Abstract
This thesis will examine the workflow of a modem composer, with special emphasis in music for media. Taking as a reference four of the projects developed during the Media Writing and Production Program, I will go through the challenges, techniques and main hindrances that a composer faces, while trying to define this specific role in the actual music industry. In the process, I will discuss some concepts such as composition, programming, mixing and mastering, approaching them differently, depending on the nature of the work developed. The four projects chosen for this paper are a radio commercial, the score of a movie scene, an orchestral piece, and a pop song. This paper consists of four chapters, one for each of the projects, which are organized chronologically. In order to be consistent throughout this thesis, every chapter will be divided into four subchapters: introduction, composition analysis, production analysis and conclusions. Going through each one of the productions mentioned above, I will provide bibliographic references and links that were useful to me during the program and will hopefully be useful for future students and colleagues too. This paper is a reflection of my experience during the Master in Media Writing and Production Program at the highly acclaimed Frost School of Music at The University of Miami.