How long for score

[Opnek24]

Hello,

How long should it take for composers to score music for a film? Is there a general rule that filmmakers should keep in mind before hiring someone?

Does a slow worker mean a good score, or show inexperience? And does a fast worker necessarily mean a rushed and possibly bad score or more experience?

Thank you,
Robert

 

[Alcove Audio]

This is another "how long is a piece of string?" question.

How long is the film? How much are you going to pay the composer? How experienced is the composer? Is s/he going to record the score themselves, or will there be a budget for real musicians. What type of film is it? What type of score do you want? And a few dozen other questions.

Decide on the type of score you want. Have a definite budget in mind. Put out a call to composers, give them all of the pertinent information about your film, watch/listen to demos, converse with the composers and make your decision.

At the "Hollywood" level it takes six to eight weeks - but can be three months or more - plus the time to record the score. As a base line, it takes about two weeks to record the score, but the more complex the score, and the longer the film, the longer it will take to record.

 

[Mike Marino]

Very good points raised by Alcove Audio. I'll also add a few thoughts:

* More or time or less time does not necessarily dictate positive or negative attributes to the production of the score, even at the beginner level.

* Something else to consider is whether or not the score is going to be recorded (whether it's a rock band, solo vocalist/instrumentalist, or orchestra). In most cases a director is going to want to hear an electronic mock-up of each cue BEFORE it gets recorded. So that means your composer (generally speaking) has to write an idea, program it, get it approved, create the sheet music (possibly), then record it, mix it, and get it approved again. That can be a pretty time intensive schedule.....especially for a beginner. I'd say that it's a time intensive program for even someone who is experienced but maybe doesn't compose full-time.

* Another point to consider is where in the process you decide to bring your composer in to the mix (i.e. pre-production, production, post-production, etc). Each project might dictate something different.

* In terms of orchestral music, many composers can write (and program) 1:30 - 2:00 of music per day. Some days they may write more, other days they might write less.....but those may be good numbers to start with.

Great question!

- Mike

 

[NickAtMixxus]

No absolute rules here, concerning time, as the above answers points out.
However, at least an experienced composer should be able to tell you how long it would take to deliver what you need and asked for. And if you had a deadline, say "I want this type of music and so long, in one week", an experienced composer would tell you if it were possible or not.
You can come up with a tune, a basic structure for a melody in 30 minutes, but then it's the rest of the work.
For me composing is a craft, like building furniture, or a house, or sculpting, and it takes time if you're gonna carve out and put the pieces together carefully. But that does not mean you need unlimited time. Around 2 days for composing/recording a piece of 3 minutes may serve as a very rough guideline, but then comes mixing, mastering and that can be 1-3 days (again extremely rough estimation). But if in a hurry, all this may be done in one day, but then it's probably not so perfect as it could be. I do both orchestral and synth based music, and orchestral, classical stuff usually needs more carefullness in instrument handling, playing technique. Sometimes I like to throw in an accoustic, original sound that needs technical processing into the computer.
And then you have to take into account that the director wants to have something changed.

 

[sfoster]

Everyone works differently.. some people search for inspiration, others are workhorses and just plow through stuff.

I think the important thing is to talk to them and get a timeline.. this way you know that work is actually going to get finished at some point, instead of having to keep pestering them and always hearing tomorrow or next week but never getting anything done

 

[GoldSpanner]

It also depends on whether you want a generic sounding score using lots of recycled ideas, or something really original. The latter is far more time consuming and subject to experimentation, whereas the former is probably more reliant on the composer's skill in orchestration (assuming it's an orchestral score - usually is).