In this Creator Magazine, we interviewed composers of the Audio Cartel team where they share their perspectives on composing music for films and TV, and talk in-depth about their careers and the production music industry.
We hope that these interviews will give you insight and advice about the library music industry, especially the business side and how to get involved with this fascinating industry.
Sit back and enjoy the ride!
Please introduce yourself.
"Hello, my name is Andrew Hind and I'm in the UK. My musical specialty is everything instrumental really, so orchestral and a little bit of electronic."
How did you initially find yourself in the library music industry?
"I remember writing music as a really young kid. I learned in primary school to play recorder and through school I continued to play guitar. Also, I'm a brass player by training, so I played trumpet at the time. I wrote music for the trumpet a bit. When I went to college, I got a visual introduction to how you could use a computer to make music. The Internet wasn't invented at that point, but I still wrote lots of things. This is about 25 years ago, so I went off and did other things. I came back to this industry about four years ago and thought maybe I should get back into it. I downloaded Cubase and started again after a 20-year break. The learning curve was quite cool. I'm pretty computer literate, but just the difference in terms of what you could do with sampling compared to 25 years ago is really mind-blowing."
I bet! So, what do you like the most about the library music industry?
"I like the autonomy of it. I enjoy, broadly speaking, being able to write what I want, when I want. Obviously, I'm writing for a library, so there are parameters, but I enjoy being master of my own destiny, master of my own time."
What is something you would suggest to an early composer in the industry?
"Listening. The most important skill a composer can have is to allow listening to anything to fuel your creative spark. I would listen to a piece of music and find something in it that I really like. Then I would try and deconstruct it. Sometimes it might be literally writing it out in notes or trying to recreate the actual production of the sound on a computer. I think the core and the root of it is to just listen, listen, listen. Listen to so much music and such a broad span of music to give you that vocabulary."
Who are some of your favorite composers that have inspired you?
"I'm quite trained as a so-called classical musician, so my background is in orchestral music. There's such a wide range of stuff I love. Anton Bruckner, Steve Reich, Stravinsky, Harrison Birtwistle, Renaissance choral music, so John Taverner is one of my particular favorites."
In a tag along question, was there any specific composition within a movie or TV show that made you say “hey, that's what I want to do”?
"Throughout my life, I've always been really acutely aware of the sound and the music that's gone with visuals in film or on TV. It's always been a really strong thing for me. I always had that sense that I should be doing something with music and obviously doing it again over the last four years has completely reignited that for me."
When you're sitting down to create a new composition, are there any mindsets or routines that you do to help you create that musical flow?
"I work with a timer. I find that the worst thing you could do when starting to write a piece of music is to have no parameters. So, one of those is time. If I sit down and think OK, this morning I'm going to write a new piece, I tend to work in either 25 minutes or 15-minute time slots. If I've done some non-music writing research for a start, then in another slot I’ll do some listening around the sort of music that I want to produce. What I tend to do is to just start three or four different versions. I'll write three or four 20-25-minute little pieces and I put those away for another day. Then I listen to them and one of them will stand out and I'll start working on that. I think that what I have learned is that the most frightening thing is an empty computer screen and the whole morning of time. Adding a time parameter makes a big difference."
Interesting. What are some of your goals within the library music industry?
"Over the next few years, I would like to get into writing more trailer music. I've done some trailer music so far. It's something that I would like to develop, so that's what I want to want to be. I'd like to really develop that over the next few months."
What is something that you enjoy about working with Audio Cartel?
"I love the emails. One reason why I've continued working with Oded particularly, is because he's my main point of contact and I just get a sense of his genuineness, his warmth, and his humor simply through his emails."
That’s so great! So what are your goals here on Earth?
"I think my absolute, total, central goal is to be safe and be happy. If I'm safe and happy and secure, then I can actually help other people to be safe, happy and secure. So, my first goal is always one of self-care, because if I'm in a good place, I can help people to achieve their fullest potential."
Thank you for reading!
Audio Cartel - Creative Music for Video Creators.
Audio Cartel is a music house, producing premium niche labels for content creators.
We design musical dreams for video makers.
Like no one else.
For more composers tips and interviews, visit our Composers page.
If you are a professional composer of sync music or have a passion for music for the Metaverse, join our hub of impressive composers, established professionals in the industry.
Contact us at: info@audiocartel.io
Comments