10 Reasons Why I Like to Work From Home
Here's 10 reasons to work from home in no particular order...
Quitting Coffee Cold Turkey
Anyone who knows me knows I love my cuppa hot java. It's been a habit for the last few years (and then some) to have at least two big mugs of black coffee first thing in the morning simply to function at a normal level. And, despite my preaching to the opposite in a previous post on Creativity and How to Deal With Mental Blocks, I have begun to rely on coffee and caffeinated drinks to kick start the inspiration... that is until the last week.
Sundance Theatre Lab at White Oak in Florida
This is Day 5 for me at the Sundance Theatre Lab at White Oak Plantation, Florida. I'm here as composer with a great bunch of artists from Punchdrunk Theatre developing ideas for their epic, immersive, experiential, theatre adaptation of Woyzeck.
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10 Top Qualities of a Great Director
I LOVE working with directors that have any or all of the following qualities.
Is Film Music Art or Just Low-Brow Commercial Fluff?
Is any music that is created for a purpose, other than that of it's own existence, art? Is film music art, or theatre music, or advert music, or music that appears on a CD-Rom presentation, or accompanying a website promo film, or music on a trailer? Even if the music's primary purpose is purely commercial - to sell that product or promote another - does that preclude its intrinsic value as art?
Continue readingIs Film Music Art or Just Low-Brow Commercial Fluff?
Tips for Composing Music With A Computer
Composing on a computer sequencer with software/outboard synthesizers and samples is quite a bit different to composing for real instruments. There's no substitute for an orchestra when that's the sound you want. However, if you think of your kit as something other than an orchestra-in-a-box, and write instead to its strengths, you might not ever …
Creativity and How To Deal with Mental Blocks
Having a creative career is absolutely the best thing ever. I really do love it. But there comes a point when you've been 'creating' for 8 hours straight and suddenly you hit a brick wall - bam! And that's it. You've no idea what to do next. The well's run dry. It doesn't happen much …
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10 Top Tips – Writing Film Music
So you've got a great commission, composing music for feature film. Congratulations! But now what? Here are a few ideas that I've learned (often from some pretty tough lessons) to help the process go a little more smoothly... Get involved as early on as possible Communicate with your director Communicate with the editor Be really …
Writing Music for Theatre – Helium
The 'short adventure for one', Helium, has completed its run at the Barbican. 4 stars in The Guardian The show is a theatrical installation, or 'box show', where an audience member travels through a number of specially-constructed rooms featuring digital audio, video and live performance. The audience is invited to follow Bella's imaginary journey through …
First Post
Hi - and welcome to my new blog! My first post comes on one of the last few performance dates of 'Helium' by Slung Low, performing at The Barbican in London to riotous acclaim (4 stars in The Guardian, same in Metro), and the news that I'll be off to Florida in October with the …