Music Directors and Composer Conduct, direct, plan, and lead instrumental or vocal performances by musical artists or groups, such as orchestras, bands, choirs, and glee clubs; or create original works of music.
Music Directors and Composer is Also Know as
In different settings, Music Directors and Composer is titled as
- Arranger
- Choir Director
- Composer
- Conductor
- Music Composer
- Music Director
- Music Producer
- Orchestra Director
- Producer
- Songwriter
Education and Training of Music Directors and Composer
Music Directors and Composer is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Music Directors and Composer
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Education Required for Music Directors and Composer
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Degrees Related to Music Directors and Composer
- Bachelor in Religious/Sacred Music
- Associate Degree Courses in Religious/Sacred Music
- Masters Degree Courses in Religious/Sacred Music
- Bachelor in Worship Ministry
- Associate Degree Courses in Worship Ministry
- Masters Degree Courses in Worship Ministry
- Bachelor in Musical Theatre
- Associate Degree Courses in Musical Theatre
- Masters Degree Courses in Musical Theatre
- Bachelor in Music Performance, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Music Performance, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Music Performance, General
- Bachelor in Music Theory and Composition
- Associate Degree Courses in Music Theory and Composition
- Masters Degree Courses in Music Theory and Composition
- Bachelor in Musicology and Ethnomusicology
- Associate Degree Courses in Musicology and Ethnomusicology
- Masters Degree Courses in Musicology and Ethnomusicology
Training Required for Music Directors and Composer
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Music Directors and Composer in different industries are
- Musicians and Singers
- Choreographers
- Producers and Directors
- Talent Directors
- Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
- Art Directors
- Music Therapists
- Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
- Media Programming Directors
- Film and Video Editors
- Actors
- Sound Engineering Technicians
- Dancers
- Directors, Religious Activities and Education
- Writers and Authors
- Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners
- Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
- Media Technical Directors/Managers
- Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
- Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
What Do Music Directors and Composer do?
- Use gestures to shape the music being played, communicating desired tempo, phrasing, tone, color, pitch, volume, and other performance aspects.
- Direct groups at rehearsals and live or recorded performances to achieve desired effects such as tonal and harmonic balance dynamics, rhythm, and tempo.
- Study scores to learn the music in detail, and to develop interpretations.
- Apply elements of music theory to create musical and tonal structures, including harmonies and melodies.
- Consider such factors as ensemble size and abilities, availability of scores, and the need for musical variety, to select music to be performed.
- Determine voices, instruments, harmonic structures, rhythms, tempos, and tone balances required to achieve the effects desired in a musical composition.
- Experiment with different sounds, and types and pieces of music, using synthesizers and computers as necessary to test and evaluate ideas.
- Transcribe ideas for musical compositions into musical notation, using instruments, pen and paper, or computers.
- Audition and select performers for musical presentations.
- Plan and schedule rehearsals and performances, and arrange details such as locations, accompanists, and instrumentalists.
- Write musical scores for orchestras, bands, choral groups, or individual instrumentalists or vocalists, using knowledge of music theory and of instrumental and vocal capabilities.
- Position members within groups to obtain balance among instrumental or vocal sections.
- Perform administrative tasks such as applying for grants, developing budgets, negotiating contracts, and designing and printing programs and other promotional materials.
- Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
- Meet with soloists and concertmasters to discuss and prepare for performances.
- Fill in details of orchestral sketches, such as adding vocal parts to scores.
- Explore and develop musical ideas based on sources such as imagination or sounds in the environment.
- Write music for commercial mediums, including advertising jingles or film soundtracks.
- Transpose music from one voice or instrument to another to accommodate particular musicians.
- Rewrite original musical scores in different musical styles by changing rhythms, harmonies, or tempos.
- Arrange music composed by others, changing the music to achieve desired effects.
- Assign and review staff work in such areas as scoring, arranging, and copying music, and vocal coaching.
- Study films or scripts to determine how musical scores can be used to create desired effects or moods.
- Transcribe musical compositions and melodic lines to adapt them to a particular group, or to create a particular musical style.
- Create original musical forms, or write within circumscribed musical forms such as sonatas, symphonies, or operas.
- Collaborate with other colleagues, such as copyists, to complete final scores.
- Copy parts from scores for individual performers.
- Coordinate and organize tours, or hire touring companies to arrange concert dates, venues, accommodations, and transportation for longer tours.
- Produce recordings of music.
- Stay abreast of the latest trends in music and music technology.
Qualities of Good Music Directors and Composer
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Tools Used by Music Directors and Composer
- Acoustic guitars
- Audio interfaces
- Audio tape recorders
- Bass guitars
- Computer laser printers
- Condenser microphones
- Conducting batons
- Copy machines
- Desktop computers
- Digital audio workstations
- Drum sets
- Electronic organs
- Expression pedals
- External hard drives
- Flash drives
- Foot switches
- Grand pianos
- Handbells
- Keyboard synthesizers
- Laptop computers
- Musical instrument digital interface MIDI sequencers
- Personal computers
- Pianos
- Pipe organs
- Portable loudspeakers
- Studio recording monitors
- Sustain pedals
- Synthesizer keyboards
- Tablet computers
Technology Skills required for Music Directors and Composer
- Anvil Studio
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Apple MainStage
- Arobas Music Guitar Pro
- Arpege Music Pizzicato
- Audacity
- Audio Chaos Soundscape Generator
- Audiveris
- Avid Pro Tools
- Avid Technology Sibelius
- Azemus FS
- Basic Music Composer
- Cakewalk SONAR
- Canorus
- ChordWizard Software Soundtrix Gold
- Click MusicalKEYS
- Curto Drum
- D'accord Music Software iChords
- Denemo
- Desktop Piano and Drums
- DigiPiano
- Dream Computer Piano
- Easy Music Composer Free
- Epinoisis Software Digital Ear
- FlexiMusic Composer
- GenieSoft Overture
- HS Virtual Piano
- IK Multimedia GrooveMaker
- Image-Line FL Studio
- Impro-Visor
- Jackbeat
- Javamin Composer
- Korg EM-1 Editor
- Lauriso Software Music Publisher
- Little Piano
- MadTracker
- Maestro Music Software MagicScore
- MAGIX Music Maker
- MakeMusic Finale
- Making Waves Audio Making Waves
- MediaShout
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Publisher
- Microsoft Word
- MIDI Maestro
- MIDI Score Creator
- MidiSwing
- Mozart Music Software Mozart
- MuseScore
- Music Director Pro
- Musical Palette
- MusicDevelopments RapidComposer
- MusicGraph
- Musilogic HarmonyBuilder
- Myriad Software Harmony Assistant
- Notation Software Notation Composer
- NoteWorthy Software NoteWorthy Composer
- Open Song Composer
- PianoFX STUDIO
- PianoRollComposer
- Power Tab Editor
- Proxima Controller
- Renoise
- Rhythm Rascal
- Sonoma Wire Works RiffWorks
- Storm Music Studio
- SVArTracker
- SwarMala
- TabIt
- TablEdit
- Tonality Systems Symoblic Composer
- Truepianos
- TuxGuitar
- Twelve Tone Matrix Calculator
- Twelve Tone Row Analyzer
- Underware Design DTAB
- VBRhapsody
- Visiv SharpEye
- Widisoft WIDI Recognition System
- Wusik Wusikstation VSTi
- Xitona Software Voice Composer
- XT Software energyXT
- ZynAddSubFX