Media Music: only got a degree in Jazz Composition - I lack the knowledge and it's getting frustrating.

[Ray]

So, a year and a half ago I got on the Media Composition road with an optimistic attitude, thinking that I could study this on my own.
I don't have enough money for a degree or even for online courses (for the time being), so my strategy was to just listen to the best media music out there: BBC documentaries, DW documentaries, Spark, etc.
Although I find I improved my compositon techniques and musical ideas through these audition sessions, I didn't improve significantly.

My question is, do you think I'm just wasting my time by listening to these soundtracks, and is a course really necessary for Media Music?

* Note - I'm only referring to the actual music composition - how to build something that sounds good - and not to the tricks of the trade (VI programming, etc - those are quite easy for me to grasp from YT videos).

Thank you!

Click to read more...

 

[cmillar]

It looks like you live in England....

...so, I'd recommend getting in touch with VI forum member Mike Hewer, a composer who made his mark composing media music in London and is now devoting his time to writing his own music that he wants to compose.

He's done it all, and I'm sure he could guide you in the best direction. Check out his website and listen to his music:

Home | Michael Hewer - Composer

 

[GNP]

So, a year and a half ago I got on the Media Composition road with an optimistic attitude, thinking that I could study this on my own.
I don't have enough money for a degree or even for online courses (for the time being), so my strategy was to just listen to the best media music out there: BBC documentaries, DW documentaries, Spark, etc.
Although I find I improved my compositon techniques and musical ideas through these audition sessions, I didn't improve significantly.

My question is, do you think I'm just wasting my time by listening to these soundtracks, and is a course really necessary for Media Music?
Note - I'm only referring to the actual music composition - how to build something that sounds good - and not to the tricks of the trade (VI programming, etc - those are quite easy for me to grasp from YT videos).

Thank you!

The best "lesson" you can ever get is to be able to read what your clients want (as musically-dumb as they are). That's media music for ya.

 

[José Herring]

So, a year and a half ago I got on the Media Composition road with an optimistic attitude, thinking that I could study this on my own.
I don't have enough money for a degree or even for online courses (for the time being), so my strategy was to just listen to the best media music out there: BBC documentaries, DW documentaries, Spark, etc.
Although I find I improved my compositon techniques and musical ideas through these audition sessions, I didn't improve significantly.

My question is, do you think I'm just wasting my time by listening to these soundtracks, and is a course really necessary for Media Music?
Note - I'm only referring to the actual music composition - how to build something that sounds good - and not to the tricks of the trade (VI programming, etc - those are quite easy for me to grasp from YT videos).

Thank you!

Best thing is to post your music and then get some feedback. Media music isn't some special brand of music but it is a combination of many kinds of music. Whether you lean towards more John Williams (Pop, Jazz, Classical) or Hans Zimmer (Synth, Rock, Classical) ect.... If you study anything study how the guys that really make it put together musical cues.

You don't really need to go to school for it, I know few people that actually studied "media music".

 

[SillyMidOn]

I've got a jazz degree as well ... and I write a lot of trailer music these days, and generally consider myself a media composer, as I do library music and film scoring as well. When you have a more traditional music degree, be that classical or jazz, you don't get taught any production skills, what an eq is, what a compressor is, how to use it, how to mix, how to make virtual instruments sound realistic etc etc. You can figure all of this out on your own - as a jazzer you should have a REALLY good ear, which means you can work out what it is you are missing. There are also tons of videos online where you can glean useful info, sure, there are a lot of duff ones as well, but it can be done.

 

[muk]

+1 to what José and @SillyMidOn wrote.

My own take is that studying other pieces is important. Writing your own is more important still. The first pieces you write will not be good. Hang in there and write more. If you have a track or two that you think are at least ok, get some feedback. Do this for long enough, and your tracks will improve steadily. No need to take courses for that. You can learn this on your own. Actually, you have to learn this on your own. Because, taking courses or not, you need to put in the work and write a lot of music to improve.

My advise would be to study the best pieces in the field as you are already doing. Then 're-composing' them. Meaning writing your own track with the same mood and the same structure, but filled with your own ideas. Step by step you'll learn what works and what doesn't, which of your ideas are worth pursuing and which aren't. Then you can gradually shift to writing your own pieces that don't follow a guideline track closely. If you start to feel at least a little confidence about a track you wrote, get some feedback from trusted people. The feedback should be kind, but also honest.
Then it is rinse and repeat, probably for quite some time. Eventually, you will get to a point where it will be feasible to submit your tracks to production music libraries.

At least, that's what my own path in media music looked like. I do have a background in musicology, and I learned to write and produce media music myself in the way described above. No courses taken, and I had no other information or help than what is available on the internet for free.

Good luck to you and enjoy the journey.

 

[kclements]

Write. Write. Write. Write. Write*.

*All the advice you get may or may not be helpful. But none of it will be useful if you don’t spend a vast majority of your time writing.

 

[Ray]

It looks like you live in England....

...so, I'd recommend getting in touch with VI forum member Mike Hewer, a composer who made his mark composing media music in London and is now devoting his time to writing his own music that he wants to compose.

He's done it all, and I'm sure he could guide you in the best direction. Check out his website and listen to his music:

Home | Michael Hewer - Composer

I live in Romania, actually. That was funny.

But thank you so much for the advice and for mentioning Michael Hewer. I'll see what I can pull out of this!

 

[YuyaoSG]

Oh, please don't give up. Actually, a lot of people want to study Jazz, but only wandering around the door of Jazz. I believe you are very talented, you just need some time to find the right direction.

 

[ed buller]

it's a tricky question as "media music" is a huge thing. There are so many types. And the stuff that can make you a living is just as varied. A friend had a decent few years off a Drone !...and My biggest paycheck came from something I slapped together in 30 mins. So in all honesty at the entry level all I can say is write.

You can do this two ways. And you can do both !.

Number 1: Pick ten pieces of music you'd like to be able to write. Music that you wish that you understood fluently. Make them reasonably short. No Longer than 5 mins to start with.

So about 9 years ago I decide that producing records was coming to an end as Lucrative career and wanted to get into media music. I loaded this up into Cubase.



And then spent about a month trying to copy it. The goal was to learn as much as possible. A month later I had a pretty decent clone that fooled a friend who was a TV composer...Job Done. In the process I learned How the harmony worked, How the textures where applied . I picked up some fundamentals Like "Chromatic Mediants" and "Chord Planning".

I did this with other cues and pieces too. Over the course of the next three years I spent a lot of time replicating all sorts of music. From Zimmer to Faure.

Number 2: give yourself a job. Pick a briefe, ( shampoo commercial ) and give yourself 4 hours to write a 30 second piece. Then imagine that the client suddenly wants "Reggae Elements"....Add them.....then..."Actually could you do this tune as a Viennese waltz ? "...and so on. Do this a lot !...test yourself. Imagine being asked to make it "More medieval" ????

A huge part of the Job is writing to order.


Lastly and really really important . ALL the music you write for this Job is just serving a purpose. It's to be used to enhance usually picture and dialogue, It's NOT supposed to function in isolation. If It does...bonus...but THAT is NOT it's purpose. So ALL that fancy voice leading and beautiful resolved French 6th chords just don't matter.

However !.......they might to you. So get good at the music you want to write....but don't be upset if no one wants it !!!!......be able to give them what they DO want

best

ed

 

[babylonwaves]

think of media music as something that directs and drives emotions. to me, it's all about that, not so much about the "classical" aspects of music. of course you can combine both but in order to tap into medial music, always ask yourself one question first: which emotion do I want to create. what does the content I'm composing for needs?

once that's clear, you can get into chromatic mediants and all that. okay, maybe I simplify a bit too much. I don't really know what you already know ...

 

[Ray]

Then 're-composing' them. Meaning writing your own track with the same mood and the same structure, but filled with your own ideas. Step by step you'll learn what works and what doesn't, which of your ideas are worth pursuing and which aren't.

This is spot on. Thanks a lot, never thought about it, but it makes so much sense.

 

[Blackster]

Hi Ray,

I also agree that writing music is probably the best thing you can do ...

Also, please don't miss to hop on the (free) "Composition From Scratch" workshop right here:
(broken link removed)

Composing for media is 100% about storytelling, and that's exactly what we focus on inside the Music Interval Theory Academy. I read that you said you can't afford any expenses, fair enough, hop on the workshop, and get some valuable information this way right now, it's free.

And if you find this useful, please get in touch with me as I might help you even further.

 

[Ray]

think of media music as something that directs and drives emotions. to me, it's all about that, not so much about the "classical" aspects of music. of course you can combine both but in order to tap into medial music, always ask yourself one question first: which emotion do I want to create. what does the content I'm composing for needs?

once that's clear, you can get into chromatic mediants and all that. okay, maybe I simplify a bit too much. I don't really know what you already know ...

That's really good advice, thank you. It's true that I sometimes forget about the emotional aspect, as I tend to focus too much on the architectural process.

 

[Jimmy Hellfire]

Wait. You got a jazz degree? What else do you think you need? Media composition is painting by numbers and you should be equipped with more than enough knowledge to easily get that stuff down. Just write and write again, listen, compare, analyze, write. Maybe transcribe a thing or two. Write.

 

[Blackster]

Wait. You got a jazz degree? What else do you think you need? Media composition is painting by numbers and you should be equipped with more than enough knowledge to easily get that stuff down. Just write and write again, listen, compare, analyze, write. Maybe transcribe a thing or two. Write.

Well ... I'm not quite sure if a degree in Jazz Theory teaches you musical storytelling. Probably it totally depends on your teachers and mentors, but I would not take it for granted.

We all saw musical geniuses with no degree at all and the opposite as well. But I totally agree with your last line above!

 

[Ray]

Wait. You got a jazz degree? What else do you think you need?

Unbelievable, right?
But I tell you, being used to mainly listening to the piano (went mosly piano solo), or at most, the piano, the voice, bass and drums, that's few instruments. Now what about trying to make a piece of music with around 15 instruments (and that's nothing compared to professionals)?
I don't know how to work this out, I just don't have the kind of lasting attention that is needed to make horizontal progress with 10 / 15 instruments at once. I can barely do my thing with 5 instruments (I could only now pinpoint where the problem actually lies).

How do you do that? Seriously.

Thanks for the kind comment and advice, though. Will keep on writing.

 

[Blackster]

I don't know how to work this out, I just don't have the kind of lasting attention that is needed to make horizontal progress with 10 / 15 instruments at once. I can barely do my thing with 5 instruments (I could only now pinpoint where the problem actually lies).

How do you do that? Seriously.

You asked the question, I'll give you an option.

The Music Interval Theory Academy teaches you EXACTLY how to do this!
Have a look at it, seriously, it's gonna help you a ton!

Music Interval Theory Academy

We teach a transparent and proven methodology that will help you define your unique musical voice and raise above the generic sound of everybody else.

musicintervaltheory.academy

 

[Ray]

Best thing is to post your music and then get some feedback. Media music isn't some special brand of music but it is a combination of many kinds of music. Whether you lean towards more John Williams (Pop, Jazz, Classical) or Hans Zimmer (Synth, Rock, Classical) ect....

Thank you for the feedback.
I actually rarely get my music out there, if it doesn't reach a certain level of "acceptable" I deem it as not worthy. But I'll try to post more.

If you study anything study how the guys that really make it put together musical cues.

This is what I'm trying, but since I don't have access to higher education/professional online courses (yet) in this field, I'm confined to audition and rendition only. Do you think this will be effective in the long run?

 

[Ray]

You asked the question, I'll give you an option.

The Music Interval Theory Academy teaches you EXACTLY how to do this!
Have a look at it, seriously, it's gonna help you a ton!

Music Interval Theory Academy

We teach a transparent and proven methodology that will help you define your unique musical voice and raise above the generic sound of everybody else.

musicintervaltheory.academy

Thank you! Will check this out.