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Sometimes we’re offered opportunities that feel too good to be true.
They usually are.
It’s not that people mean to mislead or deceive you (always).
It’s that they don’t always know what they want.
Here’s how to navigate common obstacles when an “exciting opportunity” comes your way:
The WHAT
False opportunities are abstract and undefined.
...
Next Thursday marks the 1-year anniversary of one of the coolest games I’ve ever watched.
God of War: Ragnarok had it all—a phenomenal story, lush gameplay and graphics, and an incredible soundtrack by the one and only Bear McCreary.
I dissected Bear’s character themes in this video (which amazingly caught Bear’s eyes leading to a cool chat with him!)
With composers...
It can often be overwhelming to see big-name film composers with massive setups and thousands of dollars worth of gear.
But here’s the good news:
You don’t need all of that to start getting paid to make music.
Here’s what my setup looked like in 2016:
I’ve got a laptop propped up on a wooden board on a dual keyboard stand, sitting in-between my Yamaha HS5 monitors...
For today’s video, I wanted to share a huge win from one of my awesome students, Vasiko Machabeli.
Vasiko recently had the opportunity to score his first client project, which was a huge win. But even cooler was that the client found him through his YouTube channel!
I’m a huge believer in the power of social media and an online presence to bring clients and collaborators to...
Collaborators and clients don’t always say what they mean.
One of the most important phases for a composer is the “spotting” session, when the composer and director discuss where music should and shouldn’t be, and any overarching moods, themes, or styles.
Spotting sessions can happen synchronously either in-person or via a call, but in my experience often happen...
In the beginning of our composing careers, the reality is that we’re often not paid what our time and work is worth.
There’s a number of reasons for that:
- We lack credibility, and therefore can’t command trust.
- We lack work, and therefore can’t command competitive demand.
- We lack experience, and therefore can’t deliver quality customer service.
But working...
Today’s video shoutout goes to Simon Passmore, a fantastic composer and mockup wizard who I’ve had the pleasure of working with on several projects!
Simon has some tips in his newest video that are almost too good to be free. But free they are, so enjoy
I especially love his suggestion of practicing a VST before recording it. VSTs are a lot like learning new instruments unto...
When I ask students, they’ll often tell me “I write music because I love it.” And I hear that.
But often as those composers try to turn their passion into a profession, they run into situations where they’re not writing music—at least not at the start. They may be doing copyist work, orchestration, or even non-musical work like administrative tasks.
So how can they...
A few weeks back, my buddy Mattia Chiappa released an important video for composers writing in DAWs.
I often get asked by students for recommendations on orchestration books or scores to study. While I did read lots of music books, in truth, that’s not where I improved.
My improvements happened mostly by tons of active listening to music I loved, isolating sections that caught my ear, and...
(Today’s topic is taken from the Networking module of my Composing Career Bootcamp program. If you want to get paid for your music and are ready to learn some powerful new skills, be sure to check it out!)
I coach hundreds of students in 1:1 sessions, many of whom dream of making music for a living.
But when I ask them what they’ve done to grow their network, the answer is usually ...