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
Composing Software and Tips for Beginners
What's a good composing software and some composing tips for beginners?
- 2 months ago
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.
- 2 months ago
Thank you, Kat Spencer. Great tip for composing, writing, directing, graphic design, etc.!
- 2 months ago
Maurice Vaughan If a person can read music I would recommend the free software called Musescore.
- 2 months ago
Thanks for the rec, Navid Lancaster.
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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- 2 months ago
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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- 2 months ago
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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- 2 months ago
Thank you, everyone.
- 2 months ago
Okay, great, Rich Terdoslavich. Thanks for the answer. You're welcome.
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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- 2 months ago
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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- 2 months ago
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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- 2 months ago
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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- 2 months ago
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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- 2 months ago
Very well said Baron Rothschild!
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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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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- 2 months ago
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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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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- 2 months ago
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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- 2 months ago
You're welcome, Metehan Onur. I'll see you there.
“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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Music Is the Real Story in Olympic Figure Skating
Figure skating might be one of the best reminders that music is storytelling.
Before a single jump, the audience already feels something —
because the score sets the emotional frame.
It’s fascinating how pivotal the right piece can be.
A routine can be technically flawless…
but if the music doesn’t carry...
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I missed the figure skating, Kat Spencer. They might have it for replay on Peacock. I'll check. I'll pay attention to the music too.
The Sound of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
The Oscar-nominated sound team behind Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein" explore the film’s epic and deeply expressive soundtrack. Sound designer and supervising sound editor Nathan Robitaille, supervising sound editor Nelson Ferreira, re-recording mixer Brad Zoern, and production sound mixer Greg...
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Must-watch video, Pat Alexander! Thanks for sharing it. It's always exciting to hear how sound designers use different things like hammers and lettuce to make sound effects for movies....
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What if the “instrument” isn’t the point—but the experience is?
I came across this video featuring Liza Beck, and it’s such a compelling reminder of how composition, sound capture, and spatial audio can completely reshape how an audience feels music.
Liza talks openly about challenging assumptions,...
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I'm not surprised that Ludwig Göransson got top honors for his score to Sinners and shared an award for original song written for a dramatic project, Amanda Toney. The score and song are incredible! T...
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- 2 months ago
Yea me either Maurice Vaughan he has really exploded on to the scene in the past few years, working on The Mandalorian, Oppenheimer, Black Panther and now Sinners, also working in many games too. Quit...
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I still need to check out The Mandalorian and Oppenheimer, Mark Gosney. I'm looking forward to hearing more of Ludwig's work!
Do you hear music fully formed—or discover it while writing?
Are you someone who hears the cue before touching an instrument…
or does it reveal itself note by note?
I’ve noticed both approaches lead to very different results.
- 3 months ago
I'm more of a screenwriter than a song writer, but I do write poems and songs sometimes, out of interest and it varies sometime its the cue, sometimes note by note or many different notes merged together and sometimes the lyrics and the concept and then the musicals.
- 3 months ago
Visual material and scripts give me fuzzy ideas but it's not really musical, rather I feel beats and what kind of instruments I'll choose, whether it's fully orchestral or blended with synthesizers, v...
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- 2 months ago
I’m a bit late to this thread, but for what it’s worth I always discover musical ideas while writing. I might have an idea (e.g. I want something staccato and jolly sounding) beforehand – but I have n...
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- 2 months ago
Ditto to that Libby Wright !!!
- 2 months ago
That's exactly how I compose Thomas Owen!
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That piano sounds absolutely gorgeous—the kind of instrument that makes you want to write something just to hear it breathe. Having that warmth and dynamic range in your studio doesn't just feel good;...
Expand commentThat piano sounds absolutely gorgeous—the kind of instrument that makes you want to write something just to hear it breathe. Having that warmth and dynamic range in your studio doesn't just feel good; it actively shapes the emotional tone of everything you create. Do you find a new piano like this inspires entirely new musical ideas, or does it mostly deepen how you approach the themes you're already exploring?