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AYP Archives: Mark Isham – How To Create A Movie Soundtrack

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Multi award-winning composer Mark Isham is in his studio and discusses his process for composing. He shares his advice for filmmakers and aspiring creative individuals. Follow his insightful tips about the process of fitting music to images to create a movie soundtrack that grabs you emotionally and much more.

From his IMDb bio: “From his days as one of the pioneering icons of electronic music to his current status as world-renowned legendary film composer, Mark Isham continues to be one of the most prolific and provocative artists on the scene. His gift for creating unforgettable melodies and his love of fresh, innovative sonic palettes have earned Isham many awards including a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Clio, in addition to multiple Grammy, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his material both as a composer and a recording artist. Most recently, Mark was honored by ASCAP with the Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement. See full bio…

mark ishammusicsoundtracktips
Nathaniel Chu:

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  • enjoyed your
    awesome vid please check out my fresh orchestral track Moonlight , Would be
    :)
    Greets, Norman

  • From his days as one of the pioneering icons of electronic music to his current status as a world-renowned legendary film composer, Mark Isham continues to be one of the most prolific and provocative artists on the scene. His gift for creating unforgettable melodies and his love of fresh, innovative sonic palettes have earned Isham many awards including a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Clio, in addition to multiple Grammy, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his material both as a composer and a recording artist. Most recently, Mark was honored by ASCAP with the Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement. Isham's musical signature is evident in his memorable scores for such notable films as Crash, awarded the Oscar for Best Picture in 2005 (Isham's score was named Best Soundtrack of 2005 by Cinescape.com), Bobby, nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture, and The Black Dahlia, with its critically lauded jazz noir soundtrack (awarded Best Score for a Drama Film - 2007, and nominated for Best Score of the Year by the International Film Music Critics Association). Other highlights include Eight Below, The Cooler, A River Runs Through It, Blade, Nell, Men of Honor, and The Secret Life of Bees. His list of collaborators in film is a veritable who's who of the entertainment industry - Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Brian De Palma, Chick Corea, Jodi Foster, Robert Altman, Sting, Wil.I.Am, Sydney Lumet, Mick Jagger and too many more to name. As a performing artist, Mark has added his unique sound - melodic, moody, sexy and cool * to a wide variety of genres. He has graced the albums of such diverseartists as Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Ziggy Marley, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Chris Isaak, and Van Morrison. His solo recordings span from electronica and classic jazz to hip-hop and ethnic world music, receiving worldwide critical acclaim including Grammy nominations for his albums Castalia and Tibet, and a win for his Virgin Records release, Mark Isham. No matter the genre, medium, or venue, Mark Isham displays a boundless ability to electrify the listener with his talent for crafting evocative new musical worlds.

  • Hey, awesome interview. Loved it to the end. I've made three shorts at NYU, two commercials, each about 15 to 30 seconds long. Working on a feature. I have the screenplay panned out, in the process of cutting and polishing it to about 90 min. Mr Isham helped quite a bit. Although I would like to score it myself, am talking to someone with music background. Anyway, I think it's important that one should just go out and do it. Great job....

  • Excellent advice through the last part of this video. It takes a bit of wisdom to know that sometimes you just can't plan or know everything before you just do it and see what happens and use what works and build on that. So true that so many of us spend so much time studying something when nothing can replace an instinctual and spontaneous approach at the end of the day. Our head might get us in going but it's the heart that drives it home.

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