Specialization in Music for Audiovisual Projects

I’d love to share a few influences or moments that inspired me to think differently about music, art, multimedia and creativity. I haven't just listed music that I like, I wanted to share experiences or ideas that shaped how I think. Things that inspired me to grow and mature creatively, especially when it comes to combining different art forms together like sound and visuals.

Influences | Simon Smith

Influences | Jonah Schwartz

You are going to learn about some of the different things that influence me when I’m writing music. Here you will see some artists and techniques that have had a profound influence on my life as a musician.

Influences | Gustavo Kurlat e Ruben Feffer

Now, let's talk about our main musical and artistic influences.

Influences | Antonio Teoli

Finding references is a very important starting point to forming your own musical identity. In this lesson, I will share who my main references are.

Module 2

What does a story sound like when everyone helps shape it? Composers Juan Dussán and Alex Wakim invite you into a collaborative scoring process where music supports emotion, not just action. Learn how to develop original compositions while working closely with directors, editors, and creatives—turning shared vision into cinematic sound.

23 lessons (5h 39m)

What It Means to Score Picture 1

In this lesson, you'll learn the fundamentals of approaching a scene and preparing to write for it. With a little taste of the history of scoring and some things to keep an eye out for, you'll be ready to critically look at a scene with music.

What It Means to Score Picture 2

In the second part of this lesson, you will continue to learn about the building blocks of film music, before moving on to the analysis of a scene. What elements do you need to pay attention to produce suitable music? We will focus on four things: the story, the characters, the subtext and the production.

What are the fundamentals of music theory? And how can you use music and emotion when approaching a film? In this lesson, we will use an example of a film we scored to highlight these concepts.

Linking Music and Film

Modern Scoring Techniques

We'll now discuss what new and interesting elements modern scoring brings to the table, why they're cool, and how we can use some of them to tell a story.

Let's explore the different roles involved in creating a film score. In larger films, separate people assume each of these roles. For smaller projects, the composer typically does most of them.

Different Roles 1

Different Roles 2

What are the remaining responsibilities involved in composing film music? In this lesson, we will cover the roles of copyist and engineer.

To conclude this unit, we'll give you just enough information to understand the important parts of a DAW, and what you'll need to get the job done.

Working with a DAW 1

We will now explore the "Piano Roll" and the "Mixer" windows, as well as a number of useful shortcuts that will help you to get organized.

Working with a DAW 2

Collaboration with a Filmmaker

You'll learn about a spotting session and why it's important, how to prepare for it, and some ideas on how to navigate the conversation.

In this lesson, we will guide you through the process of preparing a scene in your DAW. You'll learn tips and tricks that will save you time when you get to the writing part.

Preparing to Write 1

You should now be ready to start finding sounds to write with. We will show you how to respond to the director's notes and create something that suits the tone of the film.

Preparing to Write 2

In this lesson, we will cover an alternative, more traditional approach to scoring, using a chord or melody as the basis of the composition. Often in modern scoring, the two techniques are combined for fascinating results. We will start by finding a key and tempo, before scoring the same course project scene and seeing what the director likes best.

Composing from a Chord 1

Let's home in on the second half of the composition. You will see how to adopt an evaluative approach to refine the piece and achieve an emotional climax.

Composing from a Chord 2

In this lesson, you'll see how to continue scoring the course project scene, elaborating on musical ideas from a single sound or sample. We'll run through what to do to make the sound unique, and how we can use it throughout the scene in different ways to show how it can evoke different emotions.

Composing from a Sound 1

Composing from a Sound 2

We will now show you how to muffle a sound slightly by using a filter to reduce the higher frequencies. You will also learn how to achieve the panning effect, and more!

Getting Revisions and Cue Approval

In this lesson, you will learn what to do when you're asked to make revisions to your music. You will understand the process of getting to the final approval of a cue by collaborating with the filmmaker.

Cleaning Up for Orchestration 1

Once you get your cue approved, it's time to prepare for orchestration. Making sure you clean up your DAW session in a particular way will ensure you have a really smooth transition into the notation program.

Cleaning Up for Orchestration 2

At this stage, there's no need to dive into the specifics of articulations and dynamics. The principal aim is to get the notes right! We will now apply the same process we've followed to the second region.

Enhancing the Cue 1

Now it's time to orchestrate! You'll learn how to import MIDI into Dorico and create a beautiful and clean score for your musician. You'll also see how to navigate a live and remote recording session.

19m

Enhancing the Cue 2

With the sheet music ready for the musician, it's time to move on to the recording stage. We will explore how to best prepare for a Logic X session and bring out the best in your musician.

21m

Editing and Mixing 1

Let's take a step back, thinking of the scored scene as a whole. To finish up your composition, you'll learn different tips on how to mix the live recording with the virtual instruments used in your composition, how to enhance production elements, and what the concept of music editing is.

Editing and Mixing 2

Now let's give the composition a listen and see what can be done to improve it. By the end of this lesson, you should have a fully finished film score cue ready for delivery.

Finalizing the Cue and Exporting

In this lesson, we will finalize our cue and give you an in-depth walkthrough of exporting to industry standards. We will also talk about stems and why they are so important in our job.

What Is Scoring for Film?

Module 3

Before a single note is written, there's a story to uncover. Composer Simon Smith shares how he approaches film scoring as a narrative tool—shaping emotion, rhythm, and space through sound. Learn how to move from concept to finished score, building musical moments that go beyond melody to support the heart of a scene.

19 lessons (4h 1m)

In this lesson I’d like to define clearly what I think film scoring actually is. I will also introduce our final project so you can see where we are going.

What You Need before Starting

In this lesson I’m going to go over the basics of the equipment you’ll need, and the kind of things I use while I'm working. It’s really not that much. We can get very distracted by ideas of lots of kit, when directors don't really care - they might feel in safer hands if you have a fancy studio, but in the end it’s all about your ideas and your ability to understand what the story needs. I know many film composers who work from home.

Film Production Process and Team Workflow

Now we will go over the film production process so we can better see how we fit into what is a massive collaboration between sometimes hundreds of creatives, technicians and others behind the scenes making it all happen. The more we understand this context, the better we will be able to empathize with and understand the director and the process they are going through when they finally get round to working with us.

Let’s Talk about Music Itself 1

In this lesson I’d like to stop for a moment and take a look at music itself - to break it down into a simplified grammar that we can use while analysing how and why film music works the way it does. This will also help us to understand our own music from a slightly different perspective and to clarify what options we have when we come to applying any musical ideas to a story.

Let’s Talk about Music Itself 2

We'll continue to see the structure and nature of film music a bit more in depth.

In this lesson I’d now like to take a moment to talk about story-telling itself, then explore how music gets used in films, where it comes from and outline a few examples of scores in different genres.

Music in Storytelling 1

Let's continue to see how the language of film music has evolved over time.

Music in Storytelling 2

Some Composing and Production Tips 1

Lastly, before we move on from this unit about first concepts, I’d like to share a few tips and tricks related to producing, film scoring and composing in general. They are things that I’ve picked up over the years, especially related to workflow or how to embrace what makes you unique as a musician or sonic creative.

Some Composing and Production Tips 2

Now let's see how to enjoy creating some expressive and unique compositions with your own skills and limitations as a musician.

The Spotting Session

In this lesson I would like to go over one of the key moments in film scoring: the spotting session. This is where the director is “handing over” the film to the composer, which can be terrifying for both! The “letting go” for the director, and a “blank sheet of paper” moment for the composer. But it can be the source of some stimulating discussions and ideas and we should plan and prepare to get the most out of it.

Getting Set Up Technically

Once the spotting session is over, we can go and set up our DAW. I find it very important to be methodical and orderly at this stage. This is so that I don't get tied up with technical problems or make stupid mistakes later on, when under pressure. We need to give ourselves every opportunity to stay creative and technical headaches are definitely a creativity killer! If you dont own a copy of Protools, you can watch the videos to learn about how I would use it and simply skip this step when mixing later.

Inside the Film: Finding a Concept and Planning 1

In this lesson I want to dive deeper into the film so that we feed our creative gut for fast and creative flow later on. I want to find a concept so that our musical ideas have perspective, an angle - a story-telling voice. Once I find my way in, the compositional ideas can come quite quickly. I find this to be a critical stage in my process and I always learn loads about the director and film-making in general.

Inside the Film: Finding a Concept and Planning 2

Once we have defined one or several concepts around which we can start to try and edit our ideas.

In this lesson I’d like to show how many film composers start writing: by creating a theme suite or palette of sounds and colours. I love Hans Zimmer’s description of it as “his musical diary” as he tries different things out as he “sneaks up on a film”. So while simply reflecting on the core of the story, away from the image, you can start to let your imagination express itself musically. It’s actually a lot of filtering and rejecting of what NOT to do. Let your gut steer you towards musical fragments within a sound palette that seems to fit, in alignment with the creative compass you set in your mind’s eye. If we reflect deeply on the scope, scale and needs of the score, we can create this “diary” of ideas and their variations that can later be painted onto the film, first by you, then in collaboration with the director.

The Theme Suite 1

Let's keep exploring some sounds for our suite. I will now focus more on textures.

The Theme Suite 2

Now we can start the process of actually applying our ideas to the film. It seems like we took a long path to get here, but we’ve laid the groundwork and now it will pay off. Sometimes I feel like I am even switching hats here and thinking more like a music editor - I'm taking my musical concepts already created and I’m structuring and sculpting them around the form of a scene, to see what happens, letting the film guide me.

Scene by Scene

Presentation and Feedback

At some point our ideas are ready to show - which in my experience is always a terrifying moment for both the composer and director! So we need to work out how best to present them and work through the feedback. There are various options, and the important thing to remember here is that this is a people process. It's a collaboration and every combination of personalities is different. Even if there is a negative reaction to what you’ve worked so hard on, you can come back stronger if you remain flexible and positive. See it as a process, not a final judgement. Everyone just wants to create a great movie and you just need to work out how to move forwards together. So many times after a cue doesnt quite work, I’ve gone on to write something much better and I was grateful we changed direction. And other times it's not as large a problem as it seems! Pull a different lever. So in this lesson I’d like to outline a few ideas about how to make this process a success.

In this lesson let's look at the score from an engineering perspective, preparing our score for exporting and delivering. Now we need to understand what the engineers will need when they are doing final changes with the director at the dub stage, when the music is finally mixed with everything else that has been prepared in parallel to the music - the sound design and final audio from shooting. The Protools stage is optional. You can always export directly from your DAW. I just want to show the process so you understand what to do if the case arises. If you don't have access to a copy of Protools that can import video, you can download Protools First and go through the process, audio only, to get to know the program.

Mixdown and Delivery

18m

Cue Sheets, Legal and Other Important Things

In this lesson I’d like to answer a few legal and career development questions that I myself was always confused about or that have come up while researching this course. How to develop your career is always a tricky question to answer as there are many paths that you can take. My own path has been often very gradual, other times based upon total strokes of luck that propelled me forwards - right place, right time. I think the most important thing is to do your homework - learn your craft - and to collaborate endlessly. Be as professional and as ready as you can when luck strikes. At the same time - and this is crucial - embrace and develop your own musical voice, a point of view that makes you noticeable in the first place. Then if you understand how music works, how film-makers think, and you are visible, the right collaborators will find you, sooner or later.

In this lesson, you will see the way music interacts with images in a variety of shows and films, and you will be asked to think about what sensations these pieces generate in you.

Module 4

Think of a soundtrack that gave you goosebumps—now imagine writing one yourself. Composer Jonah Schwartz opens up his process for scoring a scene from scratch, using Ableton Live to shape melodies that match mood and movement. Explore how music becomes storytelling when rhythm, harmony, and emotion fall perfectly in sync with film.

18 lessons (4h 1m)

How Does Melody Work 1

I will continue showing you some of my favorite movies and their music. This will help you think and realize how to create the sensation of certain feelings you want to have in your project.

How Does Melody Work 2

Playing a Melody in Ableton

I will teach you how to play a short melody using Ableton Live and discuss the difference between midi and audio.

Rhythm, Harmony and Melody

I will explain to you some concepts of rhythm and harmony in order for you to be able to enlarge your toolbox for when you begin composing.

18m

How to Create an Idea

In this lesson, you will learn different techniques for collecting ideas for composing music, and you will see the short film I will be scoring for my final project.

Film Music and Structure 1

Now you will learn how to analyze the structure of a short film. I will show you the short film I will be using for my final project in order to think about the different musical moments I will want to create. This is where the adventure begins, are you ready?

Film Music and Structure 2

You will see how to conceptualize a piece of music that will accompany the film both thematically and structurally, the two focal points of this musical composition, and you will start developing ideas for your melody.

Here you will begin to see how to work on your melody, and you will record it and do rough sync with the film.

Recording a Melody 1

Now I will teach you how to automate the BPMs which define the speed of the song. This technique is really popular, easy to understand, and way much easier to use.

Recording a Melody 2

Adding Layers 1

You will add different layers to your song. These will include, but not be limited to: rhythms, melody doubling, harmonies, accompanying chords, and ambient sounds.

You will continue learning how to create different textures and layers for your song using rhythms and harmonies.

Adding Layers 2

I will explain to you a concept called vertical integration. As you now have multiple layers in your composition, it is important to ask where the layers belong.

Vertical Integration 1

You will see how to look into the vertical integration of your piece, and how to best accommodate certain instrumental passages.

Vertical Integration 2

You will explore adding effects to your individual tracks in order to flesh out different characteristics of your music. You will formally sync the piece to the film and discuss problems and brief solutions for syncing audio to video.

Effects and Final Sync 1

I will continue showing you how to use different audio effects in order to modulate the textures of your piece, before syncing it to the film.

Effects and Final Sync 2

Now you will see some basic tools that can be used to make the piece of music tighter (basic mixing concepts, plugins, and mastering). Besides, I will explain to you how to export your piece.

Exporting the Project

Here you will learn about how to deal with feedback from directors, etc. Besides, I will teach you what changes you can make to your piece in order to make it better.

Feedback

I will talk to you about the importance of registering your work, therefore you will learn how to register it, depending on your needs and the country you live in. Also, I will give you some tips on how to distribute your track online.

Registering Your Work

Module 5

Animation speaks through color and movement—but music gives it heart. Soundtrack producers Rubén Feffer and Gustavo Kurlat reveal how they shape sonic narratives that support story, pacing, and character. Dive into the soundtrack-making process and explore how music interacts with visuals, dialogue, and rhythm to elevate every frame with emotion and clarity.

17 lessons (2h 31m)

The soundtrack

In this class, we will talk about the design of soundtracks and some subtle aspects of audiovisual composition.

Soundtrack functions and moods

“Moods” are the different feelings, sensations and situations that music can suggest and impress on the viewer. In this class, we will explain and demonstrate them in more detail.

Different types of tracks and animations

In this class, you will learn about the different types of soundtracks and animations.

Steps of an animation and creating its track

Now, you will learn about the stages of developing an animation and how a soundtrack relates to each of them.

Tools

In this class, you will see the various hardware and software tools used to make audiovisual music.

Briefing: analyzing the scene

Understanding the brief that the director, screenwriter or even the film producer gives us is essential to produce a coherent and creative work.

Self-briefing

Autobriefing is a concept that we both created to find the artistic and often technical paths that we will follow when composing a track. In this class, you will understand how it works in practice.

Decoding a scene is essential to understand the tension and turning points that deserve to be highlighted in the soundtrack, intensifying the desired emotions.

Decoupage of a scene

The scene map

In this class, you will learn about the aspects of decoupage carried out for the course project scene.

The research process

Good research is essential for creating a soundtrack, because it helps us understand the paths that can be followed in terms of melody, style, language, among others.

The theme

Once the research is done, it's time to choose one of the different possibilities that we researched previously to define the focus we want to give to the trail.

In this class, you will learn some arranging and editing techniques.

The arrangement

Commenting on the choices: the scene map and arrangement

Based on the decoupage we made of the project scene, we will talk about the composition and arrangement choices we made in developing the original soundtrack.

Sound draft

Once the track arrangement has been defined, we usually initially work with some type of mock-up, or sound draft. To understand more, play this class!

Project track: performance

In this class, we will create a new soundtrack for a scene from the course project, completely live. Watch and learn more about our process!

21m

Adjustments, recording and finalizing the track

Now that we have our MIDI mock-ups, we adjust everything, record with musicians and singers and finalize the track. In this class, we will talk about each part of these often long and complex production and post-production stages.

Songs

The song can be a unique element that dialogues with the scene and brings the word – or the sound of the words – together with the melody. Watch this class to understand more about the possibilities of songs in a soundtrack!

Explaining Game Music and Its Elements

Module 6

Sound in games does more than accompany action—it shapes the world around it. Composer Antonio Teoli takes you deep into the art of game scoring, showing how music creates immersion, tension, and emotion. From melodies to chord progressions, discover how to design sonic experiences that resonate with players long after the game ends.

14 lessons (2h 59m)

In any field, it's important to know the origins of the named industry; in this case, to understand what music is and where it came from. In this lesson, I will explain these origins, before moving on to the different elements of game music. Whenever I start a new project, there are nine key questions that need to be answered, whether that's by the game developer or director. Once I have these answers, I can begin composing. Join me now to learn why these questions are important in guiding my creative process.

Before jumping into the composition, it's important to become familiar with basic technicalities. Next, I will teach you how to manage the technical side of this craft. This will require a general understanding of the software. So let's start talking about Logic Pro X! This is a fantastic tool that blends an intuitive interface with a powerful sound engine, making it an obvious choice for composers working on AAA games and Hollywood movie productions. In this lesson, you will see how I use this software to create a catchy melody and a nice chord progression!

Logic Pro X Basics

Virtual Instruments: First Party

Virtual instruments are the colors of the music palette. They can cost very little or up to thousands! Luckily, Logic Pro X is one of the few DAWs that offers a vast and complete package of these instruments already included.

Virtual Instruments: Third Parties

If you want to expand your virtual instrument library, this lesson is for you! Here, I will highlight my favorite virtual instruments that I use the most in my projects.

Music Theory: Chord Progression

Now it's time to enter the world of music theory! In this lesson, I will teach you how to create engaging chord progressions.

In my opinion, the melody is the most important aspect of music. For example, if you take two successful composers like John Williams or Koji Kondo, they each have one thing in common: A deep understanding of how to write great, catchy melodies. Although this art can take up to a lifetime to master, in this lesson I will discuss my personal approach to creating good melodies.

Music Theory: Melody

Analyzing the Game and Sketching a Musical Idea

Welcome to the first class of this unit. Here, I will guide you in analyzing a game, answering the 9 questions, and writing down musical ideas using everything you've learned so far.

There are infinite ways to structure your music, especially in the game music world. In this lesson, I will show you some of my approaches.

Music Structure

Arranging and Orchestrating: Strings

Just like the structure, there are infinite ways to arrange your music: orchestra, rock, chiptune, electronic, or a blend of everything. There are no rules here. If your client is happy, then mission accomplished! However, when it comes down to arranging for orchestra, there's a HUGE amount of rules. I will give you a brief overview of my approach.

Arranging and Orchestrating: Woodwinds and Brass

In this lesson, I will continue the theme of arranging, but this time with woodwinds and brass instruments.

Time to check the overall levels and remove any unnecessary frequencies.

Balancing