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Angelo Pizarro

The Creation of a Masterpiece:
The Artistic Journey of the Composer

Mr. Steinhauser

5/14/14






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If you have ever watched a movie or a commercial, or listened to the radio on a drive
home, then you have listened to a composers masterpiece (The Art Career Project). A composer
is one who composes (creates), a musical piece (melody, or melody and lyrics). A composer is
one who takes notes that are very simple and can within a few minutes turn them into a melody
so complex only the best musicians in the word can play. Music is needed in human life and is
seen all around the world. Music might be created on a piano or guitar in some areas where in
others, it might be created on a didgeridoo. Music might take someone's really bad day and turn
it into one of the best of their life's. How is this possible? It's possible because someone took the
time to sit down and write a composition. Let's explore further what exactly a composer is and
what are some of the things required to become a composer.
Music has been created since 6000 BC, and has lived ever since providing relief to people since
then. But, why would anyone want to be a composer? Why would they want to spend their time
inside in front of a musical instrument working out melodies, chord structures, and lyrics? Well,
there are several benefits of being a composer. The first is that you get to be your own boss.
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When it comes down to it, if you are a composer you decide what you want the piece to sound
like and what you want the piece to convey to the listener. If you want the piece to add a
dramatic flare at the end, then you don't have to get anyone's approval. If you love to create
music in your spare time then this career allows you to do what you love for a living. Perhaps
though, the best reason to become a composer is that in this industry there are several sub-
options that you Being a composer pays very well, because people will always want music to
listen to. Also, there is plenty of need for composers everywhere in every genre of music, all the
way from rap to classical. Some famous artists dont know how to write music but know how to
deliver it to an audience, so they hire a songwriter to write them a hit song that sells millions of
copies worldwide.
can choose from (The Catholic University Of America). For instance, you can become a film
composer, and write and sometimes arrange movies for feature films. Some famous film
composers are Alan Menken who has wrote music for such films as Aladdin, The Little
Mermaid, and Beauty & The Beast; and Hans Zimmer who has wrote music for movies such as
Inception, The Dark Night Rises, Man Of Steel, and The Da Vinci Code.
According to California Career Zone In 2013, the average annual wage in California
was $59,470 with most people making between $24,780 and $92,240. What is needed for you
to be a composer is quite minimal. Most composing jobs only require some sort of music
background (either singing or a playing of a music instrument), previous job experience, or to
have at least an associates degree (California Career Zone). Getting a job in this profession isnt
hard since there are plenty of jobs expected in the near future. During 2010, this occupation
employed approximately 6,800 people in California. It is projected that there will be 7,100
employed in 2020.
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Let us take a look more into what exactly, a film composer (the most popular option) exactly
does. A film composer might seem like an easy task; but this job is no walk in the park (So You
Wanna Be A Film Composer?). A film composer might in fact have the hardest job in the whole
composing arena. There are several reasons for this assertion. The first being that, a film
composer has to know how to play all the instruments that he/she wants to have in the piece.
Some pieces can vary from only a few instruments all the way to a full piece orchestra. If they
are unaware of how to play that instrument then they will not be able to right it leaving a
musician to do nothing at all. The second reason for my assertion is that this composer has to
also listen to what the production company (ig. 20th Century Fox, Paramount) or Director wants
the music of their motion picture to convey to movie goers who need the music to blend with
what is happening on the screen seamlessly. They might want the whole music theme to be
uplifting and cheerful, such as in a musical. On the contrary, the director might want a slow
moving, sad song to really impact the movie goer. Probably the most difficult task though of a
film composer is to change with the coming scenes. Each scene of a movie might call for a
different song to not be monotonous. If this is the case the composer has to come up with a
different melody, and chord structure for all the instruments involved for every single piece.
Others might call for one piece to stretch out over a longer period of time. Whatever the case
might be trying to come up with the different inter-weaving melodies, harmonies, and chord
structures can be quite hard in such a short amount of time.
Whatever the composer option you choose, being a composer can be a very good and
very prosperous job not only in the money aspect but also in the collaboration aspect because
most of the time you will get to collaborate with other great musicians that share your love for
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the song. Composing music is a complicated and difficult job, but there is no other job quite like
it.
















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Work Cited
"California CareerZone." Music Composers & Arrangers. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
Dont Just Listen, Create With A Music Composition Career. The Art Career Project. Web. 4/14/14.
Lukas Kendall. So You Want To Be A Film Composer?. David Beard Music. Web. 4/15/14
Music Composition. The Catholic University of America. Web. 4/14/14.

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