The Portfolio Composer

Timothy Andrew Edwards is one of the most diverse and accomplished composers working in entertainment today. With nearly 75 film & television credits to his name, his genre spanning oeuvre is a testament not only to the multiplicity of his skill, but the openness of his approach. Tim is also the Chair for the Production Music Association's Composer Advisory Committee & the recent co-founder & Creative Director for Move Music LLC, an exciting new client & composer focused production music library.

Jon Mattox is a Los Angeles based composer, and his music and sound design have been featured in movie trailers, tv shows, films, games, and advertising. In addition to composing, Jon has had a wide range of experience and skills in the music industry which he credits to his success including: Studio musician, songwriter, music producer, sound designer, mixing engineer, record label owner, and virtual instrument builder (or as his wife Melinda calls it “Maker of of cool sounds”).

This episode was recorded at Jon's Bright Orange Studios.

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Composers Timothy Andrew Edwards and Jon Mattox discuss composing for TV, music libraries, trailers, and how to think like a music supervisor. This is part 2 of 2.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Having your music in multiple libraries
• Guerilla Film Scoring
• Writing what you love to write
• Don't ask, "What do you need?"
• Music libraries do not equal Muzak
• Music editing is composing
• Get educated and do research
• Master the art of producing your tracks
• Develop the engineering & mixing skills so your track sounds as good as possible
• Sync rates & making money
• Producing vs composing
• The job of a composer is to make it more so
• Using the tools that are available to you
• Composers create program music & small worlds
• Using your voice & contributing to the story
• Stress brings out people's true colors

Websites:

• www.movemusicllc.com
• jonmattox.com

Recommended Reading:

• Jeremy Borum, Guerilla Film Scoring: Practical Advice from Hollywood Composers

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Timothy Andrew Edwards is one of the most diverse and accomplished composers working in entertainment today. With nearly 75 film & television credits to his name, his genre spanning oeuvre is a testament not only to the multiplicity of his skill, but the openness of his approach. Tim is also the Chair for the Production Music Association's Composer Advisory Committee & the recent co-founder & Creative Director for Move Music LLC, an exciting new client & composer focused production music library.

Jon Mattox is a Los Angeles based composer, and his music and sound design have been featured in movie trailers, tv shows, films, games, and advertising. In addition to composing, Jon has had a wide range of experience and skills in the music industry which he credits to his success including: Studio musician, songwriter, music producer, sound designer, mixing engineer, record label owner, and virtual instrument builder (or as his wife Melinda calls it “Maker of of cool sounds”).

This episode was recorded at Jon's Bright Orange Studios.

Give The Portfolio Composer podcast a Rating and Review!

Composers Tim Edwards and Jon Mattox discuss composing for TV, music libraries, trailers, and how to think like a music supervisor. This is part 1 of 2.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Move Music LLC
• TMZ
• Production companies
• Work for hire vs building a library
• Being a one-stop shop
• Earl Hagen
• Functional music vs art music
• Being in the shoes of the music supervisor
• Being flexible & egoless
• Trailer music
• Production Music Association
• Writing for production companies
• Exclusive deals
• Specialization vs jack-of-all-styles

Websites:

• www.movemusicllc.com
• jonmattox.com

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Composer and multi-instrumentalist Paul Henning enjoys a versatile career. He has orchestrated over 50 feature films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Chocolat and has performed on the soundtracks to Rogue One, Frozen, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Furious 7, Moana and many more. He has also played violin for Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé, Neil Young, Aretha Franklin, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban. Paul has served as Concertmaster for the Golden State Pops Orchestra since 2004. In 2016, he released a debut solo piano and orchestra album, Breaking Through.

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Composer and orchestrator Paul Henning discusses his new album Breaking Through, life as a Hollywood composer and orchestrator (including orchestrating for John Williams!), and key networking strategies.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Growing up in Eastern Washington
• From farming to living in Southern California
• Relationships
• Christopher Young
• Helping a friend & getting opportunities
• The Force Awakens
• John Williams & his sketches
• Orchestrating for Williams
• Mark Graham at Joanne Kane
• Being surprised by what happens
• Breaking Through
• Self-funding the album
• Releasing the album
• Selling, marketing, & fundraising
• Union politics
• Keeping the momentum going
• Showing up to events & doing network maintenance
• Clive Davis: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives
• Keeping up & staying relevant
• Introducing yourself
• Keep practicing your instrument
• Learn the piano

Website:

• paulhenning.com

Recommended Listening:

• Alan Menken, Aladdin
• Alan Menken, Beauty and the Beast
• Alan Menken, Pocahontas

Recommended Reading:

• Dover Scores

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Composer for and Artistic Director and founder of Anúna Michael McGlynn's compositions are performed all over the world. He has run his own digital website for scores since 1999 and resides in Ireland. Michael's music has been performed by Dawn Upshaw, Chanticleer, Cantus, Conspirare, Phoenix and Kansas City Chorales, New York Polyphony and Sheryl Crow. He is a bit outspoken and comes over as somewhat arrogant in interviews.

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Composer Michael McGlynn shares how he created his own choral tradition, the role of commissions, what it means to be a composer, and doing it yourself.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• The advantages of forming your own path
• Being a musician is like being in a rock band
• Scratching your own itch
• Riverdance
• Choral traditions
• The legacy of Anúna
• Having the singer invested in the artistic creation
• Having something to say as a composer
• Being a composer
• Commissions
• Sales & streaming
• Produce singles, not albums
• Doing it yourself
• Graphite & MusicSpoke
• Putting yourself out there

Website:

• michaelmcglynn.com

Recommended Listening:

• Claude Debussy, Jeux
• György Ligeti, Lux Aeterna
• David Bowie, Life on Mars

Recommended Reading:

• Edgar Allan Poe, Complete Tales and Poems
• W. B. Yeats, The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats

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Mr. Bernotas is published with Alfred Music Publishing, Daehn Publications, Wingert-Jones Publishing, Northeastern Music Publications, Carl Fischer Music, and others. His music has been performed at the Midwest Clinic and has appeared on J.W. Pepper's Editor's Choice list and numerous state lists. He is co-author of three books: Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Young, Intermediate and Advanced Concert Band. He has been teaching at Mountain Lakes High School in NJ for more than 20 yrs.

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Composer and educator Christ Bernotas discusses knowing your why and selling your music on its benefits rather than its features.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Questioning how the music works
• Marching band & drum corps
• Coming to composition through arranging & transcription
• Grading of music
• Filtering by having conversations
• Selling your piece on its benefits
• Simon Sinek
• Come up with "I believe" statement
• Pre-writing & post-writing
• Write for all levels
• Don't write in just one style
• Teaching composition is coaching someone along
• Music business & music education live together
• Pedagogy must drive product
• Balancing the need to know the past with the future
• Connecting with directors through conversations
• Open up your ears to criticism
• Be willing to work hard
• Be persistent
• Be flexible & adaptive

Website:

• chrisbernotas.com

Recommended Listening:

• Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 2

Recommended Reading:

• Peter Loel Boon shaft, Teaching Music with Passion: Conducting, Rehearsing and Inspiring
• Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

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Jeff Rona is a composer for films, tv, and video games from Los Angeles.

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Media composer, entrepreneur, and business owner Jeff Rona discusses scoring for movies, TV, and video games and why we need to think as business owners. This is part two of two.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Steven Soderbergh and Traffic
• What business means
  • To do something of value
• Believing in yourself
• Having a set of skills and activities
• Having an open mind
• The difference between a good and not good composer
• Composing vs producing
• Building a ridiculously good team (they need to be better than you)
• Managing the team/business
• Marketing
• Trying to please everybody
• Listen to the director first
• Overwriting
• It's not about you
• Meeting deadlines
• The Reel World
• The Composer's Manifesto

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Jeff Rona is a composer for films, tv, and video games from Los Angeles.

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Media composer, entrepreneur, and business owner Jeff Rona discusses scoring for movies, TV, and video games and why we need to think as business owners. This is part one of two.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Jeff's portfolio
• Wide Blue Sound
• Branding
• Agents
• Staying in touch
• Building & maintaining relationships
• Speaking the same language as the directors and producers
• Two kinds of directors
• Opportunities
• Three reasons to say yes to a film (or any project)
  • Money
  • Quality of the project
  • Relationships
• How long are you willing to try?
• Netflix and video games
• The Reel World
• Jeff's take on business compared to The Portfolio Composer philosophy
• Standing for something
• Differentiating yourself
• Composers are character actors
• You don't get to choose certain things in your career

Website:

• jeffrona.com

Recommended Reading:

• The Reel World

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Jonathan Newman composes music rich with rhythmic drive and intricate sophistication, creating broadly colored musical works that incorporate styles of pop, blues, jazz, folk, and funk into otherwise classical models. Recent works include MERIDIAN for orchestra, and BLOW IT UP, START AGAIN, which has been performed by orchestras worldwide. He is currently composing a MASS, commissioned by The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and serves as Dir. of Composition at Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia.

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Composer Jonathan Newman discusses doing what works, communicating clearly through your scores, the power of having an assistant and why you need to know who you're writing for.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• BCM International
• Forums & bulletin boards
• Fast communication between notation and performance
• Robert Heinlein
• What works
• Not listening to naysayers
• Composing is problem solving
• A forced jump into composition
• Being a copyist
• Having a portfolio of income generating activities
• Hiring an assistant
• Sarah Meals
• Having a functional website
• What publishing means
• Know who you're writing for
• Find the ensembles who want the music you're writing
• Make performance materials professional
• Show that you care
• Show tunes

Website:

• jonathannewman.com

Recommended Listening:

• Leonard Bernstein, "Some Other Time" from On The Town
• Rodgers & Hammerstein, "In My Own Little Corner" from Cinderella

Recommended Reading:

• Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

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Ravi Krishnaswami is an award-winning composer and sound designer for media and games. As lead composer and co-owner of COPILOT Music, his credits include Super Bowl commercials, AAA video games, apps, retail installations, television themes and network IDs. Krishnaswami is a faculty member in the music composition MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. He performs in The Sons & Heirs, NYC’s tribute to The Smiths, and will soon release a new album of indie-folk under the name Hybird.

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Composer and entrepreneur Ravi Krishnaswami discusses why you should build your career on relationships and how to get gigs composing for advertising.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Ravi's New Music Box Articles:
  • Stuff I Learned Writing Music for Advertising: The Evolving Ecosystem and Tearing Down Walls
  • Stuff I Learned Writing Music for Advertising: Problem Solver, Not Widget Maker
  • Some Stuff I've Learned Writing Music for Advertising: References, Briefs, and Conference Calls
  • Some Stuff I've Learned Writing Music for Advertising: Why I Keep Doing This
• Frank Oteri
• Studio vs freelance composing
• Breaking into the sync music scene
• There is more work out there now than before
• The power of networking
• Relationship building
• Be more than an email, be a person
• Being in the room & being present
• Starting COPILOT Music
• Developing trust
• Building a career is relationship building
• Writing Works for Hire
• Physical vs digital media
• Spending money carefully
• Thinking businessly about what you need & don't need
• Business is going small and light
• Be conservative & build up financially
• Professionalism
• Proofread emails
• Thinking about the entire project & context

Website:

• copilotmusic.com

Other links:

• Ravi's interview by Emily McMillan on VGMOnline.net (Video Game Music Online)
• Ravi's upcoming (April 22-23, 2017) AMAP Music Composition Workshops in NYC

Recommended Listening:

• Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell

Recommended Reading:

• Johnny Marr, Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography (guitarist and co-founder of The Smiths)

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A coaching short with tips for a business card strategy while at conferences and other networking events.

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It's important to have a strategy on how to give, receive, and follow up on the business cards you receive. This coaching short has four tips to help you build your strategy.

Click here to see a list of all the Coaching Short episodes.