You ever spend way too long getting one tiny section right…
and then realize no one listening will even notice it?
Perfectionism… maybe.
But it still has to feel right.
Do you keep tweaking—or move on?
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
Liked by Mike Hall and 5 others
Collaboration
Would like to collaborate with a musical arranger using A.I Tools such as DAW.
Looking for Projects That Need Strong Music Identity
Hi everyone,
I’m Chandan, a composer and music producer based in Melbourne. I create cinematic, electronic, and sound design–driven music for visual media. I’m currently available for new projects and open to Collaborations across film, series, games, and other creative work. If anyone is working on Expand post
Do You Finish Songs Fast… or Let Them Breathe?
Some pieces come through in one sitting.
Others take weeks… or years.
There’s something interesting about both.
Fast feels raw and honest.
Slow feels intentional and refined.
Which one is more true for your process?
Your *Inspiring* (NOT) Quote Of the Day
"Just as the synthesizer, Photoshop and CGI revolutionized sound and visuals, AI will be a boon to the creatives who are ready to lean in,"
Mark Zukerberg
Anybody with a difference of opinion?
Michael Dzurak
- 6 days ago
If he means that AI is a tool to be learned and mastered, then I agree. It's not some miracle tech that will just make magic happen. Photoshop takes time to learn. As does a synthsizer. The possibilties are cool though. Same with AI.
Morgan Aitken
- 6 days ago
The title says it all. Although I am interested in knowing how a synthesize...
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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?
Morgan Aitken
- 2 weeks ago
Phone. It's easier to carry than a pipe organ.
Harold Ferré
- 2 weeks ago
I'm not a music composer, but I still love playing guitar and piano. To all you production guys who can play every instrument? I love you guys. But I'm also a killer DJ!
Hello!! My name is IOANNIS GOGONAS. I am using mostly my MIdi keyboard, I FOCUS A LOT and I use CUBASE. I LOVE MUSIC !!
Hiya Ioannis Gogonas ! Cubase is the bees' knees. What makes it your all-caps DAW of choice?
CUBASE IS VERY GOOD IN THE USER INTERFACE. IT IS A GREAT DAW!! I LIKE IT AND YOU CAN DO MANY THINGS WITH VIRTUAL LIBRARIES ( VIRTUAL STUDIO TECHNOLOGY LIBRARIES ).
Writer Liaison at Stage 32 ♦ Screenwriter, Producer
1 week ago
Super Mario Galaxy Movie Composer Brian Tyler Worked on the Movie While in the Hospital
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie composer Brian Tyler kept a secret from the team behind the new Nintendo movie: He worked on “a lot of the main themes” while in the hospital.
(https://www.ign.com/articles/super-mario-galaxy-movie-composer-brian-tyl...)...
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Short Video Game style Animation
Hey folks! Just finished the music for this little gem Created by Blender and scored by moi. Hope you like it!
Morgan Aitken
- 2 weeks ago
Just finished? I'm thinking the wrong video got linked. What played is something I saw on Blender Studio years ago. But it's brill animation and soundtrack.
Michael Teisan
- 2 weeks ago
Morgan Aitken Haha, yeah the video was made a while ago, but the score is original and done by me. I kept the credits proper at the end. The only thing that's different about it is all the music and s...
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Writer Liaison at Stage 32 ♦ Screenwriter, Producer
2 weeks ago
The Music of Project Hail Mary, with Composer Daniel Pemberton
Composer Daniel Pemberton discusses his inventive new original score for “Project Hail Mary.” He breaks down how he built a custom musical language for the film using everything from wooden blocks, body percussion, treated vocals, bowls of water, and even a squeaky water tap recorded on his iPhone....
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Music concrete - something I recall from my heady uni daze. Running around getting real world sounds, usually from construction sites, bringing them back to the studio and sequencing them into somethi...
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FREE Webinar – April 1st: How to Navigate the Cannes Film Festival Marché du Film
This Wednesday, April 1st, Stage 32 is hosting a FREE webinar you don’t want to miss:
How to Navigate the Cannes Film Festival Marché du Film
We’re bringing in Guillaume Esmiol, Executive Director of the Marché d...
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Is Melody Dead: Have We All Become Loop Zombies?
Hey, how many of you still collect little musical gremlins?
A riff. A motif. A strange little tune that wanders in, lights a cigarette in your brain, and refuses to leave.
Do you squirrel those things away and later build something properly obscene out of them? A cue, a song, a score, a whole piece?
Or...
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Bruce Bray
- 2 weeks ago
Melody is not dead to me. at least when it comes to composing that is. I still have an old school approach and try to mix that in with the new way of composing as well. I find it now filmmakers are mo...
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I'm glad to hear it Bruce Bray ! It's definitely not dead to me, either. In fact it's the movie soundtracks that are built on melody rather than sound design that I remember the best. For instance I m...
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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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Morgan Aitken
- 2 weeks ago
So sad, the greats are leaving us.
Harold Ferré
- 2 weeks ago
My deepest condolences! Rest in peace, Ted Nichols!
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4 people like this
As a seasoned on set art director and more, I learned long ago that unless you are the director chances are high that the tiny section you sweated over has a high degree of probability of being overlo...
Expand commentAs a seasoned on set art director and more, I learned long ago that unless you are the director chances are high that the tiny section you sweated over has a high degree of probability of being overlooked while shooting or in editing. I find it best to add in the action lines the feel you are looking for rather than obsess over description or dialog.
3 people like this
Any writing for me is a living document. As long as the writing is not published, there will always be small things to polish, but most of the time you know when a project is finished. Once I'm done w...
Expand commentAny writing for me is a living document. As long as the writing is not published, there will always be small things to polish, but most of the time you know when a project is finished. Once I'm done with the structure I want, beginning and end, once I'm happy with the middle and all the other parts, all I do is polish. I come back to my unpublished or unsold stories every once in a while, sometimes I get random ideas of things I could add on other stories.
3 people like this
Early on, I obsessed over every detail and it really slowed my progress. As Hemingway said, ‘The first draft of anything is shit.’ Now, I try to write freely and trust the rewriting process--looking b...
Expand commentEarly on, I obsessed over every detail and it really slowed my progress. As Hemingway said, ‘The first draft of anything is shit.’ Now, I try to write freely and trust the rewriting process--looking back at my scripts, I’m always amazed by how much they evolve.As a full-time teacher, writing time isn’t always easy to find, so I have to push through when I can. The challenge is balancing speed with accuracy--I still find myself making errors. It’s a fine line, and I’m not sure I’ve fully figured it out yet. How do you manage that balance?
1 person likes this
Absolutely it has to feel right.so you must keep tweaking until it feels right then move on.
1 person likes this
My fear was always not that I had to make it perfect but rather that it might bother me forever if it wasn't perfect.