Beethoven was like a pop star in his time, says Eddie Horst. He and Mozart were writing music people loved. I think they would be drawn to film music just because of the whole drama and excitement of it. Ricky Keller is convinced that Beethoven and Mozart would definitely be hooked up with the latest technology for creating music. If all these cats were around and they saw all these computers and the magic you could do with them, they d be cooking, he explains.
Music makers come from diverse backgrounds.
Most have a formal academic background from esteemed institutions like the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and the Eastman Conservatory in Rochester, NY or, as in the case of Tanya Ostrovsky, training in piano and composing from conservatories in Moscow. Curtis Bryant has a degree in music theory from Georgia State and composes chamber pieces. That combination of performing pop tunes and classical training is a winning formula for a composer. Having been in bands and having a classical background, it was no big deal writing jingles, says Keller. I had the street teaching as well as the formal education.