# Let's define what being a composer is



## TimCox (Jan 19, 2019)

Being a composer is still reaching for CTRL Z when you're writing by hand.

Anyone?


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Jan 19, 2019)

Looking down a lot at a bunch of black and white keys, making choices with fingers, liking a few ideas, hitting Record.


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## Rob (Jan 19, 2019)

Making an image of what you're about to write, finding a balance between heart and mind, having the tools to translate it into music...


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## Phillip Dixon (Jan 19, 2019)

divorced ..twice


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## Light and Sound (Jan 19, 2019)

Being a poet of sound, rather than just words


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## MrHStudio (Jan 19, 2019)

Having no hope of changing a lightbulb


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jan 19, 2019)

Being too scared to not let people rip you off and abuse you.


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## novaburst (Jan 19, 2019)

To organise instrument notes and noise to sound like the piece of musical creation that was in your head or that you have written.


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## Parsifal666 (Jan 19, 2019)

A person who can translate (in a personal yet at least fairly-easy-to-grasp way) his or her inner emotions through the medium of music, thus stamping them indelibly 'pon the clay of time...



or sumpin'.


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## RAdu (Jan 19, 2019)

out of shape,sleepless,stressed,shy creature that lives in the darkness of his studio trying to create something that gives his life a meaning, a porpuse....to find that tune that resonates with his soul and at the sime time trying to pay the bills......


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## C M Dess (Jan 19, 2019)

Dealing with alien life forms who hate me. Damn you lizards!


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## Parsifal666 (Jan 19, 2019)

C M Dess said:


> Dealing with alien life forms who hate me. Damn you lizards!





Uh, don't mind him folks, he's just kidding around. _What_ lizards, right?






 
Dammit! You blew our cover...​


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## Mike Fox (Jan 19, 2019)

Getting wrongly accused of marketing stunts.


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## Kuusniemi (Jan 19, 2019)

Full on procrastination until magic happens.


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## D Halgren (Jan 19, 2019)

YES!!!

oh shit,

NO!!!


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## Parsifal666 (Jan 19, 2019)

HAIL THE LIZARD!


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## whiskers (Jan 19, 2019)

*composer*
noun
com·pos·er | \ kəm-ˈpō-zər \
*Definition of composer*


: one that composes
especially : a person who writes music

/thread


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## D Halgren (Jan 19, 2019)

whiskers said:


> *composer*
> noun
> com·pos·er | \ kəm-ˈpō-zər \
> *Definition of composer*
> ...


A little on the nose, don't you think?


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## whiskers (Jan 19, 2019)

D Halgren said:


> A little on the nose, don't you think?


I've been told I'm a literal guy.


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## leon chevalier (Jan 19, 2019)

Hearing the perfect melody 
Woke up
Forgetting the perfect melody


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jan 19, 2019)

Oh, I got another one:

people who dress like 80 year olds at funerals.


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## Bill the Lesser (Jan 19, 2019)

Rob said:


> Making an image of what you're about to write, finding a balance between heart and mind, having the tools to translate it into music...


...then winding up with something completely different.


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## Desire Inspires (Jan 19, 2019)

Being unknown and broke for his/her whole and then getting famous and making other people rich after he/she dies.


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## LinusW (Jan 20, 2019)

leon chevalier said:


> Hearing the perfect melody
> Woke up
> Forgetting the perfect melody


That's my quality control. Go outside. Come up with a melody. Go home. If it's still in your head, record it. If it's gone, it was no good.


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## TimCox (Jan 20, 2019)

LinusW said:


> That's my quality control. Go outside. Come up with a melody. Go home. If it's still in your head, record it. If it's gone, it was no good.


Or maybe Harry Gregson-Williams is siphoning all your good melodies through lizard mind control beams


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## Tice (Jan 20, 2019)

Being a composer is making air vibrate. Preferably in ways people enjoy :D


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## Saxer (Jan 20, 2019)

Customer of sample libraries


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## Puzzlefactory (Jan 20, 2019)

...in a lot of debt.


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## Polkasound (Jan 20, 2019)

It's really about feeding a kind of hunger in others in a very organic way. It's someone who doesn't merely use what he is given, but gives back to the world as much as he can, and allows the world to analyze every component to maximize how all of its recipient can benefit from such a gift.

Oh wait, I thought you said _composter_. Sorry.


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## Anders Wall (Jan 20, 2019)

I say @christianhenson is spot on when he says "head of department".
He's said it in other vids, I only find this.

And I don't know how to make it play from the right time in the vid, hell I don't even know how to view the time on youtube vids. It's so much easier with bruned in timecode 

Anyhow, the actual composing is a minor part of a composers life, sorry I'm writing about people writing for film/tv/games. There are so many meetings, endless spotting sessions, contacting musicians, writing contracts, signing contracts etc...
On my two latest contracts the Swedish Broadcast Corp had a part where they wanted 10% of my earnings if I ever were to release the material on CD or on Internet (ie youtube / spotify etc...).
Just to be clear, this is something they pay almost nothing for. That I spend days/weeks/months on.
I pay all the musicians, write their contracts, prepare stems and do a stereo mix for them to use.
If they sell the series to other channels I get 1-3% of the... royalties(?)
So, you have to write email, phone lawyers etc...
IE, you are "head of department".

Best,
Anders


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## Michel Simons (Jan 20, 2019)

Polkasound said:


> It's really about feeding a kind of hunger in others in a very organic way. It's someone who doesn't merely use what he is given, but gives back to the world as much as he can, and allows the world to analyze every component to maximize how all of its recipient can benefit from such a gift.
> 
> Oh wait, I thought you said _composter_. Sorry.



Do some composters also suffer from an imposter syndrome?


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## D Halgren (Jan 20, 2019)

michelsimons said:


> Do some composters also suffer from an imposter syndrome?


Composter Syndrome


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## Jaap (Jan 20, 2019)

(Dis)organiser of frequencies.


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## LinusW (Jan 20, 2019)

Anders Wall said:


> And I don't know how to make it play from the right time in the vid


Add #t=8m58s at the end.


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## Anders Wall (Jan 20, 2019)

Tack @LinusW !
/Anders


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## rottoy (Jan 20, 2019)

Four french horns on the right, four french horns on the left.


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## Studio E (Jan 20, 2019)

Faking it until you’re making it.


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## CoffeeLover (Jan 20, 2019)

an odd childish innocence? 
an obsession?
some sort of compulsive desire to manipulate soundwaves
like wanting to play with toys maybe?


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## NYC Composer (Jan 20, 2019)

One who joins a forum and uses “NYC Composer” as a screen name.


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## SchnookyPants (Jan 20, 2019)

Progenitor of emotion.


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## Loïc D (Jan 21, 2019)

Curate and assemble Apple Loops.
Add vocoded lyrics. Autotune at 100% is also an option.
Make a YouTube video with a cool cap on naming yourself as producer (« composer » sounds like old fart).
Bonus : girls on the video.

Voilà 

I just miss the cap and the girls. Any volunteer ?

PS: just kidding. I kinda appreciate the uplifting spirit of those (often very young) producers.


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## NYC Composer (Jan 21, 2019)

LowweeK said:


> naming yourself as producer (« composer » sounds like old fart).


I believe in accuracy.


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## TimCox (Jan 21, 2019)

NYC Composer said:


> I believe in accuracy.


And honestly, NYC Producer could be literally any rapper on soundcloud

also don't look at my soundcloud username


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## NYC Composer (Jan 21, 2019)

I didn’t say I was going for originality-I said I was going for accuracy. The accuracy I was referring is in reference to “composer sounds like an old fart”.

I’ll be 65 this year.


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## mikeh-375 (Jan 22, 2019)

To commandeer, bastardise and sort of paraphrase a well-known composers' thought (can't remember who, but definitely English)

'Never be a composer unless the not doing of it becomes bothersome'.


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## gregh (Jan 22, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> To commandeer, bastardise and sort of paraphrase a well-known composers' thought (can't remember who, but definitely English)
> 
> 'Never be a composer unless the not doing of it becomes bothersome'.



this is true of all artists, it has to be unavoidable, as the social payoff is unlikely so if you do not feel all that compelled then, why bother?


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## mikeh-375 (Jan 22, 2019)

gregh said:


> this is true of all artists, it has to be unavoidable, as the social payoff is unlikely so if you do not feel all that compelled then, why bother?



Yep, many of the greats (and even lessers tbh), have stated they feel compelled, almost without choice, to create. It seems as though we (or some?) are hard wired for art (self expression) as much as anything else, given the right circumstances.


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## tokatila (Jan 22, 2019)

"Bro, not cool. Not cool."


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## mikeh-375 (Jan 22, 2019)

tokatila said:


> "Bro, not cool. Not cool."


?


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## robgb (Jan 22, 2019)

Someone who writes music.
See?
That wasn't hard.


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## Akarin (Jan 22, 2019)

A composer? Today? Well, it's someone who writes music, is an IT tech, a mixing engineer, a salesman, a PR rep and a lawyer... ...and then (except for the lucky few), sleeps a couple of hours and goes to the day job.


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