The Use of Virtual Instruments by Australian Screen Composers

Abstract

Recent technological advancements, strong competition and targeted marketing strategies by virtual instrument merchants have established virtual instruments and digital instrument samples as essential components of a professional screen composer's toolset. The democratisation of these powerful tools has led to broad accessibility to virtual instruments and the digital sequencing software required to run them. Virtual instruments are portable, powerful, and affordable––they are no longer the exclusive domain of expensive recording studios. This thesis aims to quantify and qualify the parameters surrounding screen music composition in this digital age and introduce to the literature new empirical data together with the experiences of working screen music professionals. This is achieved by following a mixed methods sequential exploratory methodology starting with a survey of Australian screen composers (n=102) where they are asked to answer questions with a recent cue in mind. Informed by the results of the survey, semistructured interviews were conducted and recorded with working Australian screen composers (n=22). When combined the meta-inferences confirm that virtual instruments are vital for Australian screen composers to do their job, especially now that their tools are democratised. Screen composers are able to swiftly create cues that are finished products and not demos for their director and film-team. These changes have also shaped a new paradigm of film and television directors to expect final and completed versions of cues from Australian screen composers and not working drafts.