Composing

Some serious talent at that round table! thanks for the link

Some intern dusts.

Danny Elfman compares post-production schedules to ships on the ocean: at the beginning of the year they're all set where they're supposed to be, then as the year goes on they drift and run into each other. Once I start on a score, it's a lot like world building. The score is playing in my head 24/7. So it's difficult to work on two scores simultaneously. When I work on two scores with the same deadline, I try to halve each of the schedules, finishing one before beginning the next. So...all-nighters, 5-hour energy drinks, stuff that'll take years off your life...

Sometimes long hours are needed, but they should definitely be the exception, not the rule, otherwise you'll burn yourself out. The more experienced I'm getting, the more I'm realising that I'm most creative when I'm also looking after myself, so eating right, exercising, doing things that calm my mind (such as taking a bath). It can feel counterproductive to take a break, but generally, if your mind and body are being given room to breathe and think, when you sit down to compose the music then comes a lot more easily, which means less hours overall

It's also good to not feel like composing has to mean sitting in front of your computer or piano struggling for ideas. The amount of times I've gone out to walk the dog thinking about a cue, and have come back feeling more upbeat and with mental sketches or resolutions to difficult problems is countless! I also do a lot of great sketching of pieces in a notebook just sitting outside the local coffee shop, or out in nature somewhere. These are simultaneously re-energising and creative moments, and I find working this way to often be more productive than sitting at the piano for ten hours banging my head on it. I've heard from other composers like Pinar Toprak and Nainita Desai that they are the same way- I think Toprak came up with the Captain Marvel theme whilst out on a walk!

Also, sometimes when dealing with big projects or simultaneous projects I build a spreadsheet of cues, so I can focus in on exactly what's needed and in what time frame. If there's a particular cue or film that's worrying you, definitely focus on that first, otherwise it will niggle away in the background and interfere with your scoring for the other films. If you can manage to focus on multiple films simultaneously, you could always write a cue or two for one, send it to the director to get their comments, and then whilst waiting for their reply move on to write some cues for the next film (though this method relies on your director being too busy to reply straight away!) Hope some of that helps.

When I was young :) back in 1970, there was a relatively obscure rock song called "Sympathy" by "Rare Bird". Made it as high as #27 in the UK (it was a UK group) and never charted in the U.S. (Back in the 1960s I was in a rock band playing Organ/Farfisa so I loved all organ/hammond-based songs of the era).

The "hook" of the song has stuck with me for 50 years - "because there's not enough love to go round". I treat all my business's based on that mantra while also taking care of myself as described. In my wedding videography business, I often refer conflicting weddings to another videographer and if I get a request to score and it looks like I am not really available, I do 'soul searching' as to whether I can really do a 'stretch' such as a 5 to 7 hour mid-Sat night 48 hour competitive score :) but I have scored enough to understand my limits. So I still today operate from the perspective of "spread the love" - I refer the scoring to a composing peer. I will not score two films simultaneously - if I have taken them both on, they are done sequentially. Last year I made an exception - had taken on two films, but one had not yet been locked and I knew the other could be done quickly (in one day). So I scored the other which turned out to be my only nomination last year (for best sound design).

As Youtube pretty much has every song that has ever been made.... :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TMw92_q8Ac

Thanks for responses. Has anyone ever asked for an extension on deadline for tardy films? By this I mean continue to compose the film that was sent on time but ask for an extension on the ones that didn't stick to deadline? Also I'm fine with composing multiple projects at the same time (if they're of different genre or stylistically. Big they're similar it can become confusing).

Maybe I've just got lucky, but so far, if the director has been running behind schedule on sending me stuff, they've always suggested moving the ultimate deadline backwards a little. However, from reading about other composers, I think that this is the exception rather than the rule! Directors don't usually set arbitrary deadlines, so if I was to ask for an extension (even if that was the director's fault for running late), I'd want to understand the wider picture of production (festival submission deadlines, a set-in-stone mix day, that kind of thing) before asking. Directors are under so much pressure already, and our job is really to support them and their vision, rather than piling on pressure from another quarter. It also depends on your relationship with them, the film's goals, all those sorts of things. Basically, if they're asking you to do something huge in an impossibly short space of time and there's no particular reason why it must be done by then you're well within your rights to ask for an extension, as long as it's not going to make the rest of post difficult for the director.

Thanks for that, Joanna!

JNH is one of my big film composer heros, cheers for this!

Thanks for sharing!

I agree Linwood, music is a gift meant to be shared, and it is one of my life’s greatest joys. I highly recommend getting Note Performer. They let you use two copies and it’s only a little over $100, (so maybe you could share that with your son, lol.) My son Ryan used to use Pro Tools, (which he got certification on in college), and I found it too steep a learning curve. Dillon began with Pro Tools but switched to Cube Base, and now Ryan has also switched because Pro Tools kept crashing his system.

I totally agree with Joanna about Dorico. It’s a great idea, but it’s just not ready yet. I bought Sibelius when it first came out, and chose it over Finale, (which at the time was the preferred notation program.) Dillon grew up with it. If that’s the consensus, then maybe I’m not as out of the loop as I thought. Here’s what I keep bringing up with my sons. What the DAW’s are missing is the complexity of what happens in a live concert hall. If the instrument samples are taken in a sterile environment, it leaves out all of the harmonic overtones that occur in an orchestra. When a trumpet sounds the strings in the orchestra vibrate, even when they are not playing, (as do all the other instruments.) This is not just the reverberation of the hall. I’m sure this would be an extremely complex algorithm to factor, but until it is addressed, there can’t be a truly realistic recreation of the orchestra.

My son's name is Ryan, as well. I saw it was on sale this month for $78. Maybe today I pull the plug!! There's so much stuff I want to get and I've already got too much. Here the Silvestri clips I was talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrDqGEQux7g

Joel's music I was already hip to from being a member for a while, ...but I just listened to Michael, Joanna, and Dillon. Wow! You are all so great. Wonderful music. Bravo!! So nice to have you here.

Thank you for the compliments Linwood, but you are quite accomplished, yourself. I had always dreamed of writing jingles, but never found my way into the field. I was chatting on the phone with the head of the composition department at Berklee School of music, when Dillon won a scholarship there. He asked me if I was still composing, and told him that I was still writing but wasn't making any money at it. He said, "Oh, I see you're familiar with music composition." Anyone who can manage to make a living out of composing music of any application, has only to be proud of it. My compliments. Dillon has seen the Silvestri clips before and told me about them.

Yes Sir, if the pencil is in your hand it's all serious music.

I've done a feature, and I am working on three more right now. But I enjoy working on shorts. I feel like they are a completely different puzzle to solve. And I feel going into the future I wouldn't abandon shorts for strictly features.

I mean, look at people like Martin Scorsese, he's done shorts as recently as two years ago.

I honestly have no words to describe how thankful I am that you shared this!

Hey Yon Max-Aaron I'm glad you found it of value.

Thanks for the share, Julian. That was nice! Hope you're doing well and keeping busy!

Welcome Janet!

Thank You so much!

Just Northern Virginia or are you willing to travel? 'down below' meaning AU?

Northern Virginia for now :D

The people who come here are primarily composers and music people like Mike. My experience here has been to promote discussion of artistic and business topics related to music creation for films. This is not the place for promotion. There are other locations where Mike's talent is more effectively showcased such as in the "Introduce Yourself" forum or the jobs section.

If there is a particular track of his you want to discuss to help us be better at our trade or you want to discuss and highlight some tips or 'nuggets' that help us here interact more effectively with filmmakers like yourself, we would all appreciate and welcome it.

I don't know. I thought that you could share things like this. Maybe some people are interested. Anyway, maybe I should look better on what I can share and what I can't.

you can certainly share here but since many/most of us are composers and musicians, it could be a good idea to pick say a track and analyze it a bit and let us know, for example, what you think makes it what it is. We are all here in this forum to share the love and help each other be better at our trade. It is surely OK to just share the track but keep in mind that promotion in here is one composer to another. This is not the place on stage32.com IMHO normally where a composer would want to find say a filmmaker to hire them for scoring.

Take for example my recent post below. Notice I have quite an extensive discussion of what things I suggest artistically for people to do when they score multiple instruments at the same time. Not a single link to my own stuff or anywhere else on the Internet for that matter. My way is not the only way, but I treat this lounge to bring up artistic and business topics and issues that are of interest to my other fellow music people. So for example, we may not all agree on what and how we should get paid for our products, but that would be an example of a business discussion.