It’s not a job for everybody in the sense that the social aspects are limited. You’re working in kind of solitary confinement for most of the time so you have to make sure when you get out, you really go for it in terms of networking and being social are concerned. You don’t see other colleagues that often. There are pluses and minuses, but it is a very rewarding job creatively.
In my dreams, I would love to hold regular office hours! It’s a double-sided problem [because] chances are, as an Arranger/Orchestrator you’re going to be a very curious person and when you’re creating you’re going to take the extra time to delve into something to learn more about it.
So every job takes longer than you estimate, but it fulfills you creatively. The other side of the coin is that when you’re dealing with Producers and artists you’re aligning with creative people and you can’t really spell out a real time table effectively. If you say “I have x number of days to work out this arrangement,” halfway through the artist says “I’ve just had an inspiration! Let’s change everything!”
So sometimes you end up working long hours with deadlines and that can be challenging. You have to be the type of person who can be loose about their schedule and can allow things to flow and can realize the value in letting those things flow.
You’re not only going to be satisfying your clients but you’ll be raising the ante to another level of creativity. You just have to have that philosophy and that outlook.