Geoff Mann's Page

Hi, I'm Geoff, a (mostly) film composer living in LA. I moved here from NYC in 2007 after a long time of living as a performing/touring/recording drummer (mostly) and sometimes bandleader. I also ran a small recording studio for a few years, working on my art as an engineer and producer. Been writing music for film since about 2003 and have been dedicating myself full time to it since I moved out here in '07. So far, it's been alot of funny-type internet videos, a few short films, a pilot, some jingles, and now I'm doing my first indie feature (yippee!).

My music education is primarily jazz-based, though I started studying counterpoint and classical theory in high school. I received my BFA in Jazz Performance from the New School in '97 with a concentration in composition, which enabled me to study more classical and 20th century / Atonal theory than I would have otherwise there. Most of my writing experience has been centered around the musicians I had access to in New York, which ended up being, for the most part, some amazing horn and reed players, mostly in the funk and rock veins, but all with serious classical training and badass chops and stamina. I'd also had the opportunity to hire string sections for a few projects and was fortunate enough to find some folks who were kind and skilled enough to see past my mediocre-at-best classical part writing and help me realize the music I was trying to put out there, and all without giving me too hard of a time about it. Not having all these people at a moment's call has been one of the hardest things about moving across the country. BUT, it's allowed (or better, forced) me to start getting into the world of virtual instruments and the like, which I hadn't even ever touched until a couple years ago, and I'm sure that as things progress here, I'll meet new players to develop that kind of working relationship with, though it's hard to replace the 15 years of cultivating some amazing friends.

I'm still running off of the basic samples that come with Logic, oh yeah... and the M-Tron (love it!), though I plan an upgrade to some better orchestral samples once I can scrape together the $$. I still try to incorporate live instruments as much as possible, even sometimes switching out something I can play myself instead of what I originally heard for a part, though sometimes, a string part just needs to be a string part. Luckily, I've amassed a stockpile of useful instruments over the years and learned how to get by enough on many of them to at least play some needed parts.

Anyway, I'm excited to be a part of a composing community like this one. I think I've been hesitant to put my meager works and ideas out there for more studied and experienced composers to analyze, but there's really no turning back now as the career seems to keep moving forward, so.... Into the belly of the beast!!