Jack Walker is a Composer and Music Producer based on Long Island, NY. His compositions can be heard on Television networks including BBC, A&E, WEtv, MTV, and VH1. He has performed on over 100 albums spanning nearly three decades. His primary instruments are keyboard, piano, guitar and voice.
Jack has worked in network TV and film for many years, and understands how to consistently and quickly turn around quality music to his clients. He combines real and virtual instrumentation within the digital domain to underscore moving images, often evoking emotional responses in his listening audience.
File delivery can be Protools, Logic, Cubase sessions, or stems.
Stems are then provided once arrangements are approved.
Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
2 Reviews
Endorse Jack Walker
I walked into a recording studio 20 years ago to record a small demo. Little did I know I would find a life-long collaborator. Pop, Rock, Jazz, Classical, we have worked on it all together. Jack's orchestrations are lush. His mixes are punchy and full of life. Need orchestrations for your track; be it rock, jazz, pop, country, or classical? Jack is the guy.
Great job, Jack.
Interview with Jack Walker
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Being the Composer for John Edward Cross Country on WEtv for three seasons. John Edward and Paul Shavelson at JECO gave me a shot when no-one else believed in me. It took my career to the next level.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: 3 film scores, 3 albums and 4 singles. Also working with Gina Fant Simon on song writing, my first foray into co-writing in quite some time.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Vincent Ricciardi. Hands down my favorite tenor out there. Plus he's a sweetheart.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. Because they are both required to work in the way I work.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I promise to put my passion and creativity into your song or film. Nothing ever held back.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Creativity. Artists need to express themselves, more so in this new quarantined world we find ourselves in.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Q: When do you think it will be done. Answer: Tomorrow :)
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: It's not arcane, it's just 5% Music Theory and Know How, and the rest is creativity.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What instruments and artists do you like?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Send a rough demo, and make sure I'm the right guy for the job. Talk to me about your needs. If I can't meet them, I'll point you to someone who can.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: My Washburn D10, a piano, an Avid OMNI and Mac, and a SM57. Do you know how many vocal finals were recorded on an SM-57? Neither do I, but I'm sure its a lot.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started Trumpet at 10, then Organ and Piano at 12. I grew up singing in the church, then musical theatre. Then moved to rock bands (Toured with Scarecrow and Wounded, it was fun!). Then, Bam! TV shows in the late 90's all the way through today.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Orchestral Rock when writing originals, no bounds when it comes to film score and arrangements.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Marco Beltrami. I actually did work on a friend's album, where he did the orchestral arrangements - Stephen Palmer's The Alliance. It was an honor. I'd love to work with him on something else.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Be as verbose as you'd like when asking for instrumentation. Also don't be afraid to experiment. My offer of lots of free rewrites are there for a reason. Explore what's out there, and try new things.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Pop, classical, country, rock, metal, and singer songwriter. My favorite this year so far has got to be country.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My calm. You'd be surprised how useful it is to be kind and calm, especially in the high stress environment of TV and film.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Over 30 years experience in the music business, and countless hours of practice at my craft.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Speak with the artist, find out what they like, and to describe what they hear in their head. Then I (try) to make it reality.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Protools on a Mac pro, and then a bunch of Mac Minis running VE Pro. Purple and Black sound proofing and a really nice collection of lava lamps round out the ambience, makes it nice for creating music.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Anything good. I love such a variety of artists, though I suppose being a child of the 80s I lean more to 80s Rock, and Pop. The orchestral music comes from a background in church choral and sacred music. I also had some training in the usual classical composers, as well as favorite films. I'm a total sci-fi geek, so Williams and Beltrami are up there.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I finish songs for them. They usually come with as little as a melody, and I break the music out into a full arrangement.
- Composer OrchestralAverage price - $400 per song
- Film ComposerAverage price - $800 per minute
- String ArrangerAverage price - $200 per song
- Keyboards - SynthAverage price - $200 per song
1 Week turn Around for everything except Film Score. Flat fee includes 3 revisions. Full songs are usually around 5-6 hours of work. Film Score turnaround is based on requested arrangement.
- Protools
- Vienna Ensemble Pro
- Native Instruments
- Spitfire
- VSL Cube
- Many Boutique Libraries
