sanctus spotlight: Scott Cairns, film/television composer

Orchestral Composers for Film, Radio, Television, Multimedia, and the Recording Arts:

A Roster of Talent

"...don't be too proud to take on the smaller projects - you learn something from every single job and the small job might lead you onto bigger and better things."

Scott Cairns

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        Performing in various live venues from about the age of 13, by the time he was in his twenties Australian composer Scott Cairns performed as a solo artist and was awarded "Songwriter of the Year" 1994 in Australia. Around two years ago Scott decided to become a composer of symphony, having solid influences from his youth with orchestral composers and trying his hand at television commercials, a pc game called "Blast", a trailer for a new game called "Ash" and some sound design and voice talent for a few projects in the Australian market. Scott also co-wrote a piece of music for "The Real World" - a Matrix Mod of the hit game Max Payne.

        We had the pleasure of convincing Scott Cairns to give us some insights to the composing industry in the following interview.

1. Scott, this is the first time we've interviewed an Australian composer. Your music sounds great! Please tell us a little about the music scene and the challenges faced by film & television composers in the Australian market.

        Thanks :-) I guess the challenges we face here are the same for all composers really. Its a very competitive business and the standard is generally very high. If the economy is suffering we tend to suffer as a result. Clients tighten their belts and we feel the pinch. Its not all doom and gloom though!

        A freelance composer who possesses initiative can always go and drum up some work. The job description of "composer" is actually widening these days. In addition to the more traditional gigs like film and tv, you can also add computer games, mobile games and ringtones, web and multimedia applications and so on.

Scott moved to beautiful Sydney Australia at the age of 21 to further his music career.

In this industry, particularly if you're starting out, I think it helps to not be too proud about the jobs that you choose. I was talking to another local composer the other day, he was telling me how he had just finished the score to a game with a 60 piece Symphony Orchestra. A few days later he was working on a mobile phone game! He doesnt mind as he loves what he does and enjoys the technical challenge that comes along with each and every job. I think this is the attitude you need to have. Its no good to just sit there waiting for a huge project to come along either. It may never happen! I would rather front up to a client when being considered for a position and be able to show a dozen smaller projects that I've done rather than nothing at all.

2. Any suggestions for the young composer wishing to break into the business someday?

Don't follow the rules. I once talked my way into an audition in the boardroom of Sony Australia. I sto od up in front of the record executives and sung and played guitar to them. When I told another musician what I had done, he replied; "How did you do that? I thought you had to go and play live gigs for years first!" and I thought, who ever invented that rule? It was a big eye-opener for me, just because something is accepted as the norm doesnt mean you have to follow it. So try and think outside the box, if eveyone says move to L.A. to be a film composer perhaps do some research on other cities that have a healthy film industry. Hollywood isnt the only place that movies get made. Try and go "against the grain" a bit in your thinking and approach you might be surprised at where work exists for an aspiring composer.

A Sampling of Scott Cairn's mp3 Demos
Ash-Cinematic	Filmic	Underscore	Dark & Brooding

Make lots of friends, both musical and non-musical. Knowing other composers will help if they have too much work or a project that they dont feel confident doing. They might also help you out of a jam one day. But of course, every composer knows other composers so get out there and meet directors, producers, game designers, 3d artists, etc, too! Try not to focus on only writing one style of music, get out of your comfort zone and explore new genres. This will make you a more well rounded composer and will increase your potential job opportunities.

Dont be too proud to take on the smaller projects, you learn something from every single job and the small job might lead you onto bigger and better things.

3. What made you want to compose orchestral music - influences, experiences, and training?

        I've had a love of orchestral music since I was a child. The first piece of music I can remember connecting with was the 1812 Overture. Apparently I used to put my head right next to the speakers and say; "The guns! The guns!" - I was about 4 years old.

        As to what makes me want to compose orchestral music? Well its not the only style I compose in, but it is probably the most fulfilling (and sometimes challenging) music to write. Today's orchestra has been molded and shaped over centuries and is such an exciting thing to watch and to listen to, not to mention write for. (Be it with samples or real players.)

        I am largely self-taught when it comes to music but I recently decided to improve my knowledge of theory and musicianship. As a result, I've been hitting the books for the first time in a while and I will be sitting a third grade musicianship exam in November. There are many schools of thought as to whether or not a musician should receive formal training, Im not sure if I believe that you need to do a degree in music necessarily, but I do think it important to know how to read and write music. (Hence my own theory studies) I mean, how else can you effectively communicate with other musicans if you dont understand the written language of music?

        As for my influences they are quite varied. I love listening to Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, all of the great composers. I am a big fan of our modern day film composers too; Hans Zimmer, Elliot Goldenthal, Thomas Newman, John Williams, Howard Shore. In games I'm a huge fan of Bill Brown, Jeremy Soule, Chance Thomas. All of these people rub off on me musically in some way Im sure.

4. Tell us something about your approach to engineer and mixing and how you're able to get the samples to come alive like in your mp3s.

        I've spent a lot of time learning about EQ, compression, reverb, bit depth, dithering, flangers, phasers, mic polar patterns - you name it! As more and more musicians are a "one man show" these days, I think we need to have fairly solid engineering skills. This is especially true if you are recording live players; What type of mic will I use? Where should I place it? Does the room sound ok to record in?

        In terms of samples though, I'll often play a reference CD of a real orchestra (which can sometimes be depressing!) and try to mix to that sonically. Many film score sound tracks have a lot of bass energy and exaggerated percussion compared to say, a classical recording. So it really helps to understand how to manipulate sound (something I'm continually learning), do I want to feel those bass drums to hit me in the chest? I might try adding some EQ around 40Hz. Could the snares be a little crisper and thinner? I might cut some 150Hz and boost around 6 or 8kHz. Do I want the strings to sound further back? I'll try a low pass f ilter and start rolling off the high frequencies.

5. Where do you see the direction of where orchestral music sampling technology is leading us? Can it replace an orchestra and do we want that?

One of Scott's passions are the Macaws - large South and Central American parrots as shown here.

        I think that the technology is very exciting right now and will of course, only get better. I would like to see the sampling technology improve to the point that you could load one instrument patch, for example a cello, and it would be capable of producing a huge variety of sounds, articulations and nuances. It might even lead to a new midi-instrument being designed so that we can "play" our samples with more expression and feeling than we do now on a midi keyboard.

        As to whether samples will replace an orchestra? I dont think so. For starters, the more realistic you want a piece to be, the more time you have to spend on it, tweaking it and coming to understand it. As a working composer it isnt always possible to spend as long as we'd like.

        I also believe that a part of what makes an instrument so expressive is when a player intimately knows their instrument and can wring so many different emotions and subtleties from it. As a composer/orchestrator there simply isnt enough time in our lives to sit down and learn each and every instrument to that level. And I think you truly have to know a musical instrument on a deep level to master it. I think that what makes music great is when you write a melody and get someone else to play it - a gifted player will always bring something special to your music that you cant easily quantify. Its the same with singers. Ask them to sing some words and a melody that you've writen - some will more or less recite the lyrics and others will sing it in a way that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end! So when you have a room full of players of this calibre, how can samples compete?

6. Please tell us a little about your interests, perhaps something that you may like to do when you're not working on music, and how you are inspired to create.

        I have varying interests; reading, scuba diving, mountain biking, bush walking. I love the outdoors and am often inspired to create when I'm out in it. I'm passionate about what we are doing to our world in terms of pollution and destroying the environment, I'm also concerned about the numbers of species sliding to extinction. I mean when I was a child I just thought that animals were simply "there". I never imagined that we might live in a world where tigers or elephants cease to exist in the wild. This could happen in our lifetime!

        I've always loved Macaws (the large South and Central American parrots). So much so that I once worked as a volunteer for a release program for them in Costa Rica. Today, some species are almost wiped out; Lears Macaw; roughly 80 individuals left. Spix's Macaw; 1 single bird left in the wild (and it hasnt been seen in a while). Sorry! I quickly get fired up about this subject.

7. Where would you like to see yourself five years from now?

        Making music, getting paid well to do it, and to be happy. I had a bit of a diversion from music in my twenties. I flitted around doing different jobs, worked in the I.T. industry for a while, even did a stint in the Army. But I was never happy in what I was doing. It took me a long time to realise who I really am and what I truly love doing.

Thomas Scarbee, sample library developer of Scarbee Professional Audio Tools, had some really sound career advice for Scott Cairns - read to the right.

        I remember the sample developer, Thomas Scarbee saying to me; "if you choose the right career there is - in someway - a place reserved for you. This goes for everyone. The world is full of people doing the wrong jobs - selected for the wrong reasons. If people followed their hearts and chose the right job for them we would all benefit: a happy baker, a happy busdriver, a happy composer etc." So the answer for me, whether its in 5 years or 50 years from now; is making music, and because I'm doing what I love, and being myself, I think the happiness automatically flows from that.

        I feel very blessed to be able to make music for a living. (Even more so considering I didnt do it at all for a while!) Mainly though, I hope to continue to work with talented and creative people - be they musicians or not - and to continually get better at what I do. I would also like to work with a live orchestra, this is an opportunity I haven't had yet.

Scott, on behalf of the staff of Sanctus Angelis, I wish to extend our thanks for your time here, and our fondest hopes for your future optimum career in music. Perhaps we can do this again soon!

        Thank you very much! My thanks to Frederick and the Team for this opportunity.

Scott always welcomes inquiries about his music. Contact him HERE.

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