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SALT LAKE CITY — Virtual orchestration is the newest trend for music composers. It allows people without the funds or access to a full orchestra to still create orchestra compositions using only their computer. Two Utah natives just created a competition to see the talents of virtual composers around the world.
Before creating the competition, Utah composer and musician Jeff Cuno created a Facebook group for virtual composers called Virtual Orchestration. Virtual orchestration consists of using a computer application called “MIDI” (which stands for musical instrument digital interface) to create and record orchestra music, according to the MIDI website.
“MIDI is essentially a musical keyboard,” Cuno said. “Instead of buying a keyboard with a bunch of sounds programmed in it like a vicassio or something that usually sounds fake ... the idea of MIDI is you can use any of those kinds of keyboards and plug them into your computer. Instead of using the keyboard (sound), you are using the MIDI software sounds and triggering sounds that are coming from your computer.”
Cuno partnered with fellow Utah native and composer Michael Bahnmiller to make the Facebook group a place for virtual composers to share ideas with each other.
“This industry originally started for composers like Danny Elfman or Hans Zimmer to quickly show a brief concept of what the music would sound like to a director,” Cuno said. “You could hear what it would sound like with a complete orchestra in a quick form before they spent all of the money to hire an orchestra to complete the song.”
Cuno said that the Facebook group would be holding a competition this year to discover the talents of virtual composers all over the world. They were able to get donations and sponsorships for the contest from companies like Heavyocity, Soundiron, Embertone, Vienna Symphonic Library and more, according to Cuno.
You could hear what it would sound like with a complete orchestra in a quick form before they spent all of the money to hire an orchestra to complete the song.
–Jeff Cuno, composer
Cuno also got a giant in the movie score industry, Lorne Balfe, to help judge the competition. Balfe composed the score for movies like “Mission: Impossible - Fallout,”“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” and the Oscar-nominated “The Florida Project.”
“So far, we have 90 submissions, but we have two weeks left," Cuno said. “And since we’ve posted the competition, we’ve had 1,000 new people join the group. I’m hoping that composers have a lot of fun. But we’ve got people that are participating from places like Nigeria and India — all ends of the Earth.”
The purpose of the competition is to give virtual composers a way to show their talents and maybe even land a job.
“I’m hoping that by some odd chance that this contest brings some light to this group and that maybe somebody who wins one of these projects has a shot to do a feature film or just get their name out there or something.”
The contest is free for any amateur composers to participate in. Submissions will be closed on Nov. 26 and a winner will be chosen in mid-December. Prizes include cash and the opportunity for music to be heard by composing legend, Lorne Balfe.
You can find more information about the competition in the Facebook group here.
