made him one of the most "in demand" scoring professionals. He was Supervising Orchestrator and Co-Producer for the scores to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II. Such canny composers as John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman, John Powell, Hans Zimmer, and Mark Isham have all called upon his gifts as an arranger, orchestrator and conductor. He has contributed to more than a hundred movies. He has worked on films of every genre and budget, making scores that “work" in almost every style. This "in the trenches" music making, working side by side with Hollywood's top professionals---including Joe Johnston and Walter Murch on Universal's The Wolfman, Scott Hicks on No Reservations and Gary Ross on Seabiscuit--has honed his ability to see films as a filmmaker does. It is Conrad's unique work experience and dramatic perspective that has made him a valuable collaborator, able to effectively and concretely communicate with a director about the contribution music can make to their film. Conrad's musical qualifications are rare in today's Hollywood. Classically trained at some of the world's finest music conservatories, he arrived in Hollywood with abilities to recreate with uncanny precision different styles of music. This talent was immediately seized upon by the industry's top musical professionals, leading to many arranging assignments of "source music" for diverse films, guiding him, ultimately, to the orchestrating and "ghost writing" of many major motion pictures. Today, few music professionals are as esteemed as Conrad for his first-hand, comprehensive command of the many facets of film scoring and, his reputation for consistently delivering "the goods." The iconic hits and contemporary classic films Pope has contributed to are too numerous to list. A small sampling includes: the most recent installments of the Star Wars films (The Phantom Menace, The Attack of the Clones, The Revenge of the Sith) the Harry Potter series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek X, the Matrix films. Memoirs of a Geisha, Julie and Julia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, A Christmas Carol and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
 Among the awards his work has received are the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Fellowship and Fulbright Fellowship, while grants include: the New York State Arts Council, the MacDowell Foundation, the Alice Ditson Foundation, the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, the Whiting Foundation and Meet the Composer. Pope was also awarded First Prize by the Pacific Composers Forum Composition Competition.