musicbyjoao

[musicbyjoao]

It’s been 5 years since my last post

I was going through an old e-mail of mine when I found an e-mail related to this blog. I completely forgot I had it! Reading my old posts was a fun and interesting experience. There are things I still agree with; some things I remember being excited about at the time and others I thought I could have presented differently.

At the time of my last post, I was going through a very rough patch in life and I had to stop almost everything. This made it hard to get back on track but here’s what has happened since, in a very summed up way:

- I moved back to Dublin and worked as a door to door salesman; then as an extra in film productions; then as stage crew at multiple shows; then as an LQA (localisation quality assurance) and FQA (functionality quality assurance) for video games. By that time, I met my fiancée and we moved to Belfast, and worked as a music data administrator.

- While I was working on all those jobs I listed above, I was writing music at night and during weekends as well.

- Highlights are:

1) Scoring for ”Recovery", an impactful short documentary which recounts the story of 3 sexual assault survivors, and which went on to win a number of awards and nominations at various film festivals.

2) Writing most of the soundtrack for the steam game Nocturne: Prelude and

3) Composing/arranging on the Vivaldi Metal Project, which features a number of world famous musicians, including Mistheria (Bruce Dickinson, Roy Z Ramirez); Mike Portnoy  (Dream Theater, Sons Of Apollo); Mike Terrana (Yngwie Malmsteen,  Tarja Turunen); Dirk Verbeuren  (Megadeth) and many more. Today I’m in Belfast and still working hard. I’ll try and keep this thing active and updated but I won’t promise anything =)

#i'm back #music composer #soundtrack #video games #heavy metal #orchestral #bruce dickinson #dream theater

[musicbyjoao]

Music Streaming competition

I just read about Apple Music and learnt that they will enter the music streaming competition and will be paying artists 0.2 cents per listen.

Though it’s true that the industry is still trying to find it’s next big thing (or will it just continue evolving non-stop?), it is also true that CDs and Vinyl's are a thing of the past. They are much more expensive and financially not worth it for a starting artist that also doesn’t have any reasonable marketing strategy (Read more about this on my older post here).

While you might pay about 1400 Euros for 2000 CD’s - which will add an enormous weight to the artist’s already existing debt with the studio and everything that implies to create an album - you can pay 59 dollars (52 Euros) to upload it to all online music platforms and have it there for an unlimited time and for unlimited purchasing. With the music scene going through what probably is it’s more difficult time - a lot more competition than ever before and increasingly less revenue - it’s easy to see why the internet is also a good solution for artists, much like a two edged sword. Apple provided a great step against piracy when it first released the iTunes store and allowing users to buy a single instead of an album. Basically, an old model that was brought back to life, albeit digitally. Then, for the price of a coffee (starbucks is actually more expensive), you could buy a song. With a single song usually costing .99c, iTunes would keep 30%, so you ended up getting 0.69c. Without doubt, a better solution than the record label’s move of suing their costumers for illegal downloads. Fast forward a few years and streaming services like Spotify would be getting you free music and paying the artist a whopping 0.008c (to earn 1000 dollars, you need about 125,000 streams of yours work. Good luck getting there, if you are independent). No doubt they made music fun to explore and I even use it. At the same time, they made music seem worthless to none musicians. Why pay for it?

Now that Apple Music is paying 0.2c per listen, could it be that they will become, again, the better answer to a bad system?

Personally, I would like to see the royalty rise to 0.4c per stream.

[musicbyjoao]

TripAdvisor #5

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g189167-Activities-Funchal_Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html

The documentary Madeira Film Experience, which I had the pleasure to compose for, is now #5 of best things to do in Funchal, Madeira! It is always a pleasure collaborating with people who love what they do. Thank you Nuno Serrão, for bringing me on board. This wouldn't be possible without the work that you, and urbanistas , put into it.

You can listen to the score here: https://soundcloud.com/invisiblearts/sets/madeira-film-experience

Of course, my part of the work wouldn't be the same if it weren't for these people: Nuno Fernandes (music mix and final dub) Miguel Teixeira (orchestration) Estúdio 21 (SFX editing and mixing, credits music recording) Roberto Moritz (rajão, braguinha) Mário André (voice, viola de arame)

[musicbyjoao]

So, 2015 has started and I have moved to Dublin.

2 milestones were completed recently in 2014 -

1st- The music for the ebook Raising Sleeping Stones was completed. The first ebook novel to contain it's own original soundtrack (approx. 2 hours of original music) - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/raising-sleeping-stones/id926406941?mt=8

2nd- The music for the MFE documentary was delivered. More information about this project to be released soon.

[musicbyjoao]

Composing music lets me keep my emotional balance this way: it allows me to create a bridge between what's going on inside my mind and the real world. It's almost like you are opening a path where all those emotions filling inside your chest are able to just flow freely outside... leaving you with a much clearer mind.

I just read the quote: "releasing trapped energies can make changes in how you feel and behave, in the choices that you make, and in the results that you get". Now, of course, we can't release them immaturely just because.... and we can't keep them all in either. All our lives is about finding a balance.

As we grow and are receptive to learning, we start being able to control our emotions to the point that we get stronger. Not only that, but by understanding the most primitive emotions, it allows us a better understanding of the more deeper layers within us. Level by level we go.. and it never ends. The question is, how much can we learn in this lifetime?

[musicbyjoao]

InvisibleArts blog turned 1 today!

#tumblr birthday #tumblr milestone

[musicbyjoao]

I cannot explain how 3 different frequencies can make you feel happy and, by slightly changing one of them, I can make you feel sad. I don't have the scientific answer nor does anyone (so far, at least).

As an artist and film composer, I have to try my best to be a master of emotions. I have to understand them, understand their nuances, how they come and how they subdue. I have to let myself embrace whatever there is in my head, be it good or bad and understand it, solve it and continue. Not only because it is my work but because it is who I am.

With the music knowledge that I have, I am able to understand how it works and through my emotional experience I am then able to make a person feel something, carry them on a story and, hopefully, have them take something out of it too. It is no easy task, mind you.

So, composing something where you can be dragged into is the result of various years of practicing, composing, improving (as I still am) and understanding feelings and how they work. There is a reason why a lot of writer's/directors/composers/poets recommend for people to get out in the world and experience it. It is not just the good feelings they are referring to, you need to have all kinds of experiences in order to better portrait them.

Understanding it is key to your art... and yourself.

[musicbyjoao]

25 posts!

#25 posts #tumblr milestone

[musicbyjoao]

Finished almost a year's worth of work where Leo Langinger and I composed/orchestrated/sequenced and mixed 2 hours of original music.

It was a fun experience with a few down slopes that were useful to learn new skills and improve one's abilities.

Though it is a low budget project (but a hell of a production), we accepted it because, not only was it a NEW concept, it is also a fun and adventurous story that will carry you to another world and where you able to learn more about yourself and gain a few tools as well to use in your life. I think that the people who read it will embrace the story as I did.

My thanks to Leo Langinger for bringing me on board this project and to Pratt Bennet (author) for trusting me in his 10 year work.

The ebook is currently in it's beta version and will be released soon..!!

[musicbyjoao]

We did it!!

We got 108% funding. Thank you everyone. For more information:

http://kck.st/1k5PkGO - Kickstarter

https://www.facebook.com/raisingstones?fref=ts

[musicbyjoao]

Kickstarter Campaign for the first ebook novel with it's own original soundtrack and more.

For almost a year now, me and my good friend, Leo Langinger, have been composing for the first ebook novel ever (in the world) to contain it's own original soundtrack.

We have almost 2 hours of music and we're near the end. We are now at the last stretch. My plan is to have every cue done by the end of next week and then adjust the mixing of the early ones that will be released soon.

Because we have been working on this project for some time now, it's interesting to compare our music from when we started and the ones we're working on now. You can feel the evolution of themes, our compositions getting more mature...

Personally, I still think that I have long way to go. It's not that I think I'm worthless, it's just that in the creative world, the room for improvement is never-ending and you always want to reach something a little bit higher each time.

I have even e-mailed a good friend, yesterday, who creates these amazing orchestrations, to teach me more or just even work with me as an orchestrator whenever I have the budget.

Anyways, please help us support this vision by backing our project here on kickstarter. Or even just by sharing it!

http://kck.st/1k5PkGO

[musicbyjoao]

The Selfish Artist

For some time now that I have considered writing this article.

As human beings, part of what made us survive this far was the fact that we have always lived in packs. Since pre-historic times that we live in groups that later developed into tribes, clans, villages, towns, cities... We are mammals that need to feel safe where we live. We need to have communication with each other as well, to feel safe.

Not only are we social creatures, we are storytelling ones. If you find something in a place where it shouldn't be, you'll immediately try to find a story to justify how it got there in the first place.

Music, in my opinion, is a form of communication and storytelling. As in language, there are various ways you can express the same feeling. With different tones, different styles, etc. It is the way we express ourselves to somebody else. There is a beginning, middle and end, usually.

Now, imagine a situation where I start talking to you and you don't understand what it is that I'm trying to say. I repeat it the EXACT same way and you still can't make any sense of it. And again... Would you be to blame for not understanding or would it be me who didn't know how to convey the same message in different words/sounds?

This post is talking about the selfish artists who only composes for himself and himself only AND then blames his failed expectations on an "ignorant" audience.

Personally, to make music is to create emotions and convey a story. To convey a story, it needs to, somehow, make sense.. everything needs to be justified and connected. If I do create music, I create it so that other people can hear it and understand it as well - I'm sharing my feelings/stories with them. If I'm sharing with them, I can't expect them to take their time to try to understand the mind of someone who's nobody to them, just another artist. There needs to be something that helps them understand my art so that they get emotionally involved.

This is not about selling out.

If you know the entire oxford's dictionary and want to convey a message and you happen to use the most complex words there are, you would get a very confused audience. That would maybe make sense in a oxford dictionary elite club but it would be unfair to blame it on the people. This is about conveying the same message using words that people can understand. It doesn't mean they have to be the most simple there is. It means that you can keep it simple while having complex words which people are able to make sense due to the context of what you're saying.

[musicbyjoao]

Status update on work.

- After a few hours of coding, I have been able to make InvisibleArts' website slightly more efficient than before. My only issue is with the main page... but it's now 5 a.m. and I do need to rest.

As for my music work:

Demo

- I'm currently trying to finish a demo for Crypto Cipher (an Indian sample library company) for their new software and should have it finished before Tuesday night.

Documentary

- After the demo, I will resume my work on a 35 min. documentary. Me and the director will have a meeting for the revisions and then I will go back into my lair. As always, this director's work looks stunning and I'm doing my best to give it more depth without getting in the way - don't want to give out too much just yet.

eBook

- As the deadline for the documentary got extended, I will, from time to time, be composing for the last part of the ebook "Raising Sleeping Stones", along with my good friend Leo Langinger, with whom I have been composing with for almost a year. We should finish composing by July 7th!!

Well... that's all for now! Toodles!

[musicbyjoao]

Yesterday I attended NYPSFF '14 along with the Director Nuno Serrão, and Camera gents Délio Gonçalves and Pedro Sousa. It's always interesting to watch your work on the big screen, though, at the same time, daunting.

Afterwards we got a few drinks and got to hang out a bit in the streets of Bairro Alto, Lisbon. It was a nice night!

[musicbyjoao]

Last year, I composed the soundtrack or "The Third Attempt", a short-movie directed by Nuno Serrão. It was a fun challenge to take and one that I was happy to be part of.

The movie got selected for the Short Film Corner at Cannes Festival and Arte Institute's NYPSFF '14 (New York Portuguese Short Film Festival).

Tomorrow it will be shown at NYPSFF '14 in NY, Lisbon and Cascais. I will attend the Lisbon session tomorrow (May 31st) along with the director and some of the team.

[musicbyjoao]

Impossible (?)

I remember being a kid in class thinking "no.. nothing is impossible, we're just not there yet" when a teacher of mine said with absolute certainty that "men will never be able to fly" (by themselves).

There are pre-conceptions rooted deeply in a society of what is possible and what is not. However, there's always someone, somewhere proving you wrong.

One has to realize that most people, when they say something is not possible, they actually mean that is very hard and it is something they are not willing to put on the effort. Just because something is extremely hard doesn't mean it that you can't make it happen. Which means that it takes time, a lot of thought process and a vision. Hell, it might even happen accidentally.

However, think of this the next time someone says to you that something is impossible: - Your cellphone has more computing power than what NASA used to put a man on the moon;

- We have landed a probe in Mars and we made it land safely regardless of a 7 minute interval between communications where things had to happen on the dot;

- You can e-mail someone a video and 5 seconds after, through "magic", it appears on someone's screen on the other side of the earth;

- Today you can video chat with someone live, regardless if they are on another continent.

The next time you might be tempted to say "it's impossible", try to compare it with the list above and see which one seems more likely to fit with that description.

[musicbyjoao]

Sending your portfolio to someone

After starting my own business, it never occurred to me that people would be sending me their CV's in order to apply for a position at my company or to become a collaborator. I was simply amazed and confused as I went from sending CV's to getting them.

When you are the big guy at your company, that means that you have to put a ton of work into creating your company's name. Usually, between 12-16 hours a day (including weekends) when working on projects and less when the company is in between projects.

So it is something that takes a lot of effort to build and, like a building, it can be destroyed in a very short time. If you are the founder, it also means that if it goes down, your name will suffer from collateral damage. So, having the right team IS essencial.

If you are someone applying for the job, how do you get to be a part of that team?

So, let me explain my important 3 key elements you'd need in an application e-mail and WHY they are important:

Letter of application for Personality This is your first contact with the company you are applying to, it's almost a first impression. It doesn't matter if it's a template and you've personalised it - I understand that today people send a ton of e-mails as it's hard to get a job but at least fool the person reading it that you actually wrote it for them- the application letter will give a hint about how your personality is and will let them know WHY you are applying; WHAT exactly you are looking forward to do and HOW you can contribute.

CV for Trust/Professionalism Personally, this part is most important for the recommendations. They are professionals telling them that you are to be trusted professionally (on time, able to meet deadlines, your creativity, etc.). Also, coming from the arts, a simple and different CV will do as opposed to the standard ones.

WEBSITE for Technicality This is where it matters to them from the technical point of view. Fact: Where you studied doesn't really tell your actual abilities and what you actually learnt. It is what you make out of your studies/experience. So, a website with a portfolio where they can have an idea of your quality and attention to detail is key.

Always remember the K.I.S.S. rule - Keep It Simple Stupid! ;) Avoid any extra information that might divert the attention of what actually matters.

Also have in mind that the business you are applying to is probably searching for very specific details about an individual. Not just how good they are technically. So, if you don't get accepted, it doesn't really mean you are not good at what you do. It just means you weren't what they were looking for in the first place.

The reason that I wrote this is because I personally think that if you understand the mind of who's hiring, you might be able to create a better first impression.