20 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Spring 2013

My career

Patrick Morganelli

Los Angeles, California

BLS fast facts: Music directors and composers

•	 May 2011 wage and salary employment: 25,290

•	 2010–20 projection: 10 percent growth 

(about as fast as average)

•	 May 2011 median annual wage: $47,410

•	 Typical education and training: Bachelor’s degree

•	 May 2011 top employing industries: Elementary 

and secondary schools, religious organizations, 

and performing arts companies. Composers are 

often self-employed.

Composer

What do you do?

I work as a composer in the movie industry, 

creating music that supports a film’s story. 

Other composers work on television shows, 

and some do both television and film. The 

composer uses music to tell the audience what 

kind of movie it is and to help convey what 

the actors are expressing. The music can vary, 

depending on the emotion in each scene. I 

study each project and decide where music 

will be most effective.

When I begin working on a project, I 

meet with the director to “spot” the picture. 

We go through every scene and decide the 

precise start and end times for each piece of 

music. Then I create a list of all the pieces 

of music that I’ll need to write and begin to 

write the pieces, but not necessarily in order. 

For instance, I normally write the main titles, 

which are at the beginning of the picture, last. 

That’s because the main titles are the one 

opportunity for the composer to make a musical statement that’s unobstructed by dialogue 

and to set the tone of the picture.

While I’m writing the music, the director comes to the studio for “show and tells,” 

where I play a digital mockup of the music 

with the picture. I do about 10 minutes of the 

picture at a time so the director can give me 

feedback about whether I’m going in the right 

direction with the music. All in all, it takes 

me about 6 to 8 weeks to score (compose the 

music for) a feature film.

Describe a typical project.

When I do live recordings of music for a 

project, I write sheet music for each instrument, rent a studio, record the pieces, then edit 

and mix the tracks. I may also hire a music 

contractor, who finds musicians based on the 

number and type of instruments needed. The 

contractor also manages the recording session.

After the music is recorded, I send it to 

the production company along with a list of 

the precise locations where the music needs to 

be put into the picture. The quality of music 

is always best when it’s recorded live. But 

sometimes, for financial reasons, we decide 

to record the music digitally instead. If this is 

the case, I prepare and digitally mix the tracks 

myself.

Do you compose music outside of 

film projects?

If I’m not working on a project, I try to sit 

down and compose something every day, even 

if it’s something small. Creativity is a muscle 

that needs to be exercised. It helps when I 

actually have a gig so that I don’t panic staring 

at a blank page.

Networking and making cold calls are 

also something I do on a daily basis. I look 

in trade magazines for projects for which 

I’m a good fit, and I contact the director or 

producer. I’ve gotten some good jobs this way 

and met many people, some of whom have 

become good friends and have referred me 

to others. I can’t overstate the importance of 

developing a professional contact list.
Spring 2013 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 21

What is your educational background?

I’ve played the piano since I was a kid, and I 

have an undergraduate degree in music. I also 

have a master’s degree in classical piano performance and a postgraduate certificate in scoring 

for music and television.

What was your first job out of college?

I worked as a professional pianist for a year or 

so. It wasn’t quite what I had imagined it would 

be when I had dreamed of being a musician. 

The work was incredibly hard, I had to deal 

with really difficult people, and the pay was not 

good.

When the reality of being a musician wasn’t 

what I’d expected, I decided to join the Navy. 

My dad had been a military pilot, and the only 

other thing I had wanted to do other than be a 

musician was fly military airplanes.

So you decided to change career paths?

Yes, but it wasn’t easy. Musicians aren’t often 

accepted into the Navy, and I was rejected 

twice. The recruiters thought I would give up, 

but I got a personal recommendation from the 

captain of Navy recruiting in Los Angeles.

I was assigned to the F-14 Tomcat fighter 

jet. I was selected to be sent to Top Gun, which 

trains you to be a tactics instructor for your 

squadron. Then I spent the next 14 years in the 

Navy as a flight instructor, working all over the 

country.

How did your Navy career lead to getting 

your current job?

While doing my last tour with the Navy at the 

Pentagon in Washington, D.C., I had become 

friends with some professional strings players. 

I had a few opportunities to play some chamber music with them. They encouraged me to 

pursue music professionally.

After I left the Navy, I met a local film 

director. He learned that I had been a musician 

and asked if I wanted to write the score for his 

latest film. I jumped at the chance to give it a 

try. I really had no idea what I was doing, but it 

seemed to go OK.

I got a few other offers to score short films 

and such. I thought, if I’m going to do this professionally, then I need more education. I need 

to learn how this is really done. That’s when I 

decided to go back to school to get my master’s.

What’s your best advice for aspiring 

composers?

There is no minimum education and no particular career path to become a composer. Spend a 

lot of time studying the art of composition. You 

need to have a firm grasp of the technical stuff.

I make a concerted effort to keep up with 

the technological changes in the industry. I read 

a lot of magazines and music websites online. I 

also spend a lot of time exchanging ideas with 

my colleagues and peers and hearing what 

they’re doing.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to plan for a day job. 

In the arts, there’s a lot of intense competition, 

and it can take years before you make enough 

money to support yourself. Be realistic!

Patrick Morganelli was interviewed by Sara Royster, an economist in the Office of

Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections, BLS. She can be reached at 

(202) 691-5645 or at royster.sara@bls.gov.