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Some of you may know that I’m a huge Chris Do fan.
Chris is an artist, educator, and co-founder of The Futur, a channel with career advice that has been absolutely invaluable in the growth of my personal business as a composer.
In this interview with Chris, I was drawn to his encouragement on “building a story brand”:
A “story brand” is the difference between you...
In case you missed my recent YouTube video…
I moved to Los Angeles in 2019 to continue my pursuits of composing for a living.
Prior to my move, I was in Tennessee, doing various music jobs including:
- Playing piano at a local church
- Teaching piano and guitar
- Doing music copyist work
- Taping sheet music together for a music librarian
- Recording YouTube videos...
Have you ever inverted a question?
This is a technique I learned recently from a business mentor of mine, and the concept blew my mind.
Here’s why…
When faced with a problem, we often ask ourselves:
“How do I solve this problem?”
But the issue with that approach is that if we knew how to answer that question, we’d already be doing it.
Composers looking...
In case you didn’t catch it…
I was recently featured helping out my friend and musician Aurelie Couble on her new video, where she challenged herself to score a scene with NO previous scoring experience:
We chatted in some detail about numerous scoring tips, and I sent Aurelie my FREE Fundamentals for Film Composers Guide for some pointers.
( If you haven’t grabbed this...
Today, we’re going to be talking about stems.
This topic was sparked from a great conversation I had with a Bootcamp student a few weeks ago.
(I’m sure he’s reading )
You may already know that media composers are often asked to split their track into stems: individual groups of instruments that “sum” to the total full mix when combined.
In some cases, this...
Long-time followers of mine know my borderline unhealthy obsession with anything from John Powell.
And his new Migration soundtrack isn’t any different:
The main theme gives me strong Mancini/Silvetri vibes, while also staying true to the classic “Powellisms”.
His infectious melody is supported by hyperactive string 16ths, grooving bass-lines, chitter-y trumpets, and...
My buddy Tristan Noon shared an excellent piece of wisdom from composer Steven Price on how he found success in his composing career:
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So often, composers looking to go full-time think that they need to “master” music-making in order to find work in the industry.
But so...
A student composer I’ve worked with in the past reached out to me a few weeks ago asking how I go about dealing with “composer’s block”.
Initially I was going to fire off a few quick tips, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how layered the issue really is.
So I’m going to try something different.
We’re going to do a multi-part examination...
A few weeks back, an old friend and colleague of mine reached out in response to my newsletter to ask about a career pivot he’s been considering.
(He’s probably reading this one, too—hope you don’t mind me sharing!)
From my understanding, he composes mostly for pleasure at the moment, but has thought about giving it a go full-time.
When reaching out, he asked me for my...
2024 is off to a pretty amazing start.
I had the incredible privilege of co-composing three tracks with Hannah Zhang for NetEase’s “Fantasy Westward Journey”, performed by Budapest Scoring and the Bulgarian Sofia Choir and mixed/mastered by William Matthew Chen.
This track is the second phase of a boss battle called “Mind Monkey”, depicting a powerful, mystic...