The Composer’s Checklist for 2026

We asked two professional composers for their top tips for advancing a composing career in 2026. Jason Graves is a BAFTA-winning composer known for Dead Space, Tomb Raider, and The Dark Pictures Anthology. Jesse Zuretti is a composer and music producer for Riot Games, Marvel, and Universal Music Group. Here's what they had to say about making connections, standing out from the crowd, polishing your demos, and putting in the practice.

Competence + Relationships = Opportunities

Twenty-five years ago, networking meant physical events, expensive travel, and hoping you crossed paths with the right person. Today, the internet has removed nearly every barrier:

Post-pandemic, people are used to meeting online.
Social media makes it easy to meet directors, game devs, and peers globally.
Your work can be discovered without you leaving your room.

But access alone doesn’t create opportunities. Jason stresses the formula:

Good relationships + being genuinely competent = ongoing work.

You don’t need to know everyone, you just need a handful of real connections who believe in your ability.

Jesse puts it simply: networking isn’t collecting business cards, it’s making friends.

Creative industries run on trust, and the people hiring you want to work with someone they like being around, especially during tight deadlines and long revision cycles.

But friendship alone isn’t enough. You also need:

A sound that stands out
A vibe that’s unmistakably you
Production quality that proves your skill

In a world full of templates and identical sounding tracks, your voice is your currency.

Your music needs to speak for itself

We see this all the time: new composers expect clients to imagine how their music will sound once mixed, recorded, or orchestrated. They won’t.

Clients judge the demo as if it were final.

That means your music needs to be:

Polished
Well-mixed
Emotionally clear
Convincing without live players

You’re not just pitching ideas, you’re pitching a polished sonic snapshot. When your demo already sounds great, clients trust you and green-light live recording sessions.

Composer muscles, writer's block, and the on/off switch

Jesse compares creativity to fitness:

You don’t get stronger by waiting for the perfect day, you get stronger by showing up consistently.

Having strong composer muscles mean:

Writing even when you’re not inspired
Chipping away at ideas until something clicks
Learning to “turn on” your creativity when deadlines demand it
Reducing the power of writer’s block by working through it, not avoiding it

Deadlines don’t care about creative slumps. Developing this on/off switch is one of the most important skills a modern composer can build.

The checklist

Here’s some key things to focus on for 2026:

Build real relationships

Not contacts, friends. Authenticity wins.

Polish your sound

Your demo has to function as the final pitch. Let's get our production skills up-to-scratch.

Stand out from the crowd

Start developing a sonic identity. Focus on what makes you different.

Strengthen your creative muscles

Write regularly. Don’t wait for inspiration. This will be a major part in developing your sonic identity. As Anne-Kathrin Dern says, “Practice!”

Take advantage of the new world

The internet is your stage. Use it wisely.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Baugh

Michael Baugh is an award-winning composer who regularly collaborates with Grammy winners and nominees. He's also a ThinkSpace Masters degree tutor and hosts our on-demand course The Sound of Modern Sci-Fi.

Does your music often sound muddy, messy and is difficult to mix? Here’s how to fix it.

I struggled with this for years – piling on string libraries, doubling parts, and trying new plugins – but it never sounded clean. Then one evening, while I was toiling away on a mockup, my Emmy Award–winning composer friend Michael Worth showed me something simple yet powerful. Let me share it with you.

Although we’re going to focus on the string section, the same principles apply to brass, woodwinds, synths, and pretty much any ensemble.

To begin with, let’s reframe the string section into three layers:

Highs: 1st Violins and 2nd Violins
Mids: Violas
Lows: Cellos and Basses

Now, you might be thinking: “But cellos could sit in the mids” or “2nd violins could work in the mids too.” And you’d be absolutely right! Instrument roles aren’t fixed. For the sake of clarity, though, we’ll stick with this layout as a starting point.

Watch this video where I demonstrate how stacking the lows, mids, and highs allows each part of the string section to occupy its own space, creating both clarity and power

The first thing you might notice is how this approach simplifies the writing process. It becomes much clearer what each part of the string section should be doing. You can also hear how much natural power comes from the low end, and how much clarity the mids and highs bring, even without any EQ or mixing. That’s the beauty of strong, simple orchestration: it delivers clarity and power right from the get go, so you’re not left thinking, “I’ll fix it in the mix.”

A Quick Look at Good vs. Problematic Orchestration

An important thing to keep in mind is spacing between notes. When your parts are spaced apart, say, a fifth or an octave, the result is cleaner and more powerful because each line has room to breathe. Notice in the image below how each part has some space: certain lines support each other in octaves, while others are spread by a fifth, creating clarity, power and balance.

This spacing prevents muddiness and allows the section to resonate naturally.

On the other hand, when the parts are packed too closely together, the sound quickly becomes muddy and indistinct. Rather than getting power, you end up with a blur of notes fighting for the same space.

Notice how the notes are clustered too closely, competing for the same frequencies. This kind of voicing makes your strings, and your orchestration as a whole, feel small and messy, no matter how many libraries, plugins, or hours of mixing you throw at it.

Why not give this method a try and share your results? Post it on social media and tag us, we’d love to hear what you come up with!

Want the midi or/and the stems I created in this video? Here they are. Remember to set the tempo in your DAW to 150bpm.

DOWNLOAD stems & midi

The Instruments I Used (and A Great Free Alternative)

Benjamin Wallfisch Strings from Orchestral Tools

Beaufort Brass from Orchestral Tools

Afflatus Strings from Strevoz Sampling

A free alternative:

Berlin Free Orchestra from Orchestral Tools

WANT MORE TIPS FROM PRO COMPOSERS AND PRODUCERS?

Join our email newsletter to receive tips, tutorials and insights every month. And follow us on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook for even more useful pointers.