Four For Music the Soundtrack Podcast

Our guest in FFM the Soundtrack Podcast EP3, S2 is Edward White - a British film and TV composer, known for his work on the Gears of War: Gears Tactics, the science-fiction thriller Listening, Bear Grylls Mission Survive Series, Railroad Alaska Series Leepu & Pitbull, Mankind: The Story of All of Us and many others.

Music storytelling capabilities - of opera, symphonic and film music - is one of the themes that takes place in the first couple minutes of the podcast. Ed and George are also discussing topics such as: freedom and limitations due to technology, combination of synths and orchestra and custom sound design. Ed talks about the “pre-computer” era when the directors used to hire composers on the “top of the tree” and rely on their expertise. What is different in the process today - hear the speakers’ observations.

The next accents of the conversation concern: networking - how one can find new projects; how Ed himself started working on game music; what was George’s approach toward composing the score for “Surviving Mars".

The second part of the episode is mainly about library editorial music, “orphan tracks” and “infinity drawers”. Learn more about the specifics, some tips and tricks that might be helpful when there is no room and time for the composer to respond to the picture. Ed is talking about some documentary series that he scored. Bear Grylls: Mission Survive and Earth Meets Wind are some of the examples given. George also mentions the soundtracks of Outlander, God of War and Da Vinci's Demons.

Final minutes are reserved for our blitz questions. Find out which are Ed’s favorite soundtracks, what is his dream project and what would his advice be to a younger version of himself.

Four for Music the Soundtrack Podcast is a series of podcasts for film and game scores that George Strezov from Four for Music is hosting.

This episode is with Jeff Rona - a composer of film and game music, one of the people behind the creation of MIDI.

First minutes of the conversation are about the beginning of Jeff’s career and education and specifically about his connection with Milcho Leviev - an award-winning Bulgarian jazz maestro. He shares some interesting stories and also talks about the philosophy that has influenced his process of composing and thinking about music and life as a whole.

In this first part you will also learn how Jeff sees classical education and what he thinks about composing and writing music as ”not a series of accidents” but “a series of very very rapid decisions, that you make without thinking and you bring everything you know to every decision, but you don’t think about the decision”. He adds that his strong belief is that being creative is a form of rapid decision making without questioning, without judging and that is the first part of a two-layer process. The second one being more analytical, when you should take the role of a “filter” to yourself. Jeff speaks about the practical meaning of this approach. You will hear if he considers the deadlines and time an enemy or an ally and how according to him you could react to circumstances that affect making scores and what could be used to influence the process in a positive direction.

The simplicity and the role it has in composing and recording is the next theme on focus. Jeff shares that often the last step that he does when finishing a piece of music (if there is such a thing) is asking himself what he can take out, what he can remove without losing what is at the core and what the music should achieve dramatically. And the answer according to him is: “More than you think”.

Later George and Jeff discuss multiple astonishing soundtracks that they both admire and that are based on simplicity and minimalism as philosophy and implementation. Solaris, Hobbit and Star Wars music are being mentioned. Bernard Herrmann, Howard Shore, Harry Gregson-Williams and Cliff Martinez are commented and given as examples of cleverness and sophistication when it comes to using simplicity as a principle of composing.

The use of specific instruments and motives of ethnic, world music is one of the main topics in the second part of the podcast. How they are used and when they could be appropriately weaved in the score - Jeff shares experience of his own. The great works of Agnel Roman and Zhao Jiping are brought up.

The last minutes of the conversation concern the creation of MIDI. Jeff tells how he got involved in the project and what was the initial idea behind the technology as well as some details on how it was developed. Some of the possibilities of MIDI 2.0 are also being discussed.

We hope that you’ll enjoy this episode of the “Four for Music the Soundtrack Podcast” and you’ll listen to the next when we’ll meet with Joseph Trapanese!

The guest of this episode of FFM the Soundtrack Podcast is Shota Nakama - a composer, orchestrator, arranger and guitarist who has worked on vast number of scores for games such as: Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Final Fantasy XV, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Dragon Marked for Death, God Eater 3, the TV series Made in Abyss and many more.
Shota is talking about the time at Berklee and the “nerdy” video game music club they had founded there. He is also sharing how he started playing with the Video Game Orchestra, how that project began and evolved.
In this first part of the conversation Shota and George are also discussing some differences between game and film music soundtracks. Some specifics from the composer's perspective are mentioned. The theme about the way those kinds of music is experienced by the users, is brought up.
Then the two speakers share their personal experience in gaming. Shota also talks about how he has discovered the guitar and the role that rock’n roll music has had in his professional and personal life. He is telling about their work with Jason Becker - how they met and worked together.

In the middle part of the show Shota is sharing some interesting and funny stories about projects he was working on. Find out how he has succeeded in writing a choir text in Latin!
He and George are sharing some thoughts about the gaming industry - how it has transformed and developed in the last 2 decades.
Later in the podcast the importance of knowing how the instruments work and playing a particular instrument could be useful for composers are themes on focus. Shota and George share the opinion that it is particularly useful to be able to look from the performer’s perspective on a composition and that it elevates the creative skills, “brings diversity in the composer’s thoughts” and helps achieving better and predictable results during recording sessions.
They also talk about the power and emotional influence that the live performance has and compare it to the effect and usability of sample music. Shota says that according to him “AI can never replace a live concert.”
Last minutes of the podcast are about our blitz questions. Don’t miss to find out which are the favorite soundtracks of Shota Nakama and what would his advice be to a younger version of himself.

“Four for Music the Soundtrack Podcast” is a series of conversations for film and game scores that the composer George Strezov from Four For Music is moderating.

This podcast is with Andy Hopkins - a composer of film and TV series as well as bands and library music.

How Andy has started working as a composer and what is the creative process behind his composing today are the first topics of the conversation. Andy mentions the role of concepts and theoretical perspective in the planning phase. He speaks about the experience he had while working on “The Celts” – BBC series, as well as the project he is currently composing. George also shares thoughts on how themes, thinking about motives, characters and overall sound of the music are weaved in score writing.

The reference – to a genre, an era or to an instrument – as a tool is the next topic that Andy and George discuss, as well as the effect that contrast and sudden switches of the genre and mood have. Going from minor to major being a good, a bad and a funny move - George is giving some examples of his experience.

Later the conversation is about the library music - the importance of the genre and the specific harmonic language. Andy speaks about the interpretation and the original voice that a composer has in connection with a concrete genre or a theme and how that can be used in writing library music. Feedback as a part of the creating process and how one can use fresh perspective to achieve a better result is part of the themes mentioned.

How interaction with all participants in a film production affects the composing process and the music in its final variant in the movie and what could be the challenges and the potential benefits of working close with the director, plus some bitter experience is part of what you’ll hear in the middle section of the podcast. Andy gives some practical advice about composing around dialogues and George shares a story about an animated series gig that he had. He should compose music that practically would narrate the story for a whole scene after a short introduction, for 10 -15 mins or so with no narration, dialogues or whatsoever and at the premiere of the film he found out that the concept changed entirely, and the outcome was quite different than the expected...

The last part of the podcast mainly concerns the important aspects to consider during a live orchestra recording session. Andy brings attention to the key role of the orchestrator and the conductor, as well as the importance of working with people you have confidence in. The advantages that live orchestra has over the sampled orchestra are being discussed. Both speakers are talking about the sound that sometimes gets too perfect and ”overprocessed” and the cases when this could lead to not so perfect results.

Final minutes of the talk are dedicated to Harry Gregson - Williams’s score music which both Andy and George obviously love. They discuss their favorite soundtracks and what they fancy the most about them as concepts and methods of working.

“Keep doing what you believe in, work harder and strive for excellence in every part and maybe focus a little bit more on the execution than on the concepts. Trust your own voice and don’t be led into being more of a conformist” - that would Andy Hopkins advise a younger version of himself.

Stay tuned for ep. 3 of the “Four for Music the Soundtrack Podcast” when we’ll meet with John Graham! Cheers!

The guests of this episode of Four For Music the Soundtrack Podcast are Yannick Süß and Robin Birner, renowned for their work on games with historical setting, city building and RPG genres like: ”Knights of Honor II: Sovereign”, “Victoria 3”, “Foundation”, “ Spacebase Startopia” and many more.

Yannick and Robin are talking about the way they got into composing music for games and how they started their company Audinity. They share some thoughts and details about their mutual work and creative process and what has helped them build a successful partnership for over a decade now.

Finding a new angle on something you are used to and that you know that works well, keeping things simple, striking the right balance between too active and generic music when an ambient score is written and more - hear what the speakers have to say about the challenges in game music composing.

Some of the themes on focus in the second part of the podcast are: what are the important things and potential issues to consider when it comes to producing a soundtrack; the significance of arrangement and orchestration for the final outcome; recording on stems vs recording an entire orchestra.

Yannick also shares a bit about his experience with game music concerts. He is talking about the opportunities for a wider audience and the difficulties concerning the organization and the curation process for the concert program.

In the final minutes you’ll find the answers to our blitz questions - which are the favorite soundtracks of Robin and Yannick, what their dream project is and what would their advice be if they were to start composing for games today.