Finding Inspiration and Breaking Patterns | with Composer Roger Neill

56 min • 5 april 2023

Today’s guest is award winning film and television composer Roger Neill. Roger is best know for his scores for the films “20th Century Women,” “Don’t Think Twice,” “Beginners” and for his work on television series such as Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle,” CBS’s “Mom” and the long-running Fox series “King of the Hill.” He’s also worked extensively in the video game world on blockbuster titles such as Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Borderlands 2, and many others. He holds a PhD from Harvard University, he arranges and orchestrates for recording artists like Beck, Kygo, and Michael Jackson, is a multi-instrumentalist and world music enthusiast. We have a great chat defining the tone of a film, the importance of never being complacent, never tying your self worth as an artist to some one wanting to hire you, and finding inspiration by breaking patterns.

🗒 In this episode we'll dig in on... 🗒

Composing for film and television
How to write music for video games
Fostering your relationship with music
Developing the sound and tone of a score
Discovering inspiration by breaking patterns
Network with those around you because they are the ones that will hire you later.
Scoring his first film with a small orchestra recorded in a dining hall
Taking advantage of the resources around you while you’re in school
Starting out working for Mike Post
Producing on screen visuals as well as composing for "Mozart in the Jungle"
How video game scores are delivered
Using Synths to match the era of a film
Never being complacent
Outworking people that are technically more talented

🎙 Travis' Intro 🎙

Action is the Foundation

🎶 ... Listening Recommendation 🎶

Altın Gün - Listen Here

🗣 Mentioned in the Interview 🗣

👉 Learn More About Roger Neill... 👈

Website: http://rogerneill.com/

"Lisztomania" Arrangement from "Mozart in the Jungle" - Listen

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