Orchestral/Scoring
Recommends from LA composer Phil Boucher (Fortnite, Civilisation…):
Just like with the record side, there’s so much noise from bedroom composers and people that have zero real-world experience, and even the people with real success often can’t teach what they know.
Spitfire has gotten quite good at creating “tutorial” videos that are thinly veiled advertisements, and many of their libraries are the equivalent of one-knob plugins or CLA vocals. Selling paint-by-numbers solutions to naïve kids who want to get into scoring (They’re far from the only ones guilty of this).
But to focus on some of the channels I think are actually worth their salt:
8-Bit Music Theory: https://www.youtube.com/@8bitMusicTheory/videos Can be a bit basic at times, but he talks a lot about structure which, IMO, is becoming a lost art in modern scoring.
Anne-Kathrin Dern: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWJg1w7F3PKPbSpEF2YOejVjWAg-KcM3Z Not the biggest name out there, but she has a no-bullshit way of explaining things about orchestration and theory that is clear and concise. As far as “teachers,” I think she’s a good one.
Alan Meyerson Waves Sessions: https://youtu.be/h9jZqn5lnw4 I hesitate to include this. I know for a fact that Alan swapped out a bunch of his go-to plugins to make everything a Waves product. I haven’t watched this in awhile, but it’s a good insight into how he sets up a big mix session and why he makes some of his decisions. He’s also playing to the camera/audience some, so this is a your-mileage-may-vary recommendation.
McGowen Soundworks: https://www.youtube.com/@McGowanSoundworks/featured Phil knows his shit, and goes pretty deep breaking down a few actual mixes, which is pretty rare to find.
JunkieXL (Mad Max Fury Road, Hans Zimmer protegé) walks through projects, gear setup, music theory, professional practice stuff – https://www.youtube.com/@junkiexlofficial