Author Interview: MusicforMedia

We threw an invitation out in the AudioJungle forums a couple of weeks ago to see if anyone would be interested in answering a few questions for an Author Interview series on the blog. The response was magnificent! We’ve already had bags of responses and we will be contacting even more of you as the series progresses!

So to kick-off the brand new feature, here’s our interview with…

MusicforMedia

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do for a living?

My name is Emmett Cooke and I’m from Ireland, and hmmm what I do for a living… Well, that’s quite varied at the moment. I’m currently traveling around the world, so I’m picking up jobs as I move around. Currently I’m working for a college in Melbourne, processing student applications – most of my jobs have all been office based so far.

Before I started travelling, I used to work in a call-centre for a well known ISP in Ireland – it was actually quite a fun job, and it allowed me enough time during it to keep up-to-date with my Web sites, and expand my online presence now and again. However, I intend to move over to full-time composition within a year or so while doing part-time work to pay for rent/living expenses during the transition. You have to take the plunge at some point if you want to be a professional composer, and although the money won’t immediately start flowing in, I’m sure it will be a fun and exciting time.

2. How long have you been composing music and what got you started producing?

Well I don’t think there was a real definitive point that I can remember that I started composing music. I was always doing it, even if only subconsciously sometimes, since I first picked up an instrument. I used to always make up different little melodies on the piano and guitar when I first started playing, and I suppose it’s only in the last few years that I’ve discovered how to use the technology to write them down and record them.

I first learned how to produce music when I went to college and was taught how to produce properly. However, I forgot all of that in pretty much a few weeks, so once I had finished my degree, I couldn’t really remember much of it! I studied composition as a major in college, and obviously as part of that I did a lot of composition, and studied a wide range of composers. I used to “produce” my first actual compositions in Sibelius, but was never big into the whole technology behind music production. I found it more important to get my ideas written down and notated, and wanted to get my music played live. However, due to the type and number of instruments that I wrote for, that was pretty hard (4 marimbas, 3 pianos, strings, 2 xylophones etc.) It was only once I had finished college that I actually became interested in the production side of things.

During college, I was always wondering how on Earth composers could actually make money in this day and age just composing music, and I had never really known about the whole stock music industry. I was introduced to it by a friend of mine who actually showed me Flashden and AudioJungle. So AudioJungle was the first stock audio site I was introduced to. I saw Adrien (ADG3Studios) and Stefan (Solidbeats) on here and couldn’t believe that they had sold so many tracks on here – at the time they had sold between $1000 – $5000 on their profiles. I thought – “Hey I could do that!” and that was pretty much how I got into music production – all thanks to AudioJungle!

In terms of actual music production, I started off with Reason as I had asked on forums etc. what software would be good to start off with and the feedback I got was that Reason was a good place to start for beginners. So I started with Reason, then moved over to Cubase, and a load of VST’s. I would advise anyone to do it that way too if they’re starting off – it was a gradual learning curve, and fun too.

3. Do you play any instruments? Do you have any formal music training?

Yes I play the piano and guitar, and I’ve just bought a set of tablas here in Melbourne – although I haven’t a clue how to play them! My formal music training was my BA in Music which I completed 2 years ago now, and a number of piano lessons before I started that. I started learning piano 3 years before going to college – I did grade 2, then grade 5, then grade 7, then managed to get into college with that. I love collecting instruments – I have a zither from Bali, and I want to get a Sitar next.

In college I studied jazz piano and classical piano, as well as jazz guitar. I also studied all of the other subjects you’d associate with a music degree – ie. composition, orchestration, harmony etc. I think a formal music training can be of great benefit to you as a composer, but I don’t always use my formal education. Sometimes, it can be just as creative to “mess around” and find new ideas by just playing whatever comes into your mind.

4. Could you describe to us your home studio and the equipment and software you typically use to produce audio?

Well as I’m currently traveling at the moment, my home studio consists of Reason on my laptop, and… that’s all! However, my studio at home consists of the following:

• A set of KRK RP5’s
• Access Virus Ti keyboard
• Reason 4.0
• Cubase 3
• East West Gold
• East West RA
• Jackson Flying V
• Marshall 100 Watt Amp
• PRS SE Grey/Blue
• Custom Built PC
• Harmon Kardon Soundsticks

5. Could you tell us a bit about how you typically compose and then produce your audio? Describe your creative process.

I have a folder of ideas that I save little music doodles inside for use at a later date. When I get back home I also want to start working on a folder for music themes that I can start to store and be able to use at a later date.

My creative process when composing for stock audio is just play around with different sounds, instruments, harmonies, tones etc. until I find something I like – trial and error I suppose. I do also compose music in the more “academic” and “methodical” way, in that I use set harmonic formula etc. to make parts of tracks. For instance, my track “glass piano” is based on the work of Phillip Glass – a great minimalist composer. His work is based on certain harmonies etc., so if you know what he was doing when he wrote his pieces, and the “rules” that he followed as such, then you can emulate him pretty easily…

6. What genre of music do you enjoy producing for and why?

Well I try to create music for every different type of genre. I think its important to be able to work in all styles and genres if you want to be a successful composer. I’ve composed for video games, Web sites, short films etc. My favorite genre of music is film scores, as you can incorporate so many different things into it. You can incorporate different styles, sounds, instruments – anything – if you do it in the right way. If you look at the history of film music, you’ll see that it has slowly but surely incorporated every music device and style in it – and it’s still evolving.

I created music for an oriental animation recently and it was great fun – although a lot of hard work. I had never written in that style of music before, so it was great fun to experiment and learn new instruments, melodies, sounds etc.

7. What kind of things inspire you to create music? Do you have any musical influences?

Seeing live music – bands, orchestras, concerts etc. – can always be inspiring. I love listening to soundtracks to films and games too, as I can find them to be quite inspiring. I think traveling can be very inspiring – as well as eye opening. I think everyone should do it, as it definitively gives you a lot of experiences to draw upon.

Life experiences inspire me to create music too – if I get really angry, I’ll try to use that energy in a positive way, and create something out of it.

In terms of the musical influences part of the question, I’d like to take a quote from a composer I interviewed lately called Andrew Sigler:

“I love this question. It gives people an opportunity to craft a public identity, but I always wonder if they confuse their influences with their favorite composers, which are not always the same thing. I’ll put it this way, influences run more deeply and subconsciously than ‘my fave five’ composers. For instance, I love Stravinsky. And I love to say that I love Stravinsky; it’s a win-win. However, the reality is that going to see ‘Back to the Future’ when I was a kid had a much bigger impact on me musically. Let’s just say I REALLY wanted to play Johnny B Goode as quickly as possible. In the long term, Igor has sustained me but Marty got me on the road.” — Andrew Sigler

I think Andrew really put it well – the composers you love, aren’t necessarily the composer who inspire you. I think minimalism as a genre has been an influence on me.

8. What genres of music do you listen to in your spare time? Do you have any favorite bands or artists?

The music I listen to ranges from everything to anything. I’ll listen to pretty much anything apart from R&B, Rap and Country music. A few composers/bands I love at the moment are Steve Jablonsky, Thomas Newman, John Powell, Bear McCreary, Cliff Martinez, Tool, Dream Theater, and Steve Reich who has always been a big influence on me. Minimalism really appeals to me, as I think it’s a great philosophy – if you can’t do it simply, then don’t do it at all If you’re into minimal music then there’s a few tracks/albums I can recommend:

• “Music for 18 Musicians” by Steve Reich
• “The Hours” OST by Phillip Glass
• “First Sleep” by Cliff Martinz from the OST of Solaris

There’s plenty more, but if you want to get into minimal music, I’d advise listening to them first

9. What is your advice to other AudioJungle authors regarding how to create a successful portfolio of audio?

Well firstly – “Quality over Quantity”. There’s plenty of people on here who have a huge portfolio, but don’t sell as much each month as people with a portfolio a quarter of the size.

“Simplicity can be key”. A track that can be used for more than one purpose is going to be bought and used more, than a track that can only be used for one purpose. I think that might be why some of my piano tracks can sell well – they can be used for more than one purpose and thus they appeal to a larger portion of the market.

“Look professional to be considered professional”. Lay out your porfolfio well, and people will be more likely to buy from you. Give good support on your files, and people will be more likely to buy from you again.

10. What do you do to market your AudioJungle files?

I’m not sure if there’s much you can do to market your files on AudioJungle. I mean there’s a few small things you can do like posting on forums and including a link to your portfolio in your signature, but most ways of advertising your files require spamming really – unless you’re prepared to spend money on marketing – which isn’t exactly worth it.

It’s a proactive vs. reactive thing really. I don’t think you can be proactive as much as reactive with stock music – I’ve joined-up to numerous mailing lists from a number of Web sites which send out updates regularly asking for music for clients – and then I send them music and hopefully its accepted – although I haven’t had much success with that so far. That’s only really with stock music though – you can be proactive with your own career though – for example handing out business cards, talking on forums to directors, game developers etc., send demo packs to studios etc.

11. What are your three favorite tracks in your AudioJungle portfolio and why do you like them?

Extra Terrestrial

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I like this track as it was my first attempt at sci-fi music – I had been watching a lot of sci-fi at the time, and I think it came out in the music. The main theme came out as I was just playing different chords on the piano and immediately I just thought “ooh that sounds really sci-fi-ish” – then I just developed it from there.

Harmonium

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This track was originally called “Motus” – the latin word for movement. It marks a turn in a new direction for my music as it’s quite different to most things I’ve done before. It experiments with a lot of orchestral colors and sounds, and keeps a lot of movement and energy throughout which I like in music. It’s actually not complete yet – I’ve got a lot of alternative endings for it, but they all suck so far.

Harmony

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This was my first attempt at electronic music – and I think it turned out quite well. It just sort of happened accidentally, which was great. I composed the whole track in Reason and even now about 2 years later, I still enjoy listening to it.

12. Apart from yourself, who is your favorite AudioJungle author and why do you like them?

That’s a tough question – there’s a load of AudioJungle authors on here who I think are really great and talented composers, and not appreciated enough.

Trix Music, Soundroll, Slats, Bluegestalt, Lyden – there’s seriously loads more. One track I came across recently that I love is Clenastro. Really awesome track.

13. If you could change anything about AudioJungle, what would it be?

The payout for non-exclusive authors.

14. Could you tell us about some of your audio projects outside of AudioJungle? What have been some of your biggest audio successes so far?

A producer from CBS contacted me about a year ago actually through AudioJungle. They asked me to write some piano tracks for a project they were making – towards the end, they said they wanted the music to go in a different direction, so went with another composer, but I’m still proud to have sounded good enough to impress someone from such a large TV station so early in my career.

As I said earlier I’ve done music for an oriental animation which was a cool project – it should be entered into a lot of animation festivals this summer I think.

I’ve done quite a few small projects with a great animator called Ron Sapinoso aswell – Ron is a really talented guy, and his work really appeals to me as its full of such emotion.

15. When you aren’t busy creating music, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Whenever I get some free time, I do interviews with other composers on my website – “The Score“. I also write some articles on (scorecastonline.com) – a new and great Web site for people interested in composing for films. I’m also trying to get more fit now that I have a bit more time aswell!

View / listen to MusicforMedia’s AudioJungle portfolio.