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Featured Composer: George Cicci
George Cicci is a sound designer, composer and producer. He works in various styles ranging from IDM to ambient, and sound track heavy leaning toward darker, somber atmospheric tones for visuals.
Saying the Quiet Parts OUT LOUD! | with Anne-Kathrin Dern
In this interview, Anne-Kathrin Dern discusses her educational path, her career in film music, and how her YouTube channel seeks to pull back the curtain on the good, the bad, and the ugly in Hollywood show business.
PMC & Taxi Road Rally Review
This fall, I attended both the Production Music Conference and the Taxi Road Rally. Today I share my unbiased and honest thoughts while comparing and contrasting each conference. I think this will help you decide which conference might right for you.
Featured Composer: Topi Jokinen
My biggest goal to get my music into film trailers. Making trailer music, and music for tv as well. I enjoy composing orchestral and orchestral-hybrid styles the most. I’m working on a couple of libraries, and I’m a taxi member as well.
The Thai that Binds
Some of our 52 Cues tribe had a meetup at a Thai restaurant after registration at the TAXI Road Rally in Los Angeles. Dave really enjoyed the face-to-face hang time!
5 Ways to Stay in the Creative Flow State
When we’re composing, we strive to maintain this creative flow state, but some days that feels harder than others! So on today’s episode, I unpack 5 things you can do to help keep you in that flow state, feeling more creative, and more productive.
Do We Really Need a Web Presence?
How big a factor is luck in our careers? On today’s episode we turn to the research of Dr. Richard Wiseman, Professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and we examine the 4 Principles of Luck and discuss how they might apply to us as production music composers.
What’s Luck Got to do with It?
How big a factor is luck in our careers? On today’s episode we turn to the research of Dr. Richard Wiseman, Professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and we examine the 4 Principles of Luck and discuss how they might apply to us as production music composers.
Featured Composer: Yuka Reschke
Listen to Yuka Reschke, this week’s Featured Composer. Dave will give feedback on her piano lullaby, “Sleeping Baby” on this week’s podcast episode.
Jon Meyer & Dave Kropf Chat About Community
Dave and John took a few minutes to hang out at October's Production Music Association Conference. They have some great things to say about finding your musical community. Check it out!
Make Your Publisher’s Job Easy (Chat with Michael Laskow)
When we pitch our cues to libraries, we want to make the process as smooth and painless as possible, so on today’s episode, I sit down and chat with Michael Laskow,@TAXI Independent A&R, who works with publishers every day, and we discuss what we composers can do to reduce friction when it comes to getting our music into libraries.
Featured Composer: Youssef Rddad
Youssef is a recovering guitarist turned composer and music producer. This week, we feature his track, “Tradecraft.”
How is Production Music Different Than Film Music?
There are some key differences that separate production music from other careers like film music, game music, and even songwriting, and today I want to discuss what really separates production music from other music for film, tv, games, and advertising.
4 Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity!
We’ve talked about how important sustainable creativity is for the production music composer, but what happens when you got nothing or a deadline hangs over you like the sword of Damocles? On this week's episode, I’m going to give you 4 ways that I jumpstart my own creative process when time is short or energy is low.
Featured Composer: Jeff Hargrove
Jeff has been on the record side of the gospel music industry and a minister of music for his church for over 20 years. Now for the first time, he’s pursuing my first love, music composition.
The Inconvenient Truths About Production Music
Being a production music composer is not always lollipops and sunshine, and truth is, there are some pretty sobering and inconvenient truths about this industry that you should know before you go all in. So today, we’re going to say the quiet parts out loud, and talk the aspects of the gig which you just need to get ok with.
Collaborations and Conferences with Tracey and Vance Marino
On today’s episode, I sit down and chat with Tracey and Vance Marino, authors of “Hey That’s My Song," and we discuss their experiences in navigating the co-writing process and chat about the upcoming PMA conference and Taxi Road Rally!
5 Steps to Starting Your Music Production Career
It used to be the TV industry’s best kept secret, but more composers are getting hip to how they can carve out a career for themselves writing production music. So here are the 5 steps to starting your music production career!
We Need to Talk About Waves
Fair warning: today’s podcast is a little ranty because we need to talk about Waves, their marketing strategies, and what you should know before you start dropping real money on plugin deals which seem too good to be true.
Plus we feature “To The Finish Line,” an indie/alt rock cue by 52 Cues community member Darin Pekham!
The Many Ways I Make Money Making Music
Nearly every composer I know doesn’t just compose for a living. They often find themselves cobbling together a career from many different aspects of the industry, from writing to arranging to gigging to teaching. So today, I thought I’d talk about all of the various ways I, personally, make money making music.