A Forum Interview with SHAWN CLEMENT - Post Your Questions

**bbybeaniej** · 08-23-2006, 08:44 PM

What advice would you give to someone getting started in the business?

Thanks!

**Craig Reeves** · 08-30-2006, 04:35 AM

I am not sure whether or not you get this question alot, but here goes...

We all know how many oppurtunities composing professionally can do for your professional life, but does composing professionally allow you oppurtunities in your social life as well? Does it allow you to meet new and interesting people and actually make friends with them (like, hang out outside of work)?

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by LFO

Hello Shawn,
I've watched you name pop up all over the place for the past 8 plus years it seems. Congratulations on such a successful career!

Buffy was an incredible series and a major part of the show was the music. I know Joss Whedon is a musical kind of guy (If you can count `They got the mustard out!' music

) and I wondered if he spent more than the usual amount of time on the series music. How involved did he get with you on creating atmosphere, etc.?

With Buffy you could go from horror to comedy in the blink of an eye. Did this create musical challenges for you?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

-Kevin

Working with Joss was really easy. We'd literally spot the show and he would say 'go.' The thing about Joss is that, when he hires you, he trusts what you do. He would spot and tell me when to make it scary. Every so often, he'd call in the middle of the night with an idea, but I rarely had to change music. It's wasn't about cues not working, but about him wanting to be featuresque.

No, it didn't create challenges. I get bored really easy and like jumping from style to style, so for me it's better working that way.

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by Prowland

Do you have any tips for someone trying to break into the video game music market? Is it better to apply to a company or work on your own?

No matter what part of the scoring business you want to get in, it's all based on relationships. When you apply for a company, you could get lost. The idea is to meet the individual producers and those involved with it, so going to a GDC or E3 is the best way to go. You want to really meet these people, get to know them and get them to listen to your music. Perseverence, perseverence. If they hire you, kick ~~~ and do a good job.

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by Craig Reeves

Hey, can you describe to us where most of your sounds come from when you're doing game music? For instance, what sample libraries do you own? Do you own any Garritan libraries?

I have almost every library you can possibly get. I have a lot of custom stuff and I tweak a lot of the stuff you can buy. However, I do want to say the Garritan string library is the best you can buy. I use it all the time. When possible, I try to employ live stuff in with that. It's the combination of multiple elements that give me my sound.

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by Narator

Hey Composers,

Thank you Gary for this wonderful opportunity!!

I am in love more with his music than his awards. So i will skip the "how did you get in the game" questions and ask him something regarding composition!

1) With which instrument you tweak your melody first? Do you harmonize it before or after? While composing do you play by ear or write music? Which groups of instruments do you do in different situatons(action, tragedy, mystery, romance)?

And i really can not think of anything right now but i will come later and fix these.

Thank you,
Dean Milenkovic

Every piece of music is different, but when I write, I write it all at the same time. When I write a cue, I hear all the parts at the same time. Every cue has a different process. What hits me first may be a groove or a rhythm. There's no set method other than that I write it all at the same time.

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by wrayer

Hi Shawn,

I am wondering what instrument is your major instrument: Keyboard, Clarinet, Trumpet, etc.?

What software do you use to realize your score, or, are you a paper and pencil kind of writer?

And, because I am intersted, who did you study composition from or are you self taught? There were some great composers at Berklee

Thank you,

William Rayer

Guitar and keyboards.

Because of the nature of the gigs I do, I use Cakewalk/Sonar to write. I could be a paper and pencil kind of writer, but that's not the world we live in. I've been using this software for about 10 years.
I took private guitar lessons since I was 12 and went to Berklee for about 2 years. I didn't major in anything. For composition, I'm self taught. So, to answer you more directly, I have a combination of the two. You have to teach yourself to write.

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by Iplayjazz

Gear Question---- What is your setup, and what do you use as your "go to" sounds/libraries? ex. Strings, piano, drums, ambient.

Thanks

Alan

There are no go to sounds, per se, because they change for the cue that I'm writing. A lot of composers may have a set up for different cues, but I don't do that. I'm very cue specific. I start from scratch every time which gives me diversity.

As far as my set-up, I'm PC based. I have three Giga Studios, 2 Akai S-6000, 2 E4s, a Kurzweil K2500, an E2 -- these are my main things. I also have a slew of other stuff that I can use at my disposal. For mixing, I have 3 Yamaha O2R's syched together and a Mackie 1604 submixer.

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by Melody

I like the music you did on Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. Can you tell me what was your inspiration. Did you read Batman comic books or see the movie? What helped you to create the mood?

Thank you for taking time to answer our questions.

I've never read a Batman comic book in my life. That was the second of two Batman games I did. On this game, they wanted to bring elements of the film to the score. And, of course, I'd seen the movie. The first one, "Batman: Vengence," they wanted a completely new Batman. They didn't want me to watch the movie.

They wanted me to referrence the Danny Elfman music in the second one, but they brought in a remixer to remix my music from the first one in the game play.

**Shawn Clement** · 09-12-2006, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Justus

Do you begin composing by sketching your ideas into the sequencer on a piano guidetrack or do record the orchestral instruments directly track-by -track?

Depends on the project. it depends on whether you have live player. I don't sketch. I just start writing. Watch it and write the first thing that comes into my head. It's very improvisational.