Alan Silvestri Breaks Down the Composing Workflow Behind his Blockbuster Scores | Native Instruments

“When I see a piece of film, I have an idea. You internalize it. You see it, and it affects you in some way, and then something comes out. For me, it’s music that comes out. It’s conversational for me. The movie says something, it always goes first, and then I say something back.”

Watch the video for a cinematic retrospective full of tips, tricks, and personal anecdotes from the composer behind Back To The Future, Forrest Gump, and The Avengers.

#NativeInstruments #AlanSilvestri #Kontakt #Filmscoring

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[suedetvrecordingstudio]

Alan was my 1st drummer in my 1st band. Even At a young age of 14 he was a genius... I'll never forget the syncopated drum beat he made for the high school band.. This man is a modest genius

[jefgibbons]

This man and his score for Back to the Future is easily the most influential person on me and what I did with my life. I obsessed over that soundtrack as a kid, learned a bunch of instruments, went to music school, and started scoring films. Thank you sir for your incredible and inspirational work, I'm convinced I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for your work. Now my 5 year-old looks at me with big eyes whenever he hears a lydian melody and says "Dad! Back to the Future!" Your creative work continues on to the next generation!

[brucekai]

If the younger generation only knew how influential he is to modern film composing. This man is up there with Williams for his work without doubt.

[ryanhumphries]

This man is an underrated genius. Yes, we have Williams and we have Zimmer but it was thanks Silvestri that we got such timeless classics like the Avengers theme, Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. I could go on for hours but I'm just saying, this man deserves more recognition.

[sergio_grez]

My love for Predator score will never die. Just beyond amazing at every second of it.

[DJKennethA]

I love how excited he gets when he starts talking about the avengers theme. You can just hear how much he loves doing this.

[ArturoAlbero]

I’m a simple man. I see Alan Silvestri and I click like. He’s GREAT. A true rolemodel

[mooji]

Thanks a lot for making this! But it’s Maybe unedited full version in the future? It’s so golden!

[cinnful]

I'd like to see NI come out with a technical series of videos explaining how all the routing is done for each DAW, for each instrument and articulation, how to incorporate the Vienna plug-in which I've seen other composers use in this fashion to easily put together a scoring template. I've seen dozens of videos of how people use this approach, I've seen dozens of user-made videos of how to route for this or that but a comprehensive series from NI themselves would be very helpful in wrapping my head around some of this routing. It would also be helpful to know exactly how many computers are connected, the total TB storage needed, the minimum requirements for a system to embark upon such massive templates so they could be used effectively.

[kenrickhadley]

I am so happy to see Alan Silvestri finally speaking on the creative process of creating the scores that has made me cry in a dark movie theater for years. Now i know the man responsible for the tear your heart out, heroic, triumphant, heart stopping, pulse pounding, gloriou, magnificent and EPIC scores that i have collect for years. YES this man is Divine and gentle, GOD made him. I started crying when all the HEROES came back, to your music in AVENGERS ENDGAME. Thank you mister Silvestri for the music that made the heart i have today.

[zachmcfadden]

Coming from the standpoint of someone studying composition and pushing to one day be up there with these greats, it's rough. I spend more time being frustrated with myself over stuff sounding the same, contemplating dropping my dreams, staring at a blank project wondering why I bother... but when I do strike that little gold piece it's the greatest feeling in the world. It's a rough career, there's no such thing as going out and just getting a job for composing, you work your ass off and you grind every second of the day to make a name for yourself, to be discovered, to one day strike that gold job that puts you on the map. And as the little guy it's daunting, looking at these guys who've been the greats for decades, and setting a goal to be there with them one day. But one day I will, I'm sure of that. I look at these guys workflows and I see similarities in mine, and it reminds me I'm on the right track, and to keep going

[jingleskhanaudioproductions]

Alan's compositions are high class. It's good to see him teaching the next gen of composers and producers about tech assets.

[mostonsdurran]

He wrote the Predator theme, and i love him just for that.

[liquiditey]

As he's flicking through his track archive opening all those instances of damage my Computer just switched off and emitted smoke !

[johnsrev]

Alan Silvestri is one of the greats in my book, right up there with Jerry Goldsmith, Thomas Newman, John Williams, et. al. I am amazed that it looks like his writing rig is based around an iMac and not an iMac Pro, Mac Pro, or larger PC. If you look at the composing studios of other "A-List" composers in LA you find a much more extravagant build-out. In this case, talent is superior to equipment. Thanks, Alan for your music and artistry. It has inspired many of us.

[SamTheBeardGuy]

I'm just encouraged that a man in his 60's can use a computer better than some kids I teach in their 20's

[Sphereal]

His score for the Mummy 2 is a magnificent work of art. Simply wonderful.

[c.r.blankenship]

Avengers Endgame is this guy's masterpiece. He should have won an Oscar for it, and I can't believe he wasn't nominated for it.

[johnnmusic]

“The movie says something, it always goes first”

A brilliant piece of advice. Summarizes the art of scoring film.

[thiagodalpoz]

Avengers deserve a dedicated chapter with him showing some scenes and music behind it, a truly masterpiece!