A composer may read books or articles on subjects related to the film. Other times, a composer my spend time immersing themselves in a particular genre of music or culture. Another key component of creating a score is coming up with the the sonic palette. This means making decisions on things like instrumentation, sound design and, to an extent, harmony.
In this phase, a composer might spend weeks recording and designing custom sounds specifically for the film. While working on the film Divergent , composer Junkie XL had an ethnic percussion specialist, Satnam Ramgotra, record in the studio for five or six days to capture custom sounds for the score. And this is not a process limited to composers working on blockbuster films either. While working on a recent independent feature film, my team and I spent weeks recording and mangling recordings of electric violins, basses, pianos—even buzzsaws—that we would later use to create the score and inject it with its own unique sonic identity.
A composer knows where the music is going in the film, has researched the subject and spent time developing raw material. Naturally, the next step is to get to the process of actually writing music. But I will discuss a couple of common approaches that composers have successfully employed over the years…. The themes. They'll cover everything you need to know about composing music for films, TV, and commercial, and even help you pitch for work.
The film and TV industries are growing rapidly. New reality shows, documentaries, adverts etc all require an endless supply of fresh music. Then there are also music libraries, which are great sources to place your music to movies. Film and TV composers create the musical scores that accompany visual media as well as write the themes, background score, and source music used in television shows.
The average salary of a film composer depends on the budget of the project they are working on. Music library composers make money from royalty earnings. Music supervision is the art of selecting and licensing preexisting songs or recordings for use in visual media like film, television, video games, and advertising. Part-sound editor, part-project manager, and part-musician, the music editor is an all-rounder who oversees the creative, technical, and logistical aspects of composing and implementing music in film and TV.
Package deals vary depending on the project. Sound designers are responsible for creating or compiling high-quality audio assets for interactive media projects like video games, applications, and operating systems. The audio assets that sound designers are responsible for include sound effects, background score, and voice-over.
Around the globe, thousands of movies are produced either by big production companies or independent filmmakers. Every film production consists of team members including; producer, director, screenwriter, production designer, art director, cinematographer, music supervisor, and a composer, etc.
In our interview, Nainita Desai described her process of deconstructing, analysing, and reconstructing music in order to quickly learn to write in new styles.
One of the wonderful things about film music and film score composers is how diverse it is musically. You could be composing for western classical orchestra one day, and Jewish Klezmer the next! Set yourself a composing challenge. Depending on how much time you have available to you, this could be daily, weekly, or monthly.
Well produced average music will always succeed over poorly produced excellent music. Learning music production is essential if you want to make it as a composer today. Even well-known composers who compose primarily orchestral music today still have to be masters of music production. Not the other way around. Browse the catalogue of a production music library like Gothic Storm and compare your music to theirs.
How does the production quality compare? Would your music sit happily next to theirs? There are loads of tutorials on YouTube - start there! Some people think that they have to be pushing boundaries and always trying to do new, groundbreaking things in music. Serve the project first. It can just be a general feeling. Take Carter Burwell, for example.
Then you can draw on that and emphasise it, if you choose. Here it is applied to jazz improvisation but still massively relevant to us as composers. Learning how to become a film composer involves learning how to write in a myriad of different styles. Through all of that writing we need to find our voice. Kind of like learning how to talk in different languages - we'll always have our own voice and accent.
See if you notice any trends or common themes. But the second aspect is more important here: every trade has its tools, as a tradesperson you need to learn how to use them. As a film composer, you need to be able to use a lot of different tools in a lot of different ways. Many of the big companies do trial periods or money-back guarantees.
Make the most of these to have a go and get to grips with their interfaces, just so that you can add that skill to your roster. You never know, you might even fall in love with a different system! Try to compose or mix a track using it. See if you can get comfortable with the interface, and make sure you learn the basic controls so that if you were ever forced to use it, you'd have no problems. I genuinely hope that this article helps give you direction to your film scoring career.
Great content! Simplicity always wins, and a lot of us composers need to be reminded to use common sense…. Thanks Jonathan.
Jonny Armandary, A most helpful site for me. I have a little production house and the tips you share really work for me. Thank you and the good thoughts you share. Do you share your Twitter link to keep an update?
That is a good idea about how to become a film composer. I like it. Thank you, and keep writing. Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. Share 0. Tweet 0. Want to know how to become a film composer? That said… There are a whole bunch of small things you can do that will increase your chances of breaking into the motion picture soundtrack business exponentially.
And the best part? Most of them are listed here. That means you need to be flexible, and you need to be able to make sacrifices. Or One That Pays! You'll actually focus on how to become a film composer! It means that you need to learn to let things slip right off your shoulders. Let it slide right off. Click to Tweet. Support Yourself Physically, Mentally, and Socially Persistence over a long period is absolutely vital in the film music industry.
But… So many aspiring composers seem to be under the impression that going to school will lead them directly into the film music industry. That is simply not the case. Go ahead, visualise it.
Beige people are boring. I worded it a LOT better, obviously, but you get the idea! I can do that. Next week? Sure thing. What went wrong? This is a long and complicated way of saying: Read and interpret the brief! You cannot be that person. Whatever it is, bring it. You avoid uncomfortable situations like the plague Whatever it is, discomfort is a part of this life.
The same goes for every other piece of gear. Buying stuff is NOT how to become a film composer. Focus On Creating Assets Create it once, sell it over and over. One of the great parts of composition is the potential for royalties. How would you do it? Of course not. You need to apply that mindset to your film scoring career as well! Do you know who listens to film composers' music on YouTube?
Other composers. Do you know who hires film composers? Not other composers. Of course, there are exceptions.
Because no one likes having music shoved under their noses. Not the case. So you need to tailor them for that. Even to the point of not thinking about where our client might be. The group is an educational group for composers. So who do you think make up the vast majority of members of the group? Aspiring composers. What benefit is there to promoting your music to aspiring composers?
What makes a truly great film soundtrack might be a perennial question — but Morricone left us with timeless responses, across a multitude of genres. More like this: - What makes a cult classic? Great film music somehow retains its magic, even when its familiar melodies are laid bare. There is a universal relatability to a brilliant film score, even in fragments. Morricone is credited for re defining the sound of the Western although his music obviously went much further than that ; meanwhile, US composer John Williams summons otherworldly adventures, across the Star Wars and Superman sagas, ET and more.
I wanted the real world to be like film… and music is the thing that will allow you to do that.
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