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An anime's soundtrack is usually made specific for the show. The same cannot always be said about the anime's opening or ending themes, though.

When it comes to producing an anime, multiple companies work together to make a show happen; these multiple companies make up what's called a Production Committee. Depending upon the show, a show's production committee will include a music label (such as Aniplex or Lantis), and this label can provide a composer to make music for the anime. There are cases and times, though, where a specific composer can be brought in from a certain label (such as Yuki Kajiura being brought in to work on Madoka Magicka), if someone in the production staff has a connection or something like that.

A computer can synthesize a lot of instruments pretty dang well, and it's assumedly cheaper to hash out a soundtrack through computer software rather than finding an orchestra/band, teaching them the music, and then recording the performance. Using live orchestras for anime isn't unheard of (such as for higher-production films), but I couldn't tell you a percentage of how much certain anime shows use what. For vocal stuff, I don't specifically know how that gets managed, and I wouldn't want to lead you astray by even more conjecturing.

Finally, to answer your question about how they decide the feel of the sound, I'm led to believe that it's hashed out at meetings during an anime's creation (usually a bit closer to the end stage of things), with the composer (or someone representing his/her label) talking with the anime's production staff. Words could be thrown around that depict a certain feeling, or a certain genre of music or something to go for. If the production staff knows more about music, more specific terms may end up being used.

When it comes to how the music itself is created, and how composers get the training to get their jobs, just look up "music composition" and "digital music composition" on Google and it'll start to point you in that direction. A lot of the same general composition and creation processes apply, although I can't really tell you if they do something specifically unique in Japan composition-wise. Anyway, people can go to college to study music theory and music composition, and from there, they may choose to work specifically for anime, or choose to work anywhere else (like composing for live-action TV, or for movies, or commercials, or for the entertainment industry, for example). It's a career and profession like any other.

Sources:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2012-03-05 - Justin Sevaki's "The Anime Economy" series. Doesn't really delve into the specifics of how an anime is made, but it explains the production committee bit fairly well.

http://web.archive.org/web/20081002032241/http://gabrielarobin.com/279/newtype-yoko-kanno-and-shoji-kawamori-macross-f-ost-1-interview-translation - An interview with the chief director and composer for Macross F (provided through the Wayback Machine). The translation isn't the easiest to follow, but it provides some information about how the music came to be (Macross F also had a lot of vocal music too!)

Interview contained in the DVD release of the 2nd half of Zaion: I Wish You Were Here. Show wasn't that memorable, but it had some great music! The music composer for Zaion was contacted and brought in while the show was still in its planning stages and they talked about what feel to attempt for the series. However, that being said, Zaion may have been a bit different because it was made for Internet distribution, an unheard of thing at the time.

An anime's soundtrack is usually made specific for the show. The same cannot always be said about the anime's opening or ending themes, though.

When it comes to producing an anime, multiple companies work together to make a show happen; these multiple companies make up what's called a Production Committee. Depending upon the show, a show's production committee will include a music label (such as Aniplex or Lantis), and this label can provide a composer to make music for the anime. There are cases and times, though, where a specific composer can be brought in from a certain label (such as Yuki Kajiura being brought in to work on Madoka Magicka), if someone in the production staff has a connection or something like that.

A computer can synthesize a lot of instruments pretty dang well, and it's assumedly cheaper to hash out a soundtrack through computer software rather than finding an orchestra/band, teaching them the music, and then recording the performance. Using live instruments for anime isn't unheard of (such as for higher-production films), but I couldn't tell you a percentage of how much certain anime shows use what. For vocal stuff, I don't specifically know how that gets managed, and I wouldn't want to lead you astray by even more conjecturing.

Finally, to answer your question about how they decide the feel of the sound, I'm led to believe that it's hashed out at meetings during an anime's creation (usually a bit closer to the end stage of things), with the composer (or someone representing his/her label) talking with the anime's production staff. Words could be thrown around that depict a certain feeling, or a certain genre of music or something to go for. If the production staff knows more about music, more specific terms may end up being used.

When it comes to how the music itself is created, and how composers get the training to get their jobs, just look up "music composition" and "digital music composition" on Google and it'll start to point you in that direction. A lot of the same general composition and creation processes apply, although I can't really tell you if they do something specifically unique in Japan composition-wise. Anyway, people can go to college to study music theory and music composition, and from there, they may choose to work specifically for anime, or choose to work anywhere else (like composing for live-action TV, or for movies, or commercials, or for the entertainment industry, for example). It's a career and profession like any other.

Sources:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2012-03-05 - Justin Sevaki's "The Anime Economy" series. Doesn't really delve into the specifics of how an anime is made, but it explains the production committee bit fairly well.

http://web.archive.org/web/20081002032241/http://gabrielarobin.com/279/newtype-yoko-kanno-and-shoji-kawamori-macross-f-ost-1-interview-translation - An interview with the chief director and composer for Macross F (provided through the Wayback Machine). The translation isn't the easiest to follow, but it provides some information about how the music came to be (Macross F also had a lot of vocal music too!)

Interview contained in the DVD release of the 2nd half of Zaion: I Wish You Were Here. Show wasn't that memorable, but it had some great music! The music composer for Zaion was contacted and brought in while the show was still in its planning stages and they talked about what feel to attempt for the series. However, that being said, Zaion may have been a bit different because it was made for Internet distribution, an unheard of thing at the time.

Generally, a computer can synthesize other instruments' sounds fairly well, so a composer could get by with a computer and an electric/MIDI piano. This doesn't mean live instruments are never brought in or recorded, but it can be harder to organize a music group or symphony to play and record all of a show's background music (in addition to it not being quite as cheap).

With the vocal stuff in the background music, I don't specifically know how that gets managed, but my guess would be that they get vocalists from the composer's music label to sit in and sing the parts. Like many things in anime, voice acting is definitely a competitive field, so for vocalists, being able to get at least some job singing for background music is better than nothing.

Finally, to answer your question about how they decide the feel of the sound, I'm led to believe that it's hashed out at meetings during an anime's creation (usually a bit closer to the end stage of things), with the composer (or someone representing his/her label) talking with the anime's production staff. Words that could be thrown around are adjectives that depict a certain feeling, or a certain genre of music or something to go for. If the production staff knows more about music, more specific terms may end up being used than otherwise.

A computer can synthesize a lot of instruments pretty dang well, and it's assumedly cheaper to hash out a soundtrack through computer software rather than finding an orchestra/band, teaching them the music, and then recording the performance. Using live orchestras for anime isn't unheard of (such as for higher-production films), but I couldn't tell you a percentage of how much certain anime shows use what. For vocal stuff, I don't specifically know how that gets managed, and I wouldn't want to lead you astray by even more conjecturing.

Finally, to answer your question about how they decide the feel of the sound, I'm led to believe that it's hashed out at meetings during an anime's creation (usually a bit closer to the end stage of things), with the composer (or someone representing his/her label) talking with the anime's production staff. Words could be thrown around that depict a certain feeling, or a certain genre of music or something to go for. If the production staff knows more about music, more specific terms may end up being used.

Music production is generally done with a computer and a digital piano to create all the different instruments. Maybe some other instruments are brought in, such as brass instruments, to give the live instrument feel, but generally, a computer can synthesize another instrument's sound fairly well. It's also a lot easier than trying to find and organize (and pay, most importantly) a music group or symphony to play and record all of a show's background music. (Again, not to say that it isn't done, but it's not a general thing.)

With the vocal stuff in the background music, I don't really specifically know how that gets managed, but my guess would be that they get vocalists from the composer's music label to sit in and sing the parts. Like many things in anime, voice acting is definitely a competitive field, so for vocalists, being able to get at least some job singing for background music is better than nothing.

Finally, to answer your question about how they decide the feel of the sound, I'd led to believe that it's hashed out at meetings during an anime's creation (usually a bit closer to the end stage of things), with the composer (or someone representing his/her label) talking with the anime's production staff. Words that could be thrown around are adjectives that depict a certain feeling, or a certain genre of music or something to go for. If the production staff knows more about music, more specific terms may end up being used than otherwise.

Sources:

(I'll be adding more sources later because some of the stuff (such as DVD interviews and specific web posts) I don't have on hand at the moment!)

Generally, a computer can synthesize other instruments' sounds fairly well, so a composer could get by with a computer and an electric/MIDI piano. This doesn't mean live instruments are never brought in or recorded, but it can be harder to organize a music group or symphony to play and record all of a show's background music (in addition to it not being quite as cheap).

With the vocal stuff in the background music, I don't specifically know how that gets managed, but my guess would be that they get vocalists from the composer's music label to sit in and sing the parts. Like many things in anime, voice acting is definitely a competitive field, so for vocalists, being able to get at least some job singing for background music is better than nothing.

Finally, to answer your question about how they decide the feel of the sound, I'm led to believe that it's hashed out at meetings during an anime's creation (usually a bit closer to the end stage of things), with the composer (or someone representing his/her label) talking with the anime's production staff. Words that could be thrown around are adjectives that depict a certain feeling, or a certain genre of music or something to go for. If the production staff knows more about music, more specific terms may end up being used than otherwise.

Sources: