Score the Stories That Move Audiences
Strayer University's Graduate Certificate in Screen Scoring & Music Design is a 20-week, portfolio-driven program for composers who want to both learn the working skills the industry requires and create recordings demonstrating their skills. Delivered online across two sequential 10-week terms, the certificate runs two concurrent course modules per term so that technical capability and creative output develop in parallel: what students can do and what they are making advance together rather than one after the other.
The curriculum follows the professional arc of a screen composer working as producer. Students build and navigate professional session environments, perform and shape virtual instruments, design original samples and soundscapes, and mix and master to industry delivery requirements. They analyze scenes and create spotting notes, compose to script, brief, and concept, and score complete short films. They then move into interactive media — writing non-linear music for games and practicing music design through implementation of adaptive scores with industry middleware. Finally, they see their mock-ups become hybrid orchestral pieces through study units in orchestration, MIDI preparation, engraving, and conducting.
The program culminates in SoundTrek, live remote orchestral recording sessions conducted to a professional recording facility in Europe, where each student's own cues are performed by a professional orchestra. In preparation for the session, course units bring composers, orchestrators, conductors, musician contractors, and scoring mixers into the virtual classroom for tutorials. Weekly synchronous online sessions with instructors provide critique of student work and allow for in-depth Q&A. Assessment is entirely portfolio-based and the goal is for students to finish with an 8 to 10-minute hybrid reel encompassing film and game music, along with acquiring the production and preparation experience needed in the industry.
Core Concepts
- Compose and produce screen music for film, television, and games under the tutelage of working professionals
- Learn the secrets of producing, mixing and mastering industry-caliber reels
- Build and implement professional production, editing, and post-production workflows
- Design adaptive, non-linear music systems and implement them in middleware
- Translate mock-up scores into live hybrid orchestral recordings through tutelage in orchestration and music preparation
- Curate a professionally recorded reel that demonstrates range and a distinctive compositional voice
Practical Competencies
- Screen scoring for film and television
- Music production technology and virtual instrument performance
- Sampling, sound design, and instrument building
- Editing, mixing, and mastering for media deliverables
- Scene analysis and spotting
- Adaptive music design and middleware implementation
- Orchestration and arrangement
- Music preparation and engraving
- Conducting and recording session practice
Students are advised to review the Graduate Degree Conferral Requirements to ensure they satisfy all of the general requirements for a graduate degree, including the minimum grade that must be earned in certain courses.