How do you develop an instrumental cue?

[stansongman]

One suggestion to consider if you like working with notation is to consider using notation software. I've used Sibelius, Finale, but recently switched to Dorico and find it really easy to use. You can "sketch" your ideas there, and can input into them from a midi keyboard. It's a big timesaver. Personally, though, I just sit at the DAW and start experimenting. Sometimes it's just piano to map out my ideas, and then I move to orchestration/arranging from there, other times I start entering lines with instruments I envision carrying the melodies and counterlines, then build out from there. I try to capture all ideas that I think are cool, and if they aren't exactly for the type of cue I'm going for, I'll stash them away and come back to them later. I finish most everything I start, sooner or later. I've had cues I started on 5 years prior that finally get their time, and end up somewhere.

Also, developing a cue is a little more calculated than just freely composing something. A cue needs a good number of "edit points" so the editors can cut and paste things around easily. Also, you may be asked to provide 30 or 60 second versions, so a little advanced planning can make that much easier. There's a little math involved!