Four For Music the Soundtrack Podcast: Recent Episodes
Four For Music
“Four For Music the Soundtrack Podcast” is a series of conversations for film and game music that the composer George Strezov from Four For Music is hosting.
Four for Music the Soundtrack Podcast is a podcast for film and game scores that George Strezov from Four for Music is hosting.
The guest of this episode of S3 is Forest Christenson - a composer and a scoring mixer, known for his work as an additional music composer with credits including The Last Of Us, Aquaman and Catherine the Great. As a scoring mixer, famous for projects such as Wonder Woman, The Crown, Back To The Outback and many more.
One of the main themes of focus on this podcast is the score mixing. Technical skills needed, top plugins for orchestral mixing that Forest and George are using, challenges and creative ideas are some of the topics discussed.
Forest also talks a bit about his work with Alan Meyerson and Rupert Gregson-Williams and shares some thoughts on the relationships between the composers and their assistants and mixing engineers.
The specific characteristics of the recording rooms and spaces and the impact that they have on the musical outcome and its effect are mentioned as well. Forest is speaking of his experience and observations in that regard.
Our 3 blitz questions, concerning Forest’s favorite soundtracks, his dream project and his advice to a younger version of himself - are answered at the end of the podcast. You’ll also listen to a track from ”Sisyphus” a popular South Korean drama series on Netflix, so don’t miss hearing it out!
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.
The guest of this episode of S3 is Rob Westwood - a game music composer renowned for his work on: Asgard’s Wrath, Remnant: From the Ashes, Lego The Hobbit: The Video Game, The Lego Movie Videogame, Lego DC Super-Villains and many more.
In the beginning of the conversation Rob shares how he has begun his composer’s journey. The speakers also discuss the challenges and the opportunities connected with adaptive music, as well as some specific aspects of their composing process and experience.
Later we get an inside look at Rob’s work on Asgard’s Wrath - how he has handled the composition from a technical point of view and also what his approach was on the stylistic, instrumental and orchestral side of things. Then Rob and George share some stories and details about other interesting projects they’ve been part of.
Another theme on focus in that second part of the podcast is the orchestra recording sessions. Rob mentions which the tricky parts are for him and how he manages them.
The final minutes of the podcast are occupied with our blitz questions and the fantastic main theme of Remnant: From the Ashes. Enjoy listening!
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.
Our next guest on FFM The Soundtrack Podcast EP2, S3 is Robin Hoffmann - a composer, arranger and orchestrator with vast experience. His recent credits include the scores for the award - winning films Hero and the international World War I feature A War Within. In the past years he’s written the music for A Father’s Job, which won several awards, including Best Score at Hollywood Gold Awards and Best Score at Long Story Shorts International Film Festival. Robin has orchestrated the score for an episode of Star Wars Visions and the blockbuster Anime feature Suzume amongst dozens of other projects he has participated in as an orchestrator.
In the beginning of the podcast you’ll learn how Robin found his love for orchestral music and the way he shares the knowledge gained in a series of tips about composition and orchestration (patreon.com/robinHoffmann).
Searching for unique sound, a way to put one's “stamp” on the score in time when sample libraries are dominant - hear what Robin and George have to say on the topic and find out more about their composing process.
One of the themes in focus, in the second half of the talk, is challenges during a recording session and the practices and strategies that Robin has developed over the years in order to accelerate the process and achieve better results. Speakers are sharing some interesting observations concerning the recording aspects, the work with the musicians, sight reading, orchestration when combining a band with an orchestra and more.
“Gazing at the Night Sky” by Robin Hoffmann and the answers to our blitz questions - which are his favorite scores, which is his dream project and what would his advice be to a younger version of himself - occupy the last minutes of this episode, so don’t miss to hear them out!
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 first episode of S3 is with Seth Tsui, a musician and composer who has written scores for various films and games including China’s most popular game (王者荣耀) Honor of Kings. He has also been involved in creating sample libraries and is currently working as Composition Supervisor for Riot Games.
The conversation begins with a couple of words for Jade Evolutions - a sample library which gives the possibility to morph between different sounds on XY Pad and thus create playable textures. Seth Tsui is talking about what it was for him to be able to work on a signature library and shares some insider information on how it was recorded.
In this first part of the podcast you will also hear about Seth's background as an instrumentalist and how it has affected his career and work. He also mentions how playing in a jazz band has helped him reading and responding to the audience's reactions.
The specifics when it comes to game music composing is the next theme on focus. How people's expectations about the character influences the score, what kind of freedom composing for games gives compared to writing scores for films and TV series - George and Seth share some thoughts.
Later, in the middle part of the conversation, Seth is telling a bit more about his professional path, which began with playing a trombone in an orchestra. He talks about the challenges and inspirations in his career and gives insights on how he had succeeded in starting to work in the game industry. George and Seth are discussing the opportunities that a young composer can take advantage of, especially when it comes to locations outside LA and London.
Some of the topics in the second part include: the differences between Eastern and Western companies in terms of technology used and the composing process. Seth is also talking about his current work and shares some details on how he got hired at Riot Games.
The final minutes of the podcast are reserved for our Blitz questions from which you’ll learn what is Seth Tsui's dream project and which his favorite soundtracks are. Enjoy listening!
This episode, the final of the second season of the FFM podcast, is with Jamie Christopherson - a composer of music for games and films such as: Total War: Warhammer II & III; Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II; Troy: A Total War Saga; Watch American Wrestler: The Wizard; A California Christmas; Born to Race and many more.
Jamie is talking about the role of the technology in making game scores and the technology as an element of game music as a result. How the use of engines is an active part of the music production and how they act along with players - this is one of the topics discussed during the entire podcast.
Differences between composing music for film and TV shows and game music is a theme mentioned in the first part of the conversation. The speakers are also talking about the combination of metal band, synths and live orchestra in Metal Gear Rising score.
In the middle part of the episode Jamie and George are sharing their experience and stories about: how composers are credited on projects and how video game music can be capitalized in various ways; when orchestra recording is essential and when someone can “get away” with using synths and libraries; what the advantages and challenges of live orchestra recording are and more.
Jamie is telling a bit about his work on Lord of the Rings game score. He also speaks about how this type of music is “curated” and made unique and recognizable. His approach when composing for games, movies and TV series is also a theme on focus.
Our 3 blitz questions - what Jamie’s favorite soundtracks are, what his dream project is and what would his advice to a younger version of himself be - are answered in the last minutes of the podcast, so don’t miss to hear them out!
Our guest in FFM the Soundtrack Podcast EP5, S2 is Mikołaj Stroiński - an award winning composer of scores for games, films and TV series, such as: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Witcher3: Blood and Wine, Diablo Immortal, Gwent: League of Legends, Age Of Empires 4, Sniper: Ghost Warrior, Queen, The Crime, Hired Gun, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and many more.
The main topic of the first part of the podcast is game music. Mikołaj is talking about the way he focuses on the emotional journey and the overall experience of the players while writing the score. George and Mikołaj are discussing different aspects of scoring for games - how one can avoid making boring music, while using loops and non linear music; what are the challenges when starting to compose for video games; what are the specifics when you are not telling a story with your music as it is with the film music, but you should be combining the mindsets of the player and the composer.
The projects on focus are The Witcher 3, Diablo and Sniper: Ghost Warrior.
Mikołaj shares that sometimes he writes music using posters, screenshots or scripts as inspiration and lets his imagination work and then adjusts the result if needed. Hear what are the other ways to fulfill a project according to him and also find out what George has to say on that matter - what does he find useful, what practices he is accustomed to.
Later Mikołaj is telling a bit about his work on movies and TV series.
In the last minutes of the episode you can find out which favorite game and movie soundtracks of the composer are, what his dream project in terms of work is and what his advice to a younger Mikołaj is.
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.
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.
Stephan Lembke from Galaxy Instruments is our guest at S2, EP2.
This episode of the podcast is focused mainly on sample libraries.
Hear what an insider has to say about the process of creating some of the world's most popular sound libraries. Piano libraries are discussed at first.
How instrumental libraries are being recorded - what are the specifics when recording samples as it concerns the technical part and the preparation of the instruments - Stephan and George are talking about their experience. They also share some funny stories concerning the performers.
What is the difference in the perception of the recording process - from engineers and performers point of view - Stephan mentions his “making of” methods and experience.
Sound design, orchestral effects, hybrid music - are part of the themes that are discussed in the second half of the conversation. George and Stephan are giving some examples - going from pop music of the 80’s and the 90’s to the use of sound effects in the soundtrack of Dune, so don’t miss out to hear the details!
This first episode of S2 of FFM the Soundtrack Podcast is with Dominik Scherrer - the composer who created award-winning music for film and television dramas such as: The Tourist, Baptiste, The Serpent, The Widow, Requiem and more.
What is Dominik’s creative process when composing - what is his specific approach to the scores and how is he interacting with the film crew. What does he do when he feels that more modern or “stripped down” sound is needed - find out in the beginning of the conversation.
Dominik shares some details about his work on The Widow. He is talking about the experience that led him to recording an original Zulu singer performing part of the film score, that you’ll be able to hear. Listen to what the composer has to say about his “musical journey” to Africa during the film shooting.
Later George brings up the topic of dealing with the business part of creating music. Learn how Dominik approaches his projects as it concerns the administration, time management, pitches and finances.
The middle part of the conversation is about finding the right sound for certain series. The Serpent score is on focus. Dominik is telling about the “fruitful and productive” period that he had while working on the music in Thailand again while the series was being made. You’ll hear State of Flux and what the composer has to say about its creation.
Discussing the use of synths in Dominik’s work is the next part of the talk - you’ll hear parts of Homicidal Übermensch from the Serpent, Orientation School and Temple of Light from The City and The City as examples.
What are the challenging aspects of recording live orchestra, composing The Tourist score, how one learns to immerse in absolutely different projects as it comes to genre and emotions - Dominik comments on his experience.
Last minutes of the podcast are about Dominik’s favorite soundtracks, so don’t miss to hear it out!
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, the final for the first season of the FFM podcast, is with David Buckley - a composer of films and TV shows such as: The Town, The Good Wife, Fifty Shades Darker (co-composer with Danny Elman), The Good Fight and games like: Shrek Forever After, Call of Duty: Ghosts and many more.
What are the positive and challenging aspects when working on joint projects with other composers? David is talking about the experience he had co-writing music with Harry Gregson-Williams on The Town and Gone Baby Gone, John Powell on Jason Borne, John Ottman on The Nice Guys and Erran Baron Cohen on Grimsby. He is speaking about his approach on some of these impressive projects.
What does it take to work on such large scale productions - what are the skills that one should have in order to handle the communication and find the right balance between the ego, the ability to adjust one's opinion and see the other people’s perspective in order to have the job done - these are some of the themes that occupy the first part of the conversation.
Some practical points such as distributing cues are mentioned in that part of the podcast.
In the middle part of the conversation David and George are talking about negative feedback and how they’ve coped when they have received critical notes concerning their work. David gives some valuable advice and ideas.
Then they discuss how they approach music compositions for films which are completely different like Forbidden Kingdom and Nobody. David shares that he is not as much influenced by the concrete film or genre, but by the things that he likes as a person and creator in general. How certain specifics speak about one's style, musical aesthetics and background - these topics are on focus as well. The names and the work of Hans Zimmer and Thomas Newman are brought up.
Whether your style can become your prison and how the expectations that you yourself, as a composer, have set can affect your creative path - hear what George and David have to say later in the audio.
Last minutes of the podcast concern some of the challenges regarding recording sessions. Samples are on focus. How they’ve been changing and evolving over the years and the way they influenced the process of presenting and approving certain compositions. How the sound samples affect the expectation for the orchestral recording - that is a point also discussed.
Hope you enjoy that podcast and all series from the first Season of Four For Music the Soundtrack Podcast! Cheers!
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 Joseph Trapanese - a composer of film and TV music.
First minutes of the podcast are about Joe’s work on Tron - Legacy and his collaboration with Daft Punk on the project. The combination of electronics and orchestral music and their organic blend is one of themes that take place. What are the challenges and the differences when it comes to composing today in comparison to what was the creative process several decades ago - Joe is sharing some thoughts and experience.
Then George brings up the question for The Echo Society. Joe tells about his point of view about that group of composers - that they were united by the idea to take more ownership of their art. And adds that he looks at that formation as a positive thing not only individually, but also collectively - as a playground to explore and develop ideas that later might even be applied to a film and as composers in a community that can help each other in various ways.
What was it like to compose for the Witcher (season 2) when a specific musical heritage and style should be considered. How does Joe approach his compositions - hear what he has to say also in the first half of the conversation.
How do you create art when the clock is ticking, you have to communicate with producers, directors and a bunch of other people, who are not musicians, but are also making decisions - that is the topic that is discussed in the middle part of the audio. Joe is talking about the important role of the limitations and the quality of the sound and also what helps him to describe and contribute to one’s film character.
In the second part of the podcast George and Joe are developing further the theme about the process of creating music and what could be the challenges connected with dealing with the directors. They mention some projects that they’ve been working on and also share experience and observations connected to the working process.
The end minutes of the conversation are mainly about orchestration. Some of the specifics as it concerns orchestrating for brass are on focus. George shares an advice from a teacher of his about distributing chords vertically in the brass section - that one should always have trumpets on top, then one trombone, then french horns and then the rest trombones and tuba.
Find out why in the audio, where Joe shares some more tips. Also in the final minutes you can hear what would Joe say to a younger version of himself, so stay tuned!
We hope that you’ll enjoy this episode of the “Four for Music the Soundtrack Podcast” and you’ll listen to the next and final podcast of S1 when we’ll meet with David Buckley!
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!
“Four for Music the Soundtrack Podcast” is a series of conversations for film and game music that the composer George Strezov from Four For Music is moderating.
The guest of this episode is John Graham - composer, known for his work for multiple feature films, video games, television series, documentaries, and trailers like: Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, the taiga drama Kirin ga Kuru and many more.
First part of the conversation is about a project that John Graham was working on in Japan called Kirin ga Kuru - a series presenting a historical figure - each year they make 40-50 episodes, which are very popular amongst different generations in the country. John is talking about the working ethics in Japan. Japanese teams are very collegial and that invites creativity according to him.
The score of the project was about 7 hours and multiple albums were released with the music. How you can succeed in writing this “ocean of music” - John answers that what he likes about the music for the series is that “they want sincere music, they want to know what you think and hear the ache when something is sad…” And that chance - to express real emotions and feelings, connected with one's own, personal experience - is exactly what has helped him cope with that enormous task, aside from sleepless nights and the weeks of work from 5 in the morning to midnight..
During the middle part of the podcast John and George are talking about the important things that can make a music stand out today, be distinguishable. They are discussing pros and cons about technical possibilities, how they affect the process and the outcome of making scores. When drones and soundscapes are effective and when one can get too deep in the trap of sound design are themes on focus.
You will also hear what the speakers think about live orchestra recordings and the music that goes “right to your heart”. According to John there is nothing like recording of even a small strings section or an woodwind section “something live” and that is vital in order to convince the audience and connect the live living performances of the actors to the music.
What is the importance of knowing and learning how to work with live musicians and communicate during recording sessions. What could influence the performance of the players, what are the technical differences that have changed the process of making score music in the last several decades - from composing and orchestration to recording - are some of the topics that are discussed in the second part of the conversation.
You will also be able to hear some behind the scenes details and advice from John concerning composing for orchestra and recording sessions, knowledge that he had gained working on enormous amounts and diverse projects.
Some specifics and differences in respect to stems and timeline, rhythm and scenes when composing for video games as opposed to films are mentioned in the last part of the podcast.
George and John are closing this conversation by sharing some experience and thoughts about the work of the composer and the moments of joy when a certain feedback and response is received.
“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!
Four For Music the Soundtrack Podcast is a series of conversations about film and game music and how it is done. In the years of work on composing, orchestrating and mainly recording scores we from Four For Music had the opportunity to meet with incredible composers, complete professionals and the experience and stories they have shared with us are priceless. That is why we have decided that passing that experience on is kind of mandatory aside from being fun of course. The host of the show is George Strezov - an award winning composer and conductor.
The new episodes of the podcasts will be released every other week, so stay tuned! Cheers!
Four For Music the Soundtrack Podcast is a series of conversations for film and game scores that George Strezov from Four For Music is hosting.
This podcast is with Piotr Musiał - a composer of film and game music.
How Piotr has started doing what he does today – composing scores for games like: Frostpunk, The Witcher 3: Blood And Wine, Bulletstorm, This War of Mine, Beat Cop and many more. Is it useful to play a particular instrument before starting to compose for orchestra and what are the practices that would help a composer to excel their perception and capabilities? What could develop and motivate young creators and keep them going and what kind of experience could affect the process of one’s professional development in a negative way – these are part of the topics that George and Piotr discuss in the first minutes of their conversation, while sharing their path of forming as composers and professionals.
You will also be able to hear what Piotr and George find inspiring about John Williams music and what are their thoughts on film scores of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Lion King, Gladiator and more of their favorite soundtracks. They also talk about sound design and the factors that play an important role in creating music today - how time, technical environment, relations between director, producers etc. and budget influence the process.
Game score is the main theme in the second half of the podcast. Piotr and George are sharing some experience of their own concerning the creative process and it’s technical aspects.
They are also analysing ways of using adaptive and linear music through examples such as “Diablo”, and depicting their reflections on music function and way score interacts with the action.
The last part of the podcast is mainly committed to Frostpunk score making. Piotr is revealing the process behind the composition - what is the main logic; how he uses time stretching for instruments and even choir; how sound effects are used; which are the important things to consider regarding the orchestration.
Hope you enjoy this episode and stay tuned for the next edition of FFM Soundtrack Podcast!