We recently connected with Risto Miettinen and have shared our conversation below.
Risto, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Good question. I wish I knew the answer to that! Lol Film composing is a real amalgamation of skills.
I got my start working as an assistant for composers on film music teams.
And at the same time working on my own projects.
You can break skills into several areas.
First is being a good listener, understanding your client/collaborator. Whether you are sitting in a room with a director or getting a music brief from a music library in email form. You are the decoder, which is crucial. Understanding what they want from the music? And being able to guide the process along. Sometimes the the client might think they want something, what isn’t what they want?
If that makes any sense? They might need to hear and see their first idea up against picture and realize that’s not what’s needed for the project. Then as the composer you can be a collaborator and guide the project along to greener pastures.
Secondly, once we know what the plan is, it’s time to write the music. Generally speaking this means sitting down in front of your computer and using a music sequencer program to create the music.
There are some cases when a composer might sit down in front of a piano with blank sheet music, but those composers are rare these days. Most work is done in the digital domain. So knowing your gear is key!
Thirdly, I’d say are technical skills. On a bigger production you might have a team, a mixer, engineers, arrangers & programmers. But even in such a case, you’ll still need to be able to guide the production along. That requires technical understanding of what’s going on. On smaller productions, the composer, might be more of a one man band, they’ll write the music, mix it, master it and work with the client. Know how to manage all aspects of the process.
Fourth, is the business part. What’s your budget, etc? What kind of contract? All the not so fun, non-creative stuff. Admittedly, spending time going through contracts is never a party, but necessary. Always read the fine print.
Fifth, is networking. Staying active in the right circles to get gigs. That varies for folks from just knowing the right people to frequenting film festivals to networking online. Main thing is to always keep several irons in the fire.
Looking back on my career. I wish I’d understood, how all the different components lock in with each other. I was a little bit too focused on the creative aspect. Which I think is natural, most creatives want to create.
I’d say the biggest obstacle is understanding to take a step back looking at the bigger picture and understanding how everything fits in. And how I can navigate my course better? Also, understanding the industry is always forever changing.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I was born in Finland and grew up in Helsinki. I discovered my love for music by playing guitar as a teen, After high school, I ended up in London, England studying music and during University I got involved with film music, eventually making the leap across the pond to sunny Los Angeles.
I work in various scenarios, it can be for filmmakers (producers, directors, etc). In which case we’ll probably have in-person or Zoom meetings and view a rough cut. Then we’ll start working out what the music should be. Or it can be as a member of a music team arranging, synth programming, music designing, mixing for another composer, who needs a set of helping hands on deck. Or it can be for a music library, in which case I’ll write music for a music brief and then they’ll have it placed on a TV show, film, game or whatever future “3D hologram metaverse” media is around the corner.
The eternal problem is figuring out what the client wants. With music it can be often trickier than you think? Sometimes it might be good to present them with a couple of options, I might have ideas that they haven’t thought of? Or vice versa, they might have suggestions or ideas that I haven’t thought of. That’s where the sparks of collaboration can begin. Once we’ve settled on a direction and they’re happy. That’s always the best feeling and the fun can be begin with tinkering details.
I’m proud of having music placed on the Super Bowl, music in a John Travolta Movie called I’m Wrath, music programming on the Sims 4 video game, music placed on The Daily Show, music placements on over approx. a 100 shows across the globe and a film called The Edited I scored recently. It’s always fun to think my music is touring the world, whether playing on NBC in the US or the BBC in the UK. or MTV in Brazil.
What sets me apart, is that I love experimenting when possible. I’ve made music from Bumble Bees buzzing in jars, fish skeletons, cacti, hiring Death Metal vocalists for musical textures and using experimental techniques on the guitar..
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
That I get to be myself. I’ve always loved music and movies. It might sound cliche, but I don’t think I had a choice. Being creative and making music was always instinctive to me. When I was a teenager in different bands, very often I’d be the person the others would look to for new music parts.
That always left me feeling, maybe there might be something to this? And when time came to become a grown up. I made the very “responsible” choice of choosing an artistic path.
And nothing beats the rush, when you have to solve creative problems. How do I get this to sound right? What is the client after here? It can be stressful, but sometimes those are the most rewarding moments.
It’s also a very satisfying feeling watching or listening to a project a year later and feeling like it turned out pretty good.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Yes, why would you want to have such a crazy job :) I think the nature of work is a big question. I love being freelance and I don’t have set work hours, I only have deadlines. That also means, there’s no clear weekdays or weekends.
I think it’s healthy for most people to question what’s the most effective way to work. Most people grow up with the idea of set work hours, ie 9 to 5. But is that the best way to work? When are you at your most productive? Are you an evening or morning person ? I know there’s jobs where this idea can’t be applied. But I do think there’s a whole lot of jobs that could be structured better to get people to be happier at work and more productive.
I think that’s something my non-creative friends don’t always understand, that you can structure your life in a far more flexible way. I do feel that it makes me a lot happier. I’ve learned a lot about myself. When am I the most productive? What’s the best way for me to structure my days? How many hours of sleep a night is good for me?
There’s a lot of freedom in that to explore your own productivity and lifestyle, which has helped me grow as a person. And I feel like my non-creative/freelance friends don’t understand that. However, there are times when things get really busy and I submerge into music madness, I think they don’t really seem to understand those moments either :)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ristocomposer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ristormuzik/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/risto.rmuzik
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/risto-miettinen-r-muzik-309922a
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ristormuzik1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCITxvVky0s2-iUk95GO7vuQ
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Oc1UmYGGaSO8FNCeTtdys?si=ubt-9AKWTYKW-Wy4b6NNFQ https://music.apple.com/us/artist/risto-miettinen/305427046 https://tidal.com/browse/artist/6228176 https://music.amazon.com/artists/B001TEUZ6U/risto-miettinen
Image Credits
Gui Bittencourt Kevin Break