For research i though it would be a good idea to elaborate on some of my previous research that i did about composing and composers. My previous research will be in bold.
What is a composer?
A composer is someone who writes an original music used for various types of media entertainment. A composers job is to help tell a story for example, to a film, television story, play or a video game. A composer should write a music piece to help the video send the right message and make sure he is not distracting the viewer. If they are creating a Soundtrack, it should suit the project well and convey the appropriate mood and tone.
Composers create and arrange musical scores for anything that requires a soundtrack. Movies, television shows, plays, adverts, songs and orchestras; All require composers to bring their projects to completion. Depending on the job, composers will work at home or in a studio to create, arrange, compose and direct original scores. The score must help to bring right mood, this is called underscoring. Music and sound effects can add a lot to a dramatic production, this is what creates the right mood and atmosphere, builds tension, helps set the scene and also strengthen and emphasise the emotion. Typically, a composer needs to have a very good understanding of technical recording and sound equipment, as well as software used to optimise the sound of the score.
Composers will also spend time meeting with directors and to discuss their requirements for the project. Discussion is important as it focuses on these subjects and each scene so that the composer know what direction the soundtrack or score should take. A composition sometimes needs revision and it is the composers responsibility to produce a sound recording that will complement the project.
I researched different career options as a composer and came across this website
https://music.catholic.edu/theory-and-composition/careers/index.html
The advantages of this website would be that, it helped me understand different composition career options and told me exactly what they do. The website has a lot of content about different careers in composing and gave information, advantages and disadvantages when perusing the careers. I will definitely apply this knowledge in the future and it will definitely give me a head start if i think of composing as a profession. The disadvantages would be that, for some of the career options i had to further research into the topic to understand fully and learn more about it, the website also didn’t have any videos or pictures.
The notes i made from the website
Composer-performer
My examples of composer-performers
Adele – All i ask
This song was written for Adele’s album ’25’, Bruno mars composed/wrote this song with the help of Adele Adkins, Christopher “Brody” Brown and
Philip Lawrence.
Adele’s performance of the song
Adele sang this song in her own way and presented is the way she wanted to. Her version is just vocals and piano, this version is more of a piano/ballad.
Bruno’s performance of the song
Bruno’s version is slightly different, he added different melodies and has different instrumentation, instead of piano he had keys and he added a bass guitar, electric guitar, a drum kit and also included some backing vocals.
Both of these artists are composer-performers and both of them composed the song and performed it in their own way. Composer-performers are not just singers, any type of performer that will perform their composition is a composer-performer.
Composer-Conductor
Notes i made from the same website – https://music.catholic.edu/theory-and-composition/careers/index.html
Conductors lead orchestras and other musical groups during performances and recording sessions for example, while recording ochestras for films
Live musical conductor
Film conductor
This is a cool video of a film music rehearsal for the Warer Bros, but this is what a conductor would do inside a studio when recording music for films.
Composers Assistant
notes I made from the same website – https://music.catholic.edu/theory-and-composition/careers/index.html
I researched further into this topic and came across a website. On this website there was a video of a Q&A I watched about a man called Oliver, who is an assistant composer.
The website – https://www.spitfireaudio.com/editorial/features/being-a-composers-assistant/
The video
This Q&A was very useful as Oliver talked about the benefits of being an assistant composer such as,
- You learn how things work from someone who has been in the business for a while.
- You also learn a lot of tips and tricks when assisting a composer.
- You get to see the creative process which is always educational and inspiring.
- It is a great way to get your career started
In the video Oliver talks about what does being an assistant composer invole and on the website the describtion was more in depth and had pointers such as,
He also talked abot how to become an assistan composer and what skills you need and there was a ore detaled version on what e said on the website.
Both on the website and the Q&A, there was tips and tricks for aspiring composers,what he would you look for in an assistant and what are the struggles and fears you might have to overcome.
Over all i believe that this website and the interview has helped me understant fully what an assistant composer is. It helped me find out what skills you need and what tasks you are most likely going to do as an assistant composer. The website had loads of tips on how to become an assistant composer and all the benefits from it. If i would ever consider being ana assistant composer, now i would know what skill i need and tips on how to become one.
Work in television & films
Notes i made from the same website – http://composition.cua.edu/Careers/
Examples of famous theme music from TV shows
Examples of theme music for adverts in general (jingles)
Examples of theme music for video games
I also did some research on job roles as a composer
Different techniques used in composing
I researched different ays of composing and made notes off of this website – https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/4_dos_and_donts_when_writing_songs
This website gave good tips on composing, i like how it broke everything down and seperated each technique in categories and explained each technique differently. It also included the listeners view of songs, what they listen to first and what they draw attention to first when listening to a song.
I watched a video that gave top 10 tips for song writing and made notes from it.
I liked the video because it used a most common way to write songs, it gave good tips, broke it down and put it in a step by step order and that will make it easy to follow.
Job roles as a composer
Job roles – https://job-descriptions.careerplanner.com/Composers.cfm
This website gave basic information about the job duties for a composer.
I then gave myself job roles as i am the composer for the band.
Workplace of a composer
I remember making some notes of this topic off of a website that i didnt save, these are the notes.
Earnings
How much does a composer earn?
I researched the salary of a composer on google and loads of information came up on google, these are the screenshots.
