Composing / Arranging / Songwriting

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.

Whether you're recording real players or using samples, our in-depth guide is your key to polished and authentic-sounding strings.

The business of TV and film is changing fast, and production or library music is becoming ever more important. One of the UK's most experienced production music composers explains how to get your foot in the door.

Doctor Who's 2005 revival saw the TV programme and its incidental music triumphantly reinvented. Gone are the Radiophonic textures of old, replaced by a confident orchestral score that stands comparison with Hollywood's best. Composer Murray Gold talks technical at his home studio.

In music-for-picture work, there's never enough time to do what you'd ideally like to. We look at what it's like producing music under pressure.

What happens when the Director whose work you're scoring isn't satisfied, or demands changes due to events beyond your control? We find out, and also look at writing music for film trailers.

We look at the completed orchestrations for the film project introduced last month, and begin to consider the problem of what to do when a director demands revisions to your work...

So, you've been commissioned to write the score for something. What should you do next? We provide some suggestions, with real-world scoring examples for you to download and try.

Success! You've been invited to pitch for a job. Surely that Hollywood career now beckons? Well, no... This is just a pitch — there are others competing for the job. We look at how to maximise your chances of winning the commission...

The perfect project studio doesn't exist, as everyone has different working methods — and so it is with equipment for creating music for picture. However, there are some fundamental bits of gear you will need. We provide some guidance...

If you're ever going to make it in this game, you need a calling card, a way of impressing potential clients with your musical ability — you need a showreel. We explain what to do to create one...

Harry Gregson-Williams's drive to explore original ideas and sounds has made him one of Hollywood's leading composers, scoring everything from romantic comedies to spy thrillers and historical dramas.

Writing music for picture seems like the ideal career. You get to work in your studio for a living, you can earn good money, and there's so much potential work: action films, travel and nature documentaries, romantic comedies, cartoons, low-budget sci-fi, even breakfast cereal ads. But how do you break into this lucrative world?

I've spent years dabbling with studio technology, but when get a few spare minutes to actually sit down and create music, I seem to be devoid of inspiration. Can you offer advice?

For his latest album, musician/producer Brian Eno has returned to the world of songwriting. But his ideas about music are as radical as ever...

Is writing TV show theme music as easy as it might seem? To find out, we follow the progress of David Lowe and Paul White's music for a recent BBC series on gardeners.

I have a melody which I'm absolutely sure I made up when I was a kid and I want to use it in a composition I am working on. However, the things kids make up can be 'derivative', and I need to confirm that I hadn't heard it before. Do you know of any melody databases that could help me find out?

I know that the white keys on a keyboard form a diatonic scale, but what does diatonic really mean?...