Film Music Composition for Beginners (Ages 14-17)

Ages 14–17

Course Dates & Times

Monday 8 – Thursday 11 April 2023 
10am–12pm, BST (UTC+1)

About Film Music Composition for Beginners (Ages 14-17)

This online course taking place over four days, will equip you with an understanding of how to write music for film. You can expect to analyse scenes from different films and explore how a particular genre of music complements a film visual.

The topics addressed will include composition, orchestration, composing with instrument sample libraries in Logic Pro and the composition of original music to given clips.

Who is the course for?

• Anyone aged 14 to 17 who has a passion for cinema and film music.
• No prior experience of film music composition is necessary but a basic understanding of Logic Pro is needed.
• Grade 5 theory is advisable but not required.
• Participants need to be able to read music in order to take part in the course.

What can I expect?

In this course you can expect to learn: 

• How to spot a scene
• What kind of music complements a particular scene
• How to use instrumental sample libraries in Logic Pro in order to enhance your compositions
• How to write music for a given clip

There will be exercises set daily by the tutor for participants to complete between sessions to help practise skills learnt in the sessions.

Do I need anything for the course?

• A Mac computer/laptop
• A copy of Logic Pro software 
• A MIDI-keyboard
• A pair of headphones

Alternative composition software to Logic Pro can be used, but only if you are experienced at using it as the tutor will not be able to provide technical support.

Course Fee

£150

Participation Bursaries are available for this course. Please note the application deadline for participation bursaries is 18 March 2024.

Eligibility

• For everyone aged 14–17
• Participants must have sufficient English language skills to cope with course demands
• Participants need to be able to read music

Online Short Courses Requirements

All sessions will take place online using Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to you in advance of the course start date with further instructions.

To participate in online classes you will need the following:

• An email address
• A reliable internet connection
• A laptop/tablet/desktop computer with a microphone and camera (most have these included)
• Speakers/headphones (the speakers in your laptop/tablet/computer should be sufficient)
• A fully updated web browser able to use the most up to date version of Zoom, or a fully updated Zoom client

If you have any questions regarding joining one of our online courses please contact us.

About the Course Tutor

This course is taught by Barbara De Biasi, Lead professor of Film Music in the Electronic Music Department at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She has been teaching film music composition and keyboard skills at Guildhall since 2018. 

Barbara has worked with many film directors across the world, including New York, Los Angeles, London, Rome, Madrid, Singapore and Milan. She has written the music for three feature films, four feature length documentaries and 70 short films. Her films have been selected at Fantasia Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Florida Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival and Soho International Film Festival amongst others.