Who are “the best” people to work with?

I recently contacted an old friend of mine to help me record percussion effects for a short movie and now I am recommending him again for a new, bigger, project which my team at InvisibleArts is involved.

When I mentioned to him that I was interested on having him again on board, he replied, in a modest way, “Sure! However, if you want, I know other people who are great at it”. My answer to him was that “I really don’t care” because technique is not the only thing that defines an artist’s quality and ability to work on a job that involves collaboration (although he is awesome at it)! There is a lot more to it.

Besides the technique, there’s the chemistry, trust, open communication and professionalism that I know I will have from this guy. I mean, how many of us have worked with people who just left you hanging besides being “the best” at what they do? The simple fact that I have deadlines leaves little room for something to go wrong and to have to go find a replacement.

Once you have your “best” team player, allow some room for his/hers creative input! Don’t overdo the whole thing! Remember that they have spent more time on their craft than you have. If you feel that something you composed could be better (or not) and if there is time, ask the respective artist to improvise based on the main idea. They will love the challenge, feel that you appreciate/value them, the work just gets way more productive and you just made the whole process more adventurous for yourself as well. They might even come up with something that you would’ve never thought about and thus elevating your work to new heights.

I just recorded a beautiful mezzo soprano for a demo of a song of a personal project of mine. It was a quick recording in order to have the main ideas jotted down. Although I composed the music, wrote the lyrics, orchestrated and created the mockup, I made sure I left some room for her. During the recording session, it was just exciting to see the music come to life organically with the exchange of ideas! Towards the end, she actually gave me a cool little idea for the song and I got so excited about it and thought “why didn’t I think of that?”.

Don’t forget that everything is a great learning opportunity. The moment you feel you have nothing to learn, you start stagnating. So, don’t be “the boss”… be “the leader”.

You want to be on the same level as the people you are working with, know them enough to know they got your back, work as hard as them (or even harder), lead the way and be “egoless” enough to be opened to new ideas.

It’s all about people and working together to achieve a higher goal. The people who are able to do that.. those, for me, are “the best” people to work with.

Caring for the project you're working on

Sounds so simple, it's almost like a cliché. However, in the, rather interesting, words of a former teacher of mine "It's a cliché because it works".

I tend to only accept projects that I personally believe in. Once I'm motivated, the only way I stop being so is if suddenly, the person to whom I'm working for, stops caring about the whole thing.

The reason behind this is that, when doing something you love, it lets you work on it for hours and hours without end. It will also make you doubt, which is VERY important as it allows you to question everything you do, which ultimately leads you to improvement.
However, for there to be any improvement, you must be willing to find the answers to your doubts. To find those answers, you must know what questions to make. I tend to unconsciously follow this thought process - what? why? and how?
So, for example: This music passage doesn't sound very good. -> What's the cause of it? -> (identify it) -> why is it not working? -> (reason) -> How can I make it better?-> (solution).
In reality, finding the solution might take somewhere between a second to long hours along with , perhaps, some frustration. But when you do find it, that's when you grow.

This is about improving yourself in order to become better than the person you were when you started on a project.

Don't stop improving!

The Return of the Blogger Who Never Left

It has been quite some time since my last blog entry!

I was caught up with work for a beautiful short-movie. I have to say that I am proud of being a part of it. One of the reasons is that, besides all the setbacks, everyone gave their best to make it come to life and the end result is amazing. It is able to absorve you into the story and make you part of the journey for those short 8 minutes.

Thank you Nuno Serrão (Director)

for bringing me on board this project.

Thank you Nuno Fernandes (Mixing Engineer)

for making it sound awesome.

In Film Scoring, time's rarely on your side...

...and so a lot of coffee was needed!

Now, me and my team at InvisibleArts Productions are picking up on a new long-term journey. A project that has never been done before. The workload is immense and the time is short. However, my team is amazing and I know we can all count on each other to make this happen. I am curious as to how this project will roll out. It is really something else.

Also, on Nov. 16th I will be traveling to London. Can't wait to meet new people there from the industry. I am also performing a workshop at Westminster. So, if you are somewhere around there, please join! It will be an interesting experience for me and hopefully for those who come.

Bands- Why you shouldn't order physical CD's of your albums

A physical CD is only good when you have a record company taking care of the order and/or if you have a good marketing campaign to support it. Otherwise, you can start saying farewell to your investment.

After you spent a few thousand on the recording studio alone (plus rehearsals, transportation, food, mixing, mastering), when it gets to the time to search for places to order your physical CD's, companies will try to allur you with manufacturing minimums: "Get 50 CD's for 158 Euros or Get 100 CD's for 239 Euros".

Here's the usual though process scenario:
"Let's see... the first offer is 3.16 per album and the second offer is 2.39 per album and 50 CD's won't be enough, I will be playing a lot and people might want to buy more, I'll take the 100 for 239 Euros."

-Now, you will probably give 5 or 10 of them away for your family and band mates. Which is more than fair. It means that, if you gave out 10, 23.90 Euros is what you did not get back. But no worries, you will sell your album for a price bigger than the unit price (how else are you going to get any profit?).-

"Hm... the usual CD is sold somewhere between 12 and 25 Euros. I know! I will charge 10 Euros because it is lower than what stores sell! People, after hearing my show and create some value, some will surely want to buy it! I play jazz (or rock or metal, whatever) and there's one place I perform that jazz lovers go to, I will definitely sell a few there and make a 8 Euro profit for each sell to help cover the studio expenses!"

Here's a picture from a Washington Post article published earlier this year.
The only reason singles is going up is for the "single downloads".

Reality check #1
People will NOT buy your album unless they are a friend, an exception or hardcore fans of yours.
The way to have an honest view about this is to look at your own way of life. If you are the person who still buys a lot of albums, you are the exception but most of us (artists included) do not buy albums unless we really love the band because we know it's worth it.
The time you will take to get the money back from the albums in order to make some kind of profit is worthless for most artists. ("But I'm not part of the 'most'!")

Reality check #2
In this economic crisis, people don't like to spend money on things they don't know much about or on things they can get it for free.

Reality check #3
If you do not have a record company paying for your albums and/or marketing them... the rule is that it isn't worth it.

However, there are other ways to achieve the same end.

Major tip #1
If you want to feel fulfilled and have your album, order 10 and give them out. However, I suggest you make your own CD's. Copy it to a CD, add artwork of some kind and make your own packaging. Use recycled paper, something! Make only one. Then you have a profit on your first sell. Afterwards, if you realize you need to create 2 now, make 2. Make more as demand raises. Profit will raise faster and the people will enjoy the original packaging. Keep costs to a minimum of course, without loosing originality or concept, so that you can profit easier.

Major tip #2
While only 50 CD's cost you 158Euros (and that's a cheap price), services like CD Baby can add your album everywhere on the internet for unlimited use for a fraction of the price (CDBaby charges 49$ which rounds up to 36 Euros in today's conversation rate). They will pay you miserably though, but it's better worth for exposure, which, frankly, is the only value it has nowadays. We're back at the "yes, play at my restaurant for free and, in exchange, you will get exposure".
Quoting from a yesterday's article by David Byrne:

"Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi) has published abysmal data on payouts from Pandora and Spotify for his song "Tugboat" and Lowery even wrote a piece entitled "My Song Got Played on Pandora 1 Million Times and All I Got Was $16.89, Less Than What I Make from a Single T-shirt Sale!" For a band of four people that makes a 15% royalty from Spotify streams, it would take 236,549,020 streams for each person to earn a minimum wage of $15,080 (£9,435) a year. For perspective, Daft Punk's song of the summer, "Get Lucky", reached 104,760,000 Spotify streams by the end of August: the two Daft Punk guys stand to make somewhere around $13,000 each. Not bad, but remember this is just one song from a lengthy recording that took a lot of time and money to develop. That won't pay their bills if it's their principal source of income. And what happens to the bands who don't have massive international summer hits?"

Major tip #3
If you are in a rock/metal band, make your own t-shirts but make them cool. People are more willing to pay money for a cool t-shirt than an album of an unknown artist (aren't we all?).

Before you get into investing on something, make sure to perform a reality check on yourself to see if you are thinking clearly or if you are just mixing hope with expectation. There's a difference! You should have both but be sure not to mix them (e.g. "I hope to have some kind of success but I'm only expecting to sell a few CD's").

Creating something that never existed

The title comes from a question a younger cousin of mine once asked me a few years ago. His first question was "what do you do?", I replied "I compose music". He acknowledged my answer and then raised his head again with wide, admiring eyes and said "So, you create something that never existed before?" - it seemed both a question and a statement. I was surprised by the depth of his simple words.

Creating a piece of music can start through many ways and it is a question that I get many times from non-musicians and by composers who are just starting. However, the most important part of it isn't how you start but what comes after it.

The process of music creation does not only apply to music composition. I believe it applies to anything that involves problem solving: art, business, technology, law... Although people tend to separate one another and think of them as complete opposites, it's impressive how many similarities they actually share when it comes to the process of creativity. Everything that involves problem solving requires creativity. Either you need/want a new composition, a new business strategy, find a new way to produce energy or even create a new dish at a restaurant, you need to use creativity, build the puzzle, solve new problems that are raised throughout the process, readjust, try again, erase it, start all over... until you get to the final product. It can be a short or long process.

There are several ways a new composition can be born:

• An idea Something little comes to mind and you loop it countlessly until you get somewhere where you can jot it down or record it and start working on it.
• Through improvisation Improvise and improvise over a specific situation until something makes you intrigued.

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'eureka!' but 'that's funny...' - Isaac Asimov

• Brain storming Analyze what you have and brainstorm over it. The "cannot"s will be extremely helpful.
• Research Analyzing what other people have done in similar situations is a good way to evoke some ideas. Just make sure to make it your own! Steve Jobs was amazing at putting ideas together and then making them his own.

The most important thing to have in mind in the Film Scoring world is that there is no time to wait for inspiration to strike you because you have a fixed deadline. As Mychael Danna jokingly said in an interview (composer of Life of Pi) while explaining the importance of deadlines: "It doesn't have to be good but it better be there".

Often, you will get the movie later than predicted because the production got delayed due to some unforeseen circumstance. This means less time to compose which means you have to have great time management and adaptability skills. You have to be comfortable enough to shift mindsets. It might mean that you have to simplify everything without loosing effectiveness. Also, after composing, you still have to record the players, mix it, master it and dub it with the SFX.

Being paid as a freelancer

Being a freelancer requires a lot of work. The money is not the reason for why you do it. It's too hard for it, if you are only searching for financial satisfaction. However, it IS important to have it in mind if you do plan to continue creating your art.

Although I have done free work in the past, today it's just something I never do except if there is any real value that can justify my time and expenses.
I have turned down more work than I have accepted because, during the very beginning, I learnt that sometimes the project idea is amazing but the work is never finished; or you just find out that the director/producer just wants to keep more money for himself by having you work for little; or they actually just don't care about their project (strange, right?). Moreover, they just might want free work and not care for you at all.

The thing that remains a constant is that they try to justify it by saying "There is no payment involved but your work will be promoted and you can use it on your portfolio". - Let me tell you now that that's RARELY the case with free work.

This video is a bit of a rant and aggressive but it does provide some good points.

So, which ones do you accept? Personally, I do my homework. I try to research more about the person contacting me, know their portfolio and if they have actually done something worthy of my time - as I only work on projects that I personally believe in. I also try to understand their personality. Are they just talkers or actually do-ers? Who is being paid? If they are, why am I not? Is the project being shown/marketed in a public place with people that would want to hire me? Is my name going to be an "above the line" credit? Will bills and investments, entangled on working on a project, be covered in the end and still be able to make some profit?

This research once helped me during the earlier process of my carreer. I was hired to compose for an iTunes game and they wanted 20/30 min of music in exchange for a % of the game's profit. 20/30 min is a lot to compose and requires a lot of hours per day throughout various days and even weeks. I did some research about their sales and found out that they were close to none and could never pay me anything close to all that work.

In the very beginning, it is important to get experience and if you believe the project is worth it, then do it. However, don't diminish yourself by always working for free. You also need to think about profit as it is the only way you are ever going to pay your bills and even upgrade your equipment to be able to produce better quality work.

Working For A Living: How Do Artists Survive?

By Prof. Tom Stein

Since the beginning of time there have been individuals with a need for self-expression through various forms of art. It is generally understood by anthropologists and historians that art is reflective of a society, and can offer some knowledge of the beliefs and perspective of communities rooted in space and time. When we study the art of a civilization, such as ancient Egypt, we stand to gain understanding of the their culture and way of life. I’ve always been fascinated by the need for artistic expression in society and the ways in which artists have brought their visions to fruition. The challenge always seems to be to find a balance between artistic vision and survival in a commercial sense.

The creation of art demands time, resources and hopefully, talent. Works of art can be costly due to the materials used, or the great amount of effort and buildup of technical expertise required for their creation. As societies develop, the segmentation and specialization of work becomes more prevalent, so that in every highly developed civilization there are full-time professional artists of many sorts: poets, singers, painters, musicians, dancers, sculptors, architects, actresses, even comedians. For these people, art is their profession, their passion, and a way of life. It is interesting to look at the world of professional artists today and make a few comparisons to how their predecessors were able to survive and create art.

We tend to view art today as consumable; a product and commodity to be bought and sold. We don’t know for sure, but can suspect that the earliest artists were seen to have received their talent as a gift from the Gods. During the earliest recorded history, the highest form of art was produced as a tribute to the kings and queens, or in their service. The rulers were thought to possess divine right, that is, they were a direct extension of the Gods, or God. Works of art were believed endowed with supernatural powers thought to bring good tidings, or to aid in winning wars. Music was used to bless the harvest, affect the weather, or to instill fear in the hearts of enemies.

Works of art have also been produced for people’s own purposes. Epic poems and stories told by master storytellers handed down aurally the traditions and history of a people, before the invention of writing. Music was often shared in the home for self-entertainment (what did people do before TV and the internet?). Artisans produced works to beautify and add color to the drabness of everyday life or as a source of delight. The most talented of entertainers and craftsmen worked as journeymen or started small industries, such as with carpet weaving or tapestry dying.

Music was a feature of religious ceremony and remains an important part of the liturgy of many world religions to this day. Bach made his living in the service of the Catholic Church. Musicians and artists needed patrons, and during the Baroque Renaissance in Europe, the patron was usually the Church. As the merchant classes grew richer the idea of wealthy individuals as patrons of the arts grew rapidly, and the Classical Era saw many private patrons emerge to compete with the Church as patrons, such as the Medici in Rome. Mozart performed not only for the Queen, but also for many private parties and events.

As we entered the modern era we saw the phenomenon of concerts emerge. Liszt, the flamboyant pianist of the Romantic Era, was one of the first musicians to offer concerts to the general public that were successful. At first people tended to be skeptical of the idea of concerts. They thought people would not want to sit and listen to music. How wrong they were!

Today, musicians and artists connect directly with their fans, and act more like CEO’s of their own companies. Successful artists are often self-employed entrepreneurs, whether in music, visual arts, literature, or the theater. They employ agents to do their bidding, and use the power of their image to carve out a niche in the marketplace. Art is seen as “intellectual property”. This can be very good for artists, who can create something and earn money from it for a long time, but also creates challenges in accessing the market. Many artists teach. Fortunately for them, there is a steady supply of students wanting to learn, if only for personal enrichment.

Every artist today is faced with the conundrum of remaining true to their artistic vision while earning a living with their art. Artists do not create in a vacuum; their creative output has to appeal to somebody. Artists still need patrons of the arts to be able to survive from their art. The more things change sometimes, the more they stay the same.

Tom Stein is a visionary musical entrepreneur, music producer, artist development consultant, arranger, and performer on electric bass, voice and guitar. He teaches at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

A message from Tom Stein

“Hello, Joao.
Congratulations and best of luck with your new blog. Please feel free to share my latest articles with your readers. I hope they find them useful and entertaining. Tom”

—	Message from Tom Stein to me. I recommend any artist to read it. Right up next!

Don't undervalue yourself - Climbing the mountain

As artists, we are constantly looking to improve our craft. Thus, the “what the fuck?” moments after listening to what you composed last night is completely normal. This is because you are climbing a mountain and the peak seems so far away. Is that bad though?

Because it’s good to be that focused on getting to where you want to be - to that peak, which will constantly get higher- you need to be able to stop once in a while, sit down, have a little breather and contemplate what you have climbed already. That feeling of accomplishment is important to have. It is a self recognition of your own journey. If you have that feeling of accomplishment- that you have given your very best to reach to where you are- don’t be shy to share that with your friends or even prospective clients (there’s a difference between sharing it and bragging about it).

That is where your current skills are and the only thing that really matters to people who hire you for the first time. Don’t undersell your value by saying something like “well, I’m not really where I want to be on my skills, there are people better than me but I am hoping to get there” (you wouldn’t want to hear that from companies you pay for services). Sure, you can share your goal… but don't under value yourself by focusing on what you haven't climbed.. focused on what you have already climbed. The professionals you might admire have been climbing for a longer time (and still are!!) - That’s why they are so far ahead.

Last but not least, the climb to get to that peak does not only depend on time. It depends how your learn throughout your journey to get there.

Marketing

As a freelancer, you have to market the hell out of you.

Following the logic of my previous post (Importance of business - A Restaurant Analogy) - If you don’t make people aware of your existence, you will have a really hard time getting a job. That’s why marketing is important. It’s how you introduce yourself to people who still don’t know you.

Create a personal website, a SoundCloud profile, a Twitter account, Facebook account, GooglePlus, forums related to what you do, and try to show your work to the right people. You never know when and where work is going to show up from.

2 days ago I had finished all the work I had to do and was wondering what steps I should take. The next day (yesterday), I got an e-mail from a director I had written some months ago to possibly work for his project. We will see what happens. This is one of the reasons you have to let people know you exist and it WILL mean investing a LOT of time and energy in it.

If you are a film composer and can’t work as a composer assistant in L.A., because you live outside a city with that kind of market, don’t e-mail the big composers as they already have their own team. Don’t e-mail musicians. Sure, they might bring you work but you are probably wasting your energies.

Use your energies to find directors/producers who still don’t have their own team. Let them know you exist. They communicate with other directors and producers. The chances of getting a job by contacting these people are far greater. This is why it is important to know WHO your “target audience” is.

Many companies spend a ton of money figuring out who their target audience is and then customize their message to them. If they have a product… lets say shoes.. for teenagers, it wouldn’t make sense to advertise them with a formally dressed adult wearing them, even though it could serve for that purpose as well.

Marketing doesn’t just involve what you put out there on the internet or newspapers (by the way, it should be treated as carefully as you treat your art so that the people have the right idea about you) it’s also how you talk to people. Don’t underestimate yourself. As an artist, I know how hard this can be at first because we are always looking to improve our work. I will write more about it on my next post. However I will leave you this question: if you are hiring a TV cable service and they tell you “yeah, well… we’re still learning… so… yeah.. we try our best though!!”, would you WANT to hire them? (by the way, every good artist is constantly learning)

Your product is the thing you create and you want to be able to make a living out of it. So, market it, learn who your target audience is and make them aware of your existance.

Importance of business - A Restaurant Analogy

A lot of times, when talking to artists, I notice they are very resistant when the word "business" is mentioned in a conversation. I guess I can understand it as well - I, too, have felt that way. However, that feeling is associated to an erroneous notion of what it actually entangles (thank you Tom Stein).

I find that a good analogy to explain the few basics of why it is important (and why artists should be taught this at schools), is using a restaurant analogy. Lets imagine a man (just to fit with the picture bellow) who decides to open his own restaurant- be it a traditional restaurant (my personal favorite), a vegetarian one or even fine dining- you do need to have 4 important elements:

Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden's vocalist) pouring some Iron Maiden beer

Publicity, Service, Quality and Consistency
While reading, try to imagine how this would relate to your work.

Publicity
Lets face it: His work, his passion, is to cook food (that's his product). If he wants to continue to do so, he will need to earn money (sell). To earn money, he will need you (the client) to come to him. For you to come to him, he will need to reach out to you (marketing). That can happen in various ways - word of mouth, advertisement, free samples, online reviews, online recommendations, you name it.

Service
Even if you had a good referral from a friend, YOUR experience is still what matters the most. Every costumer is important. You should be treated professionally and courteously, right? After all, you're taking time out of your life to go to his restaurant and will use your hard earned money to pay for what the restaurant's offering.

Quality
Or attention to detail- This is what the restaurant is selling and the reason why the man started everything in the first place. Loose the ground foundation and the restaurant will easily loose you as a costumer to a better one.

Consistency
Has it ever happened to you that you stopped going to a restaurant because suddenly they weren't as good as before? (Now think about other types of services where the same happened. Eg: internet providers)

Uniqueness
For all of the previous elements to really work, you need uniqueness (a niche, an image, a brand). Why are you going to his restaurant? And why do you keep going? Is it because of the different mood? Is it that the food is different? Is it because of the different way how waiters treat you? Is it because it's simply better? Is it because it's quite and it's a place where you can eat peacefully and listen to your thoughts?

Conclusion
In Film Scoring, when starting, I recommend on focusing on trying to get work with tenacious/honest people who believe on what they do- and it's important you believe it as well- AND still don't have their team created.
To get those jobs, apply the same level of artistry you put into your product into everything else you need to do to get it out there. It does not mean to sell your artistic soul and be "fake" about it. It means to keep being who you are while keeping a realistic point of view.
When you start your career, don't think "I'm good enough so people will find me and understand my importance". Reality is that 1) people are bombarded with information every day; 2) the competition is enormous and there's always someone better and 3) The percentage of people who are "found" and made successful are the exception to the rule. Would you use a parachute that rarely opens?

There are 2 quotes that come to mind:

• "Feet to the ground and head to the heavens"
• "Are all your 'costumers' fans of what you do?" (Iron Maiden vocalist & entrepreneur, Bruce Dickinson, on a speech about entrepreneurship)

A very brief description about myself

My goal in life is to create music to give people something to listen to and use as a means of escape, a way to enhance their emotions and inspire by facing their deeper side and understanding it. In film, I aim to use music to emphasize the emotional content of a movie so that the viewer, no matter who they are, gets dragged into the story and becomes part of it.

This passion/goal in life has made me quit my first high school; graduate the conservatory; graduate Berklee College of Music in Film Scoring with Magna Cum Laude; start my own band - Lights of Nightmares- and create ®InvisibleArts Productions - a one-stop shop for post-production needs. We've been active since May and we're starting pretty well (one of the movies we worked on recently received a nomination at Portabello Film Festival).

I'm hoping to move to Berlin soon for more networking and also continue my band's project.

Now that this is out of the way, I can focus on what this blog is all about.

Why I started this blog

The reason I started this Blog is so that I can share some enlightenment about the strange world of Film Scoring - composing music for picture.

Myself, friends/colleagues and Sheldon Mirowitz (3-time Emmy nominee composer)
after our performance of "Sunrise"

As I advanced in my career, it became clearer that learning how to compose was not enough. You not only need to learn how to do your job, you need to know how to get it and you need to know what comes with the job. Every job is different and every director is different.

So, I will be posting some guidelines (there are no rules) about PR, business, budgeting, composing for picture, working with a team... and maybe some little breathers. I will also share some exclusive articles from experienced professionals that I have been lucky to meet.

I am not, in any circumstance, an established composer (that would be awesome though... who wouldn't love that?). However, I'm developing my own career and dedicating 12+ hours a day working when there's projects going on. When things calm down, I tend to see what else I can do to improve productivity. Personally, there's nothing more frustrating than a wasted day.

A brief overview about myself on my next post!

Note: I know some artists view business as selling their artistic soul to the devil. That's what I call bad business. There's a good kind of business and that's the one I like to practice.