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Any Old Music

George Marshall

Hello. My name is George Marshall and I am the founder of Any Old Music. I am a composer with over 10-years of experience, having completed work on 50+ projects for video-games, films and the concert hall. In 2020, I completed my doctorate in Music Composition. My PhD was on constraint and how it emerges in creative projects. For example, team discussions in video-game projects. If a video-game team presented a mood-board and certain briefs, these constrain and challenge the composer to compose in a particular way or style. Less quantifiable than, say, the application of serialism, but probably just as (if not more) constraining and creatively directing. It was during my PhD that I realised that there would only be two outcomes for me as a composer: I became a professional composer who needed to compose lots of music in not enough time. I became an amateur/hobbyist or semi-professional composer who needed to compose less music but still with not enough time. With this in mind I eventually opted for something more along the lines of semi-professional, but with an ambition of setting up Any Old Music as a means of helping similarly time strapped music makers. Particularly those in the second group, the hobbyists and semi-professionals, whose composing competes much more for time against other aspects of life. Composition is incredibly rewarding. You never stop learning and developing as a composer. Furthermore, many of us boast renegade autodidactic personalities to a certain extent. My hope is that Any Old Music’s self-paced composition courses can help composers to continue growing, by learning through creating and doing so in their own time.

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Featured Post

Why I transposed the whole arrangement

A simple but significant change has happened in my Winnie the Pooh arrangement. The whole piece has been transposed down a tone (major 2nd) and the arrangement is now beginning to take shape in full concert band score, having reached a level of detail in the condensed sketch that felt solid enough to build from. So today, I thought I would share how that move is going: what seems to be working well, what seems less convincing, and why. Down a tone First, the decision to transpose the score...

3 days ago • 4 min read

After a steady run of Winnie the Pooh updates over the past few weeks, I thought it might be a good moment to give the Hundred Acre Wood a brief rest. In the background, I have been quietly working on something many of you will recognise. Over the years I have shared various videos, notes, and course materials analysing Grieg’s Morning Mood. Several readers have asked for something a little more concise and easier to revisit without digging through full lessons. I have finally turned that...

11 days ago • 1 min read

Perhaps it is the sickness bug talking, and I am delirious!? But, I think I may have nudged my Winnie the Pooh introduction a little further forward simply by sitting down to write to you. I had intended to report that I was stuck. Instead, what has emerged is a clearer picture of three developing versions of the opening, each revealing something useful about the direction of travel. I think they also each get closer to the introduction I would like. Below you will see extracts from each...

17 days ago • 2 min read

Sometimes you just don’t get it right Or at least, that’s what I thought I was going to discuss in this email. Having revisited my first attempt at arranging the Winnie the Pooh theme, I think I may have been unduly hard on myself. The first effort wasn’t bad at all, and I now find myself wondering whether it could work as a contrasting version of the theme in the new arrangement, or whether I should simply strengthen the orchestration of the newer version, which may be scored a little too...

25 days ago • 3 min read

The initial work on my Winnie the Pooh arrangement has gone well. Which, I’m sure you’re pleased to hear!? But before you respond sarcastically with: Oh, gee wiz Mr George—go you! Such great news to hear your creative endeavours are proving so prosperous! …let me say what I actually want to say. The sketching change I’m sharing my optimism because I want to reflect on one practical thing that’s already improved the writing process: my sketching approach for concert band. I still feel I’ve a...

30 days ago • 2 min read

I have just published a new article on orchestration that distills a question I hear (and feel) a lot: When you have a good melody, how do you actually decide how to orchestrate it? 👉 How to Orchestrate a Melody – There Are Only Six Wayshttps://anyoldmusic.com/how-to-orchestrate-a-melody/ How to Orchestrate a Melody? The main idea is simple: instead of thinking in endless instrumental combinations, it’s often more helpful to think in a small number of perceptual categories: solo, unison,...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Last week I learned that Christmas Eve 1925 marked the very first appearance of Winnie-the-Pooh in a British newspaper, before the character appeared in book form the following year, in 1926. Which means we are now approaching 100 years since the publication of the first Pooh story. With that in mind (given I loved Winnie-the-Pooh as a child, and now have young children myself), I thought: why not arrange the Disney theme for the concert band I play in? The tune most of us know, comes from...

about 2 months ago • 2 min read

This morning, during a Zoom lesson with one of my students, I was introducing the ideas of philosopher and cognitive scientist, Margaret Boden: particularly her concepts of P and H creativity and the Three Roads to Surprise. In the middle of explaining her work, I decided to remind myself of some details. So, I typed her name into google and that’s when I discovered she had passed away last year at the age of 88. It was a sobering moment. Not because I'd been drinking first thing this...

about 2 months ago • 2 min read

We think of composition, arrangement and orchestration as separate disciplines. I would say this is incorrect. When we compose, we also arrange and orchestrate. When we arrange, we also compose and orchestrate. When we orchestrate, we also compose and arrange. Although the overarching thing we are doing could be composition, arrangement or orchestration, we are likely—at least at some points—doing something that resembles one of the other musical activities we can undertake. Objective,...

2 months ago • 3 min read

Hello Reader, I hope you're doing well! It's George from Any Old Music, and I’m excited to share that the first day of 30 Days of Counterpoint is now available as a free preview. If you're interested in counterpoint, especially at a beginner or intermediate level, feel free to dive into the first day’s content. Here’s what you’ll find: Day 1's Video Lesson: Foundations of (1st Species) Counterpoint Lesson Quiz: Test your understanding of the first lesson Skills Quiz: Focused on interval...

over 1 year ago • 1 min read