Speak the Language of Composers

...and Get the Music You Need

This is a Guest Post by Adam A. Johnson of SFXsource.com. If you would like to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

So you've taken the plunge and secured a music composer to write a score for your new film, video, animation, or documentary. Congratulations! You now have the opportunity to have a piece of music written for your project that perfectly matches your artistic vision.

Since this usually involves a financial investment, you want to make sure that you get the most out of your composer. And even if the composer is working for free, you want the best sound for your film possible.

After working with multiple directors, producers, and film editors, I can attest that there are effective and efficient ways to optimize this musical endeavor. Composers, like all people, have different personalities and different methods to their work flow. But, there are consistencies that you as the producer can address which will get you what you need: killer music for your project that precisely expresses the theme and emotions of your work. By communicating with your composer correctly from start to finish, you will achieve great music for your film.

Pre-production
Many filmmakers tend to think of music as part of the post-production phase of filmmaking, but this is a terrible mistake. By pushing musical considerations to the end of the process, one will certainly rush the composer. This can result in uninspired music, shoddy musical production, and frankly, not enough music. Make sure to begin your composer search at the same time you are seeking actors, locations, etc. This will allow you to find a composer early enough to lend enough time to nail down exactly what you need musically.

Pre-production with a composer is the "meet and greet" phase. Even if you've worked with the composer before, it is time for him/her to "meet and greet" your new project and vision.

This is the time to communicate exactly what you are looking for and to set your composer down the right path. At this point, some filmmakers may feel they lack the proper terminology or methods to describe what they need. Others have tons to say, which is perfectly fine. Either way, I always tell clients to speak in their own words. Composers do not need to hear any special musical vocabulary to understand your vision. Simply use descriptive terms to describe the music you need, such as "organic," "scary," "romantic," "funny," etc. A good composer should be able to begin envisioning the music you are seeking. And this is the point during pre-production for the composer to "see" what you "see."

In addition to a couple dozen verbal descriptions of the music you want, examples of similar musical pieces always helps a composer tremendously. By suggesting a pre-existing score by another composer, or a track by a favorite band, the composer immediately gains a wealth of knowledge about your tastes and musical desires. Example tracks define tempo, mood, and instrumentation and provide great inspiration for your composer as they begin the arduous task of creating custom music for you.


Production
If you have correctly taken care of business during pre-production with your composer, then they will be working on various demos and mock ups for the score during the production phase. This is when the meat of the music will be made. This should be a time of back and forth in which the composer submits many rough sketches and you provide clear feedback on what works and what does not.

For a composer, hearing that a demo does not work is as valuable as hearing that it does. They now know what not to do, which helps whittle down the infinite possibilities for the score. No need to be fearful during this stage of hurting the composer's feelings or not being sure if you like the music or not. A professional composer will welcome your constructive criticism.

And, trust your ears. If you aren't inspired, or at least intrigued, by what you are hearing, say so directly. (But tactfully of course.)

This back and forth process of evaluating demos and molding the music to your vision will result in a some tasty tracks for your film.


Post-production
As with the visual aspects of filmmaking, post-production for composers is a time of editing and keeping the good and throwing out the bad.

At this point, the bulk of the music should have been made and tweaks to the tracks in terms of melody or instrumentation are in order. In addition, as the picture begins to be locked, the composer can fix the length of each track to particular scenes and even being to write to the frames themselves.

Although, this brings up an important point. If you are going to request a very specific time length for a particular piece of the score, do not request this unless you are 100% certain that the picture is locked. It can be very frustrating for a musician to rework a piece of music from 1:23 down to 1:07, for example, only to have the scene length change again to 1:14.

For the musicians and sound designers, this type of specific frame-by-frame editing is the final step in the filmmaking process. Post-production, in essence, should be the easiest and most pleasing part of the music composition as both the composer and producer being to see their hard work come together.

In sum, start early with the music. Don't wait until the last minute, because like anything in life, you'll get poor results. Starting early will give good breathing room for the musical ideas to grow and for multiple re-edits to occur. Be clear and confident with your communication with the composer. The more descriptors and examples you provide, the more accurate the musical result will be.

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About our Guest Blogger...
ADAM A. JOHNSON is a music composer and sound designer who owns and operates the SFXsource.com Sound Effects and Royalty Free Music Library as well as music services company Architect of Sound™.