“Count your blessings, name them one by one…”
Even though this is a weird, old song, it’s actually a good idea sometimes. It’s good to account what we are thankful for, right? I’ve certainly found this to be true.
When we write down or talk about things we are thankful for, it helps us to avoid the pit of negativity. You can’t possibly have a bad attitude AND be thankful at the same time, it’s a physical impossibility (ok…a slight exaggeration). But still…I think you get the point.
I have many, many things to be thankful for–including my lovely wife–but today I was just talking with somebody about a really cool opportunity I’ve been given, and I thought I should recount it here to make sure I keep a good record of things I’m thankful for.
In the film & TV industry, there are a few standards in regards to music prep. These are software programs that everyone uses with very slight variation. In order to work with other people (which you absolutely have to do), you must be using one or all of these platforms. These include the following:
–For scoring/sequencing: Digital Performer
–For recording: ProTools
–For print music: Finale or Sibelius
I use Logic. For all of it. Why? Because in reality, it’s a better product, and was chosen so by professors at APU as the standard. And really, if I am doing the entire process for myself, and not working with anyone else–Logic IS the best. However, that’s just not how the industry works. There are a dozen guys working on a film score at any given time (sometimes more). I’m working with about 4 guys on a project right now, and that’s just the music prep (and it’s a smaller job, relatively)…
So imagine my horror when I slowly figured out that I had been educated with an essentially worthless tool (Logic) and would have to learn an entirely new way to do “business”. It’s actually been a difficult thing to work through. The new programs–mainly Finale & Sibelius–are beasts, and are very difficult to learn. Regarding Finale–I’ve been unsuccessful in my previous attempts up to use it and become as adept at it as I am at Logic. It’s frustrating when it takes you 3 hours to do something in Finale that you could have finished in Logic in 10 minutes…believe me.
Then Joe came along.
Joe is a composer and has given me little bits of work to do for him during the last few months. As it goes ’round here, when somebody asks you if you know how to do something, the answer is always “Yes!” even if that means working your butt off to figure out that thing you just promised you could do. So Joe gave me some little stuff to do for him in Finale with his scores, mostly just prep work. So I worked my tootie off to learn the “ins and outs” of Finale to get that specific job done. He told me to invoice him with an hourly rate, and since I was not as adept at Finale to get it done in a timely manner, I adjusted the hours slightly. If it took me 3 hours to do something, but most of the time was spent reading the manual and searching through the help menus, I only charged him for 1 hours worth of work, and so on…
I did good work the first time around, so the next time, the work load was slightly more. This means back to the help menus and fiddling around with Finale, but I’ve got all of the stuff I learned last time under my belt, so it was faster.
Then the next job came around–and this time I’m writing drum charts and guitar charts for the scores–more learning, but it goes even faster…and so on and so forth.
I’ve been working on a project for Joe this entire week, and I must say that I’m feeling more and more confident with my skills in Finale than ever before–and I have Joe to thank for it.
It’s rare that someone like Joe comes around, because most people wouldn’t give a guy a chance like this. Most people would just find someone they know that is an expert and that could get the job done quickly. I would not (at this point) consider myself that type of person, so the big jobs aren’t for me JUST yet. But these smaller ones are perfect. PERFECT for me so I can learn a whole new set of tools.
So I’m thankful, and blessed.
I’m also thankful for my wife that tolerates the enormous amount of hours away from her (and the kids) to pursue this career. Eventually I won’t have to work 70 million jobs and will have a little more balance in life–but in this season she has been and continues to be extremely supportive of my pursuits. Not all women would be so understanding and sacrificial. So I’m thankful, and blessed.
I’m sure there will be more to come…..
