I have loved making music my entire life. I didn’t understand it when I was young, but such a wonderful part of my job now is to work with creative people and tell a story in a collaborative setting. If you are here and reading this, you probably know what I’m talking about. There are choices that need to get made in that setting that I wouldn’t make in a vacuum. Some of my favorite music and art is a result of it. The picture above seemed to capture some of this spirit. You may not see the entire path, but that doesn’t mean it won’t take you to an amazing place.

PROCESS

We chat about your needs. I make a bunch of stuff. I send it to you. You tell me what’s cool and what’s not. Rinse and repeat… We go from there. It sounds silly, but in my opinion, it’s a great way to be creative, collaborative and practical.Over the years, some of my favorite creative moments have been when an editor or film maker has dropped a piece of my music into a timeline and there’s this magical moment of the music, sound and image coming together. Most of the time, it’s happened because I’m working with someone I respect that describes what they want and I’m able to use my decades of being in a studio setting to make something that creatively explores what we’ve discussed. That’s my goal. It could be the sound. It could be the emotion. It could be the pace. It’s all of these things that combine with a creative visual to tell a story.

BIOGRAPHY

Born. Moved from Boston to North of San Francisco. Listened to all kinds of music. My mom played Beethoven and Motown mostly. Started playing piano around 3 years old. My grandfather played violin and piano and taught me that there are no rules when it comes to music, only guidelines. Started playing drums around 10 years old. Jazz band turned me on to Miles Davis, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock. Total gateway drugs. The bass player in the band turned me on to Rush. I started practicing drums 3 hours a day. Went to UCSD, studied Neuroscience & Music. Played in bands and continued to develop my ear. Started composing at the piano and on guitar. Bought my first keyboard and started sequencing. Moved back to Bay Area. Started using Cubase and Acid to record. Worked in a drum shop to learn how to tune drums and have a better ear for cymbals. Bought my first moog. Started scoring film. Continued Performing live. Joined an improv hip hop group. Got involved in all kinds of creative projects…

Wrote a bio.

TESTIMONIALS

I thought it would be nice to hear from some of the people that I worked for and with over the years. I recommend checking these folks out independently. They are each talented and lovely people. Mostly because they charged me very little money for their compliments.

“I've worked with Brian on several network shows as well as a VR project. He was amazing to work with. Not only was he professional and able to work on a deadline — most importantly his scores were evocative, emotional and brought the scenes to life.”

Ethan Prochnik, Director/Producer/Writer

“I can't say enough nice things about Brian. I've never had a collaborator with his blend of talent, enthusiasm, work ethic, and egoless ability to take direction. It's worth the hassle of making a movie *just* to have him on my team.

Bodine Boling, Writer/Director

“Brian is super talented and asks all the right questions in order to develop music that really supports and enhances any narrative. He’s fun to work with and brings loads of creativity to the table.”

Lisa Landers, Documentary Producer/Director

“Without Brian’s musical knowledge, professionalism and willingness to explore my crazy ideas to the point of creating an entirely new genre (Hong Kong Action Jazz!), the project definitely would not have felt right. I’m eager to work with Brian again and I would highly recommend him to all film makers as it’s unfortunately tough to find passionate, ego-free, teammates who actually follow through with professional work!”

Dennis Ruel, Filmmaker

“Brian has a rare gift for bridging big ideas and concrete implementation - he's capable of divergent creative thinking and convergent detail-oriented execution. He is a wonderful collaborator and communicator. Brian knows what questions to ask and handles curve balls with thoughtful attention, humor, and solutions.”

Beau Lewis | CEO, RhymeCombinator

“Working with Brian is like going to a restaurant and asking for a drumstick, and then they bring you the whole chicken. He always goes above and beyond. Not only is he full of creative ideas but he takes direction fantastically well.”

Jose Montesinos, Filmmaker

“Brian Rodvien is first and foremost a mensch of a human being. Getting to collaborate with him on multiple projects has always left me feeling like I did the right thing. His musical ability is of the highest caliber only to be matched by his intellectual capacity.”

Anthony Veneziale, Creator of Freestyle Love Supreme & Producer of many things

“Working with Brian was a pleasure. He took the time to really get to know the characters in our film and create music that matched, supported, and uplifted our subjects and their stories. His professionalism was unparralled. He started each session with wonderfully creative and well thought through ideas and newly created musical clips. His depth of understanding related to how various instruments, genre, and style best paired with our story and subjects made working with him a joy. I would highly recommend anyone looking to up the production value of their film with original composed music to consider Brian Rodvien.”

Tamara Perkins, Director (Life After Life)

“Brian Rodvien’s magic sparkles have been instrumental for my web documentary "Life Underground" (www.life-underground.com). He has created dozens of music tracks made out of the raw sounds of subways that I recorded around the world. Brian tweaked, distorted and looped those sounds and turned them into beautiful rhythmic and melodic soundtracks that have been acclaimed by the public and film festivals worldwide.”

Herve Cohen, Director