What’s the best feeling you have had as a composer?

About a year ago I started to venture into trailer music. I knew that it would probably be the hardest and steepest learning curve I’ve done to date as it’s so specific in its structure.

This evening I probably got the best result I’ve ever got from writing in this genre and it forced me to look back on where I’ve come in one year.

My background is I.n music tech and orchestral composition so it’s mainly been the production and techniques I’ve had to learn. But wow I got such a kick when I looked back on those first attempts. It really encouraged me!

So I was thinking, what have been your most encouraging feel good moments in composition??

Excited to hear your responses!

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Great topic! :slight_smile:
For me it was a few years ago when I composed my first cinematic track. Coming from 15 years of EDM, Rock etc. I have always wanted to do orchestral music, but did not have the tools or skills for it. A few years of self/studying with books, courses…as well as investing in plugins and libraries, and then finally I got there. The music I ALWAYS wanted to do, I could finally create! :smiley:

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hello
for me my best experience is that my orchestration of a little operette scene played by a full symphonic orchestra in a opera
i am studying orchestration in a conservatory in music, and this year we had to work on a little opera from gaston serpette to be played at the opera of toulon in novenmber by artist and the symphonic orchestra of the opera
it is a hard task, but we succed in time to deliver the full score to the opera and i can assist to the reading, playing before the date of the spectacle
it was very very great

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Ah fab, I remember those days. I graduated a few years ago now. So I know first hand that what you are learning now will be the foundation for the rest of your life! Well done!

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Hey Mikael! Awesome, I didn’t know you came from an EDM background. It’s a good background to come from for
Epic Music for sure!

Im pretty much exactly the opposite to you in that respects. I’m one of those rare breed of guitarists who loves theory, yep we actually exist! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: so I went to university to learn harmony, orchestration and composition. I also went to college and grabbed myself an extended Diploma in Music Tech which was a lot of fun. I don’t have that inate feel for those EDM genres… but over the past two years it’s really come along a lot. What’s been the one thing you’d say you have struggled to grasp over the years??

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I believe it is great to have at least tried as many genres and styles as possible honestly, at least if you want to become a ‘composer’ as opposed to an artist. I strive to be both. :slight_smile:

Well my world opened up when I started practicing and learning more about harmony, voice leading, and ‘storytelling’ with composition. And then started learning more about HOW instruments are played, articulations, range, blending of colors, and how insane amount of variables you can control in a performance. Which is why I still believe sample libraries lag so far behind compared to real instruments. In the real world everything is analog, meaning unlimited dynamic levels, unlimited amount of legato transition times, vibrato speeds etc.

But yeah, I love the journey of it all, both my own musical journey, and the continued progress with technology that makes this all possible. :smiley:

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Agree with all that. I think compositionally, you realise that sonically a lot of Computer based composers forget about one key aspect in String performance, which position and string you are performing on. I’ve been so happy with Spitfire Audios recent approach to library making, as they’ve sampled all the sul positions and mixed them with portamento slurs. It’s taken the string library to the next level. I’m now just hoping that they include bow position and direction to their libraries… I do think that technology needs to progress a bit more so that computers can keep up with that amount of processing. So I’m excited to see that in the future!

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Lori Rea, Thank you for your convictions. Would like to connect for possible collaboration on my Christian songs. Best, Peter

Beatitudes

For me its when I have the music going in my head, maybe singing with it. If I could only get that sound and sense out to the world…

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Funny, I missed one of the most exciting topics to speak about! Never saw it until yesterday…

Well, I believe that there are three situations I was involved in that showed me how powerful music can be – emotional-wise, for me and for others.

  1. Back I was studying film music, my music was played by an orchestra. At first, it was just a super strange feeling, as obviously I have never experienced that before that someone else played my music. And then it was funny too, because the orchestra didn’t execute it the way I had in my mind, played wrong notes, was too fast (I wasn’t conducting). But it was really funny :smiley: It was a funny peace too :smiley:

  2. Was an incredible experience in terms of how people who never heard my music before were screaming: “What is that s*************!!! YEAH”, it was a laser-show party when I have worked as an engineer back then, and because the track-list I checked before was s***, I just put my track in between. LOL. I had never thought of that people will scream their souls out as loud as they did it. It was just insane…:smiley:

  3. Was finally a reveal for me, that I can compete with the absolute best in the industry. It was a sign and acknowledgment that I have arrived at the level I strived to achieve for years after struggling for a long time due to my “low inner believe”, as I have achieved much more in my hobby than in my music which I did full time. I call it my “breakthrough”, my final “musical transformation”. (Don’t ask me where I find these terms…haha!)

And it happened only last year which is funny because exactly after that point, my inner mindset just “clicked” and now I know that it’s not about my “music qualities” or anything like that…it’s only because of me, meaning that it’s only because my mindset why I achieve or don’t achieve something – again not only in music. (I know that I talk so much about it, but I believe it’s why most people never achieve anything in their lifes due to two major issues:

(1) There is no one who believes in them, believes in them more than they believe in themselves, leading to a phenomenon that prevents them to achieve the things they actually can, and

(2) they quit before they see any results, although they don’t know that those results might have come faster than they have expected.

Of course, there are many more things involved in all of this, but there are SO MANY examples I already have experienced in my life already, looking at other people who limit themselves even before they start something new, as an example. It’s insane and actually sad to see people already quit before they even start and at the end seeing them doing things they actually hate, only because they “seem” easier for them than the things they actually LOVE doing.

Here is the track I am talking about in (3), a track I can’t share in public, only as I private link, as it’s an exclusive production that I can’t even use on my website. The guy who believed in me more than I was is Jay Crystal (pseudo) and has his own exclusive label called “True Remnant”. He was pushing myself so hard to finally understand that “I am worth it”. And that’s my message to everyone who is reading this: No matter who you are (in life) and what you do (job), NEVER THINK of yourself that YOU are worth LESS! It kills every opportunity and potential relationship that will give you a chance to really “make it” – whatever “make it” means to you.

Have a great week guys!

Sincerely,
Alexey :slight_smile:

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In my small experience I’ve had so far, my favourite feeling was recieveing the BBC Symphony Orchestra and just experiencing how rich the sound swere, for FREE!

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Thanks for this statement, it is very timely. I was just telling one of my sons to never forget just how much value he has. Something I never learned.

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Well.
A few years ago, a director gave me the oportunity to be part of a documentary film project. Until then I only composed as a hobby, so it made me believe that I was able to work as a proffesional composer.
When you are in an auditorium with hundreds of people watching a movie with your music, you feel great.

Lately I’m realizing that, once you achieve a decent technical level in composig, arranging and mixing, to become a “proffesional” is more an attitude than a knowledge. Self-confidence is not abundant in the colective of creators. For those who are starting, the point is not to feel as an “aspirant composer”. If your work and treat your passion as a proffesion, you are a proffesional, better or worse, with lots of things to learn, as anyone have.

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Awesome stories people. I’m not in the field of professional composing for a long time, so maybe the biggest achievements are still waiting for me. But I really love when I play a gig with my band and people demand a song which I’ve composed, then they dance around like crazy and sing the song with us, it’s a big satisfaction!

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Great post, I am starting to see this myself (thanks to all of you!)

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Man, I don’t think you can get better than that. You’ve made it :wink:

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Great topic!

There are three that jump to mind for various reasons. One is purely ego based the other two are grounded in connection.

EGO BASED
Patrick Williams invited me out to his ranch in Brentwood. I’d followed and studied his music for years and I was very nervous about meeting him in person, particularly on such an individual level.

His daughter walked me back to his studio where he was sitting at a drafting table surrounded by his Grammys, achievement awards, and pictures of him with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jerry Goldsmith, and many more.

He asked me to tell him a little about myself so I started detailing some of the things I’d done. He quickly waved me off and said, “No, that’s okay. I looked you up.” Scarier words I’d never heard in my life. What did you find? Should I just leave now??

Then he finished by saying “You’re a solid writer. Grab a sofa.” To say I felt good about that is an understatement. I didn’t need a seat on the plane to float home from LA.

CONNECTION 1 - CHILDREN OF MOORE
I’ve mentioned here before that “Children of Moore” is one of the most personal pieces I’ve ever written. It was written to express my emotional reaction as a parent to the children who perished in the tornadoes that struck Moore, OK years ago. Long story short the piece was played by the University of Oklahoma Trombone Studio for an audience which included many families from Moore. The emails I received from those parents and families with thanks and describing what my music meant to them brought me to tears all over again. The power of music is amazing. To be able to express my personal grief through music and have it move the very people thousands of miles away was very, very powerful.

CONNECTION 2 - WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
Several years ago I lost one of my best friends to cancer. We met backing up the Temptations. He was in every ensemble I led for over 30 years. His wife called me and said Kimon wanted to have a trombone choir play for his funeral and would I help organize one. As she and I talked she also asked me to write something in remembrance. As we talked we both agreed that the phrase that summed up Kimon’s ebullient personality and gigantic heart was “What A Wonderful World”.

I wrote the piece making sure the last “What a Wonderful World” lyric was in the bass trombones (Kimon’s instrument). I received many compliments and repeat thanks over the years from his family.

We played it in my Big Bone Band concerts as the penultimate number. One of my trombonists made the comment adamantly that we needed to perform that song “at every single concert this band ever does”.

Sadly the person who said that passed away also from cancer at the young age of 55 a few years after that. He requested that his family play a recording of my setting at his funeral as well.

I am humbled beyond words thinking that music I’ve written has touched people.

Thanks for your kind patience in reading my ramblings.

Stan

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I loved those stories! I’d love to hear more! Fab little insights! Well done for all of your achievements Stan!

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Thanks, Geoffrey! Just be careful what you ask for! One of my wife’s worst nightmares is me, an open mic, and a captive audience!

I recalled after I posted this that I made a quick thank you video of “Wonderful World” for my Kickstarter patrons. I was able to add this and “Amazing Grace” to the finished recording because we cleared our Kickstarter goal.

Musicians are the same around the world, I’m sure. After a session, no matter how long the session, how tired they are, or how sick of the tune because of endless takes, we all crowd into the the control booth (no matter how small!) to hear the playback.

You’ll hear “Wonderful World” being played in the background. As I’m listening to the ending I’m with Kimon thinking how grateful and blessed I’ve been for his friendship. And for the friendship and support of the musicians who freely shared their time and talent and who took black ink blots and turned them into memories.

“Wonderful World” Playback

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That’s awesome Stan. I love listening to stories to be honest and my fiancée would say the same about me :joy:

Sadly I can’t listen to the link you posted though as it is private.

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