I’ve recently been playing Alan Wake II, a psychological thriller about a writer whose fictional stories come to life as he’s writing them.

Beyond the game being extraordinary in terms of storytelling, music, and gameplay, what REALLY struck me was a mid-game intermission featuring a hybrid live-action and interactive musical.

(Mild spoilers below:)

The implementation of the musical was no...

Students of my Composing Career Bootcamp know that content creation has played a big part in me getting the work I’ve gotten over the years.

I encourage my students to give it a try to help build “social proof”: to show interested directors/composers/producers that other people are interested in our work.

But one of my Bootcamp students asked a very fair question:

“Do you think [posting conte...

I watched an incredible interview with chef, entrepreneur, and TV celebrity Gordon Ramsay last month.

The interview is packed with little gems from a man who’s spent his entire life climbing uphill, but one of his lessons really stood out to me.

Check out 38:30 to hear Gordon’s thoughts on risk.

When asked about how he handled the insecurities and doubts surrounding risk, he responded:

...

To reframe anxiety related to your art or career, think about it like a rollercoaster.

On the way up, you feel nervous, anticipating the steep drop ahead. 😰

“How much higher? What will the drop feel like? What if it goes too fast?”

That anticipation and nervousness peaks at the very top of the rollercoaster, until…

…the drop. 🎢

Suddenly, the once-quiet crowd erupts into screams of joy and...

A few weeks back, my friend, composer, and part-time assistant Robert Rodriguez interviewed me in prep for the Composing Career Bootcamp launch.

In this hour-long jam-packed video, we discuss the honest truth about what it takes to go full-time as a media composer, and actionable steps you can take right now to help you get there.

Since the launch of the Bootcamp, we’ve had 60 students enro...

One of my Composing Career Bootcamp students recently mentioned that they struggle with adding too much to their music.

This is one of the most common traps for media composers, and I’m guilty of it, too. ✋

I find that OVER-scoring tends to be caused by one of two culprits (and sometimes both):

• 🧠 Ego (trying to make something cool, smart, or ground-breaking at the potential expense of making
...

When we listen to our own music intently and consciously, we often lose our objective ear.

Its becomes increasingly difficult to relate to the ear of our audience—a group of listeners who may have NEVER heard our piece before.

So how can you regain your objective ear and hear your music like they would?

I discovered this trick from ambient/electronic composer Brian Eno a while back, and have be...

A few weeks back, I discussed my work on Dragonheir: Silent Gods, and the risk of game music falling into modular, loop-heavy music. 🔁

A composer and reader reached out to ask me to clarify if modular music is ALWAYS a bad thing, noting that loops are pretty much unavoidable in the implementation of most games.

Here’s what I think.

Loops aren’t bad in themselves…

… but the risk that comes with...