In the “Music Volume” you’ll learn the secret knowledge which only the music composer masters know about how music moves audiences in productions. You’ll learn how to manipulate the emotions of your viewers by choosing the right music scene-by-scene, because you’ll learn the three major aspects of music and how they have been affecting audiences since the early operatic days. You’ll also watch Mark compose an actual scene and learn the magic behind what composers do. Additionally, you’ll learn how to choose the right library music and how to structure the deal with the independent composer.
In this introductory chapter on Music, Mark takes us through the basics of what makes music work, best practices for choosing music, how to identify what part of music is moving an audience, and a few fun examples of media without music.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
Review: “Fantasia 2000” | 00:00:43 |
Terms | 00:03:05 |
How Does Music Do What It Does to an Audience? | 00:09:22 |
Rhythm | 00:09:52 |
Melody | 00:20:05 |
Harmony | 00:25:09 |
Compound Meter Example | 00:34:34 |
Musical Examples | 00:36:24 |
Media without Music Examples | 00:54:37 |
“Star Wars” without music | 00:56:10 |
Wrap Up | 01:00:03 |
In this chapter, Mark shows us several “Hollywood” examples where the original music has been substituted so we can see how important getting the right music is. He also shows us the difference between Major and Minor keys, how to find our demographic, and how to use Music to make scenes move faster.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
Music Substitution Examples | |
– “Independence Day” | 00:01:18 |
– “The Avengers” | 00:07:27 |
– “Inception” | 00:13:49 |
Major & Minor Keys | 00:28:14 |
Knowing What Music Goes In There | 00:33:26 |
Knowing Your Demographic | 00:40:14 |
The Nature of Temporal Compression (Macbeth) | 00:47:28 |
Wrap Up | 00:56:49 |
In this chapter, we learn advanced knowledge about when to musically “hit” visual elements on screen, the reasons to use (and not to use) loops in music, editing library music and how to insert and deal with issues from stems.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
SFX Vs. Music | 00:01:31 |
To Hit Or Not To Hit | 00:15:06 |
To Hit Or Not To Hit (Action Sequence) | 00:21:02 |
Fast Vs. Slow Music | 00:28:50 |
Basic Tempo Map – Macbeth (Why Music Here?!) | 00:38:51 |
Macbeth Cue Listen-Down | 00:43:37 |
Explanation of Musical Beats (Macbeth) | 00:45:38 |
The Nature (and Lies) of Loops | 00:54:05 |
Loop Examples (Macbeth) | 00:55:27 |
Loop Examples (Beach) | 01:00:30 |
Loop Examples (Donuts) | 01:03:31 |
Adding Stems to the Mix | 01:07:41 |
Cutting in Library Music (Beach) | 01:22:02 |
Wrap Up | 01:35:06 |
In this chapter, Mark shows us how to make and export tempo maps, how to do music spotting, when to use library music or original score, and he demonstrates the spotting of all 5 example videos.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
Review: “Dave” | 00:01:16 |
The Process of Music | 00:02:29 |
Why Library Music Instead of Original? | 00:04:07 |
Why Use a DAW? | 00:05:39 |
Music Spotting | 00:06:35 |
Tempo Mapping | 00:24:06 |
Exporting Tempo Maps | 00:46:08 |
Tempo Maps in Non-MIDI DAWs (Audition) | 00:49:56 |
Music Spotting – ENG Scene | 01:02:44 |
Music Spotting – Beach Scene | 01:03:53 |
Music Spotting – Donut Scene | 01:10:36 |
Music Spotting – Macbeth Scene | 01:13:33 |
Wrap Up | 01:20:09 |
In this chapter, we learn the specifics around editing music from merging vastly different pieces of music to how to scan music waveforms for the appropriate start times, creating double the music use from the same music content and learning how to use Audition’s powerful “Remix” feature.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
Visually Scanning Waveforms | 00:01:51 |
Music File Start Issues | 00:08:35 |
Crossfade Issues | 00:10:08 |
Multi-Track Crossfading | 00:18:11 |
Multi-Track Crossfading with Separate Tracks | 00:24:51 |
Editing With Stems | 00:27:39 |
Different Tempi – Different Keys | 00:34:45 |
Different Tempi – Different Keys With Stems | 00:47:52 |
Cutting With Reverb | 00:55:28 |
Editing Highly Dynamic Music | 00:58:05 |
Reverse Music – Expanding Library Music Use | 01:07:21 |
Adobe Audition Remix | 01:17:44 |
Wrap Up | 01:25:48 |
In this chapter, Mark shows us how to find and structure the deal with composers, how to work with songwriters, editing suites of music (and why to do them), and how to create completely new music from editing stems.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
How To Find Composers | 00:01:06 |
Structuring the Deal | 00:05:56 |
Dealing With More Than One Composer | 00:12:01 |
Communicating With Your Composer | 00:14:57 |
Working With Songwriters | 00:19:50 |
Creating Suites of Music | 00:21:54 |
Cutting Music Suites to Picture (Macbeth) | 00:24:12 |
Creating New Music From Stems | 00:47:57 |
Wrap Up | 01:06:11 |
In this chapter we watch for nearly 3 hours as Mark creates from scratch the entire musical score for the “Action Sequence.” We learn how important having good spotting and an accurate tempo map is, how a sketch can inform a composer about the essence of a scene, how to quickly fill in orchestration, and how the process involved in exporting stems for the mix.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
Adding Live Musicians to Your Score | 00:00:37 |
Introduction to Music Creation in a MIDI DAW (Logic Pro) | 00:02:29 |
Theme/Melody Creation and Use | 00:04:03 |
The Beginning | 00:06:18 |
Inserting the Glue | 00:11:18 |
Composing Isn’t an Exact Science | 00:17:52 |
The Fight Sketch | 00:26:16 |
The Shooting Sketch | 00:45:09 |
Sketch Complete. Filling In the Orchestration | 00:48:18 |
Music Under DX (Second Section) | 01:09:26 |
The Punch (Third Section) | 01:26:58 |
The Fight! | 01:42:15 |
The Shooting and Death | 02:00:11 |
The First Play Down (See What Else is Needed) | 02:15:03 |
Tweezing the Music | 02:18:23 |
Time To Send to a Director | 02:24:29 |
What Loops Do To the Score | 02:24:54 |
Creating Stems | 02:28:55 |
The Process of Stems | 02:30:22 |
Wrap Up | 02:50:42 |
In this final chapter of the Music Volume, Mark takes us through Hollywood Movie scene examples where the music has been slightly altered with library music from Musicbed.com and shows us the intricacies of choosing the right music for the right scene.

Chapter Contents | Run Time |
Introduction | 00:00:07 |
Introduction to Better & Best Examples from MusicBed.com | 00:00:35 |
“John Carter” | 00:01:32 |
“Independence Day” | 00:19:13 |
“Inception” | 00:29:45 |
“Man Of Steel” | 00:35:27 |
“The Matrix” | 00:45:13 |
“Blade of Honor” (Vocals) | 00:50:15 |
“Wall-E” | 00:58:30 |
Wrap Up | 01:02:34 |