Music to Picture

Writing music to picture presents a number of creative and technical challenges, but in today’s studio these aren’t insurmountable. Mark Cousins shows you how.

Producing music to moving images is one of the most exciting ways of working with audio, enabling you to transform the viewer’s perception and enjoyment of what they witness onscreen. However, although most of us have honed our music production abilities to perfection, the challenges presented by the demands of writing music to picture necessitate a new set of creative and technical skills. From the challenges of how to ‘undercompose’ music to accompany an image and dialogue onscreen to the logistical challenges of working with ‘real’ musicians and delivering your finished work in an appropriate format, you’ll find that the world of soundtrack composition is far more than a few strategically placed ‘moody’ chords.

This feature first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 72
Filed under Home, General Features, Features

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