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Rob also won our CG2 contest. Congratulations again on winning the contest.
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do for a living?
I’m a film and television composer and also do a lot of work for Disney and other attraction based companies. My past films include “The Trial” starring Matthew Modine – 20th Century Fox, “Unrequited” Starring Michael Welch – Lions Gate, “Jimmy” starring Ted Levine – Sony Films and my last television stint was the animated series, “Danger Rangers” on CBS’ Saturday morning. My current running Disney projects are “Cars II – Lights! Motor! Action” Stunt Show at Disney Hollywood Studios and the stage show, “My Friend Duffy” at Tokyo Disney.
What is your niche or speciality, that makes you stand out from rest of the audio professionals?
I write for live orchestra but can create sample based tracks that rival the real thing if the budget can’t handle the cost of a live session. I recently did an entire fireworks show for Disney. Because they didn’t want to incur the cost of a show that was only going to run one time, they contracted me to write a show using the typical Disney songs but sequencing the entire show. It was a tall order because when you here a Disney recording it’s always live orchestra and I had to make sure that it met up to their standards. The creative director of Disney Entertainment stated after seeing the show, “A great soundtrack with a perfect customization to the audience.” I was later told he had no idea that it wasn’t a live track.
Can you give us a brief summary of the equipment you use regularly?
My main DAW is a Mac Pro 8 Core with 32Gigs of RAM networked to 4 Mac Minis and 1 Mac G5PPC that hold all of my orchestral libraries. Universal Audio’s Apollo Digital Interface. I feel it’s the best digital interface on the market. My controller is the Roland A80 that I’ve owned since 1990…It is the closest to a real piano feel so I doubt if I’ll ever use anything else. Having a true piano feel is very important to me. Which means I’m always trolling eBay to find another so I’ll always have parts to keep this one going.
I use the Novation Zero SL MkII to control all other data – it is the most flexible and customisable controller that I’ve used. With the amount of cc data that most virtual instruments use today, you really need a controller that can handle the all of the cc data commands. Also, the Frontier Design Group’s ‘Alpha Track’ as an easy way to grab a fader for mixing and such.
What are your go-to plug-ins and software? (virtual instruments, audio processing etc.)
MOTU’s Digital Performer is my DAW software. I started using it in 1988…probably won’t be changing anytime soon as it is the best software DAW for film composition out there. Just upgraded DP8 and so far it’s preforming beautifully. Since I’m mostly orchestral based, LASS, VSL, Cinebrass/Pro, Spitfire Audio are my go to for the majority of what I do.
My other go to VI’s are Cinematic Guitars (and now Cinematic Guitars 2), Morphestra and Elements by Sample Logic. These are such a part of my sound pallet that I don’t know what I would do without them. To be able to create custom sounds that I know I won’t here in some one else’s soundtrack. The textures that I can add with these are what gives my tracks, “life.” I use a lot of percussive instruments but my two main VI’s are, Damage by Heavyocity (an incredible tool for percussion) and 8Dio’s Epic Taikos. These are the two that I go to consistently.
As far as audio processing, my main reverb that I use on the master bus is a relatively newcomer called “B2” from 2caudio.com. This is just a fantastic verb that has an immense amount of programability that can also make it a sound design element. Waves Kramer Master Tape, Waves NLS Plugs (Non Linear Summer Plugin) and Magnetic are my go to mastering plugins.
When do you find you are most creative?
I worked for Paramount Parks for 11 years as their Sr. Music Composer and the normal hours were 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. – in reality, it was 8 a.m. to whenever you were done – that could be 3 am in the morning. But, the biggest thing that I gain in that 11 years was that I couldn’t wait for “inspiration to strike”…when you had 3 shows, 2 attraction based rides and a Fred Flintstone show to write and they all have to be done “yesterday” you learned very quickly to be creative when you walked into the studio in the morning. I still carry that to this day. My studio is in the home, and I get started every morning around 8:30 a.m. and go till I finish!
What is your usual process for creating audio content for games, films etc.?
Usually, a thorough meeting with the director/producer to get their vision for the film and then spotting the film with the director. After that, I lock myself in my studio and write initial cues and get their opinion to make sure we’re headed in the right direction. Once they are comfortable with what I’m doing I’ll then start to write the score and upload video cues to a player as I complete them so they can review
Are there any particular secrets to your creativity?
Write from the heart…sounds cliche’, I know but you can’t let your “head” get in the way of the creative process. Over thinking can kill the creative flow in an instant so I try not think about what I’m actually creating and just let it happen. I use the Michelangelo approach – when Michelangelo was asked how he creative the statue “David,” he stated simply, “David was already in the stone…it was merely my job to release him.” That’s kind of the way I approach any film…the score is already written, it’s just my job to figure out what it is.
Do you have any audio creation techniques that resulted in something interesting?
Don’t settle into your “comfort zone”…always stretch yourself creatively. It’s easy to “reach into your bag of tricks” and write what you wrote on your last gig, but when you try things aren’t normally in your arsenal it opens up ideas that you might have not come up with before. Listening to other composers (both classical and contemporary) are invaluable to expanding your range of ideas. Learn from the masters!
Also, I’m always looking for unique sounds and instruments that will inspire new ideas. I spend a lot of time “web trolling” sample library companies to see what is new and fresh. Many sounds that I use are from little companies that have niche’ instruments and sounds. These always inspire new ideas for me!
Any specific “lessons learned” on a project that you could share?
It was a lesson learned early on in my career – ALWAYS SAVE YOUR WORK!!! I had written and entire stage show for Hanna – Barbera (Scooby Doo, I think) when the hard drive crashed. I lost the entire show and all I had was the demo on DAT tape…I had to recreate the entire show from scratch. From that point on, I always have multiple backups. ALWAYS!
Any tips, hints or motivational speeches for the readers?
The business has been very good to me but perseverance is the single most important thing you can have. You can never give up and you have to believe in yourself when no one else will. You can have all of the talent and chops in the world, but you have to be prepared to eat macaroni & cheese 3 times a day, live in a roach infested apt and accept rejection with dignity. Yes, I did all of those…and then some. But, if you’ve got the talent and chops, are willing to love to do what you do without thinking about how much money you’re not making and know that you’re never good enough so you keep striving to be better than you were the day before…well, then you’ve got what it takes to call yourself a composer and you’ll do just fine.