I found this article that called my attention when I was doing research of stuffs for a design project I have to do that is related to composers. I liked it, so I wanted to post it. Feel free to agree, to disagree, to discuss, etc.


Taking Control of Your Composing Career: The Creative
By Mark Northam • Published March 17, 2009

In an industry where too often it seems that luck, fate and the fickle tastes of directors and producers are the driving forces of careers, it’s easy to overlook the fact that there are a great many things that composers can do to exercise positive control over their careers.

Most composers in the early stages of their career are ready to write in any style, any genre in order to get more experience and credits. While this is not necessarily a bad strategy very early on in one’s career, the downside can be a lack of creative and stylistic focus leading to the dreaded “generic composer” reputation - something to be avoided at all costs.

To be perfectly blunt, nobody needs generic composers - that is, composers who can write in a wide variety of styles, but do not excel at any of them. There is simply too much competition out there for composers to be successful without writing really outstanding music. If filmmakers want bland, generic sounding music, there’s plenty of that available for free from the lower end music libraries - and plenty of great music from the higher end music libraries too, by the way!

Some ideas to consider in taking control of the creative aspects of your composing career:

* Write what you’re good at. Take a really good luck at what style(s) of music you excel at writing, and then consider how marketable those styles are in today’s film and television music market - do you hear styles like these in film & TV today? Would they work with the shows and films being produced today? No matter how good a “product” is, whether we’re talking about a car, a bar of soap, or a musical style, if there isn’t a market for it, it probably won’t sell.

* Avoid sounding like a knock-off of a “name” composer. Nobody wants to hear a composer try to sound like John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Hans Zimmer, etc. This is usually attempted with an inadequate sampler rig and tags a composer instantly as desperate and naive. If you want to make a unique name for yourself, you had better make some unique music as well.

* Forge new ways of working with filmmakers in a tough market. Even in a marketplace where composer fees are dropping like a rock for everybody but the very top composers, competition is fierce. Rather than simply competing on “how good” your music is, consider new ways of working with filmmakers including collaborative composing, where the filmmaker becomes part of the composing process rather than only hearing the music once it’s in mocked up demo form. Today’s filmmakers have never heard of “locked picture” and are constantly editing, making tremendous demands on composers for flexibility right up until the score is recorded. Successful composers embrace today’s filmmaking workflow and find new and interesting ways to work within it. By offering filmmakers new and more contemporary working relationships, composers can successfully compete against others with more credits and more experience. Sometimes it’s not always the “biggest name” that gets the job, as evidenced by all the relatively new names showing up as composers on feature films today.

* Take advantage of the global recording marketplace to get the best musicians or orchestra for your project. Recording orchestras all over the world are competing for scoring work from composers today, and new technology including the Source Connect ProTools plug-ins allow composers to connect directly from their project studios to scoring stages around the world with audio, video and timecode connections to facilitate the recording process without the travel hassles. This doesn’t mean that your local orchestra players should be overlooked, but in the final analysis, those who judge your scores and decide whether to hire you or not won’t know or care where you recorded them - they’ll only judge the quality of the music, performance and recording. Figure out what size of an orchestra or band you need, and get bids from a variety of locations that are suitable for your requirements to maximize the money you spend on musicians and recording.

* Meet more filmmakers. This is a very relationship-driven business, and successful creative relationships with filmmakers are by far the most popular way composers get hired. Filmmakers talk to other filmmakers, and even one highly successful filmmaker relationship can lead to many others through referrals and word of mouth. Go to film festivals, don’t be afraid to meet filmmakers, and be ready to talk about filmmaking first, plus what’s unique about you and your music if and when the opportunity presents itself. Filmmakers generally don’t want to talk about technology or money, they’re focused on the creative aspects of filmmaking. Use this to your advantage by being ready and prepared to have comfortable, interesting conversations about the creative aspects of filmmaking and film music with directors you meet at various events. And if your people skills need some work, work on them!

* Try to make each new project you do a step forward creatively. It can be easy to get stuck in a rut of doing the same kind of project for the same kind of filmmaker, and this can easily lead to a stalled career and being overlooked for projects that are a rung or two “higher” on the career ladder. This is especially true of lower budget direct-to-DVD projects some some filmmakers seem to crank out ad nauseum. The extreme opposite of being known as a “generic” composer is getting known as a composer who has an extremely narrow musical and creative vocabulary who can only do one type of film or score. This kind of “musical typecasting” can be a considerable problem for upward mobility in a composer’s career, and can rule a composer out of contention for projects that aren’t “like” the ones that he or she is “known” for being able to do. It’s essential to develop some sort of a career plan for yourself and decide how you want to move up in the business and in what direction. When considering new projects, look beyond the money and consider on a creative basis how each new project will fit into your career plan and advance your reputation and career as a composer.

The suggestions I’ve made here are somewhat general in nature - the real key to successfully using these is determining in what specific ways you can apply these to fuel and focus the creative aspects of your career. Next week, we’ll talk about how you can take control of the business aspects of your career. Until then, my challenge to you is to write some music that doesn’t sound like anybody else’s - other than your own, of course. Happy composing!

These are all very good points. Personally I feel that the more styles you can write in, the better overall (especially if you're good in each style).

I agree with this article... 100%

Hmmmm...I'm not sure I would trust this composer on some of this stuff based on his actual accomplishments...

For one, I think that specializing too much on one genre has the possibility of suddenly killing the composer's career when that specific genre 'dies', and the market has no more need for such. Take 90's music as an example, very few of those styles are appreciated by the 'modern' ears, aka the audience. But say, take emo for example, it was an old genre but given a new taste by 'new' composers. What they don't realize is that some of the music today and before were written by the same people, adjusting to what the audience is looking for.

There are a lot of composers and people that share this vision. I have to say, I hate generic film music. It's just pumping out chords progs/arpegios and building it for 2 mins on an 8 bar "Hollywood sounding" phrase, which is pretty much what 99% of X-ray dog is. It's just a shame so many directors what that :(

I must say, I think Han's Zimmer has run out of ideas. I've listened to some of his recent work. It's all just "pumping". There's not much soul to it now. It's music for the sake of music, Hollywood style. I guess that's my attraction to Asian soundtrack rather then Western, but then again A LOT of Asian music is completely and utterly piano based. So it does share similar repetitions.

I guess whether you're going for a Western or Asian audience. You need to have more imagination now then a simple piano song or an orchestra that gradually adds more and more sound, but still basing it's stuff around a 4 bar chord prog.

Alright, Asian pop music to me sounds all the same! It's so stereotypical that you can mix 5 different songs together without breaking the fundamental progression. Problem is, to the general public, each song is different because the melody is ever so slightly changed and the progression has become almost a norm. That's why when they hear some new contemporary piece, even if they may think it sounded cool, it's unlikely that they will be listening to it over and over again in their mp3. The article says that producers and film makers don't look for generic songs. The fact of the matter is that they still do. Turn on MTV and theres proof. Listen to the 50new pop music that was written over the past 6month, you'll realize that you can probably put them into 4 categories, 2 types of major, 2 types of minor. Producers buy what they feel would sell and music that sells is music that the general public would like. Of course, with film music, the creation of atmosphere is looked at as well but if I recall correctly, the music that people still remember today are from the big movies. Many music from smaller or even other big films that didn't really hit it off in the theaters just as good if not better and yet they have all been forgotten.

My point in saying this is that the article gives an interesting perspective but it didn't really shed new light to people looking to score for film or MV or w/e. Relations are important, specialization is important, flexibility is somewhat important. The article said these 3 points using 10paragraphs instead of 3 sentences. To me it just feel like common sense BS written by a guy who probably needed to publish something to keep his prof. title.

Edit: I don't mean the entire article is crap. In fact, i think it's rather well at giving people somethings to think about. I'm saying don't take what this article said and put it into your bible to worship it. It's only one person's point of view.

* Avoid sounding like a knock-off of a “name” composer. Nobody wants to hear a composer try to sound like John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Hans Zimmer, etc. This is usually attempted with an inadequate sampler rig and tags a composer instantly as desperate and naive. If you want to make a unique name for yourself, you had better make some unique music as well.

The best point in the article. ;)

And yet I think it's important to draw upon such composer's for inspiration. Very few would guess (if I hadn't already told them) that my O Nata Lux was inspired by a song from Harry Potter. One of my musical role models is John Williams but I know I don't sound like a knock off of him (although I don't think anyone in the film-scoring industry could truly match the brilliance of some of his scores).

I agree with drawing on other composers for inspiration. But leave it at just that, inspiration. And then do your own thing: improving, learning, adapting, experimenting, innovating.

I agree with drawing on other composers for inspiration. But leave it at just that, inspiration. And then do your own thing: improving, learning, adapting, experimenting, innovating.

Exactly!

Honestly, I don't agree with this guy about some of the stuff he says...

I think that is just a problem when you are just trying to be the copy of someone else and not creating an own voice for yourself. Though if you can make something new from something already existent that would be an innovation or a new perspective for the music and not a total copy of the before. Learn from others and their styles but implement it in a creative way that you can make it part of you without being a raw copy of another composer. This reminded me to what my psychology teacher said, "The past is in the present".

The guy says there "if you want to make a unique name for yourself, you had better make some unique music as well". I think for get that, you must learn from other composers and incorporate old ideas with new ideas for create new elements. Though there are millions of pieces and songs; chance are so high that there will be a lot of music that share many similar elements. To be unique is something hard. But there are things that can make us individual from others; even with the influences we have from other composers.

I agree with KK about the directors and producers. A big quantity of them just want music that sounds like other composers' music. Worst is when they use a template and they get so stuck with it that ask the composer to compose music that is very alike to it. Not having the chance to explode their whole creativity in their own way. And yes there are films that were not hit and have an amazing music that was forgotten. The fame of a film take an important role most of the times.

Another example relating to John Williams on inspiration:

John Williams was asked specifically to draw from Holst's "The Planets" when creating the soundtrack for Star Wars: A New Hope; if listening to "Mars", it is easy to see how this may have been influential in creating the "Imperial March", but I don't think it sounds "the same", either.

The fame of a film take an important role most of the times.

Or sometimes, the actors that play it, or the budget spent for it. Music isn't really a thing big time directors and producers pay much attention to. They're too busy on hiring big names that will reap big profit, than actually thinking about what makes their movies so great as a whole.

I beg to differ.

I beg to differ.

:think: ...yes?

Just flipping through channels of those c-list movies, you'll tend to say, "Is that who I think it is?" in movies. Hallmark channel, Lifetime, CW, ABC Family-- a lot of these second-to-third rate movies have some very big and extremely recognizable stars, but aren't put out as blockbusters. I shall find some examples when I have a good amount of time to do so.

I think you missed the point of what he was saying, though. He wasn't saying movies were *good* because they get big name stars; in fact, quite the opposite.

Another example relating to John Williams on inspiration:

John Williams was asked specifically to draw from Holst's "The Planets" when creating the soundtrack for Star Wars: A New Hope; if listening to "Mars", it is easy to see how this may have been influential in creating the "Imperial March", but I don't think it sounds "the same", either.

Actually I'm not entirely sure if it's the "Imperial March"... I've heard someone talk about Williams using Mars for inspiration, but I thought it was just that one scene which screamed "the last 5 chords of Mars: Bringer of War" rather than the rhythmic similarity of a march with the "Mars" march.


Additionally, I like what this person says as tips for composers... but at the same time I have slightly different ideas. Personally, I've always wanted to write like John Williams... that is to say I've always wanted to write something so passionate and emotionally stirring as John William's movie music. With that said, I don't want to copy him. I want to write my own stuff and have people look at my music the same way they talk about William's music. Although I do recognize the fact that it's best to be yourself, it shouldn't be wrong to pull inspiration from the best. If it worked for them it should work for you.

Exactly how I feel!

As far as the "Mars" thing goes, I know the scene that you're talking about, but as I said, much of the music from Star Wars (at least the first movie) is influenced by "The Planets", so it's not surprising that more than one similarity is evident.