Composing / Arranging / Songwriting

This cross‑platform pattern‑based music production environment puts the fun back into music making.

The amazing success of the Barbie movie was powered by its music. Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt were the producers, songwriters and composers who helped to turn the world pink.

We explain how to create MIDI string arrangements that don’t sound like MIDI string arrangements!

These audio files accompany the Faking A String Section In Your DAW workshop in SOS July 2023 issue.

Adding a horn section to your productions can bring everything from mellow melancholy to verve and excitement.

Successful songwriters and producers explain how to adapt your skills to the massive Far Eastern market.

Dubai welcomed in 2019 with one of the biggest spectacles ever staged. Dom Jones created the epic soundtrack.

To mark its 50th anniversary, two bands have taken to the stage to pay homage to Wendy Carlos’s classic crossover album Switched-On Bach.

How does a platinum-selling producer make music on a mobile device? We sit down with MeLo‑X, who found commercial success co-writing tracks on Beyoncé’s Lemonade, as he talks about the real-world advantages of making music on a phone or tablet.

Our major new series explains how to harness the power of today’s virtual orchestral instruments.

Just what should you expect when engaging a professional arranger or orchestrator to work on your own production? We find out from some of the best in the business...

We conclude our series with an overview of arrangement techniques and a peep into the world of big-band brass.

A simple, catchy tune with a funky rhythm may be all you need to create a highly commercial horn hook — but harmony is also an essential ingredient in brass arrangements.

The second in our four-part series deconstructs funk licks, discusses the implications of using live players and explains how to get more expression and feel into your sampled brass arrangements.

This new four-part series explains all you need to know about creating brass arrangements for a range of genres.

You have the skills and the gear, but how should you tackle your first sound-for-picture projects?

Once an expensive and futuristic dream, the technology for Internet‑based collaboration is now available and affordable — and more practical than you might think.

Sound design isn’t just for special effects in the movies: it’s perfect for giving your music a unique twist.

Audio files to accompany the article.

Composing for an animated series presents a different set of challenges to scoring for film or conventional TV. We look at what it takes to be a cartoon composer...

Last month, we explained how the business of production music works. But if you want to get into it, you'll need to learn how to make stings, cut-downs and the other elements of a usable library track.