r/composer

For anyone interested in music and idle games. I call it "Gamified Music Theory". Check it out and share your thoughts! Would love to hear your feedback.

Okay, I compose for film and regular instrumental cues/ tracks in general.

A couple of the libraries that I really like and incorporate consistently are run within NI Kontakt.

I have a few older Spitfire Audio and Audio Bro libraries that run in Kontakt.

If for some reason NI unfortunately folds and no longer will support Kontakt going forward, do you think companies like Spitfire or AudioBro will use their resources to port their Kontakt libraries to their own Audio engine like 8Dio, EastWest, and Spitfire have already done?

Or is that just a musicians investment gone?

Hi!

I'm looking to commission a musician/producer to help bring some of the music from my worldbuilding project to life.

This is primarily a personal passion project. I'm building a fairly extensive high-fantasy setting and have started developing its hymns, anthems, marches, ceremonial music and other in-universe pieces. I'd love to actually be able to listen to some of them while I'm writing.

For the first commission, I have a piece called Andaric Grace (Veiled Form). It's an imperial/coronation anthem associated with the Emperor and the Andaron Empire.

For this particular piece, the composition already exists: the lyrics I've written are intended to be sung to the music of Handel's Zadok the Priest (HWV 258). I generally know how I want the lyrics to fit the music and can provide the complete text, references and detailed explanations of the intended performance as well as context to its significance.

I'm therefore not looking for someone to compose an original piece from scratch for this first commission. I'm looking for someone who could produce a convincing rendition/arrangement using virtual instruments and choir/vocal software (or another method you think would work).

The sound I'm imagining is very grand and ceremonial: massed choir, high soprano, orchestra, Baroque influence, enormous dynamic build and the feeling of an imperial coronation/state event and the liturgical. Essentially, I want it to sound like something that could genuinely be performed at the coronation of an emperor.

This is currently just for my own listening and worldbuilding rather than commercial distribution.

My initial budget is roughly £75–£150 ($100 - $200), although I'm happy to discuss price depending on what is realistically involved. I'm also very open to hearing from students, hobbyists and emerging composers/producers.

I'd particularly love to find someone who enjoys fantasy/worldbuilding and might be interested in an ongoing collaboration as more pieces are developed. There are other pieces from different cultures, religions and historical periods within the setting that I'd eventually like to develop, including completely original compositions.

If you're interested, please DM me with:

- A little about yourself

- Examples of your previous work, particularly orchestral/choral work if you have any

- How you would approach something like this

- An approximate price.

I'm very happy to talk about the setting and provide much more detail about the piece before either of us commits to anything 🙂

Thanks!

Edited: I have uploaded a new score, where I've cleaned up some things, and fixed some immediate issues brought to my attention by u/65TwinReberbRI (Whose comments were much appreciated). I'm not uploading new audio, since the material is not substantially changed.

New pdf here

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for feedback on an older chamber piece of mine. It runs about 3 minutes and 40 seconds and is written for flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano, percussion, and string quartet (vln, vln, vla, vc).

Links to score and audio.

This is a Finale score that I'll probably move to Dorico if I start editing it again. The audio is Noteperfomer.

“Composing” the noun, maybe. The verb? Not so much.

For context, I’m entering my fourth year of undergrad as a comp major. It’s a state school in LA, not a conservatory or anything crazy, but there’s lots of great folks here. The degree is weirdly laid out, so I actually haven’t even had lessons yet, and have barely done any actual intensive comp classes. The vast majority of my musical engagements have been playing bassoon and clarinet in ensembles. Most of my classes are just talking about composition, not actual assignments to write certain things, which is frustrating to me.

I have always been a professional idea-haver. Constantly, my mind is coming up with ideas for new pieces of music that I would love to see exist. This also applies to video games, and I always thought it would be fun to make games, but music is the field I found myself in, and so composing seemed like a great outlet to make ideas come to life.

But like, there’s obviously a difference between enjoying having ideas and enjoying the creative process. And unfortunately, I think I see the creative process as more of a means to an end rather than the goal itself. I hardly ever compose music anymore, at least since starting college. 90% of the time, it brings anxiety. It’s a place where good ideas go to die. Even with writing (words and write-ups, not music), I start with an idea that excites me and then the creative process becomes the test to see if I can pull it off rather than a place where ideas are born and changed.

This summer, I told myself, would be a summer of composing and preparing for my recital. I was gonna write a brass quintet, but unlike any project I’ve done before, I was gonna commit to writing a little bit every day whether or not I wanted to. And it worked! The piece is done. Maybe it’s not my favorite thing in the portfolio, but it’s something. Once it was finished though, this routine ended. I was left with the question “should I really need to force myself to do something I allegedly enjoy?”

I often feel that my peers who really love what they do value the process over the product. The time spent over their staff paper and piano, tinkering and playing with ideas until sparks start to fly. And sure, I’ve had similar experiences from time to time, but I feel as if I value the potential of a creation more than the process itself. It’s always more exciting in my head. Is this caused by the gap between my current abilities and my capacity for imagination? It’s likely. Is the gap worth closing though? I don’t know.

I have also been feeling increasingly disillusioned by the institutions around me. The new music scene, to me, reeks of elitism. Art that impacts the lives of virtually nobody besides those who have already bought into it. I want the things that I do to matter, not just serve a feedback loop of high artistry. I’m strongly considering becoming, like, a grade school science teacher after my degree. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for way longer than music, and I would actually be affecting the world in a small but tangible way.

I also feel like such an imposter all the time, not because my skills are poor, but because I just don’t care enough and one day I’ll be “exposed” for it. I hardly ever listen to new music I haven’t heard before. I mean, that’s like the bare minimum for composers right? I have little interest in attending concerts and exploring music online. The music I do actually enjoy is music I’ve played in ensembles, basically music I was forced to hear over and over again until I grew to love it. I try sometimes to expose myself to new things but it just takes so much mental energy. I dunno. Maybe I’m broken.

To be honest, the comments I’m hoping to get to this post are “yeah, sounds like you don’t actually like composing!” because I guess that would vindicate my feelings. But maybe I actually AM a composer underneath all the anxiety, I just haven’t opened the floodgates yet. I kinda hope that isn’t the case, because then it will have meant I wasted all of college doing basically nothing.

I chose this path because it was the path of least resistance. I liked composition somewhat and everyone said I could succeed, so here we are. I never wanted to be a professional musician, it was never a dream of mine. I’ve just always been good enough at music to get by. And I’d like to keep playing in my career as well. I played bassoon on Sweeney Todd earlier this year and I would love to keep doing stuff like that, because the value is more readily apparent, unlike composing where it feels like this grand personal statement that needs to be self-justifying.

As I enter my final year, I am conflicted. Do I give composing my all, or do I resign myself to the reality that I probably will pursue something else afterwards? I’m nervous about my professors and peers thinking that I’m not passionate or dedicated enough and that I don’t belong. But part of me doesn’t want to belong.

I’m gonna cut myself off here, for fear this devolves into an endless thought spiral. If anyone has any comments, I’m all ears. Thanks for reading.

Hello!
I currently run a collegiate trombone trio that has been invited out to a conference, and we’re looking to commission a 1 - 1.5 minute long piece as our opener. We’d love a a piece that’s kinda reminiscent of ‘Hogwarts Forever’ or ‘Suite from the Monteregian Hills’.

We are really wanting a youngish(collegiate student preferably) composer to help showcase, as our performance last year had a crowd of around 300 music educators. If you’re from texas or the dfw, please mention as well!

We’re able to provide $450 for this project, if reasoning can be provided we’re open to price adjustments. Thank you!

Hi all, I imagine not many lawyers here but I'm hoping for some advice. Does anyone know the legality of commissioning a composer to create an arrangement (e.g. "to sound all medieval and stuff") of an existing song (e.g. KPM's "Heavy Action") that is still under copyright?

The resultant arrangement would only be for personal use and would not be performed or sold or included as part of another medium.

Is that a non-starter without a license from the holder? Would someone be better off just asking a composer for an original composition that is reminiscent of the copyrighted song?

As I notice composers of all skill levels (mostly beginner) post examples of their music, it makes me wonder how conscious everybody is about the influence the tools can have on the resulting music.

For example, when you identify as a composer as opposed to a producer, you might feel inclined to use notation software as your starting point instead of a DAW or voice notes then dictating on manuscript, etc.

I see myself in a lot of newer composers in that I was influenced by the aesthetic of being a “composer” that was fed to me through films like Amadeus, music books, and even in music school up to a certain level. Using a DAW was for people who made beats and couldn’t read music, so I thought.

So I would start with Sibelius, staring into the bright white manuscript as it totally hijacked my visual field. Then, due to its grid-like nature, I was inclined to write stilted music that fit into simpler rhythms and time signatures because it would take so much more time trying to notate all the nuances that I actually wanted.

Eventually, I learned that a DAW mixed with drawing/writing in a free form way on manuscript or blank white paper was the best way to get the music out, then only using notation software to clean it up and make parts was the best way for me.

It took me a while to recognize and remove the stock visual aesthetic of being a “composer” and to just use what served me better. The priority switched from tool-use to a pure focus on the musical idea. I arrived at the realization that notation is just a rough visual recording, not necessarily the composition itself.

I’m curious to know if this has been a conscious consideration for others or if maybe this post is enlightening to those who haven’t considered this.

I have several arrangements uploaded to MuseScore and I'd really like to get some money for them, especially since I'm unemployed. Is that possible?

I made it a month ago https://musescore.com/user/33725161/scores/35485877

Hi to everyone.

I'll give you some context before staring with my questions.

I'm an aspiring music composer for games, and I'm making music since 2023, and for those 3 years I've used nucleus and other audio imperia libraries first and then I moved to VSL synchron prime orchestra, and what I was looking for in term of sound in the last years was a generic orchestral sound to make any type of orchestral music for games.

Now I've decided to change the type of sound/style that I'm looking for, and I'm trying to go to a sound that is very similar to modern jrpgs, like the Octopath Traveler series, the Xenoblade Chronicles series, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Zelda Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom.

So I need good sounding orchestral libraries to make that style of music.

Which libraries I should consider?

Should I go with an all-in-one orchestra, or with dedicated libraries for each section, soloists included? I should consider wet libraries with a good sounding room or you think it's better to go with dry libraries and then send them to a convolution reverb?

Thanks to all of you that will take the time to read this and give feedbacks.

Hi, everyone. I've never visited this sub before (I put the discussion flair because it seemed the most appropriate, let me know if I should change it), but the title pretty much explains why I'm here. I’m writing a feature about a late 20s/early 30s American male who moves to France in the 1960s to achieve his dreams of being a composer.

As I currently have the story planned, he spends much of the first act of the film trying to find work in an orchestra (he is a very talented cellist) so that he can have a steady job while he works on composing in his free time. Also so he can use the connections he makes while playing in the orchestra (he gets recognition for his talent) to network and build his career.

I am trying to be as authentic as possible with this story, so any comments on how likely this is, things I should keep in mind, etc. would be helpful! I have some specific questions as well:

1. Would it make more sense for the character to have a different job? How likely/common is it that a professional orchestra player would be able to compose in their free time and gain actual connections they could use to promote their work?

2. Film and television scores are of course lucrative, but what else would help show he has finally accomplished his goals? If an orchestra performs his piece?

3. Should I go for something more like Amadeus where the character primarily composes and plays an instrument on the side/composes with their preferred instrument as the main instrument for many of his pieces?

4. What are some ways/things y'all find inspiration?

Any notes/advice/whatever would be extremely helpful!

I’ve been composing in the music industry since 2017, working for many kind of projects from short films to producing for singer, and those last months i started getting more and more into composing for video games.
A few weeks ago i found the first indie game studio down to work with me, after they asked for a demo track we started negociating and they told me there last price would be between 9k and 10k USD for a 90 minutes OST (full buyout).
This seems extremely low to me, but i’m hesitating a lot since i need experience in this industry and i understand how hard it can be to get a first contract in this industry.
What do you think about this pricing ? Is it justified since I have no experience as a video game composer ?

I have been composing for almost a year now and it can’t quite grasp the time signatures. I even have purchased a full score of rite of spring and don’t have too much trouble transposing the time signature shifts but I also don’t feel like I’m truly learning why he chose them at times.

Sometimes it feels like the time signature shifts (for rite of spring) operate on a sort of pattern outside of the music being contained. So then I thought, “well I’ll go and set all my time signatures in a piece then just fill it with notation”.

I haven’t gotten too far but what I did complete didn’t sound too bad to my ears. I’m curious if this is a viable approach or if it may be seen as cheating me of knowledge in the time signature department?

Otherwise I have a really hard time distinguishing time signatures in music, if it isn’t 4/4 or 5/4 (which I only recognize from certain key beats in that signature) then I’m at a loss.

I've had the idea for a little while to make a KOTLC musical soundtrack, similar to what has happened with the Epic: the Musical stuff that's going on, however, I wanted to gauge interest in the idea, because I would need help with making it, from singers, to writers and artists. So if you see this, let me know what you would think :)

If no why, if yes why, i am a begginer composer, this piece was meant to be weird and erratic, here is the free full score: https://musescore.com/user/98567428/scores/36048743?share=copy_link

When I first started making any art, it was written prose or like poetry. Some drawing/sketching too. And the only reason I did any of that is because I was experiencing so much emotion that I “had to get it out”. Although I wasn’t great, those little pieces of work were pretty vivid and I liked that mode of operating. It was good to have an outlet for my emotions that resulted in something tangible.

I’m a composer now, though. And it’s probably my best skill. But I noticed that my reason for writing music is never because I’m feeling intense emotion. And when I’m actively composing, my analytical mind takes over completely. I’m in the zone. I’m thinking about technical stuff, so the only emotions I’m feeling are usually boredom or frustration or intense glee (when it’s going well) or just nothing at all.

I guess when writing words on a page or doodling those things can happen in the span of a few minutes, but when writing music, I mean, it takes me hours, days. And I often go back to pieces from last year that I never finished and continue working on them. My emotional state is never consistent. And my self awareness totally dissolves when composing anyways.

I think the “meaning” of a piece almost only becomes clear once it is done and I snap out of it and look at what I’ve created. And I see aspects of myself within it but it’s usually not what I expect. Subconscious stuff.

I guess I’m just wondering how everybody else operates? And thoughts on this in general? Do you guys ever get thrown into a fit of rage and decide to write music from that? I don’t know how I could possibly do that!

Edit: dissolve -> dissolves

I’m 15 turning 16 at the end of this week and wanna start saving up for a cheap car by myself (my parents want to help me a little, but we’re nowhere near rich and I want that feeling of independence).

I’m working part time at a skating rink and it pays pretty decently, but I was wondering if I should start writing custom music for people as a side gig. I’m pretty decent at orchestration and have a decent amount of info on music theory, as I’ve been writing/arranging music on my own for a while.

Is it even really worth it in my situation? I’d still have to figure out how much to charge, find somewhere to start taking requests, etc. You guys have any tips? (especially for what composing software I could use)

I can write for wind band, marching band (including drumline/front ensemble), and probably wind/percussion chamber groups. I don’t know too much about writing for orchestra, and I’m pretty bad at piano (I’m great at mallet instruments though).

I can post some of my music if you guys want some examples I guess but I’m still working on my composition skills.