About Composer

You are a film composer. What does that mean? What does a film composer do?
I write music to play in a movie. Oftentimes it acts like accompaniment to sound effects and dialogue audio of a movie. Sometimes the music I write plays underneath a scene featuring action, motion, a landscape, place or an object, and I write music for the emotion of that moment that doesn’t have people in it or sound effects or dialogue. Music can be another character in a scene, driving emotion, or it can add a layer of sound and tone filling up emotional space.

Oversimplify what you do. Badly describe your job.
I thought I just did that? I make noises with instruments, record them and add those noises to movies and videos. 😉

Do you work alone or do you have someone else working with you?
I work alone in my home studio. I play multiple instruments and sing.

You are a filmmaker too, do you ever wear multiple hats on one project?
I try to avoid that as much as possible, unless it happens to be my own film project. –But even then, I might hire someone else to score it. Really, whatever is best for the project, I am for that.

How do you approach film scoring?
While the film is in the in development process, I’ll connect with the director and other key players to get notes on the mood, tone, color, emotion, overall vibe of the story being told. -I get to know the specific characters, their motivations, the story arc, when and where it takes place– All of it. Even before I see the film, I typically have a sense of what will work within that film’s emotional and tonal palette.

Do you find that because you are an actor and screenwriter than you are inhibited from delivering your best work as a film composer?
Not at all. Quite the contrary. Because I am a writer and an actor, I already have a process to sort through so much of the visual an emotional aspects of a film and storytelling in general. The music ultimately becomes another voice amongst those that already exist speaking and expressing dialogue. Or whatever significant foley sounds are present. All of my other skills and knowledge only add to my work, they do not take away from it.

Do you write music beforehand? Or do you wait to see the film first, then write music?
I do a bit of both, but only after I know specifics about the film, characters, story-line, and director’s ultimate vision and message. I don’t just take existing music and overlay it. You want hire me when you want something specific written for your film. Or, if you want to use existing music and you don’t know which existing music to choose, you can always hire me as a musical consultant.

How many times do you watch a movie you are about to score?
Oh boy! Like a film editor, I watch a film an endless and incalculable number of times. When I do get the final version of the film, I watch it several times in a few different ways. I listen to the dialogue and sound effects already in the film while doing something else, like cleaning my room or doing the dishes (don’t judge me, I’m a mom and I multitask, dammit!) Because, I know that when I am passively listening to the film like that, I hear things I wouldn’t necessarily hear actively listening to it. Then, I will watch it without any sound at all. –Like a silent film. I take a lot of time to see the filmmakers’ vision and begin to interpret that into music and soundscaping. I take notes, and then see where I want to go musically.

Does the music just come to you in your head for each project?
No. No it doesn’t. Well, not always. Sometimes an idea will hit me in the middle of the night or while I’m cooking dinner, and then I have to grab my cell phone and record it using my voice, attempting to imitate the instruments I hear. This works for me. I then transcribe my own voice (which can be really funny at times because my voice imitating non-vocal instruments can be really goofy sounding) and then I begin notating a musical skeleton upon which to hang original and memorable themes and motifs that act as an additional tether connecting the film’s story to the audience in some way musically or with tone. My music supplements and supports when needed and is a voice when there isn’t any. I do not believe that it has to be underscoring every moment. My music acts like an accompanist while the film visuals and dialogue are like the two soloists singing a perfect duet.

Mim & her dad, Pierre A. Paquin, a classical orchestral audio engineer, at his Rhode Island Philharmonic recording gig. Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Providence, Rhode Island. 2017

Are you a classical musician? What kind of musician are you?
[For the purpose of this – we will not go in-depth into Mim’s vocal prowess or lifetime of listening and performing all styles of music as a professional singer.] I’m a musical chameleon. A Swiss Army knife of musical styles. I’ve been told throughout my life that I am a musician’s musician. Which basically, from my understanding means, is that I know a lot about a lot of stuff musically and it’s demonstrated in my musicality and ability to perform and deliver something true to style that still has a soul to it. Sounding authentic to whatever style I want it to sound like- or even a blend of styles.

Mim with vocal coach Christina Henson Hayes at a diner in NYC celebrating a birthday. New York, New York. 2010

Did you have music lessons as a kid?
You know all of that assigned listening a student at a music college or conservatory would be told to listen to? I heard all of it – on repeat – for two decades as a child and teen until I left my parents’ home. I used to get asked that all of the time. Where did you get lessons? What music school did you attend? I typically respond with, “I attended Pierre and Leslie’s Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.” I get dumbfounded looks, but my siblings know what I’m talking about! Pierre and Leslie are my parents, and no, they didn’t have a school, they just raised my siblings and me in a particular lifestyle– An artistic one… an academic one… a spiritual one. I did go on to be trained in my various skill-sets, but as far as musical exposure, I had the luxury of that starting before I was born! As a musician I was trained by New Bedford Public Schools music department in Massachusetts, primary music teacher: Cassandra Morgan.

Mim with music director Cassandra Morgan after a Spirit of Song Ensemble Concert. Saint Lawrence, Martyr Church. New Bedford, Massachusetts. 2015

I went on to The Boston Conservatory for a year on a full-scholarship. Eventually studied privately with Marni Nixon (she overdubbed the vocals of all of the female leads in musical films: My Fair Lady, The King & I, and West Side Story); and Ms. Christina Henson (protégé of Lily Pons and maestro Laszlo Halasz-founder of NYCO) while studying operatic voice and vocal pedagogy with her. I’ve learned from every single musical organization I performed with as a child, both as a volunteer and professionally like, Eccelsia Consort of New England, The Handle & Haydn Society, New Orleans Jazz Connection, United House of Prayer Gospel Choir, to name a few.

So would you say you are a product of your environment?
Absolutely. To understand me and my musical ability or tastes, you’re first have to understand my musical exposure– by extension you’d have to know my family history and the musical community I grew up in. I’m a 5th generation performer. More directly, my exposure to music came from my parents and my four siblings. They were highly influential on my listening and development.

So you were listening to a lot of classical music as a kid, right?
Yes. I need to emphasize the fact that this music was just part of my everyday life. As a result, I’m not a classical musician who approaches classical music with solemnity and snobbery. I approach all of it as though I’m visiting relatives at holiday time. I know what each piece expects and I know which ones will get along with me. Music is like family and friends to me. That’s why I listen to all of it. Sometimes I just need a great visit with an old friend, like any one of the classics, they have timeless stories to share. Classical music is like family.