The worse advise I ever received was from my college piano instructor who told me I wrote nice music, but it sounded like everyone else. He said I needed to be unique. That might sound like good advice but in reality, it froze me as a composer because I never finished anything! I was always comparing what I wrote to everybody else and I would never finish a song. I finally moved past that and am starting to find my own “voice”. By sounding like other composers I learned to use that and make some changes that sounded a little different. I wish I would have learned this in the early ’80’s while in college!

Damn, you're the first person I've heard say that we don't necessarily need a unique voice to grow as a composer. Thanks it's really help!

The value of a piece of music is not how it's written. The value of the music is in who you show it to. Like any art, music doesn't inherently have value. It's the audience, the listener, who decides its value. Making "good" music is about showing it to the right people.

This video is gold. Thank you Zach!

Love you channel, love your work, thank you for sharing your personal experience!

Thanks for the advice!

Thank you so much for everything you do! Your resources and efforts are soooo super appreciated by me and all the other aspiring composers out there!

I love that all this advice you're sharing is practical stuff. Thank you!!! ❤

Thank you for this video ❤

Thanks for sharing!

Super advice and nicely presented!

Thank you for your honest deep thoughts! Much appreciated for all your work on the channel!

Very intelligent efforts ,Zach.

Thank you so much for your best wishes. Each word makes sense. Relatable and resonates so much totally. Not everyone understands "composer's world", what we do and its like a breeze of fresh air, when i hear someone from my field talk. Thanks to social networking, i do find likeminded people and its kind of solace to see them share their piece of wisdom. You are so right about what you said. I wish you the best ahead too! ✌🌈🌝

Very nice video, Zach. Thanks for this!

Yes!!! This is exactly the advice most composers (and frankly, creative freelancers in every genre) NEED to hear!

Great stuff dude. The absolute most important aspect about working in the music and film industry is making genuine connections. I am by no means the best composer around but I have been granted a lot of gigs simply because I have made strong, genuine relationships with young, up and coming directors. Having good music and skill is certainly vital, but being a good person, being genuine, and being a solid communicator will take you so much further in your career than simply having good music ever will.

man's speaking the truth plain and simple. thanx

For what it's worth I'm listening to that 2017 EP of yours on Spotify right now and enjoying it very much.

You have a great channel. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Ver interesting for amateurs and pros alike.

what i'm doing is creating my own work, by composing for my own game, that also gives me a portfolio to demo to ppl that i know how to use music with games and implement it using all the software, game triggers. layering. how to write music for video games as well. Playing a lot of games helps. I play a ton of modded Celeste, there's around 50 composers in that community. Like i highly recommend watching the video on Grandmaster Heartside Celeste, the music is unreal.. the last section , Shatter the Pantheon is a 3 against 5 polyrhthm and 2 sets of timed blocks work ith those patterns , it's crazy gaming.

Thanks for this video. I like to compose orchestral music. I dont know if i'll get opportunities which i would want. But i like the sound of orchestras. And when i can i'll share. Thanks for this video.

Thanks!

Hey Zach thanks for the advices 🙏🏻❤️ Can you please make a video about how to write music in a certain mode and talk a bit more about modes? Maybe one that you like yourself. I get so confused with the changes that occur to the chords. Cuz i am so used to using the natural Minor and Major scales in a negative way and i can't think outside the box anymore.

Your are precious.

lol you went to Hartt? I went to Hartt as well! Awesome.

Great advice for new and experienced composers alike. Are you still out here in Nashville?

Networking will make you or break you.

Dang im literally doing the first mistake as i wach and discovered this video 😂😮. I still want to finish the album tough😅

Well this was a reality check 🙃

And to reply to my own thing, you can be the best in a niche. But you can't just say, "my niche is xyz." Because you don't really know which people like xyz niche. Or if people will ever like xyz niche. In music composition, does this sound familiar??? To find your niche, you need to explore and try out things and see which of your skills and output people like. Then do that more. You can be the best. People think in ordinals. 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Most expensive, cheapest... Just think about how people buy toasters. You need to be the best! (Otherwise, it's charity, maybe friendship.) But the best might only need to be the best for one person. You only need to be the best orchestrator/composer/music transcriber in your customer's mind and your customer's world, at the time when they need it.

I get what you are saying here but it seems you are encouraging people to sell out and compromise. I don't think it's bad to encourage people to be unique. Being unique is not about flipping a switch, it's about 'becoming who you are' as Nietzsche would say, it's about being true to yourself which for some could take years.. And yes, it can be costly in terms of money, career etc. But ultimately it's about what you value more, leaving a mark or 'making it'.

In 2023, if your social media isn't blowing up I don't care if you're Danny Elfman, you're not going to make it. Times have changed, and gone are the days of simply making it by who you know or what you know; it's more important who knows YOU (aka, followers). The algorithm is the overlord.