In a recent thread, I've seen some rather alarming advice and attitudes to becoming a professional composer, largely born out of ignorance of the realities of achieving and maintaining a career as a professional composer.
Some background first: The music business in general has changed beyond all recognition over the last 2 decades. To get started when I did as a film composer in 1992 was an expensive business, computers were not yet capable of high enough quality and decent outboard samplers, mixers and other gear cost many tens of thousands of dollars for a basic system. So there really were not that many people with the skill or equipment to compose and produce music. Technology has changed all that, its' now possible to make a no-budget film and no-budget music, where there was once tens of thousands with access to compose and produce music there are now many tens of millions and probably hundreds of millions. Of those many millions, only a few percent take it seriously and have any talent and of those, only a few percent have real talent and seriously consider and/or pursue the possibility of making it a career. As the music business collapses economically, more and more have turned to media music. So even at a few percent of a few percent, we're probably still talking about 100,000+ people, of which most will earn a few bucks or even a few thousand bucks but only a few percent will actually earn enough to support a family and be career professionals and of these only a few percent will make a very good living. In other words, it's unbelievably competitive!!
If you want to be a professional, make a living as a media composer, you don't just have to be considerably better than all those tens thousands of others who will work for little or nothing, you have to offer considerably more. Knowing the difference between being a music creator and being a professional media composer is just the first step on a long road. For example: Dealing with the technicalities of the media; time-code, re-conforms, frequency spectrum usage for the media, stereo compatibility, efficiency and professionalism in spotting. Interpretation of the script, interpretation of the edits, the metaphorical "language" of film/tv, the terminology of film and communication skills. Knowing and using composition and production techniques to make your music more usable in media projects.
On the actual composing side, you have to be incredibly creative, dedicated and to work very hard and very fast. Composing and producing (to an extraordinary standard) a piece of music in just a single day is extremely difficult but composing and producing a piece of music a day, every day for 2 months without a break is a serious challenge, requiring knowledge, planning and great ability but this is the job of the professional media composer. As a professional film composer you need to have a very good grounding in the sonic characteristics, acoustics and theory of orchestral music because while numerous other genres of music are used in film, orchestral music is the dominant professional genre. Even where orchestral style music is not used at all in a particular project, the principles of orchestral composition frequently are. However, most aspiring film score composers use orchestral strings and other instrument samples, mistakenly thinking they are writing orchestral music, when it's obvious they've either never heard a live professional orchestra and/or have no idea how to emulate one.
There are so many who call themselves composers, thinking that writing pieces of music which others think are good (or are even occasionally willing to pay a few bucks for), is enough. There are so many who would like to be professional composers but very few who really want it. Very few who are willing to put in the study required to gain the knowledge and expertise essential to being a career professional. Just playing around all day with sequencing software, experimenting and making nice pieces of music might be what you enjoy but is nowhere near enough to set you apart from the countless tens of thousands of others already doing that. This is the approach of the amateur or serious or obsessed hobbyist, it's NOT the approach of a professional! If you're serious about being a professional composer then take it seriously and learn the craft. Study and practice recording and production theories and techniques, study and practice composition theory and techniques and study the "language" of film, become an expert. Work especially hard at those areas you don't like or are not so good at, develop objectivity and be your own worst critic! The payoff for all the talent, skill, knowledge, expertise and damn hard work is to make a living doing something you love.
G
Some background first: The music business in general has changed beyond all recognition over the last 2 decades. To get started when I did as a film composer in 1992 was an expensive business, computers were not yet capable of high enough quality and decent outboard samplers, mixers and other gear cost many tens of thousands of dollars for a basic system. So there really were not that many people with the skill or equipment to compose and produce music. Technology has changed all that, its' now possible to make a no-budget film and no-budget music, where there was once tens of thousands with access to compose and produce music there are now many tens of millions and probably hundreds of millions. Of those many millions, only a few percent take it seriously and have any talent and of those, only a few percent have real talent and seriously consider and/or pursue the possibility of making it a career. As the music business collapses economically, more and more have turned to media music. So even at a few percent of a few percent, we're probably still talking about 100,000+ people, of which most will earn a few bucks or even a few thousand bucks but only a few percent will actually earn enough to support a family and be career professionals and of these only a few percent will make a very good living. In other words, it's unbelievably competitive!!
If you want to be a professional, make a living as a media composer, you don't just have to be considerably better than all those tens thousands of others who will work for little or nothing, you have to offer considerably more. Knowing the difference between being a music creator and being a professional media composer is just the first step on a long road. For example: Dealing with the technicalities of the media; time-code, re-conforms, frequency spectrum usage for the media, stereo compatibility, efficiency and professionalism in spotting. Interpretation of the script, interpretation of the edits, the metaphorical "language" of film/tv, the terminology of film and communication skills. Knowing and using composition and production techniques to make your music more usable in media projects.
On the actual composing side, you have to be incredibly creative, dedicated and to work very hard and very fast. Composing and producing (to an extraordinary standard) a piece of music in just a single day is extremely difficult but composing and producing a piece of music a day, every day for 2 months without a break is a serious challenge, requiring knowledge, planning and great ability but this is the job of the professional media composer. As a professional film composer you need to have a very good grounding in the sonic characteristics, acoustics and theory of orchestral music because while numerous other genres of music are used in film, orchestral music is the dominant professional genre. Even where orchestral style music is not used at all in a particular project, the principles of orchestral composition frequently are. However, most aspiring film score composers use orchestral strings and other instrument samples, mistakenly thinking they are writing orchestral music, when it's obvious they've either never heard a live professional orchestra and/or have no idea how to emulate one.
There are so many who call themselves composers, thinking that writing pieces of music which others think are good (or are even occasionally willing to pay a few bucks for), is enough. There are so many who would like to be professional composers but very few who really want it. Very few who are willing to put in the study required to gain the knowledge and expertise essential to being a career professional. Just playing around all day with sequencing software, experimenting and making nice pieces of music might be what you enjoy but is nowhere near enough to set you apart from the countless tens of thousands of others already doing that. This is the approach of the amateur or serious or obsessed hobbyist, it's NOT the approach of a professional! If you're serious about being a professional composer then take it seriously and learn the craft. Study and practice recording and production theories and techniques, study and practice composition theory and techniques and study the "language" of film, become an expert. Work especially hard at those areas you don't like or are not so good at, develop objectivity and be your own worst critic! The payoff for all the talent, skill, knowledge, expertise and damn hard work is to make a living doing something you love.
G