We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Arthur Wang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Arthur, so happy to have you with us today. You are such a creative person, but have you ever head any sort of creativity block along the way? If so, can you talk to us about how you overcame or beat it?
I maintain a fixed amount of time to compose music daily. No matter what project I am working on, I want to keep things moving. As a practitioner of the music industry for years, I discovered that ‘inspiration,’ discussed by many people as a crucial creative factor for composers, is a relatively nihilistic concept. More often than not, my composing is based on my extensive practice and accumulated experience; we can say ‘craftsmanship.’ Creativity is like a muscle; we must train it daily to maintain a steady stream of quality content. I would forget the saying about ‘inspiration’ and focus on my day-to-day writing progress.
In addition, walking in nature can keep my brain fresh and relaxed to deal with composing blocks. I learned this little trick from Beethoven, one of the greatest composers in history. Beethoven’s daily life included a three-hour walk. During the walk, Beethoven would bring music paper to write the moment of inspiration down. When I tried this method, I found my brain very relaxed. The music idea comes naturally. There have been several times when I was composing earlier in the day and got into trouble, and while walking, I always came up with a better idea to continue my music. Problem solved easily! On the contrary, when I’m in the studio, my brain feels tense, and the natural flow of music is interrupted by this intensive atmosphere. Using those two methods helped me to become a better composer.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a composer, arranger, and music producer from China. Getting different influences from Film scores, Jazz, Electronic, and Classical music, I combine different music styles to create an intimate, original sound world. Music has a function of healing, which leads to my true love of composing. My music has been performed by ensembles and performers in the United States, such as Mansfield Orchestra, Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra, MSU Wind Symphony, Eastman Empire Film and Media Ensemble, Eastman Jazz Ensemble, Eastman Jazz Lab Band, American Modern Ensemble, Jasper String Quartet, and Reverón Trio, etc. My music earned me first prize in the 2019 Shanghai International Electronic Music Composition Competition. Other awards include the Denny Award, Global Music Award Bronze Medal, Musicacoustica-Beijing Electronic Music Composition Competition Awards, ASMAC David Blumberg Prize, and finalist in the 2022 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award. Other than concert music, I’m also involved in film scoring and game music composing. Recently, my original soundtrack for the World’s First VR Novel ‘Zong’ helped the game win several ‘Best VR’ Awards at various famous film festivals, such as the Swedish International Film Festival and Asian Independent Film Festival, to name a few. I recently finished six arrangments for the Mansfield Orchestra local artist series concert, transferring songs for the pop band to the symphony orchestra creatively. In the next few months, I will work on my second original piece for Big Band, inspired by Brazilian Choros music, a flute sonata, and two commissioned shorts.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
First of all, craftmanship is the key. In the U.S. music industry, the division of labor is very detailed. For example, in the film music industry, there are many technical jobs that we don’t know about, such as orchestrator, music preparation, mockup producer, recording assistant, etc. Many successful film composers started in these auxiliary types of work. You never know which skill you learn will open your career path. While improving composition skills, we can conduct specific training and learning for each step of the entire industrial process, which will play a significant role in our career development in the future.
Secondly, learn the ability to communicate with people. It’s time for a composer to need more than just a sheet of music paper and a pencil. Contemporary composers need to interact with all kinds of people. Whether clients, professional performers, orchestra conductors and directors, managers, recording engineers, or even publishers, good communication skills will help you solve problems quickly and accumulate contacts. When you become a person who can work well with others, your career will take on a lot of glory.
Finally, the ability to have your finger on the pulse is essential. Today’s science and technology continue to develop, and our lives have undergone earth-shaking changes. We must learn to accept new things, adapt to the era we live in promptly, and utilize the advantages of our age in our daily lives. For example, Music DAW (digital audio workstation) is a product of the 21st century, which allows composers to get rid of paper and pen to a large extent. With various instrument sound libraries, we can immediately listen to the playback of our orchestral writing on the computer. How amazing! In addition, the upgrade of notation software has also made score publishing a breeze. We no longer need to copy scores and parts by hand. ChatGBT can even help composers complete the writing of program notes. Adapting to the times and changing our thinking in a timely manner will help us achieve our goals more efficiently.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
As a multi-faceted musician, my clients come from all walks of life. My roles include composer, arranger, music producer, music teacher, etc. First and foremost, my most important client is myself. When I write concert music or absolute music, I create for myself. Making myself happy is the priority. When my clients are orchestra conductors, filmmakers, commercial producers, dancers, and songwriters, my music composing needs to meet their music requirements; in this process, I will also balance maintaining my artistic pursuits and meeting the needs of my clients. For example, this year, I was commissioned to write six song arrangments for Mansfield Symphony Orchestra for their local artists showcase concert. I arranged all songs originally made for the pop band to an orchestra setting. In this process, besides keeping my orchestration as colorful as possible, keeping the original power of the song is also important. Of course, compromise is sometimes necessary. When I am a composition teacher, my students are my clients. I will advise them when they need to learn composition techniques or prepare portfolios for auditions. Anyone can be a client of mine. Communication is essential in the process of dealing with customers. Collaboration could be based on mutual respect and acceptance of differences.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://peiyaowangmusic.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008710159231
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0TPxt4DIFZ7OxGfY0p3oXg
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/py4lrvfcsum0
