My failing composing career and what turned it around
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.พ. 2023
- What do you do when your dreams of becoming an artist aren't working out? In this very personal video I take a look the role luck played in turning my career round, and how, on reflection it wasn't actually luck at all, but something much more important.
I tried to uses royalty free music for this, but wasn't happy with the feel, so I won't be getting any ad revenue for this one. If you'd like to support the channel do feel free to head over to my patreon! www.patreon.com/davidbruce
#composing #careers #luck - เพลง
15 years old I desperately wanted to be Beethoven, then I learned Beethoven already existed and I had to be Tyler, 10 years later I was hired by Disney as a musician. The work has slowed down but the fact that I got to make a living playing music for 10 years is a win. Going to keep composing and putting myself out there thanks for the great content David!!
Good for you!!!
do you have any advice for breaking into the disney/movie music industry?
@@cappybara Show up to auditions, do your best, meet people, put yourself out there. I sort of just got lucky and was prepared. Right place, right time, right abilities. Be cool too. Be kind. Everyone likes a good "hang."
I had exactly the same thing but then with Mendelssohn! After two years my teachers addressed this by saying: "sure, you replicate his style flawlessly and in such fashion that even we can't tell the difference, but we want to get to know you! We already know Mendelssohn..."
I hesitantly followed up on their suggestions to find my own modus and style.
Now, it all turned out to be just one step closer to what I actually wanted to do, writing music for film. This month I got my very first award for a fiction short movie. I hope to do a lot more . . . Working at Disney must be something like a dream coming true, right? I can imagine that to be the pinnacle for musicians and composers, apart from all the 3D and 2D animators working there.
@@Tylervrooman thank you I really appreciate it!!
Inspiring video David 😊 I find when you hear stories of how people came to be successful they are never tales of well executed plans, but instead stories of someone who took a random opportunity, that lead to another opportunity, that lead to another, that lead to where they are today! All you’ve got to do sometimes is say “yes”!
David comments on David's video!? Love both of you dudes! Very cool!
@@Tylervrooman Well, after David is on one of David's photos, it's no surprise!
As my trombone teacher says, "Just pick up the phone when someone calls."
We need more videos with David showing off pictures of his younger self, just for us to appreciate how continuously amazing his eyebrows have been in all these years.
The photos of you with your wife are just too cute for this world
I’m 28, just finished my masters in composition and applying to doctoral programs. I’ve had the EXACT anxieties now that you’ve described. Thank you so much for the most inspirational video I’ve ever seen. Hopefully my composition career gets that boost of “luck” as well!
this video explains that academia was Not the route to success... In fact it has horrible ROI. multiple masters degrees? Ph D? whyyy?
So now you need to found a company;)
Yeah, pretty sure you got a masters degree for something fun and not to make money.
Don’t worry normal life jobs will love you have a masters so it will never be useless.
Same as me, but I've finished my second masters in music and am 36 years old. 😝
@@superblondeDotOrg because there's some topics you can only find, and most commonly, debate at high level only inside academia.
Thank you for this! As a young aspiring composer, I find it hard to stay motivated, but this video was a great help. Thank you for sharing your perspective.
Fun Fact: In German, there's a single word for both luck and happiness: Glück.
As Panta Flux has pointed out, there are, of course, more words that describe these concepts, but Glück is, I think, the most common.
That word reminds me of a certain composer name...🙃
As well as Zufall, Freude, Heiterkeit, Glückseligkeit, Fröhlichkeit, …
Fun Fact: In Australian, it's G'luck, mate.
In Czech we have such a word too: Štěstí
Fun fact: In Ukrawe we commonly use this german word "Глюк" to describe a certain type of bug in a computer program, usually it is basically a glitch
Came across this video as a random youtube recommendation. I'm not even persuing a career in the arts but this still felt so relevant to me! I was almost in tears when you started talking about the importance of friends. I'm finally beginning to overcome a long battle with depression and social anxiety, and at 24 I'm making friends for the first time in what feels like forever. Everything you say is to true - friends are like roots that ground you.
happy for you, everyone has their own pace, I am glad you are doing better and finding friends
This is one of the most bluntly straightforward warts and all pieces ever. And all of it true- not only for you but for the rest of us. Thank you for sharing your story and giving us all hope. Your turn around came in your 30's, I think I'm reaching my turn in my 70's. I always knew I'd be doing this, certainly am determined, and as luck would have it-- a few friends along the way who believed in me. And the love of my life and I sometimes literally hold each up in our 50+ year. Who knew?
fuckin happy for you dude :)
I'm turning 70 in a few months and have come back to composing after 50 years during which time I turned my energies to study, getting a job and raising a family with my "rock". It hasn't happened yet but I'm keeping on keeping on. Who knows? The clocks ticking but I just keep writing for the love of it.
Loads of love to you brother.
@@planetfixer 👍Thx for commenting! Here's the thing- At the bottom of it all, you can't lie to yourself late at night when it's only you in the room. As I was told awhile ago, "If you are an asrtist, be an artist." Doesn't matter if it's a paint brush, oboe (?), pen, or ballet slippers.
@@DRPETERQUANTICK 👍 Thanks for sharing! It's a liberating time when we have nothing to prove. With the arts, all beets are off anyway. We had a family saying, "Devil take the hindmost." It has always meant that we were about the business of doing and being.
personally I always liked - "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".
Thanks for sharing your story, best of luck on future endeavours 😋
As a filmmaker with similarly wild dreams and being in my thirty's, this video is incredibly refreshing and hopeful. thank you!
Laughs in A.I and big studios like Netflix ruining the industry.
I believe in you that you can make a wonderful film, I just have less faith you will be able to pay your rent or even think about owning a home 🏡
Modern art and economics don’t mix well
in your thirsty thirty's
Beautiful video David. This hits close to home - I've paused my songwriting and picked up web development to earn capital for my music dream, which has led to barely any music being written. It's scary being away from something I obsessed over for nearly 1 and a half decades. This video gives me the strength to continue this journey. Thanks for everything you do.
Surely fate had something in mind bringing me here. I'm pursuing web development for the same reason 😭
I can't believe what I'm reading. I'm 28 and I've been writing music since I was a teen, but now I'm seriously considering to study a bootcamp in data analysis for the same reasons you mentioned
@@el_guingo As far as luck goes, I was fortunate enough to double-major in music and data analytics at the university of my choice! I never really considered music as anything more than a hobby (outside of some gigs here and there), but also pursuing the data analytics degree helped me land a solid job that allows me to continue exploring music as a hobby without having to worry about it paying the bills, or anything like that. I know it was a privelege to be in that position with my education opportunity, but I'm glad I went to school somewhere where I could both study for a career and follow my passion with music simultaneously.
@@thordy9526 Man, I would love to so that. May I ask some questions?
How hard is it to double-major? For example, do you think you have a lot of pressure, lots of exams or assignments?
Secondly, what do you need to study music? Audition (if yes what are the standards?), portfolio of compositions?
And at last, which school is that? I know it's a lot of questions, but I really want to get more infos. I want to study music, but I also want something else that I can rely on.
That photo of you and your wife you put in the thumbnail is incredible. It looks like you're dating someone from the coolest ever new-wave-slash-shoegaze band ❤
A career in the arts is such a treasure. Thank you for telling your story.
I'm 18 years old, living in sweden in a small town with pretty much no aspirations. My dream is to be a composer (or a musician) but I'm terrible at music teori and awful at playing piano so I feel extremely stuck at the moment. But this video was very inspiring! I fortunately have really good friends who suffer through my music shananigans and who support me in every way!
Var i Sverige bor du? Jag är också 18 men jag bor i Finland
Hello!) The same situation...
But, i believe that it is possible to develop some skills and get significant emotions during the process of writing music) The most crucial thing is attempt to be on your own way, not comparing yourself to others ( i know it is pretty complicated, but there is no way)
I'm feeling also confusion and don't know what to do with it...
@@carloscastro1192 Mellan Göteborg och Trollhättan om du vet vart det ligger! Väst Sverige alltså
David, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. You have no idea how fundamentally moving this video was to me. It came at exactly the time when I needed to hear its message most. I'm struggling career-wise and relationship-wise, and hearing the reminder to put stock in my friendships really helped. Even though we've never met, I like to consider you one of those friends. So thanks.
Hey man hope you are well!
"If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all" - Albert King. Great video David, and I concur. All my successes in life have come from friendships. As my old dad used to say, "It's not what you know, it's who you know!"
I love the slap-in-the-face realism of your life story. No artificial sweeteners. I am a teacher and I will take the liberty of showing this to some of my (overly) ambitious students. I am afraid too many of them believe effortless success is imminent and guaranteed for all, when in reality it is a journey of 'ups' and 'downs'. With a bit of luck the 'ups' hopefully prevail in the end.
I guarantee. For me was up, downs, and explosions.
Writing doesn't pay well in my country. I had to learn that the hard way,
applying for jobs that were a couple hours away only to find that they pay so little.
I had to give up on the dream and got a job as a call center agent instead.
Months of tedious work later, the company that I was working for was looking for a writer.
Been writing ever since.
Life is weird.
When I was 31, I acquired a PhD in Chemistry and had also managed to compose one symphony, one symphonic poem and a violin concerto simply by studying scores and books by myself. But at 35, I was unemployed, I didn't compose much and the relationsship with my wife was strained. But when I was 49, I started to study composition after having composed a viola concerto which was well received. Never give up!
Interesting, how your career in composing sort of went in reverse order!
@@gabehizer111 Yes, actually my grandfather passed away in 2002 when I was 35, he was a bit annoying but a great support. He founded a semi-professional orchestra, and they performed some of my works. A couple of years later the same orchestra performed my Violin Concerto again and my Cello Concerto was premiered by the same orchestra, even if it was too complex for the orchestra and the conductor. But sadly I didn't care, I was in a state of limbo, thinking about how I could terminate a bad relation.
@@ruramikael And are you still studying composition?
@@gabehizer111 No, I could only afford 3 years, I need some money when I retire. However, I am working on a large cantata which I started to compose as early as 1995. That cantata is what keeps me going and the reason why I started to study composition..
Alternate Title:
David Bruce Composer: Friendship is Magic ✨✨
Kidding aside. I really find this video inspirational, as I'm feeling a little hopeless in my career as a composer, and can attest how friendships can make or break you as an artist.
Before composing, or theatre, I used to be a visual artist, poet, and writer. Unfortunately, due to one toxic friend, I COMPLETELY lost my ability to do all those other things that I listed above. All those hurtful words, toxicity, and traumatic experiences, took away the very art that defined me all my life. I don't mean that I don't find joy in those art forms, it's just that for some unknown reason, I'm suddenly no longer able to do it. Like I suddenly couldn't see or walk. But, like how Matt Murdock suddenly developed sonar vision the moment he got blind, I found a new life through composing, and branched elsewhere to musical theatre.
That toxic friend is long gone from my life, but the damage that was left was permanent. Fortunately, I am finding myself again through composing music, and even found me a few couple of friends that's been there from the onset of my artistic blindness, and stayed until I developed a new way to see. Friendship is truly something, and it's the people that are with you that can make you feel like your "luck" is turning around.
My Little Bruce: Friendship Is Music
That was uplifting thank you. I began my music life 50 years ago when I found an old guitar in a garbage can in Toronto while walking home from school, I thought I'd won the lottery. Since then I have lived and had my so-called careers to pay the bills and always having to put my songwriting and music on the shelf. Then 5 years ago in my 60s, it came back into my life through a well know lyricist who one day gave me a song to compose music to. We began writing together when he go sick and passed away, but what it did was fill me will passion and love for what I had left behind so many years before. As a result I wake up every day and sit and write songs in our little flat in Godalming Surrey. I have no idea how to make my dream of having my music recorded and performed by others but I do know this. I am madly in love with music once again, just like the day I found that broken-down guitar in the bin....peace my brother....peace...
I love this. Rest in peace, Richard. Luck is not luck, it’s human kindness, love, and friendship.
Thanks for this video. ❤️ I am 36 and I hope to find my way with my music. It's hard. And I am very thankful for all my friends who have supported me along the way. ❤️❤️❤️
Hey David, thank you for this video. I dreamed becoming a professional composer since I was 13 years old. I studied piano, oboe, composition, harmony, music theory and opera. But at the age of 22, I desperately needed a job and, like you, I didn't feel like I would be able to become a performer or a teacher. I then pivoted to web design and started working in an agency. This career choice has been incredible and I find myself very lucky now: I'm a 36 year old CEO who's currently growing a team of 40+ people internationally. It's great but in the depth of my soul lives this flickering flame of music composition. This video really felt like a glimpse inside an alternative version of what could have been my own story. I'm glad you had the chance to meet those wonderful people and pursue your dream career. Congratulations
The concept of ten minute operas really tickled my mind. I'd love to hear more about it. I don't work in classical music, but I sometimes find inspiration from the more high concept styles of classical music.
If you haven’t done so already, have a listen to “A Hand of Bridge” by Samuel Barber. It’s a fantastic little ten minute piece, and it’s a perfect example of how good a short opera can be.
Thank you for sharing your story, David. I'm a composer/singer, just turned 30, and in pretty much the exact position you described currently (even in terms of personality type, I recognise a lot of myself in what you said). Continuing to find the motivation to press on in a job market that doesn't accommodate creative work at all is a tough endeavour. But it's good to know we're not alone in our struggles!
Fantastic video. I'm going to add it to the “Must Watch List” I give all my students (private and institutional). I burned out in 2016, and have climbed back to a more joyous - and productive! - artistic life than I could ever have imagined, in large part by leaning into friendships instead of chasing The Other Things™. So glad to have a confirming perspective to share with my students.
This video goes way beyond composing. It's such a deep life lesson, and I'm gonna share it with friends who have no connection to music
What a lovely video, thank you for making that. I had the good luck of meeting my future wife in the cello section of the Kansas City Symphony when I came here to play as a substitute in 2014. She inspired me to learn, grow, change, and gave me the motivation to quit my old job and move to Kansas City with the hope of winning an audition for the orchestra (which I did, in 2017). We even played Gumboots here together!
I remember! Nice to hear from you John!
I'm a musician and composer in my 30s with a non music business trying to make a living and your video spoke right through me, amazing work and a spark of hope for me. Thanks!
Beautiful and very motivating. Thank you David! :)
Thank you for sharing this David.
Thank you for sharing your journey. This was very touching and inspiring indeed!
Beautiful video ! It's always great to hear other composers's story ! :)
thanks for your openness, your honesty and for sharing. 🌻
Just what I needed today on this frustrating day. ❤️ Thank you
As usual, David, inspiring and encouraging in equal measure. Thank you!
That 3 year hiatus without composing reminds me of myself and my relationship with music and other professional choices I've made in life. I think I'm going to rewatch this video from time to time to allow myself to get inspired by it and reflect on my life choices. Whatever flame I thought I lost - this video has sparked it in me again.
Really lovely video, David. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thank you so much for this video David. Beautifully done
You tell your story in such a lovely way. Thanks!!!
Thank you for posting this video and sharing your story David. I couldn’t agree more!
Amazingly great video, David!
Heartwarming, David :) Thanks for posting.
Thank you David for your honest and human video, it touched my heart greatly. Thank you
Very relatable on many levels. Thanks for making this video.
Thank you for this wonderful video, David!
Thank you David. This is the motivation I needed.
Great video.!!! Loved it. Amazing how some things work out. Thanks for sharing.
Such a phenomenal editing - and story as well. Great video!
This is truly enlightening and inspiring - thank you for sharing!
this is brilliant ! thanks for uploading this
Thanks for this beautiful, insightful piece David.
Another great video, David! This was immensely inspiring to me.
Great video David I was very interested in all you spoke of and it was good to hear of more of your work
Thank you David so much. You are a genuine one to watch and listen to and learn from on TH-cam. You're an inspiration!
a beautiful presentation. thank you David!
I am 33 and I am one of the musical friends who have essentially quit.
The real luck is finding people who also take things seriously and actually follow through. A lack of others following through is what I'd say beat me down into submission. I can't count how many bands, projects, groups, video content, etc. just fell by the wayside due to the others involved never working past the idea/concept phase.
Edit: I was also just always surrounded by doubt and a lack of enthusiasm growing up. My family never seemed capable of even pretending to be interested in what I was interested in. I was consistently discouraged to practice music because I was making too much noise. Whenever I pitched ideas, I was always met with "why?" instead of literally anything along the lines of "you should do that."
dont quit mate. make music because you have to and you want you to. make music for your children to love and enjoy. attention and admiration from others doesn’t make someone a “successful” composer. being happy composing purely for yourself does.
Im sorry to hear that mate and hope you can find it within you to keep at doing what you love when you're ready.
That's so difficult, I completely get it. I hope you eventually find something you love doing and can work it into your life more and more. All the best (but not good luck! haha)
@@ComposerMichaelDow
Thanks.
Feel free to check out my weak attempt at keeping music in my life: my music channel "RichieNicks"
Please, use that anger/anxiety/revolt and make some art musicwise or any other thing! You'll thank me!
Thanks for this video David 😊🙏
this was great. also some of those excerpts sound amazing
Thank you David for presented your personal and most precious!
This was awesome! Came at a perfect time for me. Thank you so much!
Brilliant video! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Inspiring video, David. Thank you for this!
Beautiful inspiring video David! Thanks!
What a great video, David! Thank you.
damn, choked up a bit at the end, great vid man
What a wonderful video this is! Thanks for making my day.
Beautiful video with a great message. Good on you for creating your own luck, persevering through adversity, and recognizing your fortunes and being humble and grateful for it. Inspiring, thank you!
What a beautiful video. Thank you for this.
You are full of heart ! Thank you for this video 🌞🤍
Warm and Inspiring, thank you David :)
thank you for this video, David
Thank you so much for this video. It means so much to hear someone like yourself opening up about how windy the road has been, it puts us all at ease with our own windy journeys.
Beautiful story, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this backstory. Great Video.
you always inspire me. I really appreciate you and the great content you upload. thank you David!
Beautifully done!
Lovely and inspiring! Thank you very much for this video and your message. Gave me some hope for the future
Thank you for this video! It was important to watch it
Fascinating and uplifting story, thanks for sharing.
Great story. refreshing to hear and useful. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for the glimpse you shared with us, hugsxx
Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing your life experience in this regard.
I LOVE the concept for this video. So refreshing and practical advice for other artists! thank you so much!
Beautiful story and inspirational as well! Good work:)
Lovely video, David!
what a great video. The storytelling is fantastic and really inspiring as a young aspiring musician myself!! Definitely taking notes
A very heart-warming video that I'm sure rings true to many, myself included. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing.
This is great! Thanks for sharing your story and insights on your career and the importance of friendships/collaborators. A very good reminder, especially for introverts.
Your story really moved me. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome video , exactly what I needed
Wonderful video! Cool seeing younger photos of you
David, truly, this makes me feel so validated. I believe that i am in that very same turning point that you talked about as an animator and hear that is not only normal, but, as it seems, it's a decisive point in the creative workforce it's incredibly conforting.
Thank you very much.
Lovely film David and so great to see Gosia too! Very happy memories of our time together at RCM.
I genuinely cried throughout most of this. Beautiful video David thank you for sharing
Deeply inspiring, David. I'm currently applying for PhDs as a molecular Microbiologist and this is just what I needed to hear
Thanks for sharing your life with us! Very interesting and thoughtful perspectives! Cheers!