soundtrack.academy

 Sian Elizabeth Selway got into film music in what many would consider the wrong order - she gathered her industry experience first and then went to study. We’re going to talk about the pros and cons of that, and also explore the differences between writing for shorts, features, and documentaries - because Sian’s done it all!

Get my FREE eBook, “The Media Scoring Guide” : https://soundtrack.academy/ebook

Sian is an award-winning composer who’s worked on many highly acclaimed projects, and is going from strength to strength as she adds up more and more feature films to her credits.

But one of the really interesting things about Sian is her diversity. In her film work she’s tackled short films, feature films, documentaries, and even children’s TV shows. And beyond the film world she’s written for Chamber Choirs, music libraries, and even for live dance and theatre projects. She’s a true example of someone who’s built a diverse portfolio around her passion.

And of course, she shares all of her insights, advice, and lessons learned completely openly for us to benefit from. So let’s get to it!

Links:

Sian’s website: http://ses-soundtrax.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sianelizabethselwayComposer040501 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SES_SoundTrax 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sian-elizabeth-selway-90b606b3/

 Tristan Noon is a media composer, orchestrator, and music preparer. His list of recent music placements is literally pages long, and as an orchestrator he’s worked on everything from LEGO movies to Gary Numan’s live tour.

Get a MASSIVE discount on my string orchestration course: https://soundtrack.academy/stringscourse

This week’s guest is Tristan Noon.

Alongside being a highly successful composer, Tristan also has some amazing credits as an orchestrator and music preparer - and that’s what we mainly focus on in this episode.

As a career path, orchestration and music prep can be a really exciting and creative route, but many composers don’t fully understand what it is and what it entails. This week’s episode will hopefully clear that up!

Tristan also runs an amazing blog on his website where he shares real-world tips on orchestration and music preparation, as well as insights into the life of a composer and orchestrator. 

Links

Tristan's website: https://www.tristannoonmusic.com/

Tristan's amazing book on music prep: https://www.tristannoonmusic.com/shop

Credits: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6121306/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoonWithATune

 Leanna Primiani used to be a conductor working at the highest level, but then discovered a love for film composition. In today’s episode we’re going to explore the crossover between conducting and composing, and how really understanding an orchestration adds to your own voice as a composer.

Get my FREE eBook: soundtrack.academy/ebook

Being a conductor isn’t simply waving a stick in front of an orchestra. As you’ll hear in the episode, you can get a full doctorates in conducting. It’s all about getting inside the music, and figuring out how to bring the composer’s intention to life.

What that means for us, is that today’s episode is like a masterclass in the crossover between film score and concert. Leanna fires off tip after tip about orchestration, including her top three recommended scores for study.

At this very moment Leanna is also on a best music Emmy run for her work on Rob Lowe’s “The Bad Seed” - Lifetime’s highest rated movie to date.

So I feel very lucky to have had her on the show - and I’m sure you’ll agree there’s a mountain of information to learn from Leanna’s expertise. I’ve linked to a couple of Leanna’s pieces on YouTube where you can listen to her music alongside reading the score - a fantastic opportunity to visualise what she’s talking about in the episode, so be sure to check out those links below.

Links:

Leanna’s websites: 

- http://leannaprimianifilm.com/ (film works)

- http://leannaprimianicomposer.com/ (concert works)

- http://leannaprimiani.com/ (main site)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anasialeannamusic/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/anasia5mice

SIRENS FOR ORCHESTRA: https://youtu.be/5skBtLIN6Xc

1001 for ORCHESTRA AND PRERECORDED ELECTRONICS: https://youtu.be/wm21bHdJCAs

Trailer music composer Michael Cristian, better known as "MCR", has had his music placed in all kinds of trailers, TV shows, and commercials. 

Having pitched on over 300 projects per year, we’re going to talk about whether he’d recommend that for new composers, and what other advice he has for those getting started.

Get my FREE eBook, "The Media Scoring Guide" : soundtrack.academy/ebook

Michael has an extensive background in music. In the late ‘70s he had a recording contract with Warner Brothers, he then went on to set up his own indie record label, before Napster made him realise where the future of music was heading and he made the jump to synchronisation.

In our interview we talk about:

- How developing technology has, and continues, to disrupt and change the industry - in both good and bad ways

- The inner workings of trailer music composition, including sync fees and writer’s shares

- How even just listening without analysis can still help you improve as a composer

- The fundamental mixing techniques that composers need to learn

All that and more!

Links:

http://www.offoffindie.com/

Edith Mudge is about to turn you green with envy! Let’s hear what she has to say about the pros and cons of working as a SALARIED in house composer...

Get your FREE eBook: soundtrack.academy/ebook

Today I’m joined by Edith Mudge. Edith is an in-house composer for a library music company where her task is to write three new pieces of music every day.

I’ll let you do the maths on how many tracks that is per year!

Her music has been placed in over 600 episodes of more than 200 different series.

Something I found particularly inspiring when talking to Edith was hearing how witnessing panels from groups such as the Alliance for Women Composers made her realise that she can be a professional composer.

It’s great to know that the work of these organisations is really working - and I hope that by featuring so many amazing women composers on this podcast that we can inspire a few more people into the industry.

Links:

Edith's website: https://edithmudge.com

Edith's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/composer.edith.mudge/

 Sean Staples is here to talk about how his diverse musical and entrepreneurial background has influenced his career path as a media composer, Nashville songwriter, and staff writer.

Get your free eBook: https://soundtrack.academy/ebook

When you have someone as diversely skilled as Sean on the show, it’s hard to know what to focus your time on! Whether it’s Nashville songwriting, running a multinational drum & percussion company, scoring for film & TV, or working as a staff writer - Sean has done, and IS DOING it all!

As you’ll hear in the interview, he’s a huge advocate of continuous learning and practice - always finding new ways to improve his skills - both musical and technical.

Alongside composing for film - for which his work has been recognised by the Burbank International Film Festival where he won the award for Best Original Score - Sean also does some work as a staff writer for a major composer, so I took the opportunity to dive deep into how that process works and we explore how remote composers communicate and collaborate to ensure a consistent approach to a final result.

His songwriting work and his drum & percussion business has led him to all kinds of projects, from writing for Flo Rida to working with artists such as Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and The Temptations, to name just a few.

Like I said, hugely skilled, massively diverse, and an absolutely amazing guest to have on the show. As you’ll hear, he shares his experiences so openly, and is so encouraging of new composers - in my conversations with him outside of the interview he’s constantly talking about new ways to help up and coming composers gain an insight into the professional process.

Links:

http://seanstaples.com/

Four time Emmy nominated composer and VP of the Alliance for Women Film Composers Sharon Farber joins me this week. We explore both her film music and concert music works, and Sharon so openly shares her advice for new composers.

Get your FREE eBook: soundtrack.academy/ebook

When I first mentioned my podcast in the PERSPECTIVE Facebook Group - which is an amazing group filled with some absolutely incredible people - I asked if anyone would be interested in featuring on the show. Then this message came through from Sharon Farber, and I was absolutely stunned. Sharon is such an inspirational person and composer, with some absolutely unbelievable backstories to her compositions - as you’ll hear in the episode. I COULD list off her credits and accolades, but it would take so long that you’d get bored of listening to me!

Sharon was so gracious with her time when I spoke with her, so much so that we ended up going over DOUBLE the amount of time that I usually aim for with these episodes. And I honestly could have kept chatting with her all day! Plus, it was all such amazing stuff that I couldn’t bring myself to edit any of it out!

So, sit back and relax, because this week’s episode is a feature-length presentation absolutely jam packed with inspirational stories, advice from the very best, and a look into how we can really make a difference for women in the film music industry.

Links:

https://www.sharonfarber.com/

In today’s episode Italian composer Giovanni Rotondo talks about how foreign credits don’t have the same impact as local ones, and how he’s ended up convincing Oscar winning composers to feature on his website: filmscoringtips.com

Get your FREE eBook: soundtrack.academy/ebook

Giovanni Rotondo is an Italian composer living in London, and if you’ve spent anytime searching for advice on film scoring, it’s likely that you’ll have stumbled across his website: filmscoringtips.com

The unique thing about this site is that it brings together music editors, film directors, composers, and all the other creatives that are involved in putting music to picture, to give you a well rounded view of the professional film scoring process. He’s even had Oscar winning composers write for the site!

Let’s hear what Giovanni has to say about moving countries for your career, the power of making friends through networking, and how beneficial it can be to embrace working with other composers.

Links

http://filmscoringtips.com/

https://www.giovannirotondo.com/

Daisy Coole is a founder of Two Twenty Two - a film, documentary, and media composition company - and a huge advocate of composers working as a team. Listen in as we explore her unique way of finding projects.

Get your FREE eBook: soundtrack.academy/ebook

Daisy had an extensive background in music performance, particularly jazz, before entering the composition world. We’re going to explore how much her knowledge of jazz theory and improvisation has influenced her as a composer.

She’s also a huge advocate of working collaboratively as composers, breaking the common stereotype that we’re all lone rangers.

With Two Twenty Two, Daisy has scored all kinds of films, documentaries, and media projects. She's particularly focused on finding projects that she can really get behind and that tackle greater issues in the world.

Projects such as Ask For Jane, her first theatrical released which is out in cinemas this summer. Ask for Jane and is based on the true story of Chicago’s underground abortion network in the early 1970s.

This has lead her to what I think is an amazing method of focusing on a niche and seeking out people who you actually want to work with. Not just leaping for the next gig!

Links

https://www.twotwentytwomusic.com

http://instagram.com/two22music

Julian Guidetti's background is mostly in music for advertising. He's worked on countless campaigns as part of a full post-production team. Listen to this week's episode to learn the full post-production process, and advice on how to create amazing tracks with tight deadlines.

Get your FREE eBook: soundtrack.academy/ebook

The world of advertising is a fascinating one. Multiple creatives work under strict deadlines and often talk via intermediaries such as music supervisors.

This makes the advertising post-production system one of the most streamlined, efficient, and consistent creative forms. But that's certainly not to say that every project is the same though!

My guest this week, Julian Guidetti, has worked in ad agencies for years. Because of this, you can hear in his work how versatile he's become as a composer. It also means that he has systems in place in order to create high quality music in as little time as possible. 

Listen in as he shares his insights into the post-production process, as well as ample amounts of advice for composers getting started.

Links

https://www.julianguidetti.com

https://www.instagram.com/julianguidetti_music/