Guerrilla Film Scoring: Practical Advice from Hollywood Composers

Guerrilla Film Scoring should be required reading for anyone considering a career in composing for media. In short, it provides a sobering reality check through an in-depth look at seemingly every aspect of the business. Borum takes no prisoners in his thoroughgoing and detailed assessment of what one needs to know and do to have a career as a composer for film, TV, games and any media that requires music. I’ve been in the music business for almost thirty-years, and although I am primarily an instrumentalist and not a composer (although I have an avid interest in composition and specifically songwriting), everything in the book rings true. Indeed, there is information in this book that is as important for instrumentalists, copyists, orchestrators and music editors as it is for composers. As with any informative, single-focused book the reader will find things that may or may not be as important or as essential as Borum suggests. Nevertheless, all of what Borum says needs to be dealt with one way or the other by any aspiring media composer. As corny as it sounds, don’t read it at your own risk. Or, put another way, it’s a must-read.

I graduated Berklee College of Music like the author in 2013 as drum performance major and felt pretty miserable for years having no job related to music. This insanely expensive school (as expensive as Harvard or MIT) lures young talented kids with rose-lit dreams first, but don't talk about reality and business at all at the end. I'm glad I'm attending at graduate program in west coast as composition major now. He really speaks straight forward about all the matters young composers consider about a lot to work industry (NOT expensive hobby). I bought both paperback and Kindle version, but I prefer Kindle version, because I can play videos from there and I can control font size too. Paperback paper quality is low and fonts are too small to pay whooping $35. Anyways, Thank you so much for this great book, Jeremy. Extremely helpful to figure out what I have to do from now on! :)

Jeremy Borum is someone who has been there and done that when it comes to film scoring.He shares both his own experiences as well as the inputs from his large, supportive, professional community.If you are using the Kindle Edition or the Ebook version then the book includes links to on-line audio-visual files that highlight and extend Jeremy's points in the book.Whether you are a new music scoring professional or just someone interested in the business of film scoring this is both eye opening and a great reference.

This read covered all facets of doing it on your own including insight into building a team and choosing the most appropriate aspects to bring on a project in addition to your efforts. I used this to enhance the ongoing awareness necessary as a music composer, producer and player in a freelance industry.

Jeremy has written a book that is so needed in today's film scoring arena. He is a brilliant musician, composer, orchestrator and arranger. He has worked with some of the best composers in the world. If you are new to this business this book is a must for your library. As a working film composer I can say that Jeremy has hit the nail on the head about how to survive & thrive in this industry. He is also a very nice man. So, want to get in the film biz? Buy this book to learn how it works and how to succeed.

This book is packed with practical wisdom and sage advice for the aspiring or early-career film composer. Writing with an approachable and enjoyable tone, Jeremy navigates the landscape of film scoring as it exists TODAY where so many other books read as love letters to a bygone era. The many composer interviews add a lot and the book provides a great practical template for composing and producing scores in the current filmmaking landscape. Highly recommended.

There are a few tips here and there regarding studio setup, that are somewhat helpful but for the most part, this book is pretty useless. I have no idea why there are so many good reviews for it. It often contradicts itself and the the sections about "branding" and marketing yourself are downright ridiculous. Some of the observations are so obvious that the fact they are mentioned in the book leads me to think the author needed filler. Most of the points covered in this book are SO obvious that only someone who has NO idea of the current climate would learn something, Lastly, the section about finding is work is COMPLETLY useless. If you do buy this book, get the kindle addition as it is the cheapest option.

I purchased this book for my son, a high school senior, who is interested in a career in music/sound production and scoring. It is a great way to open that world and its possibilities to him. This book is a way for those of us not already in the business to glean some information about it. Fascinating read!

I am literally astounded at this book and how it applies to me. This may just be the single greatest personal read in terms of career development. If you're a composer in today's world, you need this most excellent field manual that will guide you through the trenches that make up the modern film score industry. Simply amazing.

The info in this book was very educational and informative. It covers many topics within the industry. The many videos that have been included of film composers sharing their ideas add a great touch to ones learning experience.

This was reviewed as a great book. It’s not great but it is good. There’s a fair amount of waffle which could have been covered in much less space. There’s another book I’m reading which is the complete guide to film scoring by Richard Davis - Berklee Press and it covers more topics but in less space. The guerrilla film scoring book is a good read though and covers a lot of topics. It has taught me a lot, but at times it went into topics whilst assuming the reader knows all the jargon it’s referring to. There should be some Dummies style descriptions before piling into complex topics. It’s full of Americanisms so as a British reader I’ve had to translate some text as it’s very country specific. Still a good book, but I love the Berkless Press one more.

Do you want to become a film composer? This book is really helpful. It provides you some unvaluable guidelines. If you want to know more about it, read the sample and you'll have a pretty good idea about how amazing this book is.

en los últimos tres años he tenido la suerte de realizar tres bandas sonoras de largometrajes y este libro corresponde muy bien a mi experiencia (voy aprendiendo a velocidad luz sobre la marcha), y también me ha dado muchos trucos y info util. lo recomiendo.simon