Hello fellow composers! I am a composer based in Seattle. I score films and create tracks for licensing to music libraries, etc. I also teach music licensing and am happy to answer questions about it. My website has a lot of free resources, and I put out a free newsletter (8th year). Please let me know if I can be of assistance. Keep writing!
Very impressive bio and credits in IMDB. Lots of composers share their business experience and some talk about production and arranging but very few give insight on how they create - the actual artistic process.
As your work in "As The World Turns" has been awarded many times, perhaps you can share some 'nuggets' with us as what musically was done to create that score and was there something individual or unique about the music/melody that identified your 'particular sound'. Or perhaps what it is like to build a score to support a 1930's style silent film (i.e., make the music 'congruent'). Your trailer does give us a 'peek' of the music.
"As the Earth Turns" (actually the lead female actor was in "As the World Turns" soap opera later in life!)
Regarding the score..
Scoring a silent film is actually one of the great joys of a film-composer. Usually, composers have to dodge dialogue and stay out of the way. In a silent film the music is the entire soundscape. It acts as an emotional backdrop, creates suspense, drama, romance, etc. It has to completely carry the film. (Watch a silent film without any music and you will see what I mean.) Also, a silent film, really can’t have much silence in it. Most films have a pretty large portion of the film without any music. Other sounds and dialogue carry the film. If the music stops on a silent film, everything stops, and it can be very uncomfortable. With digital, you don’t even have the noise of the projector or hiss on the soundtrack to let you know the film is running correctly. This 45-minute film has 45 minutes of music, too!
I found out halfway through scoring that Lyford had experimented with music and sound for his early 16mm films. That’s something that no-one had done. Keep in mind, “As the Earth Turns” was his ninth film, and he was 20 years old! Not having a director to work with is very freeing, but also terrifying. You really don’t know if you are carrying out the director’s vision or not. I did find out through the family that my music choices (period classical and jazz) were very close to his original ideas for music. He had designed a dual-turntable system, synced with a cable to a 16mm projector. He was a DJ in the 1930s! He spun records with music and even attempted some dialogue on the discs (lost, I am afraid!). The sound FX he used was usually live Foley, like in radio (coconut shells for horses, etc.). Lyford had constructed a theatre in his family’s basement, and it had 50 theatre seats! In the end, I am very satisfied with my score. It is released and available online.
I can also say that the score was mixed at Clatter&Din in Seattle a leading post house. I had an excellent audio engineer. I created stems (sections of instruments) and supplied individual tracks, along with the full reference track to match the audio. I did cheat the bass by adding electric bass (synth) to help the low end (used on films, regularly). If you watch the film, and contact me, I will tell you which instruments are real and which are virtual. I do believe that the combination is important to achieve believable orchestral arrangments.
I did score the piano first, and then built the orchestrations from there. I am a pretty good improviser, so once I have some basic themes down, it moved pretty fast. The score took a month to write, and there were around 24 scenes (cues). My soundtrack recording combines a few together for listening. I do believe that this type of scoring is similar to writing a cantata - short movements, tied together. Please feel free to ask specific questions about tech, arrangement, etc.
I will say, on the business end, that when you become a producer (it came to me, in this case), you get invited to film festivals, etc. Best advice: start creating your own projects. You have a LOT more control. Ask me more about it.
For non-producers like us composers - other than providing team support and comradeship at a festival, what are the benefits for attending a non-local festival. For example, many of us here in Houston attend 'Worldfest' but very few of us crew people go outside the city. I have spent airfare, hotel, transportation, and food costs to go to festivals in L.A. Most of the time I have scored film showing and I get to meet L.A. based crew (often the filmmaker/director) which has value for future collaboration. But quite frankly, as a non-filmmaker/producer, I find it difficult to 'breakthrough' the groups of people around the other films, the mixers are often at noisy restaurants with groups who know each other at tables, etc. Bottom line for me for the last 10 years, the festivals are fun but I have so far been unable to generate new business with filmmakers/directors/producers with whom I have no prior relationship. I suspect this is 'typical' and really not much different from 'cold calling'. But my question here is in your opinion from a purely composer point of view, does composer attendance at festivals, especially in L.A. provide benefit to warrant a typical $2,000+ outlay.
Joel:
Great question. I am familiar with Worldfest. "As the Earth Turns" won an award, but I wasn't able to make it. Looks like a great festival. It's funny about local events. I've found with anything local, I generally take it for granted (I don't think anyone will take any events granted after Covid!). When I go out of town, I am much more likely to get to as many related events as possible. I have no distractions.
In the end, what you get from any event, networking-wise can vary considerably. Some virtual events lately have gotten me better connections that in-person. It can be quite intimate, especially one-on-one zoom. The art of networking is something to be studied, as well. Most composers are introverts (IMO). We also tend to be tribal. Musicians will hang with musicians and film-people with other film-people. I would guess that even actors hang with actors, directors with directors, etc.
A composer friend of mine used to wear a "Filmmaker" badge at events, rather than a “musician” badge. He said he was part of that tribe. It was an interesting twist. For me, by becoming a producer, it has been a game-changer to get closer to other filmmakers. My recommendation is to create your own projects and submit them to festivals (I use Imovie quite a bit!). You will have another experience, entirely. Most people in filmmaking wear many hats, so a composer/director/filmmaker is not out of the question. You get invited to festivals as a producer, too. You get into events for producers, etc. You learn the language of filmmaking (rather than only composing). All of this can help open doors to meet other people in the industry. Whether you generate business with other filmmakers is probably going to be a result of follow-up. You have to do the work after the festival, and stay on top of your contacts. You have to research other filmmakers and know what they do and are looking for. IMDB helps a lot. A festival, in-person or virtual just opens the door. You have to go through the door to get the gig.
Also, by being a producer, I have learned how to submit films (Filmfreeway) and all of the hurdles involved in being a filmmaker. I am now tremendously sympathetic to the plight of the filmmaker. As composers, we come into a project toward the end. The filmmaker has spent a ton of money, time and effort getting the film to that point. All we want to know is how much are we going to get paid, right? Learn the process of filmmaking from production through promotion and distribution, and you will have a completely different attitude about your role as composer on the project.
I had my first imdb producer credit in 2013. it won it's competition and then placed 2nd to Paris at Filmapalooza representing Houston. In the short film biz, if you pay for all (or half), you are a producer. I still tear every time I watch Elegantia (I wrote the music originally for an adult dance studio) - https://youtu.be/jXfajMVeT54. It was shot and completed in just over a day (the music was previously written).
Next year, I have already paid to register a team for the 168 film festival in Aug in LA. I guess that makes me a co-producer for whatever film we create (and I score). Let's hope we have festivals next summer.
Great to hear. Any involvement with a film can translate into a producer credit, especially if the music budget is low! That's a great way to get on the inside. Good luck with the film!!
Joel: Elegentia a a wonderful and tragic short film. Very nice for a 48hr production. Usually I have zero time to score those! Interesting that it's a no dialogue piece too. My film http://astheearthturns.com is silent with my music. It's an entirely different approach to scoring. End to end music. Silence can be deadly with no ambient sounds at all.