Composing

super loss for music in film - this guy was a true legend indeed!

A true legend. He will be missed, his music and legacy will never be forgotten.

From the classic Spaghetti Westerns to The Battle of Algiers, The Untouchables and Cinema Paradiso, his compositions helped make these films true classics. I'll be raising a glass this evening.

"The Mission": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oag1Dfa1e_E

We love you, Ennio! and so many songs that we love. Ok, this one takes me back to my childhood days: "Le Professionel" https://youtu.be/gWm_xFuM5ZE

More of a visual remix than musical if that counts, but several people have taken my song "The Hubba Hubba Hula" from AMERICAN DRAGON: JAKE LONG and edited Zuko from AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER to make it look like he's singing it. Jake and Zuko were both played by Dante Basco, so it's a chance to hear Zuko sing. : ) I love seeing those pop up on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V4cb4hAT94

EDIT: While I was looking for the Jake/Zuko version I found a cover of the song itself. So cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KppYGdUv6NA

OMG this is sooo cool!! Soothing to listen to like a soundtrack!

Grace Yee Right?! It's hard for me to not get misty with that African thumb piano as Aang's theme. So touching, no matter what beat you put it to.

OMG Jonathan Price That Hubba Hubba one is hilarious!

Hi, everyone! I write a lot of neo-classical music, using piano and looping cello. I am hopeful to work with you!

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/delphiprojectmusic/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARAsN...

Youtube Hit song- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqdodcD948k

Hi Nick and the other members. Here are my recent reels with some of my music. I'm open for any genre. If any informations required please feel free to contact me any time on lukaszlowkismusic@yahoo.com

https://soundcloud.com/lukaszlowkiscomposer/music-reel-classical/s-LnnYb...

https://soundcloud.com/lukaszlowkiscomposer/music-reel-upbeat/s-lq03jnT6wOe

https://www.youtube.com/user/lukaszlowkiscomposer

Greetings from London!

https://AsWeDream.com/listen

Hi Nick! Here is some recent music and soundscaping I've put together!

Hope you enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/whiterabbitlif/sets/evermore-absr

www.joannakarselis.com/composer. There's quite a lot up there so if you have a specific style in mind let me know!

Hi David, I'm looking for a composer for a 40minute short film. Let's have a chat. ;-) Cheers, Fivaz

Writing music for film. Hi, Did you find someone to write for your 40 min project ? Hope to hear from you. Sincerely, Kerry Kennard www.KerryKennard.com

what exactly do you mean by 'do the same thing' - you looking for people to collaborate on the writing of new material, performing on new material or both? where do you enivision this taking place?

Hi, Camilla. My name is Rich. Currently working on recording and working with drum loops. Pro Tools sessions or acoustic demos. Enjoying it, nothing to sweat about. Lots of luck on your project. Stay safe.

Hey, Camilla Giordano! Congrats on the solo project! You can also search for members based on their title, so that could be a way to find people and reach out: https://www.stage32.com/people

Hi Camilla, I’m working on funding for my Jazz Project. So. Here’s the link to listen to some instrumentals and read about it. Could you share with others or possibly Donate a few dollars. i.e. $1-10? I will help the overall project; all funds go towards what is listed within the link. It’s been a 5 year growing process as well writing and having good MIDI mockups. Have a great weekend- thank you for your time. Sincerely, Kerry Kennard https://www.gofundme.com/f/jazz-cd-project-Coolin?sharetype=teams&member...

Sounds like a good plan Tim! I did a massive website revamp in January and it's totally worth investing in some time in. Let us know how you get on with getting organised and pushing towards your goals!

Its been very quiet here and as this post suggests we are in unusual times. I normally don't post links to my own work here but I am happy to take feedback as I write and this has all been done in the last week. I would encourage other composers to share their ongoing new work as they are at home - we all need to remain creative. Stage32 still does not allow the sharing here of PDF scores - only pic files which really imho don't cut it for full orchestra scores. You are welcome to just listen or provide just audio feedback or ask me privately for the PDF associated with the posted version. The composing class I go to starts up virtually this week and I am sure the prof always has comments on my stuff (he reviews all my film scores :) ).

The current version (including opening track and cue 2):

https://soundcloud.com/joelirwin/almost-alone-10?in=joelirwin/sets/almos...

And the overall ongoing project with newest stuff on top:

https://soundcloud.com/joelirwin/sets/almost-alone-as-it-is-created

Again, listen to get your creative juices going - score even if you don't currently have a film and let's give each other creative feedback.

Yes. I think we should all be really worried trying to write music that's really emotional and serve the project's vision while also worry about the financial risks that come with planning a few months or even the rest of the year down the road. We're in unusual, uncertain, weird times. haha

Hi Joanna Karselis - yes like you I'm focusing on library music but aiming to complete my first (of many I hope!) exclusive album which I plan on 'pitching' to libraries. Just generally trying to maintain the mindset of "making hay while the sun shines" :)

I too believe in positive thinking. Keeping creating music is one way of making this thought materialize. I upload my new pieces on Bandcamp and Youtube and I hope one day my music will be in movies. Hopes are positive too :) Wishing everyone to stay safe and stay creative. Music unites people. Gives them hope...

I fully support webinars like this from extremely qualified and honored composers like this one.

Here is why I believe there is a 'gap' between the composers like this who often do webinars and those of us out in the world far away from Los Angeles who do not plan on re-locating to a big film city like LA, NY, Nashville, Atlanta, London, etc. and those of us who work on films that clearly do not have budget for like musicians:

1. The webinars concentrate on the business end. The business end is very different for those scoring shorts or working on competitive films (such as the 48 hour film project). Often all there is, is an email and/or handshake. Breaking in outside of LA can be quite different from those in LA/NY. The networking is much more limited. The up and coming don't often mix with the successful - more often than not, everyone is pretty much in the same boat. The practices and procedure often common in LA and larger features such as spotting sessions and cue sheets generally don't happen elsewhere. Crew in films outside of LA often wear multiple hats and the people tasks with audio editing/engineering a not very knowledgable / are novices - the sound takes lower priority to the video. There are no opportunities (or very rarely) to apprentice for another composer. Pay in LA (or in features) is expected - outside of LA or in shorts, it is questionable - so learning how to negotiate is useful but rarely used. It sort of reminds me of the classic/standard text we all read when we start "Complete Guide To Film Scoring". Its nice to learn once, but if you are outside LA, pretty much more of an academic exercise but not immediately practical.

2. Webinars talk and instruct on production but that is as far as they go from an artistic end. They'll give you some general guidance on what software to create the music with, what samplers are useful and something about picking instrumentation - assuming of course you are scoring electronically. What I rarely, if ever see as more about the composing process. Sometimes, we see a master class like Zimmer's was which gets a bit into structure and motif development. But say you are starting your composing journey and you can write music, but you get a scene to score and ask yourself "now what" - how do you know what type of music to write - what should be the feel, the style, should it be an orchestral genre, a jazz genre, etc. What instruments should be used - should it be melodic, diotonic - in what key? what tempo? should there be a modulation? How should the structure sync with the action and the "hit points". This stuff and more is what a composer has to face for every cue they write/compose. Should there even be music at all? My single biggest challenge when I came out of a music program and chose not to take online classes at a school like Berklee, was not how to write music, but rather how to write a cue that works for the scene artistically (and makes the filmmaker/director happy.... :). A successful composer in the business world (especially in LA but perhaps more so like here in Texas), must be a master of their artistic craft. The composing field has become very crowded in the past 10 to 15 years. There are many talent people with the inert abilities to score with little or no training. For the rest of us - especially those coming from performing careers or studio producing careers in pop/r&b/rap/hiphop - training and on the job experience is required. Most won't study formally (such as theory and ear training and orchestration). Many will only know how to write for piano and guitar and so everything they write will sound like a piano/guitar piece perhaps in the three basic diatonic chords (1, 4, 5) no mater how many instruments, rhythms and tempos they use.

3. Webinars often (perhaps rarely) don't spend time analyzing a score. There are three challenges here - (a) in the world of film scoring, many of the scores are done with DAW (Sequencers) and midi commands specific to the instrumentation. So unless you are familiar with all the tools, they are hard to analyze. (b) some of the more sophisticated score written for live performers (often done in higher budgeted features), use standard sheet music. But a large majority of the composers who hang out here on stage32, can't read music and would have difficulty with either large multi-staff orchestral scores or even large multi-staffed big band scores. (c) Getting access to a film's score is nearly impossible. I try to share my scores whenever possible but after a few years of requesting stage32, I am still waiting for the ability to display PDFs in this lounge.

4. Webinars don't often address the issues and problems (both people and technical) that more specifically are associated with small production environments especially the low or no budget film world.

So the above things are some of the reasons why for the last few years I have been posting (for free) here in this lounge. I am not expert though I have now scored about 28 films (27 short) and have been nominated twice and won once. Most of us, especially outside of LA, start on a similar road which has many common pitfalls - some shared with our peers in LA and some not. Things like the whether I should take a scoring job if there are other composers scoring the same film. Or what should I do if the director has me score a film three times and still doesn't like it (and there is no contract because short filmmakers in these parts almost never have one).

And by the way - here is something that many webinars missed and I think we need to address more here:

1. Many composers park their music on soundcloud. I moved there a few months back from icompositions which shut down. I used to get 50 to 100 listens a week. Now I get 2 to 5. Other composers park in their own websites - where getting visitors to come and listen is perhaps a bigger challenge. So how does a composer get heard? Are there better 'watering holes' than soundcloud?

2. Composers constantly debate which is better - listening to a whole track or just excerpts? Sure we all like to make money on music we placed in films in addition to our contact and royalties. But should we just provide access to our scores online or try to place them for sale as soundtracks - there are pros and cons to both sides of this debate.

3. What about social media? How can social media be used by composers to either (a) pick up more work and/or (b) promote or sell the music

4. When do you go for a 'work for hire' and give up the copyright and when do you maintain everything?

Done for now....

This is going to be great! I'm such a fan of his musicianship and I look forward to it. Thanks Amanda!!

Looking forward to having you Linwood Bell! Terence is superb...bring your questions...he's ready for them :)

Looking forward to this, I hope I'll be able to make it. I love both the Blanchard jazz musician and the Blanchard film composer.

Really looking forward to this!

Joel,

Thank you for posting this!

Wow!

Thank you very, very much for posting this, Joel!

Hello Mara, did you find a composer to help you? If not, or your looking for a composer for another project, kindly visit my Youtube channel, you might like my music :) screenshot added.

Contact Allan Phillips - does some great stuff.

Hi Mara, I have a song I think you'd love. It's titled "Now It's Goodbye", contact me if you like.

This is my experimental project: https://soundcloud.com/from34to42

I'd be happy to help.

Hello Mara, grieving sadly hits home. Here are some of my compositions: https://nadiacripps.bandcamp.com/album/grieving-songs

https://nadiacripps.bandcamp.com/track/sense-of-loss

https://nadiacripps.bandcamp.com/track/serene-voyage