Life & Work with Yilun Song

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yilun Song.

Hi Yilun, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
I never thought of becoming a music composer when I was a kid. Growing up playing piano, I always hated these lessons and practices until when I first saw How to Train Your Dragon, and immediately fell in love with its score; I never realized how music could be so narrative, so full of emotions that you could almost see colorful images right in front of your eyes. Since then, I fell in love with music: I started playing tunes and pieces that I fell in love with and founded a rock band with my middle and high school friends in Beijing, China, to start writing our own stories through music. 

I like making friends wherever I go, and I truly believe in the strength of diversity and collaboration. I’m also always curious to learn things I’m interested in. During my high school times, my friend and I would gather every week to critique each other’s music and pitch for songs to add to our band’s original album: one of us would want an Irish-inspired tune; one would love to have a punk track; and another person would propose a waltz… 

As I was about to part ways with my high school friends and start university in the US, I decided that I would pursue the path of a musician, a music storyteller. My first stop was at New York University, and I studied music technology for my bachelor’s degree, but the more I explored the world of music, the more I felt ignorant — so I chose to pursue a master’s degree in screen scoring. During these two years, I started writing music for indie films, games, and documentaries; I also got to know wonderful composers and directors and immersed myself in this amazing film music world. Eventually, it became clear to me that LA was gotta be my next stop. Being a new immigrant to the city, I’m really excited to get in touch with the people living here, and I can’t wait to start this new chapter in my life. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Finding a healthy work-life balance has definitely been a challenge. Being a composer, it is very likely for me to stay up after midnight to finish a project that’s due the next morning or to get up at 3 am just to write down this wonderful idea I just came up with in bed… It’s very easy to throw away my normal routine and skip meals, which definitely caused me trouble — one time, I had to ask for a deadline extension because I had a bad fever for an entire week and couldn’t write anything at all. 

There’s also always the language challenge. Being a non-native English speaker, I always find myself slower at conveying my thoughts, which has made me less talkative in events. But I’ve been learning to be braver and to not think too much about it: after all, one has to keep speaking to get better. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
In my opinion, a media composer isn’t simply a person that creates their own music; they are also a person that provides service to the storyteller. Being a media composer, my job is to write music that fits the story on screen and highlights its core, and conveys the emotions to the audience. It’s a collaborative process, and the composer is only a part of it. 

To go into technical terms, coming from a classical and rock/pop music background, I write in multiple genres and am familiar with music-making software such as Logic, Sibelius, Pro Tools, etc. I also do orchestration, arrangement, and studio production, thanks to my studies in screen scoring and music technology. These skills allow me to wear the producer and the orchestrator hats as well, to do a little mixing or arranging orchestral piece for my fellow composers and musicians. 

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Simply contact me! If you need music for your story (film, game, etc.), feel free to email or message me! 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.songyilun.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/songyilunivan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/songyilunivan
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yilun-ivan-song/

Image Credits
Yucheng Li