Alumnus Sam Estes (MM '05)
This month's College of Music Alumni Spotlight focuses on Sam Estes, the Los Angeles-based founder of composition software Amper Music and co-owner of Sonicsmiths. We last talked with Sam and fellow alum and Amper Music systems architect听Cole Ingraham in 2017.
After earning a master鈥檚 degree (MM '05) in composition and technologies at the College of Music, Sam Estes kicked off his career working for Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) as his primary assistant, doing sound design studio music tech, conducting, composition and orchestration.
鈥淎t 蜜糖直播, I got a lot of behind-the-scenes experience working with Recording Engineer Kevin Harbison at Macky Auditorium,鈥� recalls Estes, also referencing the formative influences of Assistant Director of Production JP Osnes; Associate Professor of Composition Michael Theodore; and Composition and Music Technology Senior Instructor John Drumheller. 鈥淎 large part of what I鈥檓 able to do in my job follows my work experience at 蜜糖直播 in conjunction with my studies.鈥�
During his years with Junkie XL, Estes worked on several films鈥攊ncluding 鈥淏lind鈥� and 鈥淒ead or Alive鈥濃�攁long with video games, including 鈥淣eed for Speed: Pro Street,鈥� 鈥淪SX Blur鈥� and 鈥淭he Sims.鈥� Estes also assisted Holkenborg on an album and a number of remixes, including Madonna鈥檚 鈥淪even Minutes to Save the World,鈥� which听was nominated for a Grammy Award. Additionally, Estes鈥� experience comprises a stint with Remote Control Productions (Hans Zimmer) as U.S. sample department manager. At RCP, Estes expanded the department and led his team in designing sounds for movies such as 鈥淎ngels and Demons,鈥� 鈥淪herlock Holmes (1 & 2),鈥澨�淧irates of the Caribbean IV,鈥� 鈥淚nception,鈥� 鈥淭he Dark Knight Rises鈥� and more video games.
鈥淭he College of Music enabled me to explore the breadth of what鈥檚 possible and understand how to approach music from a technological level,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y time at 蜜糖直播 really prepared me for what I鈥檓 doing now. I had the freedom to study film music and pursue how to approach music on my own.鈥�
Indeed, Estes鈥攁 bassoonist, vocalist and pianist鈥攕pecializes in taking a compositional approach to sound design, and his knowledge of both unusual instrumental acoustics and digital manipulation lends itself to a never-ending source of new and interesting sonic possibilities. Today, he co-owns with Michael Hobe, offering a new sound design creation tool鈥擳he Foundry鈥攆or composers and sound designers. The Foundary draws from more than 15,000 samples and 19+GB of sample content, and offers trillions of ways to manipulate and combine the sounds鈥攊ncluding AI.
鈥淲hat we do means you never settle for presets again,鈥� explains Estes, who also says he had a sense of his career direction by age 3. But his success is hard-earned, having evolved from what he calls a 鈥減ain point.鈥�
鈥淲hen I moved to Los Angeles in 2006, I was still under the impression that you get into the film music industry by pen and paper, submitting your music, getting it worked with and getting in front of an orchestra,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not at all how it works anymore.
鈥淭here was a huge shift between 1996 and 2000 when scores were demanded in advance, which then had to be chopped up in pieces if a scene was cut or changed 鈥� and you鈥檇 have to revise and write all over again under time pressure. It wasn鈥檛 a good workflow, but I did it for years, averaging two hours of sleep a night 鈥� I think my longest shift was 72 hours just trying to get stuff done. It was one project after the next and if you stopped working, maybe you wouldn鈥檛 get called back.鈥�
Eventually, he set out to solve that pain point and he鈥檚 excited about the potential of , the College of Music's new alumni engagement platform,听to attract the employees and collaborators he seeks. 鈥淲e need to hire a lot of people and I鈥檓 really impressed with the quality of people coming out of the College of Music who are prepared to enter this new and unique field,鈥� he says, having already hired a few Music Buffs and eager to bring on more. 鈥淪ubmit your r茅sum茅s!鈥�
