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Composing

Discuss, share content, offer tips and advice on hardware, software, style, strategies, process, work-flow and the business of scoring a film, video or theater production

How to Write, Develop & Pitch YA TV
Sam Rivera
From DJing to Composing, Crossing that Bridge Has Become Something Every Musician Should try

From Ludwig Goransson to Nine Inch Nails, this Nathan Micay profile is a great reminder that the path to scoring a hit show is rarely a straight line. The guy went from cleaning dishes and training DJs in Berlin to composing Expand post

Toronto-born musician Nathan Micay is making his mark on HBO's Industry
Toronto-born musician Nathan Micay is making his mark on HBO's Industry
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/article-how-toronto-born-musician-nathan-micay-is-making-his-mark-on-hbos/
Micay's compositions translate financial power and personal pressures into music that moves beneath the dialogue
Navid Lancaster
New addition to our (ever growing) list of pianos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtbOdbhGig8

Liked by Vilakshan Kandwal

Jon Landers
Question for Composers: How Is AI-Assisted Music Viewed for TV/Film Licensing?

Hi everyone,

I’d appreciate some guidance from fellow composers and producers here in the Lounge.

I’ve produced an original song titled Brother that I believe could be a strong emotional fit for certain TV or film projects. I wrote the lyrics and developed the concept, and I used AI-assisted vocal pro...

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Ray Fontenault

AI is a great tool and can create some pretty good recordings, but as a songwriter I believe AI is still in its infancy in this space. I personally don't use AI for production and writing as I'm not sure where the ownership resides or how the industry's acceptance will be.

Baron Rothschild
“Creative Authority Begins With Clean Boundaries”

Most composers think authority comes from talent, credits, or gear. It doesn’t. Authority begins the moment you establish clean boundaries around your creative process.

A composer without boundaries becomes a technician.

A composer with boundaries becomes a collaborator.

The difference is simple:

-...

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Amir Sadeghi
What Does “Before Creation” Sound Like?

For a story about existence before time — what would the sound be?

Silence? Low-frequency pulse? Choir?

Exploring tonal ideas for a mythological sci-fi series.

Maurice Vaughan

Silence since people and things haven't been created yet, Amir Sadeghi.

Mahdi Zamani

The first idea that comes into everyone mind about "Before Creation" sound is silence but most of the time the first ideas aren't the best. I prefer to use electronic instruments as synths and also so...

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Amir Sadeghi

Silence feels logical.

No people. No matter. No air.

But I wonder…

Is it true silence?

Or a silence that contains potential?

Like something waiting to happen....

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Amir Sadeghi

That’s interesting, Mahdi Zamani .

I agree — silence is the obvious choice.

But obvious isn’t always cinematic.

Synth textures could suggest energy before form.

Not music yet…

More like vibration.

A presenc...

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Maurice Vaughan
Composing Software and Tips for Beginners

What's a good composing software and some composing tips for beginners?

Kat Spencer

I like Logic Pro. And a good tip in the beginning? Start small. These programs have a lot of things they can do, and it can be overwhelming at first. But if you start with one track, one goal, and learn how to lay down some foundational things, you can learn the basics pretty quickly.

Maurice Vaughan

Thank you, Kat Spencer. Great tip for composing, writing, directing, graphic design, etc.!

Navid Lancaster

Maurice Vaughan If a person can read music I would recommend the free software called Musescore.

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks for the rec, Navid Lancaster.

Rich Terdoslavich
The Audio

Screenshot. This is from a recent job I did for a client. Was working on a video, writing and recording sync music for the intro and outro of the video. I imported the audio file of the music I wrote into iMovie. It is a separate file that will go under the visuals that are laid out in a horizontal...

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Maurice Vaughan

Thanks for sharing this, Rich Terdoslavich. Can you use iMovie to separate music/sound from videos and films, like if the music or sound was messed up and you wanted to remove it?...

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Rich Terdoslavich

Hi, Maurice. Yes, you can separate audio track from visual. I had to do that on a job, because the video footage had background sounds and wanted to have a voice over on those visuals. So, I had to do...

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Rich Terdoslavich

Thank you, everyone.

Maurice Vaughan

Okay, great, Rich Terdoslavich. Thanks for the answer. You're welcome.

Baron Rothschild
The Cue Isn’t Confusing — the Emotional Container Is

Most composers think they’re struggling with melody, harmony, or orchestration.

But the real friction usually starts before any notes are written — at the level of the emotional container.

When the emotional container is unstable, the composer ends up:

- chasing references instead of leading

- rewri...

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Baron Rothschild

B.A., what you’re describing is the exact moment where the work stops behaving like a collection of creative impulses and starts behaving like a governed emotional system. Before language, before melo...

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Baron Rothschild

Mason, exactly — once the emotional architecture is stable, the craft stops being exploratory. Identity, entitlement, and pathway remove the guesswork because they define the emotional physics the cue...

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Ryan Charlotte

This makes a lot of sense. I’ve noticed that when the emotional direction isn’t clearly defined upfront, the composing process turns into trial and error instead of intentional writing. Locking the id...

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Baron Rothschild

Ryan, exactly — once the emotional physics are defined, the cue stops behaving like guesswork and starts behaving like an inevitable expression of the container. Identity and pathway remove the drift...

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Kat Spencer

Very well said Baron Rothschild!

Kat Spencer
Do You See the Scene While You’re Writing?

I’m curious how many of you compose visually.

When I’m writing piano-driven pieces, I almost always see a scene unfolding — sometimes very clearly, sometimes just an emotional outline.

It’s less about melody and more about arc.

Do you hear first?

Or do you see first?

Metehan Onur
Spartacus Re-score Study: Focusing on atmosphere and sound restoration

I recently completed a re-scoring and sound design study for a scene from Spartacus. My focus was on creating a modern, darker atmosphere using EastWest orchestral libraries while also restoring the overall audio quality in Cubase. I tried to balance cinematic tension with sound clarity. Would appre...

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Maurice Vaughan

Welcome to the community, Metehan Onur. Congratulations on finishing the re-score study! The re-score sounds incredible! It enhances the speech and scene.

Stage 32 has a blog that'll help you navigate...

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Metehan Onur

Maurice Vaughan Hi Maurice, thank you so much for the warm welcome and the encouraging feedback!I’m glad you enjoyed the re-score; my main goal was to respect the dialogue while creating a more immers...

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Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Metehan Onur. I subscribed to your channel. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your work! Hope to see you at the Open House! And I'm a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. If you ever have a...

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Metehan Onur

Maurice Vaughan I'm honored by your support, Maurice. Thank you for the subscription and for the warm welcome to the community. I’m currently developing new studies focused on atmospheric depth and ps...

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Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Metehan Onur. I'll see you there.

Baron Rothschild
“Most Cues Fail Because the Composer Is Solving the Wrong Problem”

Most composers think the cue breaks at the level of notes, harmony, or orchestration.

But cues rarely collapse at the point of writing.

They collapse at the point of orientation.

A cue only becomes confusing when the composer is solving the wrong problem:

- fixing melody when the issue is identity

-...

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Kat Spencer
July

I wrote this song years ago, after losing my cat during a difficult stretch of my life. At the time, I didn’t know the song would stay with me the way it has — or that it would quietly resurface when loss showed up again.

This week, after losing Shade, I found myself thinking about how certain songs...

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Kat Spencer

Thank you Maurice Vaughan - I appreciate that!

Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Kat Spencer.

Diana Levin

Hey it’s 3:10am EST and I’m staying up researching everything there is to know about songwriting especially after everything I went through with my Autistic boyfriend. You’re absolutely right. Music i...

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Diana Levin

By the way I listened to your song on YouTube it’s beautiful. I was deeply moved by it.

B.A Sins

I just subscribed to your YouTube channel, and I wanted to say how deeply moving “July” is. It must have been incredibly difficult to write, and as a fellow cat lover, I truly understand...

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