Anyone here have experience with 8Dio's Requiem Nova? They've sent me a 50% cross grade offer, because I own Requiem Pro. I didn't get along with that library or their other Kontakt choirs; found them too hard to work with compared to Chorus and Storm Choir. Is Requiem Nova easier to work with? Is Soundpaint a good platform? Thanks!

Hey everyone, If you’re still struggling to find work, to get positive replies from companies and clients, or just to be heard and seen, here’s a little list to run your demo reel through. It’s always WHO, not HOW. Meaning: make yourself visible. Use a profile picture. People don’t like working with invisible ghosts. Showing your face is important—no matter how you think you look, visibility matters. Your demo reel is not only about YOU, it’s about the benefits you bring to the table for your potential customers. Nobody likes an ego bash-fest and nobody cares when you started playing piano or what your first word was. Instead of a bible-long biography, point out exactly how you can help a client reach their goals. If you try to serve everyone, you address no one—it’s that simple. Use ONE demo reel to address ONE target group. You want work in the video games industry? Let ONE reel speak to them directly. You want to work in the trailer and production music industry? Make ONE reel for them. Why should a game audio director be interested in your corporate jingles? Why should a children’s book author care about your horror zombie splatter credits? If you want to work in multiple industries, create separate demo reels for each one. Trying to impress everyone ends up addressing no one directly. More tracks don’t mean more impressive—five well-chosen tracks are plenty. For games, maybe a main theme, two in-game tracks (wandering, dungeon exploring), one battle track, and a boss battle or cutscene cue. For trailers, three epic, polished 2:30 tracks. Make sure every track is fully polished and finalized—never rush, and never include work-in-progress material in your reel. You are not the center of the solar system. If you think it’s impressive to put 5-minute movies or 10-minute medleys in your reel, you’ll lose people fast. No one will dig through unrelated content to find what they want. It’s not just the audio that matters—the visuals count too. Use consistent colors and design elements that feel familiar to your target audience. Pitching to medical science research companies? A quick Google search will show you most of their sites are white with blue text. Match their visual language and you’ll instantly feel more relevant. Adapt and win!

Hey everyone, so I rarely ever recommend libraries or plugins as I believe the industry has a way of making you feel like you absolutely must always buy whatever it is they made. Of course this is merely marketing and that's ok. But I do think there are things that are good looking into. I just bought Spitfire's "Essentials" version of the AIR Studios reverb and everything I heard in the walkthrough sounded like a real changer in terms of space and lushness, and it's available at only $69 with 67,000 impulse responses. Now bear in mind, disclaimer here, I have not even installed this thing, but generally Spitfire puts out some really incredible stuff out, and for $69 only, a reverb which you can use on ALL of your cinematic projects does sound like a good deal, so, I thought I'd let you all know. It sounds beautiful, it's reasonably priced and is very applicable to all your projects. Dropping link here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/air-studios-reverb-essentials

Hey music crafting people, in case you need some great profile pictures or anything, try this in ChatGPT. Upload a selfie, then use this prompt: A cinematic double exposure of a man in profile, with a post-apocalyptic cityscape inside his silhouette. The inner scene shows the man walking through a destroyed, burning urban street, buildings in ruins, glowing embers and fire, with a dramatic sunset in the background. Moody lighting, warm tones, emotional and introspective mood, high detail, 8K resolution Another example would be: Create a high-contrast black and white close-up portrait of the referenced man. The image should depict only the left half of his face, partially submerged in water, with water droplets and bubbles visible on his skin and hair. Illuminate the left side of the face dramatically, casting the rest into deep shadow. dark background. detail in skin texture, beard stubble, and eye focus to evoke a moody cinematic atmosphere. I:1 orientation Both results attached to this post.

One of the main reasons composers struggle to get consistent work is they try to do too much. Too many styles on their demo reel, too much information, too many industries they want to get in, too many projects, too high expectations, not enough patience to follow a goal... I see this pattern everywhere: The composer who showcases orchestral, electronic, folk, and jazz on the same demo reel. The one applying to film, games, commercials, and podcasts all at once. The perfectionist spending months tweaking one track instead of building relationships. Here's what happens when you try to do everything: Your demo reel confuses instead of convinces. Music supervisors cannot figure out what you actually do. Your networking becomes scattered. You are talking to everyone but connecting with no one. Your applications disappear into the void because you sound like everyone else trying to "do it all." The composers who get consistent work do the opposite. They pick ONE primary focus and become known for it. Horror film scoring. Retro synthwave for indie games. Corporate explainer videos. They build demo reels that tell a clear story: "This is who I am and these are the benefits I bring to the table." They network with intention, targeting the specific people who need their specific sound. This does not mean limiting your creativity. It means channeling it strategically. You can always expand later, but first you need to be known for something. The brutal truth? Every hour you spend trying to appeal to everyone is an hour not spent becoming essential to someone. The market does not need another composer who "does everything." It needs THE composer who does exactly what they need, better than anyone else. What's your primary focus going to be? Drop a comment below and let's help you get crystal clear on your lane.