Explore masterclasses and advice on film, TV and game scoring from a whole range of industry pros, including Hans Zimmer, Ólafur Arnalds and Spitfire Audio composers – all for free.
The Academy brings together the best educational videos from the Spitfire Audio YouTube channel – tutorials that have already amassed almost 10 million views and helped thousands of composers around the world. It is also where you’ll find brand new education videos appearing regularly, to help you on your journey as a composer.
MOST POPULAR
Masterclasses and insights that have earned hundreds of thousands of views and positive reactions.
Orchestral Programming: Day One
In this video, Christian Henson tries to allay fears about writing orchestral music
Ólafur Arnalds Studio Tour
Ólafur kindly takes time off recording his album to talk us through his amazing array of outboard gear, his methods and his philosophy
The Hans Zimmer Composer Roundtable
A rare insight into the workings of some of Hollywood's A-list film composers
Fly On The Wall: Air Studios
Step inside the control room at Air Studios to witness, in real time, how quickly you can record orchestral players in London
Paul Thomson Studio Tour
Christian joins Paul Thomson in his newly completed home studio 'The Bullbarn'
FROM THE VAULTS: Behind The Curtain - Hans Zimmer Percussion
Spitfire Audio takes you behind the scenes at the creation of Hans Zimmer Percussion
Program Realistic Sounding Strings Pt 1
Christian helps you to avoid various programming pit falls, rabbit holes and cul-de-sacs
Program Realistic Sounding Strings Pt 2
Christian continues his treatise into programming realistic strings, featuring another live composition session
SCORE BREAKDOWNS BY TOP COMPOSERS
How the best in the business wrote the music for your favourite films and TV shows.
Scoring 'The Queen's Gambit' with Carlos Rafael Rivera
Carlos Rafael Rivera shows us his process for developing a sketch into a full orchestral score
Scoring 'Star Trek: Discovery' with Jeff Russo
We visit LA to meet Jeff Russo in his studio and talk about his opening cue for Star Trek: Discovery
'The Handmaid's Tale' Theme with Adam Taylor
Adam Taylor explains and demonstrates how he composed the soundtrack for this dystopian world
Scoring 'Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle' with Nitin Sawhney
Nitin and Christian talk through a cue for Netflix's feature, 'Mowgli', at Nitin's studio in South London
Scoring 'The Sinner' with Ronit Kirchman
Homay Schmitz joins Ronit Kirchman, composer of 'The Sinner', to talk through a key scene from the show
Scoring DC's 'Stargirl' with Pinar Toprak
Pinar Toprak shows how she scored a scene from DC's 'Stargirl', sharing some of her scoring tips
Scoring 'Spiral: Saw' with Charlie Clouser
Composer Charlie Clouser breaks down one of the climactic scenes from the movie 'Spiral: From the Book of Saw'
QUICK TIPS
Pick up useful new techniques and tricks in under ten minutes.
How To Make Cinematic Drums
Oliver takes us through a series of drums in the Hans Zimmer Percussion library and demonstrates how to create cinematic drums.
Workflow Tips For Beginners
Homay takes you through some tips and tricks in Logic which she wishes she had known earlier
Adding Realism To Your Orchestral Sample Edits
Jake Jackson demonstrates how to add a realistic edge to your orchestral samples
How To Create A Successful Production Music Track
Christian demonstrates how to create successful production music in this latest Quick Tip
How To Be Successful Scoring Commercials
Paul shares some thoughts about how to approach creating successful music for commercials
The Unsung Magic of Evos
Christian shows us a new way to use evolutions
Making String Samples Sound Fat
How liberal super deep and subliminal bottom end can add emotion to your scores
3 Unconventional Uses For Reverb
Christian shows us one classic and three slightly more unexpected uses for reverb
Music Gear for Horror Scores with The Newton Brothers
Taylor Stewart from The Newton Brothers, demonstrates how he uses the Folktek Resonant Garden
CREATIVE CRIBS: THE SECRETS OF A-LIST COMPOSERS
Creative Cribs takes you inside the studios, minds and process of successful film composers, and explores iconic recording studios.
Creative Cribs: Harry Gregson-Williams
'Mulan' composer Harry Gregson-Williams walks us around his studio
Creative Cribs: Nathan Barr
'True Blood' composer Nathan Barr gives a very special tour of his one-of-a-kind studio
Creative Cribs: Nitin Sawhney
Christian visits 'Mowgli' composer Nitin Sawhney at his South London studio
Creative Cribs: Joseph Trapanese
Oliver & the Spitfire team traveled to LA to visit 'The Greatest Showman' composer, Joseph Trapanese
Creative Cribs: Daniel Pemberton
See inside 'Spiderman' composer Daniel Pemberton's Studio
Creative Cribs: Carly Paradis
We visit East London to talk shop with 'Line of Duty' composer and pianist, Carly Paradis
Creative Cribs: Anne Dudley
Oscar winning 'Mamma Mia 2' composer Anne Dudley on embracing technology, pianos, pencils and paper
Creative Cribs: Andy Gray
TV composer Andy Gray walks us through his oasis of vintage gear on the sunny Isle Of Wight
STEP-BY-STEP TECHNIQUES
In-depth advice on helping you improve as a composer.
Composing For Choir With Eric Whitacre
Grammy-winning composer & conductor Eric Whitacre shares how he approaches composing for choir
How To Program Realistic Sounding Strings Pt 1
Christian helps you to avoid various programming pit falls, rabbit holes and cul-de-sacs
How To Program Realistic Sounding Strings Pt 2
Christian continues his treatise into programming realistic strings, featuring another live composition session
Ólafur Arnalds breaks down 'Loom (ft. Bonobo)'
Ólafur Arnalds breaks down his track 'Loom (feat. Bonobo)' creating an alternative ending using his favourite Spitfire Audio libraries.
The Best Ways To Voice Strings
Paul shows the options for laying out the voices in a string section
Orchestral Programming Day One
Christian Henson tries to allay fears about writing orchestral music
Orchestral Programming Day Two
Christian is back to discuss the next steps in orchestral programming
Orchestral Programming Day Three
How to prepare for an orchestral recording session
10 Golden Rules Of Orchestral Programming
Christian's 10 golden rules for programming realistic-sounding orchestral music
The Secret To Orchestral Programming
A fundamental lesson for improving your orchestral programming with expression and emotion
How To Make Samples Sound Authentic
Oliver shares the methods he uses to make samples sound authentic when composing
Cinematic Drum Programming
Overcome impostor syndrome and creating outstanding cinematic drum compositions
How To Work With Musicians Remotely
Christian goes back to the root purpose of the original Spitfire project - to connect composers and musicians
Scoring To Picture: Day One
Christian demonstrates how to approach scoring to picture
orchestral programming
Spitfire Audio co-founder Christian Henson demystifies the process of writing for an orchestra and guides you through, step-by-step.
INSPIRING STORIES
Insights, wisdom and behind-the-scenes films from across the composing community.
Alfa Mist: Confliction
Follow Alfa Mist’s journey as he collaborates with the LCO to re-imagine his track ‘Confliction’
Global Collaboration Panel
Industry professionals share the benefits and pitfall's of working remotely from a variety of perspectives across the composing spectrum.
FROM THE VAULTS: Behind The Curtain - Hans Zimmer Percussion
Spitfire Audio takes you behind the scenes at the creation of Hans Zimmer Percussion
Suzanne Ciani On The Buchla 200e
Suzanne Ciani gives an in-depth demonstration of how she composes using the Buchla 200e
The Hans Zimmer Composer Roundtable
A rare insight into the workings of some of Hollywood's A-list film composers
Fly On The Wall: AIR Studios
Step inside the control room at Air Studios to witness, in real time, how quickly you can record orchestral players in London
Schimmel Pianos Factory Tour
Christian visits the factory of master piano makers, Schimmel, in Germany to learn how pianos are made
Harbeth Speakers Factory Tour
Christian takes a trip to his favourite Loudspeaker company, Harbeth Loudspeakers, for a special tour of their workshops
Composer Roundtable: Scoring Cinematic Trailers
Lucie, Oli and Dan discuss scoring cinematic trailers, storytelling with music and compare writing styles
using spitfire audio libraries
How to get the most of your Spitfire Audio libraries and achieve your goals.
Start Your Scoring Journey
Homay takes us through her latest demo written using libraries from our Originals series
Writing For A String Quartet
Oliver shows us how to compose music for a string quartet
How To Use Electric Guitars In Orchestral Music
Christian takes us through how to use electric guitar in your orchestral music
The Iconic Sound Of Cinema
Oliver takes a brief look at the iconic history of Abbey Road's Studio One
Adding Bite To Your Composition
Oliver takes us through writing music for a chase scene
Composing Your First Film Cue
Composer Homay Schmitz guides you through writing a film cue using BBCSO Discover
Building Tension
Homay demonstrates how to build tension in your compositions
Can Anyone Create Orchestral Music?
Christian transforms Erik Satie's famous 'Gnossienne No. 1' into an orchestral piece
GETTING THE PERFECT SOUND
Sound advice to improve your recording, mixing and mastering.
Mixing and Mastering Your Music
Paul Thomson and Jake Jackson share an introduction to mixing and mastering
Make A Sample Library In A Day
The Spitfire team challenged themselves to create a sample library in a day
How To Prepare A Pro Tools Session For A Recording
Oliver takes us through how you can prepare a Pro Tools session for recording
The Recording of Robin Hood
Joseph Trapanese shows Oliver how the arrangement of the orchestra was constructed for Otto Bathurst's 'Robin Hood'.
FROM THE VAULTS: Recording Hans Zimmer Percussion
Recording engineer Geoff Foster recounts the process of recording HZ Percussion
The Reverb World Cup
Christian and Jake Jackson put a selection of reverbs to the test in this in-depth episode
Comparing Mixes in Hans Zimmer Percussion Professional
Paul talks through his composition for the BBC show 'The Interceptor'
Mix Masterclass with Jake Jackson
Jake Jackson and Christian Henson present a mixing masterclass on Solo Strings
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composing with strings
Level up your string arrangements.
How To Program Realistic Sounding Strings Pt 1
Christian helps you to avoid various programming pit falls, rabbit holes and cul-de-sacs
How To Program Realistic Sounding Strings Pt 2
Christian continues his treatise into programming realistic strings, featuring another live composition session
The Best Ways To Voice Strings
Paul shows the options for laying out the voices in a string section
Writing For A String Quartet (with Sacconi Strings Quartet)
Oliver shows us how to compose music for a string quartet
Building Tension (with London Contemporary Orchestra Strings)
Homay demonstrates how to build tension in your compositions
Making String Samples Sound Fat
How liberal super deep and subliminal bottom end can add emotion to your scores
Adding Realism To Your Orchestral Sample Edits
Jake Jackson demonstrates how to add a realistic edge to your orchestral samples
Composing in the style of
How to sound like your favourite scores.
Writing In The Style Of 'Joker'
Oliver writes a piece inspired by Hildur Guðnadóttir's multi-award winning score for Todd Phillips' 'Joker'
Writing in the Style of 'Tenet'
Dan Keen builds a percussion-heavy composition inspired by Ludwig Göransson
Writing in the Style of 'The Last of Us'
Oliver takes us through a composition inspired by composer Gustavo Santaolalla
Writing In The Style Of 'Resident Evil'
Louis Rugg breaks down a piece inspired by Masumi Ueda's iconic score
by genre
How to compose in a variety of styles.
Writing 'Fantasy' Music
Homay breaks down her stunning fantasy piece, 'Sadie's Waltz'
How To Write Music For 'Horror'
In a special spooky video, Louis shows us how to write music for horror scenes
'Film Noir' Inspired Composition
Dan Keen takes us through his stunning composition 'A Strange New World'
Writing Modern Trailer Music
Homay shares the process behind her music for the Ólafur Arnalds Stratus trailer
Writing an Emotional Piece in 30 Minutes
Oliver shows how he uses Eric Whitacre Choir to compose to a deadline
How To Create Emotive Trailer Music
Christian takes us through the creative process behind his score for the BBCSO trailer
Creating A Modern Hybrid Score
Homay shows how to combine electronic and orchestral elements
Composing for Contemporary Period Drama
Homay uses Alternative Solo Strings to create definition in her 'Bridgerton' inspired score
Free Virtual Instruments
New to scoring? We offer an extensive range of free virtual instruments to help you get started: BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover (survey completion required for free download), over 30 LABS instruments and hundreds of free sounds on Pianobook.
