This week’s provocation ties in with Houston’s column yesterday on the re-emergence of outboard hardware in our composing rigs. As always, this provocation isn’t intended to be a statement of fact, or even to be taken literally… it’s simply a way to get a fresh perspective on the topic. To provoke, in other words. And I can’t wait to hear what you think of this one.
For any of us who have ever been bitten by the gear bug, this is straight-up heresy! We need that gear to be competitive. It provides us with inspiration, with new sonic possibilities. It’s an indispensable part of our work flow and our creative process. So the more the better… right?
On the other hand, having less gear might require us to use our creativity in a different way. Stripping down the studio might become its own sort of provocation—to delve a little deeper into the gear we do have.
For many years, my Kurzweil K2000 was at the heart of my studio, and I used it pretty much as a controller. Not much else; just a way to get notes on the screen. Which is kind of a shame, really. That synth had (and still has!) deep processing power that I’ll most likely never touch. Having less gear might oblige me to step outside my comfort zone.
“Less gear” could also be taken in a less literal sense—consider the balance between electronic and live sound sources in your scores. What if you had to use only live players for a project—could you do it? I’m guessing you could. What if you couldn’t even compose at the computer… what if you allowed yourself nothing but (the horror!) pencil and paper?
I’ve tried it before—I spent several hours one sunny day on my balcony, armed only with a few score pages and a pencil. And a rapidly-shrinking eraser. It gave me a whole new appreciation for masters like Bernard Herrmann, who (so the legend goes) often wrote his sketches, in pen, at the dinner table while surrounded by family.
How else could you read this provocation? Where does it take you? Hop on those comments, people, and make some noise.
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I couldn't agree more with your last point, Lee.
The film I just finished I scored using only pencil and paper – a career first for me. The more I got into it, the greater the exoerience was. However, when I returned to my sequencing rig to start in on mock-ups, I realized about 7 days in that I was overwhelmed by the sonic choices I now had and was beginning to lose my original concept. I had to do a lot of scaling back in order to return to what I had originally intended.
Any student of film history can chronicle easily the trending away from "classical scoring" to "rock record scoring". I believe this is due to the technology becoming a "crutch" for a lot of people. Though I love my rig almost as much as I love my mom and dad (don't tell *them* that!), I realize after this recent experience that I need to temper my overindulgence and pay more attention to the "art of the craft" as opposed to the "craft of the art".
I couldn't agree more with your last point, Lee.The film I just finished I scored using only pencil and paper – a career first for me. The more I got into it, the greater the exoerience was. However, when I returned to my sequencing rig to start in on mock-ups, I realized about 7 days in that I was overwhelmed by the sonic choices I now had and was beginning to lose my original concept. I had to do a lot of scaling back in order to return to what I had originally intended.Any student of film history can chronicle easily the trending away from "classical scoring" to "rock record scoring". I believe this is due to the technology becoming a "crutch" for a lot of people. Though I love my rig almost as much as I love my mom and dad (don't tell *them* that!), I realize after this recent experience that I need to temper my overindulgence and pay more attention to the "art of the craft" as opposed to the "craft of the art".
Altered States is a heavy, heavy score. Recommended for anyone and everyone reading these comments! And yeah—process is interesting only inasmuch as the end result is successful.
BTW, I actually find that *too much* thinking about process tends to get in the way sometimes. It provides that illusion of "hey, I'm doing something valuable here!" when, past a certain point, it's just time we could spend actually doing the thing.
Along similar time-management lines… having less gear (to master and to maintain) does free us up to direct our focus to other, potentially more creatively profitable, concerns. I'm just sayin'.
Altered States is a heavy, heavy score. Recommended for anyone and everyone reading these comments! And yeah—process is interesting only inasmuch as the end result is successful.BTW, I actually find that *too much* thinking about process tends to get in the way sometimes. It provides that illusion of "hey, I'm doing something valuable here!" when, past a certain point, it's just time we could spend actually doing the thing.Along similar time-management lines… having less gear (to master and to maintain) does free us up to direct our focus to other, potentially more creatively profitable, concerns. I'm just sayin'.
Lee,
A living example of this provocation – have a listen to John Corigliano's score ALTERED STATES. Every note was written. No synths, the only outboard gear? The players.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40FiMy-ak0k
My grandmother was a concert pianist. She used to say "The men versus the boys was the composer who could write 12 staves of music at the kitchen table." I always thought that pretty intimidating, but there are composers who don't work that way who still write beautifully.
Lee,A living example of this provocation – have a listen to John Corigliano's score ALTERED STATES. Every note was written. No synths, the only outboard gear? The players.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40FiMy-ak0kMy grandmother was a concert pianist. She used to say "The men versus the boys was the composer who could write 12 staves of music at the kitchen table." I always thought that pretty intimidating, but there are composers who don't work that way who still write beautifully.
There is definitely a sense of security that comes from gear, false or not. A feeling of covering the bases, or something like that. And there's nothing like having it ready to go when inspiration strikes. Who wants to have cold water thrown on inspiration? That's how it feels when there's a certain sound in your head, and your gear just can't make it. Some other sound just won't cut it.
It's really not a whole lot different than having a comprehensive set of wrenches, screwdrivers, drills, hammers, files on hand when something needs to be fixed. How many times has having the right tool saved your butt?
Would you have deprived Mozart of his orchestra and told him he had to sit in the corner with a tin whistle?
But … today's gear does quickly get to be like a stable of a thousand horses. Can you actually use it all? Will you even live long enough to know how? Chances are, you'll only ever use a small fraction of what's there. As Lee did with his K2000. Kurzweil didn't dub its synth architecture "VAST" for nothing.
Typically, moreover, a lot of what you get in a library, a synth, etc. is stuff you, personally, couldn't care less about. The companies that make this stuff are trying to cover all the bases, too.
The worst aspect of gear is that if you have too much of it, keeping it all working, up-to-date, or what have you, can become a career in itself. If you don't watch out, it can end up postponing or replacing what you really need to be doing — working on your chops. And it will certainly drain your wallet.
Like with everything else, I think the answer is in finding balance. Maybe that's a big thing that SCOREcast can help with. I'm imagining that if those of us who have some experience could reflect a bit, and help figure out which things are really essential to being a modern film (TV, game, etc.) composer and which aren't — and share these insights in detail — it might save us from drowning in our own … stuff.
How's that for a mission?
There is definitely a sense of security that comes from gear, false or not. A feeling of covering the bases, or something like that. And there's nothing like having it ready to go when inspiration strikes. Who wants to have cold water thrown on inspiration? That's how it feels when there's a certain sound in your head, and your gear just can't make it. Some other sound just won't cut it.It's really not a whole lot different than having a comprehensive set of wrenches, screwdrivers, drills, hammers, files on hand when something needs to be fixed. How many times has having the right tool saved your butt?Would you have deprived Mozart of his orchestra and told him he had to sit in the corner with a tin whistle?But … today's gear does quickly get to be like a stable of a thousand horses. Can you actually use it all? Will you even live long enough to know how? Chances are, you'll only ever use a small fraction of what's there. As Lee did with his K2000. Kurzweil didn't dub its synth architecture "VAST" for nothing.Typically, moreover, a lot of what you get in a library, a synth, etc. is stuff you, personally, couldn't care less about. The companies that make this stuff are trying to cover all the bases, too.The worst aspect of gear is that if you have too much of it, keeping it all working, up-to-date, or what have you, can become a career in itself. If you don't watch out, it can end up postponing or replacing what you really need to be doing — working on your chops. And it will certainly drain your wallet.Like with everything else, I think the answer is in finding balance. Maybe that's a big thing that SCOREcast can help with. I'm imagining that if those of us who have some experience could reflect a bit, and help figure out which things are really essential to being a modern film (TV, game, etc.) composer and which aren't — and share these insights in detail — it might save us from drowning in our own … stuff. How's that for a mission?
My thoughts:
Yes. I believe 100%. We should have as little gear as possible, but enough to do the job! The trick is finding that balance for whatever point you're at. Gear is a distraction. I think we need just enough gear to get by and no more.
Most of our energy should be spent on composing and building relationships.
Thinking about gear can be fun and entertaining, but it can also end up being a major time suck/distraction. I don't really like thinking about my gear or tools. – back to my blender analogy, I don't really want to think about my appliances, I just want them to work when I need them.
– Mitchell
My thoughts:Yes. I believe 100%. We should have as little gear as possible, but enough to do the job! The trick is finding that balance for whatever point you're at. Gear is a distraction. I think we need just enough gear to get by and no more. Most of our energy should be spent on composing and building relationships. Thinking about gear can be fun and entertaining, but it can also end up being a major time suck/distraction. I don't really like thinking about my gear or tools. – back to my blender analogy, I don't really want to think about my appliances, I just want them to work when I need them. — Mitchell