How did you get started in orchestrations? After years of piano lessons and studying scores and writing for different groups, I knew I wanted to work in music. So, after graduating from the university in my hometown of Fresno, I moved to Los Angeles. I then graduated from the film-scoring program at USC. At that point I didn’t know if I would be composing for films of writing songs. To “pay the bills”, I played piano and did a lot of copying and arranging. I met Christopher Palmer while working as a copyist/librarian on the film “Three Amigos”. I really learned so much from him and enjoyed many rare and wonderful musical opportunities through working for him. This was how my living and working in England came about. The work was available and I really took to the culture, so I began to spend much more time there. Then, a short while later, Bruce Broughton introduced me to Chris Young. I believe I was Chris’s first orchestrator. Then, through Christopher Palmer, I also began to work as George Fenton’s orchestrator. What finally brought me back into the L.A. scene was meeting Marc Shaiman in early 1993. Why didn’t you pursue a career as a composer? Probably because of a lack of certainty that I had what it took. But mostly because I got caught up in a whirlwind of orchestrating and arranging. Though I have always taken time to write, I never found the ability to pursue it because my career in orchestration started so rapidly. I am happy to say that I am now in pursuit of more composing projects. What was it like working with James Newton Howard at the height of his career? I may have come to James with a strong orchestral background, but working for him really gave me the chance to learn about the ways orchestra and synths can work together. James always seems to surpass himself. Every time he does a film, I think, “Wow!” – and then he does the next one even better or differently. I feel that I am always driven to expand myself and push that much harder because of his material. May I also add that he is a truly gifted and kind person, and that also inspires me? In general, how complete of a sketch do you get from the composer? Each composer is different. I have always been given clear intention if not clear direction. With schedules so tight these days, most composers give out synth demos and transcriptions. My greatest goal is to represent in the orchestra what they are hearing and portraying in their demos and transcriptions. Sometimes it is a matter of doing a bit of final crafting; other times it is making sure what comes through on synths also comes through clearly in the orchestra. Sometimes I am trusted to really flesh out a sketch from a piano part. Always, I am there to make sure that the score is clear and offers options of weight and color through the use of cued parts. Do you ever get handwritten sketches anymore? Only from Rachel Portman. Most composers write into sequencers. They have to because they often must give demos that sound complete. This has created a bit of a minefield for orchestrators because, to make a demo sound complete, you often make orchestration and color choices based on the synth samples and the way they come across sounding in the synth world. Sometimes that is the opposite of how you would do it with the actual orchestra. It may also be the case that, in addition to what’s been written for the orchestra, there are big hits or dissonant clusters that are represented by a little dot or a triangle on the sketch. For those, we need to recreate the sound that the composer gets with a single sample. Another difference is that we don’t get dynamics and phrasings. They come via demos so, ironically, with all of this technology, we still have to spend time doing aural takedowns! The Rachel Portman projects that you have worked on – “Cider House Rules”, “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, and “Chocolat” – seem to have a lot more color in their orchestrations. Is this a change in her style, or does she rely on your talents to fill in the color? I can claim very little credit for Rachel’s scores. I think I’m the one who has learned new colors from her! Do you find it difficult to blend styles with other orchestrators who work on the same score? It has never really been an issue, because we are all working for the same composer with the same intention. The thing that is amazing is seeing how often we each do similar things, even though we work separately. It is also a great chance to learn new things from the other guys. We all seem to have our unique ways of getting certain sounds from the orchestra, but things always coalesce. How does a composer choose an orchestrator? I would look for a sympathy of purpose. If I were a composer, my first requirement for an orchestrator would be that he or she understands my music and, thus, would be able to follow my musical lead. And the willingness to put in extra effort also makes someone more desirable. It is a given that they must have a great knowledge of the orchestra. Knowledge of synths and the composer’s mental process is also important for understanding what the composer may imply, even if it is not spelled out. What is the average timeframe to complete an orchestration for a score? These days it is one to three weeks. When I started out, it was nearer to six weeks. This partly explains the greater number of orchestrators on a film. When you see six names, it often means that two or three orchestrators did the majority of the work and the rest picked up the slack. Truthfully, I would say that there is never enough time! Since you work almost exclusively with a handful of composers, how do you choose your projects when more than one score is due at the same time? So far, I haven’t been confronted with this situation. Quite often, when I am really busy, I will be finishing one score and then starting on another, but I never actually work on two scores at the same time. If the situation you mention ever did arise, I suppose I would choose to work for whomever asked me first and/or whomever I had the longest association with.