Farewell to the bagel cart.
A question I get asked a lot (other than "How do I become a composer", which is impossible to answer, even tho I will be attempting several approaches to answer that question in the coming entries) is "how much have things changed from the way things used to be, and what should I know today?"
My professional career did begin at an interesting time, not long ago at all, but at the same time, back when people made videos on film and frequented record shops to buy lp's, cd's and cassettes, people wrote music on paper as well as with software, bands/composers/artists didn't have websites, and most music, orchestral or otherwise, was committed to tape, beautiful 24-track tape.
I moved to Los Angeles to study, and then to apprentice, and then to become a freelance composer. I moved because I wanted to (it's an exciting place to live and remains the centre of the entertainment industry), but also because it seemed as tho there was no more logical thing to do. You have to go to where the work is, and how could you possibly write music for people that you hadn't met, and that you weren't looking at face-to-face?
Eventually I had a room that I wrote in, and quickly it became a room that people frequented to hear what they would eventually be taking away and living with (and hopefully loving), for eternity. Sometimes it would be a quick dropping-by, but more often than not it would be a rolling-up-the-shirt-sleeves, let's-dig-in type of session. I had a sofa for them, and a rolling chair for me (rolling back and forth between the mixer and the screens and them became one of my moves to keep everything moving as smoothly as possible).
And, inspired by time spent in recording studios and with other more experienced composers, I picked up one other accessory early on that I considered to be an integral part of my setup.
A bagel cart…
(to be continued)