Jack Hughes is the director of the newly formed Northern Film Orchestra, based in Manchester, UK. Their mission is to break down the barriers to entry for composers, making orchestral recording accessible to composers from all types of backgrounds.

I was really excited to bring Jack onto the show to talk about what composers can expect from an orchestral recording session, and how they can get the absolute most out of the experience.

So if you’re thinking about working with live musicians, or you’re interested in what the process looks like, this is a must-listen episode for you!

Here’s what you’ll learn:

1. When you should first approach orchestras and contractors, and what you should have prepared

2. How you can use orchestras and recording sessions more creatively

3. The biggest mistakes composers make when writing for orchestra, and what composers can learn from orchestral recording sessions

Get more info and book your recording session with Jack and the Northern Film Orchestra, visit their Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud, and connect with Jack on his personal Insta.

If you recognise the name “Ben Osterhouse” that’s likely because you’ve used one of his sample libraries.

For a while they were the best kept secret of the composer world, until someone let the cat out of the bag and they became a favourite for so many people.

I had to get Ben on the show to talk about his approach to creating libraries, and I was not disappointed! We dove deep into the many considerations when it comes to developing sample libraries.

So here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

You’ll hear all that, and much more, including the benefits of being a solo developer and whether or not composers should create sample libraries for financial gain.

Find out more about Ben by visiting his website, and check out his sample libraries on KontaktHub.

This week’s guest is the wonderful Gunnard Doboze.

Gunnard has scored some of the most challenging type of documentary subject matter that you’re likely to come across as a composer.

Projects like:

Septem8er Tapes, about the search for Osama Bin Laden in the wake of 9/11,

Saving Face, about a plastic surgeon helping victims of acid attacks in Pakistan, and

State of Control, where two documentary filmmakers become targets of the Chinese regime.

I really wanted to interview Gunnard to find out exactly how he tackles documentaries that have such dramatic and emotional storylines - and I absolutely love how he describes his approach, which you’ll hear in the episode.

Gunnard also has some really interesting methods when it comes to his workflow, so this really is a must listen episode if you’re still trying to find your flow, and want to learn how to deeply connect with challenging subject matter.

Three things I think you’ll really takeaway from this episode include:

1. How to make your music become a character in the documentary

2. Working with non-linear timelines and the challenge of last-minute edits

3. Mixing as you go to inspire creativity in the composition process

If you enjoy listening to the podcast, I would really appreciate it if you left a review to help more people find out about it. I’ll even give you a shoutout in the next episode!

Follow Gunnard on Twitter, hear his music on SoundCloud, and visit his website for more.

If you recognise the name “Steven Melin” it could be from one of many different places!

Steven is primarily a video game composer - and in the show you’ll hear us chat about niching down into specific topics like he’s done - but he’s also an author, online instructor, YouTuber, Podcaster…

…you name it, he’s done it!

One of the really wonderful things about Steven is that through all of his musical projects he’s always maintained a “Family First” focus - which is the title of his bestselling book, Family-First Composer.

His approach to everything he does has been to support his life as a father, foster parent, and husband.

I’ve followed Steven for a while and one of the things that I’ve been fascinated by, and the reason I wanted to get him on the show, is his approach to business and marketing as a composer.

You might have heard me talk in the past about all the the marketing books and strategies I’ve studied to help me build soundtrack.academy - and I’m always wondering how those books can be applied to composition.

Well, Steven has dived head first into implementing and experimenting with a lot of these strategies - many of which I’d just assumed wouldn’t really work in the composing world.

So if you’re looking for some new strategies to market yourself as a composer, then this episode is a must-listen for you!

Here’s three things you’ll learn:

If you enjoy listening to the podcast, I would really appreciate it if you left a review to help more people find out about it. I’ll even give you a shoutout in the next episode!

And to learn more about Steven and how to become a video game composer, check out Steven’s website, and his (super resourceful) YouTube channel. Start with his “10 Steps To Become A Game Composer” video to see what he’s all about. You can also get his Family-First Composer book on Amazon (UK / US).

Nainita Desia has achieved so much in the last few years that I don’t even know where to begin.

So let’s just start with 2019 - she was the IFMCA’s Breakthrough Composer Of The Year, nominated for Best Score at the British Independent Film Awards, and was the composer for Oscar nominated and BAFTA, Cannes, BIFA and SXSW winning documentary “FOR SAMA” which features some of the most complicated subject matter a composer will ever encounter.

My talk with Nainita was so enlightening; I hope you take away as much from the interview as I did.

For the full transcript visit: https://soundtrack.academy/nainitadesai

Check out Nainita's website: http://nainitadesai.com/

Jamie Salisbury is a composer who loves keeping his career as diverse as possible. From production music to music for live events with everything in between, he seems to have a found an amazingly balanced way to make a living from composing, while satiating his love of exploring the various avenues of music.

Visit https://soundtrack.academy/jamiesalisbury for the transcript

Welcome back to the soundtrack.academy podcast after some time off!

Here's the plan for 2020: the podcast is coming back regularly. I already have some absolutely amazing guests lined up. 

But I'm going to slow down the release schedule a little bit. 

Honestly, I was really struggling to keep up with releasing a new episode every week, particularly alongside everything else I'm focusing on at the moment. So for now, I'm going to release a new episode on the last day of each month. 

Hopefully, someday I'll be able to get it back up to a weekly release. But for now, I hope one episode a month will give you all the insight and inspiration that you need.

We're actually starting off this new year with a super exciting episode. 

Olajide Paris has such a fascinating history in the film music industry, as you'll hear in the interview. From working as an assistant studio engineer to some of the biggest stars in the popular music world, to now working for Native Instruments designing instruments geared towards film composers.

But the journey to how he got there, honestly, is just absolutely fascinating.

Miriam Sternlicht is a media composer who’s actually fairly new to the game, but I think you’re really going to get a lot out of this episode as I’m sure many of you listening are in a very similar boat to Miriam.

If you recognise her name that might be down to her excellent work as an administrator for the Global Composer’s Network, and we’re actually going to chat a little about that work and how being involved in groups like that can be so beneficial to you as a composer.

We’re also going to talk about how one masterclass, Hans Zimmer’s to be precise, totally changed the direction of Miriam’s life.

Show notes, links, and the full transcript is available here : https://soundtrack.academy/composer-networks

So many composers dream of being able to quit their day job to pursue music.

Maybe you do too?

The problem is : taking that leap of faith is a big deal. You need to have a huge amount of faith in yourself, as well as a mechanism to support yourself as you work towards your dream.

Well, today’s guest, Rob Hicks, took that leap of faith just a couple of years ago, and is already ahead of the target that he set himself before he did. And, most importantly, he’s loving living the creative life, and treating it with such enthusiasm and professionalism.

Before pursuing music full time, Rob Hicks had a successful career in IT – not just as an employee, but as the owner of a thriving internet services business.

So he had a lot to lose if it didn’t pan out.

Thankfully, his hard work as a business owner not only equipped him with some really important business and interpersonal skills to prepare him for the world of music, but it also gave him a financial buffer when he first decided to quit his job to pursue music.

I know that you’re going to get so much out of this episode – personally I found Rob so inspiring to listen to – and I hope that you can action some of the tips he gives in order to get yourself one step closer to being a full time composer.

[03:55] How Rob first learned music & the early technology that allowed him to make music

Website : www.rhicksmusic.com

Michael Kruk is a composer specialising in documentaries, having worked extensively with the BBC on a number of their programmes including those narrated by the wonderful David Attenborough.

Join my Facebook community: https://soundtrack.academy/facebookgroup

In this episode we discuss the ins and outs of composing music for TV and documentaries, and also talk about the key takeaways from Michael’s new book, “An Introduction to Writing Music For Television”.

For the book, Michael had the opportunity to interview three Emmy award winning composers - Michael Price, Walter Murphy, and Mac Quayle - so we also discuss the main things he learned from those interviews too.

“An Introduction to Writing Music For Television” : bit.ly/tvmusicbook