Not all music is created equally. You may love the soundtrack of your favorite film, television show, or video game just as much as you enjoy Beethoven's 9th, but you may not know how deliberately the score from your favorite form of entertainment was composed. Elliot Callighan, independent composer and sound designer, joins the Curiosity Podcast to reveal how musicians in the 21st century write for media that didn't even exist when most of history's greatest composers were alive.

Elliot Calligan is a classically trained violinist and pianist, metal guitarist and electronic music enthusiast, a Soundpost Co-Chair for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Overture Council, and an adjunct faculty member in the Film & Game programs at DePaul University. His work has been featured in campaigns for United Airlines, The Chicago Advertising Federation, GMC, The Godrej Group, Chevrolet Motors, The Goodman Theatre as well as many independent films and games.

Additional resources discussed:

• Ramova Music, Elliot's web site
• Native Instruments Komplete 11 Software Suite
• Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2
• Newzoo Global Games Market Report
• MPAA Theatrical Market Statistics 2016 Report
• High Score: How Video Games are Offering New Opportunities to Composers, Producers and Orchestras
• National Endowment for the Arts Research Report #58, January 2015
• Musical chord preference: cultural or universal? Data from a native Amazonian society
• Your culture—not your biology—shapes your musical taste

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Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/21st-century-composing-scoring-music-for-film-and-video-games