1. Choosing Your Composer

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Working With A Composer

Probably the most important step in the process.

Choosing the right composer should absolutely be a long process and should be based on 1) their work, mostly, but also 2) their personality. For the same reason a casting director should not cast Scarlett Johansson for playing "any person, or any tree, or any animal," composers have their strengths and weaknesses and should be given the chance to make their best soundtrack on each project, your project. In other words, do not hire your friends only because they are your friends, but make friends with people whose music you love.

Work

In the early stages of their career, artists would be inclined to hire their friends because yes, that’s how The Beatles started, or Tim Burton and Danny Elfman to name a few, but these collaborations bloomed because they also happened to be uniquely good. For one of these, there are countless other collaborations that don’t go anywhere simply because they were not the best fit. It is worth spending time searching for the right person a little outside the friends circle, maybe through recommendations, or by getting someone discovered online or at a concert. Pretty much always, a composer will agree to work on a project if they feel they are the best fit.

If that magic is not happening, it does not mean things are going to be terrible, getting composers out of their comfort zone should still be awesome. I would just say, avoid asking a romantic composer to write comedy, or an epic composer to write light and soft sounds. Every composer can write everything, but probably not in the best way.

- Most composers will display a few tracks on their website, in most cases the first tracks shown are the music they want to be known for.

- If you cannot find what you are looking for, I would recommend asking them for a specific mood you are looking for in your project, usually composers who are used to working in collaboration will have hundreds of tracks in many genres ready to share.

- If the right feel is still nowhere to be found, the composer might still want to pitch a new track if they really want the project.

- If not, it may be time to go for a plan B.

Personality

Another crucial factor to a successful collaboration is the personality match. Art is an industry where work and friendship are intimately linked. It takes a long time to build a strong relationship. Much like your agent, lawyer or babysitter, you absolutely need to trust the composer. For most people, it looks like the first impression is already key, great, but trying to get to know each other better through coffees, beers, phone calls or emails will help the communication flow. If the collaboration involves only two individuals, better be two individuals who get along well. If the collaboration involves many people including producers, coordinators, clients,…  a strong direct relationship will still help to solve creative problems before they spiral into bigger issues. 

Comments, suggestions, experiences you had with composers, and consequent advice for others are encouraged.
This blog will be updated with new experiences and illustrations as they occur.