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

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Ioannis Gogonas
Ioannis Gogonas

Hello Stage 32 !!

My name is Ioannis Gogonas.

I have recently finished my ideas in comics. My work is about The Avengers, Spiderman, Ironman and Captain America. I have composed Fan made melodies and new ideas - themes. You can check my soundtracks and ideas in my Youtube profile and in my Stage 32 profile page.

Thank you !!

Liked by Maurice Vaughan and one other

Keon Wu
AI in composing?

What do you guys think about AI use in composing and songwriting? Do you think that it should be limited/banned from commercial use, or embrace it with open arms? I do understand the difference between AI generated songs and AI tools.

Morgan Aitken

João Pimentel I've used my iPad to rough-translate your comment into English. What you say is interesting and worth sharing. I hate to ask, but it would help the Portuguese challenged people here - I...

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Nico Abondolo

IMO, AI generated music will regrettably become the new normal for the average listener. I relate this to drum machines replacing human drummers, and processed foods replacing whole. As a media compos...

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Robert D. Carver

Nico, I agree wholeheartedly with you!

Robert D. Carver

Morgan, I research the pre-existing music most closely associated with the historical period and location in which my script is set. For example, If the musical takes place in the High Medieval (14th-...

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Nico Abondolo

To echo, Robert D. Carver's point, researching pre-existing historical music might well enhance a period script. A trained ear can pair styles beautifully. On the other hand, a historical contrast mig...

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Morgan Aitken
Advert Soundtracks

What's the best advert (commercial, trailers don't count) music you've ever heard?

For my money, this is still one of the great ad-music earworms ever made: Gillette’s 1989 “The Best a Man Can Get.

Any others anyone can point me at?...

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Liked by Morgan Aitken and one other

Libby Wright
When The Score MAKES The Movie!

Well, I had a new experience this weekend... going to see an Amazon movie in a theater. As we walked out of the theater, two things stood out to me about Hail Mary: #1 Ryan Gosling just did a 2+ hour monologue and was so good he made us believe "Rocky" was real. #2 The score MADE this movie. In my h...

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Tony DiGregorio

One Battle after Another, score by Jonny Greenwood

Libby Wright

What made this score special Tony DiGregorio ?

Celso de Vasconcellos

Maybe a reflective movie.

Morgan Aitken

Interstellar - hands down. The movie was ruined by the casting - especially the lead, and the fact you can't understand a word he mumbles - but the music is the whole show. Then again, Notes On A Scandal was made all the more powerful by the Philip Glass's ethereal score.

Tony DiGregorio

Libby, I liked the way he built tension in certain scenes with a minimalist kind of melody and growing intense rhythm.

Kat Spencer
Instrument / Medium for composing

What do you use most when you’re composing?

Piano, guitar, voice notes, full DAW… something else?

And is there a different instrument or setup you wish you used more?

Tony DiGregorio

Mostly guitar but I keep trying to play piano for composing but I have been at the beginning stage for years.

Navid Lancaster
Ted Nichols, Famed Hanna-Barbera Composer on ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘Scooby-Doo,’ Dies at 97

He may not have been a Film Composer but he was very influential. We heard his works every Saturday morning. RIP https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/ted-nichols-dead-scooby-doo......

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Ted Nichols, Famed Hanna-Barbera Composer on 'The Flintstones' and 'Scooby-Doo,' Dies at 97
Ted Nichols, Famed Hanna-Barbera Composer on 'The Flintstones' and 'Scooby-Doo,' Dies at 97
He also worked on 'Jonny Quest,' 'Space Ghost,' 'Wacky Races' and many other other shows at the cartoon factory for nearly a decade.
Navid Lancaster
The Music of Sinners, with Ludwig and Serena Göransson

A deep dive into the Score of Sinners. Winner of the following Awards for 2025-2026: Oscar, Bafta, Golden Globes, Grammy Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, African-American Film Critics Association, Astra Awards, Austin Film Critics Association Awards, Black Reel Awards, Boston Online Film Critics Asso...

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Libby Wright
How Long Have You Been Composing?

I remember from a really early age making up songs. I'd play them on the piano (instead of playing the assigned scales) or write lyrics down in a notebook. They'd be about nothing, or big feelings I was having, or something that happened at school that day. Sometimes they were even satirical. When did you discover composing?

Mark Gosney

Guitar Instrumental music and Songs for to many years. Orchestral film type compositions for about ten or so years!

Stuart Michael Thomas

Started on guitar as a child in the late 70s. Played rock for years but in 2000 I started working for a composer in a commercial post studio in Sacramento. 2003 moved to LA and been doing film work ever since.

Julien Clément

Composing seeded into my mind at teenage (~ 90's), then stayed dormant for decades. I've listened to thousands hours of musics of any style since then and never stopped playing the piano that I starte...

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Tony DiGregorio

I've been composing in one way or another since 1976. My earliest work have been lead sheets of jazz tunes but since then I've been writing extended compositions for jazz ensembles, chamber music and...

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Morgan Aitken

Composing? Really, for me the Q is how long I've been decomposing. I'd say that's been since the advent of AI and most recently, Adobe Firefly: soundtrack. We're all doomed!

Kat Spencer
What kind of music instantly makes you feel something in a scene?

I’ve been thinking about how quickly music can change the emotional weight of a scene.

Sometimes it’s not the big orchestral cue that does it. Sometimes it’s the quiet piano note, the subtle pad, or even silence right before the cue.

As a composer and songwriter, I’m always fascinated by how different...

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Morgan Aitken

You couldn't be more bang on about "the quiet piano note, the subtle pad, or even silence..." Kat Spencer . It's the contrasts, the incongruity - a sonic subtext - that gets me every time. Philip Glas...

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Kat Spencer
I Never Plan What I’m Going to Write....

I never sit down with a plan.

No outline.

No emotional roadmap.

No “today I’m writing something uplifting in D minor.”

I just sit down… and whatever comes out, comes out.

Sometimes it’s peaceful.

Sometimes it’s cinematic.

Sometimes it surprises me completely.

I’ve learned not to force direction.

The music se...

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Haley Mary

I write most of my poetry and lyrics intuitively. Occasionally I do research and have some idea of what I want to write about for a song. When I write plays/short stories, I tend to plan out how I want the story to go.

Morgan Aitken

... uplifting in D minor... I bloody love that line, Kat Spencer !

Baron Rothschild

Intuition only feels like “no plan” when the identity behind the work is already stable.

When the emotional architecture is set, the work knows where it’s allowed to go — so it feels spontaneous even...

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Kat Spencer

Morgan Aitken heehee. Leave it to me, if anyone can. Haha.

Kat Spencer

Love the discussion, everyone!!

Kat Spencer
What’s One Thing That Dramatically Improved Your Craft?

I’ve been thinking about how different everyone’s creative process can be. For me, the biggest thing has simply been making the time to sit down at the keyboard—whether that’s a piano or a computer. Ideas for a title or a lyric might pop into my head during the day, but the actual composing only hap...

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Morgan Aitken

Hiya Kat Spencer ! Good to see you again. I don't know if I've dramatically improved on anything, but I find soul crushing stress gets my creative juices flowing. I guess I ride emotion like it's a st...

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Libby Wright

I think for me, it was all about letting myself be free to create without judgement or self-editing. Letting the ideas fully manifest before the editing work begins. I think that is true in any creative work!

Kat Spencer

Oh boy Morgan Aitken - I think I'm right there with you. I composed nearly everything during my two decades of darkness. Now that I've learned how to manage stress properly, I don't compose as much ha...

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Ashley Renée Smith
Lets Talk 2026 Oscar Predictions!

With these projects currently circulating in the awards conversation, I’m curious what everyone here is predicting, rooting for, or still unsure about.

Best Original Score Nominees: Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Frankenstein, Bugonia

Best Original Song Nominees: “Train Dreams” from Train...

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Amanda Toney

Kpop Demon Hunters is probably going to win!

Ashley Renée Smith

Honestly, Amanda Toney, I haven't been able to stop listening to the KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack for months.

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