Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places

In this week’s newsletter, I cover:

Finding beauty in unexpected places
My favourite things this week
The ultimate trailer music guide
Some shared successes
This week’s sample pack - Angle Grinder Pads

I want you to listen to this recording for a moment…

Noise in my garden

What do you hear?

Birds, the breeze, and some kind of machine.

This is the noise in my back garden this morning.

There was a lot of “noise”.

It would be difficult to record anything today.

How annoying.

Or is it?

Now I want you to take another listen and acknowledge the inherent musicality of all of these sounds.

Noise in my garden

Specifically that machine.

Can you hear the low fundamental note? (it’s G#)

Can you hear the changes in texture and timbre?

It’s almost like someone is playing with a synth patch; adjusting the frequency cut-off, adjusting the EQ, and creating a beautiful drone.

Hand-drawn comic: one figure hates the angle grinder's noise, another loves its beautiful sound

On top of that drone, everything else becomes an accompaniment.

Soft white noise moves passed the mic.

High-pitched melodies create a subtle question and answer.

Other drones create unusual harmonies.

Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it quite mesmerising?

I was in two minds as to whether I should just sit out there and enjoy it or get on with my actual “work”.

So I did the next best thing and recorded it so I could share it with you…and turned it into the angle grinder pads (this week’s release)

This is what I love about life and creativity. There is beauty all around us if we look for it. We just need to change the way we see and hear.

This is what my final show was about for my degree in music and art; how the everyday things, the quotidian, can not only inform, but become art.

I recorded myself doing daily tasks like brushing my teeth and washing my face and turned them into video scores for 14 musicians to “respond” to. The result was both terrifying and beautiful. Much like my trailer music!

This week, take a closer look at what surrounds you and really look for the beauty and the inspiration.

Hand-lettered journal page reading We are surrounded by knowledge and beautiful experiences

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🎧 I’m Listening To…

The beautiful classical works of Dustin O’Hallaran. I have heard Dustin’s work for many years without being able to put his name on the music. I am thoroughly enjoying the simple beauty of the interlacing patterns, simple melodies and stunning textures.

📺 I’m Watching…

Promotional banner for the TV series Shrinking showing its two lead actors

If you don’t know by now, I am a sucker for feel-good, heart-warming TV. This ticks both of these boxes. Debs and I are absolutely loving it. Plus, loving the return of weekly releases and having a show to look forward to each week.

🔥 I’m Still Loving…

My moleskin journal 📓 (affiliate link). I absolutely LOVE writing, drawing, and scoring using this little journal…pretty much everything actually. I know it’s a little on the pricey side when it comes to notebooks but you know what…I’m worth it, and so are you!

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🌟 New From Rich

The Ultimate Trailer Music Guide

I have created my own guide to trailer music by collating as much of my own content as possible. If you can see anything glaring that I have missed do let me know.

The Ultimate Guide to Trailer MusicEverything you need to know about producing Trailer Music; from complete beginners to seasoned pros there is something here for all of you.

Perfect Your Second Act

I love Act 1 don’t get me wrong, but I love Act 2 as well. Who doesn’t love the intensity, drive and excitement? In this post, I give you 5 tips to make your Act 2 kick bottom!

🎶 One of my subscribers J. H. Kulberg shared a track with me that he had composed using some of my hits and courses. This is a great thriller sound design cue, I particularly love the signature sound at 0.46, sounds like a twisted Kazoo!

🎬 Marcus, aka Da Fingaz, one of my most active subscribers shared with me some fantastic news that a neoclassical track he produced just landed with Disney, you can see his announcement post here.

I love being able to share the wins of the community, if you have something cool to share then get in touch so I can include it in the newsletter.

❝ Quote of the week:

“We see work and rest as binaries. Even more problematic, we think of rest as simply the absence of work, not as something that stands on its own or has its own qualities. Rest is merely a negative space in a life defined by toil and ambition and accomplishment. When we define ourselves by our work, by our dedication and effectiveness and willingness to go the extra mile, then it’s easy to see rest as the negation of all of those things. If your work is your self, when you cease to work, you cease to exist.” - Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

Want to learn more from me? Check out my online video courses:

The Ultimate Trailer Music Bundle → Learn everything there is to learn about Trailer Music (pssst…it’s on sale)**

The Trailer Music Course → The perfect course to get you started writing trailer music

Trailer Music for Beginners → Learn to create trailer music with nothing but FREE samples

🎁 This Week’s Release

I will admit that when you are a musician trying to do recording at home, it is incredibly frustrating when your neighbours are having work done. I decided to flip that and create something awesome from the sound of their work.

Angle Grinder Pads. I could probably come up with a cooler name but it does what it says on the tin. I created them from the sample you heard at the start of the newsletter.

I took the fundamental note and processed it to create 3 separate pads that I then used to create a Kontakt multi-instrument. If you don’t have Kontakt that’s fine they are labelled so you can drop them into any sampler and get playing.

The Quiet Whisper