scoring question

[chunkdz]

I've heard film composers say they write anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes worth of music per day.

How does this tanslate for you when you are actually producing the finished tracks on the computer, rather than simply writing out a score? How many minutes of music for picture do you write, perform, and mix in a day? Just curious.

[FMiguelez]

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It varies. If you stop living and just lock yourself in the studio, more can be achieved, but at a price (health issues, angry girlfriends, etc).

It depends on how dense and complex the music needs to be, the kind of arrangement and instrumentation required, etc.
I can probably pull between 40 and 80 seconds worth of music, mixed and ready-to-go in one day, but I will ALWAYS hate the mix afterwards.

I always go out of my way to listen to whatever I did with fresh ears, preferably 1 or 2 days after the fact. Then I'll remix, rest for a while, listen to something similar and check the mix again. Only then do I feel happy with what I send, at least for a week, or so. If I listen again after a month I'll probably want to re-tweak, but I make an effort not to do that and try to improve on whatever flaws/issues I find in a new project.

How about you? How much can you finish in one day?
What about the quality?
At what point do you feel quality (of composing, orchestrating, mixing, etc) starts to suffer?

Cheers.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I've heard film composers say they write anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes worth of music per day.

How does this tanslate for you when you are actually producing the finished tracks on the computer, rather than simply writing out a score? How many minutes of music for picture do you write, perform, and mix in a day? Just curious.

This varies a great deal. On a roll, I can pump out about 8-10 minutes of fully orchestrated music (106 instruments minus a few engraving details) per day. But I only do that with intense deadlines for "important" clients.

If I am working in DP I can usually 'write' (READ sequence) as much as I need, and scoring an entire short film (20-30 minutes) in a day is not that hard. It is even possible to 'write' a 20 minute score in as little as an hour - as long as I don't have to put it on paper. That always takes much longer.

Scoring silent films (improving on piano usually) can produce hours of useable music per day. One project (4.5 hours of non-stop piano) I scored in one and a half days, but three different versions. So in all, about 13.5 hours of music in 13.5 hours of recording. All commercially viable, although we only used the first take with a little from the second take here and there.

And then there are times when 5 seconds can take days. Again, it all depends on inspiration, the project, the client, etc.

All that said, I usually let a score simmer in my brain away from any instruments for a fairly long time. I visualize (in my ear) what I will write before sit down to actually set notes. So it is misleading to say I write the score in one session. Frankly, the music never stops in my head, even when there are no deadlines or commissions pending.

As a general rule, the more I am paid, the more inspired I get and the faster the project gets completed.

[FMiguelez]

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This varies a great deal. On a roll, I can pump out about 8-10 minutes of fully orchestrated music (106 instruments minus a few engraving details) per day. But I only do that with intense deadlines for "important" clients.

Wow! You ARE fast.

If I am working in DP I can usually 'write' (READ sequence) as much as I need, and scoring an entire short film (20-30 minutes) in a day is not that hard. It is even possible to 'write' a 20 minute score in as little as an hour - as long as I don't have to put it on paper. That always takes much longer.

Do you mean Sequencing as finishing the "MIDI-stage" part of the production, or actually the whole enchilada (printing to audio, mixing, "mastering", and delivering).

Please say you meant the former...

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Thanks FMiguelez

> Wow! You ARE fast.

Well, yes, I am. I used to laugh when I would hear that composition students needed 10 weeks to score a 5-10 minute piece at the university I taught at. At that rate, I would loose every client I ever had. Most serious composers are usually fairly prolific, but again, it is all dependent on the project. Brahms took 10 years to write his first symphony. Handle took 21 days to write the Messiah. Go figure.

I wrote a 26 minute silent film (orchestrated but in MIDI sequencing only) in about 18 hours. The same score took me 5 months to "properly" orchestrate for a premiere in 1996.

In 2006, I was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony to score two 26-minute pieces (from scratch) and re-orchestrate the 1996 piece. ALL that was done in 6 months, including all parts and performing the piano solo. Add to that all three had to be PERFECTLY sync'ed in real time (no click tracks or metronomes!) to 70 minutes of onscreen action.

For me the remarkable part of all this was the orchestra had one run-thru (with the film running at the wrong speed and the wrong prints being delivered - with weird edits all over the place) and then a few hours later, we premiered the works. After adjusting the projectors, the pieces came off perfectly (as only a group like the CSO can manage). Having the best film conductor in the world (IMO) doesn't hurt.

>Do you mean Sequencing as finishing the "MIDI-stage" part of the >production, or actually the whole enchilada (printing to audio, mixing, >"mastering", and delivering).

>Please say you meant the former... [/quote]

Again, depends on the project, inspiration, and the actual necessity of completing something by a deadline. I don't miss deadlines. If I think it is impossible, I tell that to the collaborator. But generally, the times I mentioned were for out the door scores.

All that said, I also tend to be meticulous WHILE COMPOSING and don't do a lot of mastering. I think audio is often "over produced" and much of the humanness of the music is lost. That is not to say that the recording should sound rough, but OTOH, I am not as anal about that stuff as many I know. If I were, I could not have produced over 600 scores (all for actual produced projects) since 1976. That averages out to about 10-15 scores a month. Sounds about right.

[leigh]

Well, yes, I am. I used to laugh when I would hear that composition students needed 10 weeks to score a 5-10 minute piece at the university I taught at.

Was that using a computer to write the score and extract the parts or was that using pencil and paper for the score followed by using an Osmiroid and paper to prepare the parts?

If it was a big score with parts done by hand, 10 weeks seems in the ballpark, if long.

**Leigh

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Was that using a computer to write the score and extract the parts or was that using pencil and paper for the score followed by using an Osmiroid and paper to prepare the parts?

If it was a big score with parts done by hand, 10 weeks seems in the ballpark, if long.

**Leigh

The composers in the program were scoring with Finale. I agree, by hand 10 weeks sounds about right to me, as well. BTW, a few composers would be able to get the project finished in a couple of weeks. Others never did finish - and I think of few of those are on the faculty there now. (Only kidding, but not by much).

NOTE: I should probably add that in order to end up with 10 minutes of music, I'll put in a 16-18 hour day. So make that 2 days for sane people.

[chunkdz]

Thanks guys for the interesting answers so far.

FMiguelez: I can probably pull between 40 and 80 seconds worth of music, mixed and ready-to-go in one day, but I will ALWAYS hate the mix afterwards.

This sounds about where I am at. It could be that I'm new to this setup, but I too prefer to mix the next day.

MIDI Life CrisisThat averages out to about 10-15 scores a month. Sounds about right.

Pretty Impressive output, MIDI. You've definitely set the bar. It's good to know what is possible if one has the experience and the focus to get it done.

Reminds me of the famous bet that Steve Allen took that he could write 50 songs a day for a week. (Which he won easily). You've apparently been keeping up a similar pace for over 30 years!