how can I become a composer as fast as possible? #snes

"Hey Tobi, how can I become a composer as fast as possible?" This is one question I get all the time. In the end, my answer always boils down to the same thing: There's no shortcut. I used to think so too, or at least I hoped so. )

But then I realized pretty quickly (or rather, it became clear to me over the first 7 years after school, where I was barely making any money from music) as I sat there with my laptop searching for "how to become a composer" that there really is no shortcut. But today I know: that's totally okay.

You're not a composer who can charge $1000+ per minute of music if you've only been making music for 3 or 4 years. The whole thing just takes time. Luckily, that became clear to me early on when I was involved in my first no-budget productions and realized that I had no idea what I was doing. Sure, my music might have sounded decent – but that was about it. I had no clue about video game music/film music techniques and didn't know how to "read" band instrumentals to improve them to the best of my ability. I didn't know how to interpret colors correctly or how to strengthen a company's image with music in the best possible way. I had to learn all that – and that takes time. Through dozens of no-budget productions and many, many hundreds of hours of analyzing and recreating soundtracks and music in general. So I gradually got better, and at some point, my music, but above all my experience and knowledge, also had financial value. It just didn't have that before. You have to understand that.

I don't know – imagine you want to be a boxer. Maybe you already have some muscles. But if you walked up to a pro boxer and asked, "Hey, where's the shortcut to the world championship fights?" the answer would be pretty clear. And IF you did fight there, you'd quickly realize that you might not be up to the task. It also takes years, even decades, of passionate training and experience. #snes #composers #supernintendo #tech