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Indie directors:
What to look for in a media composer?

Have you reached that crucial stage in your indie film or game-making process when you can no longer postpone hiring a composer and find yourself thinking “what should I be looking for”?

When it comes to hiring, it is understandable that you may not know who to hire or what qualities to look for. Many directors have acknowledged that this is the one area they find more abstract.

In general, it is common for directors or producers to hire a music composer on a word-of-mouth basis, which is understandable. You want someone with a proven record of delivery who can navigate the unpredictable obstacles that might come up during productions.
Alternatively, another common practice is to ask a composer to create a demo for a specific brief. Some pay the composers for these demos, others don’t.

This post is aimed at those who either don’t have any particular composer in mind, have too many different candidates in mind, or just want to try someone new and want a few tips to help with the search.

The most obvious thing to look for is someone who shows an ability to write music in the style that you are looking for. However, I’d argue that just because a composer doesn’t have a particular style on their website, it doesn’t mean they can’t produce it or indeed provide a fresh spin on it. It is incredibly important to make sure you enjoy the composer’s music first.

Bearing all this in mind, here are, in my opinion, a number of other qualities to look for in a composer. The composer should ideally be:

1. Open to constructive feedback

2. A problem solver

3. Able to deliver on time

4. Capable of delivering decent-sounding demos

5. Knowledgeable about the overall scoring process, from creating a demo to delivering the final master files.

6. Able to communicate (suggested by Benjamin Pracy during my interview with him)

7. Aware that he or she is serving the plot or gameplay - (suggested by Ricardo Melo)

8. A great teammate

Let´s explore these in a bit more detail:

1 - A composer who knows how to take constructive feedback
How comfortable do you feel providing feedback to the composer about their music? A lot of time, money and effort is being invested. You want someone who is willing to listen to your concerns and consider them. Do expect every once in a while for a composer to fight for their idea if they feel it has merit. However, as long as they are open to conversation, that is a good thing.

2 - Problem solver
Are they able to figure out what is the thing that you’re not really enjoying but are having a hard time explaining it? Great composers will listen and will try to go to the bottom of it. This might mean asking more questions and/or doing some tests.

Did you make the last minute decision to edit the movie but it means that the music needs to be re-adjusted? A great composer will have your back and rework accordingly. (Just bear in mind that a lot of extra work might incur extra fees.)

3 - Delivers on time
You don’t want your project to get bogged down with delays. Yes, issues can arise unexpectedly sometimes but these should be the exception rather than the rule.

4 - Knows how to deliver decent-sounding demos
This will provide you with an idea of both their musicality and ability to use technology to produce good quality demos. Do not expect an over-the-top production and professionally-mastered file unless you are paying a decent fee. But do expect it to sound good and on brief.

5 - Knows the overall process from creating a demo to delivering the final master files
The whole process is a domino effect where if something hasn’t been thought through correctly, it might end up causing problems later down the line.

6 - Knows how to communicate
In my interview with Benjamin Pracy, one of the things he found most important was to have someone he could communicate his ideas to without the need to know any musical terms and with the ability to hear what he is looking for and translate that information into music.

7 - Understands they are serving the plot or gameplay
You can have the most beautiful melody in the world but if it doesn’t match what you are looking at on screen then it’s not working. This doesn’t mean the music can’t be complex and rich but the composer should be aware that serving the picture or gameplay comes first.

8 - A teammate
The way I see it, the director, art director, sound director, producer, composer, etc, make the “band”. One of the main traits of a great band is the chemistry between the members of the band. Can you imagine going on a long tour with a band member who you don’t feel comfortable with? You want a good team member, one you know you don’t have to worry about and who will have your back whenever is needed.

This last bullet points highlights why you often find the same director + composer team in different projects. This happens whenever there is a trust bond in place.

Let’s look at some of those epic collaborations. Notice just how many projects on which they have collaborated together. This is not because there aren’t other composers around to choose from. This is because the composers proved their worth consistently. As a director, there are so many different aspects of your production that you want to know you can trust your guy to come up with competent material for something as important as music, so that they can focus on the many other responsibilities. The same applies to video-game companies.

In an interview, Steven Spielberg said that “John Williams is the most important collaborator I’ve had in my career” and there’s really no room for argument here. Just look at how many works they’ve collaborated on together.

Disclaimer: These credits were taken from IMDB but instead of going the easy route and just leave a link, I wanted it to be obvious how much work was between the same 2 parties. If there is anything missing here, please do feel free to let me know via email (found on the top right corner of this page).