Lessons for a Composer's Assistant
For several years I worked as an assistant at one of the most notoriously grueling studios in LA. It was an incredibly rewarding experience and I grew on many levels as a musician and businessman. If you are a young composer looking for a way to develop your chops and learn about the business of film scoring, I cannot recommend becoming an assistant more highly.I've compiled just a handful of advice for anyone out there that is seeking or beginning work as an assistant to a composer.1. Your job is to make the composer's life easierThe whole point of having an assistant is so the composer can focus on the important work. For them, this means writing music. Burning CDs, renaming files, installing software, and a thousand other tasks that aren't writing music are not worth the composer's time.It's your job to get that stuff taken care of so they don't have to. Always keep that in mind, and if you're ever in a "slow period" think about what you can do to get the studio running more efficiently. Make fixes to the template, clean up that huge mass of cables under the desk, organize the CD shelves so you can find anything instantly. There is always something that can be improved.2. Write Everything DownI consider the most critical and overlooked lesson from David Allen's Getting Things Done
- You're guaranteed to remember it.
- It gets it out of your head so you can actually think.
Forgetting just one simple task can lead to disaster. When you have six-hundred things to do and your keeping them all in your head, the chances of you forgetting at least one of them are about 100%. And when you have to answer "Did you send that file to the music editor last night?" with "Oops," you can consider yourself out of a job.Writing something down takes about two seconds, is it really worth skipping?So when the composer calls you into his studio and lists off thirty-six different tasks that need to be done by the end of the day, please remember to bring in a pad and pencil.3. Learn the GearFor the composer to be able to spend as much time as possible writing music, the gear needs to work. This means that it has to be properly set up and functioning, but also that you know exactly how to fix it should something go wrong.I always tell young composers to literally read the entire manual for their DAW of choice. That's a HUGE pain in the ass, and many pages will feel tedious, but the value is incredible. Same thing goes for the manuals to every other piece of gear and software in the studio, if you can stomach it.4. Take InitiativeNever answer a question with "I don't know." If you really don't know the answer to something, say "I'll find out." Then find out.When someone asks "what time is the session next Monday?", you don't say "I don't know," you say "I will call the contractor and ask."5. Learn the MusicA common task for a composer's assistant is to create demo CDs. A thorough knowledge of the composer's music is critical if you're going to do this well. If you have such a complete knowledge of the catalog that you can think of fifteen of the composer's best action cues off the top of your head, you've made yourself an asset.The other advantage to learning the music is that you will internalize the composer's voice. If an opportunity comes up to write additional music in their style for one of their projects, you'll be ready to do so convincingly.
Have any tips of your own for budding composer's assistants? Or seeking advice for how you can do your job better? Leave a comment and get the conversation going.