Torby Brand, an accomplished arranger and pianist, has earned himself the title of the most followed independent arranger on MuseScore. With over 300 scores, primarily for anime and video game music, he’s earned over 21,000 followers on MuseScore and over 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. So how did his arrangements, which started as a hobby, grow into a full-time career?
Who Is Torby Brand?
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A: My name is Torby, I’m a pianist and producer from Norway! I’ve been arranging and playing online for about 10 years now, and in the process, gone from being a hobby pianist to having it as my full-time job. There are two main focuses to my work: Creating tribute albums to my favorite works, and arranging and releasing sheet music of the same works, for everyone to play and enjoy. I’m not professionally trained, nor are my skills anything out of the ordinary. That’s why I believe my work to be proof that everyone can be a musician!
To date, I’ve released over 300 arrangements, 30 albums and singles, and become the most followed independent arranger on MuseScore. If you also like anime and video game soundtracks, consider checking out some of my works.
Q: What music have you been listening to recently?
A: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”, the season 1 score by Dan Romer!
I wrote this article for MyMusicFive about it.
But in short, I think he nailed the more intimate, casual feel for the show that they wanted. There are beautiful acoustics, a fresh feel, experimentation, and a gorgeous main melody that Romer uses wonderfully throughout the score. And it didn’t lean on the original GoT score at all except for one key moment. I think that was a wise decision.
Q: What was your first instrument? Why did you start learning?
A: Trumpet, for the marching band. But I ended up liking piano much more. You can do a lot more with it, in my opinion.
Q: What is your musical superpower/claim to fame?
A: Being a perfectionist. I’m not particularly skilled, but I’m stubborn and work hard when I’m set on something.
Inside Torby Brand’s Process for Creating
Q: Who and/or what inspires you to create?
A: Personally, I’m a cover artist, so I take most of my inspiration from other works and recreate them as tributes and for others to be able to play and experience them. It’s both the works themselves and those users and fans that inspire me to keep arranging.
Some of my favourite artists are Joe Hisaishi, Hiroyuki Sawano, Kensuke Ushio, Koji Kondo, Yuko Hayashi and RADWIMPS. In terms of Western music, I love Ramin Djawadi, and, of course, John Williams.
Q: How has the MuseScore community impacted your musical journey?
A: It got me started and taught me how to be an industry musician. I’m not professionally trained, but MuseScore users have taught me that it doesn’t matter. What matters is having clean and readable scores and high-quality arrangements. Simply, it should play well and sound good.
Q: What is a piece you’re especially proud of?
A: One of the few pieces I’m completely happy with, my version of “Again” from Your Lie in April:
Q: Your arrangement of “Again” is such a beautiful piece! What did the process for creating it look like? What about it makes you feel “completely happy” with it?
Thank you, I think it’s the combination of having a good day in the studio and feeling that the arrangement captures the essence of my style. Faithful and not too complex, but with a little flair where appropriate. But my love for the source material definitely plays a large part as well. It’s perhaps my favourite anime ever, and the score is close to my heart.
Torby Brand’s Advice for Aspiring Arrangers
Q: Do you have any advice for young arrangers/transcribers to help them turn their work into a career?
A:
- Don’t overreach. It’s fun to make plans in your head, to have a long to-do list, and to take on difficult arrangements. But I think it’s more important to keep gaining progress in small, iterative steps. This way, it will feel like you’re constantly progressing (and you are!) and you have a smaller chance of getting overwhelmed and demotivated. For example, mastering three short and easy pieces instead of one long intermediate one. You’ll be much better equipped to tackle the intermediate one if you do the three easy ones first!
- Find a balance between what makes you happy in music and what gives you clicks. That balance is different for everyone, for me I tackle about 1/3 less popular music that I’m very fond of, 1/3 popular music that I also happen to love, and 1/3 pieces that I might not be that interested in, but viewers and fans love them. This way, you can build your profile and artist persona with integrity and without getting burned out, while also considering the general public.
- In the words of Conan O’Brien: “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.”
Q: Do you have any projects you are currently working on? Or anything you’re excited to create in the future?
A: I just finished my version of last year’s iconic “In the Pool” from the Chainsaw Man movie, by Kensuke Ushio. If you also enjoyed that score or would like to play it, consider checking it out:
You can find Torby Brand’s links here:
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