Composing

Yessss, very cool article. Thanks for posting Linwood Bell!

What a great read! Thank you so much for posting, Linwood Bell !

Awesome share, Linwood Bell! Thank you!

Linwood Bell Thanks !

How cool!

Thanks so much for sharing, Navid Lancaster. I haven't used them yet, but the moment I do I will let you know how it goes ;)

Yes, please update us when you do, Elena Maro!

I didn't know about this, sorry. I have been using the Musio and East West Plugins for Cinematic Material....I'll go to the page and check it out. Thanks for sharing!!!

Navid Lancaster thanks !

I’ve been a fan forever. I’m old enough to have bought Big Pink and still have it.

Same here Linwood Bell!

These are excellent points you make.

100% spot on. Thank you so much for sharing Mario Leone !

i absolutely agree with you. Stock pictures and stock music really starts to annoy me and could really result in disliking the video or movie

Good points about stock music. What I wonder, as I play game apps with stunning soundtracks, apparently programmed by developers with no musical background or training, is how do sound libraries not fit in with stock or canned music? For instance, EastWest is touting various applications that use sound libraries of real instruments to generate incredibly polished orchestrations and even melodies using little more than a mouse and a few key clicks. Kind of like, enter a few parameters, and then, out pops a soundtrack. What got me looking into this was a spam that reads:

Blah blah Orchestrator RPG Expansion Pack... blah blah specifically designed for RPG video game soundtracks. Blah blah everything from environmental and boss fight music to character themes, these presets will allow you to "compose" any RPG game soundtrack in seconds.

The inverted commas around "compose" are my own. This isn't the only company offering software that literally "composes" soundtracks like a cook bakes a cake. And this doesn't appear to be AI driven software.

I feel kind of cheated when I have been moved by the soundtrack to a game or film, only to find it was dialed up by a developer using software that starts out by offering her/him the option of choosing styles based on real composers.

Is this canned music?

Nathaniel Leivas , congratulations on finishing your song! If you are looking to connect to filmmakers to pitch your song to, well, you are in the right place! Have fun networking here on Stage 32 and, please, keep us posted on how it goes!

Hi, Nathaniel Leivas. I agree with Elena Maro about having fun with networking on here. I treat networking like having fun and building relationships.

Networking is one of the most important things for composers, writers, directors, everyone. Here are blogs on networking: www.stage32.com/blog/tags/networking-41

Congratulations on your composition!! Well done Nathaniel!!

Nathaniel Leivas, Elena is right! The best way to network here on Stage 32 is to be more involved and active within the lounges regularly. That’s the best way to be seen and noticed. The most effective networking comes from building genuine relationships over time. You've got this!

Thank you very much for your advice

regards

Maurice Vaughan Music is an art that makes the film brighter. Like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Too bad he didn't get the OSCAR for music.

I haven't seen "The Silence of the Lambs" in a long time, John January Noble. I'll listen for the music when I watch it again.

Maurice Vaughan HAWRD SHORE AND THE MUSICIAN

Maurice Vaughan PORTUGUESE VERSION

Great title, Fran Harris! Take Charge Tuesday. You got me pumped up to work on my projects! Looking forward to the AMA!

Love it! Thanks for sharing, Fran!

You're welcome, Randy Calligan.

See you in the Introduce Yourself Lounge, Randy Calligan . Happy networking!

In my 'day job', I am a wedding videographer. Most of the videos (not mine) are 'cinematic' meaning they are essentially short films that most of the time do not use the actual audio but rather overlaid music. They often license from web sites which have music with relatively low licensing fees. This is another opportunity for you to either get some of your stuff into those sites or perhaps even negotiate directly with those videographers. Check out the "WEVA" FB group.

While I am a 'documentary' videographer and use actual audio, I have two examples of music I wrote associated with my wedding videos. The first is a "First Look" track I recorded in Jan 2018 of a couple who I shot for free who lost their house in Hurricane Harvey in Victoria, Texas where it came ashore. The second is a one minute, "preview"/teaser (again my music and video) I created for marketing purposes some weeks back.

https://youtu.be/KIB6lmB4-q0 (first look)

https://youtu.be/paNsg3cRrWk (1 minute preview)

From my experience working on feature films, a lot of it is really about networking and even cold emailing at times, especially if you have a website with a portfolio on it.

for fun to practice my editing, i used to go download a bunch of random footage from pexels and just cut it together lots of which ways with different music just to see how it feels

Andy was the best. Honest and good to a fault. Little known fact about him...he made that record for Instant Funk, " I Got My Mind Made Up". recorded it in his basement on a Teac model 5. Got a gold record for it.

Alexander Benra, there was a similar conversation about pseudonyms and stage names that took place in the Acting lounge recently. It may provide even more perspective for you: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/acting/Actors-Thinking-About-A-Name-Change

Interesting question. For prose writers it seems more common to have different names for different genres.

Thats true, Pamela Jaye Smith! A lot of well-known authors write under different names when they stretch out into different genres or audience demos.

Branding is really important these days across media. If you use the same name everywhere, you might be surprised who might like your jingles. Don't think there's anything wrong with trying to be anonymous if you're doing contract work you're not super proud of just for a payday

Elena is great. This is a must read for composers. Thanks for sharing, Navid Lancaster.

Thank you for sharing, Navid Lancaster

Sam Sokolow , film scoring is a profession where you will find something new to learn almost every day and I am more than happy to support this fantastic community while I continue my journey. BTW, I have a couple of very busy months ahead, but that means that there will be more to blog about ;)

She's great; she'll answer your emails when she's not busy making great music. :~). Thank you Elana. I finished reading this Blog today. Good information, especially three years ago (2020), it is still applicable today (2024).

Thank you so much, Kerry Kennard . Thank you for reading this. Glad that you found the blog helpful. I am happy to help whenever I can, it is just impossible to manage all the messages right away and I appreciate that you understand that :)

I love that you took things into your own hands and created something to honor him. I think thats really beautiful, Fran Harris!

Sorry to hear of your dad's passing. My dad died almost 30 years ago, so know what you're going through and what perspectives come out from learning what Life means. I'm glad also you're able to write about your Dad and experiences. I mourned a lot and cried for sure. Leave or set aside time for Grieving. May your 2024 be a great year.

K. Kennard

My condolences to you and your family, Kerry Kennard.

Thank you Maurice Vaughan - it was a while ago. I appreciate the condolences

You're welcome, Kerry Kennard.

I can't wait to see this!

I'm in!

I love Ennio Morricone's compositions. His timeless musical masterpieces scored the music to my favorite film, CINEMA PARADISO.

Deborah's Theme from "Once upon a time in America", allways waters my eyes (is that an English expression? I guess you know what I mean)

Yeah, I did a quick search, not playing here. Would love to go see this in the theatre.... Hopefully, it will show (at least somewhere) near me.....Thanks for sharing.....