MIKE LADOUCEUR

orchestral composition accelerator

I’m excited to announce my Orchestral Composition Accelerator program for the first time! This program will run over 7 weeks as I guide you through the process of writing and recording for orchestra. Below are all the program details:

WHEN WILL IT TAKE PLACE?

April 10th - May 22nd 2024

WHERE & WHEN ARE THE RECORDING SESSIONS?

Skopje, Macedonia with the FAME’S Orchestral Recording Project
April 26th - 20 Strings
May 18th - 50 Piece Orchestra

WHAT MATERIALS WILL I RECEIVE?

Professionally mixed recordings of your music (up to 5 minutes of music!) from both recording sessions (Full Participants Only)
Both of your ProTools Sessions with all audio files from your recordings (Full Participants Only)
Behind The Scenes video footage and photos of your recording sessions (Full Participants Only)
Templates for orchestration and session planning/organization
Lifetime access to all archived group sessions
Certificate of completion

WHAT ARE THE TWO OPTIONS OF PARTICIPATION?

Full Participant - As a full participant, you will have 2 group sessions a week; 1 lecture and 1 review session to go over your works in progress. These group sessions will be about 2 hours each. You will be writing your own music and working towards the two big recording sessions we have planned in the program. You’ll be able to record up to 5 minutes of music total and have 30 minutes with the orchestra in each recording session! You will also have an hour long 1-1 session with me ahead of each recording session so I can help you refine your work in detail. After the recording sessions, your music will be mixed by a professional mixing engineer.
Auditor - As an auditor, you’ll be able to sit in on each of the group sessions, both lectures and review sessions. I won’t be able to review your music in the review sessions but you will be involved and can ask questions as the full participants. You will also receive the materials listed above.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Full Participants (12 Spaces) - $3500
Auditor - $500

WHAT DO I NEED TO PARTICIPATE?

A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) such as Logic Pro or Cubase
A notation software

DO I HAVE ENOUGH SKILLS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THIS YET?

This program is designed to help you learn how to orchestrate and record with an orchestra, so no previous experience in this is necessary. You don’t need to be an expert in music theory or have a music degree to participate, just a good understanding of how to write a theme and some basics of harmony. If you’ve been writing your own music for a while, whether its pop, classical, edm, film music, then this program is perfect for you.

DO I NEED TO FLY TO MACEDONIA FOR THE RECORDING SESSIONS?

You more than welcome to join me in Macedonia for the recording sessions, but this is not required. All of the recording sessions will be streamed and you will be able to join the call directly with a high fidelity audio feed from wherever you are. You’ll be able to hear the same audio that we will hear in the recording studio!

HOW IS THE TUITION DELIVERED?

The tuition will be delivered as a mix of group calls and 1-1 sessions. You can have a look at the schedule BELOW. All the group sessions will be recorded and archived so that you can catch up incase you have to miss a session. You’ll be able to access and reference the archive of lessons indefinitely, even after the program has finished. 1-1 sessions will be organized individually based on our mutual availability.

BETWEEN WORLDS
DEBUT SOLO ALBUM

Mike Ladouceur’s debut solo album, Between Worlds, is an immersive experience that takes the listener on a cosmic journey. It explores themes of loss and recovery, and blurs the line between orchestral and ambient electronic textures to find a new clarity. The album was recorded with a chamber orchestra and female choir.

“Between Worlds has meant everything to me. I’ve been able to write through some personal traumas and find my voice on the other side. It’s also been a chance to bring my music to life with so many musicians who I’ve looked up to and admired. The project has become so much bigger than I could’ve imagined and I’m constantly humbled by this.”

On Wednesday 28 August, Mike welcomed guests from the arts and creative industries to the Album Preview at The Hospital Club in London. Artwork was specially commissioned for the album and a video display made, and these were both displayed in an exhibition gallery at the Preview whilst guests listened to the Between Worlds music through headphones.

+ Listen

Each track on the Between Worlds album has been conceived with a video to create an immersive listening experience. Please check out the tracks below:

+ Artwork

American artist, musician and teacher, Nick Denman, has created this collection of artwork especially for the Between Worlds project. Nick holds degrees in both Art and Music, and for this project brought together his life-long passion for both subjects together with his great love of meditation.

Diving deep into Mike’s music, he adopted the process of Automatic Drawing – he listened to Mike’s music and reflected on it in a meditative state, during which time he allowed his hand to move freely over the canvas drawing charcoal lines. Afterwards he found different shapes and symbols within the lines, and then filled them in with colours to produce the artworks you see today.

“Everybody that looks at it will see something different – almost like watching clouds. It is directly connected to the music and I think the works are so well suited to it. This is an amazing collaboration that we have together.” Mike Ladouceur

+ Video Installation

A video of breath-taking landscapes and space scenes was developed alongside Nick Denman’s artwork, and is another element of the Between Worlds experience to be enjoyed whilst listening to Mike’s music.

“I find it really inspiring as I immerse myself simultaneously in the music, the artwork and this video. It makes me reflect on the enormity of our planet and connects me to the vast universe and everything in it.” Mike Ladouceur

The space shots are from NASA’s photography taken from satellites around our solar system. The beautiful shots taken on earth are from drone footage filmed by Phillip Whiteman. The landscapes look quite other-worldly, and the wide open space show the enormity and diversity of our own planet.

ARTIST BIO

American/British composer Mike Ladouceur is among the most exciting and significant talents emerging today‚ with many high-profile film and TV projects to his name. Renowned on both sides of the Atlantic, his musical style blends orchestral and ambient electronic textures, and has been described by distinguished conductor and orchestrator Jeff Atmajian as “like listening to a beautiful impressionist painting”. Mike’s distinctive sound is constructed from many intricate lines and textures that combine to create a rapturous force. He employs a diverse sonic palette which allows the listener to become entranced in a meditative state, often triggering deeply emotional responses.

Mike’s notable career highlights are many and varied, and include winning the Angel Award for Best Original Music, Short Film for BirthCloud, and the Tagore Gold Medal for outstanding musical contributions at the Royal College of Music, presented in March 2016 by HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Between Worlds, his debut album, was recorded at Angel Studios with a 42-piece orchestra and was launched at an immersive art installation at London’s Hospital Club in 2019. Mike’s most recent project Mizu is a documentary series about Japanese culture in Italy, produced for Tatatu and was written up in Rolling Stone. He has also recently scored Kyle Vorbach’s Sci-Fi epic Somewhere In Between which premiered at Tribeca Film Fest in 2023 to great renown. Among his many notable film and TV credits include music for Dateline (NBC) and Aurora Fearnley’s epic Sci-fi Pulsar (Little Northern Light/Reel Issues Films), which stars David Gyasi and Jessie Buckley.

Mike has written additional music and arrangements for His Dark Materials (HBO/BBC), Marcella (ITV/Netflix), Love. Wedding. Repeat (Netflix) and for Master Moley (Nottage Productions) starring Gemma Arterton, Charles Dance, Julie Walters, Warwick Davis. He has also worked as Orchestrator on major projects including Black Widow (Disney), Ad Astra (Plan B), Gemini Man (Skydance/Paramount), 6 Underground (Netflix), Looking Up (Tianjin Chengzi Yinxiang Media), Where’s My Roy Cohn? (Sony) and Nae Pasaran (BBC Scotland). He also worked on the Music Department of Mission Impossible: Fallout (Paramount), The Emoji Movie (Sony) and Call the Midwife (BBC).

Mike is a passionate educator and holds prestigious teaching posts at two of the world’s leading institutions, London’s Royal College of Music and the University of Cambridge, where he teaches the film music curriculum at both undergraduate and Master’s levels.