Sight and Sound
sight & sound
If they ask me how they might gain entry into the world of film music.
The answer, cannot be simple. While there is no magic formula, good training, patience, & a large measure of assistance from lady luck will be indispensable.
To begin with, knowledge of the great films & awareness of current trends in the field are solid prerequisites. After that, experience will be the best teacher. Because practical experience is difficult to come by, the next best thing would be the aid of top-caliber professionals willing to share ideas & techniques that have been gleaned from years of experience.
In the past, most composers approached the world of film music from a variety of back-grounds. They began by studying concert music or playing jazz, rock or pop music, orchestrating for other composers, writing arrangements for vocalists & big bands, working on theatre productions, creating & producing TV commercials,
& in general, exploring all styles of music. They also studied the great film scores that led the way for all of us. The broad experience gained from this eclectic background was & is, probably the best preparation for a film composer.
Today, as new composers begin their careers in film, they have access to extremely sophisticated synthesizers & computer technology, but they may find that their background is more limited in scope than their predecessors'. To offset this, these musicians will undoubtedly work in areas other than film in order to gain a wide range of useful experience. *
In the past I have noticed that many of our best musical minds were not interested in film scoring.
1
This was probably the result of the fact that these composers found too many technical problems in the film medium, & for some, the practice was simply too
"low brow." I think that in the future we will see more & more serious young composers willing to devote some of their energies to film music. If this happens,
& I
If they ask me how they might gain entry into the world of film music.
The answer, cannot be simple. While there is no magic formula, good training, patience, & a large measure of assistance from lady luck will be indispensable.
To begin with, knowledge of the great films & awareness of current trends in the field are solid prerequisites. After that, experience will be the best teacher. Because practical experience is difficult to come by, the next best thing would be the aid of top-caliber professionals willing to share ideas & techniques that have been gleaned from years of experience.
In the past, most composers approached the world of film music from a variety of back-grounds. They began by studying concert music or playing jazz, rock or pop music, orchestrating for other composers, writing arrangements for vocalists & big bands, working on theatre productions, creating & producing TV commercials,
& in general, exploring all styles of music. They also studied the great film scores that led the way for all of us. The broad experience gained from this eclectic background was & is, probably the best preparation for a film composer.
Today, as new composers begin their careers in film, they have access to extremely sophisticated synthesizers & computer technology, but they may find that their background is more limited in scope than their predecessors'. To offset this, these musicians will undoubtedly work in areas other than film in order to gain a wide range of useful experience. *
In the past I have noticed that many of our best musical minds were not interested in film scoring.
1
This was probably the result of the fact that these composers found too many technical problems in the film medium, & for some, the practice was simply too
"low brow." I think that in the future we will see more & more serious young composers willing to devote some of their energies to film music. If this happens,
& I