Q: My name is…
A: Tim Count, I so need to do a vampire series!
I’ve been composing for screen for
A: 20 years
Q: I studied music at…. and qualified with a….
A: WAAPA (West Australian Academy Performing Arts) Jazz piano and arranging
Q: My musical journey involved….
A: Father’s love of classical music. He couldn’t play a note but knew just about every composition from that era and who composed it.
Q: The instrument I’m best at is…
A: Piano. I also play drums, and rolling banjo (on a keyboard!) Goes with a stint in a country band.
Q: If I wasn’t me, the composer I’d love to be is….. because….
A: I thought about super innovative composers however kept coming back to the tried and tested Thomas Newman.
Q: My composing style is….
A: All over the place
Q: My favorite sample libraries are….
A: My own, supplemented with smatterings of NI, Spitfire etc
Q: My must have plugin is……
A: a nice compressor and reverb.
Q: All my scores seem to include… (instrument, or harmonic style, or….)
A: a flat 6th…I can’t help it!
Q: My workflow is typically….
A: Excitement followed by terror, wake at 2AM with an idea, terror, construct a theme around idea, less terror, eventually share with director, and breathe.
Q: I compose using…
A: acoustic piano and sometimes an inspiring sound patch
Q: My screen composing income is supplemented by….
A: Some post sound work and the odd lecture in music production. (secret, I actually learn heaps from the students!)
Q: If I wasn’t a screen composer I’d probably be a…. because….
A: A struggling artist. I love it and maybe in the future.
Q: The things I love about my job is…..
A: The flexibility and uncertainty of what a new day brings.
Q: The things I dislike about my job is….
A: Same answer as question above. (Has someone already said that?)
Q: My favorite piece of technology is…. because….
A: The sustain pedal, because it’s the original reverb
Q: My favorite piece of non filmscore music is…. because….
A: Oscar Peterson. Because he’s a master of combining jazz, blues, gospel and country with such fluid technique.
Q: My favorite film is…. because…
A: No Country for Old Men because I was so immersed, I wasn’t even aware of the score. I don’t even think there’s much at all. A great example of restraint.
Q: When I’m not composing, I like to….
A: paint
Q: A book that resonated with me was…. because …
A: Anything by Bill Bryson, especially Short History of Nearly Everything but also The Body: A Guide for Occupants
