Bill Troxler
Composing
Composing for Film, Podcast and Live Theatre
A new class coming in late 2025.
FOCUS
This course is based on my experience of composing for films, podcasts and live theater. The class will refer extensively to the content of the class Just Enough Music Theory.Work through that course before staring this one.
The class will focus on creating music using the traditional voices of the modern symphony orchestra and collections of world instruments. This class will not cover the use of musical synthesizers. All of the work will be done in MIDI format.
Standard notation will be used infrequently. The class will explore how to underscore video and live content. To do that well, we’ll look at how to create the right kind of timbré for a scene. Because the target is composing for film, theatre and podcast, we will address short form compositions.
Most film music cues run less than two minutes. Many music cues last only thirty or forty seconds. This is not the class to learn how to compose large musical forms
such as a symphony, an opera, or a musical.
TOOLS YOU NEED
1. Computer
2. Digital Audio Workstation Software
3. A library of sampled sounds
4. Keyboard with MIDI output to the computer
1. Computer
I use a MAC Studio with 64 GB of internal memory and four SSD outboard drives to hold all the composing files I create. I have two large monitors.
2. Digital Audio Workstation Software
Many excellent DAWs are on the market. I use Reaper for all of my composing. https://www.reaper.fm/
I selected this DAW because it has all the features necessary for professional level music composition and it can edit video files. The $60 price is also very attractive. Reaper updates frequently but does not require annual renewal of the license. Owners renew the licenses only when a major upgrade drives the software into
a new version. Even with hundreds of updates to the software over time, my $60 license has covered me for
more than five years.
If you want a DAW with fewer features and a pretty interface, look at Studio One by Presonus. Depending upon the version you buy, expect to pay between $170 and $200.
If you want the “industry standard” subscribe to ProTools. Annual subscriptions range from about $100 to $600.
If you are new to the world of Digital Audio Workstations, I recommend viewing some tutorials to get started. My go-to guy for Reaper is Kenny Gioia. Check out his free videos, These videos are extensive in depth and professionally produced.
https://www.youtube.com/@REAPERMania/videos
The Reaper.fm page has his beginning course on using the Reaper DAW.
3. A library of sampled sounds
Libraries of sample sounds are readily available. My go-to library is produced by East-West Studios in Los Angles. Many pros rely on the libraries of East-West because the samples are recorded in Grammy-wining studios by Grammy-wining producers and engineers.
Check out some of their instructional videos delivered by composer Ryan Thomas.
https://www.youtube.com/@EWQLTutorials/videos
I STRONGLY recommend viewing Ryan Thomas’ video “How to Start Making Music”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Oy--unENP0
This video walks you through the process of using sampled sounds within a Digital Audio Workstation. He talks about the kind of gear you need. And he completes a production. The video is very informative and only 15-minutes. Watching this will short cut your learning curve.
4. Keyboard with MIDI output to the computer
I compose using a $100 keyboard – Nektar SE61. If you are not a pianist, you won’t need an 88-key keyboard with lots of presets. You do need a keyboard with a mod-wheel. Spending more money will deliver a better quality mod-wheel and touch on the keys. But, a $100 works fine for me.
My Studio Set Up
Yeah. It’s messy. That’s because I’m working not posing!
THE MUSIC I COMPOSE
You can audition many of my film and theatre compositions on my SoundCloud account:
