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

Your Stage 32 Success Story Starts Here: Join Our FREE February Community Open House!

Your Stage 32 Success Story Starts Here: Join Our FREE February Community Open House!

Wednesday, February 25th at 12:00 pm PT!

Every success story begins with a first step.

If you’re ready to take yours, join me, Ashley Smith, Head of Community at Stage 32, for our February Community Open House Webcast happening Wednesday, February 25th at 12:00 pm PT!

Free Registration: https://www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32s-february-2026-community-open-house-webcast

Whether you’re chasing representation, looking for collaborators, or simply ready to stop creating in isolation, the Stage 32 Community Open House is your moment to show up, be seen, and start making real progress.

This free live event isn’t a presentation; it’s a fully interactive session led by you and guided by Ashley Smith, Head of Community at Stage 32. You’ll have the opportunity to share your goals, ask questions, and tell us exactly what resources or support you’re looking for right now in your creative journey.

Ashley will walk you through the most powerful tools and features on Stage 32, including how to build a strong profile that acts as your virtual business card—clearly showcasing your skills, interests, and creative voice. You’ll learn how to participate in the free Stage 32 Lounges in a way that positions you as someone others want to collaborate with, including how to make a compelling post, contribute to ongoing conversations, and stay consistently active in a way that builds visibility and trust.

You’ll also learn how to keep up with the latest industry news, platform updates, and community insights through the Stage 32 Blog, and how to access Stage 32 Education, Certification, and Script Services.

Sydney from our Education Team will also be live to answer questions and help you understand which educational paths may best align with your goals and interests.

This session will close with a live Q&A tailored specifically to your needs—whether you’re a writer, director, producer, actor, editor, or someone who wears multiple hats.

If you can’t attend live, don’t worry, registering ensures you’ll receive the full recording to watch anytime from anywhere!

Wherever you’re starting from, this is your launchpad. Join us and take that first step with intention.


Liked by Maurice Vaughan

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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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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Maurice Vaughan

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.

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 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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