Everytime I listen to Austin talk, without fail, I either find myself getting smarter due to his wisdom or laughing at something funny he said. Thanks for what you do man!
For the last question, I can't help but remember an interview or a album documentary of Misha Mansoor (periphery), in which he said a song is never finished, it just get abandoned (or something along those lines), and to be honest it is a pretty though desition and it's true, you can't get stuck on making that one thing perfect and free of our own standards and external validation. It's a good thing to cringe while looking back to our earlier work because that means we got better :)
orchestration video 👏orchestration video 👏orchestration video 👏orchestration video... ahem .. Fantastic video Austin! your insights always give me such huge scope and perspective to this craft that are so invaluable!
A few days late to the party, but if you ever find yourself saying “…I could make an entire video about that..” the answer is yes, I’d like to see that.
Oh my God... I was mostly listening but not entirely watching this video while doing some other things, but happened to look up when you moved the camera and I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw the full Krull score. I'm now trying to figure out if I can find the $80 to order it. I play music with a combined school and community orchestra in NH. For a number of years now, I've been the creative director on a series of concerts featuring music from genre-based film, TV, and video games synchronized to live-cut video. It's a ton of work, arranging much of the music myself and creating all the video clips, but it's enormously rewarding. In any event, the director of the group and I have discussed the possibility of playing a single full score accompanied by the film itself at some point in the future and the one I always mention is Krull. I think it would probably melt the brass players' embouchures, but it's one of my all-time favorite scores. The film itself was probably my favorite, back when I was just a wee lad and HBO played it 3 times a day. Thank you so much for your content in general. I've been teaching a class on film music, with lessons on TV and video games, and your videos are a wealth of information. Your accidental reveal of the existence of this published film score for Krull may take the cake though. You couldn't possibly know how excited I am. Cheers.
As always, your eloquence and candor are much appreciated, Mr. Wintory. In this video, you answered a question about validation. As someone who is naturally quite uncomfortable and distrustful of praise, I was curious if you can give any advice on navigating input from others. I'm sure you get a lot of faceless comments like anyone in the public eye, but more specifically, can you comment on receiving praise or criticism and if it's different for you when coming from different sources, like friends or family, other composers or colleagues you respect, etc. PS I've been a fan of the Alien franchise for decades and I flipped with excitement when I heard you were the composer for Fireteam. Made what would have been an "I'll play it when I get to it" kind of title to a day one purchase. Your work did not disappoint. Thanks again!
I definitely relate to Vanessa Raeder’s question about coping in-between gigs! But I spent a lot of time in therapy helping me learn to cope with those feelings so I can at least speak to my own struggles. Most importantly when it comes to mentally coping, I think one needs to make sure they can separate their self worth from their work. This is again from my own personal experience but I’ve always found it easy to let things come crashing down if I don’t get picked up on a project or if I’m left with a gap between writing gigs (which happens a lot, to be clear), and to get caught up in thoughts of doubt or spiraling depression about the future. It’s often not a reflection of your music’s worth, and it’s certainly not a reflection of your own personal worth, to be without work for a while, and taking that feeling of rejection to heart is going to have to be dealt with on a day-to-day basis by being conscious of it and making the active decision to push against it. (To be clear, even when I HAVE work I can struggle with these feelings) We all seek some amount of validation from our music, that’s a part of why we write it, but it’s important to have people in your life to ground you and avenues in your life to feel good about outside of that to help you cope. I started posting my own remakes from my favorite video game soundtrack to UA-cam to help keep me busy, and feel like I was being active with my creativity. Side projects like that can help keep you motivated and productive during down time. Financially? Yeah that’s another can of worms. I work a couple part time non-music jobs and I’ve been lucky for the last several years to have also worked part-time with an orchestration team that I think does fantastic work on some very big projects, and being able to make part of my income off of music related work is a nice feeling, even if it’s not literal writing. Though I make enough to stay alive and that’s about it, tbh. I found my current non-music jobs over time, I like to drive so I work delivery mostly. It can actually be pretty relaxing. Find something like that if you can, not literally driving, just something that’s not so bad that you can at least tolerate and make ends meet the best you can. Wow this became a long comment!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is a human being, full of differences, defects, qualities. But not all of us know how to say and accept that we have such differences. This is where you Austin, are a human being in its "perfection". Thank you Austin.
Hi Austin! I would love to see all the videos ideas that you mentioned, it would be a joy to get more insight about those topics. My question is, As someone unable to go to the US (Financially) and wanting to pursue a career as a composer (mainly in videogames) what would you advice to me, and others in the same scenario? I have been doing game jams, and meeting amazing friends there. Also wanted to speak with some other composers in the industry but i always felt discouraged to talk to them, as i feel i probably would be a nuisance to them as someone with no background. Maybe it sounds very negative hahaha but i'm honestly curious about those things and wish you much luck with all your projects! Thanks for all your videos! :)
about seeking originality when you compose, I think a solution can be composing a little more with music theory and a little less with pure instinct. I think when you end up with a composition that sounds similar to some other music, it's often related to the fact that you let your instinct compose, you tried out things randomly and wrote them down. What I did to overcome this problem was to use more music theory concepts that might be far from my influences, that way I wouldn't end with unoriginal music, and it kind of worked until now. Don't know if i'm being clear there, but basically when I just sing a melody to myself and decide to make it a piece of music, I'm pretty sure I will end up realizing that I wasn't the first person to invent that melody.
While it took a while for me to 'build' (for lack of a much better term) this solution, what has helped me tremendously through the many, many instances of self-doubt and career-based anxieties is my group of friends and acquaintances who are also working towards a career in composition/game audio in general. Having a community that you can surround yourself with, that is welcoming, supportive, and all those wonderful things that we need from a community, can be immeasurably helpful in wading through rough patches in your career; and even in other aspects of your life. The only downside to this solution is how long it can take to properly, 'build,' this kind of a community. It takes a long time to make friends, good and genuine friends that will have your back regardless of what's going on in your career or life. So, in a way, the solution to the problem of patience is...more patience.
Thanks as always for your perspective Austin. I too would love to see longer videos covering the broader areas you mentioned above - always find workflows and personal quirks/best practices really insightful! My feeling is that the rights one would be particularly impactful, as that is where everyone - not just composers - stands to benefit. This knowledge not only equips composers to protect their rights appropriately, but also educates game developers/film studios/other creative partners as to how exactly the rights work. I feel that difficult negotiations do not always arise from malicious intent - on the other hand, they stem more from not fully understanding all the complex mechanics. As you say, it's easy to get your head spinning (at least that's true for me!) - the more one dives into that area, the more confusing it gets. It would be great to get those knowledgeable legal and territory-specific perspectives you mentioned. If we composers are well equipped to value our services and rights appropriately, we can make more of each opportunity that comes our way; hopefully that in itself will play a small part in helping with the "patience".
“It may be a little technical for the typical viewer of this channel” I don’t have any knowledge about music composition or advanced theory; I just played trombone and sang while in high school. I’m no less interested and engaged in the content you make. 🙂 Also I appreciate the Pode music in the background 🙂
I binged every installment of "You Gotta Hear This" in just a few days, but it seems the series has stopped. Please tell me there will be more of those; I'm totally addicted!!
My question is: You made an album of unused tracks a few years back called Remnants, would you consider doing a sequel if you have/write enough tracks? We always want to hear more of your music! Yours, Terrayuna
Austin, your scores and videos are always the thing that warms my heart. Is there any information on when we can expect your Aliens: Fireteam Elite score to be released?
I just write these comments so that you KNOW how much you mean to us as a mentor. I am just speechless. I will think about these when I feel lost about what I am doing in life and where I will go. Thank you!! And YES, two hundred times YES, please do the orchestration video!!
This was a great Q&A! (And not just because you answered two of my questions :-D ) That color blindness analogy was great, and vulnerable! I really hope you do end up making that video on interactive scores and the middleware that helps with them. It's still a way of composing that offers a lot of new ground to cover, which makes it very exciting to me! I much resonate with what you said about getting the tools that enable your imagination, rather than to imagine within the confines of what a program or piece of hardware 'naturally' does. Especially modular synths really pushes me to think in that way as you have to wire them yourself. It doesn't do anything in it's default state.
I looked up Dying Light 2 recently and saw that Olivier Deriviere is the composer. I remembered your conversation with him, and I’m very interested to see what the result of his passion for dynamic music systems is. Take that as my +1 for a video about wwise and the like. I also think it would be interesting to hear about how you collaborate with developers that aren’t a part of the sound/music teams. Anyway, thanks for continuing to do these!
Great video as always! As an academic, I am firmly planted in the worldview of research being king. I've been at the university level for ten years under lots of different positions and roles (and believe you me I cannot WAIT to be done 😂). I approach music through this lens, with careful research and meticulous preparation. Combining this with the story mentioned earlier in the video regarding Goldsmith's compositional variety: What are some ways to better research music styles? Is it as simple as sitting down with texts and following along? Is it precise mark-up followed by practice? I know there's no single answer since the question is wildly open-ended but I'd love to hear different philosophies on this subject!
This was such helpful. Often I asked myself the question when do I arrive/or have the sense of I have accomplished it. It is so valuable to hear a professional composer give his honest/down-to-earth view on this. And I love your point that it is somehow a human state that we all have to deal with. Quite often I feel that as a child things were a lot easier. We created and deconstructed without the hint of a bad feeling. It was commonplace to grow and a free form of expression. We did not care that we are not the greatest in an area, we could enjoy it anyway. Hopefully, we can all retrieve the joy that comes from doing it and living in the moment (and not merely in the prospect of achieving one's agenda) As a grown-up, I guess we constantly aiming to get back to this nonjudgmental way of living. Thank you very much for your perspective on this one. I am looking forward to your next Q&A. Have a nice day Austin ;)
Have you ever walked off a project? If so, what led you to walk off? Still, in the early, early stage of my composing career, I've stumbled on some projects where the film was definitely preaching a message or political stance that I do not agree with. But is it "beggers can't be choosers" when your credits list is as baren as the dune sea lol? I've always and will continue to do the best I can to "score the shit" out of anything I am blessed to work on...but I'm curious if there's a moment where enough is enough and you have to walk. I hope I didn't ramble too much lol Thank you so much!
In terms of the rights discussion, I would be very interested in hearing what professionals have to say about how it works! Whether they be composers, agents, lawyers etc. I can only speak for myself of course but I'm not a composer, never going to be. I just like games (and movies) and I like hearing informed people talk about every facet of the industry. You are very good at bringing these sorts of people onto your channel and talking about these topics in-depth while still being easy to follow for a layman. I will also say that the rights thing has sort of flaired up as of recently what with the drama on Twitch and streaming whole tv shows/movies, as well as the ongoing issues with music copyright.
Austin when are you going to start becoming a professor? I would love to hear you talk in person one day and just shake your hand, you should totally apply to be the new lecturer of scoring at UCLA once Bruce Broughton and the others are gone, your knowledge and I'm quoting Rachel Hardy here is insurmountable. I may be appearing on a certain zoom meeting later this week with Chance Thomas, so I'll have some questions for you for sure.
Austin, I think a sea filled with comments wouldn't do justice on how valuable your insights are! Personally, I'd really appreciate every single one of your video suggestions. You're already doing so much with these Q+As when you are probably already filled with work, but if you end up finding time and energy into putting those out, just know I'll be waiting! Edit: Here's my question for the next Q+A: As an amateur, I always end up fighting myself between waiting until I'm good enough, or just putting something I'm not totally satisfacted with. I am aware of the flaws of my compositions, but I feel an urge to put stuff out there just to prove myself I can actually finish a project. I was wondering if any of those situations also happen to you and how do you feel about that, not being fully satisfied with your work, but because of time constraints or life situations it just has to go that way. This being just a hobby to me means I have to learn when I can, so I always feel like I could be doing better.
What another stunning vid Austin. I must admit I was getting a little emotional when you started answering Vanessa's question about surviving through a creative career. I can be so tough sometimes and takes an incredible amount of bravery. Also happy to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't find pleasure in massaging midi for acoustic instruments haha.
On the topic of the last question... well, first of all, thank you for your insight. I am a current student in undergrad studying composition. I always get a lot out of my private lessons and feedback from premieres of my works, but I always wonder what I'm going to do after school, where I don't have a mentor to "okay" my writing before it is deemed "complete". I guess everyone is at a different point with gaining their confidence in that way. Just wanted to share some thoughts :)
Big thanks for answering my question. Really made my day. :D And yes, Einar Selvik is amazing. Listening to Wardruna makes me want to go into battle or something.
'How to keep going' question... I write because I want to write and don't rely on it for income. If I need to stop writing because I'm not feeling creative or I need to do something that earns more money, then I do that. If I write when I don't want to or ignore financial realities, then my mental health suffers. This way, I do it when I want to and when I can, and any fruits of that labor are a bonus.
You've sometimes said that with demos it's important to grab the listener's attention in the first x seconds, but can you give us some examples of tracks that do this well, and maybe go into why it works so well in those tracks?
Hey Austin I just watched a gdc talk about composer confessions and what you said about how a lot of people will interpret your music in different ways really resonated with me because ever since I’ve started composing I’ve had very mixed opinions and interpretations about my music and how they felt about it and it was just very reassuring to hear you talk about having a similar experience. So, thank you for that. Here’s a question though: how does one learn what to do whenever they get to a point where they have to get actual players and real orchestra? Do you personally have to schedule the sessions and players? Where do you learn about how the recording process happens? Let’s say you have a recording session at abbey road or wherever, who organizes the technology and the software and whatever is necessary to actually record the players? Sorry for the lengthy comment.
I 2nd (or 3rd, 4th, etc) an orchestration video. Some comments on the questions. 1) I sort of started later in life with composing (although I’ve been a musician almost my entire life) and it’s been a tough journey, especially with the financial and mental stuff. I’ve attempted to go “full time” 2x only to have massive events add impediments (2008 financial crisis, COVID). For the mental part, meditation and exercise really help, as well as being involved with the musical community. I got into game audio during the pandemic and such a wonderful and supportive community. I’ll financially find flexible work that will help you have free time to work on music. I did full time jobs in the past and it’s not easy to have energy/motivation to write after putting in a full day. Now I’m doing background and catering work, where money is decent and schedules are flexible. Substitute teaching is also another possibility. I wish I’d known this stuff 20 years ago. Also, the financial and mental stuff go hand in hand. If you are always concerned about how to pay the bills you will be more stressed and it drains your energy from doing anything else. 2) For the person asking about knowing how good your music is. I too struggle with this constantly. I did a sci-fi film years ago and thought music was good. I listen know and really don’t like it. Mixing has been as issue and honestly getting a good quality set of headphones can help. I have Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro and man can I hear my mixes better. I have decent monitors but my room is untreated so not a clear sound. Working on a really good set of headphones is better than high priced monitors in an untreated room. I hear now what people commented on about my mixes. Even commercial recordings sound better. A lot of headphone, earbuds, etc really color the sound. Also, join a community (Facebook, Discord, etc) where you can have others listen to your work and provide feedback. Just know you may get unkind comments time to time, but the best thing is when you get specific, helpful feedback. Try to ignore the other stuff. Just my 2 cents.
Hey Austin! Really love everything your’e doing! My question is: Have you ever used a preset instrument or sounds in a music production software as a rough draft for a piece that ended up being in the final cut?
Quick question: A lot of people work in games so who does the music implementation in WWISE/FMOD? The composer, the sound designer, both? I really enjoy the process of making the implementation in these middlewares but I don't know if I will always have the opportunity to make it.
I've always been curious how collaborations between composers work. For example a lot of DreamWorks' movies from the 2000's were done by some combination of Hans Zimmer, John Powell, and Harry Gregson-Williams. Kung Fu Panda for instance was Zimmer and Powell, and I feel like when I listen to that score I'm able to notice when each track specifically sounds more like their individual style. I'm sure it varies between projects, but is it really as straightforward as each composer focusing on their own tracks but agreeing on the overall style? Seems like sharing the workload between two or more people would make the process easier, but in my mind it's hard for me to process more than one person being in charge of a single element of a creative project.
What are some ways to practice scoring to picture? I’m going to school for music, not specifically film composition, so I’m not around young filmmakers to collaborate with. I’m always writing music, but how can I find media to score to for this specific practice?
I somewhat feel worse than I felt before watching this video. My 2 cents: starting as a game composer is not that hard! Go to game jams and get together with game devs like you. Start there. We are bees in a bee hive. Enjoy yourself. Find small devs with cute little projects and show them your cues. Show them interest. Don’t wish for the corruption and the sadness of the game industry, that will come later. “Being a profesional…” has the value of any other construct.
Not entirely sure I see the point you're making but it seems like you're bringing some baggage to the table here. I for one strongly reject the narrative that there's an intrinsic 'corruption and sadness' to the game industry.
Why does the cello give out a "sad" sound in general ? Most of the time, when I hear a cello dominated peace I just want to start crying without a reason.
I've written plenty of stories, that are irrefutably my own, and after having been doxxed and para-socially manipulated for years, seeing those stories and ideas iterated on and parsed off to different studios to be made into video games, movies, comics and books, I'm not convinced other creatives independent of me came up with the same ideas as they are so incredibly specific. Every last detail and theme.
@@awintory I managed to disconnect my PC from my network and make a system image back-up of my PC after a mysterious program downloaded itself. I also have years worth the notes and outlines, concept art and character designs dating as far back as 2010. I’ve posted some of the concepts to my social media as well. No idea where to start though. Way over my head.
@@awintory I also managed to get access to my original scripts, rough draft outlines and notes from as far back as 2015, they were stored in the cloud on CELTX, but deleted from the app and my iPad backups so I thought they were lost.
Everytime I listen to Austin talk, without fail, I either find myself getting smarter due to his wisdom or laughing at something funny he said.
Thanks for what you do man!
Also yes to every single one of those full videos ideas, especially orchestration and interactive music
My dear sir you're such a generous soul. Your words mean the world to me
An orchestration video would be wonderful!!
Yes! I’ve taken online courses on it, looked at scores to try and learn, but more resources and views on the subject is always great!
Agreed!
For the last question, I can't help but remember an interview or a album documentary of Misha Mansoor (periphery), in which he said a song is never finished, it just get abandoned (or something along those lines), and to be honest it is a pretty though desition and it's true, you can't get stuck on making that one thing perfect and free of our own standards and external validation. It's a good thing to cringe while looking back to our earlier work because that means we got better :)
orchestration video 👏orchestration video 👏orchestration video 👏orchestration video... ahem .. Fantastic video Austin! your insights always give me such huge scope and perspective to this craft that are so invaluable!
for Tommasso: I play a handful of interesting woodwinds if you ever need mockups
Hell yeah :)
A few days late to the party, but if you ever find yourself saying “…I could make an entire video about that..” the answer is yes, I’d like to see that.
Yeah yeah a video of the rights in the industry would be amazing
Holy shit that last comment resonates with me pretty hard. That was beautiful, thanks so much for doing this 🙏🏻
Soo excited/honored to see my question about blind spots picked. Thanks for the very thoughtful answer!
These videos are so helpful! I would love a video on orchestration by the way :)
Oh my God... I was mostly listening but not entirely watching this video while doing some other things, but happened to look up when you moved the camera and I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw the full Krull score. I'm now trying to figure out if I can find the $80 to order it.
I play music with a combined school and community orchestra in NH. For a number of years now, I've been the creative director on a series of concerts featuring music from genre-based film, TV, and video games synchronized to live-cut video. It's a ton of work, arranging much of the music myself and creating all the video clips, but it's enormously rewarding. In any event, the director of the group and I have discussed the possibility of playing a single full score accompanied by the film itself at some point in the future and the one I always mention is Krull. I think it would probably melt the brass players' embouchures, but it's one of my all-time favorite scores. The film itself was probably my favorite, back when I was just a wee lad and HBO played it 3 times a day.
Thank you so much for your content in general. I've been teaching a class on film music, with lessons on TV and video games, and your videos are a wealth of information. Your accidental reveal of the existence of this published film score for Krull may take the cake though. You couldn't possibly know how excited I am. Cheers.
Honestly, whichever of those video ideas you decide to go with I will learn from and enjoy
A video explaining some orchestration techniques would be awesome!
As always, your eloquence and candor are much appreciated, Mr. Wintory.
In this video, you answered a question about validation. As someone who is naturally quite uncomfortable and distrustful of praise, I was curious if you can give any advice on navigating input from others. I'm sure you get a lot of faceless comments like anyone in the public eye, but more specifically, can you comment on receiving praise or criticism and if it's different for you when coming from different sources, like friends or family, other composers or colleagues you respect, etc.
PS I've been a fan of the Alien franchise for decades and I flipped with excitement when I heard you were the composer for Fireteam. Made what would have been an "I'll play it when I get to it" kind of title to a day one purchase. Your work did not disappoint. Thanks again!
Thank you for this kind of videos and please, do all those of "worth-it-own-video"!!
I definitely relate to Vanessa Raeder’s question about coping in-between gigs! But I spent a lot of time in therapy helping me learn to cope with those feelings so I can at least speak to my own struggles.
Most importantly when it comes to mentally coping, I think one needs to make sure they can separate their self worth from their work. This is again from my own personal experience but I’ve always found it easy to let things come crashing down if I don’t get picked up on a project or if I’m left with a gap between writing gigs (which happens a lot, to be clear), and to get caught up in thoughts of doubt or spiraling depression about the future. It’s often not a reflection of your music’s worth, and it’s certainly not a reflection of your own personal worth, to be without work for a while, and taking that feeling of rejection to heart is going to have to be dealt with on a day-to-day basis by being conscious of it and making the active decision to push against it. (To be clear, even when I HAVE work I can struggle with these feelings)
We all seek some amount of validation from our music, that’s a part of why we write it, but it’s important to have people in your life to ground you and avenues in your life to feel good about outside of that to help you cope. I started posting my own remakes from my favorite video game soundtrack to UA-cam to help keep me busy, and feel like I was being active with my creativity. Side projects like that can help keep you motivated and productive during down time.
Financially? Yeah that’s another can of worms. I work a couple part time non-music jobs and I’ve been lucky for the last several years to have also worked part-time with an orchestration team that I think does fantastic work on some very big projects, and being able to make part of my income off of music related work is a nice feeling, even if it’s not literal writing. Though I make enough to stay alive and that’s about it, tbh. I found my current non-music jobs over time, I like to drive so I work delivery mostly. It can actually be pretty relaxing. Find something like that if you can, not literally driving, just something that’s not so bad that you can at least tolerate and make ends meet the best you can.
Wow this became a long comment!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is a human being, full of differences, defects, qualities. But not all of us know how to say and accept that we have such differences. This is where you Austin, are a human being in its "perfection". Thank you Austin.
Hi Austin! I would love to see all the videos ideas that you mentioned, it would be a joy to get more insight about those topics.
My question is, As someone unable to go to the US (Financially) and wanting to pursue a career as a composer (mainly in videogames) what would you advice to me, and others in the same scenario? I have been doing game jams, and meeting amazing friends there. Also wanted to speak with some other composers in the industry but i always felt discouraged to talk to them, as i feel i probably would be a nuisance to them as someone with no background. Maybe it sounds very negative hahaha but i'm honestly curious about those things and wish you much luck with all your projects!
Thanks for all your videos! :)
about seeking originality when you compose, I think a solution can be composing a little more with music theory and a little less with pure instinct. I think when you end up with a composition that sounds similar to some other music, it's often related to the fact that you let your instinct compose, you tried out things randomly and wrote them down. What I did to overcome this problem was to use more music theory concepts that might be far from my influences, that way I wouldn't end with unoriginal music, and it kind of worked until now.
Don't know if i'm being clear there, but basically when I just sing a melody to myself and decide to make it a piece of music, I'm pretty sure I will end up realizing that I wasn't the first person to invent that melody.
Thank you Austin for explaining to me why I love the score to Schindler's list
While it took a while for me to 'build' (for lack of a much better term) this solution, what has helped me tremendously through the many, many instances of self-doubt and career-based anxieties is my group of friends and acquaintances who are also working towards a career in composition/game audio in general. Having a community that you can surround yourself with, that is welcoming, supportive, and all those wonderful things that we need from a community, can be immeasurably helpful in wading through rough patches in your career; and even in other aspects of your life. The only downside to this solution is how long it can take to properly, 'build,' this kind of a community. It takes a long time to make friends, good and genuine friends that will have your back regardless of what's going on in your career or life. So, in a way, the solution to the problem of patience is...more patience.
Some brilliant questions and wonderful answers! Thanks Austin, great video :)
Thanks as always for your perspective Austin. I too would love to see longer videos covering the broader areas you mentioned above - always find workflows and personal quirks/best practices really insightful!
My feeling is that the rights one would be particularly impactful, as that is where everyone - not just composers - stands to benefit. This knowledge not only equips composers to protect their rights appropriately, but also educates game developers/film studios/other creative partners as to how exactly the rights work. I feel that difficult negotiations do not always arise from malicious intent - on the other hand, they stem more from not fully understanding all the complex mechanics.
As you say, it's easy to get your head spinning (at least that's true for me!) - the more one dives into that area, the more confusing it gets. It would be great to get those knowledgeable legal and territory-specific perspectives you mentioned. If we composers are well equipped to value our services and rights appropriately, we can make more of each opportunity that comes our way; hopefully that in itself will play a small part in helping with the "patience".
“It may be a little technical for the typical viewer of this channel” I don’t have any knowledge about music composition or advanced theory; I just played trombone and sang while in high school. I’m no less interested and engaged in the content you make. 🙂
Also I appreciate the Pode music in the background 🙂
I binged every installment of "You Gotta Hear This" in just a few days, but it seems the series has stopped. Please tell me there will be more of those; I'm totally addicted!!
Absolutely yes!
My question is: You made an album of unused tracks a few years back called Remnants, would you consider doing a sequel if you have/write enough tracks? We always want to hear more of your music!
Yours,
Terrayuna
Great video as always!
Austin, your scores and videos are always the thing that warms my heart.
Is there any information on when we can expect your Aliens: Fireteam Elite score to be released?
Video about Orchestration please!! :D
I just write these comments so that you KNOW how much you mean to us as a mentor. I am just speechless. I will think about these when I feel lost about what I am doing in life and where I will go.
Thank you!!
And YES, two hundred times YES, please do the orchestration video!!
Hi Austin thanks for another great and informative video. Orchestration would be fantastic :)
This was a great Q&A! (And not just because you answered two of my questions :-D ) That color blindness analogy was great, and vulnerable!
I really hope you do end up making that video on interactive scores and the middleware that helps with them. It's still a way of composing that offers a lot of new ground to cover, which makes it very exciting to me! I much resonate with what you said about getting the tools that enable your imagination, rather than to imagine within the confines of what a program or piece of hardware 'naturally' does. Especially modular synths really pushes me to think in that way as you have to wire them yourself. It doesn't do anything in it's default state.
I looked up Dying Light 2 recently and saw that Olivier Deriviere is the composer. I remembered your conversation with him, and I’m very interested to see what the result of his passion for dynamic music systems is. Take that as my +1 for a video about wwise and the like.
I also think it would be interesting to hear about how you collaborate with developers that aren’t a part of the sound/music teams.
Anyway, thanks for continuing to do these!
Thanks for the answer! I would love to see the video about the music rights!
Great video as always!
As an academic, I am firmly planted in the worldview of research being king. I've been at the university level for ten years under lots of different positions and roles (and believe you me I cannot WAIT to be done 😂). I approach music through this lens, with careful research and meticulous preparation. Combining this with the story mentioned earlier in the video regarding Goldsmith's compositional variety: What are some ways to better research music styles? Is it as simple as sitting down with texts and following along? Is it precise mark-up followed by practice? I know there's no single answer since the question is wildly open-ended but I'd love to hear different philosophies on this subject!
This was such helpful. Often I asked myself the question when do I arrive/or have the sense of I have accomplished it. It is so valuable to hear a professional composer give his honest/down-to-earth view on this. And I love your point that it is somehow a human state that we all have to deal with. Quite often I feel that as a child things were a lot easier. We created and deconstructed without the hint of a bad feeling. It was commonplace to grow and a free form of expression. We did not care that we are not the greatest in an area, we could enjoy it anyway. Hopefully, we can all retrieve the joy that comes from doing it and living in the moment (and not merely in the prospect of achieving one's agenda)
As a grown-up, I guess we constantly aiming to get back to this nonjudgmental way of living.
Thank you very much for your perspective on this one.
I am looking forward to your next Q&A. Have a nice day Austin ;)
Have you ever walked off a project? If so, what led you to walk off? Still, in the early, early stage of my composing career, I've stumbled on some projects where the film was definitely preaching a message or political stance that I do not agree with. But is it "beggers can't be choosers" when your credits list is as baren as the dune sea lol? I've always and will continue to do the best I can to "score the shit" out of anything I am blessed to work on...but I'm curious if there's a moment where enough is enough and you have to walk. I hope I didn't ramble too much lol Thank you so much!
In terms of the rights discussion, I would be very interested in hearing what professionals have to say about how it works! Whether they be composers, agents, lawyers etc. I can only speak for myself of course but I'm not a composer, never going to be. I just like games (and movies) and I like hearing informed people talk about every facet of the industry.
You are very good at bringing these sorts of people onto your channel and talking about these topics in-depth while still being easy to follow for a layman.
I will also say that the rights thing has sort of flaired up as of recently what with the drama on Twitch and streaming whole tv shows/movies, as well as the ongoing issues with music copyright.
Austin when are you going to start becoming a professor? I would love to hear you talk in person one day and just shake your hand, you should totally apply to be the new lecturer of scoring at UCLA once Bruce Broughton and the others are gone, your knowledge and I'm quoting Rachel Hardy here is insurmountable. I may be appearing on a certain zoom meeting later this week with Chance Thomas, so I'll have some questions for you for sure.
Thanks for another great Q&A video! I would totally watch videos on orchestration or middleware/interactive music!
Would be great to hear you shed some light on your approach to harmony - your voicings never stop surprising me!
Austin, I think a sea filled with comments wouldn't do justice on how valuable your insights are! Personally, I'd really appreciate every single one of your video suggestions. You're already doing so much with these Q+As when you are probably already filled with work, but if you end up finding time and energy into putting those out, just know I'll be waiting!
Edit: Here's my question for the next Q+A: As an amateur, I always end up fighting myself between waiting until I'm good enough, or just putting something I'm not totally satisfacted with. I am aware of the flaws of my compositions, but I feel an urge to put stuff out there just to prove myself I can actually finish a project. I was wondering if any of those situations also happen to you and how do you feel about that, not being fully satisfied with your work, but because of time constraints or life situations it just has to go that way. This being just a hobby to me means I have to learn when I can, so I always feel like I could be doing better.
Thanks Austin for such a great video! Loved the questions everybody sent and your answers. That last one was beautiful!!!
What another stunning vid Austin. I must admit I was getting a little emotional when you started answering Vanessa's question about surviving through a creative career. I can be so tough sometimes and takes an incredible amount of bravery.
Also happy to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't find pleasure in massaging midi for acoustic instruments haha.
On the topic of the last question... well, first of all, thank you for your insight. I am a current student in undergrad studying composition. I always get a lot out of my private lessons and feedback from premieres of my works, but I always wonder what I'm going to do after school, where I don't have a mentor to "okay" my writing before it is deemed "complete". I guess everyone is at a different point with gaining their confidence in that way. Just wanted to share some thoughts :)
Big thanks for answering my question. Really made my day. :D
And yes, Einar Selvik is amazing. Listening to Wardruna makes me want to go into battle or something.
'How to keep going' question...
I write because I want to write and don't rely on it for income. If I need to stop writing because I'm not feeling creative or I need to do something that earns more money, then I do that. If I write when I don't want to or ignore financial realities, then my mental health suffers. This way, I do it when I want to and when I can, and any fruits of that labor are a bonus.
Just a question about that Discord: Do you need to stay subscribed to stay in the Discord?
You've sometimes said that with demos it's important to grab the listener's attention in the first x seconds, but can you give us some examples of tracks that do this well, and maybe go into why it works so well in those tracks?
Hey Austin I just watched a gdc talk about composer confessions and what you said about how a lot of people will interpret your music in different ways really resonated with me because ever since I’ve started composing I’ve had very mixed opinions and interpretations about my music and how they felt about it and it was just very reassuring to hear you talk about having a similar experience. So, thank you for that. Here’s a question though: how does one learn what to do whenever they get to a point where they have to get actual players and real orchestra? Do you personally have to schedule the sessions and players? Where do you learn about how the recording process happens? Let’s say you have a recording session at abbey road or wherever, who organizes the technology and the software and whatever is necessary to actually record the players? Sorry for the lengthy comment.
I 2nd (or 3rd, 4th, etc) an orchestration video.
Some comments on the questions.
1) I sort of started later in life with composing (although I’ve been a musician almost my entire life) and it’s been a tough journey, especially with the financial and mental stuff. I’ve attempted to go “full time” 2x only to have massive events add impediments (2008 financial crisis, COVID). For the mental part, meditation and exercise really help, as well as being involved with the musical community. I got into game audio during the pandemic and such a wonderful and supportive community. I’ll financially find flexible work that will help you have free time to work on music. I did full time jobs in the past and it’s not easy to have energy/motivation to write after putting in a full day. Now I’m doing background and catering work, where money is decent and schedules are flexible. Substitute teaching is also another possibility. I wish I’d known this stuff 20 years ago. Also, the financial and mental stuff go hand in hand. If you are always concerned about how to pay the bills you will be more stressed and it drains your energy from doing anything else.
2) For the person asking about knowing how good your music is. I too struggle with this constantly. I did a sci-fi film years ago and thought music was good. I listen know and really don’t like it. Mixing has been as issue and honestly getting a good quality set of headphones can help. I have Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro and man can I hear my mixes better. I have decent monitors but my room is untreated so not a clear sound. Working on a really good set of headphones is better than high priced monitors in an untreated room. I hear now what people commented on about my mixes. Even commercial recordings sound better. A lot of headphone, earbuds, etc really color the sound.
Also, join a community (Facebook, Discord, etc) where you can have others listen to your work and provide feedback. Just know you may get unkind comments time to time, but the best thing is when you get specific, helpful feedback. Try to ignore the other stuff.
Just my 2 cents.
Hey Austin! Really love everything your’e doing!
My question is: Have you ever used a preset instrument or sounds in a music production software as a rough draft for a piece that ended up being in the final cut?
I'm sure yes!~
Quick question: A lot of people work in games so who does the music implementation in WWISE/FMOD? The composer, the sound designer, both? I really enjoy the process of making the implementation in these middlewares but I don't know if I will always have the opportunity to make it.
I've always been curious how collaborations between composers work. For example a lot of DreamWorks' movies from the 2000's were done by some combination of Hans Zimmer, John Powell, and Harry Gregson-Williams. Kung Fu Panda for instance was Zimmer and Powell, and I feel like when I listen to that score I'm able to notice when each track specifically sounds more like their individual style. I'm sure it varies between projects, but is it really as straightforward as each composer focusing on their own tracks but agreeing on the overall style?
Seems like sharing the workload between two or more people would make the process easier, but in my mind it's hard for me to process more than one person being in charge of a single element of a creative project.
What is a great non-musical collaborator to you?
(Fledgling game dev looking to learn now how to give space and feedback, to lead and follow)
What are some ways to practice scoring to picture? I’m going to school for music, not specifically film composition, so I’m not around young filmmakers to collaborate with. I’m always writing music, but how can I find media to score to for this specific practice?
Was there ever a point in which you thought music just wasn’t for you? If so, what got you through any rough patches you may have experienced?
I somewhat feel worse than I felt before watching this video. My 2 cents: starting as a game composer is not that hard! Go to game jams and get together with game devs like you. Start there. We are bees in a bee hive. Enjoy yourself. Find small devs with cute little projects and show them your cues. Show them interest. Don’t wish for the corruption and the sadness of the game industry, that will come later. “Being a profesional…” has the value of any other construct.
Not entirely sure I see the point you're making but it seems like you're bringing some baggage to the table here. I for one strongly reject the narrative that there's an intrinsic 'corruption and sadness' to the game industry.
Why does the cello give out a "sad" sound in general ? Most of the time, when I hear a cello dominated peace I just want to start crying without a reason.
I wish I knew but I agree
I've written plenty of stories, that are irrefutably my own, and after having been doxxed and para-socially manipulated for years, seeing those stories and ideas iterated on and parsed off to different studios to be made into video games, movies, comics and books, I'm not convinced other creatives independent of me came up with the same ideas as they are so incredibly specific. Every last detail and theme.
If you could prove it, you'd surely win a lawsuit for infringement ...
@@awintory I managed to disconnect my PC from my network and make a system image back-up of my PC after a mysterious program downloaded itself. I also have years worth the notes and outlines, concept art and character designs dating as far back as 2010. I’ve posted some of the concepts to my social media as well. No idea where to start though. Way over my head.
@@awintory I also managed to get access to my original scripts, rough draft outlines and notes from as far back as 2015, they were stored in the cloud on CELTX, but deleted from the app and my iPad backups so I thought they were lost.