Really enjoy using your video ideas for my KZfaq videos instead of library music. You make it such fun for an ex folk genre musician with a smattering of classical training to make visuals and stories come alive with my own music. At 80 I’m learning wonderful stuff. Thank you so much❤️ from 🇿🇦 South Africa.

This is pretty common, many musicians out there may feel intimidated by orchestral composition, feeling it is too complicated and elitist. Then he comes Anne-Kathrin breaking it down so well, giving you new ideas, by the end of her videos you feel empowered to give it a shot. Like you can really do it.

This was the most informative video I have ever watched! I have a way more better understanding of Pedal Tones! Thank you so much. The way you showed the mock up gave me a whole new way of trying to create better chords!!! Love this!!!

Enjoying a nice chill pedal point tutorial and suddenly theres this amazing easter egg at the end ... awesome!

Hallo Anne-Kathrin, ich wollte dir Grüße aus Braunschweig senden. Ich dachte vielleicht freut dich das. Hab auf Wikipedia gesehen, dass du in Niedersachsen und Sachsen-Anhalt aufgewachsen bist. Ich habe einen Bruder in Oebisfelde und komme selbst ursprünglich auch aus Sachsen-Anhalt, Kusey genau gesagt. Ich habe deinen Kanal gestern erst gefunden. Dein Kanal ist toll und deine Karriere beindruckend. Was du in deinen Videos vermittelst ist inspirierend und tiefgründig. Danke dafür.

Wow. When I saw the title of this video, my thought was “well, I know about pedal tones already, at least.” Then I watched it … and by the end my thought was “this is an absolute GEM of a video.” So many invaluable insights, and you present them in such a clear way that it is easily digestible. You’re doing a real service to less experienced composers and students alike with content like this, so thank you very, very much. Also, your hint at doing a separate video about planing chords pricked up my ears … I thought I had some understanding of those, too, but now I have no doubt that you’d be able to pull the covers off of things about planing chords that have escaped me, so I’m really looking forward hopefully to that one, too!

I know i have commented before, a few days ago, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU once again!! I put this to the test and looked at one of the tracks that I am working on in my current project? I input a pedal tone. This was strings patch, playing single note throughout the piece, then adding a second note one octave higher at an appropriate place in the piece and then adding a third note, one octave higher again in the final part of the piece. The difference it has made to the piece is, i have to say, is night and day! I will certainly use this technique again, without a doubt!! Thank you so much Anne.

This kind of educational content about composition in t he context of orchestration is so useful. I feel like between your videos and Ryan Leach's stuff, I'm starting to understand what I'm doing bit by bit.

Your explanations and examples are fantastic, and yet so simple, with the possibility of bordering on comples. Thank you for this.

That middle pedal sounded super nice! Great way of showing the diffrent feelings!

This is wonderful. Practical, grounded, useful. I'm an amateur composer, but I take the craft very seriously, and so I love videos like this. Thanks!

Very resourceful tool indeed. I recommend eveyone to check out Bruckner's 7th symphony's (first movement) use of pedaltone right before the Coda. One of the most magical pedaltone moments ever😍

I agree with others. This is the most practical, useful video I have seen in a long time. It is your demonstration of your thought process that makes it so special. Thank you!

The chords moving as the collective melodic content was very beautifully done. Inspiring stuff, thank you…

I have to add to rest… you are probably sick of reading it? Thank you! This your best video yet ( just my opinion). I use pedal notes in my own pieces of work but you just showed me how little I actually knew how else they can be used. Wow ! The additional instructional information in this video has really inspired me. A few pieces that I am working on are about to receive an overhaul 😀. Thank you again.

Great video. For someone who wants to learn by experimenting in Cubase these Composition videos are brilliant

Modest Mussorgsky: Il vecchio castello - really informative example. The way he uses chordal harmonies over the pedal in the development section is unbelievable.

Hi Anne-Kathrin, I was gonna say this is the most informative and super useful video your released. It opened my eyes in many ways and understanding more of this technique. But G. Robinson (under this comment) used the exact same words! Love this one especially, thank you! Boy, we shall hear lots of pedal tones in compositions of your followers in the near near future, haha:):)

Showing this with such illustrative examples really drives home how powerful this technique is! Incredible, thank you!

One of my favorite ways to use pedal tones/drones is to move between parallel modes (all based on the same root, used for the pedal tone). Works great both for evoking an associated mood for the mode and also to practice improvisation, if that's your thing :D

You just pressed the button on one of the most vital techniques in composition that I never write without it. Be it a long bass note, strings harmonics in octave or a synth drone, I can't imagine writing without pedal tones. Even if I don't use it in a composition, this technique offers inspiration and sparks ideas in the first place and I end up leaving it there without removing it after sketching the idea. Thanks for bringing that up :)

I know many others have said "this is the most informative video I have ever..." but it must be said again so I can convey how greatful I am. Seeing the midi on the screen helped me (with ADHD) connect theory with practice. I knew about pedal tone, but seeing and simultaneously hearing it in action unlocked the "how to" for me!

Anton Bruckner LOVED pedal tones in his symphonic climaxes!!

Absolutely fantastic. Really loved the practical explenations. Thats basically how the entire score for game of thrones was written.

Great! Can't wait for more! I showed your videos to my guitarist girlfriend and she loves your tips and gonna use them in her prog-rock compositions.

What an absolutely brilliant video! Very inspiring and motivating! Thanx!

Actually inspiring to see you master class the magic. For those of us who remember beautiful orchestral music for music's sake, your creations are where that wonderful era went to live. Beautiful orchestral compositions went to live through you and onto the screen.

Thanks for the video and your techniques of demonstrating, explaining, and educating. All presented with a very calm slightly accented flavoured voice. I am so glad I found your channel. Of the various episodes I have watched I loved your comment about the GUI for Kontakt and the throw away comment "I guess it is a German thing" (paraphrased). Could not agree more - NI hire a GUI designer, please, before you reach Komplete 20.

As usual, a great video, as easy and instructional as posible to everyone, adding also some historical points to enhance our musical journey. Thank you, Anne. Grettings from Chile.👍🏻

I've known about pedal points, but you've really taught this so well, and shown some new possibilities that I've never come across before. This is a really valuable lesson on pedal tones and, also on composition also.. This is a brilliantly done video and lesson. Thanks for being so inspiring😊

Fantastic. Amazing how adding a pedal tone can make noodling around with simple melodies so much more interesting and inspiring.

Brilliant and inspiring. You have a wonderful gift of simplicity.

One of the most notable use of pedal tone is in Mahler’s Song of the Earth “The Farewell” opening. Pretty great!

THIS video style really hit the mark for me, I adore the quality of your videos😊! I'm also extremely struck by the simplicity of the concepts you're sharing, like even though you said the scalar orchestral rise was just a quick mock-up, I thought it was extremely effective! (I also appreciate you not over-complicating these concepts in an academic/elitist way... I once had a composition professor tell me these types of risers are too cliche, however I felt his comment was overly dissuasive because I think techniques like this are essential to a working media composer's toolbox. ～I love your more enabling approach to teaching🙌!!! )

Hi Anne-Kathrin! It's amazing to see how many incredibly valuable lessons and insights you have added to your channel this year! Working on our third album and a short film, this gets us excited and inspired to dive into writing and arranging with a new level of finesse. Thank you so much for sharing all of these technical as well as practical insights!

I’m glad you also mentioned different genres using this technique. You can hear lots of pedal tones in Phil Collins and Genesis songs, for instance, the most famous example being “In The Air Tonight”.

Super useful knowledge. I was a big fan of using pedal tones without even knowing what they were called properly 😅. I have found that using them on video game music covers seems to provide a certain "cinematic tension" to them, perhaps because they are so often used in movies. Great stuff as always.

That orchestral build and chromaticism stuff was awesome! That is the sound I am looking for and now I know how to achieve it. Thank you very much!

Splendid explanation of this technique. That's in the toolbox right away. Thank you very much.

You're videos are so helpful! You explain these techniques and concepts in a way that actually makes sense to me, thank you for that! I also found the video where you talk about parallel compression super helpful, and am implementing that on my current project. 😀

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. I find you so pleasing to watch and listen to, maybe because you’re so relax…👍

Your content is OUTSTANDING. Wow, pleaaase keep these videos coming. I feel like I have a mentor or something!

immer wieder herrlich, einem profi zu zuhören und zu zusehen, vielen lieben dank, für deine mühe und deine videos

I saw this and thought, everyone is talking about pedal tones so I started watching and I was like 'so drones? ungh, drones, I know drones' Except it is not just about throwing on a drone it was going all over the shop until you give us a map to John Williams!! This was incredible, thank you so much, I had never thought of using any of these almost obvious techniques. This was incredible, I urge anyone that as ignorantly as I did deemed this 'yeah, drones, we know' to give it a chance, utterly brilliant.

Your channel and videos are such a gift. I’ve been playing music for a while but recently developed an interest for film music. I plan to focus on 2023 on developping my composition skills. Thanks to you, I now have plenty of stuff to work/experiment with. Thank you so much. And even though it might not be what’s most popular these days, thank you for doing longer videos. That gives time to go much deeper. I really appreciate. Thanks a million times

This is probably my favourite harmonic technique

Great Information. Many others do not go this far. Very Helpful

12:20 While I agree the high-pedal is perhaps less ominous, every time I hear it for some reason it actually makes me think of loss and solitude. Our hero wandering, lost in a storm, suddenly discovering a car flipped on its side in the middle of the night. The low pedal feels more like an intentional darkness, whereas the high pedal sounds like an accidental darkness. Maybe I'm just always dark hahaha That was such a great video. I loved your breakdowns of each technique and I'm definitely going to try the orchestral build idea. Super cool. Thanks!

Very interesting Anne. I realize I use this in some of my pieces without even knowing what they were called. But, I think these tones have (and claim) a lot of energy. Listeners are 'waiting' for that tone to change to the base-tone of a cord. The mind is tricked and confusion arises when the tone stays the same. The listener becomes more alert and tense because "something is about to happen". Anyway, thanks for grabbing my attention and giving me something to think about. Thanks for the time you took to create this recording.

Learning so much from your videos! Thanks 🙏

Thank you very much! You're doing a very wonderful independent style thing from all the other composer channels, and you're a really good educator! Please continue exactly like this, I am sure you will come up with great insightful stuff in depth! Vielen Dank, bitte nicht aufhören

Very informative. Pedal Tones are amazing tool for film composers, you really cant go wrong with it. Works great for atmospheric stuff. Great vid!

Just five words!!!!!....I LOVE YOU,and THANK YOU!!!! (with you untill youtube breaks down!).

Such a useful video, Anne-Kathrin, thank you!

Great video!! This is such a useful technique that can enhance the atmosphere of the piece. Especially in the last mock-up example, the pedal tone makes the effect of the chromatic chords much more fitting.

Wonderful examples, thank you for taking the time to demonstrate. :)

Many thanks for this! I have been doing this in some music where it "felt" right. Didn't actually realise this was a technique with a name. Still learning!

Learning so much from your channel keep them coming❤️🔥

I've used a lot of pedal tone things in all sorts of music, and I'm surprised by how few people make use of it, outside the more usual situations. Like you say, the value for effort is off the scale! I was doing something recently, not planning it, just listening, doing it by ear, but when I listened back, I was actually using a chord tone from the next chords in advance, so initially there's some discord happening, but when the chord arrives it all coordinates. I was also fading out that pedal tone before the next chord, so there were 3 pedal tones fading in and out, and the piano chords were meshing part of the time, and not the other part of the time. With modern DAW envelopes, it would have taken a few hands on the mixer, or very pricey automation, to get that working in the 80's!

Great Video, such good insight, especially the BuildUp, Danke Anne 😊

I’ve found pedal tones to be super useful when writing vocal harmonies. If I’m unsure how to harmonize a particular part, pedal tones almost always work to add tension and emotion, and sound pretty pleasant.

Complimenti!!! da Bologna, Italia

As always, extremely interesting! Thank you so much 🙂

Love this. Now I have a proper name for a concept I kinda knew. Thanks.

Sooo glad KZfaq led me to your channel!!

Thanks so much for this amazing lesson! Your explanations are always so clear and you always supply the right amount of examples! I thought I already knew what pedaltones were and I kinda did, but didn't realize it's potential that you showed! Thanks🙏🏼

Thank you dear Anne. You are an amazing Arranger.👍❤☺

I think the best example of how magical pedal tones can be is the Passing of the Elves (A Elbereth Gilthoniel) by Howard Shore where throughout the entire piece two voices sing Bb an octave apart.

This is incredibly informative, well structured and useful. Tausend Dank und herzliche Grüße!

Such a powerful technique indeed! Thanks for the detailed explanations.

I use pedal tones all the time but never knew the buildup trick. That was an excellent demonstration.

Your videos are great! Thank you very much for posting them!

This channel is gold, thanks a lot Anne

Beautiful examples on pedal tone e very clear explanation. Some examples of pedal tone were used shortly for some composer as Mahler or Bruckner, but this technique took another interesting way on film music. It’s an opposite of cantus firmus that give way to a lot of creativity, specially if the composer uses counterpoint techniques.

You are so amazing!! You opened a new world for me

You had me at, "...while other sh*t is going on..." lol, great video!

Thank you so much for this Dern. Well explained, as always, and very informative. I so appreciate your generosity. 🙏🏾🌞

This is awesome, thanks a lot! I was using this with guitars, but I didn't know this has a name. Btw I really liked the intros in the earlier videos, I hope they will return :)

Super video, your examples are so clear. Uber-useful, as usual. Thanks!

Just finished hearing 8:12 and I want to buy the album that sounds like this. Please forgive, but I have to pause this until I get back from work. Pedal tones, the drone known from cultures vast and timeless are sooo awesome and filled with awe and power! Great Video! Never thought to work that into my guitar compositions. Fun!

Great lesson! Thanks!

Love that Samuel Adler book in the background. Random but notable thought. Great video

I just came to a realization that all of us composers share a common trait. We look like children who look at you with passion in their eyes and tell you: "check this out, it's so cool!" It's not about writing more music, it's about sharing more cool stuff.

fucking love pedals, great video

Bonuspoints for the Gladiator reference :)

So by the way, when can we expect to preorder the Anne-Kathrin Dern Essential Irish Flute Pro library with over 30 articulations and 50 mic placements? 😁

Thank you for sharing time and knowledge to help others, Anna :) All of your composition videos have been super helpful!

Absolutely fascinating...Thank you!

LOVE your videos!. insightful! I'd love to see a video where you share what ever feeling what ever technique is sparking or associated with. i mean with a low pedal. it's mysterious, it's dark....... but with the mid and the high harm I nvr looked at it as they'd be innocent or calming. These stereotyped, or associated feelings with specific techniques, I'd love to learn about these approaches too :)

Your voice is so soothing that I could hear you talk for hours... 😄

Gold! Thx for the effort!

I could play these long before I knew the name. It's really a great sound. I'd like to know more pedal point turnarounds.

Thank you Anne-Kathrin. 🙏🏻

I have used high and low pedal tones in my compositions, but never even considered a mid!

Wonderful exposition with clear examples. I learnt a lot. Thanks.

Thanks so much Anne!

Very interesting. Thanks. Though, your video title did remind me to (off topic) include ins and outs in the patchbay I'm building now for guitar pedals... I'll be sure to use guitar pedals as an effect on actual pedal tones now. :)

Great video! Would love to see some analysis of John Williams excerpts using mockups to isolate the different parts of the arrangement? Thanks for all the great content!

I really appreciate your videos Anne-Kathrin! Thanks for sharing this information.😀😊

Way before middle ages... One of the oldest forms goes by the name Isokrates found on the ancient Greek music. Another really old one can be found in indian music but the specific name for that eludes me at the moment. Nice video.