Now "background music" was what directors were looking for. This somewhat downgraded the importance of a film scorer, but music most certainly was an importance for making a quality film. .
Film then become color, and suddenly many types of film were being created. The "B" film, the short, made for TV movies, and most reciently the made for Internet film. One great example would be the currently running BMW film series. Some of the best short scores have been put together by scorers for these films. Like the score for Beat the Devil by Harry Gregson-Williams. It incorporates a lot of pop-style music, with many unexpected turns trying to follow the artistic camera work done by Tony Scott.
From these genres of film music, there is generally two types of scorers. One type writes the music, then organizes a rehearsal with many instrumentalists, and once the music is ready, has engineers come and records the music while conducting the players. The second type, does everything by his or herself. Usually using a sampler and a home recording studio. John would be the second type of film scorer. He doesn't conduct and does not make enough money to acquire a number of instrumentalists and other engineers to do jobs for him.
John's career was one that developed over time. As a child, he played multiple instruments beginning with the piano. His talents then expanded to the cello at age eight and the trombone at age nine. He continued to harbor this skills and joined the Maine State Youth Orchestra at age 11. He played cello at this ripe age along the side of mostly teenagers. When he reached high school, his school district dropped the string program and in turn, picked up the bass and guitar to suplement his desire to play stringed instruments. This began a new section of his musical life. .
His passion turned towards pop music and caused a new development with his writing. He joined a rock band playing bass and singing backup vocals.
