We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Tauber. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel below.
Daniel, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I think my work ethic has been fed from different sources throughout the years. I would say in my college days at Berklee, my work ethic was centered around feeling like there were just a million and one people more qualified to do the job than me and if I was to make it in the industry then I needed to just develop the skills and productivity needed as quickly as possible. I knew how competitive the industry was and thought the only way out of my conundrum was by going through the process.
In more recent years the work ethic has been like a switch that goes on when there’s a deadline approaching. It doesn’t matter how I feel or what I’ve got going on, the work needs to get done well and on time. It’s just the nature of the industry. I think it’s about preserving the trust the people have in me about getting a job done. If I don’t work “ethically” then I’m letting the people around me down and that’s way harder for me to ever accept than just doing the work.
Outside of all that, it’s supported by a passion for what I do. While I’ve learned not to rely on my emotions or state of mind to get the job done, the inspiration really does help make the job easier. So letting yourself love what you do while also making sure you do right by other people would probably be at the heart of my work ethic!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
So day to day I write music for trailers and video games! I’m constantly being pulled in a variety of different creative directions. One day it could be horror music, the next classical orchestral, then heavy metal, jazz, etc. I work at a music company called Audiomachine and we often try to record live instrumentalists as much as possible to get the best possible sound. We also try to get multiple ears on everything we do to make sure our team’s expertise is utilized in the best possible way.
Outside of my composing work at Audiomachine, I’m also developing a mobile app called SwiftStudy that helps its users learn faster using neuroscience which I’m very excited about. I’m very passionate about self-development and learning and it’s awesome to be able to push myself to apply that outside of my routines and into an app! Development is finishing up on that soon so I hope to have it released later in the year!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the most important quality is to not be an asshole honestly hahaha! Just being kind to people gets you through so many more doors than just being good at what you do. As simple as it is, just treating people the way you’d like to be treated is very sound advice for this but also factor in how other people might think and tailor your responses to that as well.
After that, it’s being reliable. It doesn’t matter if you’re nice and get the work done to a great standard if you can’t deliver on time. Most people in music I feel treat it as a hobby and I feel like if you’re making it your profession you need to be professional about it and take it seriously.
And then after all that, being super curious with a growth mindset is super important. Being kind and reliable helps you get and stay in the job but it’s your growth that helps set you apart from everybody else. Eventually, this leads to you developing your unique voice for your work which makes you very valuable from a business point of view. So try to absorb as much information in areas you’re familiar with and also unfamiliar with. I get a lot of benefits from picking people’s brains who think completely differently from me as it helps either broaden or strengthen my views far more than if I agree with 90% of what they’re saying at any one time.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Whenever I feel overwhelmed it usually has something to do with a tight deadline and a lot to do in the timeframe. Counter-intuitively, I get the most benefit of getting out of my chair and getting a coffee or walking around the block during these times. By removing myself from the problem physically and using some different neurons for even 5 minutes or so, I can usually see the problem far clearer and it helps me come up with far simpler and greater quality ideas than if I just white-knuckled it through whatever time I had. I’ve never regretted taking the time to make that space for myself and do it frequently even when I’m not feeling overwhelmed as my best ideas tend to appear during these times.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dantauber.com
- Instagram: @danielntauber
Image Credits
Tori Victoria
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