There is a divide between audiences and concert composers. Orchestras are suffering everywhere. That’s in part because it is a musical museum and also because, perhaps, composers take themselves a wee bit too seriously?

Let’s face it, music is not an essential to life like water, food, air and shelter. It is an extra. But it is those extras that we live for, the extras that make our lives special.

In the decade since I graduated with my master’s degree in composition, my perception of my role as composer has gradually changed.

And now, you won’t see me writing numbered symphonies or concerti, or a 30 minute song cycle where people must sit still without clapping through uncomfortable silences as pages are turned. You won’t hear me talk about pitch systems or extended techniques to an audience at a pre-concert talk.

My aim is to write melodic, evocative music that is, fresh, unique, engaging and often fun to play and hear. Music that is an asset to the musicians who plays it and a joy (with a bit of challenge) to the audience who listens.

Because I believe the concert hall can be a place of wonder, excitement, emotion and awe. That concert music can be new. youthful and full of life. Not just a place for a good nap!

So that’s why I say that I will no longer refer to the music I write as “serious music” or “art music” and I will not refer to my pieces as “works”.

They are just pieces of music. No more, and certainly no less.

My Star Wars album from 1977

My first musical love affair was with John Williams’ score for “Star Wars”. I remember clearly lying down in my mother’s living room as young lad of 8 or 9, chin in hands, listening to the entire soundtrack on the vinyl I received as a gift.

I read and re-read the liner notes as I listened to the music, a single page containing descriptions of all the tracks and all the themes. Even though I was quite young, I treated that piece of paper like gold and it is still intact in the original record sleeve from 1977, here in my studio.

I was taking piano lessons at the time and asked to play the music from “Star Wars”. I received a photocopy of the music, which I practiced very hard. I drew my own cover for the sheet music, taking great care with it. It was a x-wing being pursued by a tie-fighter with the Death Star in the background.

I can still sing you every single note of the Star Wars score. And now, many yeas later and with a master’s in composition behind me, I can tell you which parts of Star Wars come directly from the Rite of Spring. And you know what…?

I don’t care.

My love for this music is a link to my childhood, and there’s nothing that can change that. And on top of that, now that I know what happens during the composition of a film score (deadlines and temp scores) I can easily forgive a few minor “hommages”.

After my Star Wars score I received the vinyl for Superman. Same story and now I know every note.

After that it was the vinyl for E.T. Same thing.

I had brief affairs with Vangelis, Danny Elfman and Henry Mancini, but they never lasted. I always came back to John Williams.

To say that John Williams is the reason I love orchestral music so deeply is perhaps not a stretch. Our adult lives are shaped by our childhood experiences, and John Williams’ music was a big part of my childhood. In an era before VCRs, his music was a connection to my favourite films and I listened and listened until the scores became the central element.

Now, as I make my way as a professional film composer, his music is a constant reminder of the level of excellence I aim to achieve in my own career. From the indelible melodic writing to the glowing orchestrations, to the perfect dramatic placement of the music and the pacing of the score, John Williams music remains my biggest source of inspiration.

Today I have started work on a new commission for the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. The concert will be next month.

It is a short piece under 5 minutes to be accompanied by a slide show or short video created by a local painter. I have seen the paintings and they are abstract and colourful.

This is excellent, because I wanted to focus more on colour with this piece as a contrast to my other pieces for the VMO which have been driven by melody and rhythm.

The start of a new piece or score involves a few things for me.

Long showers where I imagine the orchestra and what I want to hear.

Lots of listening. I believe in standing on the shoulders of giants, and by this I do not mean that my aim is to imitate. No, this is quite against my nature. My goal is to take great ideas that excite me and build on them, extract a concept from them and do something completely different with it. The goal is find new ideas and constantly improve my technique.

Right now, my concept for this piece is to make colour and melody into one. What do I mean by that exactly? … Well, it’s hard to explain in a few words, and frankly, I am not really sure I’ll be able to make it work like I have in my head right now. It’s still vague. But it’s important to have a goal! So we shall see…

I get asked this more and more often, so I thought I would write a short blog post about this subject.

My career is starting to take off, so I feel that I can actually share my thoughts on this subject with some certainty and hopefully help those who read it.

The information may not be complete yet, but please read and comment, ask questions and I will perhaps flesh this out and create a stand-alone page out of this.

Best of luck to you in this promising new year!

Be a solid composer who knows his craft.

As a film composer you will need to write quickly and with facility. You must be flexible and be able to capture a wide variety of moods on a deadline, which means you must have a big palette of colours at your disposal. How do you get that? Music theory and experience both musically and with writing to picture.

There will be no time to experiment under the gun and you won’t get a second chance.

Be a Dramatist

Writing film music is really about being an actor with notes. So make sure you understand story and character and how music plays a role in all that. (My blog “Getting the Score” frequently deals with that.)

Be unique

Is is a good business decision to work on having a unique voice in your writing. You must stand out because there is a sea of composers out there. So knowing who you are musically is just as important as being flexible. It’s ideal when you can balance both. Although many have made a living being chameleons, you never notice chameleons, they blend in too well.

Study

So the bottom line is, study, study, study.

Build quality contacts

Work on projects for new film makers to build your reel, but be a little picky at the same time. You can waste a lot of time saying yes to every project and have them go nowhere, and you right along with them.

Contacts are built by:

1. Sending a demo – done mostly digitally now: it must impress and stand out since they get a lot everyday. (See above.) It must be custom tailored to their project.
2. Following up on demos a week after.
3. Get a face to face meeting if possible.
4. Keep the relationship going and don’t just say hello when they have a project.

“Big follows small” is a law of marketing which also applies to self-promotion in film. Start with small films, build your resumé, and move up.

Do Good Work & Put it Out There

Being heard is important to build contacts. So put your music out there. Everywhere. The best place is in a film, but Facebook and other social media are also good. Don’t spam.

It’s About the Film

“We judge ourselves by what we believe we can do, others judge us but what we have done.”

I forget where I read this, but it’s the truth. Especially in film. Your credits will be important and filmmakers will hire you based on them.

Composers ride the wave of success and failure of a film, just like any other part of the creative team. So make sure you pick the best projects that are available to you.

If you don’t have any credits, look to the first point.

Know how to talk to film makers

You must understand everything you can about films: story, editing, directing, acting and especially story structure and screen writing. This is important in order to be a good dramatist (see first point) but also important to have meaningful discussions with the film makers.

Treat every director and his film like if it was Spielberg

Then you will get hired back.

Don’t be a Yes Man

Come prepared to spotting sessions, have opinions and ideas on how to make the score truly an asset for the film. They hire you for your expertise, so be an expert, bring something to the table and they will appreciate that, every time. Just don’t be a jerk.

Be a Good Listener

Yes, that goes right along with the point above. It’s your job to find the right balance between the two.

So there you have it, a short primer on getting started in film music. Like I wrote above, it’s not complete so please take the time to comment, ask questions and I will fill it out further.

Cheers,

Alain

Check out my page with them.

My meetings with agent Ari Wise were very promising and well, very exciting actually! He has big plans and it’s right in line with what I wish to achieve.

So here’s to a fantastic 2012!!!

“Comforting Skin” is headed to the Slamdance film festival!!!

Check out the link here for information and scheduling.

I look at forums to stay abreast of development in sample libraries. All of the composers in those forums dream of live musicians playing their music, yet spend thousands of dollars on sample libraries rather than hire the real thing.

For a full orchestra mock-up that is understandable, but when it comes to solo string libraries I just don’t get it.

A few of the current crop of sample library developers are coming out with solo string sample libraries, and I find them to sound very unnatural. Yet there is talk of “next generation” strings on the forums and, well, I just have to wonder…

Is this fascination with “next generation” sample libraries really self-defeating in your quest to get live musicians to play and record your music?

A full orchestra is much too expensive perhaps, but that is not the case with a single violinist coming from your local University.

Save your money and hire a live musician or two instead. (Or three…) Or soon there won’t even be musicians left to record your “next generation” sample libraries.

Go ahead and click and this link and take a minute to check out the score samples with audio imbedded courtesy of Issuu, it’s very cool.

One of the stand-out tracks of the album, “The Arrival”, signals the movement of the score away from melody and into dissonance. Scurrying tremolo strings, off-kilter piano chords and other avant garde effects herald the appearance of the tattoo and its true “identity”. It’s a very effective cue that imbues the tattoo with a character of its own and the majority of the remainder of the score wallows in this dissonant soundscape, emphasising just how much of the main character’s world is dominated by the insidious body art.

I invite you to take a minute to read this very smart review.

Thanks Alan!