Insights from the 2014 Production Music Conference
On Friday September 12th I attended the first ever Production Music Conference in Culver City, hosted by the Production Music Association. The event included keynotes and panels by composers,...
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“Deep Work” by Cal Newport
I have been a fan of Cal Newport for a long time. The author/mathematician/professor behind the brilliant Study Hacks blog wrote one of the best books I read in 2015, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You”....
View ArticleHow to Plan The Scoring Process
Photography by: Jeshu John A student composer recently asked me for advice on workflow. Here is the response I gave him, which is a brief look at how I schedule and plan a project. It also includes my...
View ArticleAdvice from “Steal Like an Artist”
Photo by fervent-adepte-de-la-mode. Austin Kleon’s little book “Steal Like an Artist” has a lot of great tips about creativity and producing great work. One tip that stood out to me was his advice to...
View ArticleFilm Scoring 101: Naming Files for Clarity
Photo by Victor Hanacek courtesy of picjumbo.com A seemingly innocuous subject when scoring for film is the importance of naming your files. It may not be as exciting as learning how to score an epic...
View ArticleMeasure Minutes Writing, Not Minutes Written
Photo by Mark Morgan There are many examples of famous writers throughout history who set themselves daily writing goals. Usually, this was words or pages; for example, Sir Arthur Canon Doyle aimed to...
View ArticlePresent More Than One Idea
In the beginning stages of a project, getting off on the right foot with the client is crucial. One way to do this is by initially presenting more than one idea, which both increases your chances of...
View ArticleHow To Get Side Projects Done
Photo by Mark Gunn One of the blessings and curses of being a creative person is that I’m always coming up with new ideas. Not only can it become difficult to decide which ones to give my attention to,...
View ArticleThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective Artists
There is a great video of Andrew Price giving a presentation at the 2016 Blender Conference in Amsterdam. It’s long for modern attention spans, but it’s worth watching because there is a lot of...
View ArticleNon-Music Software That Keeps My Composing Career Running Smoothly
Here are 7 apps I use every single day that don’t actually produce any sound, but keep me productive and organized. Things I’ve been using Things for many years. It’s stupidly simple, but the design is...
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