Recommended resources - Composer Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
Recommended resources, that is listen to other people's music, listen to everything, listen to even music that you don't like, listen to other people's lyrics, to their rhythms, to their arrangements, to their melodies. I sometimes take the words that I have and go into my car and turn on the radio and try to fit those words to a snatch of a melody that I have heard on the radio. And I do the same with other rhythms that I hear on the radio. And I do that because it mixes things up and it makes it so that all my songs don't sound the same. At least, I hope they don't. Anyway, that is a resource. Other people's music is maybe your biggest, best resource.
Video 2 Transcript
Recommended resources. Well, that's easy. Listen to other people's music. Nowadays you can buy scores of soundtracks and you can analyze it that way. I loved pulling up little pocket scores of Ravel and Debussy and Stravinsky and other 20th century composers that I loved and looking at what they did, literally looking at the score and then hearing it and looking for me made a lot of sense. I wouldn't even listen to the whole score. I would listen to just a phrase or a moment in their score and see how they did that and then try to incorporate that my way in my style of writing.
Video 3 Transcript
I said this before in another video, but I would highly recommend anyone considering getting into being a composer that you really get to understand the business side of what it all means, especially if you want being a composer to be your sole source of income. It can be a challenging world. It can, depending on various industries that you get into, it can be very lucrative. It can be really hard just to scrape by. I mean, it's very different depending on whether you're writing concert music or you're writing for a film or a video game or a TV show or whatever. And one of the great ways to wrap your head around how to do all of this is a book that I really recommend called Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald Passman. It's a great book, great resource, and it will basically outline all of the different possible income streams out there for you so that you can make informed decisions about whether to sign that publishing deal or not. So, highly recommend that book.
Video 4 Transcript
The recommended resources I tell everyone if you are a composer, you need to know your theory. You need to understand your craft. So you need to know your instrument very well. You need to be very well versed in music knowledge. The skill goes without saying, especially if you are not only composing the music, but if you are recording and performing the music. The best thing you can do is really hone in on your craft, your skill. Learn as much as you can. Now there are so many amazing resources we have. Not only books, but you can watch video tutorials. YouTube is fantastic. Now there's a lot of good and a lot of bad, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. But rely on others. Learn from everyone. They are your resources.
