Bill Brown

Bill Brown – You MUST sound unique

We all have access to the same software products, and if you want to sound unique you can't be using old libraries that are everywhere. I have all of the latest sample libraries; create my own custom samples; and record, mix, and prepare custom ambiences and loops for each project regardless of the budget. I also keep the full orchestra with all its articulations up and running on a separate system, connected to the main sequencing system via Ethernet, so any ideas that come to mind can be implemented quickly and efficiently. I’m always updating that orchestra system and my template to make sure that my sound is fresh and doesn't sound mass-produced.

— Bill Brown

Bill Brown – What makes music great

Q: Do you have a big gear collection or a few quality go-to pieces?  —  A: I have some high quality gear, but the greatest music is usually about the theme or the concept, not about the rack of compressors it went through. Experimenting with new instruments can be really inspiring though. For one of the films I worked on this year I purchased a 109 year old upright piano to sample and record for the film and the director was thrilled with the results! The same can be said for using unusual analog gear or stringed instruments to create unexpected sounds.

— Bill Brown

Bill Brown – Do-it-yourself composer is the new normal

We are seeing mostly package deals with diminishing resources for live players, mixing, and music editing. Many composers including myself have used our entire composer’s fee to hire live players in order to produce the sound the film deserves. We hope for residuals or back-end, but many times it never happens. The landscape is changing towards exactly what this book is about, the ‘do-it-yourself’ composer.

— Bill Brown

Bill Brown – Good templates create productivity

To be productive you need to have your tools ready. I have all of the latest sample libraries, create my own custom samples, and record, mix and prepare custom ambiences and loops for each project, regardless of the budget. I also keep the full orchestra with all its articulations up and running on a separate system, connected to the main sequencing system via Ethernet, so any ideas that come to mind can be implemented quickly and efficiently. I’m always updating that orchestra system and my template.

— Bill Brown

Bill Brown – Different ways to notate music for sessions

Sheet music requirements depend on the genre and context, so you have to make sure your music is written appropriately for the session you're doing. If it’s an orchestral recording date, every nuance is on paper. If it’s just myself with a musician or two in the studio, we have more space to improvise and invent as we go. Recording sessions are always the most expensive part of the process, so it's very important that whatever is written down is perfectly clear and perfectly appropriate for the context.

— Bill Brown

Bill Brown – Composers aren’t magicians

Generally, if you’re under the gun and have no budget for players or help, you’re not going to have the time or resources it takes to pull off a complex, high quality score, regardless of how talented you are.

— Bill Brown


Bill Brown recently completed scoring his ninth season of the hit CBS series CSI:NY, and has composed scores for the films The Devil’s Tomb starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Dark Prophecy directed by Anthony Zuiker, Brother’s Keeper, Dermaphoria, Trapped, and the charming French language independent film Layover which recently premiered to glowing reviews and excited audiences at the Seattle International Film Festival in June of 2014. Bill also continues to write powerful orchestral and electronic scores for hit game titles, with a wealth of credits that include The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction for Vivendi Universal, recorded with a full orchestra at Warner Brothers Eastwood Scoring Stage, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Wolfenstein, Lineage 2, Command & Conquer: Generals, and his recent modern hybrid orchestral/electronic score for Captain America: Super Soldier.

In 1991, Bill graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree that included study in jazz theory and composition, song writing, modern theory and orchestration and finally the art of film composition, a passion of his inspired years earlier hearing the scores of John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Barry. During his time in Boston, Bill found inspiration in the music of modern composers like Paul Hindemith, Shostakovich, Bartok, Pendereki and English composer Ralph Vaughn Williams, studying 20th century harmony, orchestration and techniques which would find their way into his orchestral compositions later. Bill’s passion for electonics and sound design began with analog tape and programming classic synths back in the 80’s and continues today with ever-evolving new technologies at the composer’s LA studio. While at Berklee, Brown began to experiment with both song form, winning the Berklee Songwriter’s contest in 1990, and more purely experimental approaches inspired by Steve Reich, John Adams, and the chromatisicm of Schoernberg, Berg, Harris and Ligeti writing music for small ensembles and electronics throughout and beyond his five years in Boston before moving back to New York, and eventually to Hollywood, CA.

Bill’s scores have been nominated by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, L.A. Weekly, and the Game Audio Network Guild, and have won awards from the ITVA, and BMI as well as the Music4Games Editor’s Choice award. He is represented by Randy Gerston at First Artists Management.

AWARDS

BMI TV Music Awards for “CSI:NY” Seasons 1-9

Canadian Video Game Awards Best Original Music Nominee:
“Captain America: Super Soldier”

Golden Reel Nominee for Best Music:
“Wolfenstein” (Activision / id Software)

Music4Games – M4G Editor’s Choice Award:
“The Sum of All Fears” (PC)

“BEST MUSIC AWARD – PCXL Magazine’s 1998 All-Star Awards:
“Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six”

Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) 2003 Awards Nominee
Lineage II: the Chaotic Chronicle (NCSoft), in the following categories:
Best Live Performance Recording, Best Cinematic / Cut-Scene Audio,
Best Original Vocal Song – Choral

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2003
Games Awards Nominee in the Music category:
“Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War”

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2003
Games Awards Nominee in the Music category:
“Command and Conquer: Generals”

ITVA Golden Reel Award:
Kennedy Space Center “Gateway to the Universe” soundtrack

Golden Reel Nominee: Feature Film
“ALI” (Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Golden Reel Nominee: Feature Film
“Any Given Sunday” (Warner Bros.)

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2001
Interactive Entertainment Award Nominee in the Music category:
“Clive Barker’s Undying”

“Best Original Music” Nominee by L.A. Weekly:
Blue Sphere Alliance’s live theatrical production “Nagasaki Dust”

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