Interview with Ken Foster

Well this is Scott.....the one that came for the Jazz routine a while back. As it seems, our Civic class has to find out what career they want to be and why and one of the objectives is to have an interview with someone who is in the range of their occupation. I've chosen to be a composer or Sound Producer for videogames.....it sounds more fun. I have a list of questions for this interview and I hope you can atleast answer most of them. 
  1. How old were you when you decided on this occupation? 
    2. I always enjoyed music, and felt that I would be doing it most of my life. However, I only considered doing it full time in my early 20’s
  2. How did you happen to choose this occupation?

    3. I took a very comprehensive aptitude test (Johnson O Connor Human Engineering), and found I had the aptitudes equivalent to others in the composition area, and in quantities that would make it very difficult not to go into music full time.

  3. What other occupations have you seriously considered? 

    4. I was studying to be a dentist.

  4. What do you do in your job? (duties, responsibilities, etc.) 
To make a living in music in the Salt Lake area, I do quite a few things.
  • Teach privately, with an emphasis in the creative area (i.e.: improvisation, composing, arranging, etc.) I have written and curriculized several programs a student can advance through. Giving the students the ability to play and work professionally as a musician.
  • I work very actively with my band (The Ken Foster Trio).. we average a couple of engagements a week, all casual, covering everything from company parties, dances, receptions, pageants, shows, etc.
  • I compose and produce music for film and video, including documentaries, commercials, infomercials, theater, trade shows, dance and show groups, private label CD’s, stock music, as well as personal CD’s for The Ken Foster Trio.
  • We also own and operate a recording studio, most of the time for my projects, but occasionally for others.
  • I also operate and maintain two web sites: KenFoster.com, FosterMusic.com 
  1. What activities on your job do you enjoy most? Least? 

    2. Just about anything that is creative, I enjoy. Sometimes the business details are annoying, i.e.: taxes, bookwork, dealing with difficult people, bill collecting.

    Another area that in the past has been difficult to enjoy, is copying parts for players. I enjoy the composition process, but don’t like the copying of parts. Fortunately with great computer programs, this isn’t as much of a drudgery as it has been in the past.

  2. What are the working conditions like were you work? 

    3. Since I work out of my home and for myself, they are great. I have a 900 square foot studio to teach, record, and do just about anything.

  3. What is your working schedule like? (Include hours per day, evenings, weekends) 

    4. Naturally my band plays out most weekends, and occasionally during the week. My teaching schedule tends to be either early morning from about 6:30am to 9:30am, and in the afternoons from about 2:00pm to 6:00pm. The composing I do, is usually during the day, or in the evening. This depends a lot on the project, and timetable for when it needs to be done.

  4. What kind of skills or abilities are necessary for your job? 

    5. To do music full time as a composer, be sure you have the talent. This would include improvisation skills. Playing skills help, but you could conceive of most ideas in your mind, then put them to paper. I have found however, I compose quite well by playing, improvising. The difficulty is in your playing skills, you tend to be limited to what you can play. To help overcome this limitation, I recommend mastering your instrument, understanding theory inside and out, and be willing to do a lot of experimenting.

    Formal training can never hurt. You might find that much of the material learned might not seem useful, but in the end, it does make you a well-rounded musician/composer. Plus, you are not reinventing the wheel, you can take what you learn, and expound on it.

  5. What high school subjects might help someone prepare for this career? 

    6. AP Theory, Band and Orchestra classes, and private lessons. Also, talk your teachers into letting you write or arrange pieces for the Orchestra or Band, and possibly for the drama department.

  6. What other training or education is required for this job? 

    7. I think an awareness and understanding of various styles, ethnic, pop, religious, classical, rock, and jazz are very helpful. As a composer, you are asked frequently to compose with certain limitations…perhaps an Irish American style with Coal Miners in the early 1920’s, using animatronics in an adventure ride (this is an example of one style I had to write for) 

  7. What are some of the personality traits that would be useful for your job? 

    8. As with most careers, having a disposition that is pleasant, friendly, approachable, will help tremendously. There are a few eccentric composers out their, but I have found that many producers will pass them by, just because they are so difficult to work with. In composing commercially, there is no such thing as a "sacred note"… you will be reworking, changing, rewriting more than you care to admit, just to be able to please a director, or producer. This just comes with the territory. 

    On larger scale projects, such as movies, often the compositions are sent to a sequencer, who records the score using synthesizers. This is referred to as Polaroid Music. It is then screened by the director and producer… if it works, it is given the okay to record with a full orchestra, if not, it is sent back to the composer.

  8. What are the people like that you work with? 

    9. This is a tough question. It varies… sometimes you are working with some very difficult people, who you can never seem to please until there is no time left. Other times, it is very easy to work with various producers and directors. The trick is to develop a personality that is diplomatic, can go with the punches, and still have fun doing what you love to do. 

    If you develop persuasive skills, this can also help in curving conflicts in your favor. Naturally, you probably would never intentional write "bad" music… it just isn’t appropriate for that particular project. My experience has been, for every piece that has been rejected, I have found someone else who absolutely loves it. I never throw out any ideas, I just keep them in storage, and revisit them when the need arises.

  9. How much money does the average worker in this job make? Approximate starting wage? Top wage? 

    10. Again, this depends on what you are working on. Teaching and playing I average about $50 an hour… I try to make at least this much composing… sometimes, however, this just isn’t possible. Much of this depends on how fast you can turn a project around. If you are quick, and efficient, your hourly wage could easily climb to $200+ an hour. If things go a little slow, it might drop to $15-$25 an hour. If you end up working for a larger corporation, than that might be acceptable, because of all the other benefits thrown in… i.e.: health insurance, simplified financial paper work, retirement accounts, etc.

  10. What other rewards or benefits does this job offer? 

    11. For me, the biggest reward is the freedom to be creative, even with boundaries. I also love being self-employed.

  11. What advice would you give someone like me who is considering this as a possible future career? 

    12. Try to find opportunities to compose… this could include church groups, school projects, perhaps a commercial (try one on spec)… anything to develop skills in composing for certain emotions, timing skills… being able to create dramatic moments with musical accuracy. Composing for games would definitely require skills in timing.

  12. Do you expect to be in this job 10 years from now? What else might you be doing? 
I do expect to be in the music profession for the rest of my life… when I dabbled in other careers (the whole idea that the grass might be greener on the other side) I found I was eventually frustrated. Many of the musicians I work with, do it completely part time.. but if your talent is great, and your desire, you can probably create a niche for yourself. At my web site (KenFoster.com), you will find a link on careers in music, and the potential earnings, this might be helpful.

I hope this helps, it was fun thinking through my answers… It would be fun to find out what you have decided as time goes on… I will keep in touch …

Ken Foster

 Well thanks for your time. I would be glad to hear back from you. I've tried other contacts that are famous like the composer for the Final Fantasy games and the composer for the Rare company but its kinda hard when they don't have one particular e-mail. Well I gotta go. 

Scott 

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