VOLUME XXXI NUMBER ONE SPRING 2016
T H E W R I T I N G P R O C E S S
Oscar-Nominated Songwriters Talk About Writing Songs For Film By Lori Barth
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riting songs for films is very specific as opposed to writing for any other genre. Qualifying for a nomination to the Oscars has many rules (http://www. oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility). To take a look inside the process,The Score asked five of this year’s and last year’s Oscar-nominated songwriters to comment on writing songs specifically for film. They include Diane Warren, J. Ralph, Danielle Brisebois, Gregg Alexander and David Lang. This is what they had to say. w w w Diane Warren, received her eighth Oscar nomination this year for the song she wrote with Lady Gaga for The Hunting Ground, called “Till It Happens To You.” She says, “When writing for a film you have to have a feeling Diane Warren about what the film is trying to say. I ask: How can I make a song that compliments the film and its message? Danielle Brisebois received an Oscar nomination in 2015 with Gregg Alexander for Best Song with “Lost Stars” from Begin Again. Brisebois says, “Writing a song for pop radio and a song for a film are different but the same in my opinion. First, both have to come from the heart. The main difference is that Danielle Brisebois
with film, you have a template of mood, character, emotion already there for you so you have to incorporate that into your own instincts and your own emotional template. The great challenge about film is capturing the character’s voice. I think my acting background helps with that as I can approach this not only as a songwriter, but also as an actress—who first-hand understands what it takes to bring a character to life.” Her songwriting partner Gregg Alexander says, “It has to often times fit into a director’s vision of characters and circumstance vs. one’s own circumstance or even those around you, which is usually or often the inspiration for writing a Gregg Alexander song outside of a film context.” J. Ralph received his second Oscar nomination in the category of Best Original Song for “Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction. For me there is no difference,” says Ralph. “My goal is to distill a story into a sonic narrative that immediately puts the listener into a place regardless of what was the spark or beginning to write the song.” J. Ralph David Lang, composer of Oscar-nominated “Simple Song #3” from Youth says, “This is the only song I have ever written for a film, so Continued on Page 18
I think in film there are two different kinds of music—the music that tells you something you already know and the music that tells you something you don’t. — David Lang
C O N T E N T S
Music Licensing Basics 5 Tech Talk 9 Kristen & Robert Lopez Talk Shop 12 Musical Shares 23
F R O M T H E E D I T O R ' S D E S K
Songs Speak Volumes By Lori Barth
President ASHLEY IRWIN Vice Presidents ARTHUR HAMILTON CHARLES BERNSTEIN Recording Secretary JONATHAN DAVID NEAL Treasurer/CFO CHRISTOPHER FARRELL The SCORE LORI BARTH, Senior Editor Advisory Board ALAN BERGMAN MARILYN BERGMAN CHARLES BERNSTEIN BILL CONTI CHARLES FOX JAMES NEWTON HOWARD QUINCY JONES ALAN MENKEN THOMAS NEWMAN LALO SCHIFRIN MARC SHAIMAN HOWARD SHORE ALAN SILVESTRI PATRICK WILLIAMS CHRISTOPHER YOUNG HANS ZIMMER In Memoriam Advisory Board Members ELMER BERNSTEIN JOHN CACAVAS JERRY GOLDSMITH MAURICE JARRE PETER MATZ DAVID RAKSIN Directors RAMON BALCAZAR LORI BARTH FLETCHER BEASLEY MICHAEL LEHMANN BODDICKER RUSSELL BROWER DENNIS C. BROWN MIRIAM CUTLER JOEL DOUEK CRAIG STUART GARFINKLE RON GRANT BENOIT GREY IRA HEARSHEN LYNN F. KOWAL Hélène Muddiman GREG PLISKA ELIZABETH ROSE ADRYAN RUSS GARRY SCHYMAN ELIZABETH SELLERS AUSTIN WINTORY Past Presidents JOHN ADDISON RICHARD BELLIS BRUCE BROUGHTON JAY CHATTAWAY RAY COLCORD JAMES DI PASQUALE DAN FOLIART ARTHUR HAMILTON MARK WATTERS
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am so happy to have the focus of this issue on the songwriters, since we have so many songwriters in The SCL. Songs play such an important role in a film or television show when they are used appropriately. They speak volumes when they fit the scene, but when they are used in the wrong way, they can kill the moment. Sometimes you wonder when you see a scene why they picked a certain song, but when they hit home, they really get it right. So please, enjoy what our songwriters have to share in this g issue! DIAMOND MEMBERS Kristen Anderson-Lopez Lori Barth Alan & Marilyn Bergman Dennis C. Brown Carter Burwell George Clinton Bill Conti
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Robert Lopez Johnny Mandel Blake Neely Randy Newman Mike Post J. Peter Robinson Mark Roos
Lalo Schifrin Richard Sherman David Shire Alan Silvestri Mark Snow Dennis Spiegel Mike Stoller
Federico Vaona Mark Watters John Williams Patrick Williams Maury Yeston
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PLATINUM MEMBERS Mark Adler John Beal Marco Beltrami Amin Bhatia Steven Bramson
Joseph Conlan Darren Criss Mychael Danna Alexandre Desplat Ashley Irwin
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GOLD MEMBERS Cato Neal Acree Elik Alvarez Neil Argo Diane Arkenstone Alexander Arntzen Sebastian Arocha Charles-Henri Avelange Ramon Balcazar Glen Ballard Steve Barden Ed Barguiarena Nathan Barr Joe Barrera Jr. Jeff Beal Joel Beckerman Charles Bernstein Peter Boyer Richard Bronskill Russell Brower Dan Brown Jr Benedikt Brydern Kenneth Burgomaster Dennis Burke Patric Caird Christopher Cano Jay Chattaway Shawn Clement Elia Cmiral Kaveh Cohen Jerry Cohen Jim Cox Chanda Dancy Tim Davies John Debney
Erick Del Aguila Massimiliano (Max) Di Carlo John Dickson James DiPasquale Joel Douek Dennis Dreith Bruce Dukov Robert Duncan Laura Dunn JC Dwyer Erich Einfalt Isabel Epstein Joel Evans Sharon Farber Jack Faulkner Shelley Fisher Pablo Flores Andy Forsberg Alexandre Fortuit Steven Fox Pam Gates Scott Glasgow William Goldstein Harry Gregson Williams Lorna Guess Eric Hachikian Crispin Hands Wayne Hankin Bruce Healey Reinhold Heil Shari Hoffman Lee Holdridge Scott Holtzman Trevor Howard Russ Howard III
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Sam Hulick Asuka Ito Ken Jacobsen Garrett Johnson Quincy Jones Federico Jusid Aaron Kaplan Alexander Khanukhov Bruce Kimmel Dave Kinnoin Grant Kirkhope Christopher Klatman Kevin Kliesch Christopher Knight Penka Kouneva Lynn Kowal Michael A Lang Edie Lehmann Boddicker Christopher Lennertz Michael Levine Daniel Licht Joseph LoDuca Charley Londono Glenn Longacre David Majzlin Tracey Marino Vance Marino Shelly Markham Craig Marks Billy Martin John Massari Michael McCuistion William McFadden Joel McNeely Robert Messinger
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Dan Romer William Ross Atticus Ross Enis Rotthoff Adryan Russ Steven Saltzman Garry Schyman Roxanne Seeman Ryan Shore Michael Silversher Helen Simmins-McMillin Gregory Smith Stanley Smith Curt Sobel Arturo Solar Sally Stevens Candace Stewart Karen Tanaka Jeremy Tisser Pinar Toprak Tyler Traband Kubilay Uner Cris Velasco Jack Wall Diane Warren Beth Wernick Frederik Wiedmann Alan Williams David Williams Jonathan Wolff Gernot Wolfgang Doug Wood David Wood Jenny Yates Gary Yershon
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Clint Eastwood Dan Foliart Charles Fox Elliot Goldenthal Arthur Hamilton James Newton Howard Mark Isham
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P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E
Around The World In A Keystroke
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By Ashley Irwin
or those of us who did not major in ethnomusicology, the Internet is a wonderful resource. Historically, composers have always sought unique sounds to incorporate into their work and, as pencils-for-hire, we are often called upon to emulate musical styles from other parts of the world. But rather than traversing the globe for months or even years, today you can find much of what you’re seeking on the Internet in a matter of minutes. Some years ago, a colleague asked me to help him orchestrate a ballet he’d written. In three acts, it chronicled Marco Polo’s journey from Europe to Asia and was to have its premiere during a major international event in China. The brief was simple. Along with the traditional symphony orchestra, there would be additional instruments representing the many regions through which our hero travelled. OK, but which instruments? Enter the Internet. Fortunately, the composer had worked extensively with the choreographer and, once they’d determined which countries along the Silk Road would be featured, the music was composed in the appropriate idioms. But part of my job was to research what instruments could realistically be included with the orchestra, bearing in mind not just the musical requisites but also the logistical realities. My first stop was Wikipedia. Egypt, Iran,
India, Burma—country by country I read about instruments unfamiliar to my western sensibilities. However, one thing that became quickly apparent was that virtually every country has traditional instruments analogous to those in a western orchestra and certainly within the same family: strings (plucked or bowed), winds (flutes and reeds), brass (horns often from animals) and percussion (drums, metals, woods, rattles, etc.). I opened YouTube in another browser window on my second screen. As I investigated the music of each country on Wikipedia, I searched for the traditional instruments on YouTube and, sure enough, I found performers of all skill levels demonstrating the instruments in both solo and ensemble situations. Not only could I see and hear how each individual instrument is played, but also its function in a traditional group. I was able to get very “region specific.” For example, in some countries the instruments found in the northern parts are different from those of the south, so I was able to maintain geographic accuracy. But there are other less esoteric applications of this procedure from which to benefit while you’re waiting for that gig that requires you study the instruments of northwestern India or central Mongolia. Want to review the sounds the various mutes produced on brass instruments? How about reacquainting yourself with the different bowing techniques
For those who want to go deeper in the understanding of musical idioms to which western ears are unaccustomed, it’s never been easier.
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John Rodd Visits With SCL Composer Interns
Shown after a 2.5 hour workshop are, L-R: John Rodd and SCL Composer Interns Aaron Ramsey, Mike Miller, Nami Melumad, Joe Sanders, and Afshin Toufighian
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N O T E S F R O M N E W Y O R K
SCL New York Diary
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n November 17th, members of the SCL-NY met for a discussion reacting to the recent, controversial New York Times article “The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t.” Moderated by NY Steering Committee member Joel Beckerman, the conversation featured guest panelists Doug Wood (SCL member and ASCAP Board co-chair) and Bob Moses (artist manager/entrepreneur). Much of the evening was spent discussing the importance of performance royalties as a continuous source of income for composers and songwriters. There was strong emphasis on the need for greater transparency on the part of streaming services and music publishers, particularly regarding how and to whom royalties and other payments are collected and distributed. Both panelists called attention to the problem of major music companies directly licensing their catalogues to internet streaming services in exchange for equity—a model that excludes creators, composers and songwriters from the bargaining table and drastically reduces the percentage of overall revenue that they receive.
By Mark Suozzo A Sound Design seminar on November 19th brought together two innovative composers and sound designers to share their knowledge of the craft. Avant-garde composer Bill Stankay and sound designer/filmmaker Morgan Inman focused on the “how, where and why” of sound design by showing real-life examples with direct application to current composition. Detailed examples and an extensive questionand-answer session helped bring contemporary sound design to the attention of SCL composers.
On December 8th, the SCL-NY partnered with Bleeker Street Media to present a screening of the film I’ll See You In My Dreams. A Q&A with composer Keegan DeWitt and director Brett Haley followed the screening, moderated by Chris Hajian (SCL-NY Steering Committee). g g g
The annual SCL in NY Holiday Party was held on December 13th at Stage 72 in New York City. With over one hundred SCL members in attendance, SCL President Ashley Irwin led the festivities and presented the SCL NY Ambassadors for 2015, Duncan Sheik and Howard Shore. The evening included live performances as well as interviews and a champagne toast with g both guests of honor.
L-R: Morgan Inman, Mark Roos (SCL-NY Steering Committee), Bill Stankay L-R: SCL President Ashley Irwin with 2015 SCL-NY Ambassador Duncan Sheik
L-R: Chris Hajian (SCL-NY Steering Committee), Bob Moses, Doug Wood, Joel Beckerman (SCL-NY Steering Committee) L-R: Ron Sadoff, Chris Hajian, Howard Shore, Greg Pliska, Duncan Sheik, Eric Hachikian, JoAnne Harris, Elizabeth Rose, Ashley Irwin, Mark Roos. Except for Ash, Howard, and Duncan, all are NY steering committee members 4
L-R: SCL President Ashley Irwin with 2015 SCL-NY Ambassador Howard Shore
C O M P O S E R S ’ R I G H T S
Music Licensing Basics By Jake Versluis
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ver the last few years, the creative line between artist and composer has blurred. During the years I worked in management for the band Incubus, I saw multiple high-profile bands make the successful transition from artist to composer, including Mike Einziger (guitarist in Incubus). Making the transition from band to composer is more prevalent now than ever before, and as head of A&R at a publishing company deep in the licensing world, I have some thoughts on how independent artists/composers can successfully get their music licensed within film, TV, video games and advertisements. I want to cover a few basics first. Are you aware of how licensing works? Do you know who owns what rights to your compositions? Are you aware of what kind of licensing deals exist out there? Luckily, some past articles in The Score newsletter have given some really good advice on what to look for when signing a publishing and/or production music deal, including what red flags to look for to make sure you’re not getting taken advantage of. And if you’re not aware of who owns what rights to your songs/compositions, then you won’t understand how licensing works. What do we mean when we talk about someone “licensing your music”? In simple terms: you’ve created music that someone else finds value in and they want to secure the rights to use the music in a project (i.e., film, TV show, YouTube video, wedding video). You are the “Licensor” and they are the “Licensee.” The licensee needs to compensate you for your music and that can be done in a number of ways; usually it’s for a fee. If you are not currently in a record deal or publishing deal, then as soon as you’ve created a new composition you are 100% owner of both the master side and the publishing. This is an important concept to understand because it is at the core of licensing your music. Much like you wouldn’t start building a house before you pour the foundation, you wouldn’t go licensing your music before you understand who the rights-holders are. When licensing music, licensees (the ones paying to license the music) will need to clear two rights for each composition: the master right (recording of the song) and the synchronization right (music and lyrics, if there are any). If you are a completely unsigned artist, then you own 100% of your
masters and your publishing. But if you are in a record deal or publishing deal you are not the sole owner of your works; therefore the licensee will need permission from all those rights-owners when looking to license a song of yours. That’s important to know because if there is interest in licensing your song, you will need to have an intelligent conversation with the licensee describing exactly who owns what portions of your rights and who can sign off on what. Each of the rightsowners will have a say in what the licensing cost and terms are. If, however, you are 100% independent, then you get to negotiate your own terms with the licensee! I work at a company known as a “onestop.” We license music to movie studios, TV networks, video game companies and brands. An advantage of a “one-stop” is that it secures 100% master rights and 100% synch rights to each song in advance, so when clients (the licensees) need music fast, they can rely on a “one-stop” to quickly license music because all of the rights can be licensed with one signature from the licensor. That’s a much easier process than trying to track down multiple writers, some who may have publishing deals, and then also tracking down who owns the master, which may or may not be a record label. So how do you go from an artist writing music at home to an artist who sees his/her cue(s) in a big film trailer or advertisement and makes money from it? There are, of course, multiple ways. Let’s go over a few. The key gatekeeper/decision-maker, the one who generally identifies which song or cue is to be used in the spot, is called the music supervisor. These are the people who will decide what song fits the bill, from the smallest DIY band or composer, to the biggest bands and composers in the world. There are music supervision companies that are hired on a project-by-project basis, and there are also full-time music supervisors at TV networks, film trailer houses, ad agencies, video game publishers and movie studios. If you already have some of these people in your network then you’re ahead of the game. But the vast majority of people do not already know music supervisors, and supervisors are getting harder to know every passing year, as they are more and more inundated with music. If you want to go it alone, my advice has
It’s an exciting time for artists and composers! The traditional barriers to entry have come down significantly and the composing world is now truly merit-based.
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Music Licensing Basics Continued from Page 5
always been to move to L.A. to start networking with music supervisors. I know that’s not realistic for the vast majority of people, and if you can’t move then you can do other things like attending music conferences such as Billboard Film & TV conference, Sync Summit and the annual Taxi Convention. I’ve been to all of those before and have struck up new relationships with artists. If you don’t want to go it alone, if instead you want to plug into a company that has decades of those relationships built in, then you need to seek out a licensing company or publishing company. Keep in mind that in the case of working with a company, you will always be giving up something to the company, whether it’s a percentage of money from future licenses procured or a portion of your master and publishing. If you strike the right type of deal with one of these companies, you can have a lot of success and be very well compensated. You can find these types of companies by researching online or looking through trade magazines like Variety and Hollywood Reporter. Since you’re a member of The SCL, you’ve likely heard the names of some of these companies already: Extreme Music, Killer Tracks, Ninja Tracks, APM, Audio Machine etc. Any of the companies you research may have specialties in different areas, so it’s important you understand the company’s strengths and do your homework before you reach out to them. Some companies may be stronger in ads, some in TV, some in film trailers, and so on. It’s important that you have a sense and vision of where your music would best fit. Many, though not all, of those companies have submission guidelines. Let’s talk a bit about your music before you submit it. I’ve had to listen through a ton of submissions over the years so I want to give you a few tips from the inside: Before you submit, keep in mind that the companies you’re submitting to are very busy. You need to look at it from their perspective so you can set
your expectations properly when submitting. For example, if a company has strict guidelines about submitting your music using Soundcloud or Box.com (which I recommend over Dropbox. com due to the fact that the listener can easily stream with Box), then follow those guidelines and don’t stray. You may think “aw what’s the difference, I’ll just send them to my website to listen,” but what you’d be missing is that you’ve just made the decision very easy for the listener: your email just got deleted. The listener doesn’t have the time to stray from their guidelines. Next up, make sure you look professional. I have a mantra I repeat when doing guest lectures at UCLA and USC: “If you don’t care enough about your work, why should anyone else?” That simply means that if you come across sloppy or as if you don’t care, then that’s exactly what other people will see. In many cases, especially in Hollywood, whether you like it or not, perception is reality. All this to say: Before you submit your music make sure you’ve created some sort of professional online presence; create a Facebook profile, create an official website, have a twitter page, create a YouTube page, and be active on those. Let the listener know that composing is your full-time occupation and not just something you do as a hobby. Okay, now let’s assume you’ve done all the above. You know who owns the rights to your songs (and the songs are tagged properly in your iTunes), you’ve researched whom you want to send music to, and you’ve dialed in your online presence. Your next step is to send in fully produced, great songs/cues. The licensing world moves too fast for you to send in a demo with a note that says, “okay, now imagine this!” Those kinds of submissions get deleted. Know that when you are submitting music, you are in competition with established artists and composers. That’s your bar. If your music isn’t that quality yet, then take the time to educate yourself and also invest in samples to get the music there. You need to do all of these things just to get your music considered. Once you’ve submitted your music please know that due to the workload of people at the companies, they likely won’t get to your music for weeks or even months—that is not an
exaggeration. So with that in mind, how would you approach it? Make sure you don’t use Wetransfer.com, as we know those files expire too quickly and are gone before anyone can listen. That also means don’t send a follow-up email every week. But feel free to send a nice, short follow-up email perhaps once a month, and include the original listening link. Now I’m going to fast-forward and explain what happens when you do get a license, let’s say it’s for a film trailer. In this case, most likely a music supervisor from a trailer company has selected your music for a trailer and a movie studio is excited about it. The movie studio will then have their music clearance department reach out to all the rights holders (luckily you’re smart and you know exactly who owns what portions of your cues, you have their contact info, and hey maybe it’s 100% owned by you!) and begin the quote process. They will ask the rights holders how much the license will cost for specific terms (things like what media, what territory, for how long, etc.) and then hopefully agree on terms. At that point the music license needs to be signed. If all goes according to plan then the trailer shows up online and in movie theatres and then a check arrives a few months later! That’s a condensed version, but at least it helps you understand the process. A quick word on how to price your music: things to take into consideration include the duration of the cue/song, the term and territory of the license, and type of use (background vocal versus background instrumental). Generally the longer the cue, broader the territory and the longer the term, the more you can charge. Similarly, if the song includes lyrics you can price it a bit higher. Also, if you can get a sense of what the licensee’s music budget is, that can help give you an idea of what your range can be. Licensing a cue/ song in a trailer or commercial will generally pay more than a TV show. Licensing something for just online or YouTube use will pay less than any of the above. Now I’m going to give you a case study of how things can go when you are genuinely talented, and things go right for you. I attended a small networking event at a bar in L.A. a year and a half ago. Continued on Next Page
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Music Licensing Basics Continued from Page 6
An artist manager friend of mine introduced me to another artist manager at the event—we’ll call him Will. Will managed a young, talented group that was just exiting a record deal. The group consisted of two guys, a singer and a composer. Will and I exchanged info, and he followed up with me the next week with some music from the group. The music he sent over consisted of a really interesting, orchestral heavy arrangement of the classic song “What a Wonderful World.” On my first listen I thought this song could have huge potential in the licensing community. The group was now free and clear of all record and publishing deals, so I was able to sign that song (master only) to a deal at the company at which I work. Long story short, we distributed the song to all of our music supervisor contacts, and within two weeks a large video game company called me, completely blown away by the song, wanting to license it as the backbone to their launch for the new game Dragon Age: Inquisition. The song was used in the official video game trailer, and it was a huge smash, and reverberated throughout the gaming community. The very same song was subsequently licensed three months later for even more money for the trailer to Insurgent. The above might sound like a simple case study, but all of the tips I’ve
covered above were employed: The group was talented; they were selfcontained writing and recording really interesting music that touched a nerve. They had put in the time to learn to write well, and had put some money into buying the right software and samples. In addition, they (or in this case their representation) were out pounding the pavement meeting people. They owned the rights to their songs. They tagged the music properly; they created instrumentals of the song for me, as well as stems. They were already affiliated with a PRO. Also, they had a great work ethic and were quick to make a few changes to the song when the client requested it. Everything was clean and easy. That’s how you want it be when you’re looking to license your music. So there you have it. It’s an exciting time for artists and composers! The traditional barriers to entry have come down significantly and the composing world is now truly merit-based. Just look at what you can do now that wasn’t possible even 15 years ago: Young composers have the same access to equipment as established composers and can write truly amazing music. They can hone their skills by watching videos on YouTube. They can bypass agents and reach out to licensing companies, video game companies and movie studios themselves. They can tap into multiple revenue streams that didn’t exist ten years ago (YouTube and Spotify to name a couple). They can easily collaborate with writers across the world by uploading music
to the cloud and sharing. Heck, they can even oversee the live orchestral recording of music across the world while video conferencing from their living room! There’s a lot to do and accomplish as a composer, and hopefully you’re a little bit better equipped now that you know the basics of licensing your music. INSIDER TIPS:
• Your first step is to affiliate with a PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, PRS etc.) or you will NOT receive all the money due to you once you begin licensing your music. • Always bounce out stems to your cues. • If your cue includes vocals, do an instrumental version too. • Make sure you are not using unauthorized samples. • Make sure all your songs/cues are tagged with genre, contact info, and exactly who owns what percentage of publishing and mas ter (this will win you points with music supervisors). • Make sure you register all your cues/songs online with your PRO g (EX: www.ascap.com). Jake Versluis (@RawkerV) is an artist manager and head of A&R at Position Music, a music publishing company based in Los Angeles CA. Artists and composers he’s worked with have licensed songs in many major film trailers, video game trailers, and TV shows.
SCL Sing-Out! Back row, L-R: Mia Levine, Michael Levine, Dave Kinnoin, KC Daugirdas, Bryan Miller, Jason Luckett, Ron Grant, Ron Ovadia, SCL President Ashley Irwin, Licensing Director Cindy BadellSlaughter, SCL Board member Michael Lehmann-Boddicker, Arnold McCuller Front row, L-R: SongArts Chair Adryan Russ, Bruce Dukov, SCL Board member Chris Farrell, Arielle Deem, Music Supervisor Thomas Golubic, Melissa Axel, Adrianne Duncan, Andrea Becker, Jocelyn Scofield, Jan Michael Alejandro
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ASCAP’s Lemone Promoted
ASCAP Composer Cocktail PartyAt Sundance
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L-R: ASCAP’s Mike Todd, CW3PR publicist Jana Davidoff, composer Christopher Drake (Yoga Hosers) and ASCAP’s Rachel Perkins
L-R: ASCAP’s Jeniffer Harmon, composer Fabrizio Mancinelli and ASCAP’s Michael Todd
L-R: ASCAP’s Jennifer Harmon, composer Joel Goodman, Amanda Goodman and composer Paul Brill (The New Yorker Presents, Trapped)
L-R: ASCAP’s Jennifer Harmon and Rachel Perkins, composer Jay Wadley (Indignation) and ASCAP’s Mike Todd
he American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers announced that Shawn Lemone has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Membership. He will continue to report directly to ASCAP EVP Membership, John Titta. As head of ASCAP’s Film & TV department for more than six years, Lemone has attracted and developed today’s most acclaimed and sought-after composers in audio-visual media, including Johann Johannsson (Sicaro, The Theory of Everything), David Vanacore (Survivor, The Apprentice), Mark Williams (Who Wants to Be A Millionaire) and Jeff Lippencott (Master Chef, Shark Tank), among many others. During that time he has increased ASCAP’s Film & TV market share and been on the cuttingedge in working with composers for video games and audio-visual streaming. Lemone will remain head of ASCAP’s Film & TV department, and now also oversee ASCAP’s Musical Theater and Cabaret team, led by Michael Kerker, Vice President of Music Theater. SCL AMBASSADORS BURT BACHARACH
ALAN SILVESTRI
CARTER BURWELL
MIKE STOLLER
ALAN & MARILYN BERGMAN
L-R: ASCAP’s Mike Todd, composer James Lavino (Wiener-Dog) and ASCAP’s Rachel Perkins
GEORGE S. CLINTON CHARLES FOX
ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL DAVE GRUSIN
ARTHUR HAMILTON
L-R: Composer Kathryn Bostic, Jennifer Harmon, and composer Germaine Franco
L-R: ASCAP’s Jennifer Harmon, Rachel Perkins, Composer Ryan Shore (The Rose and I), Elizabeth Russo, and Michael Todd L-R: ASCAP’s Michael Todd, composer/ producer Dan Romer (Gleason), and ASCAP’s Rachel Perkins
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MARK SNOW
PATRICK WILLIAMS PAUL WILLIAMS
MAURY YESTON
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD
In Memoriam:
ROBERT LOPEZ &
RAY CHARLES
JOHNNY MANDEL
RAY EVANS
MIKE POST
JACK HAYES
RICHARD SHERMAN
VIC MIZZY
MARK ISHAM
VAN ALEXANDER
KRISTEN ANDERSON-LOPEZ
HAL DAVID
RANDY NEWMAN
EARLE HAGEN
LALO SCHIFRIN
JERRY LIEBER
DAVID SHIRE
ROBERT SHERMAN
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD BILL CONTI QUINCY JONES
GINNY MANCINI
HONORARY LIFETIME MEMBERS JAY L. COOPER, ESQ. CLINT EASTWOOD
DENNIS SPIEGEL JOHN WILLIAMS
T E C H T A L K
New Tools For Composers And Music Producers From NAMM
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By Fletcher Beasley
he NAMM show is surreal. The entire industry of music manufacturers come together for a four-day clash where aging rockers, studio rats, synth infatuated DJs, band geeks and other music professionals mill around to see and hear the newest guitars, drum kits, brass instruments, recording gear and music technology. Amidst the coffinshaped guitar cases, plastic trombones and cacophony of guitar licks are some cool tools for composers and music producers. Slate Digital Virtual Microphone System
Slate Digital has come up with a radical way of increasing one’s microphone and preamp collection. Rather than buying classics like a Neumann U47 or a Neve 1073, Slate Digital has set about to model these. Slate’s Virtual Microphone System is a package that includes a large diaphragm mic and preamp designed to be as clean and transparent as possible. These connect to any thunderbolt audio interface (a thunderbolt interface is required because of the low latency that these interfaces feature) and a choice of high-end mics and preamps are provided as insert plugins within your DAW. The signal is tracked cleanly and the virtual mics and preamps can be changed after the audio is recorded. During the demo, a singer was brought up to sing a take and during playback different combinations of the mic models and preamps were auditioned for the crowd. The results were impressive. The recording clearly took on the characteristics of the mics and preamps that were modeled. Currently only three mics and two mic preamps are offered, but Slate Digital plans on introducing more models to the system. I doubt this will replace a great microphone collection, but it is an intriguing way to get the sound of classic, but expensive microphones and preamps with a single microphone and preamp. Roli Seaboard Rise
A MIDI keyboard is a functional, if not very expressive, way of inputting MIDI data. You strike a note on the keyboard and can affect it with MIDI continuous controllers but it is rather limited in how it can affect a note in real-time performance. Roli is making new controllers that allow for much greater expressive possibilities with MIDI.
The Roli Seaboard Rise is an attractive looking keyboard-like MIDI controller that eschews the white and black piano keys for a rubberized surface that is laid out like a keyboard. Each “key” can be struck, pressed, wiggled and slid for a variety of performance control over each note. Using Expressive MIDI, the Rise sends unique performance information as MIDI controllers for each note. This means that you can hold a chord without vibrato while playing a lead line with vibrato and pitch bend. In fact, each finger can have unique expressive possibilities. I found the Rise easy to play and quickly adapted to the feel of the surface. The expression is very intuitive. For example, to create vibrato, you simply wiggle the finger that is keying the note back and forth much the way a string player would. The Rise sends out MIDI continuous controllers so any performance that is recorded in a DAW can be edited. Roli includes their own plugin instrument that is designed to take advantage of all the expressive capabilities, but the Rise will work with any virtual instrument plugin. Fabfilter Pro-Q 2
As useful as EQs are, I rarely get excited when I see one demoed, but Fabfilter Pro-Q 2 has some unique and innovative features that are very interesting. The bottom of the interface can be viewed as a piano keyboard, so you can see frequencies as note values. I imagine using this feature to “tune” drums or other non-tonal material to the key of my cue. Fabfilter Pro-Q 2 features the ability to sidechain the EQ from another track, allowing the plugin to analyze that track’s frequency and apply that to the new track. Another unique feature is, when in mid/side mode, that you can equalize side bands separately from mid bands. I have never seen any of these functions in another EQ and they all have lots of useful applications.
As useful as EQs are, I rarely get excited when I see one demoed, but Fabfilter Pro-Q 2 has some unique and innovative features that are very interesting.
Spitfire Audio
Spitfire Audio makes some of the best sounding sample libraries available and they have an interesting array of new libraries slated for 2016. At the show, Spitfire released Sacconi Strings, Volume Two, Cello, the second volume in the Sacconi Strings library. The cello is warm and expressive to play, Continued on Next Page
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New Tools From NAMM Continued from Page 9
Pictured (L-R) at BMI’s 18th annual Sundance Film Festival composer/director roundtable are: Sundance Institute Film Music Composers Lab advisor George S. Clinton, Sundance Institute Film Music Composers Lab advisor Blake Neely, BMI Vice President, Film/TV Relations Doreen Ringer-Ross, Sundance Institute Film Music Program Director Peter Golub, and Sundance Institute Film Music Composers Lab advisor Miriam Cutler
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BMI At Sundance
MI hosted its 18th annual Sundance Film Festival composer/director roundtable, entitled “Music & Film: The Creative Process,” on Monday, January 25 at the Samsung Studio in Park City, UT. Focusing on the relationship between composer and director, the panel is a cornerstone discussion at the festival on the role of music in film. Topics discussed included the relationship between composer and director, what goes into creating a successful film score, the ingredients of an effective composer/director relationship, the Sundance Film Festival experience, and more Panelists included Director of Sundance Institute’s Film Music Program Peter Golub, Sundance Institute Film Music Composers Lab advisors George S. Clinton, Miriam Cutler and Blake Neely; composer Kris Bowers and director Heidi Ewing (Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You), composer T. Griffin and director Roger Ross Williams (Life, Animated), composer Fil Eisler and director Kim A. Snyder (Newtown), composer Walter Werzowa and director Jeff Feuerzeig (Author: The JT LeRoy Story), composer Keegan Dewitt and director Chad Hartigan (Morris from America), composer/director Gingger Shankar (Nari), composer Jongnic Bontemps and director Steven Caple (The Land), composer Mark Suozzo and director Whit Stillman (Love and Friendship), and composer Atli Orvarsson and director Grimur Hakonarson (Rams). The discussion was moderated by Doreen Ringer-Ross, Vice President, Film/ TV Relations, BMI. Annual Dinner at Zoom
Pictured (L-R) at BMI’s annual Sundance dinner at Zoom are: composer Mark Suozzo; BMI Vice President, Film/TV Relations, Doreen Ringer-Ross; and composer David Murillo
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Doreen Ringer-Ross, BMI Vice President of Film/TV Relations, hosted BMI’s annual dinner at Robert Redford’s restaurant Zoom on January 26, during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The dinner gave Sundance composers, directors and film executives an intimate setting to mingle and enjoy their time in Park City amongst a who’s who in the film and g music industries.
programmed with the ear to playability that I have come to expect from Spitfire’s libraries. Coming later this year is Modular Drums, a library of loops and individual hits played by drummers Abe Laboriel, Jr., Matt Sorum and Josh Freese and recorded at A&M studios, famous for its drum sounds. Joey Santiago, the guitarist for the Pixies, is recording a library of guitar textures, which should be interesting for those who like guitar-based soundscapes. Perhaps most interesting to composers, Spitfire is making a string library based on the orchestrations and techniques of Bernard Hermann. The company has been given the blessing of the Hermann estate to produce the library. Another product in the works is an instrument called Phobos that is being developed with electronic composer BT. Drum loops from BT’s collection will be used as impulse responses to convolve other sounds. You will be able to load up to four different beats and three different impulse responses that can be mixed together in different combinations. Each beat can be dragged or automated in real time between the different impulse responses. Phobos has great potential for processing sound in an unusual and interesting way. Gizmotron
As a guitar player, I am always interested in new ways of getting sounds out of my instrument. The Gizmotron is a device that can create long sustaining tones with slow attacks on a guitar or bass. It sounds similar to an EBow, but can be used on any combination of the six guitar strings simultaneously. The Gizmotron is affixed near the bridge of the guitar and uses a key for each string. Depressing the key engages a wheel that rubs against the guitar string creating a tone that sustains as long as the key is depressed. It’s great for haunting ethereal tones, giving the guitar a bowed-like quality that can be used for single notes or chords. It doesn’t require a tremendous amount of playing technique and I can imagine composers without much guitar background using it for melodic lines and g interested textures.
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What’sHappening
MI composers Antonio Sanchez, Alan Silvestri and George Fenton all received high honors at the 15th World Soundtrack Awards, held recently in Ghent. Sanchez was recognized with Best Original Film Score of the Year, as well as Discovery of the Year, for his mesmerizing music in Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). In a tribute to Alan Silvestri, who was the guest of honor at the awards, Dirk Brossé conducted the Brussels Philharmonic and the Flemish Radio Choir in several selections of Sivestri’s work, including Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. Capping off the concert, Silvestri himself conducted the first live performance by an orchestra of his work The Walk. In addition to these prestigious honors, during another event honoring British composers, BMI composer George Fenton was presented with a lifetime achievement award for his exquisite body of work.
By Lori Barth L-R: Artistic Director for the Ghent Film Festival Patrick Duynslaegher, BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross, BMI composer Alan Silvestri, and agent Sam Schwartz pose for a photo at a celebratory dinner
On Saturday, October 31, just in time for Halloween, the Hollywood Bowl fittingly presented Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Iconic composer of the movie’s music, Danny Elfman, sang the role of Jack Skellington, the story’s maniacal Pumpkin King, with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra while the legendary film was projected on the Bowl’s mammoth screen.
L-R: At the studio’s screening of Spectre are BMI’s Director of Film/TV Relations Anne Cecere and Writing’s on the Wall co-writers Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes
BMI composer Antonio Sanchez honored with Best Original Film Score of the Year, as well as Discovery of the Year award, at the 15th World Soundtrack Awards g g g
CineConcerts is honoring the 50th Golden Anniversary of Star Trek by launching Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, a nationwide 100 city concert tour featuring the legendary, award-winning music from virtually all installments of the franchise. The concert will include a live symphony orchestra performing music from the films and television series, as footage is played in high definition on a 40-foot screen. Award-winning music, groundbreaking television, and blockbuster movies will all be celebrated in one evening.
L-R: Agent/producer Richard Kraft, BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross, BMI composer Danny Elfman, and agent/producer Laura Engel g g g
Songwriter/singer Bryon Motley spoke about this photographic book at Book Soup in Hollywood on Saturday January 30, followed by a book signing. L-R: Mike Stoller, Byron Motley and Lori Barth 11
I N T E R V I E W
Kristen & Robert Lopez Talk Shop INTERVIEWED BY ADRYAN RUSS & LORI BARTH
Imbued in the traditions of Broadway musicals and having won an Oscar for their hit song “Let It Go” in the musical Frozen, Robert and Kristen Anderson Lopez are the new “it” team for writing musicals that are unique and still grab the heart while their songs get stuck in your head. They took some time out of their busy schedules with work and family to talk with The SCL about what they’re up to these days. Score: How is writing for the stage different from writing for film? Kristen: Well, first of all, movie musicals are under 90 minutes and only have seven to nine songs, which have to be kept on the short side. A stage musical runs over two hours, has two acts and an intermission, contains between 15 to 20 songs, and the openings and finales can run up to ten minutes on occasion. We are currently adapting Frozen for the Broadway stage and it is a daunting task. In the movie, much of Elsa’s character is conveyed through close-ups on her troubled face or her trembling hands. For stage, we are writing songs that do that character work. Robert: There are also a lot of similarities between writing stage and movie musicals— animated ones, anyway. The biggest one being that you get the chance every
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few months to watch the whole thing in front of fresh eyes to see how the songs are working within the story. For the stage you do it in readings and workshops, and for Disney animated musicals, the filmmakers screen storyboard reels with scratch dialogue for the employees. This is an essential part of the process for a musical, because it’s impossible to know if the piece is working without an audience. Score: It will be exciting to see Frozen on Broadway. When do you think it will get there? Kristen: Soon. Oh so soon! Robert: As soon as we are done with this interview, we have to get back to writing it! We’re hard at work now. Score: Kristen, how do you approach lyrics: are you more inspired when you hear music? Robert, are you more inspired when you read or hear lyrics? Robert: We are both composers and lyricists. We share credit
for both and we both write both! Sometimes a lyric idea will suggest music, sometimes the other way. You try to do both at once if you can. What’s common to every song we write is that we talk and talk before we begin writing. It’s very important to explore what the song is about, what it needs to accomplish story-wise, where the characters are mentally and emotionally, what other songs could inspire it, everything really. Otherwise you’re just writing blind. Kristen: That said, I’m almost always inspired by music samples, swatches, rhythms before I write anything. I find it very helpful to have at least a vague idea of the type of sound we are aiming for. Very rarely, a hook will spring forth in the shower and I find a whole verse or chorus writes itself before a single note is written—but I am usually doing Continued on Next Page
that to some kind of mental music. Each song is different and births itself differently. Score: Do you feel that film songs need to stick with the rule of “hard rhymes” that Broadway musicals do? Kristen: I tend to be way more of a stickler for hard, square rhymes than Bobby. But I think pop music is moving the bar every day and there will come a point that 100% hard rhymes will sound stilted and old fashioned. Robert: Well, I believe in perfect rhymes too as a rule. But think about it—chances are your favorite song is a pop song that doesn’t rhyme perfectly. Why exclude a whole range of exciting choices? The problem with off-rhymes is that they can sometimes sound lazy—but sometimes they help with a particular effect. A lot of the swear words in Book Of Mormon aren’t rhymed perfectly. When a character is swearing, you don’t really want to hear perfect rhymes. Lin Manuel Miranda’s work shows the potential out there for off-rhymes and new lyric influences. Score: What was your experience like, working on Winnie The Pooh? Kristen: I don’t remember very much about the writing process as we had a four-year-old and an infant at the time. Evolution erases those eras of a mother’s life. I do remember suddenly having to write “The Backson!” while on vacation with the little ones in Fire Island. We really wanted to keep our Disney collaborators happy, so we went to a 100-year-old, wooden, beach-church and they let us use their ancient piano. It’s my favorite moment from that vacation. And I think that’s when Disney saw that we were dedicated team players. The best thing that came out of Winnie The Pooh was that our music team collaborators at Disney, Chris Montan and Tom MacDougall, saw how much we worked on, and how we shape story with our collaborators— and that it’s a huge part of our process. Robert: Henry Jackman, the composer on Winnie The Pooh, is someone we very much admire but sadly I don’t think we ever got to meet. His work began when ours ended. We tend to be working alongside the writer, directors
and storyboard artists as a movie’s story is being shaped, since the songs are integral to the plot of a musical. Score composers come in when the story is pretty much locked. Chris (Christophe) Beck, on the other hand, who did the film score for Frozen, overlapped with us a bit because we were really down to the wire writing songs and changing the story, and we had a wonderful collaboration with him. He integrated our themes into his score in a wonderful way—something score composers don’t usually even do. “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” would not have been the song it was without his work on the interstitial bits connecting each refrain. They really helped the song turn a corner.
thinking, “No, it can’t be that simple,” but slowly realizing it was genius. Prior to “Let It Go” I’d mostly written comic songs, between Avenue Q, Book Of Mormon and our Disney work. It was a bit of a release for me as a songwriter to get to really bite into the pure emotion of a moment and try to land those huge moments of musical arrival.
Score: How has it been working with Disney?
Robert: Well there is certainly a lot less sex with Matt and Trey. (Laughter.) You know, I think the creative process doesn’t change that much for me no matter who I’m writing with. What changes is what we choose to write about. With Matt and Trey, we were really excited to write something laugh-outloud funny, political, satirical, shocking and smart. That’s where our sensibilities overlapped. With Kristen, I share so much personally that no matter what story we are telling, we end up writing about our life together. We’ve written about love and courtship (Up Here), parenthood (Finding Nemo, The Musical), and family love (Frozen). We bring a subversive joy to everything we do, but we’re essentially drawing from the inspiration of our shared life.
Kristen: I love it. I feel so grateful to have been part of this era at Disney. John Lasseter is a master producer/ director/storyteller, and I have learned more about creating story and collaboration than I ever would’ve dreamed. The Disney people really do operate from a place of empowering their creative minds and respecting every voice in the room. Many of our collaborators there have become dear friends. Robert: Ditto! John Lasseter is the man. His genius is on a par with Walt Disney. And he’s seriously fun to work for. Chris Montan and Tom MacDougall are our musical gurus at Disney Animation—without their combined knowledge we’d be lost. Score: How did the writing of your Oscar-winning song “Let It Go” evolve? Kristen: I remember “song-spotting” (which is the process of looking at an outline and targeting specific moments which “sing”) and calling that moment “Elsa’s Badass Song.” We knew we wanted to write the kind of princess song that could redefine some of the more limiting aspects associated with princesses at that time. I also remember the first time Bobby found that opening piano figure. I got chills all over my body and I told him, “No matter what the song becomes, we are using that music.” Robert: And I remember when Kristen had the idea for the title, at first
Score: Being married and having young children, Katie and Annie, we’re guessing, has made a difference not only in your personal lives, but in how you write. Bobby, how is writing with Kristen (Frozen) different from working with Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park and The Book of Mormon)?
Kristen: Bobby likes to remind me that my career got better once we had kids. It certainly gave me a better work ethic and taught me to value every free moment I had to write. Before kids I would put it off and put it off and suddenly Seinfeld would be on at 11 pm and I’d lost the day. Now I’m up, drop the kids, and get to work writing almost every hour from 9 to 5 pm. Sometimes I exercise (but not as much as I should.) I can say with certainty that Frozen would be different if we were not raising two daughters. I would not have first-hand experience with the heartbreaking older sister/younger sister dynamic that inspired “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” I would definitely be a different writer if I weren’t spending every other waking Continued on Next Page 13
Lopez Interview Continued from Page 13
moment of my life puzzling over how to raise kind, happy, productive human beings. It makes you think differently about big dramatic choices, when you are shaping little humans who will make their own someday. Score: How was your time as members of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Workshop? Robert: It was great. I was terrified after graduating college and coming to New York with the dream of writing on Broadway. I had no idea where to start. BMI was the place where I got a clue. They teach you so much invaluable stuff. And even better, it takes you out of your writer’s isolation and puts you in a community. That’s where you find collaborators and friends for a lifetime. It’s where I met Kristen! Kristen: I’ve said this in other interviews and I’ll say it again. For me, BMI was one-stop-shopping for my life. I was a mediocre actress staying afloat with temp jobs and really struggling with my purpose. I knew I always wanted to write lyrics and songs but I had no idea how to go about making that a reality. Then there was this free program that provided everything I was looking for—instruction, examp-
les, and most importantly, community. When I sang my first song in BMI, it was as if the sky opened and a voice said, “This is what you have to do!” I was very lucky to have an extremely nurturing teacher for the first year, composer Skip Kennon. He created a room that was nurturing, supportive, and most importantly safe! I think of him whenever I teach or moderate panels of young writers. It’s such a scary thing to put your work out there and feel like every response to every song determines whether you can call yourself a songwriter or not. It’s really a miracle we make it through those first years. Score: Robert, do you want to talk about Avenue Q? Robert: Always! I guess my most current feeling about it is amazement at how long it’s been running—13 years this March! Funny musicals don’t always withstand the test of time, and Avenue Q takes on so many social issues that have evolved since it came out. And yet the story and songs still seem to speak to people. I couldn’t be prouder of it. Score: This seems to be a year of musicals that deal with social issues, like Hamilton and Fun Home. Do you think musicals with such themes will continue to do well on Broadway—
and do you two have another one up your sleeves? Kristen: We are huge fans of both shows (and all the writers involved) at our house! I want to point out again (and again and again) what a historic moment it was when Fun Home, and the all-female writing team, won Best Musical earlier this year. There are so many hidden biases at work creating a staggering gap in gender parity in our business. The fact that Jeanine and Lisa shattered that glass curtain is huge. I wish we had thrown some kind of ticker tape parade. Which leads me to the second part of your question—when Bobby and I approach characters and story, we are always thinking about social issues. One of the first questions we ask of ourselves and our collaborators when we start a story is “What does this story give to the world?” Especially with our Disney projects, every single character choice has political and social resonances. Robert: Hamilton and Fun Home are two of the most exciting and ambitious musicals to come along in years. They’re the kind of shows that make you return to your own work with renewed energy and exploration. The form continues to grow and change —that’s what makes it exciting to be a g part of.
ASCAP At Ghent
L-R: Lifetime Achievement Award winner Patrick Doyle pals around in Ghent with his fellow World Soundtrack Awards winner Paul Williams, who won for Best Original Song Written for a Film
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The 2015 World Soundtrack Awards winners, L-R: John Paesano, Antonio Sánchez, Patrick Doyle, Peer Kleinschmidt and Paul Williams in Ghent
S O U N D D E S I G N
UVI Vintage Vault Review By Jack D. Elliot
U
VI is a Paris, France based developer of sounds and software for professional audio production.
What It Does, Sounds & Tech Specs:
UVI calls Vintage Vault “The Ultimate Vintage Synth Collection” and I have to agree with them about this package. It includes around 63gb of sounds with a wow! They cover five decades of synth sounds from a lot of famous synths, including over 40 hardware synths and 80 drum machines. There are no emulations; they spent a lot of hours, days, months on extensive sampling of the highest quality. All their presets were created by their sound design team from the real hardware. Note: these guys did an amazing job. You have to use the UVI Workstation Plugin Engine Player to be able to load the sounds. Their player is pretty basic which I enjoy. But it still works very well and is flexible. On the interface for the UVI Workstation Engine you have the main page which has very good graphic interpretations of the original synths and is easy to read. The GUI is not cluttered and not laid out in a bizarre way like some plugins, where your head spins just trying to do simple sound design or automation. It is Mac and Windows compatible including a stand-alone version, AAX, AU and VST running $499. The UVI Workstation Player is a free download. Included are 36 Instruments with over 5000 presets. A SSD Drive is highly recommended since there are so many samples in each preset to make it load faster. The sound is amazing. Here is the huge list of what is included in the package and which synth they created their samples from. They are laid out in groups: 1. Darklight IIX (Fairlight including 3 ver sions—a digital synth, digital drum machine and a creative multi phraser) 2. Digital Synsations (Including 4 synths —Yamaha SY77, Korg M1, Ensoniq VFX and Roland D50) 3. Emulation II (Emulator II—including a synth and drumulation, two beat box step sequencers) 4. Emulation I (Emulator I—including a synth and drumulation, one beat box step sequencer) 5. Mello (Mellotron—famous sound from the 60s and onward)
6. String Machines (11 Vintage String Machines) 7. The Beast (Synclavier—including 2 synths and a drum machine they call “The Best Box” based on FM Synthesized percussion.) 8. Ultra Mini (Minimoog—2 versions, The original 1971 and the newer Minimoog Voyager XL) 9. UVX-3P (Roland JX-3P) 10. UVX-10P (JX-10, MKS-70 and JX-8P) 11. Vector Pro (Prophet VS & Yamaha SY22) 12. Vintage Legends Bundle (6 instru ments including—Yamaha CS Series and DX1, Elka Synthex, Rhodes Chroma and DK Synergy) a. CS-M (CS-70M, CS-40M, CS-20M and CS-01. b. Synthox (Elka Synthex with 3 GUIs —Mod, Edit and Arp) c. Kroma (Rhodes Chroma with 2 GUIs—Kroma Edit and Mode GUI) d. FMX1 (Yamaha DX1 with 2 GUIs— Edit mode and Mod GUI) e. U1250 (K250 & K1000) f. Energy (Synergy with Energy Edit Mode and Mod GUI) 13. WaveRunner (7 Instruments of wave table synthesis) 14. Beat Box Anthology (80 classic drum machines)
All these nice sounds at your fingertips in one plugin make it easier to create in my opinion.
What Kind Of Sounds User Can Expect
The sounds cover the Analog spectrum, from beefy moog basses to 808, 909 drum machines. From old school ’70 and ‘80s synth sounds heard in many R&B records to pop and rock, etc. There is the famous FM sound from the days using the Yamaha DX7. You have the EMU Emulator II that was used in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for his samples of beats with cold and flu noises. The Waldorf famous German wavetable synthesizer sounds are great for everything from trance, house to industrial and rock. It includes a nice Mellotron version for all you Strawberry Fields fans. Many great string machine sounds sampled from Arp/Solina String Ensemble, Crumar Performer, Roland RS-505 and many more. You have the awesome Sequential Circuits Prophet VS. There are a lot of Roland flavors with the MKS-70, JX-3p and JX-10 known Continued on Page 20 15
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Quincy Jones Honored At The SCL Holiday Dinner
uincy Jones was honored with The SCL Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Holiday Dinner which was held on Dec.15 at the Skirball Center. Many luminaries attended and the tributes poured, all with a star-studded lineup which included Dave Grusin, Aloe Blacc, Siedah Garrent, Jim Gilstrap, Greg Phillinganes and company (Harvey Mason, Neil Stubenhaus, Greg Moore and Dave Delhomme). Speeches of love and praise were given by Alan and Marilyn Berman and Norman Jewison. All in all it was a grand evening.
L-R: SCL President Ashley Irwin presents Quincy Jones with the SCL Lifetime Achievement Award On stage, Common rapping to Quincy as he (pictured below) watches on
L-R: Alan Bergman, Norman Jewison and Sidney Poitier
L-R: Arthur Hamilton, Charles Bernstein, Quincy Jones and Ron Grant
L-R: Georgianne and Charles Bernstein, Alan Bergman, Nan and Dave Grusin and Marilyn Bergman
L-R: Dave Grusin and Diane Warren 16
L-R: Jay Cooper, Darrice Richman, David Schwartz and Bruce Miller
L-R: Adryan Russ, Patty Silversher, Dale Alan Cooke, Tracey and Vance Marino
L-R: Greg O’Connor, Bob Leatherbarrow, Lori Barth and Arnaud Dunoyer
L-R: Siedah Garret and Sidney Poitier L-R: Charles Bernstein and Micheal Boddicker
L-R: Quincy Jones with Peter Gordon
L-R: Michael Brook, ASCAP’s Shawn Lemone and JC Dwyer L-R: Thomas Mikusz, Danny Lux, SESAC’s Erin Collins, John Swihart and Chandler Polling
L-R: Scott Hotzman, Roxanne Seeman, Hubert Laws and Arnaud Dunoyer
L-R: Larry Mirisch, Charles Bernstein, Aloe Blacc and Georgianne Bernstein L-R: Mirette Ohman, Beth Krakower and Jonathan Neal
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Writing Songs For Film Continued from Page 1
I am just guessing about this! Usually when I am writing a song I am thinking about myself, how I feel and how certain words and phrases and ideas make me feel David Lang better, or worse. In other words, I love how a song can be a tool for getting at my own emotional life. When working with a director, my emotional life becomes secondary to the emotional life of the character on screen. In Youth, the song had to reveal the feelings of the Michael Caine character and so my own emotional life had to move back a little, which was hard for me to do.” The age old question remains: how did you get the film songwriting gig? Diane Warren says, “I get movie gigs in different ways. The director can call me and ask me to see the film, read the script, and then I write a song; the studio or producer or music supervisor can send me a script to read to see if I am interested in writing a song, or I can be called in to write after the film is shot. With The Hunting Ground, I was contacted by the music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg to write the song. She told me that this film was in development and needed a stellar song to reflect the film’s message about sexual assault and rape on campus. That is what this song is, but it also reflects issues outside of that. It could be about any serious problems that a person has in life, death of a loved one, loss of someone special, among other things.” Danielle says, “I am fortunate enough to have my best friend in the world be Gregg Alexander, who was connected with Begin Again first. He brought me in. Gregg went on to say, “My phone number was given to the director from a mutual friend and he ‘cold called’ and we hit it off over the phone.” David Lang says, “The director Paolo Sorrentino had used a few of my pieces in his previous film, The Great Beauty, and he invited me to see
it at the North American premiere in Toronto. When I met him there he said that he was thinking of making a new film about a composer and he wanted to know if I might be interested in writing the music.” J. Ralph says, “I previously scored the filmmaker’s last Oscar-winning film The Cove.” When asked if the songwriters were given free-hand or if the director gave specific instructions about what they were looking for, Diane told us, “I was given free-hand to write and what I felt was a statement about the message of the film.” Danielle says, “It was both. I think as a writer—to create something unique and special—you need free hand. But there is the script and the story and the emotional needs of the character that in their own way give you specific instructions. It needs to have the songwriter’s stamp however—and that is why the director usually hires a specific songwriter, because he wants their own feel and sound to blend with the specifics of the script and story.” Gregg continued, “The director offered a great amount of creative autonomy which made it all the more intriguing and challenging as we had to be our own quality control gatekeepers before presenting ideas to the director.” J. Ralph says, “I always start off the process with the director having indepth conversations about what the music could sound like and feel like. I then go off and create a suite of themes as a guide. After they hear that, I create the entire score so they can listen to it all at once as one cohesive whole. This is very important so they can see how each element relates to the other. For Manta Ray, written by myself and Antony, I remember Louie Psihoyos and I talking about what the world would sound like without any music or sounds from nature and if there was only one voice left on the planet. If I had to pick one artist to represent the fate of humanity, it would be Antony.” “The great and interesting thing about this film is that, because the music is performed on screen, or because you see the composer thinking about it, the music had to be written before the script could be finished or the actors coached or the shots lined up or the footage edited,” says David Lang. “I had to do everything first,
based only on some rough ideas from the draft script and some conversations with the director. I would ask Paolo for guidance and he would only say that it had to be emotional. What specific emotion, he did not say.” How did all the songwriters handle changes if they were asked of them? David continued, “I made the music with demos and would send them to Paolo, and he would comment on them, and I would make corrections. Almost all of the comments were about his own personal, emotional reactions. I would send him demos of the song and he would email back ‘I am crying a little but I need to cry a lot.’ And then I would have to figure out what he meant.” Diane says, “I am always amenable to making changes for a director or a producer if I feel it betters the song for the film.” Danielle says, “We rolled with it! I am always up for input. It never hurts to try. If the changes are not good—you always have what you had before you made the changes. Nothing to lose.” Gregg added, “That would have been no problemo as they say, but fortunately the director just chose the songs he liked and left them untouched and the ones not chosen were left as they were.” J. Ralph says, “Depends on what is requested and what is possible regarding budget and timeline.” When asked how the songwriters felt about the use of songs in films as opposed to underscore, Diane says, “It totally depends on the movie and what the producer and director want.” Danielle says, “I think they have different roles. However, in Begin Again, the songs were used as underscore, which I felt really worked as it was a really “real” feeling movie, and the production on the songs had a sweeping feel to them already so the music without vocals really worked as score. I would love to work with a composer one day to write melodies for score that can be intertwined with songs for a film one day! That would be a dream.” Gregg says, “Which ever serves the film/scene better. It depends on circumstance. Sometimes you cannot imagine anything other than a song with melody and words (as opposed to underscore) working…such as “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel in Say Anything. Continued on Page 20
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S T U D I O M A G I C
Live Instrument Recording: NAMM 2016 By Bob Leatherbarrow
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ith the demise of many recording studios, many of us are doing more of our work in our home studios these days. Part of that means recording live instruments. Since I am exploring this for myself, I thought I would share some of what I found at NAMM with the readers of The Score. I am not an engineer myself, but have been a studio musician for most of my life. I am used to having great recording engineers take care of this for me, but now that I have to do it, I wanted to find out some of what’s out there. Here are a few things I discovered at NAMM 2016. The most important thing to start with is a good microphone preamp. There is a myriad of choices at all different price points but I found a few cost-effective stand-outs at the show. Black Lion Audio has some fantastic mic preamps for reasonable prices, given their quality. There are three to choose from. The B173 is a single channel preamp in the style of a Neve 1073 for $649 in a half rack chassis. The B12A MKII is the same sort of preamp in the style of an API 312A for a little brighter sound at the same price. My favorite was the Auteur MKII, a two-channel preamp with a sound quality in between the Neve and the API, also in a half rack chassis for $649. Black Lion also does modifications on many interfaces, drastically improving the sound of the gear. On the higher end of the price range are Brent Averill Enterprises. They are reproducing all the vintage Neve modules and mic preamps with the same amazing sound. The 1073, for example, is a 19-inch 1RU rack mount with power supply and EQ that runs $3,135. The Focusrite OctoPre MkII is great if you have an ADAT port in your interface—it is eight channels of focusrite mic preamps in
one rack space, and it is available with or without built-in compressors. Some of the interfaces have mic preamps in them, such as the RME Fireface 802, the MOTU 8M Thunderbolt, which has eight mic pre’s, and in the lower price range, the Presonus Fire Studio Project also has eight mic pre inputs in it. With microphones, again, there are a million choices out there, but now you can get some amazing-sounding microphones for reasonable prices. The Audix Microphones are excellent for miking instruments, especially drums. For example, the DP7 is a full seven-piece set of drum microphones that lists for $1245. This includes one D6 kick drum mic, one I5 snare drum mic, two D2 rack tom mics, one D4 floor tom mic, 2 ADX 51 overhead mics, plus clips, mounts, two windscreens and a road case. Another company that stood out was MXL microphones. These are great microphones for the money. They make vocal mics, instrument mics, ribbon mics, condenser mics, etc. Since you can do so much with a pair of pencil-style condenser mics, I think the MXL603 pair is an especially good choice. Surprisingly, they run around $135 for the pair. This and a good vocal mic, like the MXL Genesis Tube mic (they also make a Genesis condenser model), is a good start to recording lots of things. Of course there are many other companies, like Sennheiser, AKG, Telefunken, Blue, Neumann, Mojave, etc.—but if you are on mic overload and just want to get a good sound for a reasonable cost, I think a few choice mics will do a lot. Again I found plenty of choices out there, but with a good vocal mic, condenser mics for mono and stereo instruments, and in my case, a set of drum mics with good mic preamps, g we are in business.
The most important thing to start with is a good microphone preamp. There is a myriad of choices at all different price points but I found a few costeffective stand-outs at the show.
Warren & Burwell Receive Awards Diane Warren received the Artisan Variety Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival for the song she co-wrote with Lady Gaga called “Till It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground. Other Artisan Variety Award winners included Carter Burwell, for original score for Carol, directed by Todd Haynes.
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Writing Songs For Film Continued from Page 18
Alternately, one could never imagine any song other than “The Theme From Rocky” with its made-to-special-order created horns and soaring uniqueness working as well in Rocky. So, of course, each situation and crucial scene is unique!” David says, “Whichever serves the film/scene better. Songs and underscoring both have their places in a film—one isn’t superior to another. But songs are sung by people, and so we have a human reaction to them— we identify with the singer, subconsciously, and so we are better able to get an emotional connection to the music. When a director needs that and can take advantage of that it is a beautiful thing.” J.Ralph says, “If used correctly they can both be effective. I don’t have a preference.” How does one steer clear from writing the song “spot on”? Diane says, “Spot on is always an issue for filmmakers. I do a song that I
UVI Vintage Vault Review Continued from Page 15
for the lush pads, huge saw synths. For those who could afford it in those days the Fairlight and New England Digital Synclavier II. Many awesome drum machines like EMU’s Drumlator, TR-808, 909, CR-8000, Casio RZ-1, LinnDrum LM-2, Alesis HR-16 just to name a few that shaped the sound of pop music in the ‘80s. Uses
I would say that the bundle is great for any style of music but I think a lot of TV, film and video game composers can use this as a go-to tool for anything from EDM, hip hop, retro to new wave, and ambient. A lot of indie rock or alternative bands can get great use out of this as well. Any producer/composer needing to access almost any Analog sound at extreme high quality sounds can just plug this baby in on a mix and voilá, you are in business. There are a 20
feel could transcend the movie and be recorded and released by an artist as a stand-alone song. That thought keeps me from writing ‘spot on’ songs. I just write the best song I can that hopefully adds something important to the film.” Danielle says “I am not that kind of writer period. I am allergic to ‘spot on’ as a general rule. I always try to find the emotional heart in what I do which usually never involves ‘spot on’ lol!” Gregg says, “By writing a song that speaks to the emotion of a scene rather than the literal actions of the characters…so whether they are walking or running down the street, for instance, perhaps you create from a place of metaphors. In other words, perhaps one may equate running down the street with ‘one’s spirit flying’ and that helps avoid the trap of writing words that equate too strongly with a character’s physical actions. I wouldn’t want to write a song that says ‘woke up, checked my voicemail then drank coffee whilst reading the paper,’ as it may not be the most inspired poetry, as they say!” “I think in film there are two different kinds of music—the music that tells you something you already know
and the music that tells you something you don’t,” David says. “For example —in an action film, when people are running and shooting at each other and you get the running and shooting music, it is there to intensify the feeling you are already having. The music makes an experience that is already exciting even more powerful and more exciting; it intensifies what you already know. The music I am more interested in is the other kind, the kind that tells you something you don’t know yet. In Youth, for example, my song ‘Simple Song #3’ on one level is just a moment when a conductor conducts a piece with an orchestra. Thousands of conductors conduct pieces with orchestras every day, all around the world. When the Michael Caine character conducts his song it could have been just an ordinary moment. The goal of the song I wrote was to fill that moment with competing emotions— love, pride, regret, sadness, nostalgia, hope—using the music to give you an experience you do not know yet, that you are unsure of, and that will remind you of the complicated emotions of a real life.” g J Ralph says, “Meditation.”
lot of other companies that do amazing jobs as well but I do like the simplicity of their UVI Engine with these sounds. If you are slammed like me all the time with insane deadlines you will benefit from this instead of being bombarded with difficult GUIs to mess with.
their buyers and priced it accordingly. I definitely feel it is worth every penny. Plus, it is easy to use.
What Makes This Product Unique
I feel what makes this very unique compared to other bundles out there is that you have so much variety in one plugin which is nice instead of having to work with say four or five analog emulation plugins. All these nice sounds at your fingertips in one plugin make it easier to create in my opinion. The variety of sounds make composing very inspiring, bringing more excitement to new projects because there is so much to play with. As I loaded preset I felt my mojo too and I was excited to compose. It’s like a kid in a candy store. The price is outstanding for what you get with this bundle. I would think it would be double the price for the amount of work that went into this product but they understand
Conclusion
The UIV Vintage Vault has excellent sound quality, great GUI interface, great filters and almost every classic synth ever made. More sounds than you can imagine. You will be a great grandfather or mother by the time you get through all the sounds. They did a really great job of making sure the samples sound authentic, like the original hardware. The only issue I have, which is not a negative for such an awesome bundle, is some presets load a little slowly even on a SSD. But nothing that is not standard with such a large amount of samples per preset. But most do load almost instantly. I am a big fan of UVI products. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves g music. Jack Elliot has created five libraries for Big Fish Audio and has recently been working on a Film and TV Kontakt library.
Recent SCL Events
Nov. 6—Brooklyn. L-R: Moderator Tim Grieving, Composer Michael Brook, Orchestrator David Glen Russell
Nov. 20—Meru. L-R: Songwriter Andra Day, Moderator Melissa Manchester, Songwriter Adrian Gurvitz
Nov. 7—Youth. L-R: Composer David Lang, Moderator Variety’s Jenelle Riley
Dec. 1—Concussion. L-R: Moderator Variety’s Steve Chagolian and Songwriter Leon Bridges
Dec. 16—I’ll See You In My Dreams. L-R: Songwriter Keegan DeWitt, Moderator Chris Farrell
Nov 10.—Seminar: Tracking Royalties. L-R: SCL Seminar Chair Joel Douek, Marty Simon, Moderator Eric Palmquist, Noah Becker Dec. 21—The Big Short. L-R: Composer Nicholas Britell, Moderator Michael Todd Nov. 13— Carol. L-R: Composer Carter Burwell, Moderator Jon Burlingame
Dec. 13—Bridge of Spies. L-R: Moderator Jon Burlingame and Composer Thomas Newman
Nov. 19—The Good Dinosaur. Moderated by Jon Burlingame. L-R: Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna with BMI’s Ray Yee
Dec. 14—Racing Extinction. L-R: Moderator Rachel Perkins, Composer J. Ralph via Facetime
Jan. 11—The Danish Girl. L-R: Agent Laura Engel, Composer Alexandre Desplat, BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross and Moderator Jon Burlingame 21
President’s Message Continued from Page 3
on the violin or cello? Woodwind multiphonics? They are all there on You Tube being demonstrated with proficiency. Last week my dear friend, Bob Bornstein, sent me a copy of his new book, Range, Transposition & Tuning: A Guide for Over 500 Musical Instruments
(publ. Hal Leonard). For the younger members who may not know him, Bob ran the Music Prep Department at Paramount for more than 30 years till his retirement in 2014 and many of us had the pleasure of working with him over the years. Aside from the standard instruments, Bob extends virtually every family by the inclusion of even the most remote, nigh extinct, relatives. His original book was published in
B O O K R E V I E W
Confessions of a Serial Songwriter By Shelly Peiken
Backbeat Books $19.99
This book covers the life and experiences of one of the top professional Grammy-nominated songwriters in the business today. Shelly Peiken wrote “What A Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilara, and “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks, to name a few of her big hits. Being a songwriter is an interesting journey and Shelly takes you on hers. You laugh a lot, you learn a lot, and you really get to feel what it is like to be an “in-it-for-life” songwriter. Shelly talks about the people she has met, the way the business has changed over the years and some of her working relationships. There are fascinating stories g from cover to cover. Definitely recommended reading!
My Tips: Writing for Film and TV By Shelly Peiken When a song of mine gets licensed for a film it’s most likely a song from my small handful of hits (“Bitch,” “What a Girl Wants”). Hits sell themselves because they are recognizable earworms. The audience automatically relates. It goes without saying these are gifts that thankfully keep giving. That said, I am always thrilled to get a call to write specifically for an upcoming TV show or film. And if you do too, here are some things to keep in mind: 1. If the footage for which you’re writing has been filmed already, ask to see it. Any emotion experienced from the “heartbeat” of the scene will set the tone and most always lead you to the place you need to write from. 2. If a brief is all you’ve got, try to talk to the supervisor who sent it. Quite often, in that conversation, come details and tidbits that will give you further direction. One additional colorful idea could be the one that opens the floodgates. 3. Remember, you’re writing to heighten a mood, not describe a scene. You don’t want to hit the nail on the head. If the scene involves, for example, a kiss in a high school hallway, a song called “Kiss in a Hallway” is going to be cringe-worthy. Create an atmosphere that will invite the audience to feel the kiss. 4. Even though there’s a supervisor, a director, and a network you’re trying to dazzle, the person you should want to satisfy most is yourself. If you don’t feel the joy, the tingle, the laugh—that je ne sais quoi—from the song you’re putting forth, how can you expect anybody else to? At the end of the day if you don’t get the gig, at least you’ll have written a song you’re proud of as opposed to losing the gig with a song you weren’t even personally excited g about. But hopefully, you’ll get the gig.
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1964 and Bob has been collecting information to update this edition for well over 20 years. But in 1964 it was somewhat more difficult to experience the sound of a Contrabass Saxhorn, Contralto Sarrusophone or a Crowth than it is today (unless you happened to have a weird uncle who insisted on playing after too much eggnog). But I have no doubt you can find them on the web within a few keystrokes. The Internet has allowed us to hear and study the most exotic instruments and ethnic styles. For those who want to go deeper in the understanding of musical idioms to which western ears are unaccustomed, it’s never been easier. Even if you never have an opportunity to write for the real instruments, the research will serve you well and the ensembles you construct using samples, so much more g convincing.
SCL Premier Partners SCL members can find out the member discount details and how to contact Partners on our website. ALFRED MUSIC AUDIO PERCEPTION BANDZOOGLE BIG FISH AUDIO BLACK LION AUDIO CINEMATIC STRINGS CINESAMPLES COMMERCIAL SCORING WORKSHOP FOCAL PRESS AND ROUTLEDGE MUSIC GORILLA FILM SCORING GRAPHICALLY ENHANCED MANUALS MEGATRAX RECORDING STUDIOS MELROSE MAC MUSIC BUSINESS REGISTRY MY MUSIC MASTERCLASS NOTEFLIGHT PAGU BATONS PC AUDIO LABS PUREMIX THE RICHARD BELLIS MASTER SERIES SAMPLELOGIC SONIC FUEL STUDIOS SONOKINETIC SOUNDIRON SPITFIRE AUDIO TUNECORE UCLA EXTENSION
M U S I C A L S H A R E S
BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
Film Music: The Rules Of The Game
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e live by rules. It may be the rule of the jungle, or the rule of law. But, rules rule. There seems to be a rule, a statute, ordinance, policy or procedure for almost everything we do. There are big rules, like The Ten Commandments or The Constitution of the United States. Then, there are lots of little rules, like how to prune a rose bush, or how much air is allowed in a professional football. We all agree that every part of life— commerce, governance, traffic, manners, or poker—just wouldn’t work without rules. What about in the arts? Should there be any rules when it comes to creating works of art or music? Isn’t artistic creation supposed to be the domain of free spirits, a sort of “rulefree zone”? We hear about revolutionary artists who are “breaking all the rules.” If that’s true, where did those rules come from in the first place? Composers, writers, and artists of all kinds certainly begin their education by learning a lot of fundamental laws. Musical notes, words, color pigments, embrace a particular grammar, and as with any grammar, there are basic directions to follow. But, taking the next step and actually applying that grammar to an artistic outcome, well that’s where the guidelines get a little dicey, more subjective, harder to agree on. Aspiring composers are exposed to a lot of rules. There are countless books about harmony, counterpoint, orchestration and other musical skills, all filled with Dos and Don’ts. Students are usually told that these musical rules were “made to be broken.” A lot of what we think of as rules may more accurately be called “observations after the fact.” That is, the music itself was generally written before the rules were agreed upon. Any rulebook for writing beautiful, meaningful music seems to grow out of the great music itself, and not the other way around. We know that a master of harmony and counterpoint like J. S. Bach didn’t sit down and consult a manual before writing all those glorious works. Bach appreciated the music of the composers who came before him, he copied down the scores of Vivaldi and others, and he applied his own tastes and talents to evolve his new compositions. Later, people found some “rules” buried deep inside Bach’s (and other composers’) music. We now regard these observations of harmonic progression, voice-leading and counterpoint as the law of the land. In the same
sense, Beethoven enjoyed Hayden and Mozart, and then revolutionized the rules of the game, evolving his astonishingly modern later works. In the last century, Schoenberg created a radical kind of music with a whole new set of rules, but he too began with the music itself. As did the recently departed greats Pierre Boulez and Gyorgy Ligeti. They had new ways of hearing and writing music. The rules followed naturally. Composers are discovering ever-new principles—new Dos and Don’ts—buried within their notes. In art and in life, it seems that the best rules simply emerge out of practice, out of our love and appreciation for what came before, out of what moves us, not by formulating some kind of rigid pedantry handed down from above. Any rules for film music have always been vague and difficult to codify. There are probably several reasons for this. One reason might be how very young the art of film scoring really is. Its entire history is not much older than our greatest living practitioner, John Williams. Yet, writing music for film has been around long enough to develop some traditions of “common practice.” I suppose we could imagine our own list of Dos and Don’ts for composing music for the movies. Perhaps we could even list some lofty commandments, like... • Thou shalt not write boisterous up tempo music under quiet dialogue scenes • Thou shalt not write sweet languid music under a tense chase scene • Thou shalt not write a dense 12-tone theme for a romantic comedy Everyone could probably agree that such “rules” might have some validity. But, any list of restrictions or laws would seem to run counter to what most composers actually do and value. If we ask any film composer to name one over-riding principle, we might be told, “If it works, do it.” That’s true. Creating music for films is essentially an intuitive thing. Film composers are generally guided by their direct experience—by a personal, emotional sense of image, story and sound. Each composer may have a different inclination; a particular idea of what musical sounds will complete and enhance the audience’s experience. In some ways, film composers have to continuously re-create (or at least rediscover) the entire aesthetic and magic of
Creating music for films is essentially an intuitive thing. Film composers are generally guided by their direct experience—by a personal, emotional sense of image, story and sound.
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film scoring with each new film. And there are probably very few who haven’t heard a small voice in their head that asks, “What would Jerry Goldsmith do here?” Or, “what would John, Elmer, Alfred, Max, Bernard, Michel, Ennio (you fill in the name) make of this moment?” These questions may point to a kind of Invisible Guide Book when it comes to the art of applying music to film, a tomb too mysterious to actually write down. That is, the legacy of all the great composers who defined the art of movie music. It is they who wrote our rulebook, simply by scoring films so well. Once again, the rules can be found and observed in and through the practice of well-scored films, not in the textbooks. If the abiding law for composing film music is “if it works, do it,” then there should be an important caveat. In film scoring, something can “work” and not necessarily be “good.” This may seem counter-intuitive. Yet, anyone who puts music and film together will quickly learn that a wide range of musical choices can “work” in the
sense that they evoke the needed excitement, romance or sadness. But not all of those choices will necessarily be “good” aesthetically or musically. For example, almost any fast-paced rhythm will enhance a chase scene. So, we might say it “works” with picture. Almost any quiet, sustained string cluster will create suspense. That too may “work,” but it may not be the best choice. There are many lazy and clichéd ways to score a scene, to fulfill function at the expense of content. Tense software pads and rhythmic loops can score a whole film adequately, but will it be good? It’s always possible to write interesting, innovative, inspired music that also works with picture. Too many times, we composers will breath a sigh of relief when a musical idea appears to function well with picture, and we’re only too happy to move on, forgetting that a score can be good sounding, cohesive and dramatically effective at the same time. Function and content. Now that’s not a bad rule to tattoo on the back of our writing hand. Finally, there is the problem of reconciling rules and taste. The two don’t always go together. Maybe film composers should just be guided by their
taste, and not be looking for any rules at all. Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks Coffee, put things this way: “In many cases, the rule book goes way too far…we need recipes, not rules.” That sounds good. Recipes. Our heroes and forebears in film scoring certainly had taste, and fortunately they shared all of their savory recipes with us, film by film. As with Bach, the great taste and the enduring rules were all baked into the cake of their life’s work. That’s a cake that we will always have…and g we can eat it too! © Charles Bernstein 2016 www.charlesbernstein.com
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