deadlines

January 21, 2025

My Dearest Tortured Composer, 

I would like to tell you a story today. A story about Mozart that is, in all likelihood, completely made up.

Now, you might be wondering why I would dare waste your precious time with a fictional tale about one of history's greatest composers.

Well, because sometimes legends can be "directionally true" - they may not be historically accurate, but they point us toward a deeper truth about creativity.

The story goes that Mozart, our beloved Wolfgang, had promised to write an overture for Don Giovanni.

But in true tortured composer fashion, he kept putting it off. And putting it off. And putting it off some more (sound familiar?).

The night before the premiere, Mozart still hadn't written a single note of the overture.

His wife Constanze, knowing his tendency to procrastinate himself into oblivion, kept him awake by reading him fairy tales and practically drowning him in coffee.

Finally, with just hours to go, Mozart cranked out what would become one of the most famous overtures in opera history.

The copyists were still writing out the parts as the musicians were sitting down to perform it.

Now, is this story true? Probably not.

But here's what is true: some of our best work comes when we have no choice but to finish.

You see, most professional composers end up having these deadlines imposed from the outside.

Film composers have to hit their cues by a certain date.

Video game composers have release schedules. Opera composers have premiere dates.

But what about the rest of us tortured souls? We often end up in this endless cycle of tweaking and adjusting pieces that never quite feel "done."

I've talked to composers who have been working on the same piece for YEARS.

Some of them could probably recite every note in their sleep, and yet somehow, they're still not finished.

I've experienced this myself in a different context. You see, I take piano lessons, and we regularly do these performance workshops. The mere existence of these workshops - these dreaded dates on the calendar where I have to actually play in front of other humans - has done more for my progress than months of aimless practice.

It's amazing how much deeper you learn a piece when you know that in exactly 30 days, you'll be performing it in front of people who (hopefully) have functioning ears.

This is where competitions and festivals can become your secret weapon.

Now, before you start sweating about "winning" - that's not the point.

The point is to give yourself a concrete deadline. Something external. Something that says, "Hey tortured composer, time to finish that piece!"

You don't have to care about winning. You don't even have to care if your piece gets selected. The magic is in the deadline itself.

Think about it - how many times have you procrastinated on a paper in school, only to somehow produce 20 pages of semi-coherent prose the night before it was due?

(If you say this never happened to you, I assume you're either lying or some sort of superhuman productivity machine.)

So if you're feeling stuck, frustrated, or whatever other delightfully torturous state you find yourself in, here are some places to find these magical external deadlines:

Composer's site

This is an aggregate of different calls for scores. Great place to find some calls with DEADLINES:

Indie Film Festival

Here's a great competition for getting started with film scoring - The Indie Film Music Contest. They specifically don't judge you on sound quality or mixing/mastering, just your creative ideas and how well you tell the story through music. You can submit basic recordings (even straight from MuseScore), get professional feedback, and they give you three practice films to work with. The next deadline is February 8th, 2025, and with prizes worth over 18,000€, it's definitely worth checking out if you're interested in film music. Best of all, it's designed to be beginner-friendly, so you don't need fancy equipment or years of experience to participate - just your creative ideas.

Berlin Film Scoring Competition

The Berlin International Film Scoring Competition is another fantastic option, though registration for the current round has closed (it was October-December 2024). However, it's worth keeping on your radar for next year as it offers some unique opportunities: winners can get their music recorded by a live ensemble, receive VIP accreditation to film festivals, and compete for over 3,500€ in prizes. Unlike some competitions, this one comes with professional sound design files you can work with, and they have an impressive judging panel including Emmy winners and industry professionals. I'll be sure to let you know when registration opens for the next round.

Any of those would be great to enter if you’ve been having trouble getting your music across the finish line. The competition itself doesn’t really matter, but until you have external deadlines from clients, something like this is a great way to get going.

And don’t ever forget…

The world waits for your music…

Luke

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