Composing for Media

Catalog description

Composing for Media will guide the student through the process of creating original music to accompany a visual medium. The course begins by focusing on the aesthetics, terminology, procedures, and technical aspects of film scoring. As the course progresses, the skills acquired will progress towards a class project of scoring a short film or animation. By using a broad range of techniques including click tracks, spotting, scoring under dialogue, free timing, and the creative use of overlap cues, students will learn how to develop a dramatic concept for a score and how to synchronize it seamlessly to visual events. This course is applicable to musicians interested in scoring music to visual media as well as students with skills in the areas of audio engineering, film and animation and video gaming. No previous film scoring experience is required. Fundamental knowledge and a background in music will be introduced in the class topics. In addition to a good ear for music, a functional ability with MIDI sequencing, via DAW—a proficiency in the use of sample libraries and audio plug-ins and basic audio mixing—is expected. Entrance to the class requires instructor permission.