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All art by Dunedin, Florida-based artist, Jean Schienle  Florida Artist Jean Schienle with her son, Mark's dog, Bailey. by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
YourCreativeChord is proud to feature the vibrantly colorful art of Florida-based Artist Jean Schienle. If you missed my video chat, podcast episode, or blog featuring Jean Schienle and her art, you can find those here: LISTEN to the podcast here. Watch our video interview here. Read the blog and see more of Jean's art here. Connect & Find Jean’s Art: Art by Jean Facebook page Safety Harbor Galleria Thistle Boutique Dunedin Fine Arts Center Jean's spiritual mentor, Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda SGI-USA Buddhism If you loved this content don't forget to show your awesome support by Liking the link, Subscribing for more updates and adding your comment below!
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Featuring Dunedin, Florida Artist |
 Florida Artist Jean Schienle having fun with her family. (above, on steps) |  YourCreativeChord host Jenny Leigh Hodgins with Florida Artist Jean Schienle, Art by Jean Schienle. |
Featuring Dunedin, Florida Artist
Jean Schienle
by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
YourCreativeChord is proud to feature the vibrantly colorful art of Florida-based Artist Jean Schienle. Jean shared her thoughts on:
If you missed my video chat, podcast episode, or blog featuring Jean Schienle and her art, you can find those here:
LISTEN to the podcast here.
Read the blog and see more of Jean's art here.
Connect & Find Jean’s Art:
Art by Jean Facebook page
Safety Harbor Galleria
Thistle Boutique
Dunedin Fine Arts Center
Jean's spiritual mentor, Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda
SGI-USA Buddhism
Created/Produced/Hosted by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
Content © 2020 Jenny Leigh Hodgins
All Art by Jean Schienle © 2020
YourCreativeChord is proud to feature the vibrantly colorful art of Florida-based Artist Jean Schienle. Jean shared her thoughts on:
- the mission of artists,
- the influence of mentors, and
- the power of art to empower others.
If you missed my video chat, podcast episode, or blog featuring Jean Schienle and her art, you can find those here:
LISTEN to the podcast here.
Read the blog and see more of Jean's art here.
Connect & Find Jean’s Art:
Art by Jean Facebook page
Safety Harbor Galleria
Thistle Boutique
Dunedin Fine Arts Center
Jean's spiritual mentor, Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda
SGI-USA Buddhism
Created/Produced/Hosted by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
Content © 2020 Jenny Leigh Hodgins
All Art by Jean Schienle © 2020
Young British Composer, Kezia Tomsett
by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
This is Part 2 of 2 blogs featuring my interview with UK Composer, Kezia Tomsett. Read Part 1 HERE.
LISTEN TO THIS ON YourCreativeChord Podcast, “How Do We Progress Women Composers? Talk About It!” featuring UK Composer Kezia Tomsett in two episodes.
After connecting through the Women Composers Collective Facebook group last fall, I spoke with a young, female, British composer of Reading, England. Kezia Tomsett had just finished her BA Music degree at The University of Leeds.
I was interested in hearing from her as a recent graduate and upcoming young female composer. I was especially intrigued that she’d done her dissertation on why there aren’t many women film composers. Let’s dive back in to our conversation with Reading, England-based composer Kezia Tomsett…
LISTEN to the PODCAST.
Why do you think there aren’t many women film composers?
I think it’s ingrained in society that women aren’t composers. I think it’s due to education and the opportunities we offer children before university. It’s also due to the increased reliance on technology in the industry and how studies show that young women have less opportunities to learn technology.
What do you think are things that can be done to increase opportunities and mindset for more women composers?
Start with toys for kids, not assuming certain games or technology is for boys, and that dolls are only for girls Be open to what kids want to explore.
Ask, “What toys do you want to play with?” Stop sending messages about gender, like composers are mainly male. Young people ingrain their self-image by what they’re exposed to.
I think another way is to increase the access to further education for women. Encourage young girls to pursue tech courses because tomorrow’s musicians need tech skills. Create and participate in more communities like Alliance for Women Film Composers and other groups.
I learned through my dissertation research that women are more apologetic than most men. Many use self-depreciating language. This needs to shift.
We can create more chances for women in film music is we simply talk more about it! We’re at a good place for that with the “me, too” movement. But we have to act on it too.
Make it the norm.
How much does being a woman need to be a selling point? Make it normal for women to be composers. Talk about it openly.
Through my interviews with 8 women composers, many shared feeling apologetic as women, as if they were intruding on male territory. They got the impression that the music studio is a man’s arena. These women shared about having to fight for a place in the studio.
Many of these were strong, bold women and shared experiences of having to learn assertive behavior, not back down, and to stand up for themselves.
Do you feel that being a woman has any influence on your composer process?
None whatsoever. There is literally nothing/no situation that I can think of where my biological being has had any influence over my work. From my own experience, I have not worked with anyone that would treat me differently because of my gender.
Do you feel that being a woman has disadvantages in regard to creative opportunities?
I think it’s ingrained in society that women are not composers. I think it’s due to education and the opportunities we offer children before university. I think it’s also due to the increased reliance on technology in the industry and many studies show that young women have less opportunities to learn to use technology.
However, I do think that more younger women are now being encouraged to enter the industry. There are grants for women, and communities such as the Women Composers’ Forum. I have experienced first hand the advantages of being a woman in the industry now.
The topic of my dissertation, why there are not many women writing to film, was an amazing way for me to connect with people in the industry.
Please share anything else about yourself or your profession or anything related that you feel is relevant to others interested in composing professionally.
I’m finishing my first EP of music! I’m excited to gain more experience in the industry!
What are your goals for your musical future?
I would love to write music full-time as my source of income. For now, I work part-time to make ends meet! I hope to continue collaborating with other composers. I feel you can learn from each other and be inspired by each other.
My main goal is to have the opportunity to write music for a feature film.
You and I are members of Women Composers Collective Facebook group. What do you, as a young woman composer, gain from this kind of group?
It’s a worldwide community. It’s great to be involved with what others are doing and to do creative projects together!
It opens up options for film scoring work as a great networking resource.
Tell us about your upcoming original EP (album) and musical collaborations.
I had great fortune to work with a 5-composer team on projects while I worked at a local music studio.
Also, a friend composer through the Women Composer Forum asked me to sing on a project.
My EP, Glass Eyes, will be releasing this summer! It’s an electronic, cinematic collection, including 4 tracks featuring my singing.
As your main goal is to compose for a feature film, what actions are you now taking to land film scoring gigs?
I’m building up my music portfolio including collaborations with a local studio, short film projects, indie film-makers, and with studio interns.
Find Kezia Tomsett and her music on Twitter or Instagram, and at her SoundCloud Page Here.
LISTEN TO THIS ON YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST:
“How Do We Progress Women Composers? Talk About It!"
Where to find Kezia Tomsett:
https://twitter.com/KeziaTomsett
https://www.instagram.com/keziatomsett/
https://soundcloud.com/kezia-tomsett
If you enjoyed this blog--Please SHARE &/OR LEAVE A COMMENT here!
This is Part 2 of 2 blogs featuring my interview with UK Composer, Kezia Tomsett. Read Part 1 HERE.
LISTEN TO THIS ON YourCreativeChord Podcast, “How Do We Progress Women Composers? Talk About It!” featuring UK Composer Kezia Tomsett in two episodes.
After connecting through the Women Composers Collective Facebook group last fall, I spoke with a young, female, British composer of Reading, England. Kezia Tomsett had just finished her BA Music degree at The University of Leeds.
I was interested in hearing from her as a recent graduate and upcoming young female composer. I was especially intrigued that she’d done her dissertation on why there aren’t many women film composers. Let’s dive back in to our conversation with Reading, England-based composer Kezia Tomsett…
LISTEN to the PODCAST.
Why do you think there aren’t many women film composers?
I think it’s ingrained in society that women aren’t composers. I think it’s due to education and the opportunities we offer children before university. It’s also due to the increased reliance on technology in the industry and how studies show that young women have less opportunities to learn technology.
What do you think are things that can be done to increase opportunities and mindset for more women composers?
Start with toys for kids, not assuming certain games or technology is for boys, and that dolls are only for girls Be open to what kids want to explore.
Ask, “What toys do you want to play with?” Stop sending messages about gender, like composers are mainly male. Young people ingrain their self-image by what they’re exposed to.
I think another way is to increase the access to further education for women. Encourage young girls to pursue tech courses because tomorrow’s musicians need tech skills. Create and participate in more communities like Alliance for Women Film Composers and other groups.
I learned through my dissertation research that women are more apologetic than most men. Many use self-depreciating language. This needs to shift.
We can create more chances for women in film music is we simply talk more about it! We’re at a good place for that with the “me, too” movement. But we have to act on it too.
Make it the norm.
How much does being a woman need to be a selling point? Make it normal for women to be composers. Talk about it openly.
Through my interviews with 8 women composers, many shared feeling apologetic as women, as if they were intruding on male territory. They got the impression that the music studio is a man’s arena. These women shared about having to fight for a place in the studio.
Many of these were strong, bold women and shared experiences of having to learn assertive behavior, not back down, and to stand up for themselves.
Do you feel that being a woman has any influence on your composer process?
None whatsoever. There is literally nothing/no situation that I can think of where my biological being has had any influence over my work. From my own experience, I have not worked with anyone that would treat me differently because of my gender.
Do you feel that being a woman has disadvantages in regard to creative opportunities?
I think it’s ingrained in society that women are not composers. I think it’s due to education and the opportunities we offer children before university. I think it’s also due to the increased reliance on technology in the industry and many studies show that young women have less opportunities to learn to use technology.
However, I do think that more younger women are now being encouraged to enter the industry. There are grants for women, and communities such as the Women Composers’ Forum. I have experienced first hand the advantages of being a woman in the industry now.
The topic of my dissertation, why there are not many women writing to film, was an amazing way for me to connect with people in the industry.
Please share anything else about yourself or your profession or anything related that you feel is relevant to others interested in composing professionally.
I’m finishing my first EP of music! I’m excited to gain more experience in the industry!
What are your goals for your musical future?
I would love to write music full-time as my source of income. For now, I work part-time to make ends meet! I hope to continue collaborating with other composers. I feel you can learn from each other and be inspired by each other.
My main goal is to have the opportunity to write music for a feature film.
You and I are members of Women Composers Collective Facebook group. What do you, as a young woman composer, gain from this kind of group?
It’s a worldwide community. It’s great to be involved with what others are doing and to do creative projects together!
It opens up options for film scoring work as a great networking resource.
Tell us about your upcoming original EP (album) and musical collaborations.
I had great fortune to work with a 5-composer team on projects while I worked at a local music studio.
Also, a friend composer through the Women Composer Forum asked me to sing on a project.
My EP, Glass Eyes, will be releasing this summer! It’s an electronic, cinematic collection, including 4 tracks featuring my singing.
As your main goal is to compose for a feature film, what actions are you now taking to land film scoring gigs?
I’m building up my music portfolio including collaborations with a local studio, short film projects, indie film-makers, and with studio interns.
Find Kezia Tomsett and her music on Twitter or Instagram, and at her SoundCloud Page Here.
LISTEN TO THIS ON YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST:
“How Do We Progress Women Composers? Talk About It!"
Where to find Kezia Tomsett:
https://twitter.com/KeziaTomsett
https://www.instagram.com/keziatomsett/
https://soundcloud.com/kezia-tomsett
If you enjoyed this blog--Please SHARE &/OR LEAVE A COMMENT here!
British Composer Kezia Tomsett
by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
This is Part 1 of 2 blogs featuring my interview with UK Composer, Kezia Tomsett. Watch this space for Part 2 posting August 25.
LISTEN TO THIS ON YourCreativeChord Podcast, “How Do We Progress Women Composers? Talk About It!” featuring UK Composer Kezia Tomsett in two episodes.
After connecting through the Women Composers Collective Facebook group last fall, I spoke with a young, female, British composer of Reading, England. Kezia Tomsett had just finished her BA Music degree at The University of Leeds.
I was interested in hearing from her as a recent graduate and upcoming young female composer. I was especially intrigued that she’d done her dissertation on why there aren’t many women film composers. Let’s dive in to our conversation with Reading, England-based composer Kezia Tomsett…
LISTEN to the PODCAST:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Tell me about your musical background.
I went to a local comprehensive where music was much more of a hobby. I performed at many school assemblies, but found that I really excelled and, moreover, enjoyed composing music.
I was always a nervous performer but much less so with my own work and got more satisfaction from this! I did all the piano grades before my A Levels and it was after this that I really found my joy and passion in music, in messing about on the piano and writing my own music.
My Dad was and is my inspiration. He just loves music! He taught me piano for my first couple of grades and then I got a teacher from grade 3.
I’m only beginning to make money from music, having just finished my degree. I’ve previously worked on projects as part of my degree or to gain experience. I have recently earned money through collaborating with writing on an advertisement pitch and through singing on a pitch.
Tell me two things that were pivotal for the opening of your professional path.
My university offered a ‘year-in-industry’ year, a sandwich year between second and third year. This gave us the opportunity to find any placement (so long as it had something to do with music!) for the year. I spent that year with WMP studios in Leeds where they welcomed me as part of their team. I collaborated with them and wrote music for film - specifically TV advertisements, sound design, and library tracks.
The other pivotal project for me was my dissertation. I decided to investigate women writing to film. During my year-in-industry, having attended several events and conferences, I realized there was a distinct lack of women at these events.
There was also a significant lack of published literature researching this area. During my dissertation, I conducted my own research, reaching out to composers in the industry, and interviewed eight women writing to film.
Through this, I was welcomed into the Women Composers’ Forum of London and have had opportunities through this group to become more involved in the industry.
How do you obtain clients?
So far, not how I anticipated! I’ve obtained clients through conversations at music conferences (such as Manchester’s Tune Up and Leeds’ The Yorkshire Music Forum). The friends I‘ve made in the industry have also begun to offer me work.
I plan to attend more networking events, but for me, thus far, work has come through the relationships I have developed.
What technology or music gear or skillsets do you feel are essential to your music-making?
Having software like Logic (or whatever it may be) is pretty essential as you need to be able to mock up a demo that sounds professional, rather than sending over voice memos!
Once you have the software however, you also need to have the skillset to really enter a client’s head in response to what they are asking from the composer. You need to be able to understand their point of view so you can deliver what they want. This perhaps entails good communication skills and empathy.
What advice would you give someone who wants to make a living as a composer?
I had a conversation with one of my role models in the industry in my dissertation and she said ‘passion’. It may sound cliche but you really have to love your job.
Another theme that seems to keep coming up is being able to cope with rejection because there is a lot in the industry. I’m sure I’m only just at the start of it!
Be persistent, work hard and love what you do.
What are the best and worst aspects of being a semi-professional composer?
As a recent university graduate, for me the best aspects are;
Describe your strengths as a creator.
I love starting new ideas. I love being creative! I love thinking outside the box, using the resources I’ve got to illustrate what I’ve got in my head in a session. I’m also determined and persistent, which are strengths I feel anyone needs in the industry. I also really appreciate collaborations with other composers - I enjoy working with others.
Do you have resources (besides gear) that you regularly as a creator?
I have just finished an EP and used my voice! Using the resources you have can be an asset. As a pianist, I also use my piano regularly to sketch out ideas (even to get a sense of the harmony progression in a piece) or to take a step back and mess around on the piano. Playing the piano is like my diary, it enables me to get my thoughts out.
What influences your creativity positively?
Weirdly, I tend to find that I am most creative when I’m a little tired!
When writing my own music, I often find influence from stories, basing my tracks from the viewpoint of a character (existing or not), whether the piece has lyrics or not. This is so I can enter the character’s mind and experience their state of being.
I also appreciate feedback from other composers and find this really encouraging.
What hinders your creative flow?
Uprooting myself tends to throw my routine a bit - I have just moved location and am having to settle back into my routine!
Spending too much time by myself can really hinder my creativity. I make sure to spend time with people, taking breaks from my work so I can go back with fresh ears, fresh inspiration and determination!
Take us into your creative process to describe a snapshot scenario of how you would approach composing a new musical project. Or give an example of how you created one of your musical compositions.
It changes on every project but here’s a typical overview - I first make notes on the brief and research any other relevant reference tracks. I map out what the director is asking for and write a snapshot of how I think the project will go forward.
I sketch out a rough idea on the piano (even if there is no piano in the piece) to get an idea of the structure of the piece.
I import sounds into a Logic file (digital audio workstation) that I feel would suit the project and begin writing!
I think planning is an essential ingredient. Especially in terms of structure and being influenced or inspired by the reference track (if there is one).
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR PART 2 OF OUR DIALOGUE AS WE CONTINUE WITH THE QUESTION,
"Why do you think there aren’t many women film composers?"
Find Kezia Tomsett and her music on Twitter or Instagram, and at her SoundCloud Page Here.
Where to find Kezia Tomsett:
https://twitter.com/KeziaTomsett
https://www.instagram.com/keziatomsett/
https://soundcloud.com/kezia-tomsett
If you enjoyed this blog--Please SHARE &/OR LEAVE A COMMENT here!
This is Part 1 of 2 blogs featuring my interview with UK Composer, Kezia Tomsett. Watch this space for Part 2 posting August 25.
LISTEN TO THIS ON YourCreativeChord Podcast, “How Do We Progress Women Composers? Talk About It!” featuring UK Composer Kezia Tomsett in two episodes.
After connecting through the Women Composers Collective Facebook group last fall, I spoke with a young, female, British composer of Reading, England. Kezia Tomsett had just finished her BA Music degree at The University of Leeds.
I was interested in hearing from her as a recent graduate and upcoming young female composer. I was especially intrigued that she’d done her dissertation on why there aren’t many women film composers. Let’s dive in to our conversation with Reading, England-based composer Kezia Tomsett…
LISTEN to the PODCAST:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Tell me about your musical background.
I went to a local comprehensive where music was much more of a hobby. I performed at many school assemblies, but found that I really excelled and, moreover, enjoyed composing music.
I was always a nervous performer but much less so with my own work and got more satisfaction from this! I did all the piano grades before my A Levels and it was after this that I really found my joy and passion in music, in messing about on the piano and writing my own music.
My Dad was and is my inspiration. He just loves music! He taught me piano for my first couple of grades and then I got a teacher from grade 3.
I’m only beginning to make money from music, having just finished my degree. I’ve previously worked on projects as part of my degree or to gain experience. I have recently earned money through collaborating with writing on an advertisement pitch and through singing on a pitch.
Tell me two things that were pivotal for the opening of your professional path.
My university offered a ‘year-in-industry’ year, a sandwich year between second and third year. This gave us the opportunity to find any placement (so long as it had something to do with music!) for the year. I spent that year with WMP studios in Leeds where they welcomed me as part of their team. I collaborated with them and wrote music for film - specifically TV advertisements, sound design, and library tracks.
The other pivotal project for me was my dissertation. I decided to investigate women writing to film. During my year-in-industry, having attended several events and conferences, I realized there was a distinct lack of women at these events.
There was also a significant lack of published literature researching this area. During my dissertation, I conducted my own research, reaching out to composers in the industry, and interviewed eight women writing to film.
Through this, I was welcomed into the Women Composers’ Forum of London and have had opportunities through this group to become more involved in the industry.
How do you obtain clients?
So far, not how I anticipated! I’ve obtained clients through conversations at music conferences (such as Manchester’s Tune Up and Leeds’ The Yorkshire Music Forum). The friends I‘ve made in the industry have also begun to offer me work.
I plan to attend more networking events, but for me, thus far, work has come through the relationships I have developed.
What technology or music gear or skillsets do you feel are essential to your music-making?
Having software like Logic (or whatever it may be) is pretty essential as you need to be able to mock up a demo that sounds professional, rather than sending over voice memos!
Once you have the software however, you also need to have the skillset to really enter a client’s head in response to what they are asking from the composer. You need to be able to understand their point of view so you can deliver what they want. This perhaps entails good communication skills and empathy.
What advice would you give someone who wants to make a living as a composer?
I had a conversation with one of my role models in the industry in my dissertation and she said ‘passion’. It may sound cliche but you really have to love your job.
Another theme that seems to keep coming up is being able to cope with rejection because there is a lot in the industry. I’m sure I’m only just at the start of it!
Be persistent, work hard and love what you do.
What are the best and worst aspects of being a semi-professional composer?
As a recent university graduate, for me the best aspects are;
- being able to distribute your music so that other people can benefit from listening to it, and that
- I get paid for doing something I would do as a hobby anyway!
Describe your strengths as a creator.
I love starting new ideas. I love being creative! I love thinking outside the box, using the resources I’ve got to illustrate what I’ve got in my head in a session. I’m also determined and persistent, which are strengths I feel anyone needs in the industry. I also really appreciate collaborations with other composers - I enjoy working with others.
Do you have resources (besides gear) that you regularly as a creator?
I have just finished an EP and used my voice! Using the resources you have can be an asset. As a pianist, I also use my piano regularly to sketch out ideas (even to get a sense of the harmony progression in a piece) or to take a step back and mess around on the piano. Playing the piano is like my diary, it enables me to get my thoughts out.
What influences your creativity positively?
Weirdly, I tend to find that I am most creative when I’m a little tired!
When writing my own music, I often find influence from stories, basing my tracks from the viewpoint of a character (existing or not), whether the piece has lyrics or not. This is so I can enter the character’s mind and experience their state of being.
I also appreciate feedback from other composers and find this really encouraging.
What hinders your creative flow?
Uprooting myself tends to throw my routine a bit - I have just moved location and am having to settle back into my routine!
Spending too much time by myself can really hinder my creativity. I make sure to spend time with people, taking breaks from my work so I can go back with fresh ears, fresh inspiration and determination!
Take us into your creative process to describe a snapshot scenario of how you would approach composing a new musical project. Or give an example of how you created one of your musical compositions.
It changes on every project but here’s a typical overview - I first make notes on the brief and research any other relevant reference tracks. I map out what the director is asking for and write a snapshot of how I think the project will go forward.
I sketch out a rough idea on the piano (even if there is no piano in the piece) to get an idea of the structure of the piece.
I import sounds into a Logic file (digital audio workstation) that I feel would suit the project and begin writing!
I think planning is an essential ingredient. Especially in terms of structure and being influenced or inspired by the reference track (if there is one).
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR PART 2 OF OUR DIALOGUE AS WE CONTINUE WITH THE QUESTION,
"Why do you think there aren’t many women film composers?"
Find Kezia Tomsett and her music on Twitter or Instagram, and at her SoundCloud Page Here.
Where to find Kezia Tomsett:
https://twitter.com/KeziaTomsett
https://www.instagram.com/keziatomsett/
https://soundcloud.com/kezia-tomsett
If you enjoyed this blog--Please SHARE &/OR LEAVE A COMMENT here!
L.A. Composer, Orchestrator, Poet, Writer Kristen Baum. Photo © 2019 Daniel Kresco
by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
[My interview with creator Kristen Baum posts in four 30-minute YourCreativeChord Podcast episodes.]
I had the ease and joy of interviewing LA-based composer, writer and poet, Kristen Baum. We had a 2-hour conversation that felt like we'd only just started. Baum is highly energetic, articulate and on-point, and evidently a mover-and-shaker in the creative worlds of film composing, poetry, and writing.
Baum is a (Composers Lab) Sundance Fellow who frequently collaborates on diverse film and live theater projects. She “creates custom scores for films in genres including fantasy, character-driven drama and thriller.”
Baum has “composed music for many projects, from award-winning features and short films to music for studio motion pictures.”
Working With Hollywood Great Film Composer Christopher Young
In addition to orchestrating her own projects Baum has also orchestrated for Hollywood-established Film Composer, Christopher Young. For those who may not be familiar, Young’s film scores include those for: Priest (2011), Rum Diary (2011, starring Johnny Depp), Spiderman 3 (2007, starring Tobey Maguire), The Uninvited (2009), Entrapment (1999), Hellraiser (1987), Nightmare On Elm Street (1985).
Baum “has worked closely with Christopher Young and carries his influence forward in her composing and collaborative approach. She wrote additional music (source) for Book of Eli and orchestrated on Priest and When in Rome. Kristen wrote the score for the dramedy As High as the Sky, which won several audience choice awards on the festival circuit in addition to winning Juror’s Choice for Best North American Feature at Sonoma International Film Festival.
Multiple Creative Outlets From Music to Poetry to Fiction
She also composes and records art songs. Her musical works have premiered in Hollywood, Nashville, Tennessee and Marquette, Michigan. She is a frequent contributor of articles about film composing for HD Pro Guide Magazine and Student Filmmakers Magazine.”
Earning Awards As A Film Composer
Baum also has received Awards and Recognition, including:
2013 BMI Conducting Lab
2011 Sundance Composers Lab Fellow, Feature Films Lab
2011 Park City Film Music Festival, Gold Medal for Excellence in Original Music for the score for The Things You Lose In The Ocean.
I spoke with Baum just after she’d returned from a 2-week writing retreat near the Oregon rainforests, where she and her writing partner began outlining a new novel.
We talked about her creative background and training, and her many creative projects, ranging from music to poetry to writing a fiction novel. She shared how she took the passionate leap to move from Arizona to L.A. to pursue film composing, and then took advantage of being in the right place at the right time to absorb all things film scoring from established Hollywood film composer, Christopher Young.
We also dove into her experience as a Sundance Fellow. Baum shares what that workshop learning process was like, working alongside 5 other Sundance Fellow composers, with guidance from mentor composers Christopher Young, Harry Gregson Williams, George S Clinton, Ed Shearmer, and Alan Silvestri.
Moving The Needle Toward Positive Creative Women Role Models
We discussed the relatively newly-formed group, Alliance For Women Film Composers, addressed the issue for more women composers to emerge, and how women creators of all varieties may proactively move the needle toward more positive creative women role models.
On Collaboration And That Little Inner Critic
We discussed Baum’s approach for collaboration with a director on a film project, both technically and through her personal creative process. She shared what empowers her creativity as well as how she actively deals with that little inner critic or voice of ‘resistance’ (in a nod to author Stephen Pressfield) to keep her creativity flowing.
Baum shared how the variety of her creative outlets is pivotal to tapping inspiration for her work. Her creative works range from composing and orchestrating film scores, art songs, poetry, and fantasy fiction.
Her poetry has been published in several literary journals, and those links are below. I asked Baum to share one of her poems, and she obliged me with her recitation of her beautiful poem, “And No One Hears It.”
But I assure you, you will hear Baum’s powerful creative voice throughout this amazing interview, and if you checkout her music or writings. You’ll find those links below.
I love featuring women creators like Kristen Baum because her powerfully passionate energy, coupled with her ability to articulate her impressive intellect and her pure intentions are a compelling voice for the joy of exploring creative life.
My interview with creator Kristen Baum will post in four 30-minute YourCreativeChord Podcast episodes.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Baum was selected to participate as a 2011 Sundance Composers Lab Fellow, with mentorship from Hollywood film composers Christopher Young, Harry Gregson Williams, George S Clinton, Ed Shearmer, and Alan Silvestri.
2. Baum took the leap from Arizona to L.A. to pursue film scoring, springboarding her film composing career from the fortune of working with film composer Christopher Young.
3. Baum shares how her multi-outlet creative works, from orchestrations, film scores, art songs, to poetry, and a fantasy novel work-in-progress, thrive on ebb and flow.
4. We dive deep into a look at Baum's technical and creative process for a collaborative film project.
5. Baum shared how she addresses the inevitable inner critic that creators must encounter.
6. Baum shares her understanding of how Alliance For Women Film Composers originated and the role women creators have toward increasing the number of creative women professionals.
7. Baum recites one of her short poems.
Where to find Kristen Baum’s creative work:
Kristen Baum’s Composer Website
Listen to Kristen Baum's Music on Soundcloud
Director Mike Bonomo’s YouTube Channel
Kristen Baum’s poetry is available here:
Contrary Magazine, Issue Winter 2020
Voice of Eve, Issue 15
Blue Heron Review, Issue 8
Other Resources From This Interview:
Alliance For Women Film Composers
War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
Walking In This World by Julia Cameron
Possibilities by Herbie Hancock
Film Scores by Christopher Young
If you loved this blog don't forget to show your awesome support by Liking the link, Subscribing for more updates and adding your comment below!
[My interview with creator Kristen Baum posts in four 30-minute YourCreativeChord Podcast episodes.]
I had the ease and joy of interviewing LA-based composer, writer and poet, Kristen Baum. We had a 2-hour conversation that felt like we'd only just started. Baum is highly energetic, articulate and on-point, and evidently a mover-and-shaker in the creative worlds of film composing, poetry, and writing.
Baum is a (Composers Lab) Sundance Fellow who frequently collaborates on diverse film and live theater projects. She “creates custom scores for films in genres including fantasy, character-driven drama and thriller.”
Baum has “composed music for many projects, from award-winning features and short films to music for studio motion pictures.”
Working With Hollywood Great Film Composer Christopher Young
In addition to orchestrating her own projects Baum has also orchestrated for Hollywood-established Film Composer, Christopher Young. For those who may not be familiar, Young’s film scores include those for: Priest (2011), Rum Diary (2011, starring Johnny Depp), Spiderman 3 (2007, starring Tobey Maguire), The Uninvited (2009), Entrapment (1999), Hellraiser (1987), Nightmare On Elm Street (1985).
Baum “has worked closely with Christopher Young and carries his influence forward in her composing and collaborative approach. She wrote additional music (source) for Book of Eli and orchestrated on Priest and When in Rome. Kristen wrote the score for the dramedy As High as the Sky, which won several audience choice awards on the festival circuit in addition to winning Juror’s Choice for Best North American Feature at Sonoma International Film Festival.
Multiple Creative Outlets From Music to Poetry to Fiction
She also composes and records art songs. Her musical works have premiered in Hollywood, Nashville, Tennessee and Marquette, Michigan. She is a frequent contributor of articles about film composing for HD Pro Guide Magazine and Student Filmmakers Magazine.”
Earning Awards As A Film Composer
Baum also has received Awards and Recognition, including:
2013 BMI Conducting Lab
2011 Sundance Composers Lab Fellow, Feature Films Lab
2011 Park City Film Music Festival, Gold Medal for Excellence in Original Music for the score for The Things You Lose In The Ocean.
I spoke with Baum just after she’d returned from a 2-week writing retreat near the Oregon rainforests, where she and her writing partner began outlining a new novel.
We talked about her creative background and training, and her many creative projects, ranging from music to poetry to writing a fiction novel. She shared how she took the passionate leap to move from Arizona to L.A. to pursue film composing, and then took advantage of being in the right place at the right time to absorb all things film scoring from established Hollywood film composer, Christopher Young.
We also dove into her experience as a Sundance Fellow. Baum shares what that workshop learning process was like, working alongside 5 other Sundance Fellow composers, with guidance from mentor composers Christopher Young, Harry Gregson Williams, George S Clinton, Ed Shearmer, and Alan Silvestri.
Moving The Needle Toward Positive Creative Women Role Models
We discussed the relatively newly-formed group, Alliance For Women Film Composers, addressed the issue for more women composers to emerge, and how women creators of all varieties may proactively move the needle toward more positive creative women role models.
On Collaboration And That Little Inner Critic
We discussed Baum’s approach for collaboration with a director on a film project, both technically and through her personal creative process. She shared what empowers her creativity as well as how she actively deals with that little inner critic or voice of ‘resistance’ (in a nod to author Stephen Pressfield) to keep her creativity flowing.
Baum shared how the variety of her creative outlets is pivotal to tapping inspiration for her work. Her creative works range from composing and orchestrating film scores, art songs, poetry, and fantasy fiction.
Her poetry has been published in several literary journals, and those links are below. I asked Baum to share one of her poems, and she obliged me with her recitation of her beautiful poem, “And No One Hears It.”
But I assure you, you will hear Baum’s powerful creative voice throughout this amazing interview, and if you checkout her music or writings. You’ll find those links below.
I love featuring women creators like Kristen Baum because her powerfully passionate energy, coupled with her ability to articulate her impressive intellect and her pure intentions are a compelling voice for the joy of exploring creative life.
My interview with creator Kristen Baum will post in four 30-minute YourCreativeChord Podcast episodes.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Baum was selected to participate as a 2011 Sundance Composers Lab Fellow, with mentorship from Hollywood film composers Christopher Young, Harry Gregson Williams, George S Clinton, Ed Shearmer, and Alan Silvestri.
2. Baum took the leap from Arizona to L.A. to pursue film scoring, springboarding her film composing career from the fortune of working with film composer Christopher Young.
3. Baum shares how her multi-outlet creative works, from orchestrations, film scores, art songs, to poetry, and a fantasy novel work-in-progress, thrive on ebb and flow.
4. We dive deep into a look at Baum's technical and creative process for a collaborative film project.
5. Baum shared how she addresses the inevitable inner critic that creators must encounter.
6. Baum shares her understanding of how Alliance For Women Film Composers originated and the role women creators have toward increasing the number of creative women professionals.
7. Baum recites one of her short poems.
Where to find Kristen Baum’s creative work:
Kristen Baum’s Composer Website
Listen to Kristen Baum's Music on Soundcloud
Director Mike Bonomo’s YouTube Channel
Kristen Baum’s poetry is available here:
Contrary Magazine, Issue Winter 2020
Voice of Eve, Issue 15
Blue Heron Review, Issue 8
Other Resources From This Interview:
Alliance For Women Film Composers
War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
Walking In This World by Julia Cameron
Possibilities by Herbie Hancock
Film Scores by Christopher Young
If you loved this blog don't forget to show your awesome support by Liking the link, Subscribing for more updates and adding your comment below!
Title: “Florabella” Pyrography design on basswood. Art by Amanda Packard, aka, The Phoenix Quill. This piece was donated to the upcoming Bellevue show for their silent auction, benefiting art programs in local schools. This is also the featured piece for the entire event, and is being used as the promotional poster.
Artist Amanda Packard, aka, The Phoenix Quill Featuring Pyrography Artist Amanda Packard, aka,
The Phoenix Quill
By Jenny Leigh Hodgins
🎧 Listen To the PODCAST
My nearly 80-year mother, who’s primarily a self-taught artist, enjoys seeing the work of other artists. We spontaneously took off late one August Saturday afternoon to checkout a local arts fair at McConnell Springs Park, in Lexington, Kentucky. We found a variety of artist booths exhibiting homemade organic lotions and soaps, paintings, and woodworking.
We soon meandered ourselves into a delightful conversation with artist Amanda Packard, known as The Phoenix Quill, as we perused her fascinating creative works. Beautifully red-headed, Packard’s gentle, friendly personality oozes with that infamous Southern hospitality shared by my mother. (I’ve lived abroad and in the more transient Florida half my life, so my Southernness has dissipated.)
Packard’s artworks are an exquisite visual feast of beautiful craftsmanship and imaginatively story-like inspiration. I had the chance to speak more with Packard about how her creativity began, what led her to create, and what inspires her art.
Though she grew up in Lexington, she’s now married and lives in Harrison, Ohio. When asked to describe her art background, Packard surprisingly revealed that a 10-year involvement in an oppressive and cultish religious group (through her previous husband) had dramatically suppressed her creative expression. Either stimulated by this oppression, or as a rebellion against it, Packard’s creativity called her from within. She deeply felt a “longing to explore imagination!”
Her works reveal a fantastical explosion of creativity. She says creating is a form of finally being able to be true to herself. Allowing her creative expression to come out “was liberating but a tempest of emotions. What hurled me to creativity was using it as therapy. I had honed in on something important to me! That’s what catapulted—my new life— and that art would be a big part of my new life.”
For Packard, her art expresses her value to not suppress it in others, either. She hopes the education system finds this value for everyone to experience. She says that artistic exploration teaches us that, “our emotions are normal and they are to be expressed.”
She says that her creative force had been reignited from her childhood years, with her mother as a strong, positive creative role model who painted, quilted and was a seamstress. Her mother encouraged Packard to observe her painting technique and Packard would emulate it.
“Mom says I was always coloring and drawing, and she did pastels and portraits. I was four or so watching her and being enamored.”
Packard recalls her elementary reading teacher asking her to illustrate a story. When Packard drew a horse, the teacher further encouraged her by gifting her a book on how to draw horses. Packard passionately drew horses through her entire fifth grade school year.
Her high school art teacher further supported her artistic pursuits, and practicing art was a nice outlet during her awkward teen years. During a senior awards event, her art teacher gave her a giant box of 150 colored pencils, with the encouragement to “always hold on to your art.”
These early experiences with positive mentors who encouraged Packard’s creativity have served as inspiration and a source of joyful gratitude repaid through her now constant creative explorations. Her outlets include painting, sculpture, cooking, woodworking, and ceramics.
She now specializes in pyrography on wood or leather. From drawing on paper in ink, to exploring graphite pencil leads, she has grown from a fear of color with non-chromatic pictures, to enjoying painting on canvas or paper with ink and watercolor.
As a young adult, Packard invested in a wood burning kit (pyrography) and started practicing as a hobby. She started with more traditional work, making simple signs with short quotes or a family name, for people to display on their front porch.
Working with wood is therapeutic due to the Pinewood, campfire-reminiscent aromatic scents. Her technique grew as she learned different burning pen wire-tip techniques, enabling her to make a variety of strokes.
The tools and skillsets essential to Packard’s artmaking include learning about wood types, what burns differently, and how the values vary per different woods. She prefers a softer wood like Basswood to Maple hardwood, as it’s more malleable and has a nice, light color that allows more contrasts for her created images.
She values her quality pen as the most essential tool for pyrography works. Her pen offers heat-settings that alter the values, shading, lights and darks, and lines of her work. She works with a pen from Canada that has interchangeable wire-tips for each pen.
As pyrography pens can get as hot as 1000℉, Packard has learned to be cautious to avoid getting a wood oil burn! Another essential to her pyrography process is a good ventilation system and a mask to wear while working. She has experimented to create while using an air filter close to pieces she works on and a carefully placed fan to balance against the toxicity of fumes without altering the temperature of her pen.
She stresses that using the soft basswood is not as grainy, and since dragging a pen across grain makes lines wiggly, it’s an easier wood to work with. She emphasized that though pine has a nice smell and is fairly soft, it’s not great for beginners because its graininess easily affects the task of image-creation. Pine also has sap and oils that affect shading, and potentially boils up, leaving residue on the pen.
How To Positively Impact Your Creative Spark
Nature, hiking, being on the water, animals, and emotion itself inspires Packard’s art, especially “morphing an image into something different than what you’d normally see.”
Being emotionally sensitive is her well of inspiration, “Low times or when I feel down makes me more sensitive to things like music. It draws creativity from me.” In fact, she loves listening to even musical genres usually not preferred, because that freshness of sound sparks her passion and creativity.
Walking Through The Artistic Process
Packard begins when an idea pops into her head, perhaps from a moment in nature. That idea “connects 100% with my emotions and is pulling me.”
She may dwell on it for days or even a month, tossing the idea around in her head. Once the idea is ready to manifest, Packard starts with composition, form, and the body language of a character, where it’s placed on the wood, sketching her idea on paper to see if it connects with what she wants to express.
“When I find what I’m looking for, I do a paper sketch and then a carbon paper transfer to the wood, versus drawing directly onto wood, to get a clean image transferred to the wood. Then, I burn the outline of my image, and start thinking a lot about color.”
The artist says she used to be afraid of color. Now she has respect for the science of color, and plays around with it, exploring ways for a natural or fantastical look, testing it on spare wood samples. Once she’s spent time on color decisions, she finishes the work, adding a UV protectant, and sometimes a finish.
The Devil In The Details Makes Art Come Alive
Her OCD tendency to love the tedious, hard work of detail is her strength as a creator. She loves the intricate, small details and the focus on getting everything right.
As she’s building her work through the smallest things, she says, “You start to see the larger picture emerge. The devil is in the details! Making something alive versus good” is what drives her. “Some artists use color to define their style, but for me, it’s in the details.”
Instagram’s community of pyrography artists is a regular resource for Packard’s creativity. They draw from each other, guided by their mantra, “Community over competition.”
They ask and answer questions for each other about wood-burning. They do artist swaps with each other, based on their favorite topics, and send each other the resulting artwork as mutually exchanged gifts.
Keeping up with different styles like abstract art, and looking at other processes while keeping her mind open to different genres are ways Packard consistently nurtures her artistic skills.
How Being A Woman Influences Creative Process
Since she felt oppressed religiously for a long period in her life, and specifically as a woman within that framework, she feels that being a woman has a lot of influence on her creative process. The influence comes into “my creativity as me being a woman, in my roles as friend, mother, wife, daughter.”
She says the experience of religious oppression as a woman “has become my outlet to my imagination. Being a woman influences my art as many of my subjects are female. I love to show a free woman through my art.” Her pyrography often depicts feminine, fanciful and dainty fairies bearing a peaceful disposition.
Keeping Worry At Bay & Using Clarity As Creative Fuel
Knowing that the humdrum of daily life can hinder her creative flow, Packard aims to keep stress to a minimum. “Worry halts everything,” so she tries to keep that to a minimum and let trivial things go. She maintains self-care through therapeutic immersion in nature, and spending time with her husband.
“When I have a good vision of where to go with a project, it drives me to do my best. When I have an idea, I just roll it around in mind until I get the direction sense.” Her clear vision about an artistic project positively influences her creative process.
Trusting Your ‘Time On The Shelf’ As Creative Compost
Packard has learned to trust herself when that creative flow isn’t happening, calling it, “Time on the shelf.” When going through what seemed to be a creative block, she used to beat herself up for that. But Packard noticed that the time of creative dormancy “is just as useful and crucial to creativity coming back to its flow.”
She learned that her creative process has an ebb and flow. The artist has learned to “just live your daily stuff, doing different things that don’t seem creative. But let it be what it is, and when you come back” to a creative idea, she says, “there’s a noticeable difference,” with sharper skills and creative vision, which triggers inspiration.
When asked to offer advice for someone who’d like to create art, in regard to the most useful skills needed, Packard immediately responded, “Begin by omitting the word ‘mistake.’ Teach yourself how to view mistakes and what it means. It’s not failure—it’s trial and error. My OCD detail-oriented nature has learned to welcome mess-ups. I learned to solve puzzles with that. Take mistakes to spur fresh creativity and make something from them. Accept a mistake and move forward anyway. Practice, practice. Be okay with trial and error!”
Turning Suffering Into A Compassionate Cause
Packard is a life-long learner, and her future goal is to be a “student for the rest of my life and to use my art to benefit others like it’s benefitted me.” Having experienced firsthand what it’s like to be constrained, she feels a personal connection to others who endure this kind of suffering. “An idea percolating in my mind is using my art to help domestic violence victims…”
Packard’s creative process has taught her coping skills, and to keep her mind open. She also feels that creativity is itself a form of self-nurturing, as it’s a form of escape she can use if she doesn’t have time or ability to have a real vacation. She says creative work is a “good way to take a break.”
Packard humbly credits her artistic pursuits for instilling within herself “some value and self-worth and the knowing that I have something to offer the world.”
You may find, buy or commission art by Amanda Packard, aka, The Phoenix Quill at:
https://www.facebook.com/thephoenixquill/
https://www.instagram.com/thephoenixquill
www.thephoenixquill.net
Future events can be found at The Phoenix Quill Facebook page.
🎧 Listen To YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, How To Inspire And Drive An Artist’s Creativity; Featuring My Chat with Amanda Packard, aka The Phoenix Quill Part 1
🎧 Listen To YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, How To Inspire And Drive An Artist’s Creativity; Featuring My Chat with Amanda Packard, aka The Phoenix Quill Part 2
Share your thoughts in the comments below about this approach to reaching your goals!
Share this with a friend on social media or email!
Recommended articles:
It's ALL Okay-Just Do YOU
How To Live A Life of Joyful Creativity
Why Should You Dream Too Big & Harness Your Powerful Imagination?
Defeat Fear & Doubt with Your Courage & Capability
How To Deflect Negativity To Become Happier
Believing In The Positive
My Top Tips For Winning Over Your Insomnia
Your Troubles Are Your Progress Barometer & Catalyst For Your Full Potential
The Phoenix Quill
By Jenny Leigh Hodgins
🎧 Listen To the PODCAST
My nearly 80-year mother, who’s primarily a self-taught artist, enjoys seeing the work of other artists. We spontaneously took off late one August Saturday afternoon to checkout a local arts fair at McConnell Springs Park, in Lexington, Kentucky. We found a variety of artist booths exhibiting homemade organic lotions and soaps, paintings, and woodworking.
We soon meandered ourselves into a delightful conversation with artist Amanda Packard, known as The Phoenix Quill, as we perused her fascinating creative works. Beautifully red-headed, Packard’s gentle, friendly personality oozes with that infamous Southern hospitality shared by my mother. (I’ve lived abroad and in the more transient Florida half my life, so my Southernness has dissipated.)
Packard’s artworks are an exquisite visual feast of beautiful craftsmanship and imaginatively story-like inspiration. I had the chance to speak more with Packard about how her creativity began, what led her to create, and what inspires her art.
Though she grew up in Lexington, she’s now married and lives in Harrison, Ohio. When asked to describe her art background, Packard surprisingly revealed that a 10-year involvement in an oppressive and cultish religious group (through her previous husband) had dramatically suppressed her creative expression. Either stimulated by this oppression, or as a rebellion against it, Packard’s creativity called her from within. She deeply felt a “longing to explore imagination!”
Her works reveal a fantastical explosion of creativity. She says creating is a form of finally being able to be true to herself. Allowing her creative expression to come out “was liberating but a tempest of emotions. What hurled me to creativity was using it as therapy. I had honed in on something important to me! That’s what catapulted—my new life— and that art would be a big part of my new life.”
For Packard, her art expresses her value to not suppress it in others, either. She hopes the education system finds this value for everyone to experience. She says that artistic exploration teaches us that, “our emotions are normal and they are to be expressed.”
She says that her creative force had been reignited from her childhood years, with her mother as a strong, positive creative role model who painted, quilted and was a seamstress. Her mother encouraged Packard to observe her painting technique and Packard would emulate it.
“Mom says I was always coloring and drawing, and she did pastels and portraits. I was four or so watching her and being enamored.”
Packard recalls her elementary reading teacher asking her to illustrate a story. When Packard drew a horse, the teacher further encouraged her by gifting her a book on how to draw horses. Packard passionately drew horses through her entire fifth grade school year.
Her high school art teacher further supported her artistic pursuits, and practicing art was a nice outlet during her awkward teen years. During a senior awards event, her art teacher gave her a giant box of 150 colored pencils, with the encouragement to “always hold on to your art.”
These early experiences with positive mentors who encouraged Packard’s creativity have served as inspiration and a source of joyful gratitude repaid through her now constant creative explorations. Her outlets include painting, sculpture, cooking, woodworking, and ceramics.
She now specializes in pyrography on wood or leather. From drawing on paper in ink, to exploring graphite pencil leads, she has grown from a fear of color with non-chromatic pictures, to enjoying painting on canvas or paper with ink and watercolor.
As a young adult, Packard invested in a wood burning kit (pyrography) and started practicing as a hobby. She started with more traditional work, making simple signs with short quotes or a family name, for people to display on their front porch.
Working with wood is therapeutic due to the Pinewood, campfire-reminiscent aromatic scents. Her technique grew as she learned different burning pen wire-tip techniques, enabling her to make a variety of strokes.
The tools and skillsets essential to Packard’s artmaking include learning about wood types, what burns differently, and how the values vary per different woods. She prefers a softer wood like Basswood to Maple hardwood, as it’s more malleable and has a nice, light color that allows more contrasts for her created images.
She values her quality pen as the most essential tool for pyrography works. Her pen offers heat-settings that alter the values, shading, lights and darks, and lines of her work. She works with a pen from Canada that has interchangeable wire-tips for each pen.
As pyrography pens can get as hot as 1000℉, Packard has learned to be cautious to avoid getting a wood oil burn! Another essential to her pyrography process is a good ventilation system and a mask to wear while working. She has experimented to create while using an air filter close to pieces she works on and a carefully placed fan to balance against the toxicity of fumes without altering the temperature of her pen.
She stresses that using the soft basswood is not as grainy, and since dragging a pen across grain makes lines wiggly, it’s an easier wood to work with. She emphasized that though pine has a nice smell and is fairly soft, it’s not great for beginners because its graininess easily affects the task of image-creation. Pine also has sap and oils that affect shading, and potentially boils up, leaving residue on the pen.
How To Positively Impact Your Creative Spark
Nature, hiking, being on the water, animals, and emotion itself inspires Packard’s art, especially “morphing an image into something different than what you’d normally see.”
Being emotionally sensitive is her well of inspiration, “Low times or when I feel down makes me more sensitive to things like music. It draws creativity from me.” In fact, she loves listening to even musical genres usually not preferred, because that freshness of sound sparks her passion and creativity.
Walking Through The Artistic Process
Packard begins when an idea pops into her head, perhaps from a moment in nature. That idea “connects 100% with my emotions and is pulling me.”
She may dwell on it for days or even a month, tossing the idea around in her head. Once the idea is ready to manifest, Packard starts with composition, form, and the body language of a character, where it’s placed on the wood, sketching her idea on paper to see if it connects with what she wants to express.
“When I find what I’m looking for, I do a paper sketch and then a carbon paper transfer to the wood, versus drawing directly onto wood, to get a clean image transferred to the wood. Then, I burn the outline of my image, and start thinking a lot about color.”
The artist says she used to be afraid of color. Now she has respect for the science of color, and plays around with it, exploring ways for a natural or fantastical look, testing it on spare wood samples. Once she’s spent time on color decisions, she finishes the work, adding a UV protectant, and sometimes a finish.
The Devil In The Details Makes Art Come Alive
Her OCD tendency to love the tedious, hard work of detail is her strength as a creator. She loves the intricate, small details and the focus on getting everything right.
As she’s building her work through the smallest things, she says, “You start to see the larger picture emerge. The devil is in the details! Making something alive versus good” is what drives her. “Some artists use color to define their style, but for me, it’s in the details.”
Instagram’s community of pyrography artists is a regular resource for Packard’s creativity. They draw from each other, guided by their mantra, “Community over competition.”
They ask and answer questions for each other about wood-burning. They do artist swaps with each other, based on their favorite topics, and send each other the resulting artwork as mutually exchanged gifts.
Keeping up with different styles like abstract art, and looking at other processes while keeping her mind open to different genres are ways Packard consistently nurtures her artistic skills.
How Being A Woman Influences Creative Process
Since she felt oppressed religiously for a long period in her life, and specifically as a woman within that framework, she feels that being a woman has a lot of influence on her creative process. The influence comes into “my creativity as me being a woman, in my roles as friend, mother, wife, daughter.”
She says the experience of religious oppression as a woman “has become my outlet to my imagination. Being a woman influences my art as many of my subjects are female. I love to show a free woman through my art.” Her pyrography often depicts feminine, fanciful and dainty fairies bearing a peaceful disposition.
Keeping Worry At Bay & Using Clarity As Creative Fuel
Knowing that the humdrum of daily life can hinder her creative flow, Packard aims to keep stress to a minimum. “Worry halts everything,” so she tries to keep that to a minimum and let trivial things go. She maintains self-care through therapeutic immersion in nature, and spending time with her husband.
“When I have a good vision of where to go with a project, it drives me to do my best. When I have an idea, I just roll it around in mind until I get the direction sense.” Her clear vision about an artistic project positively influences her creative process.
Trusting Your ‘Time On The Shelf’ As Creative Compost
Packard has learned to trust herself when that creative flow isn’t happening, calling it, “Time on the shelf.” When going through what seemed to be a creative block, she used to beat herself up for that. But Packard noticed that the time of creative dormancy “is just as useful and crucial to creativity coming back to its flow.”
She learned that her creative process has an ebb and flow. The artist has learned to “just live your daily stuff, doing different things that don’t seem creative. But let it be what it is, and when you come back” to a creative idea, she says, “there’s a noticeable difference,” with sharper skills and creative vision, which triggers inspiration.
When asked to offer advice for someone who’d like to create art, in regard to the most useful skills needed, Packard immediately responded, “Begin by omitting the word ‘mistake.’ Teach yourself how to view mistakes and what it means. It’s not failure—it’s trial and error. My OCD detail-oriented nature has learned to welcome mess-ups. I learned to solve puzzles with that. Take mistakes to spur fresh creativity and make something from them. Accept a mistake and move forward anyway. Practice, practice. Be okay with trial and error!”
Turning Suffering Into A Compassionate Cause
Packard is a life-long learner, and her future goal is to be a “student for the rest of my life and to use my art to benefit others like it’s benefitted me.” Having experienced firsthand what it’s like to be constrained, she feels a personal connection to others who endure this kind of suffering. “An idea percolating in my mind is using my art to help domestic violence victims…”
Packard’s creative process has taught her coping skills, and to keep her mind open. She also feels that creativity is itself a form of self-nurturing, as it’s a form of escape she can use if she doesn’t have time or ability to have a real vacation. She says creative work is a “good way to take a break.”
Packard humbly credits her artistic pursuits for instilling within herself “some value and self-worth and the knowing that I have something to offer the world.”
You may find, buy or commission art by Amanda Packard, aka, The Phoenix Quill at:
https://www.facebook.com/thephoenixquill/
https://www.instagram.com/thephoenixquill
www.thephoenixquill.net
Future events can be found at The Phoenix Quill Facebook page.
🎧 Listen To YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, How To Inspire And Drive An Artist’s Creativity; Featuring My Chat with Amanda Packard, aka The Phoenix Quill Part 1
🎧 Listen To YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, How To Inspire And Drive An Artist’s Creativity; Featuring My Chat with Amanda Packard, aka The Phoenix Quill Part 2
Share your thoughts in the comments below about this approach to reaching your goals!
Share this with a friend on social media or email!
Recommended articles:
It's ALL Okay-Just Do YOU
How To Live A Life of Joyful Creativity
Why Should You Dream Too Big & Harness Your Powerful Imagination?
Defeat Fear & Doubt with Your Courage & Capability
How To Deflect Negativity To Become Happier
Believing In The Positive
My Top Tips For Winning Over Your Insomnia
Your Troubles Are Your Progress Barometer & Catalyst For Your Full Potential
YourCreativeChord’s conversation with Maine-born composer Trace Callahan on her video game music composing process, first original musical, "Better Than Fine," and how she incorporates both suffering and joy into the creative process. by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
My conversation with Maine-born composer Trace Callahan covered the gamut of her upcoming new musical to her involvement as a video game music composer and sound designer, to how being female relates to creative opportunities, and how she incorporates both suffering and joy within the creative process.
Our discussion will also post in two Podcast episodes; Part 1 is a more universally artist-focused dialogue about the creative process, how being a woman impacts that process, and a snapshot walk-through of how Callahan created her songs for her upcoming original musical, ‘Better Than Fine.’
YourCreativeChord Podcast episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 2 is especially relevant to game music composers and musicians, as Callahan talks more about her technical, technological, and creative process for her original sound design and game music implementation.
🎧Listen Here to: YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 1
🎧Listen Here to: YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 2
WHO Is Trace Callahan?
Trace Callahan and I met as co-admins of a Facebook group, Women Composers Collective. As I have a love for composing (and listening to) musical theatre songs, and studied voice and piano in my college days, I was excited to find that Callahan is also a composer and performer of musical theatre works.
Callahan spent her college days performing as a busker on the streets of Portland, in local bars and coffee shops, and as a member of the Maine Songwriter’s Association.
Expressing Spiritual Buoyancy with Creative Vision
Interacting with Callahan is a true pleasure. She has an infectious, frequent laugh, and her utter enthusiasm for creating music is disarming and contagious. Her zest for constant learning, drive for overcoming her self-perceived weaknesses, and her strong desire to use her art to persuade others to feel "it’s ALL okay," made a palpable impact on the quality of our conversation. If all artists could have Callahan’s humility, unstoppable cheer, and the compassion she’s gained through surviving her own share of darkness, the world would enjoy quite a glittery jolt of rainbow-esque spiritual buoyancy.
A Love of Video Games Morphs Into Composing
In addition to her original musical, Better Than Fine, currently in rehearsal in Tampa Bay, where Callahan now lives, her musical background has forayed beyond musical theatre into creating video game scores and sound design.
She began writing as a child in Dexter, Maine, where fellow students in the treble choir and jazz combo performed her original music. She studied opera and classical voice at the University of Maine while continuing to compose.
While composing her original musical, she was asked to write music for a video game. Since she’s an avid gamer and enjoys working with “the stories, emotions, and wild unpredictability that infuses the video game world.”* Callahan has since been composing video game music and branched out into sound design and creating effects.
She now balances composing her original game music, sound design, effects, and musical theatre works, while performing as an actress/singer in local and regional theatre productions throughout Tampa Bay. She approaches music composing through pairing stories and music, whether it be folk songs, musical theatre, or video game audio.
Creative Conversation...
YCC: You describe your music as "melodic and emotional, influenced by your skills as a flute player and vocalist, and by the cold, stark beauty and neighborly ways of Maine."
You no longer live in Maine, though. You now live in tropical Florida. Does your new locale have an influence on your compositional style?
TC: It definitely has an influence on my process! I compose while riding my bike during my hour-long commute each day to my teaching job! It’s a long time for silence, so I don’t wanna lose that moment. Ideas come to me. I start with lyrics I’ve already written. A melodic idea comes to me while I’m pedaling home, so I repeat it, singing it aloud, over and over until the phrasing is smooth.
When I get home, I record my ideas into “Noteworthy” music notation software. Sometimes I record the idea by voice memo or save it in a file in a folder with notation.
Then I usually leave it sitting for a while. I need space away from it to decide if I hate it or not.
Next, I use my piano to experiment to find the right block chords for it while singing the melody. After that, I notate the chords in my notation software. I decide on instrumentation early on, so I know what instruments to start recording to flesh out the beat and accompaniment. When I decided to write my new musical, I was already clear in my mind it would be for two women, and I knew the instrumentation for it.
YCC: Tell us how you started composing for video games!
TC: I played games and was involved as a community staff member/storyteller for 16 years. I made friends with fellow gamers, and we wrote stories together. One of them formed a game company, built a game and needed a composer.
I got a text in 2017 asking for a few music tracks for their game. We batted around back and forth with a few concepts and decided it worked!
YCC: You are an avid gamer. Do you feel that not being a gamer is a disadvantage for someone who wants to compose music for games?
TC: Yes, but not a huge one. You can always go listen to the soundtrack to get ideas. But being familiar with games is an advantage because— that’s in your head.
Listening to the music while playing games makes you associate music with different game parts. If there’s a big fight, the music tells you there’s a big fight. There’s a structural thing absorbed as a player through being familiar with how music connects to the game.
Just like musicians have a language based on their musical training to communicate to others, being a game player gives you an edge of language to use with game developers. If you play, you have common reference points. A game dev can ask you to create something in the style of “X” game. You can go listen to that soundtrack, of course. That’s why I’m saying it’s not a huge disadvantage.
But, if you love games and can talk about them with devs, they may enjoy working with you more, and that may get you rehired more maybe than a non-gamer. But if you write good music, and can give them what they want, it’s not a deal-breaker in my opinion.
YCC: How is composing game music similar to or different from film music scoring?
TC: Game music isn’t linear like film music, but sometimes there are cut scenes in games that are like scoring a film scene. Music for a film scene is timed specifically to go from point A to point B and there are hit points within the scene where music plays a key role. But game music can be either extended or shorter, depending on the player’s actions.
But those hit points cannot happen until the player is there, so there’s a lot of repetition or looping in game music. It’s important to create looping music that’s not annoying.
YCC: How do you create game music that loops without being annoying?
TC: I think that a loop should be fairly long—2.5 - 3 minutes, for example. Within the loop, I make sure there are some variations like tonality changes. There are older games that do a lot of looping without much variation that worked; The Super Mario theme is short and highly repetitive. But that was for a different time and game style. It doesn’t work well for a 3-hour game!
So I try to make the music interesting yet unobtrusive, which sometimes means less melodic. That’s counter-intuitive for me. But it works for game loops. I do a lot of instrumentation changes! Sometimes that’s all it needs to remain interesting yet less redundant for the listener. For me, I think rhythmic changes within loops can be a bit too abrupt. I usually like to stay with the same rhythmic feel until a hit point.
YCC: Are all the musical instruments heard on your audio tracks from sample libraries, or do you perform any instrumental/vocal parts?
TC: Mostly virtual instruments. I add my vocals, but usually quite distorted as part of background or a layer on top of a synthesizer line, or used for sound design as voice-over work, like screams, breathing, whatever is needed. I sometimes do record my penny whistle for things like a tavern scene or a place like a street fair to add to the authentic ambience.
YCC: What advice would you give someone who’d like to compose for games, in regard to the most useful skills needed?
TC: Well, composition skills are understood. You’ve gotta have at least the basics of writing or recording musical ideas. I’d say that communication is a big one. Especially with indie games because it’s mostly done remotely—using Skype, Slack, or instant messaging platforms.
So you need to be open to clear communication. Be open to the ideas from the devs, coders and artists. They have their unique angles, struggles, deal breakers, and focus. You should always have that in your mind, and prioritize them over you.
If you disagree, you must be able to express your viewpoint clearly to show them where it’s coming from. My team has completely different game archetypes, so our viewpoints sometimes aren’t the same. It’s important not to reject their viewpoints—or, if you do, communicate to clarify and backup your opinions.
YCC: How did you learn the technology needed for composing for games?
TC: I’m learning everything from my DAW (digital audio workstation), which is Reaper, to the Discord server (a gamer chat) or Slack (team communication tool) to share mp3s with the game team, to indie game middleware like Unity and Wwise, and even a C++ (programming language) class to learn coding.
I just did some Google searching for these courses. I’ve learned to implement sound effects directly into games using the indie game software - Unity. I’ve learned mainly by playing with the software, and relying on Unity’s help docs. The online classes on coding, and Unity were through Udemy. Wwise has great tutorials on their website.
YCC: What technology or music gear or skillsets do you feel are essential to your music-making and sound design for games?
TC: I’d say at this point, learning C++ is not essential. Knowing how to use Wwise middleware for games lowers frustration. Wwise may be useful for landing more game composing jobs due to it being advertised as a required skill.
I think my essentials for game composing would be; some kind of notation software, DAW, gaming platform and middleware software.
YCC: How much of the production side do you handle with regard to the video game music and sound design?
TC: I do most of it. But, I like having an extra set of ears for mixing. When I’ve had others mix, master, or even edit my music, it turned out much better. I have a need to get away from it. After working with a music piece for a while, it just sounds the way it sounds. Space away from it helps.
Original Musical Features
Strong Women In Opposing Stories
YCC: Your new original musical, Better Than Fine, is currently in rehearsal in Tampa, Florida. Tell us about the story, and how you created the music, lyrics, script and book.
TC: It’s a small cast and story about two women at completely different points in their lives. One of them is infatuated after a first date, the other is going through a divorce. They’re friends, and they sing about their journey, supporting each other in those places. Cora, a character who does a lot of freaking out on her rollercoaster from first date to engagement and beyond. Emily divorces her husband, reacts to his sudden dating immediately following their separation, gets stuck in darkness, and works to break herself out of that to a new view.
YCC: What’s the central message of your musical?
TC: I started writing it with the idea focused around the things you feel or think but don’t say. Like—to not seem overreactive or hyper-sensitive, we sometimes walk away from a person or situation with repressed emotions. Yet, we have those thoughts and feelings in the conversation inside our head. And it’s okay. I want to get across that all your crazy things you’re feeling or thinking are okay.
YCC: What inspired you to create your musical?
TC: It was a kind of perfect storm combo of things. I was inspired by my involvement as a local actress/singer in local theaters, seeing a lot of men getting cast in big roles, and many, many talented women waiting to be cast for smaller roles. I wanted to see some more meaty roles for women. I love the small theatre community and its inspiration.
I have a fantastic show partner, actress/singer/director, Beth Phillips. We’d done several fun women-based shows together. Recently, I performed in Sister Act while she directed it. I thought, I wanna write a show for women! Hey, I know some talented women! So, I decided to write it.
Beth plays Cora, which suits her so well because Beth can play weird and funny really well, but doesn’t get to do that kind of role often.
YCC: What was the process of creating your musical?
TC: I had the basic storyline of opposite experiences/life stories first. I thought it’d be neat to have friends talking each other through those different situations, as women do, supporting and understanding and helping each other through it.
Then, I wrote lyrics to the songs, but not in order of the story, which was frustrating to have to go back and flesh out all the story gaps with songs.
Once I had the lyrics, I came up with the music for the songs, then fleshed out the instrumentation to create learning tracks for us to use in rehearsal.
YCC: Take us into your creative process to describe a snapshot scenario of how you composed a song for your new musical or an instrumental piece.
TC: Vocal music is always inspired by the lyrics for me. The rhythm of the words.
The song from my musical, Robot Wolves, was composed while riding my bike! It was a bright, sunny day, and I was thinking of writing a song about Cora, who’s worried her new boyfriend hasn’t called back after a first date. That was the seed or idea that started my creative process. I kept saying aloud, “He hasn’t called yet. Whatever.”
I kept repeating that line in a particularly rhythmic way, until it led to a verse. I sang it over and over while riding my bike until the phrasing sounded fluent to me. Then, I went on to the next lyric and repeated that process, singing aloud repetitively on my bicycle.
That’s how I composed the verses, then the chorus for that song. When I got home, I placed the melody and lyrics in my notation software program.
Once an idea comes to me, the melody is strong in my mind. Next, I hash out some piano chords to fit the melody and record that in my DAW. I already have the instrumentation pre-thought out, so it’s just a matter of adding a beat, a bass line, then the instruments.
For instrumental music, I find ideas a lot in white noise, like the sound of my computer, or the washing machine. I hear the overtones in that noise and it generates an idea.
I did a “21 days of video game music composing challenge” recently that required I compose two to four measures a day. I used my ideas as song sketches, writing about 16 measures, enough for a strong call-and-response melodic idea.
I was listening to the washing machine, it had shoes or something bouncing around with a rhythm that was catchy. I started listening to that, then singing it aloud and decided, “Ok! That’ll be what I use for a string ostinato today!"
YCC: Describe your strengths as a creator.
TC: Intense humility. And emotional honesty. The whole point of getting this out there is to foster communication of emotion.
YCC: Do you have resources (besides gear) that you regularly as a creator?
TC: I write using my computer. Sometimes I write to get an idea out with writing. It’s a musical idea that needs to get out but sometimes I need to get the nonmusical stuff out of the way. So I write a scene out or something. This opens a new angle for the creative process. I write a page story or setting or a moment in my mind to explore it through text. Creativity is about sometimes needing to say something—however it births. I guess.
I also read a lot of fantasy fiction like Tolkien. And I read a lot of personal development, and stuff about runners and training philosophy.
YCC: Do you feel that being a woman has any influence on your composer process?
TC: Definitely. But more in relation to game music than musical theatre because I’ve been immersed in theater for a long time and it doesn’t affect me as much.
But with game music jobs, I tend to look at a job offer post and count off how many technical skills they’re asking for that I don’t have. Instead of just diving in, I hold myself back a lot.
Someone was encouraging me about applying for game music jobs recently, saying I should apply for more of them, and I responded that I’m not ready because of my lack of technical skills. They said, “Oh, Hold up. You’re a woman. Read this.”
They sent me an article, that I shared in Women Composers Collective, that was about how many women hold themselves back from job positions until they’re 98% confident of their skills. Versus men applying with only 40% capability for the job—and they just dive in to figure things out once they get the job! So, that.
YCC: Do you feel that being a woman has disadvantages in regard to creative opportunities?
TC: I haven’t personally experienced that. But I noticed how much I’ve held myself back from opportunities. I’ve talked to enough women, so I know other women who’ve experienced sexism in the music/media industry.
It kinda stinks in musical theater. For every role, 17 women will audition and maybe ONE man. Casting calls have these amazingly talented women show up but they have to search for men. That’s frustrating ‘cause the bar to entry is higher for women. Male-centered musicals have lots of male roles but far less women roles.
That’s why I decided to make a show about women.
YCC: What influences your creativity positively?
TC: I’m gonna say something that doesn’t sound positive, but it is. My twenties were hell. Lots of depression, several mental health and serious life struggles. Once I came out of that, I started focusing on my life and my future in the world. Like, ok, I’m still here. Now what?
So I get real soap-boxy about joy and sorrow mixed together in my creative work. What I write is an oddly blended mix of extreme struggle and the feeling that, there’s still gonna be a tomorrow, so it’s ok. I write to show you can feel sadness yet have hope at the same time.
That life experience of depression gave me my reason to create. I use my personal experience to put forth this combo of emotions. And it reinforces itself when I create. I express that it’s ok to allow yourself to feel the darkness and know there’s still a silver lining; tomorrow. This outlook is a kind of superpower for me. My goal is to always have both joy and suffering present together.
YCC: What hinders your creative flow?
TC: Time! I get kinda like a squirrel—I wanna write and I actually may have a few hours of a window, but I start to think of other stuff—and there’s always so much to do. Clutter and so many options make me feel overwhelmed and lose focus. So I have a ritual; I spend 10 minutes cleaning the clutter— to create empty space for creativity.
YCC: Please share anything else that you feel is relevant to others interested in composing professionally and share with us your goals for your musical future.
TC: I’m 40. I started composing for games only two years ago, which is late by many people’s terms. And I came at composing in a roundabout way. I didn’t study composition in depth, I didn’t get a degree in it. And, that’s ok.
Lucille Ball and Jane Lynch created material for themselves after age 40. Lin Manuel Miranda wrote material for himself to create musical theater opportunities lacking for Latinos.
So I think whether you’re 20 and in school, 20 not in school, 40 or 68, it doesn’t matter. Just do it. Don’t let limitations stop you from your creative process. Age is no block.
As for my future, there’s always something new to learn, whether it’s software, DAW or production skills, musical forms, gaming tech. There’s so much next that it makes it hard to say what’s next other than a lot of experimenting! A lot of breaking things, and then learning how to recover from that.
FIND Trace Callahan at:
TraceCallahan.com
https://soundcloud.com/trace-callahan
🎧Listen Here to: YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 1
🎧Listen Here to: 🎧YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 2
*Excerpted from TraceCallahan.com
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My conversation with Maine-born composer Trace Callahan covered the gamut of her upcoming new musical to her involvement as a video game music composer and sound designer, to how being female relates to creative opportunities, and how she incorporates both suffering and joy within the creative process.
Our discussion will also post in two Podcast episodes; Part 1 is a more universally artist-focused dialogue about the creative process, how being a woman impacts that process, and a snapshot walk-through of how Callahan created her songs for her upcoming original musical, ‘Better Than Fine.’
YourCreativeChord Podcast episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 2 is especially relevant to game music composers and musicians, as Callahan talks more about her technical, technological, and creative process for her original sound design and game music implementation.
🎧Listen Here to: YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 1
🎧Listen Here to: YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 2
WHO Is Trace Callahan?
Trace Callahan and I met as co-admins of a Facebook group, Women Composers Collective. As I have a love for composing (and listening to) musical theatre songs, and studied voice and piano in my college days, I was excited to find that Callahan is also a composer and performer of musical theatre works.
Callahan spent her college days performing as a busker on the streets of Portland, in local bars and coffee shops, and as a member of the Maine Songwriter’s Association.
Expressing Spiritual Buoyancy with Creative Vision
Interacting with Callahan is a true pleasure. She has an infectious, frequent laugh, and her utter enthusiasm for creating music is disarming and contagious. Her zest for constant learning, drive for overcoming her self-perceived weaknesses, and her strong desire to use her art to persuade others to feel "it’s ALL okay," made a palpable impact on the quality of our conversation. If all artists could have Callahan’s humility, unstoppable cheer, and the compassion she’s gained through surviving her own share of darkness, the world would enjoy quite a glittery jolt of rainbow-esque spiritual buoyancy.
A Love of Video Games Morphs Into Composing
In addition to her original musical, Better Than Fine, currently in rehearsal in Tampa Bay, where Callahan now lives, her musical background has forayed beyond musical theatre into creating video game scores and sound design.
She began writing as a child in Dexter, Maine, where fellow students in the treble choir and jazz combo performed her original music. She studied opera and classical voice at the University of Maine while continuing to compose.
While composing her original musical, she was asked to write music for a video game. Since she’s an avid gamer and enjoys working with “the stories, emotions, and wild unpredictability that infuses the video game world.”* Callahan has since been composing video game music and branched out into sound design and creating effects.
She now balances composing her original game music, sound design, effects, and musical theatre works, while performing as an actress/singer in local and regional theatre productions throughout Tampa Bay. She approaches music composing through pairing stories and music, whether it be folk songs, musical theatre, or video game audio.
Creative Conversation...
YCC: You describe your music as "melodic and emotional, influenced by your skills as a flute player and vocalist, and by the cold, stark beauty and neighborly ways of Maine."
You no longer live in Maine, though. You now live in tropical Florida. Does your new locale have an influence on your compositional style?
TC: It definitely has an influence on my process! I compose while riding my bike during my hour-long commute each day to my teaching job! It’s a long time for silence, so I don’t wanna lose that moment. Ideas come to me. I start with lyrics I’ve already written. A melodic idea comes to me while I’m pedaling home, so I repeat it, singing it aloud, over and over until the phrasing is smooth.
When I get home, I record my ideas into “Noteworthy” music notation software. Sometimes I record the idea by voice memo or save it in a file in a folder with notation.
Then I usually leave it sitting for a while. I need space away from it to decide if I hate it or not.
Next, I use my piano to experiment to find the right block chords for it while singing the melody. After that, I notate the chords in my notation software. I decide on instrumentation early on, so I know what instruments to start recording to flesh out the beat and accompaniment. When I decided to write my new musical, I was already clear in my mind it would be for two women, and I knew the instrumentation for it.
YCC: Tell us how you started composing for video games!
TC: I played games and was involved as a community staff member/storyteller for 16 years. I made friends with fellow gamers, and we wrote stories together. One of them formed a game company, built a game and needed a composer.
I got a text in 2017 asking for a few music tracks for their game. We batted around back and forth with a few concepts and decided it worked!
YCC: You are an avid gamer. Do you feel that not being a gamer is a disadvantage for someone who wants to compose music for games?
TC: Yes, but not a huge one. You can always go listen to the soundtrack to get ideas. But being familiar with games is an advantage because— that’s in your head.
Listening to the music while playing games makes you associate music with different game parts. If there’s a big fight, the music tells you there’s a big fight. There’s a structural thing absorbed as a player through being familiar with how music connects to the game.
Just like musicians have a language based on their musical training to communicate to others, being a game player gives you an edge of language to use with game developers. If you play, you have common reference points. A game dev can ask you to create something in the style of “X” game. You can go listen to that soundtrack, of course. That’s why I’m saying it’s not a huge disadvantage.
But, if you love games and can talk about them with devs, they may enjoy working with you more, and that may get you rehired more maybe than a non-gamer. But if you write good music, and can give them what they want, it’s not a deal-breaker in my opinion.
YCC: How is composing game music similar to or different from film music scoring?
TC: Game music isn’t linear like film music, but sometimes there are cut scenes in games that are like scoring a film scene. Music for a film scene is timed specifically to go from point A to point B and there are hit points within the scene where music plays a key role. But game music can be either extended or shorter, depending on the player’s actions.
But those hit points cannot happen until the player is there, so there’s a lot of repetition or looping in game music. It’s important to create looping music that’s not annoying.
YCC: How do you create game music that loops without being annoying?
TC: I think that a loop should be fairly long—2.5 - 3 minutes, for example. Within the loop, I make sure there are some variations like tonality changes. There are older games that do a lot of looping without much variation that worked; The Super Mario theme is short and highly repetitive. But that was for a different time and game style. It doesn’t work well for a 3-hour game!
So I try to make the music interesting yet unobtrusive, which sometimes means less melodic. That’s counter-intuitive for me. But it works for game loops. I do a lot of instrumentation changes! Sometimes that’s all it needs to remain interesting yet less redundant for the listener. For me, I think rhythmic changes within loops can be a bit too abrupt. I usually like to stay with the same rhythmic feel until a hit point.
YCC: Are all the musical instruments heard on your audio tracks from sample libraries, or do you perform any instrumental/vocal parts?
TC: Mostly virtual instruments. I add my vocals, but usually quite distorted as part of background or a layer on top of a synthesizer line, or used for sound design as voice-over work, like screams, breathing, whatever is needed. I sometimes do record my penny whistle for things like a tavern scene or a place like a street fair to add to the authentic ambience.
YCC: What advice would you give someone who’d like to compose for games, in regard to the most useful skills needed?
TC: Well, composition skills are understood. You’ve gotta have at least the basics of writing or recording musical ideas. I’d say that communication is a big one. Especially with indie games because it’s mostly done remotely—using Skype, Slack, or instant messaging platforms.
So you need to be open to clear communication. Be open to the ideas from the devs, coders and artists. They have their unique angles, struggles, deal breakers, and focus. You should always have that in your mind, and prioritize them over you.
If you disagree, you must be able to express your viewpoint clearly to show them where it’s coming from. My team has completely different game archetypes, so our viewpoints sometimes aren’t the same. It’s important not to reject their viewpoints—or, if you do, communicate to clarify and backup your opinions.
YCC: How did you learn the technology needed for composing for games?
TC: I’m learning everything from my DAW (digital audio workstation), which is Reaper, to the Discord server (a gamer chat) or Slack (team communication tool) to share mp3s with the game team, to indie game middleware like Unity and Wwise, and even a C++ (programming language) class to learn coding.
I just did some Google searching for these courses. I’ve learned to implement sound effects directly into games using the indie game software - Unity. I’ve learned mainly by playing with the software, and relying on Unity’s help docs. The online classes on coding, and Unity were through Udemy. Wwise has great tutorials on their website.
YCC: What technology or music gear or skillsets do you feel are essential to your music-making and sound design for games?
TC: I’d say at this point, learning C++ is not essential. Knowing how to use Wwise middleware for games lowers frustration. Wwise may be useful for landing more game composing jobs due to it being advertised as a required skill.
I think my essentials for game composing would be; some kind of notation software, DAW, gaming platform and middleware software.
YCC: How much of the production side do you handle with regard to the video game music and sound design?
TC: I do most of it. But, I like having an extra set of ears for mixing. When I’ve had others mix, master, or even edit my music, it turned out much better. I have a need to get away from it. After working with a music piece for a while, it just sounds the way it sounds. Space away from it helps.
Original Musical Features
Strong Women In Opposing Stories
YCC: Your new original musical, Better Than Fine, is currently in rehearsal in Tampa, Florida. Tell us about the story, and how you created the music, lyrics, script and book.
TC: It’s a small cast and story about two women at completely different points in their lives. One of them is infatuated after a first date, the other is going through a divorce. They’re friends, and they sing about their journey, supporting each other in those places. Cora, a character who does a lot of freaking out on her rollercoaster from first date to engagement and beyond. Emily divorces her husband, reacts to his sudden dating immediately following their separation, gets stuck in darkness, and works to break herself out of that to a new view.
YCC: What’s the central message of your musical?
TC: I started writing it with the idea focused around the things you feel or think but don’t say. Like—to not seem overreactive or hyper-sensitive, we sometimes walk away from a person or situation with repressed emotions. Yet, we have those thoughts and feelings in the conversation inside our head. And it’s okay. I want to get across that all your crazy things you’re feeling or thinking are okay.
YCC: What inspired you to create your musical?
TC: It was a kind of perfect storm combo of things. I was inspired by my involvement as a local actress/singer in local theaters, seeing a lot of men getting cast in big roles, and many, many talented women waiting to be cast for smaller roles. I wanted to see some more meaty roles for women. I love the small theatre community and its inspiration.
I have a fantastic show partner, actress/singer/director, Beth Phillips. We’d done several fun women-based shows together. Recently, I performed in Sister Act while she directed it. I thought, I wanna write a show for women! Hey, I know some talented women! So, I decided to write it.
Beth plays Cora, which suits her so well because Beth can play weird and funny really well, but doesn’t get to do that kind of role often.
YCC: What was the process of creating your musical?
TC: I had the basic storyline of opposite experiences/life stories first. I thought it’d be neat to have friends talking each other through those different situations, as women do, supporting and understanding and helping each other through it.
Then, I wrote lyrics to the songs, but not in order of the story, which was frustrating to have to go back and flesh out all the story gaps with songs.
Once I had the lyrics, I came up with the music for the songs, then fleshed out the instrumentation to create learning tracks for us to use in rehearsal.
YCC: Take us into your creative process to describe a snapshot scenario of how you composed a song for your new musical or an instrumental piece.
TC: Vocal music is always inspired by the lyrics for me. The rhythm of the words.
The song from my musical, Robot Wolves, was composed while riding my bike! It was a bright, sunny day, and I was thinking of writing a song about Cora, who’s worried her new boyfriend hasn’t called back after a first date. That was the seed or idea that started my creative process. I kept saying aloud, “He hasn’t called yet. Whatever.”
I kept repeating that line in a particularly rhythmic way, until it led to a verse. I sang it over and over while riding my bike until the phrasing sounded fluent to me. Then, I went on to the next lyric and repeated that process, singing aloud repetitively on my bicycle.
That’s how I composed the verses, then the chorus for that song. When I got home, I placed the melody and lyrics in my notation software program.
Once an idea comes to me, the melody is strong in my mind. Next, I hash out some piano chords to fit the melody and record that in my DAW. I already have the instrumentation pre-thought out, so it’s just a matter of adding a beat, a bass line, then the instruments.
For instrumental music, I find ideas a lot in white noise, like the sound of my computer, or the washing machine. I hear the overtones in that noise and it generates an idea.
I did a “21 days of video game music composing challenge” recently that required I compose two to four measures a day. I used my ideas as song sketches, writing about 16 measures, enough for a strong call-and-response melodic idea.
I was listening to the washing machine, it had shoes or something bouncing around with a rhythm that was catchy. I started listening to that, then singing it aloud and decided, “Ok! That’ll be what I use for a string ostinato today!"
YCC: Describe your strengths as a creator.
TC: Intense humility. And emotional honesty. The whole point of getting this out there is to foster communication of emotion.
YCC: Do you have resources (besides gear) that you regularly as a creator?
TC: I write using my computer. Sometimes I write to get an idea out with writing. It’s a musical idea that needs to get out but sometimes I need to get the nonmusical stuff out of the way. So I write a scene out or something. This opens a new angle for the creative process. I write a page story or setting or a moment in my mind to explore it through text. Creativity is about sometimes needing to say something—however it births. I guess.
I also read a lot of fantasy fiction like Tolkien. And I read a lot of personal development, and stuff about runners and training philosophy.
YCC: Do you feel that being a woman has any influence on your composer process?
TC: Definitely. But more in relation to game music than musical theatre because I’ve been immersed in theater for a long time and it doesn’t affect me as much.
But with game music jobs, I tend to look at a job offer post and count off how many technical skills they’re asking for that I don’t have. Instead of just diving in, I hold myself back a lot.
Someone was encouraging me about applying for game music jobs recently, saying I should apply for more of them, and I responded that I’m not ready because of my lack of technical skills. They said, “Oh, Hold up. You’re a woman. Read this.”
They sent me an article, that I shared in Women Composers Collective, that was about how many women hold themselves back from job positions until they’re 98% confident of their skills. Versus men applying with only 40% capability for the job—and they just dive in to figure things out once they get the job! So, that.
YCC: Do you feel that being a woman has disadvantages in regard to creative opportunities?
TC: I haven’t personally experienced that. But I noticed how much I’ve held myself back from opportunities. I’ve talked to enough women, so I know other women who’ve experienced sexism in the music/media industry.
It kinda stinks in musical theater. For every role, 17 women will audition and maybe ONE man. Casting calls have these amazingly talented women show up but they have to search for men. That’s frustrating ‘cause the bar to entry is higher for women. Male-centered musicals have lots of male roles but far less women roles.
That’s why I decided to make a show about women.
YCC: What influences your creativity positively?
TC: I’m gonna say something that doesn’t sound positive, but it is. My twenties were hell. Lots of depression, several mental health and serious life struggles. Once I came out of that, I started focusing on my life and my future in the world. Like, ok, I’m still here. Now what?
So I get real soap-boxy about joy and sorrow mixed together in my creative work. What I write is an oddly blended mix of extreme struggle and the feeling that, there’s still gonna be a tomorrow, so it’s ok. I write to show you can feel sadness yet have hope at the same time.
That life experience of depression gave me my reason to create. I use my personal experience to put forth this combo of emotions. And it reinforces itself when I create. I express that it’s ok to allow yourself to feel the darkness and know there’s still a silver lining; tomorrow. This outlook is a kind of superpower for me. My goal is to always have both joy and suffering present together.
YCC: What hinders your creative flow?
TC: Time! I get kinda like a squirrel—I wanna write and I actually may have a few hours of a window, but I start to think of other stuff—and there’s always so much to do. Clutter and so many options make me feel overwhelmed and lose focus. So I have a ritual; I spend 10 minutes cleaning the clutter— to create empty space for creativity.
YCC: Please share anything else that you feel is relevant to others interested in composing professionally and share with us your goals for your musical future.
TC: I’m 40. I started composing for games only two years ago, which is late by many people’s terms. And I came at composing in a roundabout way. I didn’t study composition in depth, I didn’t get a degree in it. And, that’s ok.
Lucille Ball and Jane Lynch created material for themselves after age 40. Lin Manuel Miranda wrote material for himself to create musical theater opportunities lacking for Latinos.
So I think whether you’re 20 and in school, 20 not in school, 40 or 68, it doesn’t matter. Just do it. Don’t let limitations stop you from your creative process. Age is no block.
As for my future, there’s always something new to learn, whether it’s software, DAW or production skills, musical forms, gaming tech. There’s so much next that it makes it hard to say what’s next other than a lot of experimenting! A lot of breaking things, and then learning how to recover from that.
FIND Trace Callahan at:
TraceCallahan.com
https://soundcloud.com/trace-callahan
🎧Listen Here to: YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 1
🎧Listen Here to: 🎧YOURCREATIVECHORD PODCAST Episode, It’s ALL Okay—Just Do YOU Part 2
*Excerpted from TraceCallahan.com
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Interview with Composer, Sound Designer & Course Creator, Alex Pfeffer
Germany-based Creative Professional, Alex Pfeffer By Jenny Leigh Hodgins
Germany-based Alex Pfeffer is an award winning composer and sound designer who has composed music for games (Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Risen 3, Battleforge etc.), movie trailers, production music (Pacific Rim, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes etc.) as well as audio content and official sound library demos for many world class sample library developers! He’s also an audio editor on the 60 million EUR show “EQUILA” which is currently being performed in Munich, Germany, and arranged for Frank Peterson (Sarah Brightman, Gregorian, Andrea Bocelli)! Pfeffer has a sample library store, String Theories, and offers an online blog and courses for audio production creatives.
To learn more about Alex Pfeffer, check out his music and sound library links here:
http://www.alexpfeffer.net
https://stringtheories.space
https://lifebuff.blog
Here is YourCreativeChord’s interview with Pfeffer:
YCC: As a creative professional with 10 years of sound design and successful professional composing experience, 30+ years of guitar playing, and your constant thirst to learn more with recording gear, plugins and hardware, you have a lot to offer music and sound creatives!
Your personal story is equally inspiring. Please tell us about your hearing loss and your family’s experience with your daughter’s health, and how these personal experiences moved you to create your online blog and courses for creative professionals.
Pfeffer: First of all, thank you for having me! When I was three years old I suffered from a cholesteatoma, which is sort of a destructive and expanding growth inside the ear. The resulting and necessary surgery left me deaf on my right ear for the following ten years. At around the age of 13 I had another surgery resulting in bringing back some hearing to around 30%.
This may have been responsible to dive into the audio world to somehow compensate what happened to me. When I was 14 years old, I started to play guitar and took private lessons.
Fast forward, when my daughter was born, it was pure chaos. No one had any clue or could say how she would turn out and besides that there wasn’t a lot of sleep going on. However, I made sure to approach the whole situation as positively as possible.
Throughout the years, as she grew older, I was amazed by how mindful, peaceful and funny this little girl was. Even though she suffers from epilepsy, can’t walk or talk, she seems to be happy to be alive and enjoys every single day. I learned so much from her and became aware that this was the only way to work it out!
I researched, learned and worked a lot on myself. I looked back and noticed what a confident man I have become. I am someone who, no matter what, wouldn't want to miss a second of anything that's happened in my life!
Around this time I really noticed how many people really are suffering from everything the audio industry brings along: Impostor Syndrome, Stress, Lack of Self Confidence, Existential Fear, you name it.
So I decided to do something about it. I started my blog and my courses to contribute to the audio industry.
YCC: What was pivotal for your interest in creativity and life boosters as a specialty?
Pfeffer: When I came back from studying music in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles College of Music, I started to work as a guitar teacher and got hired as a lead guitarist in a rock pop band.
Throughout that time I really enjoyed what I did but, especially while recording our album, I was fascinated by the work “on the other side of the studio console." From then on I tried to compose more. A few years later, I was able to land my first gig for a video game, called Railroad Pioneer.
YCC: What was pivotal for your interest in creativity and life boosters as a specialty?
Pfeffer: I really like to break things down, no matter if it's a problem, a new skill, or why a human being behaves like he/she does. There are so many tutorials, courses and lessons around that deal with the topics of studio gear, plugins, songwriting, music theory, getting rich and successful. But you hardly ever find anything about creativity and mindfulness tailored towards the audio industry.
You can be the best composer on this planet, make tons of money and get one well paid gig after another, but creativity and mindfulness are the driving fuel to make music. We all know what happens when your car runs out of fuel or your smartphone’s battery is low!
YCC: Describe one of your favorite aspects of your job.
Pfeffer: Of course, in some way we always work for someone, but I really appreciate that I can make money by doing what I love. Not just that I have a specific love towards music, but the fact that I can work by doing what I love. To me, this is the driving force for investing more time, being eager, more focused and truly dedicated to each project.
YCC: Describe your strengths as a leader on the topic of creative process.
Pfeffer: I think we both know that there aren’t many websites, courses and people in general who care about the well-being of people working in the audio industry.
Of course, if someone is interested in meditation, breathing techniques and becoming more mindful, that person can research and strive to achieve those skills.
But, most of the time I see people posting around on social media complaining that they don’t feel very well. Most of the time it is about topics such as the Impostor Syndrome or insomnia. As for me, personally, it was time that I try to do something about that!
YCC: Describe your typical day as a composer, sound designer, creativity educator.
Pfeffer: The night before, I roughly make a plan of what I want to work on the next day. I don’t have a specific structure. But I try to make sure to either take a walk or do some exercising, and most importantly, do at least 10 minutes of meditation.
There is nothing better to reset your brain, especially since it is the “main tool” we need to compose music or write a blog post.
YCC: Tell us a bit about what is covered in your LifeBuff Pro courses and your teaching approach toward creative professionals.
Pfeffer: My LifeBuff Pro course consists of three essential things: Building blocks that deal with the topics of stress relief, becoming more mindful, improving your self-confidence, worrying less, and getting into basic psychology.
These topics are essential to work on the topics in more advanced blocks, like dealing with customers, achieving your dreams, overcoming impostor syndrome, self doubts, writer’s block and so on.
Besides the building and advanced blocks, my courses include general blocks on topics such as your body & mind, sleep, nutrition, your workplace, meditation lessons tailored to audio people, some exercises that can be done in your studio or workplace, and much more. All in all my full course features around 100 lessons. There will be one new lesson each week from now.
YCC: Who would be eligible to participate in learning from your courses?
Pfeffer: Generally every creative person. Even though I talk about the audio industry, you could simply replace "tracks" with "graphics" or "videos." But in the end, it doesn’t matter if you are a composer, singer, musician, songwriter or a graphic designer, writer... The course is especially for creatives.
YCC: What are some of the best tips toward successfully tapping creativity that you’ve gleaned from your career?
Pfeffer: To be able to know when to stop and breathe for a moment.
We tend to solve problems at night, we work as long as possible because we think this is the most productive way. We try to be more efficient when it comes to work so we also try to trim down our spare time.
Then we get back from holiday or have two days off, and suddenly realize how refreshed we feel! What really made me wake up is becoming aware of this and realizing that, with decent breaks, some meditation and fresh air, we are capable of getting more done in less amount of time.
YCC: What role does technology play in your exploration of creativity?
Pfeffer: A very important one when it comes to researching creativity and how to learn about all the different methods on this planet. There are some great games, shows and other tools which can boost your creativity.
However, when it comes to maintaining your own creativity, it is important to not forget that we are human beings. When our brains are too exhausted by using too much technology, even if our body isn’t tired, this creates problematic imbalance.
YCC: What advice would you give someone who wants to make a living as a creative professional?
Pfeffer: To be successful, you really have to work your butt off. You truly have to invest a lot of time and money, believe in what you do, and absolutely focus on it.
I’ve experienced so many people giving up too early. A truly successful professional has probably failed more times than someone else has ever tried.
However, you have to find a balance between spending energy and recharging yourself. The most essential thing someone has to learn is how to convert negative stresses into positive challenges, and learn to take care of the body and mind.
YCC: What are the three most important skills you recommend to pave a path as a creative professional?
Pfeffer: A strong belief in yourself, focus and consistency!
YCC: What are your goals for your future with regard to creativity?
Pfeffer: I take care to maintain my creativity because it is my daily fuel, whether it is writing blogs posts, creating worksheets or composing music. A balanced body and mind are fuel for creativity. We all know what happens with a car when it runs out of fuel!
I will keep researching, experimenting, finding solutions, writing blog posts and creating course material on how to maintain your creativity and keep a sane mind in the audio industry.
Click here to learn more about Alex Pfeffer’s courses on creativity for audio industry professionals.
And...if you loved this blog don't forget to show your awesome support by Liking the link, Subscribing for more updates and adding your comment below!
CLICK HERE for a list of piano and music-making resources I use and recommend.
Germany-based Alex Pfeffer is an award winning composer and sound designer who has composed music for games (Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Risen 3, Battleforge etc.), movie trailers, production music (Pacific Rim, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes etc.) as well as audio content and official sound library demos for many world class sample library developers! He’s also an audio editor on the 60 million EUR show “EQUILA” which is currently being performed in Munich, Germany, and arranged for Frank Peterson (Sarah Brightman, Gregorian, Andrea Bocelli)! Pfeffer has a sample library store, String Theories, and offers an online blog and courses for audio production creatives.
To learn more about Alex Pfeffer, check out his music and sound library links here:
http://www.alexpfeffer.net
https://stringtheories.space
https://lifebuff.blog
Here is YourCreativeChord’s interview with Pfeffer:
YCC: As a creative professional with 10 years of sound design and successful professional composing experience, 30+ years of guitar playing, and your constant thirst to learn more with recording gear, plugins and hardware, you have a lot to offer music and sound creatives!
Your personal story is equally inspiring. Please tell us about your hearing loss and your family’s experience with your daughter’s health, and how these personal experiences moved you to create your online blog and courses for creative professionals.
Pfeffer: First of all, thank you for having me! When I was three years old I suffered from a cholesteatoma, which is sort of a destructive and expanding growth inside the ear. The resulting and necessary surgery left me deaf on my right ear for the following ten years. At around the age of 13 I had another surgery resulting in bringing back some hearing to around 30%.
This may have been responsible to dive into the audio world to somehow compensate what happened to me. When I was 14 years old, I started to play guitar and took private lessons.
Fast forward, when my daughter was born, it was pure chaos. No one had any clue or could say how she would turn out and besides that there wasn’t a lot of sleep going on. However, I made sure to approach the whole situation as positively as possible.
Throughout the years, as she grew older, I was amazed by how mindful, peaceful and funny this little girl was. Even though she suffers from epilepsy, can’t walk or talk, she seems to be happy to be alive and enjoys every single day. I learned so much from her and became aware that this was the only way to work it out!
I researched, learned and worked a lot on myself. I looked back and noticed what a confident man I have become. I am someone who, no matter what, wouldn't want to miss a second of anything that's happened in my life!
Around this time I really noticed how many people really are suffering from everything the audio industry brings along: Impostor Syndrome, Stress, Lack of Self Confidence, Existential Fear, you name it.
So I decided to do something about it. I started my blog and my courses to contribute to the audio industry.
YCC: What was pivotal for your interest in creativity and life boosters as a specialty?
Pfeffer: When I came back from studying music in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles College of Music, I started to work as a guitar teacher and got hired as a lead guitarist in a rock pop band.
Throughout that time I really enjoyed what I did but, especially while recording our album, I was fascinated by the work “on the other side of the studio console." From then on I tried to compose more. A few years later, I was able to land my first gig for a video game, called Railroad Pioneer.
YCC: What was pivotal for your interest in creativity and life boosters as a specialty?
Pfeffer: I really like to break things down, no matter if it's a problem, a new skill, or why a human being behaves like he/she does. There are so many tutorials, courses and lessons around that deal with the topics of studio gear, plugins, songwriting, music theory, getting rich and successful. But you hardly ever find anything about creativity and mindfulness tailored towards the audio industry.
You can be the best composer on this planet, make tons of money and get one well paid gig after another, but creativity and mindfulness are the driving fuel to make music. We all know what happens when your car runs out of fuel or your smartphone’s battery is low!
YCC: Describe one of your favorite aspects of your job.
Pfeffer: Of course, in some way we always work for someone, but I really appreciate that I can make money by doing what I love. Not just that I have a specific love towards music, but the fact that I can work by doing what I love. To me, this is the driving force for investing more time, being eager, more focused and truly dedicated to each project.
YCC: Describe your strengths as a leader on the topic of creative process.
Pfeffer: I think we both know that there aren’t many websites, courses and people in general who care about the well-being of people working in the audio industry.
Of course, if someone is interested in meditation, breathing techniques and becoming more mindful, that person can research and strive to achieve those skills.
But, most of the time I see people posting around on social media complaining that they don’t feel very well. Most of the time it is about topics such as the Impostor Syndrome or insomnia. As for me, personally, it was time that I try to do something about that!
YCC: Describe your typical day as a composer, sound designer, creativity educator.
Pfeffer: The night before, I roughly make a plan of what I want to work on the next day. I don’t have a specific structure. But I try to make sure to either take a walk or do some exercising, and most importantly, do at least 10 minutes of meditation.
There is nothing better to reset your brain, especially since it is the “main tool” we need to compose music or write a blog post.
YCC: Tell us a bit about what is covered in your LifeBuff Pro courses and your teaching approach toward creative professionals.
Pfeffer: My LifeBuff Pro course consists of three essential things: Building blocks that deal with the topics of stress relief, becoming more mindful, improving your self-confidence, worrying less, and getting into basic psychology.
These topics are essential to work on the topics in more advanced blocks, like dealing with customers, achieving your dreams, overcoming impostor syndrome, self doubts, writer’s block and so on.
Besides the building and advanced blocks, my courses include general blocks on topics such as your body & mind, sleep, nutrition, your workplace, meditation lessons tailored to audio people, some exercises that can be done in your studio or workplace, and much more. All in all my full course features around 100 lessons. There will be one new lesson each week from now.
YCC: Who would be eligible to participate in learning from your courses?
Pfeffer: Generally every creative person. Even though I talk about the audio industry, you could simply replace "tracks" with "graphics" or "videos." But in the end, it doesn’t matter if you are a composer, singer, musician, songwriter or a graphic designer, writer... The course is especially for creatives.
YCC: What are some of the best tips toward successfully tapping creativity that you’ve gleaned from your career?
Pfeffer: To be able to know when to stop and breathe for a moment.
We tend to solve problems at night, we work as long as possible because we think this is the most productive way. We try to be more efficient when it comes to work so we also try to trim down our spare time.
Then we get back from holiday or have two days off, and suddenly realize how refreshed we feel! What really made me wake up is becoming aware of this and realizing that, with decent breaks, some meditation and fresh air, we are capable of getting more done in less amount of time.
YCC: What role does technology play in your exploration of creativity?
Pfeffer: A very important one when it comes to researching creativity and how to learn about all the different methods on this planet. There are some great games, shows and other tools which can boost your creativity.
However, when it comes to maintaining your own creativity, it is important to not forget that we are human beings. When our brains are too exhausted by using too much technology, even if our body isn’t tired, this creates problematic imbalance.
YCC: What advice would you give someone who wants to make a living as a creative professional?
Pfeffer: To be successful, you really have to work your butt off. You truly have to invest a lot of time and money, believe in what you do, and absolutely focus on it.
I’ve experienced so many people giving up too early. A truly successful professional has probably failed more times than someone else has ever tried.
However, you have to find a balance between spending energy and recharging yourself. The most essential thing someone has to learn is how to convert negative stresses into positive challenges, and learn to take care of the body and mind.
YCC: What are the three most important skills you recommend to pave a path as a creative professional?
Pfeffer: A strong belief in yourself, focus and consistency!
YCC: What are your goals for your future with regard to creativity?
Pfeffer: I take care to maintain my creativity because it is my daily fuel, whether it is writing blogs posts, creating worksheets or composing music. A balanced body and mind are fuel for creativity. We all know what happens with a car when it runs out of fuel!
I will keep researching, experimenting, finding solutions, writing blog posts and creating course material on how to maintain your creativity and keep a sane mind in the audio industry.
Click here to learn more about Alex Pfeffer’s courses on creativity for audio industry professionals.
And...if you loved this blog don't forget to show your awesome support by Liking the link, Subscribing for more updates and adding your comment below!
CLICK HERE for a list of piano and music-making resources I use and recommend.
 Film Composer Joshua Sohn |   |
Under Creativity in my website menu, under the Interviews With Creators section, I feature my interviews with composers, artists, choreographers, writers, photographers, directors, and other creatives about their work, and the creative process.
The purpose of each interview is to learn positive strategies that work to tap creativity, address the inner critic or other hindrances to creative flow, and build a successful creative life.
The following features my chat with talented, young composer from Salt Lake City, Joshua Sohn.
The purpose of each interview is to learn positive strategies that work to tap creativity, address the inner critic or other hindrances to creative flow, and build a successful creative life.
The following features my chat with talented, young composer from Salt Lake City, Joshua Sohn.
by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
Bolting From The Gate
I met Korean-American composer, Joshua Sohn, in an online Facebook group for film score composers that I co-admin. We arranged a Skype chat to discuss his composing endeavors. He’s an energetic young guy, passionately exerting himself to develop his career as a film composer.
Although he got a teaching degree, and landed a job as a percussion specialist for school bands, he quickly found his interest was in creating rather than teaching. He has already built his music production company, Sohn Compositions, and has begun gaining experience in creating music for film, games, song production, and jingle-writing for businesses in the Salt Lake City area and beyond.
Having A Blast
Sohn enjoys creating sound design and musical compositions with virtual instrument applications and his Digital Audio Workstation of choice, Cubase. He’s also proficient in ProTools, another popular choice among professional composers.
Sohn’s pure interest in all things composing comes across easily. He loves discussing the tools of the trade, and his various film, advertising and other collaborative projects.
For example, since 2014, he has composed music for the Air Force Reserve, a 48-Hour Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Audience Awards Film Festival, Filmquest Film Festival, and the Salt Lake Symphony! He also wrote music for “Come As You Are,” an anti-bullying musical play for grades 6-12.
Recently, he also composed the sentimental, holiday song, SnowFlake Snow, in collaboration with the author, J. R. Holbrook’s Gingerbread Jimmi: Magical Storybook. His adeptness for composing catchy, infectious melody, along with fitting instrumentation for the holidays, in a cheerful musicality suitable for children, is evident upon first listen.
Just for fun, he also had one of his compositions recorded by a live orchestra! The musical piece was written for the Ravel Film Scoring competition, as a live orchestral waltz. Sohn says he created the music to evoke a ballroom scene with dancing couples sparking a romantic intensity. His waltz incorporates a clarinet solo, and features string and percussion hits. Listen to his waltz, Mysterioso here.
TOP TIPS ON Success Mindset
Sohn has parallel traits that successful film composers possess. In an article from Los Angeles Times, John Duffy, composer and president of Meet The Composer, a national service organization in New York that channels financial support to composers, confirms the necessary qualities for composer career success, ”By any measure, it takes tremendous grit, resiliency, reason and a fresh eye to succeed in the musical world. Diligence, hard labor and street smarts can open doors and save you time.”
Although a music degree is not necessary, according to an article by Patrick Gleeson, Ph. D., most successful film composers have one. Fortunately, Sohn has a solid foundation with his music education degree, percussion skills, and has used technology throughout his youth, in his former teaching position, and for the composing projects he’s already accomplished. He has forged relationships with a few directors by composing for their projects locally, invaluable training for learning the film-maker’s perspective.
What’s GOING ON
One of the coolest thing about Sohn is his desire to contribute to others. On that note, he has launched an ongoing composer video tutorial series to teach what he knows about composing for film, different genres, instrumentation, and the use of electronic gear. You can follow his series here.
My interview with young film composer Joshua Sohn reveals he has all the qualities for a successful career in film scoring.
Click here to learn more about Joshua Sohn’s music.
If you loved this blog don't forget to show your awesome support by Liking the link, Subscribing for more updates and adding your comment below!
Feel free to SHARE this with others who may benefit from this info! Thank you!
Bolting From The Gate
I met Korean-American composer, Joshua Sohn, in an online Facebook group for film score composers that I co-admin. We arranged a Skype chat to discuss his composing endeavors. He’s an energetic young guy, passionately exerting himself to develop his career as a film composer.
Although he got a teaching degree, and landed a job as a percussion specialist for school bands, he quickly found his interest was in creating rather than teaching. He has already built his music production company, Sohn Compositions, and has begun gaining experience in creating music for film, games, song production, and jingle-writing for businesses in the Salt Lake City area and beyond.
Having A Blast
Sohn enjoys creating sound design and musical compositions with virtual instrument applications and his Digital Audio Workstation of choice, Cubase. He’s also proficient in ProTools, another popular choice among professional composers.
Sohn’s pure interest in all things composing comes across easily. He loves discussing the tools of the trade, and his various film, advertising and other collaborative projects.
For example, since 2014, he has composed music for the Air Force Reserve, a 48-Hour Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Audience Awards Film Festival, Filmquest Film Festival, and the Salt Lake Symphony! He also wrote music for “Come As You Are,” an anti-bullying musical play for grades 6-12.
Recently, he also composed the sentimental, holiday song, SnowFlake Snow, in collaboration with the author, J. R. Holbrook’s Gingerbread Jimmi: Magical Storybook. His adeptness for composing catchy, infectious melody, along with fitting instrumentation for the holidays, in a cheerful musicality suitable for children, is evident upon first listen.
Just for fun, he also had one of his compositions recorded by a live orchestra! The musical piece was written for the Ravel Film Scoring competition, as a live orchestral waltz. Sohn says he created the music to evoke a ballroom scene with dancing couples sparking a romantic intensity. His waltz incorporates a clarinet solo, and features string and percussion hits. Listen to his waltz, Mysterioso here.
TOP TIPS ON Success Mindset
Sohn has parallel traits that successful film composers possess. In an article from Los Angeles Times, John Duffy, composer and president of Meet The Composer, a national service organization in New York that channels financial support to composers, confirms the necessary qualities for composer career success, ”By any measure, it takes tremendous grit, resiliency, reason and a fresh eye to succeed in the musical world. Diligence, hard labor and street smarts can open doors and save you time.”
- Proactive Hustle. Sohn stays active in his networking efforts. He has met film directors and other collaborators through meet-ups, local film events and challenges. He is regularly engaging in online forums related to composing. His constant urge to meet new people and learn more about their projects is part of his formula for landing the gigs he already has under his belt.
- Good-natured. Though specifically referring to Hollywood movies, in a Houston Chronicle career article , writer Patrick Gleeson, Ph. D. suggests composers be friendly, flexible and have a good sense of humor. Gleeson remarks that most producers and directors are the opposite in temperament, so a composer must be able to accommodate through harmonious relationship-building. Sohn has an openness and easy-going personality, which, when paired with his love for the film scoring art, makes him an attractive candidate for film directors.
- Music, Technology and Film-making Knowledge. According to a February 2018 blog from Dorico, a popular tool used by professional composers, successful film composers need a basic foundation in music, music-making technology, and insight into the film-making process. Composing for picture has a uniqueness that requires more knowledge of story, technology, and dealing with both the temperament and artistic vision of directors.
Although a music degree is not necessary, according to an article by Patrick Gleeson, Ph. D., most successful film composers have one. Fortunately, Sohn has a solid foundation with his music education degree, percussion skills, and has used technology throughout his youth, in his former teaching position, and for the composing projects he’s already accomplished. He has forged relationships with a few directors by composing for their projects locally, invaluable training for learning the film-maker’s perspective.
- Contributive Spirit. Sohn has created his online video tutorial series to help other composers learn, and demonstrates his ability to compose for a variety of film genres. His spirit to give and share with others makes him accessible while showing he knows a bit about composing for film, technology, and the importance of social media presence.
- Passion For Composing. Sohn has an infectious love for all things related to composing, whether it’s the technology, the study of other film score composers and genres, collaborating on projects, or creating music. His enthusiasm about the topic makes him fun to work with or hire to get the job done.
What’s GOING ON
One of the coolest thing about Sohn is his desire to contribute to others. On that note, he has launched an ongoing composer video tutorial series to teach what he knows about composing for film, different genres, instrumentation, and the use of electronic gear. You can follow his series here.
My interview with young film composer Joshua Sohn reveals he has all the qualities for a successful career in film scoring.
Click here to learn more about Joshua Sohn’s music.
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Composer Jonathan Price By Jenny Leigh Hodgins
HAVING A MENTOR
During our Skype interview, Denver-based composer Jonathan Price spoke affectionately of his music mentor, R. J. Miller. Rightly so, as Miller is a master of orchestration and scored music for the digital re-release (1993) of the original (1920) The Last of the Mohicans, among other films.
Miller is also author of Contemporary Orchestration: A Practical Guide to Instruments, Ensembles, and Musicians (Routledge Publishing/Taylor & Francis Group, 2014). Price’s already respectful, friendly demeanor grew exponentially as he described how his friendship with R.J. Miller developed.
Their discussions sprang from a mutual love of film scoring and soundtracks. Later, Miller developed what is now the film scoring program at MSU. He taught Price how to “present melodies with harmonic structure, options and the orchestration that enhances them.” It was Miller’s confidence in him that motivated Price to leave college to pursue his career as a composer.
Getting Started
When asked what was in his initial marketing arsenal, he laughed, “a smile and a good personality.” He had no website, CD or IMDb credits. Price applied the honest feedback from his family and friends to develop himself.
When they commented that his music demo “didn’t feel right,” he would rework the music until it was “something they could understand.” He knew audio production “from running sound in bands,” but it took him 3 years until he “felt comfy with audio production skills for film.” He gained experience scoring student films and other zero or low budget projects.
Boosting Production Quality
He further honed his production skills by preparing MIDI mockups (manipulating digital parameters of virtual instruments to emulate a recorded orchestral piece) of John Williams’ scores. Tampering with instrumentation, EQ, compression, reverb, and panning to emulate Williams’ music enabled him to develop both orchestration skills and a faster workflow.
Price discovered that his sound improved as he invested in “decent speakers (not just headphones) that showed all frequencies, reverb, bounced off walls, air. I first started on…Bose speakers that were factory-preset for mixing. But my mixes didn’t sound right.” When he upgraded his studio with abundant RAM, hardware, a good audio interface, analog speakers, plugins, and sample libraries, it dramatically boosted his production quality.
Pitch Like A First Date
As a rookie, he found that pitching to potential clients for music work was the same process as a first date. “If a guy shows up in PJs on a first date, you don’t wanna go out with him…Appearance, packaging, body language and psychology are critical in pitching to directors.” He determined to never offer anything less than his best quality.
A Hollywood scriptwriter/director Price met through a friend told him his music was “too good to not be paid for it.” The director had just finished a Hallmark film, and told Price he wished he’d met him earlier so he could have hired him as the composer. That encounter, coupled with his mentor’s confidence in him motivated Price to begin charging for his work. “Once you start charging full value, directors start taking you seriously.”
Networking Strategy
Price threw himself into networking at local meet-ups, film network functions, and social media groups. In particular, he launched with a vengeance into attending face-to-face filmmaker events. He rarely pitched his composing services.
Rather, he focused on creating friendships to learn as much about each person’s work and passions as possible. He paid attention to the body language and psychology of the filmmaker. Anything he delivered, pitched or said to clients was “very calculated” toward matching his music with their vision.
His networking paid off as his demo qualities improved. Price sent his five-track demo of 15-second music samples via emailed MP3s or Soundcloud links to his growing network. He has enough composing work now that he doesn’t bother marketing anymore.
Film Scoring Career
Since 2003, Price has been scoring professionally, including projects ranging from production house music clips, web-series, audio dramas, podcasts, to short and feature films. Although he has scored everything from drama to horror, romantic drama is both his favorite genre and specialty.
His IMDb credits include the comedy, Army & Coop (Director Dennis Hefter), and the sci-fi, River of Time (Director Gss Santosh Kumar). Price enjoyed the variety of composing 10 different styles for Army & Coop.
Some of his IMDb credits are waiting for the directors to complete festival or YouTube campaigns. Many of Price’s clients just wanted to make a film for family and friends, as a hobby. As a result, some films scored by Price never saw the light of day, due to those filmmakers being uninterested in publicly promoting their work.
Recently, Price composed two short films; Pure (Director Stephan Eigenmann), the sweet story of a young cancer survivor, and Exit (Director Stephen Mathis), a story about transferring consciousness to another to help the mentally ill or someone with sensory problems by replacing and reprogramming the troubled mind with a healthy brain.
He is currently composing for a web-series turned episodic TV show meant for distribution to university film schools. The 10-episode PBS-style documentary uses a cinematic storytelling approach to teach scriptwriters.
Price’s marketing arsenal still does not include a website. He has had more success landing work by emailing his resume, music and video samples directly. Due to parenting three children, he turns down certain projects that he doesn’t consider morally acceptable, to focus on romance, drama, and fantasy-adventure.
Studying The Masters
His ensemble experience heightened his grasp of the recorded orchestra sound. “Once you realize how flutes are playing with the violins, and so on,” he explains, the orchestration “fixes everything in the mix.”
Listening to a score by great film composers like John Williams, Alexander Desplat, or Alan Silvestri, has taught him both orchestration and production. Through listening and creating MIDI mockups, he learned to pay attention to which instrument or section was being highlighted. He says his favorite film scores “are such delicate, careful orchestrations, that they stand on their own. They don’t need any production—which is why they stand well on concert stage.”
His ensemble background gave him the advantage of knowing how instruments are played, interact with each other, and how both those aspects change the orchestra sound. This foundation helps him understand how to emulate the music of his favorite film composers.
Tips For Composers
Price joined the Facebook group, Film Scoring & Orchestration Applied to practice film scoring “for fun and skill development, to learn from other composers and hopefully give my two cents worth. I would love to help out and do whatever I can do to help people get where they need to be.” He has contributed weekly video tutorials to the group, showcasing his film scoring process.
Creative Process
He explains that he watches a film “as much as I can til I’m sick of it.” Then he takes a break from it, plays piano, or takes care of his kids. Meanwhile, he is “always thinking through the orchestration in my head, always singing melodies and recording into my phone—so if I get really stuck, I use something recorded.” Later he listens through his recordings to find something to start with, records a piano version of it, and starts transforming that into orchestration.
Price encourages budding music-makers to detach from their work, as “something you created but…not who you are. It’s a product.” He built his rapport with clients on two things; treating his music as a product to serve the client’s creative vision, while interacting with a balanced blend of confidence and humility.
Price’s insatiable hunger for learning, coupled with his humble, contributive attitude betrays his vast experience and production skills. “If you stop learning and you think you’ve reached where you wanna go, you are done.”
What’s Next
Price is currently working with writer/director Dennis Hefter on a romantic drama film, and has a screenplay show coming up with director, Rick Ramage. He is also having fun composing and covering audio for an Atlanta church audio drama series.
*****************************************************************
Musical Foundation
Price grew up singing, playing piano and trumpet for 10 years. He learned cello and woodwinds. He was determined to learn many instruments, so he could orchestrate them. He studied composition with R. J. Miller at Metropolitan State University, CO. Once he knew the basics of music theory and composition, Price was encouraged to pursue a composing career instead of finishing his degree.
*****************************************************************
Price on NETWORKING:
Appearance
Packaging
Body Language
Psychology
**************************************************************************************
FAVORITE TOOLS:
DAW: Logic Pro X
2009 MacBook Pro
128GB RAM
4T HDs in drive bays
42” 4K monitor
PreSonus Studio192
Orchestral Tools
Berlin Strings
Berlin Brass
Berlin Woodwinds
Metropolis Ark 1,2
String Runs
Percussion
Musical Sampling
Soaring Strings
Trailer Strings
Spitfire Audio
Symphonic Strings
Olafur Arnolds Toolkit and Evolutions
Impact Sound Works
Pearl Concert Grand
Output
Signal
Rev
iZotope
Ozone 8
Neutron 2
Alloy 2
Altiverb 7
Omnisphere 2
**************************************************************************************
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Price juggles work with being a stay-at-home parent of three children. He says he gets a good amount of cardio from chasing his “2-year old most of the day.”
6am - Rise early, breakfast and Bible study
8am - Client communications, composing
Afternoon - Composing, marketing, studying, mixed with household chores and toddler-tracking
Family Dinner - NO EXCUSES!
Evening - 2+ hours composing
Night Routine - Quality time with wife
HAVING A MENTOR
During our Skype interview, Denver-based composer Jonathan Price spoke affectionately of his music mentor, R. J. Miller. Rightly so, as Miller is a master of orchestration and scored music for the digital re-release (1993) of the original (1920) The Last of the Mohicans, among other films.
Miller is also author of Contemporary Orchestration: A Practical Guide to Instruments, Ensembles, and Musicians (Routledge Publishing/Taylor & Francis Group, 2014). Price’s already respectful, friendly demeanor grew exponentially as he described how his friendship with R.J. Miller developed.
Their discussions sprang from a mutual love of film scoring and soundtracks. Later, Miller developed what is now the film scoring program at MSU. He taught Price how to “present melodies with harmonic structure, options and the orchestration that enhances them.” It was Miller’s confidence in him that motivated Price to leave college to pursue his career as a composer.
Getting Started
When asked what was in his initial marketing arsenal, he laughed, “a smile and a good personality.” He had no website, CD or IMDb credits. Price applied the honest feedback from his family and friends to develop himself.
When they commented that his music demo “didn’t feel right,” he would rework the music until it was “something they could understand.” He knew audio production “from running sound in bands,” but it took him 3 years until he “felt comfy with audio production skills for film.” He gained experience scoring student films and other zero or low budget projects.
Boosting Production Quality
He further honed his production skills by preparing MIDI mockups (manipulating digital parameters of virtual instruments to emulate a recorded orchestral piece) of John Williams’ scores. Tampering with instrumentation, EQ, compression, reverb, and panning to emulate Williams’ music enabled him to develop both orchestration skills and a faster workflow.
Price discovered that his sound improved as he invested in “decent speakers (not just headphones) that showed all frequencies, reverb, bounced off walls, air. I first started on…Bose speakers that were factory-preset for mixing. But my mixes didn’t sound right.” When he upgraded his studio with abundant RAM, hardware, a good audio interface, analog speakers, plugins, and sample libraries, it dramatically boosted his production quality.
Pitch Like A First Date
As a rookie, he found that pitching to potential clients for music work was the same process as a first date. “If a guy shows up in PJs on a first date, you don’t wanna go out with him…Appearance, packaging, body language and psychology are critical in pitching to directors.” He determined to never offer anything less than his best quality.
A Hollywood scriptwriter/director Price met through a friend told him his music was “too good to not be paid for it.” The director had just finished a Hallmark film, and told Price he wished he’d met him earlier so he could have hired him as the composer. That encounter, coupled with his mentor’s confidence in him motivated Price to begin charging for his work. “Once you start charging full value, directors start taking you seriously.”
Networking Strategy
Price threw himself into networking at local meet-ups, film network functions, and social media groups. In particular, he launched with a vengeance into attending face-to-face filmmaker events. He rarely pitched his composing services.
Rather, he focused on creating friendships to learn as much about each person’s work and passions as possible. He paid attention to the body language and psychology of the filmmaker. Anything he delivered, pitched or said to clients was “very calculated” toward matching his music with their vision.
His networking paid off as his demo qualities improved. Price sent his five-track demo of 15-second music samples via emailed MP3s or Soundcloud links to his growing network. He has enough composing work now that he doesn’t bother marketing anymore.
Film Scoring Career
Since 2003, Price has been scoring professionally, including projects ranging from production house music clips, web-series, audio dramas, podcasts, to short and feature films. Although he has scored everything from drama to horror, romantic drama is both his favorite genre and specialty.
His IMDb credits include the comedy, Army & Coop (Director Dennis Hefter), and the sci-fi, River of Time (Director Gss Santosh Kumar). Price enjoyed the variety of composing 10 different styles for Army & Coop.
Some of his IMDb credits are waiting for the directors to complete festival or YouTube campaigns. Many of Price’s clients just wanted to make a film for family and friends, as a hobby. As a result, some films scored by Price never saw the light of day, due to those filmmakers being uninterested in publicly promoting their work.
Recently, Price composed two short films; Pure (Director Stephan Eigenmann), the sweet story of a young cancer survivor, and Exit (Director Stephen Mathis), a story about transferring consciousness to another to help the mentally ill or someone with sensory problems by replacing and reprogramming the troubled mind with a healthy brain.
He is currently composing for a web-series turned episodic TV show meant for distribution to university film schools. The 10-episode PBS-style documentary uses a cinematic storytelling approach to teach scriptwriters.
Price’s marketing arsenal still does not include a website. He has had more success landing work by emailing his resume, music and video samples directly. Due to parenting three children, he turns down certain projects that he doesn’t consider morally acceptable, to focus on romance, drama, and fantasy-adventure.
Studying The Masters
His ensemble experience heightened his grasp of the recorded orchestra sound. “Once you realize how flutes are playing with the violins, and so on,” he explains, the orchestration “fixes everything in the mix.”
Listening to a score by great film composers like John Williams, Alexander Desplat, or Alan Silvestri, has taught him both orchestration and production. Through listening and creating MIDI mockups, he learned to pay attention to which instrument or section was being highlighted. He says his favorite film scores “are such delicate, careful orchestrations, that they stand on their own. They don’t need any production—which is why they stand well on concert stage.”
His ensemble background gave him the advantage of knowing how instruments are played, interact with each other, and how both those aspects change the orchestra sound. This foundation helps him understand how to emulate the music of his favorite film composers.
Tips For Composers
Price joined the Facebook group, Film Scoring & Orchestration Applied to practice film scoring “for fun and skill development, to learn from other composers and hopefully give my two cents worth. I would love to help out and do whatever I can do to help people get where they need to be.” He has contributed weekly video tutorials to the group, showcasing his film scoring process.
Creative Process
He explains that he watches a film “as much as I can til I’m sick of it.” Then he takes a break from it, plays piano, or takes care of his kids. Meanwhile, he is “always thinking through the orchestration in my head, always singing melodies and recording into my phone—so if I get really stuck, I use something recorded.” Later he listens through his recordings to find something to start with, records a piano version of it, and starts transforming that into orchestration.
Price encourages budding music-makers to detach from their work, as “something you created but…not who you are. It’s a product.” He built his rapport with clients on two things; treating his music as a product to serve the client’s creative vision, while interacting with a balanced blend of confidence and humility.
Price’s insatiable hunger for learning, coupled with his humble, contributive attitude betrays his vast experience and production skills. “If you stop learning and you think you’ve reached where you wanna go, you are done.”
What’s Next
Price is currently working with writer/director Dennis Hefter on a romantic drama film, and has a screenplay show coming up with director, Rick Ramage. He is also having fun composing and covering audio for an Atlanta church audio drama series.
*****************************************************************
Musical Foundation
Price grew up singing, playing piano and trumpet for 10 years. He learned cello and woodwinds. He was determined to learn many instruments, so he could orchestrate them. He studied composition with R. J. Miller at Metropolitan State University, CO. Once he knew the basics of music theory and composition, Price was encouraged to pursue a composing career instead of finishing his degree.
*****************************************************************
Price on NETWORKING:
Appearance
Packaging
Body Language
Psychology
**************************************************************************************
FAVORITE TOOLS:
DAW: Logic Pro X
2009 MacBook Pro
128GB RAM
4T HDs in drive bays
42” 4K monitor
PreSonus Studio192
Orchestral Tools
Berlin Strings
Berlin Brass
Berlin Woodwinds
Metropolis Ark 1,2
String Runs
Percussion
Musical Sampling
Soaring Strings
Trailer Strings
Spitfire Audio
Symphonic Strings
Olafur Arnolds Toolkit and Evolutions
Impact Sound Works
Pearl Concert Grand
Output
Signal
Rev
iZotope
Ozone 8
Neutron 2
Alloy 2
Altiverb 7
Omnisphere 2
**************************************************************************************
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Price juggles work with being a stay-at-home parent of three children. He says he gets a good amount of cardio from chasing his “2-year old most of the day.”
6am - Rise early, breakfast and Bible study
8am - Client communications, composing
Afternoon - Composing, marketing, studying, mixed with household chores and toddler-tracking
Family Dinner - NO EXCUSES!
Evening - 2+ hours composing
Night Routine - Quality time with wife
Composer Anthony Chue Photo by Evan Evans By Jenny Leigh Hodgins
Getting Started In Film Scoring
When asked how he started his career as a film composer, Chue said he “actually fell into it.” But his strong work ethic played a significant part, and the rapid take-off of his career is impressive.
After graduating from UBC in 1996, Chue returned to his birthplace, Hong Kong. He sent demo tapes to record companies, looking for anything—from performing, recording, arranging to writing.
Hustle
His willingness to both hustle and apply himself toward multiple types of music work paid off. One of his first jobs was arranging pop songs for a producer at Warner.
“Funny thing though...the producer later said he never listened to my demo tape.” Later that summer, a friend Chue met earlier in Vancouver introduced him to a production assistant at a music production house. A month later, Chue was co-composing his first score with another composer from that production house. “It all happened very fast, and within three months of arriving in Hong Kong.”
Multiple Skills, Networking
Forging relationships that open doors to paid musical work is a similar thread offered to both aspiring and professional composers. Establishing a reputation for doing other types of work is also a familiar theme among successful composers.
Those who create multiple avenues using a variety of skills, such as arranging, performing, teaching, orchestrating, transcribing, etcetera, often get hired for something else. Chue has arranged songs for record companies, performed and toured Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand as keyboardist, and/or served as music director for Hong Kong pop stars Jacky Cheung, Coco Lee, Sammi Cheng, Aaron Kwok and Vivian Chow.
His work as arranger and performer led to opportunities for film scoring. Chue has scored or co-scored 15 films since 2001, including most recently, three of director David Lam’s action/crime films.
Film Scoring Versus Composing
Delving into the unique challenges of scoring to picture, Chue says that the most important thing is the film. “It doesn’t matter how beautiful your music is...or even how awful...it has to serve the scene in the film. When you’re ‘just’ composing...you can write anything you want...only you have to like it.” But film scoring, is “all about the film.”
Chue has scored action thrillers, romantic dramas and a few comedies. One of his favorite film scoring projects was Divergence [2005], directed by Benny Chan, starring Aaron Kwok. “It is my favorite because I was able to write a beautiful romantic piece for it, as well as an exciting action theme, and also a short piece with a choir that sang in Tibetan.”
Tips For Film Scoring Composers
Chue considers “a good arsenal of sounds (sample library), a good video sense, and good communication skills” as tools necessary to become a film composer. For aspiring film score composers, Chue suggests learning harmony, orchestration, and how to write good melodies.
“All of those are... important, but don’t forget, it’s all about the film. You don’t necessarily need a beautiful melody over a nice orchestration to successfully score a scene in a film. It can be a simple ostinato...a single gong, or...a bar of pizzicato violins, happening at the RIGHT MOMENT.”
He suggests listening to or composing music and asking, “What kind of feeling does that piece conjure? What is the difference between happy and hope? Sad and upset? A fight and a scuffle? Or watch [a] scene in a movie, and ask...what if a string quartet replaced the piano cue? You’d be surprised how the music totally changes the mood and feeling of the scene.”
He suggests being “a happy and easy-going nice guy/girl! People don’t like working with people who are negative, grumpy, or complain all the time.” He also stresses the importance of appearance, emphasizing the need to appear trustworthy by dressing smartly. “Smile when you meet people — including hairdressers and waiters. Be approachable and gregarious...Prepare business cards and music clips online where you can show your music to people.”
Collaboration
Collaboration with others balances Chue’s weaknesses and strengths. He can perform, record, and play the keyboard quickly. But since he doesn’t feel that he finds musical ideas quickly, he joins forces with a friend who does, but cannot play keyboard as well as Chue. “We’ve worked together a few times and we make a great team!”
What's Next
Chue is currently arranging songs for artists Janice Vidal and Shirley Kwan, while preparing for Aaron Kwok’s world tour. He is looking forward to the debut of his latest film score for L-Storm, a crime thriller by director David Lam, set for release in 2018.
*****************************************************************
Musical Foundation
As a child, Anthony Chue began piano lessons, and played clarinet and trombone in school band, which provided an understanding of how instruments work together. By high school, he was arranging and composing for the school band and orchestra.
Chue majored in music composition at University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Although he doesn’t consider himself a jazz musician, he gained experience with jazz harmony by playing in Fred Stride’s big band, and later studied jazz piano with world renowned John Novello in Los Angeles.
*****************************************************************
BEST FILM MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS
Golden Horse Film Awards:
*Men Suddenly in Black - 2003, TaiwanDivergence - 2005, Taiwan
Invisible Target - 2007, Taiwan
Asian Film Awards:
*Reign of Assassins - 2011, Hong Kong*Nominated with composer Peter Kam
*****************************************************************
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Chue starts work at noon, dealing with:
emails
setting up recording sessions
communicating with producers and
directors
watching films
listening to music
looking for sample library sounds
composing on keyboard and computer
Chue keeps healthy with a 20-minute daily jog or bike ride each afternoon, and works into the early morning hours.
*****************************************************************
COMPOSER TOOLS:
DAW: Digital Performer Sound Libraries:
Native Instruments Spectrasonics Peter Siedlaczek
East West Kirk Hunter 8Dio
Getting Started In Film Scoring
When asked how he started his career as a film composer, Chue said he “actually fell into it.” But his strong work ethic played a significant part, and the rapid take-off of his career is impressive.
After graduating from UBC in 1996, Chue returned to his birthplace, Hong Kong. He sent demo tapes to record companies, looking for anything—from performing, recording, arranging to writing.
Hustle
His willingness to both hustle and apply himself toward multiple types of music work paid off. One of his first jobs was arranging pop songs for a producer at Warner.
“Funny thing though...the producer later said he never listened to my demo tape.” Later that summer, a friend Chue met earlier in Vancouver introduced him to a production assistant at a music production house. A month later, Chue was co-composing his first score with another composer from that production house. “It all happened very fast, and within three months of arriving in Hong Kong.”
Multiple Skills, Networking
Forging relationships that open doors to paid musical work is a similar thread offered to both aspiring and professional composers. Establishing a reputation for doing other types of work is also a familiar theme among successful composers.
Those who create multiple avenues using a variety of skills, such as arranging, performing, teaching, orchestrating, transcribing, etcetera, often get hired for something else. Chue has arranged songs for record companies, performed and toured Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand as keyboardist, and/or served as music director for Hong Kong pop stars Jacky Cheung, Coco Lee, Sammi Cheng, Aaron Kwok and Vivian Chow.
His work as arranger and performer led to opportunities for film scoring. Chue has scored or co-scored 15 films since 2001, including most recently, three of director David Lam’s action/crime films.
Film Scoring Versus Composing
Delving into the unique challenges of scoring to picture, Chue says that the most important thing is the film. “It doesn’t matter how beautiful your music is...or even how awful...it has to serve the scene in the film. When you’re ‘just’ composing...you can write anything you want...only you have to like it.” But film scoring, is “all about the film.”
Chue has scored action thrillers, romantic dramas and a few comedies. One of his favorite film scoring projects was Divergence [2005], directed by Benny Chan, starring Aaron Kwok. “It is my favorite because I was able to write a beautiful romantic piece for it, as well as an exciting action theme, and also a short piece with a choir that sang in Tibetan.”
Tips For Film Scoring Composers
Chue considers “a good arsenal of sounds (sample library), a good video sense, and good communication skills” as tools necessary to become a film composer. For aspiring film score composers, Chue suggests learning harmony, orchestration, and how to write good melodies.
“All of those are... important, but don’t forget, it’s all about the film. You don’t necessarily need a beautiful melody over a nice orchestration to successfully score a scene in a film. It can be a simple ostinato...a single gong, or...a bar of pizzicato violins, happening at the RIGHT MOMENT.”
He suggests listening to or composing music and asking, “What kind of feeling does that piece conjure? What is the difference between happy and hope? Sad and upset? A fight and a scuffle? Or watch [a] scene in a movie, and ask...what if a string quartet replaced the piano cue? You’d be surprised how the music totally changes the mood and feeling of the scene.”
He suggests being “a happy and easy-going nice guy/girl! People don’t like working with people who are negative, grumpy, or complain all the time.” He also stresses the importance of appearance, emphasizing the need to appear trustworthy by dressing smartly. “Smile when you meet people — including hairdressers and waiters. Be approachable and gregarious...Prepare business cards and music clips online where you can show your music to people.”
Collaboration
Collaboration with others balances Chue’s weaknesses and strengths. He can perform, record, and play the keyboard quickly. But since he doesn’t feel that he finds musical ideas quickly, he joins forces with a friend who does, but cannot play keyboard as well as Chue. “We’ve worked together a few times and we make a great team!”
What's Next
Chue is currently arranging songs for artists Janice Vidal and Shirley Kwan, while preparing for Aaron Kwok’s world tour. He is looking forward to the debut of his latest film score for L-Storm, a crime thriller by director David Lam, set for release in 2018.
*****************************************************************
Musical Foundation
As a child, Anthony Chue began piano lessons, and played clarinet and trombone in school band, which provided an understanding of how instruments work together. By high school, he was arranging and composing for the school band and orchestra.
Chue majored in music composition at University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Although he doesn’t consider himself a jazz musician, he gained experience with jazz harmony by playing in Fred Stride’s big band, and later studied jazz piano with world renowned John Novello in Los Angeles.
*****************************************************************
BEST FILM MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS
Golden Horse Film Awards:
*Men Suddenly in Black - 2003, TaiwanDivergence - 2005, Taiwan
Invisible Target - 2007, Taiwan
Asian Film Awards:
*Reign of Assassins - 2011, Hong Kong*Nominated with composer Peter Kam
*****************************************************************
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Chue starts work at noon, dealing with:
emails
setting up recording sessions
communicating with producers and
directors
watching films
listening to music
looking for sample library sounds
composing on keyboard and computer
Chue keeps healthy with a 20-minute daily jog or bike ride each afternoon, and works into the early morning hours.
*****************************************************************
COMPOSER TOOLS:
DAW: Digital Performer Sound Libraries:
Native Instruments Spectrasonics Peter Siedlaczek
East West Kirk Hunter 8Dio
Composer Rob Pottorf By Jenny Leigh Hodgins
Composer Bootcamp
Lexington, Kentucky-based Rob Pottorf has been composing and arranging for years. He spent 11 years working for Paramount Parks, ‘composer and arranger bootcamp,’ where he established his production skills, and a solid regiment to meet tight deadlines.
“When I started out...I didn’t have the luxury of saying, ‘I...don’t feel creative today.’ ...Others were constantly waiting for me...so I had to...start creating immediately.” Having to deliver a different project every four hours, working from 8am until 10:30pm to get demos out, he “became very disciplined.”
Pottorf says the best and worst aspect of being a professional composer is that he is always working. “It’s not a burden, I love and have a passion for it...But I do get burned out so I take a few days’ off for a needed break.”
Olympic Mental Strategy
What’s impressive about Pottorf is his practice of bold, daily affirmations to combat the typical self-doubt of the artist experience. He acknowledges vulnerability is par for the course for professional composers working against tight deadlines in a fiercely competitive field. Rather than being distracted by that, Pottorf launches a laser-focused determination to bring his total A-game to each project. When competing for a job, he has trained himself to go to a solid, mental zone, convincing himself he is “better than they are.”
He has to feel this at the onset, "But at the end of the project, I feel the doubt...half the battle is dealing with yourself. The neurosis... is needed because that’s what gives you that creative spark...But everyday you have to get up and do affirmations and reaffirmations, to be sure you don’t let that voice that wants to destroy you inside tell you that you’re not good enough...that’s a constant thing...It’s part of being an artist. You’re never as good as you wanna be...so you have to battle that everyday...I go into it with maybe a little fear, but also with the fact that I know I can do this ‘cause I’ve done it before.”
He doesn’t allow writer’s block as a notion; he combats any inclination of it by taking fast action. He knows his strengths; and uses them to get the job done right. Pottorf says doubts come when finished, but refuses to entertain any of these thoughts while working on a project. His positive mindset has worked; out of 17 songs he’s pitched in competition for Disney projects, only two weren’t accepted.
Experience and Discipline
He became a good judge of character using intuition and years of experience. His experience with multiple productions as a performer, composer, producer and arranger, gives him a broader perspective. Now he can read his clients’ needs, and instinctively knows the right thing to contribute musically.
“I’ve been lucky to experience so many different aspects of the industry. Primarily that’s why I get hired by Disney a lot. Because I have experience as both a performer and producer/writer. I get it and they don’t have to spoon-feed me. They can call me and say they need this, and I can jump on it.” He looks at each project “from a production standpoint, as far as...how it will work for them.”
Disney Projects
Pottorf wears two hats for Disney; producing midi orchestration mockups, and composing original music. Recently, he composed and arranged for Disney’s Toy Story Land’s opening and dedication ceremony.
Pottorf scored a marching band medley of Randy Newman’s Toy Story musical themes. For the opening, his original music weaved into his arrangement of Newman’s Buzz Lightyear underscored theme, while in “typical Disney lavish-production-style, nine Green Army men were propelled over a huge cardboard box over the stage.” He composed several original themes, including music for character entrances and exits, soaring to an ending with his arrangement of Newman’s You’ve Got A Friend In Me.
The ceremony was a ‘one-off,’ and they didn’t want to spend $200K” for an orchestra. Pottorf programmed all the music, except for a live trumpet section recorded at Disney that he attended via Skype. Pottorf is honored to be part of the small circle of composers hired by Disney.
For Tokyo Disney’s My Friend, Duffy 2-act live stage show, he composed the entire show for live orchestra. Pottorf’s 2010 original score and songs were recorded with an orchestra in Nashville. The Duffy Bear (formally Disney Bear) character’s popularity in Japan made the show a hit, so Pottorf was asked to create music for a third act in 2012.
The show introduced new characters; Duffy’s girlfriend, Shellie May (2012), and an Italian cat artist, Gelatoni(2016). In 2016, Pottorf composed a fourth act to introduce Gelatoni and continue the story. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”
No Problem
Pottorf achieves successful negotiating by accommodating client demands. He adopted the Japanese phrase, ‘Mon dai-nai’ meaning, ‘No problem’ to navigate difficult client requests.
While this lets them know he’ll do anything to satisfy his client’s needs, he intentionally spells out what that entails, including added expense. He makes it clear that everything is “No problem,” and quotes the essential cost. Clients usually forfeit their requests.
This negotiating strategy both satisfies the client and gets Pottorf off the hook without being the bad guy. “The last thing they want to hear is we can’t do that.” He believes every client “likes to have fun.” Knowing that producers and directors are in high stress situations, he aims to make the process as enjoyable as possible.
Networking Strategy
He approaches marketing ‘chaotically’. He posts a work sample of a finished project to his Rob Pottorf Music social media, and sends a Mailchimp message to inform industry contacts. When he sees something online about a potential gig, he follows up directly.
He looks six months ahead for work, so that he always has “that next project.” Once he gained a track record, he started to get more work. His compares his career to a chess game. He moves “a pawn ‘cause you know your bishop needs to get out," meaning that everything has to be strategic. He finds projects that can develop into more work, like the film he’s currently scoring that has potential visibility with strong cast members.
“My Dad told me every opportunity is an opportunity. Everything you do leads to something else. That path, those opportunities lead to something. If you’re doing a project and a guy needs a car commercial that only pays $500, make sure you do it like it’s $5 Million. When people find out about it, people pay attention to your quality. You are only as good as your last job.”
Tips For Composers
Pottorf suggests the “most important thing is to hone your skills because you get a level of expertise, not only with creating music, but also how to put that music to picture. Drive something--stay out of the way.” Pottorf stresses film scoring is like a language that takes practice and time to master.
He views today’s composing software or DAW of choice, as a musical instrument. He says it’s as important to become proficient with the technology as it is for musicians to master an instrument. Using a DAW is “like practicing an instrument to get the best sound. If you had a Stradivarius, and you don’t know how to play it yet, it will sound like a $14 instrument.”
Creative Process
Pottorf explains his film composing process with an anecdote about Michelangelo’s creation of David; When asked how he created the artwork, Michelangelo said David already existed inside the stone, and he just had to chip away to release him. Similarly, Pottorf feels the music is already in the film, and his job is to release it.
Pottorf composes about two minutes of music per day. “It takes the first few days to work on thematics, flush out things, get a feel for the film, fool around with things, get in the groove.”
He watches the film, listening until he hears something. “It might be one thing. You might hear an oboe. Put that oboe line there as a foothold!” Or he may “hear something, like a chord, or a progression, just put that one piece in there.”
If nothing comes to him, he listens to the end of the film. “Then fill in the middle. Once you have something, you can build on it. Like modeling clay, just massage until you figure out what works. Find pieces that work together, play a bit until you’ve got components within the cue to tie and mold together to become something.”
What’s Next
Pottorf is scoring Brent Christy’s action-drama feature film, Legal Action. It took him two weeks to complete the opening 10-minute action scene. Consisting of many visual starts and stops, it was a challenge to score it without musically chopping it up. He’s also scoring an L.A. comedy, Magic Max, and two of Jeffrey Day’s Kentucky-based films, Joy Cart and The Barefoot Boys. Pottorf’s goal is to “keep working for the rest of my life...that’s the name of the game.”
*****************************************************************
Musical Foundation
Originally from Ohio
Played music from age 5
Composed from age 9
Musical family members
Studied at Ohio University and University of Cincinnati
Music Director and Senior Music Composer at Paramount Parks for 11 years
Composer for Film/TV and Live Entertainment since 1999, based in Lexington, KY
**************************************************************************************************
Musical Mentor
Warner’s Bugs Bunny composer, Carl Stalling is Pottorf’s musical hero. Emulating Stalling’s music is “how I learned to write animated scores.”
**************************************************************************************************
A DAY IN THE LIFE
7am - Coffee, dog walk
8am - Work on Projects
Lunch with author wife or while working
Afternoon - Compose/Arrange, Marketing/Communications
5pm - Daily 2.5 mile jog
Dinner & Family Feud with wife
9 -11pm - Composing
**************************************************************************************************
Film/TV: Live Entertainment:
Mountain Top Disney
County Line Tokyo Disney
20th Century Fox’s The Trial Nickelodeon
Lions Gate's Unrequited Dollywood
GMC Channel's Trinity Goodheart
CBS’ Danger Rangers
Little Dogs On The Prairie
Savannah Sunrise
Christmas on The Coast
Legal Action
**************************************************************************************************
FAVORITE TOOLS:
NEW DAW: Cubase
(After 30 years using Digital Performer)
NEW Notation Software: Dorico
(Switched from Finale, serial #00566, since 1988)
Controllers: 2 iPads
One with a meta systems meta grid, tailored to any specific DAW, the other with Lemur (which Pottorf programmed himself)
Audio Interface:
Universal Audio’s Apollo
Keyboard:
Roland A88 controller
Additional:
Tap Tempo app
Guitar plug-ins
LA 2A compressers
Vintage gear
Pottorf had a custom-designed console built into an executive desk by a local artist. The desk has a built-in rack mount instead of drawers, the Roland A88 mounted underneath the desk, and pneumatic lifts—for placing wires underneath.
**************************************************************************************************
Summer Film Institute
Since 2015, Pottorf spends a few days as a guest lecturer at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music’s Summer Film Institute. He shares his knowledge, and talks with students about his composing process, music theory and how to write for media. Students score a short film clip using CCM’s (Logic) DAWs, and Pottorf listens to each short score, offering his professional viewpoint.
Find YourCreativeChord on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook!
Composer Bootcamp
Lexington, Kentucky-based Rob Pottorf has been composing and arranging for years. He spent 11 years working for Paramount Parks, ‘composer and arranger bootcamp,’ where he established his production skills, and a solid regiment to meet tight deadlines.
“When I started out...I didn’t have the luxury of saying, ‘I...don’t feel creative today.’ ...Others were constantly waiting for me...so I had to...start creating immediately.” Having to deliver a different project every four hours, working from 8am until 10:30pm to get demos out, he “became very disciplined.”
Pottorf says the best and worst aspect of being a professional composer is that he is always working. “It’s not a burden, I love and have a passion for it...But I do get burned out so I take a few days’ off for a needed break.”
Olympic Mental Strategy
What’s impressive about Pottorf is his practice of bold, daily affirmations to combat the typical self-doubt of the artist experience. He acknowledges vulnerability is par for the course for professional composers working against tight deadlines in a fiercely competitive field. Rather than being distracted by that, Pottorf launches a laser-focused determination to bring his total A-game to each project. When competing for a job, he has trained himself to go to a solid, mental zone, convincing himself he is “better than they are.”
He has to feel this at the onset, "But at the end of the project, I feel the doubt...half the battle is dealing with yourself. The neurosis... is needed because that’s what gives you that creative spark...But everyday you have to get up and do affirmations and reaffirmations, to be sure you don’t let that voice that wants to destroy you inside tell you that you’re not good enough...that’s a constant thing...It’s part of being an artist. You’re never as good as you wanna be...so you have to battle that everyday...I go into it with maybe a little fear, but also with the fact that I know I can do this ‘cause I’ve done it before.”
He doesn’t allow writer’s block as a notion; he combats any inclination of it by taking fast action. He knows his strengths; and uses them to get the job done right. Pottorf says doubts come when finished, but refuses to entertain any of these thoughts while working on a project. His positive mindset has worked; out of 17 songs he’s pitched in competition for Disney projects, only two weren’t accepted.
Experience and Discipline
He became a good judge of character using intuition and years of experience. His experience with multiple productions as a performer, composer, producer and arranger, gives him a broader perspective. Now he can read his clients’ needs, and instinctively knows the right thing to contribute musically.
“I’ve been lucky to experience so many different aspects of the industry. Primarily that’s why I get hired by Disney a lot. Because I have experience as both a performer and producer/writer. I get it and they don’t have to spoon-feed me. They can call me and say they need this, and I can jump on it.” He looks at each project “from a production standpoint, as far as...how it will work for them.”
Disney Projects
Pottorf wears two hats for Disney; producing midi orchestration mockups, and composing original music. Recently, he composed and arranged for Disney’s Toy Story Land’s opening and dedication ceremony.
Pottorf scored a marching band medley of Randy Newman’s Toy Story musical themes. For the opening, his original music weaved into his arrangement of Newman’s Buzz Lightyear underscored theme, while in “typical Disney lavish-production-style, nine Green Army men were propelled over a huge cardboard box over the stage.” He composed several original themes, including music for character entrances and exits, soaring to an ending with his arrangement of Newman’s You’ve Got A Friend In Me.
The ceremony was a ‘one-off,’ and they didn’t want to spend $200K” for an orchestra. Pottorf programmed all the music, except for a live trumpet section recorded at Disney that he attended via Skype. Pottorf is honored to be part of the small circle of composers hired by Disney.
For Tokyo Disney’s My Friend, Duffy 2-act live stage show, he composed the entire show for live orchestra. Pottorf’s 2010 original score and songs were recorded with an orchestra in Nashville. The Duffy Bear (formally Disney Bear) character’s popularity in Japan made the show a hit, so Pottorf was asked to create music for a third act in 2012.
The show introduced new characters; Duffy’s girlfriend, Shellie May (2012), and an Italian cat artist, Gelatoni(2016). In 2016, Pottorf composed a fourth act to introduce Gelatoni and continue the story. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”
No Problem
Pottorf achieves successful negotiating by accommodating client demands. He adopted the Japanese phrase, ‘Mon dai-nai’ meaning, ‘No problem’ to navigate difficult client requests.
While this lets them know he’ll do anything to satisfy his client’s needs, he intentionally spells out what that entails, including added expense. He makes it clear that everything is “No problem,” and quotes the essential cost. Clients usually forfeit their requests.
This negotiating strategy both satisfies the client and gets Pottorf off the hook without being the bad guy. “The last thing they want to hear is we can’t do that.” He believes every client “likes to have fun.” Knowing that producers and directors are in high stress situations, he aims to make the process as enjoyable as possible.
Networking Strategy
He approaches marketing ‘chaotically’. He posts a work sample of a finished project to his Rob Pottorf Music social media, and sends a Mailchimp message to inform industry contacts. When he sees something online about a potential gig, he follows up directly.
He looks six months ahead for work, so that he always has “that next project.” Once he gained a track record, he started to get more work. His compares his career to a chess game. He moves “a pawn ‘cause you know your bishop needs to get out," meaning that everything has to be strategic. He finds projects that can develop into more work, like the film he’s currently scoring that has potential visibility with strong cast members.
“My Dad told me every opportunity is an opportunity. Everything you do leads to something else. That path, those opportunities lead to something. If you’re doing a project and a guy needs a car commercial that only pays $500, make sure you do it like it’s $5 Million. When people find out about it, people pay attention to your quality. You are only as good as your last job.”
Tips For Composers
Pottorf suggests the “most important thing is to hone your skills because you get a level of expertise, not only with creating music, but also how to put that music to picture. Drive something--stay out of the way.” Pottorf stresses film scoring is like a language that takes practice and time to master.
He views today’s composing software or DAW of choice, as a musical instrument. He says it’s as important to become proficient with the technology as it is for musicians to master an instrument. Using a DAW is “like practicing an instrument to get the best sound. If you had a Stradivarius, and you don’t know how to play it yet, it will sound like a $14 instrument.”
Creative Process
Pottorf explains his film composing process with an anecdote about Michelangelo’s creation of David; When asked how he created the artwork, Michelangelo said David already existed inside the stone, and he just had to chip away to release him. Similarly, Pottorf feels the music is already in the film, and his job is to release it.
Pottorf composes about two minutes of music per day. “It takes the first few days to work on thematics, flush out things, get a feel for the film, fool around with things, get in the groove.”
He watches the film, listening until he hears something. “It might be one thing. You might hear an oboe. Put that oboe line there as a foothold!” Or he may “hear something, like a chord, or a progression, just put that one piece in there.”
If nothing comes to him, he listens to the end of the film. “Then fill in the middle. Once you have something, you can build on it. Like modeling clay, just massage until you figure out what works. Find pieces that work together, play a bit until you’ve got components within the cue to tie and mold together to become something.”
What’s Next
Pottorf is scoring Brent Christy’s action-drama feature film, Legal Action. It took him two weeks to complete the opening 10-minute action scene. Consisting of many visual starts and stops, it was a challenge to score it without musically chopping it up. He’s also scoring an L.A. comedy, Magic Max, and two of Jeffrey Day’s Kentucky-based films, Joy Cart and The Barefoot Boys. Pottorf’s goal is to “keep working for the rest of my life...that’s the name of the game.”
*****************************************************************
Musical Foundation
Originally from Ohio
Played music from age 5
Composed from age 9
Musical family members
Studied at Ohio University and University of Cincinnati
Music Director and Senior Music Composer at Paramount Parks for 11 years
Composer for Film/TV and Live Entertainment since 1999, based in Lexington, KY
**************************************************************************************************
Musical Mentor
Warner’s Bugs Bunny composer, Carl Stalling is Pottorf’s musical hero. Emulating Stalling’s music is “how I learned to write animated scores.”
**************************************************************************************************
A DAY IN THE LIFE
7am - Coffee, dog walk
8am - Work on Projects
Lunch with author wife or while working
Afternoon - Compose/Arrange, Marketing/Communications
5pm - Daily 2.5 mile jog
Dinner & Family Feud with wife
9 -11pm - Composing
**************************************************************************************************
Film/TV: Live Entertainment:
Mountain Top Disney
County Line Tokyo Disney
20th Century Fox’s The Trial Nickelodeon
Lions Gate's Unrequited Dollywood
GMC Channel's Trinity Goodheart
CBS’ Danger Rangers
Little Dogs On The Prairie
Savannah Sunrise
Christmas on The Coast
Legal Action
**************************************************************************************************
FAVORITE TOOLS:
NEW DAW: Cubase
(After 30 years using Digital Performer)
NEW Notation Software: Dorico
(Switched from Finale, serial #00566, since 1988)
Controllers: 2 iPads
One with a meta systems meta grid, tailored to any specific DAW, the other with Lemur (which Pottorf programmed himself)
Audio Interface:
Universal Audio’s Apollo
Keyboard:
Roland A88 controller
Additional:
Tap Tempo app
Guitar plug-ins
LA 2A compressers
Vintage gear
Pottorf had a custom-designed console built into an executive desk by a local artist. The desk has a built-in rack mount instead of drawers, the Roland A88 mounted underneath the desk, and pneumatic lifts—for placing wires underneath.
**************************************************************************************************
Summer Film Institute
Since 2015, Pottorf spends a few days as a guest lecturer at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music’s Summer Film Institute. He shares his knowledge, and talks with students about his composing process, music theory and how to write for media. Students score a short film clip using CCM’s (Logic) DAWs, and Pottorf listens to each short score, offering his professional viewpoint.
Find YourCreativeChord on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook!
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Or Final Results Of Art
Original Musical
Original Musical Features Strong Women In Opposing Stories
Or Instant Messaging Platforms
Outlook Is A Kind Of Superpower
Painting
Painting On Canvas Or Paper
Paintings Are What “expands My Inner Self…opens Up My Life.
Pairing Stories And Music
Paper
Paper Sketch
Passion And Creativity
Pastels And Portraits
Penny Whistle
Penny Whistle For Things Like A Tavern Scene Or A Place Like A Street Fair
Performing As A Busker On The Streets
Philosophy Toward Art And Life
Piano Chords
Piano Chords To Fit The Melody
Pinewood
Plugins
Podcast
Podcast Interviews
Poetry
Poetry Recitation
Portland Local Bars And Coffee Shops
Positive Creative Role Model
Positively Influence Creative Process
Positive Mentors
Powerful Creative Voice
Practicing Art
Production Music
Production Quality
Professional Accolades
Pyrography
Pyrography Artist Amanda Packard
Pyrography Heat Settings
Pyrography On Wood Or Leather
Pyrography Pen Residue
Pyrography Pens
Quilting
Railroad Pioneer
Read A Lot Of Fantasy Fiction Like Tolkien
Reason To Create
Recharging Yourself
Recording Gear
Record The Idea By Voice Memo
Relying On Unity’s Help Docs
Repetition Or Looping In Game Music
Reset Your Brain
Resistance
Resource For Creativity
Rhythmic Changes Within Loops
Rhythm Of The Words
R.J. Miller
Rollers
Romantic Comedy
Sample Libraries
Sarah Brighten
Science Of Color
Screenplay
Script And Book
Sculpture
Seamstress
See Some More Meaty Roles For Women
Self Care
Self-care Through Therapeutic Immersion In Nature
Self Confidence
Self Doubts
Several Mental Health And Serious Life Struggles
Sewing
Shading
Sharper Skills And Creative Vision
She Particularly Wants Her Art And Role As An Artist To Inspire More Women
Short Films
Singer
Singing Aloud Repetitively
Singing It Aloud
Sister Act
Sketching An Idea On Paper
Sketch Paper
Skill
Skype
Slack
Small Cast And Story
Small Details
Small Theatre Community
Softer Wood Like Basswood
Software
Songs For Her Upcoming Original Musical
Songwriting
Sound Design And Creating Effects
Sound Designer
Sound Libraries
Sound Library Demo
Soundtracks
Southern Hospitality
Spend 10 Minutes Cleaning The Clutter
Spending Energy
Spiritual Mentor
Spur Fresh Creativity
Start With Lyrics
Stephan Pressfield
Stephan Pressfield Resistance
Strengths As A Creator
Stress
Stress Relief
String Theories
Strong
Strong Call-and-response Melodic Idea
Studio Console
Successful Professional
Sundance Fellow
Sundance Fellow Composers
Supporting And Understanding And Helping Each Other Through
Suppressed
Suppressed Creative Expression
Take Care Of Your Body & Mind
Talented Women
Tapping Creativity
Technical Process
Technique
Technology
That Little Inner Critic
The Bar To Entry Is Higher For Women
The Central Message Of Your Musical
The Experience Of Religious Oppression
The Experience Of Religious Oppression As A Woman
The Journey As An Artist
The Journey As An Artist As A Driving Force
The Journey As An Artist As A Focal Point
The Last Of The Mohicans
The Melody And Lyrics In My Notation Software Program
Then The Chorus
Then The Instruments
The Phoenix Quill
The Process Of Creating Your Musical
There Are Cut Scenes In Games That Are Like Scoring A Film Scene
The Super Mario Theme
The Things You Feel Or Think But Don’t Say
The Vibrantly Colorful Art Of Florida-based Artist Jean Schienle
Time
Tokien
Trace Callahan
Trigger Inspiration
Upcoming New Musical
Use Art For Personal Development And The Encouragement Of Others
Used For Sound Design
Use Tools To Accomplish Goals
Use Wwise Middleware For Games
Using Art To Inspire Others
Using Clarity As Creative Fuel
Using Too Much Technology
UV Protectant For Woodworking
Variations Like Tonality Changes
Variety Of Creative Outlets
Variety Of Creative Outlets As Muse
Ventilation System And A Mask
Vibrance
Video Game
Video Game Music And Sound Design
Video Game Music Composer
Video Game Music Composing Challenge
Video Interview
Virtual Instruments
Vocal Music
Voice-over Work
Walking Through The Artistic Process
Watercolor
Well Of Inspiration
What Advice Would You Give Someone Who’d Like To Compose For Games
What Empowers Her Creativity
What Expands My Inner Self…opens Up My Life.
What Hinders Your Creative Flow?
What Influences Your Creativity Positively?
What Inspired You To Create Your Musical?
What Inspires
What Inspires Art
What Motivates Art
What Technology Or Music Gear Or Skillsets Do You Feel Are Essential To Your Music-making And Sound Design For Games
Why I Decided To Make A Show About Women
Women Artist
Women Artists
Women Composer
Women Composers
Women Composers Collective
Women Creators
Women Empowerment
Women Film Composers
Women In Film
Women In Retirement
Women In The Arts
Women Musicians
Women Poets
Women Who’ve Experienced Sexism In The Music/media Industry
Women Writers
Woodburning
Wood Burning Kit
Wood Types
Woodworking
Woodworking Finish
Working Remotely As A Composer
Working With Children To Overcome Obstacles To Reach Their Potential
Working With Wood
Worry Less
Write A Page Story Or Setting Or A Moment
Write A Scene
Write A Show For Women
Write Music For A Video Game
Writer/director
Write To Get An Idea Out
Write To Show You Can Feel Sadness Yet Have Hope At The Same Time
Wwise May Be Useful For Landing More Game Composing Jobs
Wwise Unity
YourCreativeChord
Yourcreativechord Podcast
YourCreativeChord Podcast Episode
Your Creative Process