Composing Music - Scott James Reeves

- February 19, 2026

Howdy!

I’ve been “doing music” for the vast majority of my life. That included performing, composing, arranging, conducting, teaching, and learning from even a young age.

I took up guitar because my cool older cousin played in a band. My older brother did as well. I spent a lot of time with my instrument, finally beating my older brother in something. I fell into the punk/hardcore scene and spent life touring and playing shows. I loved it. I eventually got really into jazz and went to university for guitar.

Kinda fell out of love with my instrument. But I found myself being asked to arrange music for other people. Then write music for them. I eschewed life on the road and on stage for a quiet life at the score book and in front of the computer.

I once again felt at home. I finally realized that I grew into my new love. Composing. It was like realizing you were in love with your lifelong best friend. And we’ve been together ever since.

We now have a large family of film scores and arrangements.

Growing up loving film scores is probably another reason...

I don't subscribe to the idea that people solely like film music because of the connection to the film. From personal experience as a film score collector I will find composers whose music I enjoy and seek out their other scores. One of my all time favorite scores is from a terrible movie I didn't see until many years after I got the score (James Horner's Krull).

The difference from my perspective is the focus on emotional writing. Classical composers will often show off their technical abilities in writing themes + development and complex motivic interplay. Occasionally they will bring the music to an emotional climax. Rachmaninov and Mahler are two composers who come to mind that have a 50/50 balance of technical and emotional writing.

In film music it's more like 90% emotional 10% technical (by emotional I don't just mean sad, but also happy, angry, tense, even "epic" music invokes an emotional response). Because of this film scores are often written off as being overly schmaltzy like the Silvestri track you posted. I agree it's manipulative, but that's the whole point.

Anyway, more to come

Cheers.