Composing

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Kat Spencer
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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Pat Alexander
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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Maurice Vaughan

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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Navid Lancaster
Free plugins

Best FREE Plugins 2026 (Massive Update)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bohBCjT3mM4

Ashley Renee Smith
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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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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Maurice Vaughan

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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Mark Gosney

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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Maurice Vaughan

I still need to check out The Mandalorian and Oppenheimer, Mark Gosney. I'm looking forward to hearing more of Ludwig's work!

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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Maurice Vaughan

I love this song, Kat Spencer. It's beautiful and moving. Incredible job on it!

Kat Spencer

Thank you Maurice Vaughan - I appreciate that!

Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Kat Spencer.

Kat Spencer
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.

Ayesha Simra

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.

Julien Clément

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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Thomas Owen

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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Kat Spencer

Ditto to that Libby Wright !!!

Kat Spencer

That's exactly how I compose Thomas Owen!

Kat Spencer
When One Musical World Takes Over

Have you ever found yourself so immersed in one sound, artist, or musical world that everything else fades into the background—not from being stuck, but from a kind of quiet contentment?

Darrell Pennington

Kat Spencer OMG Kat you are talking one of my love languages, haha. It happens so frequently that I wonder when it doesn't happen if I am not investing myself emotionally. When I first saw The Gentlem...

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Thomas Owen

All the time!! And I count myself very lucky that music does that to me.

Kat Spencer

Haha Darrell Pennington! Yes . . . I swear I'll spend decades on a favorite band. Never bother with the radio.

Kat Spencer

Thomas Owen Ditto!

Ashley Renee Smith
Composer Spotlight & Creative Courage

I wanted to share this short but fascinating video where Hans Zimmer talks about discovering the unforgettable voice behind Dune.

In the clip, Zimmer explains how a friend stumbled across Loire Cotler on YouTube and immediately recognized something extraordinary. What struck me most wasn’t just her t...

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Maurice Vaughan

I feel most tempted to play it safe with scenes I write, Ashley Renee Smith. I've written scenes that were risky choices for the story, and they ended up being better than the safe scenes I planned....

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Juliana Philippi
Favorite Movie or Television Compositions / Soundtracks: Why, and how has it impacted your own work

Composers!

I'm visiting in from the acting and screenwriting lounges, since I also studied music, composition, and can boast to absolutely obsessing over certain movie and television soundtracks, recognizing the instruments, the type of conducting, and even occasionally pretending to be the conductor...

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Leonardo Ramirez

Hey Juliana Philippi - as far as favs go..

The Asteroid Field: The Empire Strikes Back

Ignition: Man of Steel

Gap: X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Surprise Attack: Star Trek 2:TWoK

Vespertilio: Batman Begins

Anything A...

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Juliana Philippi

Leonardo Ramirez Oh yes! STAR WARS! How could we forget that epic music? Hans Zimmer...everyone here...he just has connected with stories and humanity so viscerally, it's amazing so many different peo...

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Leonardo Ramirez

Yes Juliana Philippi - I do love me the pew-pews! #YaSabes

Juliana Philippi

Leonardo Ramirez #wegother , #wefoundone...#alientango? lol!!!!

Sam Rivera
Hamnet Composer Spills on His Process!

2025 had many great scores, and composer Max Richter just spoke with Finneas to break down his score for HAMNET. Read their conversation here: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/max-richter-takes-finneas-inside-his-hamnet-score

I found it interesting that he found using a female voice, such as Ch...

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Max Richter Takes Finneas Inside His Oscar-Nominated "Hamnet" Score
Max Richter Takes Finneas Inside His Oscar-Nominated "Hamnet" Score
The morning he received his first Academy Award nomination, the "Hamnet" composer called Finneas O'Connell to compare notes on Shakespeare and the awards circuit.
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