To celebrate this years International Women’s day, we are featuring some of the best female composer in sound designer interviews.
The Beautiful music of The Tale. An interview with Ariel Marx
A wonderful composer and mentor, Michael Levine, once told me an analogy that I love. He said — and this is not verbatim — that getting into this industry is much like breaking into a castle: one person might find a crack in the wall and slip in but will cover up the entrance and no one will ever get in that way again. Essentially, it’s unpredictable and non-formulaic. This has always been an empowering analogy to me, as there is no right or wrong way to do this. You just have to work hard, and stay inspired. I am in this incredible position to give this interview because of a combination of really hard work, making meaningful and lasting connections with collaborators and mentors, and perseverance.
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Scoring American Animals. An interview with Anne Nikitin.
My advice would be to consider yourself as a “composer” rather than a “female composer”. What I’m keen to promote is a working environment in which gender is irrelevant. I’ve been fortunate in the U.K. that I have not come across any prejudice that I’m aware of.
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An interview with the music supervisor Liz Lawson
The Guild of Music Supervisors has just started a new category of membership, called Friends of the Guild. Students and others interested in the field are welcome to join, and will be invited to a variety of networking events that will enable them to interact with working professionals. It’s a great resource. Also, internships. Don’t be afraid to reach out to music supervisors whose work you admire! It worked for me.
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How one movie changed the way you hear? An interview with Kathleen Burrows
An incredibly important part of this process was to understand hearing loss and the daily struggles are of a person with hearing loss.
Gaining access to audiograms of patients that showed us the frequency curve of their hearing loss at different stages (they group them into mild, moderate and severe), and being able to create an emulation of these levels of hearing loss was key to the success of this project. At several stages throughout the process of creating this film, we also tested the film on people with hearing loss, of many different levels. It was incredibly interesting hearing all their stories.
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The music behind Emmy award winning Batman Beyond. An interview with Lolita Ritmanis, Kristopher Carter and Michael McCuistion.
Emmy Award-winning composers Kristopher Carter, Lolita Ritmanis and Michael McCuistion, collectively known as Dynamic Music Partners are currently scoring the hit animated series Marvel’s Avengers Assemble. Michael, Lolita and Kristopher have created hundreds of hours of music for a variety of different genres, including TV series, independent films, video games and live performance events. They have collectively earned twenty-eight Emmy Award nominations and six Annie Award nominations as composers for Batman: The Brave And The Bold, Justice League, Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, The Zeta Project and The New Batman Superman Adventures. They each received the Emmy Award in Music Direction and Composition for their music for Batman Beyond, and the score to the feature film “Yesterday Was A Lie” won a Gold Medal at the Park City Film Music Festival.
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How Ana Monte created the wonderful soundscape for Where to, Miss?
Research, read, connect with professionals in the area, join Facebook groups, network. There are so many tools out there. Try to pick up experience in a real world scenario. Maybe do an internship in a movie set or volunteer to help in a student production. Practice makes perfect!
Also: the equipment should not define you. People get scared when they start off and see “Oh no, I can’t afford this recorder and that microphone”. Professional equipment definitely helps you be a better professional, but if you don’t know your craft to begin with, no equipment will save you.
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Melissa Pons interview
Don’t let limitations stop you. For months, the only equipment I had available at all was a laptop and headphones. That didn’t stopped me from researching, creating sound effects with several techniques and uploading them to my soundcloud. That was essentially how I got my first mobile game gig! Creating a network of possible work-buddies and more experienced peers is extremely important for professional growth. And… always remember: as sound designers, we are much more than library SFX – they don’t think or listen.
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Chanel Summers interview
The great artists are the ones that can convey a lot with very little. Learning how to edit one’s self is one of the key core concepts of great game audio design—and, frankly, design in general. Too often, unskilled artists try to put too much into their audio design. But I can tell you from experience that working within self-imposed limits forces artists to be more creative and more decisive.
Artists must, of necessity, establish a strict aesthetic that values originality and a distinctive style. Establishing limits within which to work forms the initial step in this process.
Also, I am certain that over the next few short years, successful game creators will push into new musical and sonic territories and drive deeper emotional resonance into their creations by beginning to focus on audio aesthetics, just as they have done in recent years by adopting some of the principles of visual aesthetics. In order to achieve this, however, the audio leaders of tomorrow must develop a deep familiarity today with the foundations and principles of aesthetics.
Just as film sound was pushed into a media language of its own, we will establish a common language for game audio aesthetics. And we need to keep growing that language. We must explore unorthodox paths.
Employing proper aesthetic principles to drive the latest game audio specific tools, technologies, and techniques will enable game creators to push audio, and games themselves, forward in an emotionally impactful way.
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The music of Goo Saga. Vicky Fysika interview
Don’t set limits. If you do make sure you surpass them. Be spontaneous, a lot of “thought” can sometimes “hurt” creativity.
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Dana Lund interview
I think that taking care of yourself is pretty important. You want to feel refreshed and energetic when working on a project. It becomes a lot more of a chore or obstacle if you are feeling under the weather. Staying healthy and being excited about life is probably when I feel my most creative and would imagine others would agree.
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Winifred Phillips interview
The biggest tip I can offer is to try to learn as much as you can, and to not be discouraged. To use a gamer metaphor, you can’t beat the game if you rage quit. Talent is important, and passion is crucial, but I think that persistence is really the key to success.
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Alex Jones interview
Can I be cheesy and say never give up on your dreams? If you have a vision, for your game or your music, whatever it may be, don’t compromise on it. If you do, you might end up never meeting the people who truly share the same vision and have the ability to create something beautiful together. The main point I’m getting at here is don’t be afraid to break away from the crowd, be artistic and expressive and all the wonderful things that make us human. Games have an amazing power to unite so many people and that’s why I love them.
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Elspeth Eastman interview
Organize your music alphabetically – name songs so that you’ll be able to find them easily. Get a domain name if you don’t have one already. Create a business card, customize a logo for yourself, and hand that sucker out at every opportunity. Don’t use the words “epic” or “emotional” in your music titles – not everyone will think your music is epic or emotional, so give your songs a unique title people will remember. Send an email saying hello to your role models – they often respond and have great advice. Be outgoing, ask questions, and stand up for yourself, otherwise no one will know who you are.
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Charlotte Partt interview
I think the best advice I could give would be to be nice, and don’t be a shark. Also be honest, people can tell when you’re bulls*****g and you’re just building yourself up for a fall if you go down that route. Not technically motivational, bit still very important nonetheless I think.
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Stellita Loukas interview
Always, ALWAYS believe in yourselves. Talent is nothing if you don’t believe in it. Do not waste time listening to opinions of people you don’t admire. There are a lot of people out there who are ready to either ‘lick your ears’ or pass very hard judgement on your music because they lack your abilities. Don’t limit yourselves to one or two styles; instead, try and immerse yourselves in as many different styles as you can because this will eventually result in your own unique voice. Music is one and the same (call it orchestral or dubstep) and the more genres you ‘study’, the better you speak the ‘language’. Read, listen and research as much as you can and DON’T EVER get disappointed if things do not go as planned from day 1. The road to getting where you want is not easy but is not long and hard either as many people would have us believe. I am tired of hearing how hard and difficult it is to make it and how tough the world of music is. If you want something and fight for it you WILL get there. Keep your mind open to new opportunities and your eyes on the ball.
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Yaiza Varona interview
Nothing I can say shall ever be more motivational than music itself. It´s all there, in the music. :)
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Marie-Anne Fischer interview
This is a very competitive industry and it is important to maintain your own sound and protect your own identity. It is equally important that you be careful who you share you network contacts with. Your hard work at relationship building is very attractive to those who are hungry and without ethics. If music is your life-breath; breathe in, breathe out. Breathe Deeply. Breathe Often. Breathe every day.
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