Jeff Rona is a contemporary film composer and recording artist who has worked on numerous film and television scores, including Homicide: Life On The Street, The Lion King, Traffic, The Net, Toys, Mission: Impossible II and many, many others. Prior to becoming an established composer, Rona was active in the creative and technical aspects of electronic music, and was one of the architects of the MIDI standard. He is author of The Reel World, a guide to the art and business of film scoring, and which grew out of a column of the same name which he regularly writes for Keyboard Magazine.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, discusses the craft and life of film composing. He addresses what it’s like to write for film or TV and why it’s different from any other composing challenge, how to work collaboratively with directors and producers, how film composers get paid, balancing work and family, being a well-rounded person, what it takes to have a successful career in film composing, and more.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, assesses the role of technology in a film composer’s work and the extent to which sequencers and computers are the modern film composer’s “instrument.”
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, discusses how he manages his time to balance his family life with the demanding schedule of a film composer.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, discusses why it’s beneficial to his life and career to have an understanding and appreciation of all the arts – not just music – and how developing this side of himself has made him a better musician and more well-rounded human being.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, shares what it’s like to have your music heard by millions of listeners and become a part of popular culture, why that is not necessarily the be-all and end-all of a career in music, and what the true pleasures of film composing are.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, offers advice to parents of musicians on how to nurture their child’s love of music, and how to help and support them as they pursue their career.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, introduces himself and his career. He discusses his early career at A&M records, his role as a principal architect of the MIDI standard, his work programming synthesizers for artists like Earth Wind & Fire and Madonna, and finally how he became an in-demand film and television composer.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, walks us through the process of writing music to accompany a filmed work, and offers advice on working with directors and producers to create a score that is close to what the project’s principals envision.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, describes two ways that work-for-hire film composition deals can be structured (fee-based and package-based), and discusses how the composer gets paid in each case.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, weighs whether the score and soundtrack to a film have the power to elevate a mediocre product or ruin a good one.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, discusses the process he goes through when coming up with the idea for a score, and some of the issues that a film composer must take into consideration when writing and organizing the score for a film.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, offers both advice and caution to people aspiring to a career in film composing, assesses what skills are required, what personal traits are necessary, and what art-music composers and songwriters need to relearn before they can succeed in film composing.
Jeff Rona, an electronic music specialist and notable film composer, assesses whether having a stock bag of tricks that you use on every composing project you’re involved in amounts to unethical laziness.
