Gordon's Musical Journey, part 3

I found the Film Scoring Program at the Berklee College Of Music. I settled on this for several reasons, not the least of which being Berklee's incredible reputation worldwide as a music school. Berklee had the only actual undergrad degree in Compostion for Film, instead of just a certificate or a few classes like other schools. Plus, Berklee teaches the same music principles as other music schools, but in a contemporary music setting. I felt that this made more sense for me, with my wide range of experience. I took a couple harmony and ear training classes at Austin Community College to make sure I could handle them (no problem), as well as some intense guitar lessons. My principal instrument would be guitar, but I was intimidated by all the great players that had come out of Berklee. I got accepted, and moved to Boston!

Once at Berklee, I immersed myself in my studies. I absorbed all the knowledge I could about composition, harmony and orchestration. I took various ensembles, labs and classes for guitar. Plus, Berklee emphasizes technology, so I was learning about software for recording, notation and synthesis.

The summer before my last year at Berklee, I took an internship in Los Angeles with the famous film composer Christopher Young ("Spiderman 3", "Ghost Rider", "The Grudge", and nearly 100 other films). The first week I worked at Chris', he arranged for me to be a guest at a recording session for the film "I, Robot", music by Marco Beltrami, who had been an assistant to Chris. The sessions took place at the scoring stage at Fox, and involved a huge orchestra of nearly 100 players. Everyone was very nice to me, and I got to sit right next to the person operating the "click" (like an electronic metronome for the orchestra), about 10 feet behind the conductor. The first cue they played was the climax/end credits, so it was very dramatic. I was blown away by the beauty and power of the orchestra. I still get tingles thinking about it. I thought to myself "I want to do THAT!", and it cemented in my mind that I would do music for picture, where I could aspire to write music such as this.

The rest of that summer, I spent all my time at Chris' studio. I learned the software, organized the computer system, helped engineer recording sessions, even getting to do a little sound design for the ambience of "The Grudge". It was a great experience, and I'll always be grateful to Chris for taking me into his circle.

Back at Berklee, I had extra motivation now, and dove into the Film Scoring Program head-first. I'm still proud of the music I produced at the time. I also took as many conducting and guitar labs as I could. I aspired to make my niche as a composer and orchestrator who also had an expertise in guitar.

I graduated from Berklee in August of 2005, Summa Cum Laude. It was a proud day for me, my family, and my then-girlfriend-now-wife Angie. At this point, I must acknowledge how important Angie was to me, and how much she supported me (and still does!) and my dreams. We're now on our third coast together (Gulf, East, West), and she's still my biggest fan and best friend. Much love.

The film and t.v. industries are mostly headquartered in Los Angeles, so this was the logical next step in the journey. Since I've been here, I've written music for film and t.v., played guitar in bands, sessions, and film scores, including a feature film and a couple of t.v.pilots. I composed and conducted a piece for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund concert, which had a 60-plus-piece orchestra. What a thrill! I have also played for live comedy, with the group Baby Wants Candy. And I've played bass with my friend's kids rock band The Jellydots. We played the historic McCabe's Guitar Shop a couple of times, as well as an incredible 2-day, 4-set weekend gig at The Getty Center.

I continue to write film music, and am actively pursuing writing music for video games. This industry is blowing up, with the music getting more and more attention and budget.

So, as you can tell, I've had quite a varied career, but it's all contributed to the unique voice I now possess. I can only hope you enjoy listening to my music half as much as I enjoy making it.

G.