TO BE CREATIVE ON POINT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. EVERYBODY KNOWS THE SITUATION WHEN YOU ARE SITTING IN FRONT OF A WHITE SHEET OF PAPER TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT BEGINNING AND THE RIGHT IDEA. HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED YOURSELF IN SUCH A SITUATION AND HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO FIND THE BEGINNING?

“Yes, I know this situation and I often find myself in it especially when there is a deadline I have to stick to. Often I force myself to start with any idea to overcome the dead point and to get into the right workflow. Partially I overrule my first idea and just use it as a catalyst to get some new ideas in mind. It’s important to start the work and not to suffocate every idea with self-doubts.“

IF YOU GOT THE CHANCE TO GIVE YOUR 15 YEARS YOUNGER SELF AN ADVICE – WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

“If you start out on your personal development sometime you try to slip in things that bother your current thoughts. That is very important for the learning effect, but also can go down the drain if you have to work on commissioned works. Probably I would advise myself to gain a more objective view on the tracks and more to empathize with my customer. In my opinion this is the factor with the most potential of development of young composers.”

HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO FIND THE RIGHT WORKFLOW? DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS OR METHODS THAT HELP YOU TO GET INTO THE SPIRIT OF A THEME?

“Rather not, but the requirements are very different so it can’t hurt to listen to tracks of the same genre.”

HOW CAN SAMPLE LIBRARIES SUPPORT YOU IN YOUR DAILY WORK? SURE, THEY ARE HELPFUL FOR TIME CRITICAL PROJECTS, BUT ARE THERE ANY OTHER BENEFITS?

“In general libraries enable me to make my musical vision audible. In this regard we have a leg-up on composers of the past who arranged their idea on the piano and just before the recording session they could first listen to the implementation through a bigger ensemble.”

HOW DO YOU RATE THE QUALITY OF SAMPLE LIBRARIES IN COMPARISON TO LIVE RECORDINGS?

“I think there is no general answer. It depends on the genre. Nowadays some instruments are well represented. Percussion libraries are on a very high level. You can record great mixing tracks that are hard to record with live drums as you can control the single signals of the rate of overdrive. But also the melody instruments get better and better on samples. Some legato instruments sound really realistic. In some genres a mix of libraries and live recordings is established as you can use both strengths of the two music worlds.”

WHAT DOES YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH A NEW LIBRARY LOOK LIKE? WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU AND WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR YOU WHILE TESTING THE NEW PRODUCT?

“Besides the sound aspect, the usability is really important. An inconvenient mapping can keep me from using it as the layering of several instruments is very annoying if you have to adjust to many parameters.”

HOW DO YOU JUDGE YOUR OWN COMPOSITION? WHICH FACTORS PLAY A ROLE?

“During a commissioned work the compliance of the customer’s briefing plays the biggest role. Thereby the creative frame is narrowly defined. But I am still in search of certain originality. I am only really content if I manage to surprise myself.”

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU RECOGNIZE THAT YOU FOLLOW THE WRONG DIRECTION WHILE COMPOSING? HOW DO YOU REACT?

“Yes, it happens. When I notice that my composition doesn’t lead to the right result I start a new one. In the best case I can use parts of the arrangement as a starting point for a new idea. If I am in a real deadlock it is reasonable to start all over again.”

HOW DO YOU HANDLE CUSTOMER’S CRITIC IF HE/SHE HAS GOT ANOTHER VIEW ON THE RESULT AS YOU HAVE?

“I would say it is individual different. Some customers are open for contrary argumentation, when you fight for your idea. Often you have to bite the bullet and do some reworks. Sometimes you have to do some reworks although you think there is no optimization scope. That’s part of the business.”

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Christian Hartung