Why Time, Not Tech, Is Key For Composers

As the tools to create music and sound design have become cheaper and more readily available, how has this has affected the overall quality of bespoke music and sound design in the advertising and creative industries?

It’s great that composers and sound designers can now afford to buy the software, plug-ins and sample libraries that allow them the ability to produce high-end mixes without needing access to expensive recording studios or top class session musicians. 

But it feels like there are now fewer projects out there with the quality of the composition or audio production to impress. There are any number of reasons for this, but for me, the major issue is the modern day composition process and workflow. Now that it’s possible to produce a piece of music or sound design over the weekend (or even overnight), people can think about sound at the last minute and still hit the deadline. These new tools have been used to help speed up the process rather than increase the quality of the audio.  

You no longer need to organise recording sessions with session players (and the endless hours of editing that follow) as you can load up a string or piano sample library and chose the instrument and playing style you require. You also don’t need to head off to that big recording studio with all the expensive shiny gear for the final mix, as you now have plug-in emulations on your laptop that are getting very close to the real thing. These days, it’s possible to effectively sit in front of the same computer and go through the whole production process, from initial composition through to mastering and delivery. 

Although there’s a lot to be said for this modern way of working - some people achieve amazing results with only a laptop and a set of speakers – but I personally feel these new tools should be used to improve the quality of output, rather than replace important parts of the composition process. It can be quite a solitary process working on music and sound design and at times, it’s great to get input from a good engineer or session player who could help take the final audio to a whole new level.

It’s down to composers to fight for more time, which would allow us to push up the overall quality of our creative output, rather than continually clock-watching, knowing we have to get a mix finished by the end of the day. It would allow us to enjoy the sense of exploration in our work rather than having to go with the first idea that comes into our head. And that would hopefully lead to more original work across the board. 

Of course, more time normally means more money. but I actually feel that a lot of this additional time is about the hours of down-time after creative sessions. By having the opportunity to ‘sleep on’ mixes and listen with fresh ears, I think we are able to step back from our creative work so it allows us to become more productive with the time spent actually composing.

As with most industries, advances in technology change the landscape and it takes a little while to work out the best way to use them. As composers, once we’ve cracked it, we need to communicate this to clients. We need to be vocal about the fact that time is still an important factor in allowing composers to come up with something completely bespoke and original rather than a copy. Just because you can create a new track completely mastered and ready to go within 24 hours doesn’t mean it will be any good. 

There will always be eleventh-hour, last-minute projects. But this shouldn’t be the norm and it’s important that we as composers and sound designers are given the chance to use new tools and new technology in a creative way and really show off our skills. We now have the chance to craft our work in ways that would have never been possible in the past. Let’s not lose sight of that.