Recording Samples

I had an absolutely wonderful experience with the fantastic musicians and engineers at Cinemagic Scoring and Milestone Studios. I won Ryan Leach's Fall 2024 composition competition, for which the prize was an orchestral recording session in February 2025 at Milestone with musicians from the Cape Town Philharmonic, sponsored by Cinemagic. It would have been easy for Cinemagic and Milestone to do the bare minimum since it's a "freebie" and call it a day. But they absolutely did not -- they went all out to make my experience a very special one.

 

John Walton, the director at Cinemagic, deserves special mention. He spent more than a full day poring over my score and reviewing it; he sent it to a clarinetist to ensure playability of certain passages; suggested a couple small changes that I implemented; and prepared his own section scores for recording. We exchanged 44 emails (yes, I counted them) over the course of a month or so before the session. He was also fantastic on the day itself, both with the direction and with time management. And he even sent a further suggestion after the session was over!

 

It should go without saying that the musicians in the orchestra were all consummate professionals -- they played even my difficult concert music (significantly more challenging than typical film music) with ease. There was one section with very fast flourishes in the winds that I was worried about in advance -- but I need not have been, they nailed it.

 

Murray Anderson, the mixing engineer at Milestone, also deserves my sincere congratulations. He sent a great initial mix; we went back and forth a few times and he cheerfully addressed any small nitpicks I may have had.

 

The end result was amazing: a professionally edited video, perfectly synchronized to the wonderfully played and expertly mixed music. I could not be happier. I will not hesitate to contact Cinemagic and Milestone for any future scoring needs.