Composing / Arranging / Songwriting

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.

With arbitrary tempo restrictions to contend with and Olympic glory riding on every cut, adapting music for ice dance represents a unique editing challenge.

In this final part of the series, we show how well-chosen instrument combinations and effects will bring your orchestral arrangements to life.

We conclude our in-depth guide to the world of library music with an essential cut-out-and-keep explanation of the key words and phrases you’ll hear.

A glorious suite of extras bolsters the core orchestral sound.

Composers need publishers. But are they there to help us, or help themselves?

Symphonic percussion joins forces with ethnic drums in the modern Hybrid Orchestra.

Karl Marx predicted that history would repeat itself as farce — but he never saw a role for expert pop parody!

Like any way to make a living, library music has its pitfalls. We help you look out for some of the biggest!

Brass and horns ignite the fire at the heart of the orchestra.

Scoring a huge ad campaign in four days is no mean feat, especially when you have to record live musicians.

There’s a lot of money to be made writing music for movie trailers — so you have to be good. Have you got what it takes?

Creative woodwind writing is the orchestral arranger’s secret weapon.

A trailer can make or break a blockbuster movie, and the choice of music can make or break a trailer. Chances are that music will be library music...

This often-overlooked orchestral family holds the key to a wide range of exciting tonal colours.

Success in the library music world is partly about who you know — so get out there and get to know people!

Familiarity with a few common articulations is the key to successful MIDI string arranging.

How can you ensure that your library music hits the spot? What better way to find out than to ask the people who buy it!

Adding strings to an arrangement is a great way to inject motion into your music.

Blockbuster video game Horizon Zero Dawn took six years to make, and required its three composers to invent an entirely new sound world.

Successful library music writers are efficient, productive and reliable as well as musical — all skills you can develop too.