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Mark Northam -- the myth of the "working composer"

Hi Kid,

Bearing a personal agenda or even preconceptions into conceiving music for a show almost always weakens one's thinking. So whether that agenda is the secret desire to "emulate" some other piece of which one is enamoured, or a wish to use a project as a bridge to somewhere else -- these kinds of feelings or goals make the writing worse every time, not better.

But there is an exception to the "agenda" or preconceptions, one that makes the music better every time, and it's live players. For me, it's the one element that I find always makes the music sound more personal, more moving, more effective, and more differentiated from the mass of music out there, much of which is produced these days solely with electronics. It brings the viewer closer to a living, breathing character and endows him or her with an imaginative, psychological dimension toward which all the samples on earth may labour mightily but struggle to deliver.

So if anyone asks whether I have preconceived notions about film and tv music, that would probably be the one -- even if it's a couple of soloists.

The rest of it -- pots and pans -- have used them in a fight scene and it was very punchy.
 
JohnG @ Sun Aug 08 said:
So if anyone asks whether I have preconceived notions about film and tv music, that would probably be the one -- even if it's a couple of soloists.
Click to expand...

and you're only allowing one of them to be a piano player :)

As much as I love my virtual instrument toys, it's just so much nicer having real players, even my own playing :oops:
 
I hear you guys...

Generally, I believe that it's true that live players will lend those human qualities. I can think of many solid examples of that.

Just...I'm not yet convinced that it'd be the right choice for my show, but it might be. I'd really love to make a case for live music in order that the composer is able to stretch in that way, but I ultimately have to think about what's in the best interest of the show.

One thing I know for sure is that orchestral/piano [especially strings played in any traditional sense] is the wrong way to go with this show, as it would make the show feel dated. It would be tricky to find the right music for this show, as it's got to feel modern and fresh w/o feeling tech-y, gotta feel organic. So, if there's a way to arrive there through live players I would be open to it. I just can't immediately think of what that instrumentation would look like. I can't even think of music that I feel is close. So, it really would be a venture of 'finding' the right music based on the composer reading the script and the 'leave behind' and us sitting down to talk about story themes, motivations, characters and buzz words to really make sure that the composer understands the show from top to bottom, and from there finding the music through trial and error - because I 'get' that the music for this show hasn't been written yet. I don't expect to hear the music in someone's body of work, only clues that they are the right composer/sensibility.

An aside: Likely the best aspect of working with me would be that the composer could send me really rough, unpolished sketches and I would know immediately if I liked where he was going. The composer would know that I "get" the process, that I'm not gonna panic over hearing quick sketches. I believe this would allow them to feel more comfortable in that regard and it would cut down the composer's work load so that most of his time could be spent writing - writing cues we're not going to throw away.
 
Btw - the other aspect is convincing the network that live music is the ONLY way to go. First the composer would have to convince me [another composer/creator of the show/producer and who is fairly opinionated] then comes me convincing the network this is the ONLY choice that makes sense. That's a fairly large obstacle to circumvent. Not only does the music have to blow me away it's got to be the RIGHT music for the show, in a blatantly obvious way. So obvious and great that a network exec would say "Yes, we agree that no other music would work."

If the network didn't go for it the composer would be left to decide how much money he wanted in his pocket. Maybe I would kick in some cash out of my own pocket if I was adamant that it was in fact the best way to go with the music if the network wouldn't pay for it [maybe I'd kick in a $1,000 per episode - you didn't hear that from me] but the rest of it would fall on the composer's own fees.

In a perfect world every composer wants to write for big orchestra, but it's not always the best choice [money aside] from even a purely creative standpoint.
 
BY MARK NORTHAM: "Your point about free music is good, but we’re our own worst enemy in this regard. Even the current AMCL unionizing group is afraid to put free music on the agenda, and when the previous AMCL organizing group negotiated a deal with the WGA where they would support composers in saying “no more free music”, the “new” AMCL organizing group put the agreement on ice indefinitely as part of their “benefits only” single-minded push. Can you imagine when a (wannabe) labor union isn’t even willing to speak up about its members being asked to work for free as a condition of employment? But that’s how scared and intimidated many composers are today, and until our leaders are willing to actually stand up for not having to work for free (I’m amazed I’m actually writing this!), we will continue to be used and abused."

Thing is, it's not just composers the industry wants free work from. Now that I'm a writer/show creator [on paper, meaning that's what my deal says] I can tell you that I've still been asked to do free work. It comes as "this will help all of us." And maybe it will. But it kinda stings knowing that the particular work I've done doesn't have [in my mind] anything to do with the deal. And in a logical sense, the peeps I'm working with never do any work they aren't paid for. It's always the artist who is doing free work in one regard or another.

Although...I do stand to make far more money than the people I'm working with. It's weird that way.

And in film you may have gotten a deal for, say, $500,000 against 1Mil and the younger producer you're working with only makes $350,000-$400,000 a year. Here he's your boss but he's making less money than you. And he may ask you to do a pass on the script that isn't covered in your deal, which amounts free work which will "help all of us." So, maybe you just do it in order that the studio doesn't need to get involved again to cut you another deal whereby you're maybe raising red flags [i.e. Studio asks "What's the problem with this writer/script? Maybe we need to go a different direction."] Sometimes it really is in the best interest to just do the free work. And sometimes you're making more than your boss.

This is a strange business that doesn't always make perfect sense.
 
It helps everyone to have the audience fall in love with a show. Live players do that better than sample libraries. I've seen it happen several times, with as few as two players. Good players, to be sure.

The trick is educating the producer, getting them to see that 1% of the budget makes sense here. Showing them live sound is attractive, has more emotional impact. Some people know this just from seeing what their favorite shows do.

In the end, the call on music is based on how it makes you feel. I get more work showing live music than from showing mock-ups.

Yes, you can score a show with all electronics, or no music at all. Depends on the story and how you want to tell it.

This is a risky business, place your bets on something you believe in. (IMHO)
 
David Story @ Mon Aug 09 said:
This is a risky business, place your bets on something you believe in. (IMHO)
Click to expand...

That's exactly right. After all, ask yourself why THIS project has any more merit than THAT project. The answer is simply that THIS project has more folks who believe in it than THAT project. These films and TV shows are merely ideas until they are no longer ideas but realizations [films/TV shows]. Much like politics and science.

Can't under estimate the power of suggestion. If I'm convincing enough in my claims that my work is something you must finance, suddenly it becomes that thing that others believe has merit. At a certain point you've reached the "tipping point" whereby there's no stopping the snowball as it throttles down the hill picking up momentum and girth with each rotation.

That's how projects get made. Hard to find that momentum when you are on the fence about your own project. Hollywood buys and makes "PASSIONATE VISION" not screenplays.

...Which, by the way, is part of the reason some of these films suck ass. Some of these dudes are better salesmen than they are closers.
 
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