While not a requirement I do recommend exploring music theory. It really helped me communicate my ideas clearer and also in figuring out what is going on inside the music and how all the pieces work together. Outside of that nothing can beat a discerning ear and good taste.
I agree, I feel "applied" exploration is the most valuable, and (for me anyway) is the best way to retain this info. By writing music for a violin and swatting up on that instrument you learn something, apply it, and retain it.
Agreed. In the end (and preferably beginning of music studies), music theory is just a tool. It’s the modern quantification of what the ‘greats’ did seemingly naturally and by studying each other. And these days, there are so many great books on the subject it’s east to just do your own self-paced course aided by vast numbers of TH-cam content. I really don’t get the apprehension of composers to study theory. It can’t hurt, right? Why wouldn’t a composer want to delve into it? Well, I guess I could answer my own question since I certainly didn’t want to take it, initially. But it’s like a writer that doesn’t want to learn about grammar or syntax - sure you can be a great writer without understanding the mechanics of a language but wouldn’t you be all the better if you did? Or a painter that’s not interested in learning about different brushes, techniques, lines and angles, etc. You don’t have to use music theory in your own writing but you’ll understand better why great music is great or ‘works’ and after all, the ‘why’ of something is pretty powerful.
@@jeremiahis I think people don't want to lose the "magic" of music by over analyzing it, but I find the more I learn the more I get from the music I create and listen to.
@@smashingairguitars The more I learn about music, music theory, orchestration, composition, etc makes music all the more "magical" as I have a way, as you said, to describe, communicate, and assimilate the sounds and ideas in my head.
@@smashingairguitars I totally subscribed to the former years ago when I decided to focus on DJing rather than music production. Since then I've entirely forgotten what it's like for my brain to just listen to a piece of music as a whole, rather than dissect and analyse it. So if I am now missing out on the "magic" I'm totally unaware of it. So that suggests it isn't something I should've worried about!
For what it’s worth, I’m a conservatory trained violist, who somehow managed to have a career in professional orchestras for 10 years, but in spite of this immense training and moderate success, there was never a single day when I wasn’t afraid that my colleagues would discover how bad a player I really was. I think most of us suffer from imposter syndrome, and if you don’t, there’s a good chance you suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect instead (I’ve met a few of those along the way) - and trust me, that’s way worse than imposter syndrome! I quit the orchestra game to became an imposter composer and sample library developer, and I enjoy that a lot more.
I think Ira Glass (Philip Glass's cousin) was on to something when he said the following about personal taste: "Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
Failure is always a deterrant. Nobody want's to be bad at something. But to be good, you have to be willing to be bad first. Sometimes you have to be bad for a long time! Letting go and accepting your failures is the hardest thing to actually pull off.
Hi Christian, I really like your thoughtful videos. Thanks always and please keep going. Here’s my basic answer that goes beyond the obvious musical and technical skillset required for media composition… basically what you need are qualifications that don't provide certificates on expensive matte paper. Maturity, intelligence, experience and taste. Knowing what supports the picture. Knowing how to communicate. Knowing how to watch. Knowing how to listen. Knowing how to feel. And also realizing that media composition is a service industry. What you will probably never learn at a school or uni ‘film scoring’ course: Technically and emotionally expressing a range from sorrow to euphoria. Without having lived life and experienced certain emotions, how can a composer - or anyone, express them? Not just experiences, but knowing how to translate them to sound. Faking it will only get you so far, and you should be constantly looking to develop your emotional intelligence. "Love" goes beyond a minor 9th chord. And…just for fun, here’s a quick exercise: Look out the window. See that horrible big grey building over there? How does it make you feel? Can you translate that feeling into a piece of music? Can you grab an instrument and “play” that big grey slab of concrete? Play for it, play with it, play around it. Everything evokes an emotion, and knowing how to harness and express this requires life experience that can’t be taught in a course.
Loved this episode, thank you for speaking squarely to my experience. In my early 30s, I was a working composer that had done hundreds of projects, college trained and yet felt that I was not a real composer unless I went to composition school. I went to the composition department at the University close to me at the time and met with the head of composition. He asked to see some of my scores. I said there were none because I had to play and record all of the music 95% of the time due to most budgets. He ultimately said a degree in composition was not going to happen there for me. As I was leaving, I asked him what he was working on and he responded that he hasn’t composed anything for 15 years. I promptly...in the least snarky way I could muster...that he was correct that I did not have a degree in composition there for me. I am wholeheartedly aware that this does not make me a better person...it simply demonstrated that imposter syndrome is an unreliable habit and that I needed to be ready for the fact that I was already doing what I wanted to be doing.
I have played for years. I know music theory at a competent level. Of course I wrote some things on my instrument but never sat down to "compose". I finally just let go and started to write for myself. I experiment. I succeed and fail. No matter the results I am having a lot of fun. Just about the same time I found this vlog is when I started to compose music. Your vlog has been a big encouragement.
As far as education goes I’m eternally indebted to this vlog. The only thing I could possibly share with others is make sure you’re always learning. Learn from everyone. Learn from every project. Learn from every score you hear. For me, I think if I were to stop learning I don’t think I’d be interested in being a composer anymore.
A lot of the time I just hit random notes on my piano and go with what sounds good, it's rare I ever know the key I am playing in, it's all by ear, but I fear it somewhat limits me at times; so I teach myself more music theory (did a BA popular music performance back in 2011) but scoring music is my downfall. Playing by ear does make me feel like I've thrown more of myself into the piece and I love that I can do this, if I follow the strict rhythm and key signiture I find that it personally makes me feel jaded and detached from the piece I'm writing. Good video :)
To me, harmony is like modular synthesis, only way cheaper. :) You plug this chord into the root and fifth of that one, pick a note from there, enrich a defective scale here. With pen, paper and possibly a guitar or a piano/keyboard that makes sounds, you can create musical isotopes, truly radioactive stuff, sonically speaking. One example: check out Rick Beato's video on Chromatic Mediant modulation. That is a chapter where musical theory becomes like the dark side of the Force: it's addictive and so po-wer-ful. :)
In my game (I'm a contract mechanical designer) sometimes it is not what you know, but who you know. Lucky breaks and building contacts over the years has helped me more than my (acutually not very good) qualifications. I would suggest that it is pretty much the same with anything we do in life. And for every success story there must be one hundred times, or more, "failures" who are equally as talented. AND... It seems quite clear to me, now that I have watched quite a few Christian Henson TH-cam videos in the last month, that musical qualifications may be much less important than the skills of being able to connect with people and for the most part, be a "nice person." Christian Henson's curriculum vitae speaks louder to me than any musical skill, theory or practise...
Thanks for the thumbs up Christian, I worked bloody hard making this all happen for you... but you know what, you deserve it, and all the success to follow x
Watching you do these videos and how disjointed the background is and yet the thoughts flow well, I can't help wondering about how much you are deleting and how much time it takes to edit these things to make it work. That or you are really, really good at remembering what you just said and what you were going to say next. It also makes me so tired to watch how much traveling you have to do. Also, dang that is a small hotel room! Anyway, thanks for another interesting video.
I noticed the size of the hotel room also. Probably because I recently saw a news bit about how much overly large hotel rooms, built by the thousands every year, compete with cars on the consumption of resources and production of waste in the heating/cooling and general maintenance (talking mainly about budget hotels in the USA).
Fantastic video - a big thank you for taking the trouble to do this on such an important day for you (suspect your viewers also acted as a friend to help you through the stress) but you took us on a great journey anyway. Self belief my man!
Excellent vlog as always Christian and I couldn't agree more with your 'natural talent' vibe. So much is built upon having an academy or college background as being crucial to a career, yet not wanting to knock that philosophy, it's so easy for people without that support or financial backing to miss out. Yet folk like yourself, having that inner talent, bring to the table so much more than just the academic stuff. I always think back to one of my trumpet heroes, Maurice Murphy, who never had a college/academy background yet led the trumpet section of the London Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years. You can virtually name any notable orchestral soundtrack over that period of time: Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Batman, Alien/Aliens, Superman, Philadelphia, Gladiator, Frankenstein, We Were Soldiers and many, many more, that Maurice's unique sound were heard on and generally asked for by the composers. So college is all well and good but we should not and must not ignore talent, in whatever form it materialises. The sermon is now over!
Congrats for the radio show Christian! Again, thanks for the positive and supportive video, and no don't say that you "abandoned" us, you always give us some wonderful content! Cheers
So I grew up in England and didn't know what to study but wanted to go to University. I initially went for Media Studies and transferred to study Music as a friend was listening to me play acoustic guitar in the break area and was confused why I wasn't studying music. I subsequently gained a First Class degree in Music and spent a lot of time with musicians who all had differing levels of knowledge of music theory. Some like myself had only the basic understanding of it, others were sight readers who played rock and others were 100% classical musicians who couldn't play anything without sheet music in front of them. What I learned is that education is what you make of it. The experience of studying music has led me to become convinced that sound design and media composition are where my heart lies, though I currently have a full-time job as a contractor for a major British banking institution. In the meantime I spend a lot of my free time creating sounds and putting together packs of sounds I collect from my travels which have been cheated and manipulated with various pieces of software. The idea is that I have a huge library of completely original material which which I create music and atmospheres which can be used in the creation of media content for whoever I wish. :)
Thank you, Christian. As someone who aspires to some day write for TV and/or film (I've already done metal music for games), this is extraordinary advice.
As a fairly accomplished bass player, I've worked on quite a few projects and have had some success as a player. I have been wanting to move into the world of being a media/film composer. I'm trying to learn everything I can, but I just don't know where to start. There seems to be a necessary knowledge of an amalgamation skills to become a great composer. I imagine you need to know what you're doing in many different areas. Knowing the ins and outs technically and once you have that going you also have to work on your composing and writing chops. I'm just curious where to start. It all seems so overwhelming. At first glance its almost more important to take an audio engineering approach learning the technical ins and outs of whatever DAW you're living in and understanding routing, reverb, compression, all that jazz.
This vlog passed me by when it first went up, so thanks for the relink on your end of year survey! I hadn't realized how big the gap was between recording the programme and it being broadcast - though it explains why you were relatively vague about the details when we chatted about it on the winter solstice walk! For those in the UK, it's still available on BBC Sounds for 3 more days: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000c2rs
True what you said; there are as many qualifications as there are composers. One thing is that "music theory" is a very funny concept. A lot if young producer with incredible technical knowledge think that having a good music theory course will help to develop their composition skill. What is music theory? A set of rules? Then it means that we are all composing the same thing over and over respecting the rules? Music theory is a non sens. Music is a language. You need to learn the language and write, improvise, learn to Express yourself with that language. You need to be able to understand what other writers have done. I have heard so many demo of young composer with their daw and amazing libraries making a demo with: Bar 1: Intro a la John Williams Bar 2: Hans Zimmer brass Bar 3: Alan Silvestri... I feel like a lot of producer today, hide behind their computer to avoid the real musical work. Grab an instrument and learn it. Learn to be expressive with it, learn to talk music with it, then you will be able to be expressive with a Daw and not because Hans Zimmer did this or that, but because this is your voice. And then you will understand what your favourite composer did even more.
I would say that whilst training (degree, conservatoire etc... etc...) is incredibly useful, there is one thing missing from all of the education. That is the networking skills and entrepreneurship needed to get a gig. You could be the best composer, orchestrator, programmer and engineer but in order to survive you have to get the gig. Thats something they don't teach. Gaining/creating that USP to get people interested enough. The fact I can compose, 'orchestrate', program, sample, engineer, record, mix, master etc... etc... Everyone else can do that. So where is the USP? I'm currently in a writing room at Tileyard orchestrating and sequencing a musical over drums we tracked a month ago. So this project is allowing me to put all of my skills into practice, but it's taken a long time to actually get something coming in. So thats definitely something I need to work on, the networking and selling the USP! Now having a quick 30 minute break to watch this and sort my sponge of a brain out! Thanks Christian! Well done on the radio :D
I think one basic qualification is the ability to understand drama. You can write great music for media, but the quality of the music doesn't matter if you don't know where to put it or why it goes there.
Fantastic episode Christian. You should be rightly proud, and it was wonderful to witness your determination to overcome imposter syndrome before entering the hallowed grounds of BBC3. Now you have truly arrived! Can't wait to hear the episode, though as an exiled Brit, hope there is a link to it you can share with us at some point. I've said many times on these vlogs, that your insights go way beyond your own field of music, and I've often applied your thoughts to my own field, and as I prepare for an opportunity that provides me with a chance to share in your imposter syndrome, I am greatly encouraged by your success in overcoming it, and will aim to do likewise. Thank you. (and can't wait to here what's coming in the Spitfire Blockbuster reference...)
I always appreciate your videos and insights Christian. I hope someday we cross paths and have a chance to become friends. I also hope that you continue to achieve new dreams and push your own boundaries just as you show yourself doing here with Radio 3. Best wishes from across the pond.
Music is a spoken tongue so basically you do need basics knowledge about how to communicate clearly so music theory is in its way important. But music is also about art so you can explore different ways to experiment and create your own thing, its your choice to make your art more fluent in order to reach more people or let your mind write his own path... (my thoughts)
'Keep your influences and experiences as diverse as possible so that your version of original, which is a series of batons handed over from one great composer to the next in this eternal relay race of music, weaves the DNA for future generations that are going to create music.' I mean... pretty poetic if you ask me.
From watching your Spitfire and CHMusic videos, Chris, i'd say to Qualify as a Media Composer, IN YOUR SPHERE, One should be White, Middle to Upper Class and Male, very much more Business Minded than Creative but able to Play and/or Produce, Media savvy, Music-Tech savvy, Music-Tech enthusiastic, with a tendency to mild innovation.Then: once it's confirmed that you have the right Social Sensibilities; Musical, Talented or not: one should be Reliable and Easy (if not Fun) to be around/get along with. Nevertheless, being White Female (having met all previous criteria) is also a Qualification: (because of the obviously Gathered Ranks and unacknowledged Closed Shop being so anachronistic) it aids in staving-off argument and guards against accusation arising that the whole Sector is an extension of The Western Class System - Value, Acceptance, Encouragement, Support, Development of an Individual/Group is conferred because of and in response to One's Background/Social Status but essentially, hitherto; not much besides.
one need a tendence to mediocrity and hard core people pleasing , like this highly confusing video direction, makes me totally crazy cause just he talks about these good questions
As usual another good discussion and to be honest, I would say the only thing that really matters is you write good music. If it sounds plinky plonk, it won't be good enough. I only do up to grade 2 on the piano so I taught myself the rest and left the theory side of it out. The bottom line is, if people like the music you compose and the way you compose, that is all they are interested in. The end product is what matters. That's what I think anyway.
I've always been conflicted when it comes to training. I started playing music in a punk band when i was 12/13, then went on to study music and guitar at a performing arts school, then to a degree in classical guitar. All the while, i've played in bands with people that no nothing about the technical makings of music. I'd say that I've had to unlearn quite a lot or at least force myself to ignore training many times. But, i've also been in situations as a producer where there were issues with an arrangement or song that I could help sort out because of my training. I don't think people should resist learning music theory or correct ranges of instruments (so instrumentalist can actually play the part). It doesn't hurt to know this stuff but at the same time one shouldn't feel held back by NOT knowing either.
I'm not sure you have understood the 'community' yet. When I watch these vlogs and see how your career ascends, I feel I'm holding onto the coat tails of greatness. Thank you again for helping me cope with that ghost that haunts, in the guise of impostor syndrome.
Just a thought on the upcoming SF release you mentioned, me personally I find the frequency of new libraries has become too much. I am no longer excited, while no longer going deep on a individual library like I used to... now I stopped buying, since I feel I no longer can absorb them, therefore not apply and use them.
SarahKchannel my view is you don’t go into a record shop and think “I need every record”. What Spitfire is doing is creating a diverse selection of tools for composers to use well into the future without fearing that we’re all using the same things. I know what you mean about not getting as excited but I don’t agree with the monopoly approach of most modern tech businesses, I strongly believe in choice and nuance.
Christian Henson Music yeah fair enough, I just remember the feeling I had 5 years ago or so, when libraries where scarce and I had the longing for something new to inspire me. Now I am sort of overwhelmed by the choices. In any design job, limitations lead to more creativity - I am not sure what abundance is doing to my self. I agree that now we don't hear out every single sample and can match them to their origins.
SarahKchannel it’s overwhelming with all of choices and I have churned and burned through a few libraries including spitfire which BTW I think sound the most organic, I learned that you have to land on the library that’s right for you and what you need to do, achieve your goals .....a solo library and a basic full library like CS2 is all I need and I stay with it now ....my scores are mostly modern ambient with instrumentals and simple string sections, I am asked for guitar genres on occasion and with all scores have to work the cuts and transitions......I was a guitarist before getting into composing part time.....this is an amazing story here I just assumed Christian went to a top music school....very inspiring
I'd say the only real qualification is the ability to create interesting organized sounds for a given purpose. Every other skill and ability which can serve that is a bonus.
Inspiring stuff. Very firmly believe that this counts for a lot of jobs apart from media composing. For instance, as a webdeveloper got there the exact same way. By finding a USP for yourself.
Waiting to see a headline somewhere that says, "Airlines everywhere become increasingly concerned of a strange British man with camera talking to himself in airline bathrooms." Much Love Christian!
I've so loved all the practical information that you've offered Christian, thank you for that. But, as you have said so many times about business being a crucial part to this, I would really like to know lessons learned from becoming a businessman or "Head of Department." Is there any way that you can talk about the journey to make Spitfire audio, specifically some of decisions that have seemed to work around marketing, management and operations? "Thanks ever so much!"
"hand to one another as part of the human continuum." so eloquent. Ballet is one of the most codified and rigid disciplines that exist -- and cannot be taught from a book. I took up dance and guitar as an adult learner in 2013. Today, I can fake being a composer better than fake being a dancer. Music theory is easier! I don't regret one second of scales with a metronome or digging through theory textbooks to advance as a musician. I'm at the mercy of the class schedule at the studio for instruction -- and I work there! : )
That was a rather mental one! Fast-paced, overwhelming, both encouraging as well as hopeless and.. was that a voiceover at some point before the end or just strange room acoustics?
OK.I would sum it to:It's about interaction between knowledge and management of what that means in the conditions of market.;-)).That is a point of view of someone who was a musician most of his life and decided to say ''fuck off'' to general public and become a trader in UK .Witch goes just fine.I have some nice orchestral work behind and will develop it after i get set financially (that is secured 2-3 mil to administrate ,which is almost done).Anyway...programming an old drum machine should be part of educational process.Make drum patterns.Programe sounds in analogue mode.Do things like this..And after that get to ''modern'' ready chewed stuff/Samples..drums /etc.I think that would be the ''media'' way.Also listening and trying to write down some ''classics '' one likes and feels that he'her can undetrstand the inner movement of music.Emulate first ( as an exercice) and after that see if anything ''comes'' as your own thing in that ''language'.
You don't need a licence to listen to the radio by the way. The TV licence is only required if you watch terrestrial broadcast TV, Live TV or BBC iPlayer. If you do none of these things, you can cancel your TV licence and still enjoy everything else.
I started a music degree but didn't finish. Changed to an architecture degree (where one does need to be licensed) but then ended up tutoring in the music degree I didn't finish. If that's not proof that qualifications aren't required, I don't know what is
The BBC reception staff, the last time I was there..."Sorry sir, you're not allowed to film or take photographs in reception, thank-you"...I'm guessing that they stopped you too?! I'll look forward to hearing your broadcast on BBC R3 when it's aired :-)
What do you do if you've performed globally for millions of people, have multiple music degrees from Berklee, and no one will hire you? What do you do if EVERYONE just keeps telling you NO for 20 years?
Fable Club look at the things that you’re doing and change them... really try and understand what people are wanting from you (because the last thing they care about is your qualifications and how many people you’ve played for) it means absolutely nothing to them. It is your heritage and that is important but to all producers and directors you’re on the same level as everyone else they’re saying no to.
@@TheCrowHillCo Thanks, but no one wants anything from me. I live in Hollywood, I found one bass playing gig in two years. I've applied to over 1000 positions and got one interview. I have five college degrees, three from Berklee, and ten years of management experience and I can't find a day job!
And I can't get anyone to hire me even for free and student film scores. I've tried everything I can think of for twenty years. I've toured over 20 countries and it never matters. My music is at soundcloud.com/synchromuse and I play for people and they say, 'wow, you're really good, but... and then it's always a different reason why they say no. It's never consistent. My linkedin.com/in/drakefable will tell you more.
I now you say my credential don't matter but I've had many producers tell me I didn't have any IMDB credits so they wouldn't hire me. If everything I've accomplished in life and worked for and toward doesn't matter, than what was the fucking point of any of it?! If having a Music Business Degree and a damn Master of Business Admin degree doesn't matter for finding an office day job, then WHAT DOES MATTER?
Christian, you are a pompous prick. If nothing I've ever done in the past matters, then nothing you've ever accomplished matters either. Not your music, not your business. No one cares just like you said. I don't need to listen to you or given any credence to your knowledge or skills accrued because you rejected all of mine. You're an egocentric rich kid playing with toys and knobs. I used to respect your company, but now you've told me how selfish and petty all of you are. You're a prick.
How do you manage to take these video clips with you walking all over the place ? .... Do you have a videographer filming you ? ...... or are you walking with some kind of contraption that allows you to film yourself ? ..... must be quite an art to do this without falling down or bumping into something .... not to mention the distractions that could ruin 'the flow' of your commentary.
While not a requirement I do recommend exploring music theory. It really helped me communicate my ideas clearer and also in figuring out what is going on inside the music and how all the pieces work together. Outside of that nothing can beat a discerning ear and good taste.
I agree, I feel "applied" exploration is the most valuable, and (for me anyway) is the best way to retain this info. By writing music for a violin and swatting up on that instrument you learn something, apply it, and retain it.
Agreed. In the end (and preferably beginning of music studies), music theory is just a tool. It’s the modern quantification of what the ‘greats’ did seemingly naturally and by studying each other. And these days, there are so many great books on the subject it’s east to just do your own self-paced course aided by vast numbers of TH-cam content. I really don’t get the apprehension of composers to study theory. It can’t hurt, right? Why wouldn’t a composer want to delve into it? Well, I guess I could answer my own question since I certainly didn’t want to take it, initially. But it’s like a writer that doesn’t want to learn about grammar or syntax - sure you can be a great writer without understanding the mechanics of a language but wouldn’t you be all the better if you did? Or a painter that’s not interested in learning about different brushes, techniques, lines and angles, etc. You don’t have to use music theory in your own writing but you’ll understand better why great music is great or ‘works’ and after all, the ‘why’ of something is pretty powerful.
@@jeremiahis I think people don't want to lose the "magic" of music by over analyzing it, but I find the more I learn the more I get from the music I create and listen to.
@@smashingairguitars The more I learn about music, music theory, orchestration, composition, etc makes music all the more "magical" as I have a way, as you said, to describe, communicate, and assimilate the sounds and ideas in my head.
@@smashingairguitars I totally subscribed to the former years ago when I decided to focus on DJing rather than music production. Since then I've entirely forgotten what it's like for my brain to just listen to a piece of music as a whole, rather than dissect and analyse it. So if I am now missing out on the "magic" I'm totally unaware of it. So that suggests it isn't something I should've worried about!
For what it’s worth, I’m a conservatory trained violist, who somehow managed to have a career in professional orchestras for 10 years, but in spite of this immense training and moderate success, there was never a single day when I wasn’t afraid that my colleagues would discover how bad a player I really was. I think most of us suffer from imposter syndrome, and if you don’t, there’s a good chance you suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect instead (I’ve met a few of those along the way) - and trust me, that’s way worse than imposter syndrome!
I quit the orchestra game to became an imposter composer and sample library developer, and I enjoy that a lot more.
I think Ira Glass (Philip Glass's cousin) was on to something when he said the following about personal taste:
"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
Failure is always a deterrant. Nobody want's to be bad at something. But to be good, you have to be willing to be bad first. Sometimes you have to be bad for a long time! Letting go and accepting your failures is the hardest thing to actually pull off.
Hi Christian,
I really like your thoughtful videos. Thanks always and please keep going.
Here’s my basic answer that goes beyond the obvious musical and technical skillset required for media composition… basically what you need are qualifications that don't provide certificates on expensive matte paper.
Maturity, intelligence, experience and taste. Knowing what supports the picture. Knowing how to communicate. Knowing how to watch. Knowing how to listen. Knowing how to feel. And also realizing that media composition is a service industry.
What you will probably never learn at a school or uni ‘film scoring’ course:
Technically and emotionally expressing a range from sorrow to euphoria. Without having lived life and experienced certain emotions, how can a composer - or anyone, express them? Not just experiences, but knowing how to translate them to sound.
Faking it will only get you so far, and you should be constantly looking to develop your emotional intelligence. "Love" goes beyond a minor 9th chord.
And…just for fun, here’s a quick exercise: Look out the window. See that horrible big grey building over there? How does it make you feel? Can you translate that feeling into a piece of music? Can you grab an instrument and “play” that big grey slab of concrete? Play for it, play with it, play around it.
Everything evokes an emotion, and knowing how to harness and express this requires life experience that can’t be taught in a course.
Loved this episode, thank you for speaking squarely to my experience.
In my early 30s, I was a working composer that had done hundreds of projects, college trained and yet felt that I was not a real composer unless I went to composition school. I went to the composition department at the University close to me at the time and met with the head of composition. He asked to see some of my scores. I said there were none because I had to play and record all of the music 95% of the time due to most budgets. He ultimately said a degree in composition was not going to happen there for me.
As I was leaving, I asked him what he was working on and he responded that he hasn’t composed anything for 15 years. I promptly...in the least snarky way I could muster...that he was correct that I did not have a degree in composition there for me.
I am wholeheartedly aware that this does not make me a better person...it simply demonstrated that imposter syndrome is an unreliable habit and that I needed to be ready for the fact that I was already doing what I wanted to be doing.
I’d love to know what the other passengers were thinking seeing you carry a camera into the toilet on the plane! 😂
John Landells the cabin crew usually ask!
@@TheCrowHillCo HAHAHAHAHA!!!
I have played for years. I know music theory at a competent level. Of course I wrote some things on my instrument but never sat down to "compose". I finally just let go and started to write for myself. I experiment. I succeed and fail. No matter the results I am having a lot of fun. Just about the same time I found this vlog is when I started to compose music. Your vlog has been a big encouragement.
Enjoyed listening your perspective on what qualifications you need to be a composer. Thank you.
Reading music and understanding theory are two different things.. For me it's much more important to listen and feel the music than reading notes..
As far as education goes I’m eternally indebted to this vlog. The only thing I could possibly share with others is make sure you’re always learning. Learn from everyone. Learn from every project. Learn from every score you hear. For me, I think if I were to stop learning I don’t think I’d be interested in being a composer anymore.
Every day is a school day!
A lot of the time I just hit random notes on my piano and go with what sounds good, it's rare I ever know the key I am playing in, it's all by ear, but I fear it somewhat limits me at times; so I teach myself more music theory (did a BA popular music performance back in 2011) but scoring music is my downfall.
Playing by ear does make me feel like I've thrown more of myself into the piece and I love that I can do this, if I follow the strict rhythm and key signiture I find that it personally makes me feel jaded and detached from the piece I'm writing.
Good video :)
To me, harmony is like modular synthesis, only way cheaper. :) You plug this chord into the root and fifth of that one, pick a note from there, enrich a defective scale here. With pen, paper and possibly a guitar or a piano/keyboard that makes sounds, you can create musical isotopes, truly radioactive stuff, sonically speaking. One example: check out Rick Beato's video on Chromatic Mediant modulation. That is a chapter where musical theory becomes like the dark side of the Force: it's addictive and so po-wer-ful. :)
In my game (I'm a contract mechanical designer) sometimes it is not what you know, but who you know. Lucky breaks and building contacts over the years has helped me more than my (acutually not very good) qualifications.
I would suggest that it is pretty much the same with anything we do in life.
And for every success story there must be one hundred times, or more, "failures" who are equally as talented.
AND... It seems quite clear to me, now that I have watched quite a few Christian Henson TH-cam videos in the last month, that musical qualifications may be much less important than the skills of being able to connect with people and for the most part, be a "nice person." Christian Henson's curriculum vitae speaks louder to me than any musical skill, theory or practise...
Thanks again Christian for your insight and encouragement. What you do here matters more that you may realise.
Thanks for the thumbs up Christian, I worked bloody hard making this all happen for you... but you know what, you deserve it, and all the success to follow x
Watching you do these videos and how disjointed the background is and yet the thoughts flow well, I can't help wondering about how much you are deleting and how much time it takes to edit these things to make it work. That or you are really, really good at remembering what you just said and what you were going to say next. It also makes me so tired to watch how much traveling you have to do. Also, dang that is a small hotel room! Anyway, thanks for another interesting video.
I noticed the size of the hotel room also. Probably because I recently saw a news bit about how much overly large hotel rooms, built by the thousands every year, compete with cars on the consumption of resources and production of waste in the heating/cooling and general maintenance (talking mainly about budget hotels in the USA).
Fantastic video - a big thank you for taking the trouble to do this on such an important day for you (suspect your viewers also acted as a friend to help you through the stress) but you took us on a great journey anyway. Self belief my man!
Congrats for the radio show Christian! Looking forward to checking it out -and thanks for creating this amazing community
Excellent vlog as always Christian and I couldn't agree more with your 'natural talent' vibe. So much is built upon having an academy or college background as being crucial to a career, yet not wanting to knock that philosophy, it's so easy for people without that support or financial backing to miss out. Yet folk like yourself, having that inner talent, bring to the table so much more than just the academic stuff.
I always think back to one of my trumpet heroes, Maurice Murphy, who never had a college/academy background yet led the trumpet section of the London Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years. You can virtually name any notable orchestral soundtrack over that period of time: Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Batman, Alien/Aliens, Superman, Philadelphia, Gladiator, Frankenstein, We Were Soldiers and many, many more, that Maurice's unique sound were heard on and generally asked for by the composers.
So college is all well and good but we should not and must not ignore talent, in whatever form it materialises.
The sermon is now over!
Congrats for the radio show Christian! Again, thanks for the positive and supportive video, and no don't say that you "abandoned" us, you always give us some wonderful content!
Cheers
So I grew up in England and didn't know what to study but wanted to go to University. I initially went for Media Studies and transferred to study Music as a friend was listening to me play acoustic guitar in the break area and was confused why I wasn't studying music. I subsequently gained a First Class degree in Music and spent a lot of time with musicians who all had differing levels of knowledge of music theory. Some like myself had only the basic understanding of it, others were sight readers who played rock and others were 100% classical musicians who couldn't play anything without sheet music in front of them. What I learned is that education is what you make of it. The experience of studying music has led me to become convinced that sound design and media composition are where my heart lies, though I currently have a full-time job as a contractor for a major British banking institution. In the meantime I spend a lot of my free time creating sounds and putting together packs of sounds I collect from my travels which have been cheated and manipulated with various pieces of software. The idea is that I have a huge library of completely original material which which I create music and atmospheres which can be used in the creation of media content for whoever I wish. :)
Thank you, Christian. As someone who aspires to some day write for TV and/or film (I've already done metal music for games), this is extraordinary advice.
As a fairly accomplished bass player, I've worked on quite a few projects and have had some success as a player. I have been wanting to move into the world of being a media/film composer. I'm trying to learn everything I can, but I just don't know where to start. There seems to be a necessary knowledge of an amalgamation skills to become a great composer. I imagine you need to know what you're doing in many different areas. Knowing the ins and outs technically and once you have that going you also have to work on your composing and writing chops. I'm just curious where to start. It all seems so overwhelming. At first glance its almost more important to take an audio engineering approach learning the technical ins and outs of whatever DAW you're living in and understanding routing, reverb, compression, all that jazz.
This vlog passed me by when it first went up, so thanks for the relink on your end of year survey! I hadn't realized how big the gap was between recording the programme and it being broadcast - though it explains why you were relatively vague about the details when we chatted about it on the winter solstice walk!
For those in the UK, it's still available on BBC Sounds for 3 more days: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000c2rs
True what you said; there are as many qualifications as there are composers.
One thing is that "music theory" is a very funny concept. A lot if young producer with incredible technical knowledge think that having a good music theory course will help to develop their composition skill.
What is music theory? A set of rules? Then it means that we are all composing the same thing over and over respecting the rules?
Music theory is a non sens. Music is a language.
You need to learn the language and write, improvise, learn to Express yourself with that language.
You need to be able to understand what other writers have done.
I have heard so many demo of young composer with their daw and amazing libraries making a demo with:
Bar 1: Intro a la John Williams
Bar 2: Hans Zimmer brass
Bar 3: Alan Silvestri...
I feel like a lot of producer today, hide behind their computer to avoid the real musical work.
Grab an instrument and learn it.
Learn to be expressive with it, learn to talk music with it, then you will be able to be expressive with a Daw and not because Hans Zimmer did this or that, but because this is your voice. And then you will understand what your favourite composer did even more.
the way you cut your talking is simply amazing :D "however" was on point!
I would say that whilst training (degree, conservatoire etc... etc...) is incredibly useful, there is one thing missing from all of the education. That is the networking skills and entrepreneurship needed to get a gig. You could be the best composer, orchestrator, programmer and engineer but in order to survive you have to get the gig. Thats something they don't teach. Gaining/creating that USP to get people interested enough. The fact I can compose, 'orchestrate', program, sample, engineer, record, mix, master etc... etc... Everyone else can do that. So where is the USP? I'm currently in a writing room at Tileyard orchestrating and sequencing a musical over drums we tracked a month ago. So this project is allowing me to put all of my skills into practice, but it's taken a long time to actually get something coming in. So thats definitely something I need to work on, the networking and selling the USP! Now having a quick 30 minute break to watch this and sort my sponge of a brain out! Thanks Christian! Well done on the radio :D
I think one basic qualification is the ability to understand drama. You can write great music for media, but the quality of the music doesn't matter if you don't know where to put it or why it goes there.
Fantastic episode Christian. You should be rightly proud, and it was wonderful to witness your determination to overcome imposter syndrome before entering the hallowed grounds of BBC3. Now you have truly arrived! Can't wait to hear the episode, though as an exiled Brit, hope there is a link to it you can share with us at some point. I've said many times on these vlogs, that your insights go way beyond your own field of music, and I've often applied your thoughts to my own field, and as I prepare for an opportunity that provides me with a chance to share in your imposter syndrome, I am greatly encouraged by your success in overcoming it, and will aim to do likewise. Thank you. (and can't wait to here what's coming in the Spitfire Blockbuster reference...)
Really enjoyed this one. Thanks Christian.
I always appreciate your videos and insights Christian. I hope someday we cross paths and have a chance to become friends. I also hope that you continue to achieve new dreams and push your own boundaries just as you show yourself doing here with Radio 3. Best wishes from across the pond.
Great stuff, fascinating, learned fellow, very important we hear what he has to say.
Music is a spoken tongue so basically you do need basics knowledge about how to communicate clearly so music theory is in its way important. But music is also about art so you can explore different ways to experiment and create your own thing, its your choice to make your art more fluent in order to reach more people or let your mind write his own path... (my thoughts)
This is so inspiring! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this matter!
'Keep your influences and experiences as diverse as possible so that your version of original, which is a series of batons handed over from one great composer to the next in this eternal relay race of music, weaves the DNA for future generations that are going to create music.' I mean... pretty poetic if you ask me.
From watching your Spitfire and CHMusic videos, Chris, i'd say to Qualify as a Media Composer, IN YOUR SPHERE, One should be White, Middle to Upper Class and Male, very much more Business Minded than Creative but able to Play and/or Produce, Media savvy, Music-Tech savvy, Music-Tech enthusiastic, with a tendency to mild innovation.Then: once it's confirmed that you have the right Social Sensibilities; Musical, Talented or not: one should be Reliable and Easy (if not Fun) to be around/get along with.
Nevertheless, being White Female (having met all previous criteria) is also a Qualification: (because of the obviously Gathered Ranks and unacknowledged Closed Shop being so anachronistic) it aids in staving-off argument and guards against accusation arising that the whole Sector is an extension of The Western Class System - Value, Acceptance, Encouragement, Support, Development of an Individual/Group is conferred because of and in response to One's Background/Social Status but essentially, hitherto; not much besides.
one need a tendence to mediocrity and hard core people pleasing , like this highly confusing video direction, makes me totally crazy cause just he talks about these good questions
As usual another good discussion and to be honest, I would say the only thing that really matters is you write good music. If it sounds plinky plonk, it won't be good enough. I only do up to grade 2 on the piano so I taught myself the rest and left the theory side of it out.
The bottom line is, if people like the music you compose and the way you compose, that is all they are interested in. The end product is what matters. That's what I think anyway.
I've always been conflicted when it comes to training. I started playing music in a punk band when i was 12/13, then went on to study music and guitar at a performing arts school, then to a degree in classical guitar. All the while, i've played in bands with people that no nothing about the technical makings of music. I'd say that I've had to unlearn quite a lot or at least force myself to ignore training many times. But, i've also been in situations as a producer where there were issues with an arrangement or song that I could help sort out because of my training. I don't think people should resist learning music theory or correct ranges of instruments (so instrumentalist can actually play the part). It doesn't hurt to know this stuff but at the same time one shouldn't feel held back by NOT knowing either.
I'm not sure you have understood the 'community' yet. When I watch these vlogs and see how your career ascends, I feel I'm holding onto the coat tails of greatness. Thank you again for helping me cope with that ghost that haunts, in the guise of impostor syndrome.
You say WHAT to guitarists? I replayed it a bunch of times, I can't make it out. Thank you, excellent, inspiring vid!
Fantastic! Christian as always.. looking forward to the radio show!
Thanks man this is super inspiring, true passion! Peace
Excellent stuff as always CH! I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to hear your interview in the US. Patiently waiting for more Modular Mondays!
The most important facet is to maintain an open-mindedness to everything and everyone.
Agreed.
Just a thought on the upcoming SF release you mentioned, me personally I find the frequency of new libraries has become too much. I am no longer excited, while no longer going deep on a individual library like I used to... now I stopped buying, since I feel I no longer can absorb them, therefore not apply and use them.
SarahKchannel my view is you don’t go into a record shop and think “I need every record”. What Spitfire is doing is creating a diverse selection of tools for composers to use well into the future without fearing that we’re all using the same things. I know what you mean about not getting as excited but I don’t agree with the monopoly approach of most modern tech businesses, I strongly believe in choice and nuance.
Christian Henson Music yeah fair enough, I just remember the feeling I had 5 years ago or so, when libraries where scarce and I had the longing for something new to inspire me. Now I am sort of overwhelmed by the choices. In any design job, limitations lead to more creativity - I am not sure what abundance is doing to my self. I agree that now we don't hear out every single sample and can match them to their origins.
SarahKchannel it’s overwhelming with all of choices and I have churned and burned through a few libraries including spitfire which BTW I think sound the most organic, I learned that you have to land on the library that’s right for you and what you need to do, achieve your goals .....a solo library and a basic full library like CS2 is all I need and I stay with it now ....my scores are mostly modern ambient with instrumentals and simple string sections, I am asked for guitar genres on occasion and with all scores have to work the cuts and transitions......I was a guitarist before getting into composing part time.....this is an amazing story here I just assumed Christian went to a top music school....very inspiring
Thank you for this video. Really needed to hear that! 😊
What a thoughtful and fun vlog. Thank you!
I'd say the only real qualification is the ability to create interesting organized sounds for a given purpose. Every other skill and ability which can serve that is a bonus.
Inspiring stuff. Very firmly believe that this counts for a lot of jobs apart from media composing.
For instance, as a webdeveloper got there the exact same way. By finding a USP for yourself.
Waiting to see a headline somewhere that says, "Airlines everywhere become increasingly concerned of a strange British man with camera talking to himself in airline bathrooms." Much Love Christian!
I've so loved all the practical information that you've offered Christian, thank you for that. But, as you have said so many times about business being a crucial part to this, I would really like to know lessons learned from becoming a businessman or "Head of Department." Is there any way that you can talk about the journey to make Spitfire audio, specifically some of decisions that have seemed to work around marketing, management and operations? "Thanks ever so much!"
"hand to one another as part of the human continuum." so eloquent. Ballet is one of the most codified and rigid disciplines that exist -- and cannot be taught from a book. I took up dance and guitar as an adult learner in 2013. Today, I can fake being a composer better than fake being a dancer. Music theory is easier! I don't regret one second of scales with a metronome or digging through theory textbooks to advance as a musician. I'm at the mercy of the class schedule at the studio for instruction -- and I work there! : )
You always have such interesting things to say.
That was a rather mental one! Fast-paced, overwhelming, both encouraging as well as hopeless and.. was that a voiceover at some point before the end or just strange room acoustics?
Forever be the greatest TH-cam channel of all time Christian - Never stop
07:45 - Love the ninja overdubbing
I feel knackered just watching the video! 🤣
Super inspiring and great to watch, thanks for sharing this Christian : )
What is an orchestra programmer? Is that like the orchestrator?
What's the name of the book on orchestral arrangement that you've mentioned before Christian? Something I could definitely do with brushing up on
There's two - Orchestration by Walter Piston and The Study Of Orchestration by Samuel Addler
Christian Henson Music Cheers Christian, I'll keep a look out for the R3 show
OK.I would sum it to:It's about interaction between knowledge and management of what that means in the conditions of market.;-)).That is a point of view of someone who was a musician most of his life and decided to say ''fuck off'' to general public and become a trader in UK .Witch goes just fine.I have some nice orchestral work behind and will develop it after i get set financially (that is secured 2-3 mil to administrate ,which is almost done).Anyway...programming an old drum machine should be part of educational process.Make drum patterns.Programe sounds in analogue mode.Do things like this..And after that get to ''modern'' ready chewed stuff/Samples..drums /etc.I think that would be the ''media'' way.Also listening and trying to write down some ''classics '' one likes and feels that he'her can undetrstand the inner movement of music.Emulate first ( as an exercice) and after that see if anything ''comes'' as your own thing in that ''language'.
You don't need a licence to listen to the radio by the way. The TV licence is only required if you watch terrestrial broadcast TV, Live TV or BBC iPlayer. If you do none of these things, you can cancel your TV licence and still enjoy everything else.
I started a music degree but didn't finish. Changed to an architecture degree (where one does need to be licensed) but then ended up tutoring in the music degree I didn't finish. If that's not proof that qualifications aren't required, I don't know what is
Today a radio host. Tomorrow an influence on the TV. Find the time.
so so so true!
Great video!
whatever time do you call this unearthly hour
This is the end of the day if you're a baker!
The BBC reception staff, the last time I was there..."Sorry sir, you're not allowed to film or take photographs in reception, thank-you"...I'm guessing that they stopped you too?! I'll look forward to hearing your broadcast on BBC R3 when it's aired :-)
skylightmusic showreel yeah this I think is because the reception was bombed at TVC in white city.
Ahhh.....So you're that guy that hogs the aeroplane toilet!!!
bardistass sorry, at least when I’m done it only smells of vlog.
Did you name Gustavo Santaolalla?
what do you do if you have a lot of qualifications but no one will hire you?
Fable Club stop repeating whatever it is you’re doing including the people you’re trying to get work from.
@@TheCrowHillCo Everyone ghosts me and I can't even find a non-industry day job to pay bills. I have so much to offer and NO ONE wants any of it.
How does someone in the US get to hear this Radio3 broadcast!?
The BBC iplayer radio app works for me on mobile. As does the website. You can listen live or go back a month to listen to broadcasts.
All the horses have been counted 🐎
You did pretty well to get to G5 piano without being able to read music properly... :-P
Andrew Ward I used to watch what my piano teacher did and copied her.
@@TheCrowHillCo Even more impressive! I got to G5, too, but then went on to a couple of years' lessons on the church organ... :-)
What do you do if you've performed globally for millions of people, have multiple music degrees from Berklee, and no one will hire you? What do you do if EVERYONE just keeps telling you NO for 20 years?
Fable Club look at the things that you’re doing and change them... really try and understand what people are wanting from you (because the last thing they care about is your qualifications and how many people you’ve played for) it means absolutely nothing to them. It is your heritage and that is important but to all producers and directors you’re on the same level as everyone else they’re saying no to.
@@TheCrowHillCo Thanks, but no one wants anything from me. I live in Hollywood, I found one bass playing gig in two years. I've applied to over 1000 positions and got one interview. I have five college degrees, three from Berklee, and ten years of management experience and I can't find a day job!
And I can't get anyone to hire me even for free and student film scores. I've tried everything I can think of for twenty years. I've toured over 20 countries and it never matters. My music is at soundcloud.com/synchromuse and I play for people and they say, 'wow, you're really good, but... and then it's always a different reason why they say no. It's never consistent.
My linkedin.com/in/drakefable will tell you more.
I now you say my credential don't matter but I've had many producers tell me I didn't have any IMDB credits so they wouldn't hire me.
If everything I've accomplished in life and worked for and toward doesn't matter, than what was the fucking point of any of it?!
If having a Music Business Degree and a damn Master of Business Admin degree doesn't matter for finding an office day job, then WHAT DOES MATTER?
Christian, you are a pompous prick. If nothing I've ever done in the past matters, then nothing you've ever accomplished matters either. Not your music, not your business. No one cares just like you said. I don't need to listen to you or given any credence to your knowledge or skills accrued because you rejected all of mine. You're an egocentric rich kid playing with toys and knobs.
I used to respect your company, but now you've told me how selfish and petty all of you are. You're a prick.
love you
I love the fact that Christian literally got up of his plane seat and went to the bathroom to record this video haha
How do you manage to take these video clips with you walking all over the place ? .... Do you have a videographer filming you ? ...... or are you walking with some kind of contraption that allows you to film yourself ? ..... must be quite an art to do this without falling down or bumping into something .... not to mention the distractions that could ruin 'the flow' of your commentary.
2:10 - Christian showing everyone his muff in the toilet 👀
The thumbnail lol
A composer is better be able to read music like an architect who is better be able to read architectural plans.
one need a tendence to mediocrity and hard core people pleasing , like this highly crazy confusing distracting video direction. No assimilation, zero
It's great that you are happy about the success you are experiencing, I really wish you the best. But honestly... it's really not that interesting.
"This dude can't read music, LOL. And he's about an intermediate-level pianist, at best. The music business is full of chancers these days."
Oh fuck off
@@tarnishchris You know this is a quote? :D
@@svenhegenmusic yip..
Mine was the collective mental responses of said quote (althought i must abmit i framed it badly)