Sure. It's actually a little sad, heh, but more on that in a second.

I followed the route that many composers take: working for other composers. First as kind of a general assistant, then doing the boring tasks required to make the process happen, then managing the rigs, then doing production work but not writing, then orchestrating and/or "filling in the gaps" in some cues, then finally writing. I've kind of done it all in terms of tasks/jobs, which I'd imagine most people not involved in that world would even know exist. It really takes a village to get a score done, it's a very interesting world and process.

My profile here is pseudo-anonymous, and given that those whom I worked for are public figures, if you want details it's probably better to chat in private. But long story short I worked on many big Hollywood films, TV shows, and video games. Met and even worked for (and became friends with) some of my heroes. Rubbed shoulders with household name directors and actors. Sounds cool but as most people who have experienced similar things will tell you, it gets normal and mundane fast and you realize that, surprise, people are just people. Most people are nice, some are egotistical shitheads, and often you're surprised which is which. But for the most part, it's just like any industry -- "networking" is bullshit, it's just friends making stuff with friends.

I was very deep in the film scoring community itself and less so in the larger Hollywood system. I was also trending towards games before having to bail out. Long list of reasons why but the biggest one is that I find the creative/technical challenge of writing and implementing an interactive score infinitely interesting.

The best part is that I've recorded an orchestra at every major scoring stage in the world except for Air Studios (really wanted that one). Abbey Road was a particular dream, even though it had to be done remotely, sigh. But man, every time, even after months of not going outside and working yourself to the bone, that moment when the orchestra plays it back is pure magic. I think every composer I know feels the same way. It really makes it worth it.

The hours and deadlines can be absolutely stupid insane, but overall I loved my time in the industry and am very grateful for the experiences.

Anyways. Things were going incredibly, incredibly well. I was set to compose for some games I'm sure HN will be all over once they're out, and so my decades of very hard work were about to pay off. Was in the process of finally getting an agent and putting together a team for myself, rather than working on someone else's team. But then last year I developed an ear condition called Hyperacusis that stopped my career in its tracks. Tried to fight it, tried to work around it, but I slowly came to the realization that the only thing I can do is wait it out, live in silence, hope it gets better, and maybe return to composing if I can. There's nothing else to be done, no treatments.

It's hard to describe just how difficult it is to lose the only career you've wanted since you were 6 years old, that you gave up years of your life to pursue, only to have it taken away at literally the last second before achieving a life-long dream. This condition also prevents me from attending pretty much any loud gathering -- weddings, concerts, etc. I used to love dogs and now I have to avoid them out of fear of their barks. So the impact on my life doesn't just stop at my career. My ears are insanely sensitive to the point that I need hearing protection in order to wash my dishes. It's been this way for a year and is unlikely to improve in any meaningful way (it's improved a bit but not by much, and the "gains" have been in the form of "trading sensitivity for hearing loss"), though I do have hope.

Thankfully, all my years working for other composers resulted in me figuring out that I had a knack for the technical. Etc etc etc I figured I'd like programming. So for now, that's the plan. As a very experienced and opinionated user of music software, I think I could make a very solid technical product designer. I'm actually continuing to work for a few composers, doing things like automating certain workflows where possible, building some custom tools, etc. The goal is to slowly transition to working as a programmer at Steinberg or Ableton or something like that, and then start my own company.

So, going where the road takes me. I certainly didn't expect this but I'm doing my best to make the best of it.