FILM SCORING MECCA | Emerging composer Anne-Kathrin Elisabeth Dern – part 3
Welcome to FILM SCORING MECCA – a series tailored and curated by composer Adriano Aponte for FST. Presenting amazing and insightful articles about professionals working at top level in the film music industry. Today we continue the article by composer Anne-Kathrin Elisabeth Dern.
BEST & WORST EXPERIENCE
The best training / working experience was certainly attending lots of orchestral sessions in LA and London which is a dream. But also learning from Christopher Lennertz how to economically write for TV was a highlight, especially since I also got to adapt Alan Menken’s song themes. I was very grateful to get this much trust from people I look up to so early on. Another highlight was whenever Klaus Badelt took the time to go over my compositions and orchestrations, showing me how I could improve my melodic writing and my arrangements. Some of his movie themes are among my all-time favorites so it was always a huge honor when he took the time to teach me. And last but not least, my colleagues in my first job who spent a lot of time helping me improve my mockups and music tech knowledge with plenty of patience.
RECORDING AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
Abbey Road Studios is my personal favorite, closely followed by the Sony Scoring Stage. As far as the recording experience goes, it’s not that different from any other high end scoring stage with a monumental history. After all, everyone who shows up there on the recording day is highly experienced and professional. The musicians in London are of course some of the finest in the world and if you put them into a perfectly balanced hall like Abbey Road Studio 1, you’ll get close to perfect recordings. I find those to be the easiest to produce further down the line as well since Abbey Road Studios has just the right amount of reverberation, frequency balance, but not too much character of its own. It has a “clean” sound for lack of a better word. I’m personally not a fan of spaces that bake too much character into the recordings (unless I’m really going for that specific sound) because then we’re less flexible later on when we want to do our own thing. What I like about recording at AIR Studios is that it can enhance everything a bit due to its church nature. A small string ensemble at AIR Studios can sound twice its size when arranged and recorded properly. And of course it has a special character to it so if that is desired, it’s the perfect hall. The retractable ceiling is an added bonus as well. I also like the Newman Scoring Stage at FOX Studios a lot. It always felt a bit dry for the size of it but then again it gives you a lot of opportunity to mold it later in the mix.
Other than that, I have recorded at Dada Studios in Brussels which is a lovely mid sized studio and had a gorgeous sound to it due to its unique shape. Galaxy Studios is more of a larger traditional hall and I enjoy recording there. The engineering is always on point and so are the musicians we use there. The last place I’ve recorded in was the FAME’S scoring stage which is very dry but clean sounding. I actually enjoyed experimenting with those recordings because their dryness allowed for a lot of flexibility in the mix. Other studios I’ve recorded at have unfortunately closed down at this point. But I can’t wait to try out more spaces, including Warner Bros. (LA), Teldex (Berlin), the Synchron Stage (Vienna), and Ocean Way (Nashville).
KEY FOR SUCCESS
The key of success depends on what one considers success. In general terms, I’d say hard work and determination with a little bit of luck sprinkled on top. At the same time, in this industry I wouldn’t discount a certain measure of “people skills”. Lastly, any seriously successful career in any field will be a marathon, not a sprint. Patience and dedication over a long period of time will always be necessary, not just in film scoring.
Career in any field will be a marathon, not a sprint.
WINNING AWARDS
It’s nice to see one’s work appreciated but awards are not very important to me. It’s not something that’s on my mind when writing a score. Most awards are fairly redundant unless it’s one of the bigger ones and there’s a lot of politics involved in those. At the end of the day, awards aren’t necessary to have a successful career. Composers are hired based on other things; awards usually don’t play a big role in that process. They make you feel good for a day and create some nice PR but most of them aren’t a career changer.
Awards aren’t necessary to have a successful career.
FIVE YEARS TIME
I can’t really say where I see myself in five years time. I have an idea about where I “want” to be but whether that happens or not depends on a lot of moving parts. So it’s impossible to make predictions, especially these days.
ADVICE FOR COMPOSERS
Put your music out there. Create something. Don’t wait for projects, just practice and do stuff. It’s never been easier to freely publish music and it’s never been cheaper to create music. Write an album, start a YouTube channel, put music onto streaming platforms, use social media to your advantage – there are so many possibilities that never existed before. It’s also never been easier to connect with people. Continuity is key, that’s what’s favored by both the internet algorithms as well as people looking to hire. The more you put yourself out there, the more likely you are to be found. People tend to underestimate the amount of people that get hired because a composer or filmmaker saw something on their social media feed or on YouTube or on Soundcloud or in their streaming suggestions.
Put your music out there. Create something. Continuity is key.
Coming up next in the series: FILM SCORING MECCA | legendary Orchestra Leader Thomas Bowes
