James Newton Howard Quotes

I think, for me, a way to really come up with new ideas and come up with new ways of writing music is to create a unique sound palette or soundscape for all the films I'm working on.

The first two projects I did out of my dorm room were mock film soundtracks.

Some people focus more on sonics. Some people focus more on story. I focus on both sonics and story.

The great composers I worked with along the way, I always felt they were filmmakers more than composers. They would talk about the story rather than the music.

Some artists want a producer to be a kind of svengali - someone who actually creates a sound for them.

Every time I see a film or TV show, I think about how that composer made those choices and how that director envisioned music and how that could work onstage or in a film and how you could support that even further by putting lyrics to it.

You can see how different artists work, from writing to recording, just from being in the studio environment with them.

I spend just as much time on how people hear my music as I do the actual music, no matter how long it takes. I'm such a visual artist as well that it always goes hand-in-hand.

When I'm writing film music, I feel like I'm more a filmmaker than a composer. It's more about what the film needs. I'm basically part of the team that's creating a film, and the music is a very important part, but it's just one part of many.

For me, what people generally call sound design is just one component of orchestrating a score.

I've been composing music for feature films since 2007. I've been creating music for films for 13 years and I totally enjoy and love doing that. However, I have a lot of music inside me which I want to share with you all in a different way.

I don't like to surprise anyone with the music I compose for a film. That way, there is less trouble later on.

Some producers hang-on to that old cliche that if the audience hears the music, it is no good. I say this is so much talk. Music gives the film another dimension, if it's done with the story in mind.

It all started back in '69 when I worked with Jack Nitzche on 'Performance.' That was my first experience of doing soundtracks, and I've enjoyed doing them ever since.

It's not unusual to have only three weeks to score a picture. And that's three weeks from signing on to finishing the last recording session. That's how I did 'The Queen' and, more recently, it's how I did 'The Imitation Game.'

I didn't really think about the sound of my songs before I started recording things in the studio.

There's always that possibility. But, it would take a hell of a lot of work. Because unlike a movie where you just have to do a little ADR and then some mixing, we've actually got to bring the orchestra back because there is music, as you probably noticed, right the way through the film so you have to orchestrate all of that extra time.

When I make albums, I do a lot of songwriting but not necessarily a whole album.

Movies remind me of recording. Just the process of it - the intricacies, the technicalities, the days and the long hours, and mastering and mixing and editing. But seeing the final product, it all pays off in the end. That's the rush - when you see things come to life.

We grew up understanding how the analog sound is a driving force for music.

Every time somebody asks me, 'Oh, when you mix your own music, what are you going to make?' And I don't know.

Moreover, if a song is a hit, film makers come to us with requests to score similar tracks. In the process, commercial songs sometimes sound repetitive.

Butch Vig was a true friend and really guided us, and it was such a fulfilling relationship with a person to make records with.

There's the way modern music is produced, which is, 'Here's a piece of music, and I'm the producer, so pay me and make sure my credit is right and get me my splits.' But I'm trying to go backward. Now, it's more like 'What's the texture? What's the over-arching story?' There are more things to pay attention to than 'Is this the right snare?'

You should be able to deliver what the artist you're working with wants.