# Your best investment as a composer



## ghostnote (Oct 7, 2013)

I'm sorry if a similar thread already exists, I haven't found one.

Title says pretty much everything. I'd like to know: what was your best investment as a composer? 

A sample library? University/music school? A website or a designer for your website? Maybe a lawyer? A book or something completely different?

Please share your experiences and keep in mind that time equals money


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## mark812 (Oct 7, 2013)

Orchestration and composition courses.


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## Arbee (Oct 7, 2013)

This:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Handbook-Arranger-Personal-instructor/dp/0825628075'

By far the best money I ever spent when I started out. Just the facts, without the stylistic dogma contained in many other "respected" arranging books.


.


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## reeltracks (Oct 7, 2013)

a nanny


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## Ganvai (Oct 7, 2013)

Steinberg Cubase 5. Literally, I could not work without!


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## ProtectedRights (Oct 7, 2013)

Cubase or Kontakt, can't decide between the two.

Above that, my piano lessons. But that was not my investment but my parents'


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Oct 7, 2013)

University.


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## Farkle (Oct 7, 2013)

EIS Composition lessons. Hands Down.

Mike


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## Neifion (Oct 7, 2013)

My portable keyboard. Carried that thing from Hawaii to Virginia (not literally, of course!), and it kept my musical soul alive before I started getting serious about composing.


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## jcs88 (Oct 7, 2013)

Probably going to University. Sure I may have been able to learn it all through books and the internet, but the interaction with other students and my lecturers as well as the push and pressure of being taught helped me a great deal. Gained confidence, skill in the holistic surrounding of the composition business and was writing things I never would have attempted. I was subcontracted by an old lecturer recently so I suppose it's had a pretty direct return.


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## EastWest Lurker (Oct 7, 2013)

Tied for two:
1. Going to Boston Conservatory of Music for 4 years as a Composition major.
2. Studying orchestration privately with the late great Albert Harris.

Honorable mention: Buying an Atari computer with Notator SL and some synths.


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## germancomponist (Oct 7, 2013)

Commodore C 64 & Pro 16


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## Stephen Rees (Oct 7, 2013)

Anything and everything that has helped improve my musicianship and craft, and broadened my musical horizons.

You take skills learned and experiences gained with you wherever you go. You can then apply them to whatever instruments or technology you have to hand at a given time.


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## TheUnfinished (Oct 7, 2013)

Cubase. Otherwise I might still be dicking around with a Yamaha RS7000...


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## Guy Rowland (Oct 7, 2013)

1. Symphobia 1 - got me through my first scoring gigs.

2. My humble but invaluable little studio in the garden. Having physical space apart from the house restores the home as a home, and means you can work any crazy hour you need to without bothering a soul. Amazingly cost-effective too.


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## rgames (Oct 7, 2013)

Best investment as a composer: decades of performing live.


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## doctornine (Oct 7, 2013)

Akai S950.


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## RiffWraith (Oct 7, 2013)

germancomponist @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Commodore C 64 & Pro 16




Ha!


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## Greg (Oct 7, 2013)

Cool question! Going to get lots of varied responses I'm sure.

I personally think your best investment is to develop yourself as a human being. Explore, experience life, learn, read.

Kindle your desire to do great work, I think most will agree that their best work comes from a place of pure inspiration.

Being an interesting and inspired person will help you score gigs too and build fruitful relationships to take your career to the next level.


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## wst3 (Oct 7, 2013)

I can narrow the field to three, but really I can't pick from these three as the most important...

1) an investment in time and money: every music lesson I ever took, from every teacher that had the patience to deal with me. They were all different, with different interests and areas of expertise, and I learned something valuable from all of them.

2) an investment of time (especially now that I have a family): playing out - every gig taught me something, when I was mentally awake enough to recognize it. These day I think that interaction with other players has become even more important because it does not happen as often.

3) Plain old financial investment: Garritan Personal Orchestra - ok, chuckle if you wish, but that was the sample library that finally allowed me to mock up my compositions, and by doing so freed me to write more. No library since has had the same impact, although I guess that this would have been true of whatever my first 'complete' library turned out to be.


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## wst3 (Oct 7, 2013)

Arbee @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> This:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Handbook-Arranger-Personal-instructor/dp/0825628075'
> 
> ...



I love this book! Maybe not as complete as some of the others, but it goes get you from point A to point B pretty quickly. I still revisit it regularly.


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## LaurensGoedhart (Oct 7, 2013)

Can we do categories?  

As general best investment, my music education at the Utrecht School Of Arts wins it all, it has brought me a lot of good stuff job-related, and of course taught me a lot about music composition.

Hardware-wise I have to say my AKG P220 mic. It's cheap, not the ultimate mic out there but it sounds great on almost anything. As my studio isn't that big (yet, more "best investments" to come hopefully!), I use that thing a lot.

With software I'm going for Vienna Ensemble Pro. I'm not going for my DAW(s), or even sample libs, because those are replaceable. There's nothing like VEP!


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## Peter Alexander (Oct 7, 2013)

1. The first two years of Berklee as a comp major.

2. Studying privately with Al Harris.

3. Paying for both a new translation of Gradus ad parnassus (German version) and a re-engraving of it.

4. Researching the Professional Orchestration series. 

5. My time on the scoring stage with Jerry Goldsmith.

6. Learning how to merchandise my copyrights.


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## wst3 (Oct 7, 2013)

Peter... well 1, 2, and especially 5 are just cool!

I find #6 to be the most interesting because it is not something I think about nearly enough!


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## Peter Alexander (Oct 7, 2013)

What made that time investment so wonderful with JG was that besides being on the scoring stage, I was given all the cues to several films and selected ones I asked for.


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## MacQ (Oct 7, 2013)

Definitely this Aeron chair.


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## bbunker (Oct 7, 2013)

Best Investment? The Well-Tempered Clavier. Where else can $20 USD (and that's for BOTH books) get you the keys to everything that there is to know about how to write music? 

I guess my Dover Scores of the Beethoven Symphonies are in second place, but those were $40! So...half as good an investment.


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## SymphonicSamples (Oct 8, 2013)

bbunker , the Beethoven yes , my thoughts exactly . You know when I read this thread the first thing that came to mind was when I got my first box set of Beethoven's Symphonies , it changed the way I listened to music . And secondly my Father was a Piano Tuner/Restorer when I as growing up and I had to spend hours tuning pianos in his workshop . Didn't enjoy it as a kid , but I'm grateful for it now


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## ghostnote (Oct 8, 2013)

wow, many thanks for all these different answers. Very interesting to hear all those opinions. And yes, you can do categories  Keep 'em coming!


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## Justin Miller (Oct 8, 2013)

Take the time out of your day to find inspiration from another composer, artist, or whatever. Then it will be easier for you to get through the day


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## Jeffrey Peterson (Oct 8, 2013)

MacQ @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Definitely this Aeron chair.



What kind did you get Mac? I'm in the market for one but I'd like to know where I can test them out.


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## reddognoyz (Oct 9, 2013)

Peter Alexander @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> 1. The first two years of Berklee as a comp major.



Absolutely the best for me as well.

Coming from a non-Orchestral background, the Steve Smalley Arraigning seminar was a great investment as well.


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## Conor (Oct 9, 2013)

I demand pics of MacQ's chair and Guy's garden studio. :D


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## nikolas (Oct 10, 2013)

education


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## Guy Bacos (Oct 12, 2013)

Practice, practice and practice your craft.


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## JT (Oct 13, 2013)

Finale


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## SamiMatar (Oct 14, 2013)

Time and Vienna Ensemble Pro


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## cornelisjordaan (Oct 20, 2013)

As an investment of time, definitely the years I spent performing as an orchestral violinist - getting to know the orchestra from the inside was a very valuable learning experience in terms of orchestration, orchestra politics, what makes orchestral musicians tick etc...

As for monetary investment, probably my very first copy of Sibelius. Sibelius prompted me to compose my first "big" composition with a printed score and everything, which lead to the first premiere of my work, which led to more composition... and... so on...


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## Jdiggity1 (Oct 21, 2013)

First it was a 2nd monitor, then it was a third monitor, THEN it was a Quad HD monitor!!


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## Frederick Russ (Oct 21, 2013)

My best investment as a composer? 

Creating VI Control. Aside from all the other benefits that beings us all together, as a composer personally, I needed to understand the technology of midi mockup and higher production values. Having an entire community of excellent composers and sound designers to bounce ideas and rough drafts off of and the friendships I've been able to develop with those who really get this (not many people out in the world do I've found) is a tremendous asset in my own life. So yes, my best investment by far is VI.


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## TimCox (Oct 21, 2013)

Oh so many things...

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Orchestration-Dover-Books-Music/dp/0486212661/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382371306&sr=8-1&keywords=the+principles+of+orchestration (THIS) I might put at number one.

Principals of Orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov is possibly my most read book when it comes to music. I like the way he compares instrument pairing, it's in a very colorful/impressionistic way.

Tied for number one would be my Mahler scores. Because he showed me how to break every single rule Rimsky *JUST* taught me :lol: 

-Tim

P.S.
First post here, long time lurker! Hey all :D


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## ghostnote (Oct 29, 2013)

many thanks for your input guys! I think studying orchestration will always stand out. btw. great achievement frederick, thank you for all your work!

P.S.
welcome on board Tim


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## EastWest Lurker (Oct 29, 2013)

I would only point out that Rimsky-Korsakov died in 1908 and orchestration changed bait after that.


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## jaeroe (Oct 29, 2013)

Time.... spent checking out music and writing.


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## clarkcontrol (Oct 29, 2013)

My best investment would be the commitment to becoming a dance accompanist. After reading an interview with Elliot Goldenthal; his reply to a question about developing skills for film composing was "play for live theater and dance" or something to that effect.

So 10000 hours later I can safely say that my instincts for film are greatly enhanced. Improvising ballet class (Mazurka, Polonaise, Gavotte, March, Tango), tap class (jazz, rock), and modern class (modal, aleatoric, etc.) has given me tremendous fluency in quickly assigning musical equivalents to choreography I see just moments before playing.

Aside from my education, I would have to say my VSL first edition. Comprehensive instrumentation and sampled legato was a game changer for me.


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## jaeroe (Oct 29, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Tue Oct 29 said:


> I would only point out that Rimsky-Korsakov died in 1908 and orchestration changed bait after that.



i would only point out..... dude, this is the guy's first post. how about we cut him some slack.... (as true as your comment is...)

tim - welcome to the community. i hope you aren't put off by the comment. jay is a generally well meaning guy. please do participate.


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## ETMuz (Oct 29, 2013)

I would say Learning theory(on my own). Learning the chord language and making since of all the notes(scales) on the keys is what has taken me(and still does) to a higher level of complex hearing. Now when I hear music I can process it or write it down as I'm listening. Where as before I just knew shapes on the keyboard. Even though I could always pick out what I heard I did not fully understand what it was I was playing, but know I understand them as Cm7(b5) or D7(#9#5).

Great Thread! Love reading your responses.

And I too want to say the this Forum has been crucial to my learning in the world of Midi.


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