#1 - What you have been missing

Hey guys,

I hope you are all doing well.

It has been such a huge amount of time since I last sent out an email checking in on you guys.

Considering how much has been going on in my life I think this is a pretty poor show.

I plan to change that and keep you guys in the loop via this weekly newsletter.

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So what’s new(s)?

I’m not going to hammer you with a tonne of news in the longform but I will give you a handy list of what’s been going down.

1. New website -

   This I am quite happy with. I have decided to finally make the switch to a publication style site. More focused on content than merely being a portfolio for my placements. Given how many projects I have on the go at any one time I wanted to bring them all under one roof and keep you all updated as best I could. This will take the form of these newsletters, YouTube videos, Podcasts, blog posts and other social posts etc.

2. The Trailer Music School big push -

   As part of my endeavours to bring more education to the world of Trailer Music I (and my excellent ad wizard Mike) are launching a new campaign for the Trailer Music school to bring in a wave of new students and aspiring composers to our awesome community. So if you see any new faces in the site then please continue being the awesome welcoming group that you are. If you are not signed up to one of my courses then I am sure you will see one or two ads sprinkled about all over the place so check them out as they have some great offers for you!

3. Protege is in full swing -

   This, for those of you who don’t know, is the online school that Vikram Gudi and I set up to teach a select few students over the period of 10 months, how to master the art of production music. With the focus of pushing the student’s work to our clients during the learning process. It has been such an amazing few months and we are seeing every single student improve to the point that we are now starting to release their first demos because they are THAT good. We are even starting to see our first placements come in now which is the sign of things to come.

   We are going to be opening the doors to next year’s admission process very soon so if you are interested to book an interview then click here and join the waitlist.

4. Blue Pearl is launched -

   This is the name of the library that we release our students’ work through. We launched a month or so back to the industry and the response has been huge. We launched with 25 albums to start and our 100th album has just been started so we are not holding back with our output. We want to get our composers working hard so that their music will then take over and work hard for them (which is my current situation - the placements have still been rolling in despite the current climate - thank you past me).

5. Soft Piano Music -

   One of the new projects I started (using my actual name of Richard Pryn) was to start a music podcast. Each day I sit my Zoom recorder on my piano and improvise a piece of music. Each piece of music is kind of like an audio sketchbook that I then release out into the world for everyone to hear via the podcast medium. You can of course hear all the tracks on your favourite streaming service too. This has been a huge testimony to something I am always saying to you guys - write everyday. Also, the fact that it is improvised means that I am writing, not editing. On top of that it has menat that I am less precious about my ideas because sure enough a new one comes out each and everyday. Done is better than perfect.

   Listen on Apple Music Listen on Spotify

6. Composed Podcast moves off YouTube -

   This podcast was a wonderful little test of output and seeing what I could do. The plan was to release videos of inspiring messages and thoughts on mindset, creativity and lifestyle for music makers. It resonated well with my audience on both YouTube and via podcasts. I have decided though to switch it to podcast only so if you do want to keep listening be sure to subscribe to the Composed iTunes feed here.

7. My YouTube channel is changing (I think) -

   This channel has been a great cause of confusion for me. I have so many passions and possible directions that I often felt like there was too much choice for me and often ended up not uploading or just using it to test the waters as it were. The YouTube channel is going to start playing second fiddle to my blog and newsletter. I am going to use it to create the videos to support whatever I am going to be blogging about. Which roughly translates to - I am going to be focusing on improving my own craft through learning out loud. Music production, productivity and mindset. To start, I am going to create a series on writing Trap music. I am always keen to learn new things and want to keep my passion for music & creativity alive.

8. My webcomic is going live (finally) -

   I have been drawing funny/sad/thoughful/motivational little webtoons for around 7 or 8 years now. I have mostly kept them to myself but in the light of “showing my work” (thanks Austin Kleon) I have decided to start uploading them. There will be a new post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the site and also on Instagram. So please check it out and follow/enjoy it. Mostly about dealing with daily life as a composer/man/person/dad/husband etc. There are only a few posts up now but I have them scheduled for the next few months so make sure you stay up to date.

9. Trailer Music YouTube content is moving -

   For those of you who have been following my YouTube adventures you will know that my content has been trailer focused for some years. However, in an attempt to make a clearer distinction between the Trailer Music School and Protege I have now decided to move all my trailer music tutorials over to the trailer music school’s YouTube page. So please go on subscribe :)

10. INVENTIVE INSTRUMENTS is relaunching (it’s newer and sexier)

    I am sooooooo excited about this last one. It is my sample library company I created a couple of years back. I shut it down last year to focus on Protege and The Trailer Music School. The result has been a bunch of new instruments, some remakes of the old and getting a new GUI designed. I enlisted the help of an old friend of mine who I used to do session work with and I have used on many tracks as a violinist. He also happens to know scripting enough to do a great job for me and my samples. Anyway, this isn’t ready for launch just yet but I will say that the instruments will be available on this site to subscribers. My original vision was always to set up a newsletter company that gives new instruments to its subscribers so I decided to return to that. We’ll see how that goes :)

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That just about gets you guys up to speed with what has been going on with me and all my projects.

Hope you all have a great weekend,

Thanks so much guys - you are superstars!