SCORING FOR FILM AND VISUAL MEDIA // PRODUCING MUSIC;

SETTING FOOT IN THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY

A Project Report
Presented to
The Faculty of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance
California State University, Los Angeles

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Music

By
Ingmar Bjorn de Vos
December 2014

 2014
Ingmar Bjorn de Vos
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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The project report of Ingmar Bjorn de Vos is approved.

Ross Levinson, Committee Chairperson
Steve Wight, Faculty Member
Sara Graef, Faculty Member
John Kennedy, Department Chairperson

California State University, Los Angeles

December 2014

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ABSTRACT
Scoring for Film and Visual Media // Producing Music;
Setting Foot in The Global Film Industry
By
Ingmar Bjorn de Vos
This project report addresses the issues of seeking out film scoring and music
production collaborations, expanding ones network and working with no or an extremely
low budget. How can a new and young film composer and music producer find his or her
way in and build lasting, global (international) relationships? Just one connection can get
a career started, but how does one find that one connection. On a case-by-case study I
will describe my process of finding a new project, communicating, setting a budget,
spotting, composing, orchestration, instrumentation choices, recording, and I will
compare my process to those of established composers. Furthermore, in my opinion, it is
very important to look at our future, the possibilities, and how the music and film
industries are constantly evolving. I will therefore examine the issues of piracy, new
technologies, and differences between how audiences consumed their media in former
times versus today.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost I offer my sincerest gratitude to my project advisor, Professor

Ross Levinson, who has supported me throughout my projects and in writing the project
report with his patience and knowledge, whilst allowing me the room to work in my own
way. He has put many hours in reading and correcting my writing and I sincerely
appreciate his mentorship not only for my music, but also in writing academic since
English for me is a second language. I have learned so much in your film scoring classes,
music production classes and during independent study. Secondly I would like to thank
Professor Steve Wight, for your guidance in completing this project report. More
importantly, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your extraordinary
classes in orchestration, composition and music production, and knowledge of those
subjects. Professors Levinson and Wight, you both have broadened my musical view and
skillset and the way I think about composition, orchestration and recording. Furthermore
I would like to thank Dr. Sara Graef for being my third advisor and reading and
correcting my project report. Thank you for your time and knowledge!
Ross and Steve, I attribute the level of my Masters degree to your knowledge,
encouragement, efforts and space to experiment. One simply could not wish for a better
or friendlier faculty. Being an international student I felt welcome and right in place. This
has been very important to me, arriving in a new and inspiring environment. This brings
me to how, and why I got here in the first place. I would like to express my gratitude
towards my professors back in The Netherlands; Ivo Witteveen, Daniel Testas en Klaas
ten Holt who, throughout their four years of classes and guidance before I started at

CSULA, provided me with a very broad skillset, and have motivated me to continue my
education and dive into the deep 5500 miles away. I would also like to thank my two
scholarships that partly made it possible to move to Los Angeles: the VSB foundation
scholarship and the Prince Bernhard Foundation for Culture and Arts. Next to the
Commercial Music faculty I would like to thank all of the CSULA MTD staff and
especially Yen, Leticia, Dr. Kennedy and others who have patiently guided me
throughout my studies here at CSULA.

I would like to thank my parents and family for always supporting me in what I
do, for providing me with a musical background and for investing nearly half of their life
making a young boy become older and wiser, to get me where I am now. I am very
grateful for my soon-to-be wife Amalya who is always supportive, believes in me no
matter what, and is always there for me. Not to forget, I am thankful for MUSIC!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x
Chapter
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1
2. Finding Work, Projects and Collaborators ............................................................ 3
The Aesthetics of Finding Work ....................................................................... 3
Networking Methods, Platforms and Resources ............................................... 4
Offline Networking .................................................................................. 4
Online Networking .................................................................................. 6
Film Students ........................................................................................... 7
Crowd Funding and Online Production Platforms................................... 8
Case Studies: Finding Work ............................................................................ 9
Case Study: Finding Work - The Ballerina.............................................. 9
Case Study: Finding Work - Brimstone Terrace.................................... 10
Case Study: Finding Work - Strings ...................................................... 10
Case Study: Finding Work - Chess and the Stranger ............................. 10
Case Study: Finding Work - Miss Dream .............................................. 11
Case Study: Finding Work - Color Ninja! ............................................. 11
3. Production and Distribution Technology and The Cloud ............................... 12
Cloud Computing and Collaboration .............................................................. 12
Streaming and Internet Based Media .............................................................. 15
Piracy and Our Future ..................................................................................... 16
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4. Budget and Consequences .................................................................................. 21

5. Preparations, Spotting and Communication ....................................................... 24
Preparations Pre-Project.................................................................................. 24
Spotting, Communication and Feedback ........................................................ 24
Case Study: Spotting Brimstone Terrace ............................................... 27
Case Study: Spotting North ................................................................... 28
Case Study: Spotting Miss Dream ......................................................... 28
6. Composition, Workflow, Orchestration and Limitations ................................... 29
Composing ...................................................................................................... 29
(Digital) Workflow ........................................................................................ 30
Orchestration & Limitations ........................................................................... 32
Case Studies in Composition and Production ................................................. 35
Examples from Brimstone Terrace ........................................................ 35
Examples from The Ballerina ................................................................ 38
Examples from North ............................................................................. 40
Examples from String ............................................................................ 41
Making Choices and Reflecting ...................................................................... 42
7. Production, Creating Sounds and Recording ....................................................... 44
The Sound of Contemporary Scores ............................................................... 44
In the Box Vs. Out the Box Vs. Hybrid ............................................... 45
Electronic Music Production Case Study: Till There Was You ..................... 47
Making Choices in Production and Reflecting .............................................. 48
8. A Final and Deliverable Product ......................................................................... 50

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9. Distributing and Releasing my Soundtracks ....................................................... 51

10. Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 52
Discography ...................................................................................................................... 55
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 56
Appendices
A. List of all Projects and Corresponding Audio and Video ................................... 57
B. Selection of Score Excerpts ................................................................................ 59
C. Production Documents ........................................................................................ 63
D. Links to All Services, Organizations and Examples Mentioned ........................ 66
E. List of Software and Equipment Utilized ............................................................ 68
F. Definitions ........................................................................................................... 70
G. Overview of My General Workflow ................................................................... 72
H. Link to Scores, Audio and Video Accompanying this Project Report ............... 73

This project is accompanied by two compact discs and one digital videodisc shelved in
the Music and Media Center of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library of California
State University, Los Angeles.

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1. QR Code.................................................................................................................. 9
2. MPAA Theatrical Market Statistics 2013 report: Global Revenue ...................... 16
3. Brimstone Terrace Production Workflow Screenshot .......................................... 36
4. Reaktor5 FM Synthesis Homemade Patch. ....................................................... 45

CHAPTER 1
Introduction
This project consists of many individual projects, finished over the course of
roughly a year. My primary objective has been to expand my network and gain as much
experience as possible in working with professional or student filmmakers. On these
pages I will describe my complete process from finding a project, building a trustful
professional relationship with the director and/or producers, making compositional
choices, recording and production, to delivering the final product.
In many of my projects I chose not to write for a full orchestra, because with noor extremely low-budget projects, it would be very difficult to make this sound good. I
chose to create distinctive sounds fitting to the project, always with my sonic signature.
Often I combined orchestral libraries, synthesized sounds and samples with live-recorded
solo instruments such as cello, violins, guitar, bass-guitar and orchestral percussion. At
the moment of writing my thesis, however, Im starting negotiation on a project that most
likely will have budget for a small-sized scoring orchestra.
Navigating through these projects I didnt just employ my skills as a composer.
All the production, recording, mixing, technology and many live instruments were in my
hands, as well. In these no-budget projects I wanted to try to gain as much experience in
all those subjects. Furthermore, I set-up several online tools to make collaboration easier,
such as my own dedicated cloud server for file sharing.
While pursuing my masters studies in Los Angeles I already had a moderate
network in the Netherlands and in other outskirts of Europe. Without ever getting too
busy trying to get work in the Netherlands I was able to secure multiple jobs. A few of

them are included in the case studies in this thesis (North, Till There Was You). In
addition to working with people from the Netherlands, I have worked on a student film
based out of Canada (Strings), a short film shot in Pennsylvania (The Choice), A Los
Angeles bio short film about the life of a ballerina (The Ballerina), a short film about a
Chinese girl on a quest in Los Angeles (Miss Dream), a two-part book trailer (Saving
Metropolis) and six episodes for an animated series from Kansas (Brimstone Terrace).
I found some of these projects through professional networking web sites and resources,
described in Chapter 2. Recently I started negotiations and work on my first video-game
project: Color Ninja!
All projects accompanying this project report are listed in Appendix A.

CHAPTER 2
Finding Work, Projects and Collaborators
In this chapter I will describe how I find projects, which tools are available, where
I succeeded and where I failed in finding work, and building a professional relationship. I
am using the general term filmmakers, but in this context, I will apply the same term to
directors, producers, and game developers - anybody who would contact a composer or
whom a composer would contact.

The Aesthetics of Finding Work

I found it extremely important to be everywhere, to meet people, and to stay in
touch when possible. Equally important is to have an easily accessible professional web
site. When using services like SoundCloud or YouTube many filmmakers looking for
composers get distracted by all the clutter, or wont take a composer completely seriously
because their materials are poorly organized and difficult to access. I have noticed this
from several comments from my fellow composers, but also from compliments from
directors who have visited my web site and were able to find anything they wanted in one
central place. Even though my reel is hosted on YouTube, it still plays within my own
web site. It is extremely important to make a professional impression, and at the same
time remain accessible and personal.
Another point to be made is that most people looking for composers often just
play the first few samples they find, or the first minutes of a reel. So I made sure to put
my best work at the very top. Prospective collaborators have an overabundance of
aspiring composers who want to work, and even worse, want to work for free. As soon as

I have more details about a specific project that I am interested in, I compile a special
playlist on my web site and send a private link to the filmmaker. This shows that Im
interested, and that Im willing to use my best efforts to win the filmmaker over.
Whether a composer approaches a filmmaker, or a filmmaker approaches a
composer (unless you are a big name), the composer is the one that wants the gig more
than the filmmaker needs the composer. So it seems to me that the best way to get the gig
is to always be personable and available, and willing to go the extra mile to win over the
filmmaker.

Networking Methods, Platforms and Resources

Offline Networking
As mentioned earlier, networking is very important for anybody in this industry.
Los Angeles has an overabundance of networking opportunities so that makes this easier.
There are several societies in the United States that provide networking options for
composers, including the SCL (Society of Composer and Lyricists), BMI (Broadcast
Music Inc. Performing Rights Organization [PRO]), SESAC (Society of European
Stage Authors and Composers PRO), ASCAP (American Society of Composers,
Authors and Performers PRO), The Recording Academy, and GrammyU (educational
sessions). These organizations provide great resources, expos, seminars, and networking
opportunities from musician to musician. But one very important element is missing here:
the filmmaker. But one very important element is missing here: the filmmaker.
In order to network with [aspiring] filmmakers one needs to look for different
organizations and events. There are many organizations where filmmakers of all sorts

meet. For instance, Film Independent LA, the organizer of the LA film fest. For a low
price anybody working in any field of the film industry can join, and join their events
screenings and seminars. I went to a few of these events and got one of my projects here.
Another great networking opportunity is going to a film festival. The LA Film Fest is
easily accessible and not expensive. There are many other film festivals held throughout
the world. A few notable festivals include: Cannes, Sundance, Toronto Film Festival,
Berlin International Film Festival and the Ghent Film Festival.
Another new resource for networking events is Meetup.com. People start groups
to meet other filmmakers, or crew, or just talk about projects or philosophies. Recently I
discovered another great networking opportunity: Hollywood Shorts. They meet about 16
nights a year where they screen several short films, invite directors to speak, and provide
hours of networking for professionals. There are very few composers in the room so this
may very well be a gold mine.
Though I am a music student, it is important to look outside of the music
department. Throughout my years in school my professors have encouraged me to take
action and to go outside of the music department and network with film students. I quote,
Its great that all of you composers are friends, but the persons you should really be
meeting are the film students (Professor Levinson). So I went ahead and looked inside
the Film & TV department, hung out in the hallways, put up posters or business cards,
and send emails to faculty. I have gotten more work than I could handle myself by taking
these actions the past half a year, resulting in me having to recommend some of my
friends to work on the overflow. Most students never take advantage of this, or the
opportunity doesnt come to them. It is important to understand that, with rare exceptions,

opportunities need to be created and that the person most likely to get you a job,
especially being a student, is you. A film student right now can be a famous director
years from now, and may think about you for scoring his/her feature film. Unfortunately
these projects usually do not pay side jobs outside of the field are often necessary - but
this is something a composer needs to be willing to accept in order to make the first steps
into the industry. A composer needs references, samples, credits, and, of course,
experience. A composer cannot be passive in his or her networking

Online Networking
With the rise of the social media, the past decade has seen online networking
become a significant factor in finding and generating work. It is now possible to meet
filmmakers from all over the world in a safe and comfortable environment: your living
room. Among the great networking platforms in the film and film music industry are
Stage32, Mandy.com, Meetup.com and others such as LinkedIn and dedicated Facebook
Groups. Even Craigslist provides a good way to advertise your services or respond to
projects. A list of all of these platforms can be found in Appendix D2. On one hand, one
could say that online networking is not as effective as meeting someone face to face. On
the other hand, it could be argued that using online networking in addition to offline
networking getting oneself heard is much more likely. What are the odds that someone is
actually going to follow through after meeting hundreds of persons at an event? What are
the odds that they go and check out ones music online? Online networking can be much
more targeted. For example: I find an interesting project on Stage32. I can see that the
project just past the pre-production phase and is entering the primary photography. I

immediately contact the producer or director through Stage32. I send them a specific
playlist of my reel, targeted to the topic and theme of their project. They also have access
to my Stage32 profile and IMDB1 credits. They have everything and can choose to
follow up with me if they are impressed with my music. This is an extremely efficient use
of my time and resources. I can actually see what the person did in previous projects, and
I can see if their current project interests me and if I think my music is appropriate. It
seems logical that if the filmmaker likes what they see and hear, they will follow up with
me and maybe a few other good candidates. When solely networking offline without a
follow-up, the chances that they even make the effort to look me up online are very slim.
Of course, the same could be done when meeting someone in person I can still send
them an email first and provide them with a reel tailored to what had been discussed.
However, networking online provides more opportunities to reach out to a broader
audience.

Film Students
Film students are very important contacts for aspiring film composers. It is hard to
come between an established director or producer and their favorite composer/sound
team. It is far better to establish relationships very early on in ones career. This often
means helping each other out for free. Then, once a filmmaker has become established
and has a film going to a festival or in distribution, or is producing a web series that will
earn some income, they might very well think about you and bring you on board the
team.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database. A website providing all information, credits and background
information for major films and series.

Not only for this reason should a student composer want to work with fellow
students, but it also provides a safe playground, and an opportunity to experiment and
learn how to work with real people and situations before venturing out into the real
world, where composers can't allow themselves many mistakes. In my experience
collaborations with film students have always been great, educational, and provided me
with the chance to experiment.

Crowd Funding and Online Production Platforms

These tools include KickStarter, IndieGogo, JuntoBox and more. A list of these
tools is found in Appendix D2. Many independent projects (indies) are funded through
crowd funding. A few established individuals created platforms such as JuntoBox
(founded by Philippe Caland - director/writer and Forest Whitaker actor) that support
upcoming directors and producers and media concepts.
In the case of JuntoBox one needs to successfully pitch a project to the JuntoBox
team, and then get through five development stages with enough support from the
public crowd. It starts with an online readable script and ends with a full production
plan. With enough support and votes, the project can get funded by JuntoBox and go into
production.2 There is a way to sign up as composer and pitch in on projects. However, if
the project doesnt make it, neither do you and your contributions.

KickStarter and IndieGogo work a bit differently, and rely solely on the public.
They are not necessarily just for film related projects, as they can be used for any sort of

JuntoBox, How to Junto, accessed Oct 8, 2014, http://juntoboxfilms.com/how-to-junto.

project, music, invention, or idea. The public can support projects by donating money
through the platform and get perks and products in return. It is an excellent way to fund
albums for aspiring recording artists, as it is possible to see exactly how many people
would actually buy the record. They can pre order the product and if a certain amount
of donations is reached, the project gets funded.3 4

Case Studies: Finding Work

Case Study: Finding Work - The Ballerina
I found this project by simply contacting the CSULA TVF department (my
universitys film and television studies department.) I sent an email to a professor and a
week later hung a small poster on their message board with QR codes and links to my
reel and portfolio online. A QR (Quick Response) code is an easy customizable barcode
that can be read by most smartphones, tablets and third-party
applications. The way I use it, the code simply opens up a video file or
URL. See Figure 1 for an example. A professor forwarded my email to a
few thesis students who she thought might be interested. A few weeks
later I got an email from graduate student Morgan Sandler who was

Figure 1.
QR Code.

looking for a composer for his thesis project: The Ballerina. As it is a silent film, it
requires a full score from opening to end a great opportunity for a composer and proof
that collaborating with filmmakers at the University level works.
The QR code in Figure 1 opens a link to my own web site.

Kickstarter, Kickstarter Home, accessed Oct 8, 2014, https://www.kickstarter.com/hello?ref=footer.

Indiegogo, How to raise money for a campaign, accessed Oct 8, 2014,
https://www.indiegogo.com/learn-how-to-raise-money-for-a-campaign.
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Case Study: Finding Work - Brimstone Terrace

Brimstone Terrace I stumbled upon on Stage32.com. The director and producer
posted their project and which positions they had open. I knew from the start this would
be an unpaid project, but I saw the potential and was willing to put in my time to get
exposure on blip.tv an on-demand video platform that originally broadcast the series. I
sent them my reel and a few minutes later I was told I was in, selected from upwards of
50 replies to their post. I immediately began work on the music for the series opening
and leader. Brimstone has had a decent amount of returning viewers, generally ranging
around a thousand views per episode. The series finale is a double-length episode and is
currently in post.

Case Study: Finding Work - String

String is a project that I found by totally different means. I went browsing on the
Vimeo filmmaker forums and found some interesting posts. Just for the heck of it I
decided to write a few of the directors and got back two replies I chose to work on the
best of both. This was a project with a low budget enough to allow me to hire a solo
violinist. This shows just how many possibilities there are out there to find work and
projects if one looks for it.

Case Study: Finding Work - Chess and the Stranger

Chess and the Stranger is currently in pre-production, which means that all I have
done so far is write some demo themes. This project I found when I scored a web series
made by graduate CSULA (California State University Los Angeles) film students. I met

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with one of the directors from the series, who also happened to be working on a full
feature length film. He was enthusiastic about my music and wanted to bring me on
board. This shows how building professional relationships is very important. We are
currently in negotiations, and the film will have a production as well as a composer
budget.

Case Study: Finding Work - Miss Dream

Now this is also a great way of getting a project; for the sake of my project I put
an ad on Craigslist offering my services as a film composer. I got countless replies, all
non-paid most low quality, until I got a request from a student who worked on a short
film that looked promising. Coincidentally she happened to be a student at CSULA just
looking around on Craigslist for musicians.

Case Study: Finding Work Color Ninja!

After reading a composers guide to game music by Winifred Phillips5, I decided
to take a dive into the deep end and do some searching on game developer forums and
communities. The first few times attempts were unsuccessful, but in fall 2014 I found an
interesting project that actually wanted to take me on board without relevant experience.
They had just won a game developer hackathon (a usually 24 hour during marathon to
create a new game) award and were looking for a composer. They already had a playable
demo for me to play. This project I found on reddit.com somewhere far away hidden in
a forum totally irrelevant to game sound.
5

Winifred Philips, A Composers Guide to Game Music, (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2014).

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CHAPTER 3
Production and Distribution Technology and The Cloud
Cloud Computing and Collaboration
Although these developments have certainly been prone to some skepticism from
the earlier generations and professionals, pretty much all production file delivery and
collaboration goes through private cloud storage services, or public services like
Dropbox, Wetransfer, Google Drive, and Syncplicity. See Appendix D1 for a complete
list. There is no shipping of physical products anymore. For composers, Pro Tools goes
even further: they offer built-in support for sharing anything in a session or even a full
session, through Gobbler. Gobbler is a cloud sync service, which backs-up all session
files, and can share mix-downs with invited people. Gobbler has raised money for its
start-up enterprise from Lady Gaga, OneRepublic and other artists and producers.6 It
provides massive storage options, and is so far the only public service to support large
project files. 5GB is free for all, and plans are available up to 500GB for $25 per month
at the time of writing. Sending files is free in all plans, up to any size the clients
connection can handle. Furthermore Avid is developing a cloud service just for its own
clients, which integrates seamlessly to all its software products.7 Most DAW (Digital
Audio Workstation) software already has full integration with SoundCloud8, which
makes it possible to easily share a private mix with ones coworkers. All those
developments are making sharing and collaborating much easier. I can send a filmmaker
6

Michael Carney, Gobbler Integrates its Creative Cloud accessed Aug 1, 2014,
http://pando.com/2013/01/24/gobbler-integrates-its-creative-cloud-with-avid-pro-tools-raises-1-5m-fromindustry-celebs/.
7
Avid, Technology Preview, accessed Aug 1 2014,
http://www.avid.com/US/Solutions/byIndustry/avidaudiotechnologypreview.html.
8
SoundCloud is an online music-streaming platform where artist can showcase their music (for free or on a
paid subscription).

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an idea for a theme, and two hours later I can have a response and move on. No matter
whether one works with a partner on the other side of the planet or someone in the next
room, sharing a file online is easy, usually free, and quick.
In the backend of the film and music industry, cloud computing significantly
speeds up all processes, cutting down production time and making films a little less
costly. How does it cut down the production time and effort? And how does this help the
composer? Production houses are using cloud-based services to distribute files within
departments, outsource work to other companies (e.g. visuals), outsource to other
countries where they shoot scenes, and collaborate with post-production services even
before there is anything close to a directors cut or final cut.
Because no physical products have to be distributed anymore this saves a lengthy
and costly process of shipping hard drives or other media to all the collaborators, visuals
companies, and postproduction involved. Access to the latest files, cuts, and scripts is
immediate for anybody involved. Because cloud-services are so flexible, production
companies like Lionsgate already have their own in-house cloud computing system, to be
used by all their subsidiaries and clients. And whenever there isnt enough work, they can
cut down on the resources and server-usage and save even more money.9 This is just the
tip of the iceberg. Companies like Amazon already offer cloud-based rendering farms
which are widely used by Hollywood productions.10 All visual rendering happens in their
render farm, eliminating the need to have high capacity, expensive in-house film
rendering infrastructures. In film, rendering is where all animation, green screen

Robert Jenkins, How Cloud Computing Will Save Hollywood, accessed Sept 15, 2014,
http://readwrite.com/2013/05/15/how-cloud-computing-will-save-hollywood.
10
Amazon, Amazon EC2 Introduction, accessed Oct 7, 2014, http://bit.ly/thesis-ingmaramazonrenderingfarm.

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production, motion capturing or other visual aspects of making a movie are being
processed by computer systems into a finalized product. The amount of processing power
increases with every major blockbuster movie, as the quality of picture and possibilities
of use increase. Many films and TV series are shot in front of green screens, in virtual
environments11. Production companies such as Netflix (in-house series) and Animoto
(VFX production) use Amazons EC2 service. One can rent a scalable high-end video
rendering system starting at $2.50 an hour. Double these costs alone would be spent on
electricity per hour if done in-house. 12
As production time is cut down and file access gets easier, a trend is seen in the
availability of film cuts for film composers and other post-production departments,
leaving them on a little less tight schedule.13 As cuts are available earlier as a raw sketch,
outline or simple first edit, the composer can get a clear idea of the footage, imagery,
cinematography, themes and feeling of a film. As technology improves, accessibility is
immediate, and sharing is easier, schedules are not as linear as they used to be. A director
can send a cut to the composer fairly quickly. Of course this coin has two sides. When
the composer works on unlocked picture it means the director may change the speed,
cuts, scenes or anything really. Until there is a locked picture, the composer needs to be
able to change his music. Recording should often not be done before the locked picture is
distributed. But with todays technology, it is fairly easy to adapt compositions and sound
to new cuts in a short time, as I have had to do on my project The Ballerina.14 Even
though technology has improved the workflow so much, many times the composers
11

For definitions of green screens and virtual environments refer to Appendix F.

Amazon, Introduction to Amazon EC2, accessed Sept 15, 2014, https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
13
Lisa Leeman, Composers Confab: Creating the Best Scores for your Film, accessed Sept 15, 2014,
http://www.documentary.org/content/composers-confab-creating-best-score-your-film.
14
Richard Davis, Complete Guide to Film Scoring (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2010), 86.
12

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original intent is ruined, and the composer has to find new ways in, new transitions, or
change the composition and orchestration. This can be challenging when the composer is
satisfied with the work done.

Streaming and Internet Based Media

It is expected that cloud computing and streaming can be a lifesaver for the film
industry, and it might also be of great help for the music industry involved in films. With
cloud computing capacities on the rise and people in all corners of the world getting
better Internet connections, there will be more demand for streaming movies, TV-ondemand, and other digital services. This will cause the competition between service
providers and media companies to grow and prices to drop, as developers eagerly
compete to make the best possible product. Costs of distributing a massive (unsold)
amount of DVDs and Blu-ray will fall. The easier access to streaming movies, cheaper
subscriptions and better Internet speeds are expected to cause a drop in the rate of piracy,
because it is simply easier for consumers to access content they want in a legal and not
over-priced way. Additionally, box office worldwide is showing a steady increase yearby-year. Going to the movies will probably always be in the consumers lives. According
to the MPAAs (Motion Picture Association of America) annual report the global industry
has made an almost 4% higher profit in 2013 (total 35.9 billion USD) compared to
2012.15 The US and Canada box office profit increased 2% in 2013. This includes
adjustment for raised ticket prices. 16 See Figure 2.

15

MPAA, Theatrical Market Statistics 2013, accessed Sept 15, 2014, http://www.mpaa.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2013_032514-v2.pdf, 2.
16
MPAA, Theatrical Market Statistics 2013, accessed Sept 15, 2014, http://www.mpaa.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2013_032514-v2.pdf, 3.

15

Figure 2. Global Increase in Revenue in Box Office17

Just as with the music business, these and many other facts show that the new
technology is not killing an industry. It is simply shifting how the average consumer gets
served new content. Streaming isnt bad, especially for the film industry. People often
feel like watching a certain movie or genre, but dont just buy it impulsively. Providing
the consumer with multiple streaming and renting services in their living room, or on
their computer or tablet, helps the movie industry to reach a much wider audience that
might otherwise had been completely lost, or lost to piracy.

Piracy and Our Future

Piracy is a very important topic we as creative artists, filmmakers and composers
need to understand, in order to be able to plan ahead and look at how we can do better.
That is why I compared a few studies and reports that look at the influence of new
services and ways of distributing content on Internet Piracy18. To keep it as short and

17

MPAA, Theatrical Market Statistics 2013, accessed Sept 15, 2014, http://www.mpaa.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2013_032514-v2.pdf, 2.
18
Definition of Internet Piracy: Refer to Appendix F

16

bundled as possible, I only looked at the European and North American market, starting
in Europe.
Research conducted in Norway has shown a stunning eighty percent decline
between 2008 and 2012 in piracy in music for Norway thanks to services such as Spotify
combined with new legislation and scanning / blocking of piracy web sites content.19
The same is happening with film and TV now as there are starting to be enough
alternatives like Netflix. Piracy has been cut in half. 20
Another two studies have been conducted, one twenty-five page report - a study
commissioned by Spotify (the major streaming music provider, obviously they have
interest in such a study), and one independently conducted study by Ipsos. These studies
show that in the Netherlands piracy of music has dropped from five million users in 2008,
to 1.8 million in 2012. Furthermore one of these studies showed that of those 1.8 million
people only 10% was a hardcore pirate, meaning that they downloaded a full album or
at least 16 tracks of music. From the same studies conducted among residents of the
Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, it is also clear that many people dont know where to
find music legally. For instance, older music that is not available on legal download
services, such as (until recently) the Beatles catalog.21 22 Downloading those older music
tracks makes up a large part of piracy. Over the recent years music piracy in the
Netherlands has dropped even further as people realized piracy was not the way to go,

19

Sophie Curtis, Spotify and Netflix Curb Music and Film Piracy, Technology News, The Telegraph,
July 18, 2013. http://bit.ly/thesis-ingmar-ext2.
20
TorrentFreak, Piracy Collapses as Legal Alternatives do their Job, accessed Sept 15, 2014,
http://bit.ly/thesis-ingmar-ext3.
21
Glyn Moody, Two New Reports Confirm: Best Way To Reduce Piracy Dramatically Is To Offer Good
Legal Alternatives, Techdirt, Jul. 23, 2013. http://bit.ly/thesis-ingmar-ext4.
22
Will Page, Adventures in the Netherlands; Spotify, Piracy and the new Dutch experience, Spotify
Press, July 17, 2014. http://bit.ly/thesis-ingmar-ext5.

17

and legislation makes it mandatory for all Dutch Internet Providers to block certain
piracy web sites and protocols.23
In my opinion, the more options we provide for the consumer, the less they will
steal. If governments provide more legislation against online piracy in addition to making
it easy for companies to start new alternatives, it will decrease even further.24
BitTorrent.com has just very recently launched a new platform where artists of all
sorts, and even software makers, can offer their products legally, either for free, for a
trade (read: a visitor subscribes to a the artists newsletter), or for a payment. Offering a
few tracks of the album for free, and the full album for a payment are also among the
options. Downloading happens peer-to-peer, through any bit torrent client software. The
difference between these and regular torrent files is that these paid torrents are protected,
and can be only downloaded a set number of times per user.25 This is not a sealed
protection, and it does not use a DRM (Digital Rights Management) system, so people
can easily spread it, not unlike purchasing a song on iTunes or Amazon. But it does
provide listeners the option to use the high speed, flexible BitTorrent system to download
an album. Ultimately its always up to the consumer if they want to download legally and
pay for their product or continue pirating. In May 2013 BitTorrent already contained
more than 2 million legal files, and the shift from their bad name connected to Piracy is
starting to happen. To date, the biggest artist to release his work on BitTorrent has been
Radioheads Thom Yorke, who released his new solo album in October 2014, for a

23

Arild Fraas, Piracy in Norway,Aftenposten, July 15, 2014. http://bit.ly/ingmar-thesis-ext6.

(Norwegian Language)
24
Glyn Moody, Two New Reports Confirm Best Way To Reduce Piracy Dramatically Is To Offer Good
Legal Alternatives, Techdirt, July 25, 2014. http://bit.ly/ingmar-thesis-ext7.
25
Arthur Newman, BitTorrent Announces Bundle, accessed Oct 8th, 2014, http://bit.ly/ingmar-thesisext8.

18

payment of USD 6, -. The only other place to get the new album is his own web site
where he sells a Vinyl album and no CDs. 26

Surprisingly, when looking at the US, there is no current research on Internet piracy
publicly available at the moment of writing. Research and statistics do show that in just
the first six months of 2012, Americans were responsible for downloading approximately
96.6 million illegal files. The United Kingdom came in second. Research conducted by
Sandvine shows that BitTorrent traffic which is responsible for still nearly all Internet
piracy, declined in the United States to seven percent of the total Internet Bandwidth in
the last half year of 2013. It declined twenty percent in just six months. Ten years ago it
accounted for sixty percent of the total Internet bandwidth used.27
One may argue that the reason for the lack of research is due to the strong lobbying
culture. For example: Apple holding off Spotifys entrance to the US market for years (by
pushing major record labels,) because of the fear of losing money when providing
streaming options.28

A few years further down the road I believe that piracy will be in a major decline.
In my opinion, though streaming music does not generate much income for small artists,
it is better then having no income and a culture of illegal and free music. Streaming as
it happens now is not perfect, but it is going in the right direction. If we can figure out

26

BitTorrent, Tomorrows Modern Boxes Bundle, accessed Oct 8, 2014, http://bit.ly/ingmar-thesis-ext9.

Sandvine, Global Internet Phenomena: 2014-IH Report, accessed Oct 7, 2014, http://bit.ly/ingmarthesis-ext10.
28
Darrell Etherington, Spotify Runs Up Against Apple in U.S Expansion Attempts, Gigaom, Jan 28,
2014. http://bit.ly/ingmar-thesis-ext11.
27

19

how to make it more profitable and offer different subscription services there might be a
bright future in music streaming.
When founder Daniel Ek launched Spotify in the US in 2011, he said he wanted to
offer a product which is better than piracy, and in many ways he has, but because
Spotify is so new here, its impact on piracy is still unclear. The US is a really difficult
market to draw conclusions about aggregate behavior, explains D.A. Wallach (Spotify
employee), but in Sweden Spotify has eviscerated piracy, he says.29 In my opinion
music is not supposed to be free because it costs real money to make. There are many
alternatives since the launch of Spotify. It is just waiting for research showing actual
solid numbers about the US music market and for the general public to be aware of those
alternatives.

Lauretta Charlton, Spotify in the USA One Year Later, Stereogum, July 16, 2012. http://bit.ly/ingmarthesis-ext12.
29

20

CHAPTER 4
Budget and Consequences
Whether or not a project has a budget affects the instrumentation, allocation of
time, and the actual end product. As of now, working with a full orchestra is still a dream.
Over the past few years, I was paid little or nothing for many of the projects that I did.
Many times I have been able to make deals where I would get paid from alternative
sources: advertising, screenings, etc. However when a film does not get distributed, this
is not much money and sometimes does not even cover production costs. Thus, to make a
good sounding end product I had to work mainly with my own sound libraries, and
perform my own music including playing the cello, the piano, and heavily edited guitar.
In some cases, I was only able to hire one soloist for an hour. I spent many hours
developing a good workflow, setting up virtual orchestras and combining different
libraries and software. Luckily I have been able to work in web design and music
recording for many years now on the side, and this allowed me to invest in many sound
libraries, hardware and virtual instruments. I am beginning to see a trend that I now have
more work being offered to me and with my steadily growing resume: clients are more
willing to pay and understand that I cant do certain projects for free. Also I have more
leverage and experience, and so it is easier to ask for at least a small budget. If people are
serious about their project they should be willing to pay for such an integral part of the
end result. It keeps being a gamble until a composer is really established and gets into
circulation at a higher level. But building relationships, mostly for free, seems to me to be
a very important path to success. Again, it is a gamble, but in some cases it may turn out
to be a very solid investment in the future.

21

No budget. I worked on many student projects that had no budget. Of course we

help each other out, so I will use as much effort and passion to create music as I would on
a paid project. The shortfall is that it is much harder to use live instruments (I will not pay
out of my own pocket), and more challenging to block off time in my schedule. I usually
did these projects when my paid work was done, unless the project was of very high
quality and looked very promising to me. On some of these projects I made backend
deals: to get paid if they received any income from online broadcasting or any other
source. As my career progresses, I take fewer and fewer of these gigs.

Micro budget. I worked on a micro budget quite a few times. They were able to
pay me a small composition fee, often no more than $50 to $150 for 3 to 10 minutes of
music. On this budget it is hardly possible to include live music except for what can be
performed by the composer. What I usually did with these fees is save them up until I had
enough to invest in another library or virtual instrument. Projects I have done on a microbudget include Brimstone Terrace, two book trailers for Saving Metropolis and Miss
Dream. Usually everybody agreed with a percentage of the net income of the project. As
of this writing, Brimstone Terrace has earned me about $250.

Low budget. I worked on low budget projects only a few times. This includes the
Dutch television series North that ran on TV, and is now available on demand. North was
recorded with a small orchestra, including a few soloists, fully paid for out of a
subsidized production budget. The television series North was quite popular and has also

22

made me some money in music rights through my PRO (Performance Rights

Organization), iTunes sales, and DVD distribution. My PRO collects most of these
monies. My PRO, BUMA/STEMRA, is located in the Netherlands. I also worked on the
Canadian short string on a low budget. This one was just about 3 minutes and the budget
allowed me to hire a violinist and use a payment made on the backend to invest in new
music software. There are more projects coming up right now such as Chess and the
Stranger.

Medium budget. I hope to eventually be able to record with an orchestra or worldclass soloists. When this happens, I will actually be able to live off of a project while I
work and have a good recording budget. I have worked on medium budgets before but
not for film. I worked with jazz ensembles and bands on their albums. This is obviously a
different music and moneymaking stream.

23

CHAPTER 5
Preparations, Spotting and Communication
Preparations Pre-Project
Generally, before starting any project, a composer has a few jobs to do. This
includes researching styles, finding out exactly what the production team wants, if the
director or editor used temp music (music temporary placed by the editor or director,)
analyzing that music, and setting up sessions in their DAW (Digital Audio
Workstation)30. Often there are talks between the production team and the composer, and
sometimes demos in specific styles are requested.

Spotting, Communication and Feedback

What you are trying to do is to catch the spirit of a picture. And that means

sometimes you go contrary to whats on the screen, and sometimes you go with whats on
the screen. Its a matter of instinct; if your instincts are good, its going to work for you.
David Raksin.31
In my opinion this statement captures the essence of what spotting a picture should
be. It is here that the director and composer find a common language and understanding
as to what shape the music will ultimately take. Will we play the comedy, go against it,
make it overly dramatically, or will we make it into a dorky and funny picture? Spotting
quite literally is determining where the music goes and what it will sound like. One can
have beautiful compositions, fantastic orchestrations, great players, but if music comes in
at the wrong places, does not match the action, or disappears when the director expects it

30
31

Definition of Digital Audio Workstation: Refer to Appendix F

Richard Davis, Spotting in Complete Guide to Film Scoring (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2010), 87.

24

to soar, it can ruin a film. It is a crucial part of creating a score.32 Sometimes I have
noticed that in my own work, when I begin the scoring process without doing a decent
spotting session (whether I do this myself, or with the director), I tend to compose too
many cues or the cues themselves turn out to be too dense. It is important to make a plan,
a rough sketch of the arc of the score, and to imagine how initial cues will grow and
morph into the cues that come toward the end of the film. The idea being that you can
possibly use the same thematic material in a different tempo, key, orchestration, or make
a slight variation to the theme, instead of writing all new and separate cues. It is different
for every project and collaboration. Each director and film studio is unique and has
his/her own approach to working with the music.

Sometimes the director is under a lot of pressure from his own supervisors, and/or
has a strong opinion about how the music should sound. The director then may have very
strict boundaries and demands and require music that has been proven to work before. As
film composer Alan Silvestri notes:
Youve got to remember what youre doing here. Youre working for somebody,
and you, the composer, are not going to be the one called on the carpet when the
movie was supposed to make $40 million this weekend and it only made
$150,000 Youre probably off on your next movie, but theres somebody out
there whos sitting in a chair right now with a bunch of people in suits standing
around him, and hes having a real bad day. That persons called the director! So if

32

Richard Davis, Spotting in Complete Guide to Film Scoring (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2010), 8791.

25

you think for a minute that the director is not going to have a whole lot to say about
what music goes into their film and how it sounds, youre kidding yourself.33

Sometimes a director may be in a rush to go through the material, and/or not care
too much for the music. In my opinion, this often happens with inexperienced directors,
ones straight out of film school. My personal experience is that sometimes a director has
no idea what to do with music. Or they want to make a documentary with just some
soundscapes34. Again, in my opinion it could be so much better with a more composed
score, as opposed to a ready-to-go soundscape taken straight out of a stock library.35
Somehow, directing students at some film schools dont get properly educated as to what
music can do for their work. It is important for a composer to always keep in mind that
music appreciation is subjective, and to not be disappointed if they dont have any idea,
or call your composition sound design.
Furthermore, it is important to go through the full length of the work during the
spotting session. I have been in situations where the director just showed me a few scenes
and then had to go to off to his next appointment. If this happens, I always make sure I
have the option to preview the full film myself, so I can give tips or make suggestions if
the director skips over parts that I think might need music. Or I just start writing and see
what the director thinks. This in general seems to be good practice. But it always depends
on the relationship between the composer and director.36 As Richard Bellis suggests in

33

Richard Davis, Spotting in Complete Guide to Film Scoring (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2010), 89
Refer to Appendix F for the definition of Soundscapes
35
Refer to Appendix F for the definition of a Stock Library
36
Richard Bellis, The Emerging Film Composer: An Introduction to the People, Problems and Psychology
of the Film Music Business (Lexington, KY, Self Published, 2006), 64-67.
34

26

his method book, make a list in advance with questions or ideas for certain scenes. A
composer can even bring in some musical ideas to a spotting session.37

Case Study: Spotting Brimstone Terrace

Spotting Brimstone Terrace was an interesting experience for me as composer. As
soon as they took me on board we had a Skype conference call with the team. We talked
about their ideas for music, they sent me some links to YouTube videos and music, and
we discussed the role of music in their series. We started work on the opening scene, and
the series main title38 that would reappear in every episode. After this was done, the same
music was used for the teaser (trailer). For the first 3 episodes director Tyler Moore and I
had a Skype call where we both opened the first cut of the episode and walked through it
in sync by pressing start at roughly the same time. I would make notes in a text editor.
For the later episodes we mostly had contact by phone, email, or Facebook messages.
Tyler would send me a document with time code and comments containing his ideas for
music. In general, after the first three successful episodes we knew were on the same
page and he gave me the trust and freedom to do what I saw fit. Based on his comments I
would send him versions of the score, and revise it where necessary. The process has
always been quick and painless with Tyler. No temp track has EVER been provided in
this project. Total expressive freedom!

37

Richard Bellis, The Emerging Film Composer: An Introduction to the People, Problems and Psychology
of the Film Music Business (Lexington, KY, Self Published, 2006), 65.
38
Refer to Appendix F for the definition of a series main title.

27

Case Study: Spotting North

Since the director and I knew each other personally from other, non-film, projects,
I became involved in the conception and first shoots of the series. The first episodes were
spotted entirely in person, going through rough cuts in my project studio. No temp tracks
were provided, except for the sixth episode, which required an original song in the end.
The director, who also happens to be a singer, wrote the lyrics for this song. I wrote the
music and arranged the song. Episodes 4 to 6 were spotted via email and Skype, since I
was now living in the United States and my collaborator was in the Netherlands.

Case Study: Spotting Miss Dream

Miss Dream was spotted in person. Director Ivy Ziwei Lin and I met up and went
through her short film. After that we had contact via email and phone, I sent her a few
ideas and she sent me a temp track for some parts of the film. This was interesting,
because she relied largely on me to provide a musical idea, which she then used to pick
out temp tracks in that style. She did this on my advice to be able to cut her scenes to a
set tempo. I then took the new cuts, forgot about the temp track, and went ahead
composing music and creating a distinct and unique sound. After her approval we mainly
communicated via email, until meeting up to review the final cut with the score added to
it. She heard a short theme song on my SoundCloud that hadnt been used for any project,
which we ended up using during the credits of the film.

28

CHAPTER 6
Composition, Workflow, Orchestration and Limitations
Composing
Usually the most important part and the initial conception of any project starts with
composing. Conventionally a composer starts writing a short score, which means writing
melody and harmony for two staves. When necessary, two more staves can be added.
However, many times a project asks for less conventional composing and one starts
composing in a more vertical way (top-to-bottom in arrangement, as opposed to
horizontal in time.) Traditionally, as professors have taught me throughout my education,
when composing one must focus fully on the essence of the composition itself, meaning
that the composer starts writing at the piano or notates the composition into a short score.
Many times I find that if I write for visual media projects, I get different and more
spherical (sound and feeling related) ideas when I dont compose in such a linear way,
but instead start with finding and creating interesting sounds. This does not mean that I
put melodies throughout different instruments and make an un-cohesive composition, but
that I start more vertical, by creating a unique sound in certain instrument combinations
or synthesizers, and then work from that basis. Usually I find that the piano is my
guideline, even if I dont make a linear short-score composition first.
Other reasons that composers sometimes employ this method of working are tight
deadlines, and non-musician collaborators who cant listen to a short-score and hear how
it is going to sound when orchestrated. Most directors for instance are not that musical,
and it is not their job to be. But they still want a composer to make them fall from their
chair, blow them away, if you will. In most situations a composer can only reach this

29

effect by delivering a powerful, almost finished cue as demo. This means that a modern
composer often creates a quickly orchestrated demo, to make it sound as good as
possible. A good sounding piece has to be sent as first-version only within a few hours of
work. Because of this, one could say the focus becomes less on the composition and more
on the sound and perception. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as there is a clear
difference in the standard sound for music scores nowadays compared to, for instance,
Hollywoods golden age. The music now often is a combination of orchestral and
electronic music, and rarely is a full symphonic score. Music styles and genres have
always shifted and evolved.

(Digital) Workflow
Composers now have to work in a fully digital format. Unless one is among the topten percent composers in the industry, it is usually a one-man job. Not many composers
still use pencil and manuscript paper to make their initial compositions or cues. So a
composer has to be at least as proficient in working with technology as they are with
composing and/or orchestration.39 As discussed on previous pages, often budgets wont
allow for recording with live players, so everything has to be created in the box (inside
the computer.)
A composers set-up usually consists of a powerful computer, a high quality audio
interface, MIDI equipment such as keyboards and industry leading DAW & sequencing
software. See Appendix G for a diagram of my setup and workflow. Current leading
DAW software includes: Avid Pro Tools, Apple Logic, Steinberg Cubase, MOTU Digital

39

Richard Davis, Complete Guide to Film Scoring (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2010), 55.

30

Performer, and a few more obscure and, simpler sequencers such as Reaper and Reason.
Scores are created with the DAW and the motion picture running in sync. Just a few
decades ago, complicated synchronization devices were necessary to compose to picture.
Now everything happens inside a composers computer, and the only limitation is that
computers processing speed and memory. Often a composer will create a MIDI-mockup,
a simple and virtually orchestrated version of the score, which is send to the director.
Once this is approved a composer with a budget might add live players and improve the
MIDI instruments, or a composer with no budget for live players creates a full score
using MIDI instruments and virtual orchestration. 40 41

At my own Digital Audio Workstation I am able to add multiple live instruments,

including Cello and Piano. And even though I am not a guitar player, I can still play parts
or double certain musical lines. Im not a singer, but I sang on a project included in this
project, and was able to improve this with technology. I dont play or sing perfectly, but
software technology allows me to improve it, place the notes I played or sang on the right
beat, tune a certain note, or change the overall sound.
So one could say that as long as a composer has musical ears, is proficient in at least one
instrument, and has had musical training, digital workstations now allow getting great
results with instruments the composer doesnt play well. As long as the composer hits the
right notes, and creates a compelling sound, technology allows making it an integrated
part. See Appendix G for my usual workflow during these projects.

40

Richard Davis, Film-Scoring Technology in Complete Guide to Film Scoring (Boston, MA: Berklee
Press, 2010), 55.
41
Rayburn Wright and Fred Karlin, Electronic Scoring in On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film
Scoring (New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1990), 394.

31

Orchestration & Limitations

Orchestration is extremely important in soundtracks for films and visual media.
With orchestration one creates moods, unique timbres, variations, and most important,
colors. Reflecting on the projects of the past year, sometimes I wish I had taken a more
traditional approach. But in many cases, circumstances dont allow this. Let me explain
why this was sometimes the case.
If a composer gets a new project to work on but has no real budget, recording with an
orchestra or even a small live ensemble becomes impossible. In these cases, I create a
sound for the series, film or short first as opposed to the traditional approach of
composing, then orchestrating.
Reading many books on orchestration, such as Rimsky Korsakovs Principles of
Orchestration, the treatise on orchestration, is fantastic, and to my classical training it
makes perfect sense. For example:
Take a short phrase where a flourish or fanfare call is given out above a
tremolando accompaniment, with or without change in harmony. There is no doubt
that any orchestrator would assign the tremolo to the strings and the fanfare to a
trumpet, never vise versa. But taking this for granted, the composer may still be left
in doubt. Is the fanfare flourish suitable to the range of a trumpet? Should it be
written for two or three trumpets in unison, or doubled by other instruments? Can
any of these methods be employed without damaging the musical meaning? (N.
Rimsky-Korsakov). 42

42

Nikolay Rimski-Korsakov, Principles of Orchestration: with musical examples drawn from his own
works, ed. Maximilian Steinberg and Edward Agate (New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1964), 97.

32

The problem is that a composer cannot use traditional symphonic orchestration with
synthesizers and samplers; we must take a different approach. For one, creatively and
craft-fully thinking in articulations, techniques and dynamics often doesnt translate into
virtual orchestras. Secondly, as described in the previous quote, what do I do if I dont
have a nice sounding trumpet that blends in with a string tremolo? I may have written this
in Sibelius (my notation program), but if I cant make it sound right, I will have to create
a different orchestration, based on the sample libraries that I have available to me.
Therefore, I often find myself using my best samples; the ones that sound most like a real
orchestra. I keep on investing in new samples, and the playback software keeps getting
better but the only way to hear a symphonic orchestrated theme in its true form is to have
a real orchestra play it. There is nothing else like that.
On the other hand, an important advantage of modern day film composers is that
there is a wealth of new instruments, synthesizers, tools and samples out there to add to
our color palette. It gives us as modern composers many new creative options. And
always, I apply basic rules that I learned about orchestration; such as using color and
separation of texture, speed, melody, and harmony in certain instrument groups.

Many times, because of the speed in which I worked, and the fact that beside myself
I could not record any additional instruments, I did not create full scores and
orchestrations. Most of it happened inside my DAW, sending it to Sibelius to orchestrate
certain cues for my samples, and then sending the audio back to Pro Tools. Sometimes I
solely work in Pro Tools, in the midi editor. But other times working in Sibelius with
actual notation gives me more inspiration, and a different result. Working with midi

33

regions in Pro Tools doesnt give me a bad result, just different. Often times I have
worked in Sibelius and Pro Tools simultaneously, using Sibelius in Rewire43 mode, fully
in-sync with Pro Tools and picture. Tempo, beat changes and key changes are all synced
automatically through Rewire. Next to this I can send MIDI ideas in Pro Tools to Sibelius
by pressing one button. I have set up my two favorite orchestral libraries, East West
Symphonic Orchestra Gold and LASS (Los Angeles Scoring Strings) Lite, to work
seamlessly with Sibelius, using sound sets and playback dictionaries. What this means is
that when I put the text Pizz., or draw a legato arc, the sample (or playing technique) is
automatically switched. To accomplish this, the software uses a key switch to activate the
right instrument patch44 for that passage. This took me days to optimize and bring to
perfection, but now that it works, it enables me to quickly orchestrate using normal terms,
lines, marks, and techniques. Although this is a great way to work, my computer will
often limit the results. To run such a setup ones computer system needs to be extremely
powerful. Often I had to bounce (to render the audio) from those Sibelius sessions in
order to keep working, pretty much losing the workflow of real-time orchestrating in
Sibelius.

43
44

Refer to Appendix F for the definition of Rewire

Refer to Appendix F for the definition of an Instrument Patch

34

Case Studies in Composition and Production

Note: the cue numbers are not the same numbering as the original cue sheets. This
is due to the fact that some of these projects have a huge amount of cues, and it is
impossible to describe all of them here. This is why I made a selection of a few, which
are numbered per project. All these cues are found in Appendix A, referring to CD, DVD
and/or online files.

Examples from Brimstone Terrace

Composition for Brimstone Terrace has been quite unconventional. I started by
creating odd and unique sounds. I had a big rainmaker (wooden tube with rice grains) that
I used as a huge shaker and for a rain effect. I then took this into a granular software
synthesizer45 and started to play with a few effects. Furthermore I used Native
Instruments Reaktor5 to make grainy otherworldly soundscapes and drones, all made out
of an oscillator source, or with FM synthesis46. This served as the basis for the Brimstone
Terrace grainy and dark sounding opening and leader theme. Those sounds were
combined with me beating on an acoustic guitar, playing a far tuned-down low E string
and layering that with my tuned down Cello. After this I added whistling. I made two
variations: one with an action ending, and one more mysterious, the latter being used
most of the time. (Cue #BT01 and #BT02)
A large part of the soundscapes I created for Brimstone are scrapes on a drying
rack, a bowed cymbal, e-bowed guitar, guitar slides, slides on a cello, scrapes on the cello
strings and pitched shakers. Next to these original sounds I also used Spectrasonics
45
46

Refer to Appendix F for the definition granular synthesis

Refer to Appendix F for the definition of FM synthesis

35

Omnisphere to create original and always evolving pads. Spectrasonics Trillian has great
sounding synths, as well as electric and acoustic basses. All the basses in this project
come from Trillian, often re-amped (rerecorded through an amp) to give it a more live
feel. Refer to Appendix C1 for a cue sheet with all plugins47 + software used in
Brimstone Terrace Episode 1.
For Episode 1 I tried to create the music and sound for a purgatory world in
between heaven and hell, because that is where the main characters are. I did this by
combining disturbing synth sounds and some organic sounding components (Cue
#BT03.) Other cues were written quite conventionally For instance Memories (#BT04),
starts off with a synth pad that transitions from a previous scene, features a piano and
cello solo, and later a cello quartet.
I composed specific themes for some of the leading characters that come back
throughout all of the episodes, in many variations this is called a leitmotif.48 One
example is Scratch, a bad guy cowboy who tries to take everything from the leading
character Alan. I composed a theme for Scratch, in a spaghetti western style. Then I
transformed it into about five variations, some of them very subtle, to be able to
incorporate his theme in some of the many instances he appears. The main feature of his
theme is the cowboy whistle combined with a western guitar sound. (#BT07 Scratch
Suite)
The most used theme throughout the series is the Gary and Alan theme. These two
characters lead the series, and needed their own theme. The series is quite dark, so
usually with those themes I tried to give the viewer a break. The filmmaker and I decided
47
48

Refer to Appendix F for the definition of plugins (in music software)

Refer to Appendix F for the definition of a Leitmotif

36

that the theme had to feel good. It ended up with many variations. The original theme
employs mainly piano, drums, hang drums, shakers, electric bass, and guitar. (#BT09
Gary and Alan) But variations include one orchestrated mainly for acoustic guitars and
cello (#BT10 Gary and Alan e5m11) and countless other variations using part of the
theme, different orchestrations, etc. (#BT11 Gary and Alan e4m3)
Another theme I would like to point out is SataDyne. In a scene where one of the
leading characters was watching TV, Satan appeared on TV for a toothpaste commercial.
To make this playful, instead of using traditional shakers for the fast rhythms that I was
looking for, I sampled someone brushing her teeth. I then cut this to the grid and applied
some effects. (#BR13 SataDyne) This is an example of using a sound and an idea in
place of a more traditional approach, as the sound and idea are truly what matter most.
Figure 3 is a screenshot, and shows my main monitor on top, and smaller monitor
with video on the bottom (in reality they are next to each other).

Figure 3. Brimstone Terrace Production Workflow Screenshot

37

Cues mentioned in this case study (Brimstone Terrace)

Video: Refer to Appendix A
Audio: CD2 Track 1 (#BT01 leader-action), 2 (#BT02 leader- mysterious), 3 (#BT03
After Death), 4 (#BT04 Memories), 7 (#BT07 Scratch Suite), 9 (#BT09 Gary and
Alan), 10 (#BT10 Gary and Alan e5m11), 11 (#BT11 Gary and Alan e4m3), 13
(#BT13 SataDyne).

Examples from The Ballerina

The music for The Ballerina was composed mainly at the piano. Most of it started
as short score, one part in Pro Tools, another in Sibelius. I wrote two distinct themes and
a few transitional themes. I started orchestrating those short scores, and gluing the two
major themes together, using action and events in the picture. The short film has no
dialog or any sound at all. Music is always in the foreground, and since it follows a
ballerina I tried to match tempo at many important points of the picture. From the start,
the director and I decided not to compose completely to the picture, but rather follow a
larger arc. All the changes in tempo and speed of image would make matching the music
very chaotic. The viewer follows the leading character from a very young ballerina, to an
older adult, a professional ballerina. Some major life events pass by. Most important are
her wedding, and later the passing of her husband, the message being dramatically
delivered by two army officials. A lot of the story is told by seeing the ballerina dancing,
as a time-lapse from young to older. We see the older her dancing the same material as
the younger her, and those kind of events I used as markers to make themes reappear and
transition to other material. Roughly half of the material is in a 4/4 meter, and half is in
3/4 meter. In the larger picture this resembles her dancing, although sometimes shots
appear where she dances something else. The first cue is The Ballerina(#TB01 The
Ballerina.) This theme reappears later in the film, where she is older and looks back at

38

all the events in her life. TB01 was fully composed in Sibelius. Sibelius was also where I
started making orchestrations. Production and recording was done in Pro Tools. TB01 is
in 4/4 meter and takes us through multiple keys.

The second theme (#TB02 Wedding Waltz) was composed a few months later.
Also written on the piano, this is the only theme I orchestrated completely outside of Pro
Tools. It has a beat, and was orchestrated in two distinct variations. However, at the
last minute, the filmmaker decided to cut out nearly four minutes, and this made me
reorganize all the material I had, ending up using only the slower waltz in the wedding
scene. The same happened with the first theme as I had made two variations that I
couldnt use in the new cut because it did not match the speed of the picture and the
ballerinas movements. I had to recompose certain parts to match to the action again. In
this case I believe the new cut did make the project as a whole stronger.
The instrumentation of The Ballerina is based around piano, a small string section, and a
few solo woodwinds (all virtual instruments). This is combined with a few synth sounds
and a synth bass that doubles the acoustic bass on some cues. I also used acoustic drums,
orchestral percussion, acoustic guitars, soprano vocal, duduk, qanun, and solo cello.
There is one cue with horns and heavy synths.
Cues mentioned in this case study (The Ballerina):
Video: The Ballerina full film
Audio: Track 14 (#TB01 The Ballerina), Track 15 (#TB02 Wedding Waltz), Track
16 (#TB03 The Messengers in Suit), Track 17 (#TB04 The Split), Track 18 (#TB05
Reflections - Variation on The Ballerina)
Score Excerpts: Appendix B2 & Appendix B3

39

Examples from North

The series opening and a select few cues in the first three episodes were recorded
with a fourteen player ensemble. This however was done before I started my masters
program and project, so I will exlude this here. The most recent work I did for North was
a song a last-minute replacement for a song added to the final episode. Three days
before the slated broadcast of that episode the artist who had an original song placed in
the series changed his mind, so the director and I decided to write a song together. The
song was written in a few days. The director wrote the lyrics, I came up with chord
changes, sent it back to him, and he recorded some of his acoustic guitar parts at home.
We had figured out the melody together via Skype, and he then recorded the vocals. I
arranged the song and recorded additional parts as needed. The guitars are far from
perfect, not recorded to click, but this was what we could do in a few days, not
discounting the nine hour time difference. We made it to the deadline. (#NO01 Away
From You ft. Thomas Mook)
Another cue I would like to point out is The Seduction of Hot Bobby. This brings
together a few of the leading themes and sounds in the series, although instead of
building up to the melody that the viewer knows by now, it starts losing elements and
breaks down to a more spherical cue (#NO02 The Seduction of Hot Bobby.) One of the
longest cues in the series is No Place Like Home Theme & The Rescue(#NO03). It has
two North themes, and the middle section is a constant evolving battle between multiple
synths, percussion and soundscapes. It is a hybrid49 composition, orchestral, piano and
electronic music composed in a sequencer.

49

Appendix F: Definition of a Hybrid music score

40

A more action-oriented North cue is The Chase (#NO07), employing a rhythm

section, strings, and synths. A theme used to accompany a quite ridiculous standoff scene
is Too Fast For You, Comrade (#NO08).

Cues mentioned in this case study (North):

Video: Refer to Appendix A
Audio: Track 22 (#NO01 Away From You ft. Thomas Mook), 23 (#NO02 The
Seduction of Hot Bobby), 24 (#NO03 No Place Like Home Theme & Rescue), 28
(#NO07 The Chase), and 29 (#NO08 Too Fast For You, Comrade).

Examples from String

This was truly a hybrid (mix between acoustic and electronic music) approach. I
started traditionally composing a short score. Then I moved to orchestrating using
Sibelius, and adding electronic instruments and synthesizers in Pro Tools. For this project
I had the opportunity to record solo violin and cello. I had planned this from the start, and
kept this in mind during my composition and orchestration. The score to string has
classically orchestrated cues, soundscape/synthesized sounds and percussion cues. The
soundscape in the opening is a combination of Omnisphere sound sources50 and
modulation of sounds through Soundtoys Crystallizer. 51 I wanted the strings to feel a bit
vulnerable, as the puppet character in the short is very much vulnerable. The second part
at about 1:55 is different. It has a full sounding piano, percussion, live recorded shakers
and at the end of that section, I play with a soundscape made of a flowing river (the
puppet is sitting at the river in the video). The ending of the score is built around a

50
51

Appendix F: Definition of a Sound Source

Appendix A; list of software and equipment used

41

reversed live electric guitar run through a granular synthesizer that makes the soundscape
around it. There are about fifteen layers of the same sound source, but slightly different
processing for every layer, creating a swell52. The soundtrack for String can be found in
Appendix A.

Making Choices and Reflecting

As I have mentioned a few times before, a composers limited resources affect
some basic compositional choices the composer has to make. Without a budget,
musicians cannot be hired, which means that a composer has to compose and orchestrate
for his virtual orchestra. But even with the best sample library, a composer is still limited
by the computer. Software cant do the same as a real musician can. For my projects over
the past year I wish I had more oppurtunities to work with live musicians, as with this I
could have showcased my more conventional style of composing and orchestration.
Although I have done this work (mostly with virtual orchestration, as an excerise) in the
past, I was not able to do this for my real life projects. Making it sound professional and
putting myself out as a good sounding composer requires a different approach than
writing for a full virtual symphonic orchestra. I am fully aware that the compositional
piece on some of the projects is not as prominent as I focussed mostly on the sound and
production value. In those cases, they often asked for something quirky and otherworldy.
Other compositions in my projects however are more focussed on traditional thematic
material. A goal I would like to set for myself is to be able to work on a project that
allows me to record with a live orchestra within the next two years. Im working hard on
getting those projects, such as Chess and the Stranger which is currently being shot, and
52

Appendix F: Definition of a Swell

42

on a fundraising path. If this gets a green light it will most likely give me the chance to
record with a small orchestra.

43

CHAPTER 7
Production, Creating Sounds and Recording
The Sound of Contemporary Scores
An extremely important part in all my projects has been the production and
recording process. I like creating my own sound world for projects.
With todays technology a composer has an extended palette of sounds and options
to use creativity in creating never-heard-before sounds. This started in the 1960s when
technology became more accessible, synthesizers became portable, and by the late 80s it
was possible to sync all these devices with a live orchestra recording.53
Lets look at Thomas Newman, and his scores throughout the 1990s and the 2000s.
He created his own unique sounds by sampling, layering and creating his own
instruments, and doubling orchestral instruments with synthesized sound.54 Another
example is Howard Shores score for Crash (1996).55 All he used for this score are six
electronic guitars, three harps, three woodwinds and two percussionists. He then
manipulated and sampled all of these sounds to make them compatible with the dramatic
elements in the film, making a truly unique sound to a rather dark movie.
Crash was 75 percent recorded, 25 percent resampled, and then it was manipulated
and recomposed, if you will, for 25 percent of it, using the sound of the recording. I
would record parts of the handwritten score and then I would manipulate those
recordings. So I would create electronic pieces from my acoustic recordings.

53

Richard Davis, Complete Guide to Film Scoring (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2010), 56-57.
Rayburn Wright and Fred Karlin, Fresh Sounds in On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film
Scoring (New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1990).
55
Howard Shore, Crash, Cannes, Amours, Reves et Passions, Editions Milan Music, 2007, 8.
54

44

Sometimes Id slow them down or Id loop those recordings or Id play them

against the pieces that I had recorded. (Howard Shore). 56
In my opinion these production and more sound-oriented ideas can be equally as
important, if not more important, than a composition itself as long as a film or project
lends itself to such a style of music.

In the Box Vs. Out the Box Vs. Hybrid

The expression in the box means everything is done digitally, in the computer no live recording of any kind. With outside the box", everything is recorded with live
instruments, such as a traditional symphonic score. Hybrid is probably the most common
nowadays. It means that everything is centered on a DAW, in the box, but with live
recordings added. This can range from a few soloists, or (in my case) the composer
playing guitar, to a full orchestra accompanying a pre-recorded track. I cant remember
any project where I did not record any live-elements. Even when I work with a fully
electronic sound palette, I will use shaped and transformed guitar sounds, e-bow effects,
cello effects or transformed percussion instruments. It makes my sound palette unique.
My choice is always to work hybrid. This type of scoring has been around ever since
composers first got their hands on technology. 57 Although today it is more of a standard
way of working for most composers, as opposed to something new and experimental
when it first became a new way of creating music. There is surprisingly little literature
on composers and new technology in the first decade of the 2000s. But from many

56

Rayburn Wright and Fred Karlin, Fresh Sounds in On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film
Scoring (New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1990).
57
Wright, Rayburn, and Fred Karlin, Fresh Sounds in On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film
Scoring (New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1990).

45

interviews, Q&A sessions and some master classes I can draw the conclusion that also
long-time established composers use technology every day (with the exception of master
film composer John Williams) and incorporate virtual instruments and synths in their
scores. John Williams still uses solely his piano and pencil.
Well, I take the occasional Sunday off. Mind you, there are good days and bad
days. A lot of it is rubbish! But its the process. Its picking up the pencil, writing it,
having it played, moving on. Its an influence that would be hard to quantify, but I
think methodology is intimately connected to result, the pencil and paper are still
very good tools, as is the piano. Its something you do with your hands, so theres
an aspect of craftsmanship involved, even penmanship. And largely because Ive
been so busy, I havent had the time to go back and re-tool, and learn new methods
I might have greatly benefited from. (John Williams).58
I absolutely love his methodology. Myself, I couldnt write a symphonic score by pencil
because that is not how I learned to write music. When I started writing music it was
normal to use technology instead of pencil and paper. Furthermore one needs to have an
extremely imaginative mind in order to succeed in writing with pencil alone. I think that
if a composer is at Mr. Williams level of craftsmanship and that highly regarded, it is not
necessary to use any tools, as they wont translate as well as his mind and a real
orchestra. However, all this depends on the type of score. There is a large difference
between an uplifting animated film with a symphonic score and a psychological dark
thriller. They both ask for a different approach, and different sounds. Furthermore there is
the important difference that only long-time established composers have the resources
58

Clemency Burton-Hill, John Williams: the music master, Financial Times Magazine, August 17, 2012.
http://bit.ly/ingmar-thesis-ext13.

46

that allow them to compose using mostly live orchestra. Most composers have to work
with technology to finalize their scores and orchestrations. A modern day, new composer
has to be able to do everything as a one-man job, on a low budget.

Electronic Music Production Case Study: Till There Was You

Till There Was You is a Visual Performance with music from a to z. The
projects lead artist, Peter van Til, contacted me to see if I would be interested in creating
electronic and soundscape-based music for his live performances, including three
projections and live improvisation. This project was based in The Netherlands. We
mostly talked via Skype and collaborated via email and Dropbox.
This project has been all about experimenting with sampled organic and hybrid sounds. It
opens with a sample of real birds, granulated and put through a few dedicated FX tracks
containing several delays, reversed delays, modulators, tremolos and pan-modulators. At
approximately 00:35 a synthesized sound comes in, slowly evolving into a few other
modulated synth sounds, all using granular synthesis. The birds keep on going, being
modulated different every time. Other sounds such as rainforest and crickets start to
appear as well. Most of creating the synthesized sounds was done in Native Instruments
Reaktor5, running in rewire with Pro Tools. The beats that slowly start to build up are
very abstract and are combined with FM synthesized drum sounds.
At about 06:23 a more upbeat cue starts. They are all distorted sounds and abstract
beats and contain some tempo and meter changes, fitting to the visuals it accompanies.
The artist wanted it to lean towards drum and bass in this section, but get to an actual
drum and bass climax really slowly. It builds towards an explosion over the course of

47

about three minutes. At 09:00 it finally starts to go loose a little bit, and at 09:15 theres a
break leading to the full drum and bass theme.
See Figure 4 for one of my Reaktor5 FM setups.

Figure 4. Reaktor5 FM Synthesis Homemade Patch.

I thought it turned out to be a very successful collaboration, and it served as one of

both his and my own graduation projects. We received some very positive and gratifying
feedback. This is a project that stands apart from all the others I have done for my
project, showing another side of me.

Making Choices in Production and Reflecting

For me personally, production, recording, and finding sounds have always been at
least as important as a composition when it comes to music for visual media. Film, TV
and game scores sometimes ask for a completely untraditional approach, where the
overall sound and color of a production is key. For instance, the score to Brimstone
Terrace would not have worked with a classically orchestrated score. The picture calls
for a hybrid, otherworldly sound and that is where the fun of using the current technology
comes in. We now have an ever expanding, huge pallette of sounds and possibilities. On
the other hand, this fun can turn onto a drag when the composer ends up working on

48

computer problems or laying out samples for days in a row, without actually making a
single note of music. These possibilities can actually limit us as composers if there are
simply too many and we dont know what we want. We as composers need to be very
proficient in all the technology we use, from building a DAW to having a thorough
working knowledge of our computers and all our software.
Reflecting on the production of my projects, I am satisfied with nearly all the
results. All I wished to have done was use a different DAW such as Cubase 7.5 or DP8 to
see how their workflow may have improved my output. I started in Cubase a good ten
years ago, so my goal for the near future is to compare how a project can be done in
Cubase with my current way of working, and if Cubase has any advantages when using a
limited system (read: my MacBook Pro.) It is my opninion that a film composer and
music producer should definitely be proficient in all major DAWs to be able to
comfortably collaborate or work outside of his/her own studio environment.

49

CHAPTER 8
A Final and Deliverable Product
For all my projects I made the master audio tracks at home. I delivered
uncompressed high quality WAVE or AIFF files, usually accompanied by compressed
high quality MP3 files (to be used when sharing online).59 Some directors dont have a lot
of experience with music, so I always try to give them clear instructions with the files,
and why I am sending these formats. The mastering I do myself, usually slightly different
for MP3 and Youtube projects. I would much rather have a third party master my music,
since that is a fresh ear with highly specialized gear. This obviously can only be done
with a high budget, and I have only been able to have my music mastered by a third party
on two CD album projects so far.
As described in the earlier chapters, I deliver my projects online through my own
cloud-server60 (http://cloud.devos.in), set up in part for my web design activities. I can
make folders for projects, and share those folders or specific files with my clients. They
get a password to login, and updates via email when files are updated or added. This is
also a way for them to upload large video files through FTP, which is much faster and
more stable than using any internet sharing service.

59
60

Refer to Appendix F for definitions of WAVE, AIFF, compressed and uncompressed

Refer to Appendix F for the definition of a cloud-server

50

CHAPTER 9
Distributing and Releasing my Soundtracks
The soundtrack for North has been released through cdbaby.com and is available on
iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and many other digital stores. A limited edition physical copy is
available in the Royal University of Groningen book and media store, along with the BluRay and DVD. Furthermore, most of my work is freely streamable from my web site and
on SoundCloud. Its out there for everybody to hear.

51

CHAPTER 10
Conclusion
Most of my work in this masters project has been rather hybrid. That is, I worked
in-the-box, combined with live recording of small ensembles and soloists. I have had the
pleasure of working with, and playing in or with orchestras and ensembles, but often this
was for autonomous or experimental work unrelated to visual media. Because options are
limited when working on no budget I have created the workflow and habit of looking for
and using whatever I can to make sound sound good. There is no use in making a
beautiful orchestral score only to find out that I cannot record it and make it sound like a
90 piece orchestra. Next to that we often overlook the fact that composers usually hire
orchestrators and co-composers. The way I see it, as a new composer for visual media
you have to make yourself sound unique. That is how you make yourself known in the
business. Of all film composers probably ninety percent know how to write orchestral
scores. But of those a lot dont sound great because they do not have resources to record
it with live players, and are not proficient enough using their DAW and their sample
libraries to make a close approximation. Sometimes I listen to scores for low budget TV
series and am stunned by how the scores sound sample-wise. They are sometimes very
poorly programmed and just sound bad. This is why I think we as new composers should
work hard at creating our own sonic-signature, something that seperates us from each
other. Say a hundred composers apply for a low-budget film, or an Amazon on-demand
original series; of those hundred, eighty composers know how to use notation software
and how to create orchestral music. The twenty composers that are left know how to
make a score sound great with very limited resources, optimizing their samples and

52

combing it with live solo instruments.This group of composers might make the cut to the
next round. Once a composer does a few low-budget films or series and starts circulating
at some festivals, there is a more realistic chance to move up to the next level. And at this
level the composer might get a higher budget, and the ability to record with a small
orchestra or ensemble. We need to make ourselves sound outstanding and unique. Why
else should a director or producer choose us? There are simply too many people who are
trying to make a career of this. Now I am not making a case for composers who do not
know how to write music or orchestrate. There are also a lot of so-called composers out
there who bought DAW software and use loops and sample libraries to create certain
moods and no- or poor melody cues. In my opinion that is not the way to make music,
and in many budget tv series and films we hear non-thematic material. A composer
should always have the ability to create great melodies and themes, and be trained to do
so. I am confindent I am somewhere in the middle at this point. Yes, I would have loved
to write more orchestral cues, fully orchestrated, but the situations often did not ask for it,
so instead I went with sound still with strong melodic content, just a different pallette.
Directors are already asking me for my specific sounds and thematic material so it
looks like Im on the way.

In conclusion, I think that we as composers get many new oppurtunities thanks to

technology and the development of global internet and collaborating community. All a
composer has to do is stand out from the crowd by creating his/her own sound. Making
ourselves wanted and networking is key. Week after week, you never know where one
event leads you. And that is why Los Angeles is such a fantastic environment. Talent

53

comes together here you just have to find it when youre lost in between everyone who
is trying to make it. Im still using the philosphy that if I work for free for a talented
director, and the director likes what I did, the director might provide me with a great
oppurtunity or paying job later. A few films I worked on have recently been showcased
on film festivals such as the Burbank International Film Festival and the Glendale Film
Fest, providing valueable exposure. I very recently had a masterclass with composer John
Powell where he said you wont get paid until after youre 30. No film composer will,
youll have to rough it out and find someone to provide for you. There are simply too
many experienced composers who can do the same. Now of course this was partly with
a wink, but the age-of-thirty story I have heard many times before from established
composers. Persistence is key. Considering that from these projects I actually have
generated some income, I have faith that I too will find or create the oppurtunity I need
when the time comes.

54

DISCOGRAPHY
Shore, Howard (2007). Crash. On Cannes, Amours, Reves et Passions [CD]. Editions
Milan Music.

55

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bellis, Richard. The Emerging Film Composer: An Introduction to the People, Problems
and Psychology of the Film Music Business. Lexington, KY, Self-Published,
2006.
Davis, Richard. Complete Guide to Film Scoring. Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2010.
Philips, Winifred. A Composers Guide to Game Music. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press,
2014.
Rimski-Korsakov, Nikolai. Principles of Orchestration: with musical examples drawn
from his own works. Edited by Maximilian Steinberg and Edward Agate. New
York, NY: Dover Publications, 1964.
Wright, Rayburn, and Fred Karlin. On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film
Scoring. New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1990.

56

APPENDIX A
List of all Projects and Corresponding Audio and Video.
View all files online: http://www.ingmardevos.com/thesis
Project
1. The
Ballerina

2. Miss
Dream

3. The
Choice

CD track / MP3 FILES

CD track numbering included in
MP3 files
CD1
1. TB01-The Ballerina
2. TB02-Wedding Waltz
3. TB03-The Messengers
4. TB04-The Split
5. TB05-Reflections
6. TB06-Cut out cue 1
7. TB07-Cut out cue 2
8. TB08-Ballerina Full Score
9. MD01-Miss Dream Opening
10. MD02-Dream Crushed
11. MD03-Mungs Day Dream
12. MD04-The Journey Continues
13. MD05-The Walk of Fame is
Cracked
14. MD06-Miss D credits theme
(CUE MD-6 was co-composed
and played by Tj Herrington)
15. The Choice Opening
16. Mysterious Boy
17. Packing Up
18. The Choice Credits Theme

Video

Appendices/Sc
ore excerpts

Digital:
1. The Ballerina.mp4

B2: The
Ballerina
B3: Wedding
Waltz

Disc:
DVD1 Ch. 1
Total minutes of music:
08:20
Digital:
2. Miss Dream.mov

B4: Miss
Dream opening
theme

Disc:
DVD1 Ch. 2
Total minutes of music:
04:40
Digital:
3. The Choice.mp4
Disc:
DVD1 Ch. 3
Total minutes of music:
04:00

4. String

19. String full score

Digital:
4. String (Rough
Animation).mov
Disc:
DVD1 Ch. 4

5. Till There
Was You

20. TillThereWasYou online use

master

Total minutes of music:

03:20
Digital:
5.
TILLTHEREWASYOU@M
aastricht Try-out.mp4
Disc:
DVD1 Ch. 5
Total minutes of music:
10:30

Continued on next page

57

B1: String
score excerpt
C2: Spotting
notes

Project
6. North

7. Saving
Metropolis

8.
Brimstone
Terrace

CD track / MP3 FILES

CD track numbering included
in MP3 files
21. NO01-Away From You
22. NO02-The Seduction of Hot
Bobby
23. NO03-No Place Like Home &
Rescue
24. NO04-The Park
25. NO05-Youre Just Too Nice
26. NO06-Keep Your Enemies
Closer
27. NO07-The Chase
28. NO08-Too Fast For You,
Comrade

Video

Appendices/Sc
ore excerpts

Digital:
-Official Trailer:
6a.North Official
Trailer.mp4

-Episode 6:
6b.NORTH-E6.mp4
Disc:
- Episode 6:
DVD 1- Ch. 6
Total minutes of music for
only these cues:
Approx. 18:00
Digital:
7a. Saving Metropolis
Trailer 1.mov
7b. Saving Metropolis
Trailer 2.mov

30. Saving Metropolis trailer #1

31. Saving Metropolis trailer #2

CD2 Brimstone Terrace CD

Mentioned in report:
1. BT01-Leader-action
2. BT02-Leader-mysterious
3. BT03-After Death
4. BT04-Memories
5. BT05-Series Opening
6. BT06-The Judgment Room
7. BT07-Scratch Theme
8. BT08-Hannas Theme
9. BT09-Gary and Alan
10. BT10-Gary and Alan e5m11
11. BT11-Gary and Alan e4m3
12. BT12-Xia
13. BT13-SataDyne

Disc:
DVD1 Ch.7 and Ch. 8
Total minutes of music:
Approx. 03:20
All episodes can be viewed
online:
https://www.youtube.com/
channel/SW-X23aaMM1lo
Total minutes of music:
Approx. 58:00.

Additional cues:
Tracks 14 until 70 are all Brimstone
Terrace cues. BT14-BT70
-On computer look for folder
highlights for leading themes
9.
Buffington

A few cues are included in the

digital version.

At the time of writing the

final cuts are still in postproduction.

Approximate amount of minutes of music: 110

58

C1: Episode 1
Cue Sheet and
used software
and plugins
C3: Spotting
notes

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String

APPENDIX B

Selection of Score Excerpts

(browse to http://www.ingmardevos.com/thesis for high resolution scores)

Figure B1. Excerpt from the String score

Figure B2. The Ballerina Cue 1

60

Figure B3.
The Ballerina Cue 2

61

Figure B4. Miss Dream Opening Theme

62

Figure C1. Brimstone Terrace Cue Sheet & Software use Episode 3

APPENDIX C

Production Documents

63

Figure C2. String - Spotting notes

Figure C3. Brimstone Terrace episode 6 - Spotting notes

64

Figure C4. Till There Was You Inspirational still used to start composing.

65

APPENDIX D
Links to All Services, Organizations and Examples Mentioned
1. Services mentioned in this project report:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
t.

Amazon EC2 render farm services: http://aws.amazon.com

Amazon Instant Video: http://www.amazon.com/prime
Animoto, video and animation studio: http://www.animoto.com
BitTorrent, P2P file sharing service: http://www.bittorrent.com
Blip.TV, TV on demand: http://www.blip.tv
Dropbox, cloud-sync and file sharing service: http://www.dropbox.com
Gobbler, Large Session File sharing service: http://www.gobbler.com
Google Drive, cloud file sharing and syncing: http://drive.google.com
Hulu: On Demand Video: http://www.hulu.com
iTunes, digital music store: http://www.apple.com/itunes
Lionsgate, film studio: http://www.lionsgate.com
Netflix: On Demand Video: http://www.netflix.com
Reddit.com, large network of forums: http://www.reddit.com
Skype, telephone and video conferencing: http://www.skype.com
SoundCloud, music sharing: http://www.soundcloud.com
Spotify, music streaming service: http://www.spotify.com
Syncplicity, cloud-sync service: http://www.syncplicity.com
Vimeo, video sharing and channels: http://www.vimeo.com
Wetransfer, a file sharing service: http://www.wetransfer.com
Youtube, video sharing and channels: http://www.youtube.com

2. Networking and Online Platforms mentioned in this project report:

a. Craigslist: http://www.craigslist.org
b. Facebook Groups: http://www.facebook.com/groups
c. IndieGogo: http://www.indiegogo.com
d. JuntoBox: http://www.juntobox.com
e. Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com
f. LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com
g. Mandy.com: http://www.mandy.com
h. Meetup.com: http://www.meetup.com
i. Stage32.com: http://www.stage32.com

66

3. Organisations and resources mentioned in this project report:

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.

ASCAP: http://www.ascap.com
BMI: http://www.bmi.com
BUMA/STEMRA: http://www.bumastemra.nl
CSULA TVFT Department: http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/tvf
Film Independent LA: http://www.filmindependent.org/
GrammyU: http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/grammy-u
IPSOS: http://www.ipsos.com
MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America): http://www.MPAA.org
Sandvine: http://www.sandvine.com
SESAC: http://www.sesac.com
The Recording Academy: http://www.grammy.org
The SCL: http://www.thescl.org

4. Film Festivals mentioned in this project report:

a. Berlin International Film Festival: http://www.berlinale.de
b. Burbank Film Festival (BIFF): http://www.burbankfilmfest.org
c. Cannes Film Festival: http://www.festival-cannes.com
d. CSU Film Festival: http://bit.ly/1o2ESs1
e. Ghent Film Festival: http://www.filmfestival.be
f. Glendale International Film Festival: http://bit.ly/1xMAZY7
g. Hollywood Shorts: http://www.hollywoodshorts.com
h. LA Film Festival: http://www.lafilmfest.com
i. Toronto Film Festival: http://www.tiff.net

67

APPENDIX E
List of Software and Equipment Utilized
Equipment
Apple MacBook Pro, i5 quad core, 16GB
memory
1x 2TB Lacie External HD

Use
Personal, Business, Music, and center of
Digital Audio Workstation
Sample libraries and soundpool and partition
for Carbon Clone Copier automatic clone
backup
Music projects workdisk and archiving. Plus 1
partition with a backup clone.
Software, documents, backups etc.
Connected through Thunderbolt
Connected through a Thunderbolt to HDMI
dual display splitter
A monitor on Track 16 interface

1x 2TB Lacie External HD

Mulitple additional external harddrives
AOC 27 external screen
Samsung TV 32 screen, for additional video
playback or workspace
2X Behringer Truth B3030A reference
speakers
2X Home-style speakers for additional
monitoring / master check
MOTU track 16 audio interface

B monitor on Track 16 interface

AD/DA, Volume controller, MIC pre-amps,
guitar rec, headphone amps, MIDI in/out and
monitor speaker control
49 keyboard midi controller/keyboard
Pre-amp for Microphones used
Main microphone used to record cello, vocals
and acoustic guitar
Microphones used on some projects
Used on electronic guitar, cello and acoustic
guitar
Closed-back, main monitoring and mixing
headphones
Open-back, auxilary recording headphones
Power backup to save harddrives and computer
components during outages

M-audio Oxygen 49 keyboard

2x ART Tube Mic Pre Amp
1x SE Electronics SE2200A microphone
2x Rode NT-5
Original Ebow
Beyer Dynamic DT 770 PRO headphones
Sennheiser HD550 headphones
CyberPower UPS (Uniterrupted Power Supply)

68

Music Software
Avid Pro Tools 10 & 11
Apple Logic 9 & X
Avid Sibelius 7.5
Makemusic Finale 2012
Cockos Reaper 4

Use
Main Digital Audio Workstation Software
Secondary DAW software
Main Notation Software
Secondary Notation Software
Used as DAW in rewire with Pro Tools, to run
non-AAX plugins

Soft Synths and Virtual Intruments

East West Symphonic Orchestra Gold
East West Stormdrum 2 and 3

Use
In nearly all projects for orchestral instruments
For orchestral, and unusual percussive
instruments
For ethnic instruments
A huge library of virtual synths, organic
soundsources, soundscapes, sampled
instruments, distortive synthesis, additive
synthesis and more.
Omnispheres brother, used for Bass sounds.
The lite edition contains only ensemble sounds,
but high quality and very expressive string
sections
Acoustic and electric drum kits
Acoustic and electric pianos and other
keyboard instruments
FM distortive, modular synthesis software
Creating and playing back my own samples

East West Silk

Spectrasonics Omnisphere

Spectrasonics Trillian
LASS lite; LA Scoring Strings

XLN Addictive Drums

XLN Addictive Keys
Native Instruments Reaktor 5
Native Intruments Kontakt 5 Player
Most used effects and processing plugins
Waves Gold Bundle

Use
EQ, compression, limiting, reverb, delay, echo
and more processing
Plugins modeled to Chris Lord Alges
processing units. Includes effects for bass,
guitar, vocal and drums.
Autotune and pitch correction software
Plugin to create a virtual speaker setup on
headphones. Makes mixing on headphones
much more realistic.
Plugins suite for heavy effects processing.
Using delay, echo, granular synthesis,
distortion, compression and more.

Waves CLA signature collection

WavesTune
Redline Monitor

SoundToys Academic Bundle

Plus: an ever growing collection of specialized

plugins

69

APPENDIX F
Definitions
1. Bounce a session: Process where software renders all music. It applies effects
and virtual instruments used, and exports everything to an actual playable audio
file.
2. Cloud Computing: is computing in which large groups of remote servers are
networked to allow the centralized data storage, and online access to computer
services or resources. Clouds can be classified as public, private or hybrid. 61
3. Cloud Storage Services: Any service that offers online storage for the masses.
Accessible from anywhere with a simple login.
4. Compressed audio files: Audio files are usually compressed so their file size is
smaller and easier to share. Depending on the bitrate and sampling rate of the file
the quality and details in the sound may decrease.
5. Digital Audio Workstation or DAW: The combination of hardware and software
that makes up a musicians, composers and producers music system. Usually
comprised of a high-end computer, audio interface, midi devices, speakers and
specialized software such as Pro Tools.
6. Filmmaker; in this report, any creative who may want hire a composer to make
music for any type of visual media.
7. FM synthesis: Is a form of synthesis where the timbre of a simple waveform
(such as a square, triangle, or saw tooth) is changed by modulating its frequency
with a modulator frequency that is also in the audio range, resulting in a more
complex waveform and a different-sounding tone. 62
8. FTP: File Transfer Protocol. FTP is used to transfer files from one computer to
another over a standard Internet network.
9. Granular Synthesis: Granular Synthesis is based on the same principle as
sampling. However, the samples are not played back conventionally, but are
instead split into small pieces of around 1 to 50 Ms. These small pieces are called
grains. Multiple grains may be layered on top of each other, and may play at
different speeds, phases, volume, and frequency, among other parameters.
10. Green Screen: Chroma key compositing, or Chroma keying, is a special effects /
post-production technique for compositing two images or video streams together
based on color hues, using usually bright green as backdrop.
11. Hackaton: Is a usually 24 hour during marathon, to create a new game,
application or website.
12. Hybrid: a mix between acoustic and electronic music. In the box and out the box
combined.
13. IMDB: The Internet Movie Database, a website providing all information, credits
and background information for major films and series.

61

National Institute of Standards and Technology, accessed 24 July 2011.

http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf
62
Dodge, Charles and Jerse, Thomas A, Computer Music: Synthesis, Composition and Performance. New
York: Schirmer Books, 2009.

70

14. Instrument Patch: A patch inside a soft synthesizer or virtual instrument that
contains all information for a select instrument.
15. Internet Piracy: Illegal sharing and downloading of copyrighted files.
16. Leitmotif: a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition,
associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.
17. Plugin: When associated with music software: pieces of software that can be
inserted into insert or send positions of an audio or midi channel in a DAW. For
instance for effect processing, or virtual instruments.
18. PRO or Performance Right Organization: helps songwriters, composers and
publishers get paid for the usage of their music by collecting one of the most
important forms of publishing revenue: performance royalties63.
19. QR code: is an easy customizable barcode that can be read by most smartphones
and tablets.
20. Rewire: is a software protocol, allowing remote control and data transfer between
DAW and related software.
21. Series Main Title: Usually a distinctive theme or song that is used during the
opening title of a series.
22. Sonic Signature: Ones own sound and compositional style.
23. Sound source: The original source of a sound used in sample or granular
synthesis.
24. Soundscapes: The term soundscape as used in this report refers to an audio
recording or performance of sounds that create the sensation of experiencing a
particular acoustic environment, or compositions created using the found sounds
of an acoustic environment, either exclusively or in conjunction with musical
performances.64
25. Stock Library: Stock music or library music is the name given to recorded music
that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other
media. Oftentimes, the music is produced and owned by production music
libraries.
26. Swell: Increase volume gradually to a climax, or to swell a musical tone.
27. Uncompressed audio files: These are the raw audio files after recording and
working in DAW software.
28. Visual Media; all media, including but not limited to: films, TV series, web
series, trailers, commercials, short films, games, interactive media, performances
and theatre
29. WAVE and AIFF files: Respectively Windows and Macs standard for
uncompressed audio.

63

http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2013/04/what-is-a-performing-rights-organization/ accessed November 1,

2014.
64
Truax, Barry (1992). "Electroacoustic Music and the Soundscape: The inner and the Outer World". In
Paynter, John. Companion to Contemporary Musical Thought. Routledge, 374398

71

APPENDIX G
Overview of My General Workflow

My workflow of creating a score is usually in this order:

-

Spotting & Meeting with Director

Analyzing temp tracks, when provided
Creating a demo, a simple version of a well thought out musical idea (Pro
Tools, Sibelius or Logic)
Working off of that demo after feedback, creating the music either horizontally
or vertical [linear: from beginning to end in short score, or orchestrating while I
compose]
Blending different cues using sound, and musical ideas. Adding production
value by editing or modulating sounds, and creating my own sounds.
Orchestration (Sent to Sibelius, then audio or midi back to Pro Tools)
Adding live instruments on top of midi orchestration (Pro Tools)
Perfecting my Virtual Orchestra, improving the sound (Pro Tools)
Producing and mixing the score (Pro Tools)
Mastering the soundtrack (Pro Tools)

Figure G1. My General Workflow.

72

APPENDIX H
Link to Scores, Audio and Video Accompanying this Project Report.

View all projects accompanying this project report online:

http://www.ingmardevos.com/thesis
This is a permanent link.

Or scan this QR code to immediately access accompanying scores and files:

73