Emma Jackson
Composer - Sound Designer - Mixer
About
Emma Jackson is a versatile composer, artist, sound designer and immersive audio mixer based in London. Her work ranges from composition and sound design for animation, reality TV, music for the mind, advertisements, and feature films, recording foley, to sonic branding, to mixing in immersive audio for Spatial, XR and more.
Current featured work
Music Artist
After Emma’s own journey with mental health, she was inspired to write music to calm the mind. She composed her first album at 18, calling it Piano Mindfulness. Her two Piano Mindfulness albums were released during the Covid-19 lockdown.After this first release, Emma garnered support from many places including BBC Sound's Mindful Mix, and the very first piece she released is now featured in Pixar's Good Chemistry.Emma has a keen interest in how music and sound can positively effect the mind and body. She has worked with wellness companies across the globe and was part of building an immersive soundscape used in a randomised trial with a top ranked health organisation to explore ways to decrease stress and anxiety whilst patients undergo a procedure.Emma also composes calming Lofi, ambient and peaceful piano music for streaming platforms. In 2023 alone, Emma gained over 15 million streams.
Media Composition
Composer - Sound Designer - Mixer
Emma writes diverse music ranging from electro-orchestral to chillhop, to unique flute music and anything in between. Her music has been described as hypnotic, subtle and ethereal. Emma creates distinctively different underscores and sound pallets for feature films, music libraries, podcasts, commercials and exhibitions. Her recent writings include immersive horror, electronics with flute, piano works, and neoclassical orchestral concert pieces for chamber groups.
Sound Design& Foley
Emma provides sonic branding, foley and sound design recording and editing services for adverts, companies, documentaries, animation, short films, and any other media that might come to mind.
With an ever-expanding variety of props, shoes, and surfaces, Emma will create a unique, authentic performance and sound for your project.
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Immersive Audio & Mixing
Emma mixes for podcasts, adverts, film, commercials, exhibitions and orchestral pieces. She works in stereo, atmos, and immersive audio.
She was also part of designing and building an immersive soundscape used in a randomised trial with a top ranked health organisation to explore ways to decrease stress and anxiety whilst patients undergo a procedure.
Technologies include: Spatial Audio, Mach1, Unity, ProTools, Logic, Ableton and Sibelius.
Schools and Education
Hello students! My name is Emma; I am a composer and sound designer for film and media, which means I work on all the sounds you hear in a film. This could be from someone pouring a glass of water in a film, the unusual sounds you might hear in a podcast or radio show, or the music that plays when you go to a theatre production or the cinema.
Here, I answer some of the questions I often get from your teachers and you guys!
How did you get into music?
Music has been a part of my life in one way or another since I was a baby. From my mum playing Baby Mozart CDs in my cot(!) to acting in primary school musicals, music has been my everyday life since day one.
I started learning the piano at seven and flute at 11. I became strictly classically trained throughout secondary school. I ended up attending a performing arts college for the last two years of school (between 16-18), where I studied music in all forms instead of your 'typical' A-level studies. This included music technology A-Level, classical music A-level, and a Commercial Music Diploma.
Initially, I was performing and writing songs, but by the time I was 18, I mainly wrote instrumental music (with no lyrics).
During my first year on my Commercial Music course at university, I released my first piano album called Piano Mindfulness, which was written to help individuals help calm their mind and focus- and to help you study!
I then moved to San Francisco to intern as a sound designer and composer for film and media.What aim do you have with your Piano Mindfulness music?
I started writing neoclassical piano music to help calm and focus the mind. So far, I have reached over 1 million listens through Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and BBC Sounds.
I aim to spread the word about mindfulness, music, and mental health happiness. That looks different for everyone - a pizza with friends, a facemask and your favourite film or a walk with your dog!
Music has the power to make you feel happy, excited, or calm. I hope my music can make you feel relaxed.Tell me about the process you would go through to produce the soundtracks for the videos?
So, there is a different process for each 'media.' If I am writing for a film, I start by watching the film with no music or simply reading the script. I ask myself, what emotion should this music show (if any)? What am I adding to this film by adding music? What genre is this film in? E.g. what style of music would suit this film?
I then began writing the theme of the movie and sent some ideas to the director. Once you have the theme, you can build compositionally on this and develop this throughout the film.
Next, I send the music (score) to the musicians, and we have a recording session where I record the music synced to the picture (film).
After this, the music is sent to the film mixer, which makes the levels (volume) of the music and all its parts combine well with the audio from the film.
Mixing music is like baking a cake - if there is too much sugar, everything is out of balance and doesn't taste nice.Have you got any advice for children who are interested in going into the industry?Keep joining in! Listen to your surroundings. Maybe you have an iPad to record the birds, the trees, or a football. Be curious! Curiosity allows you to experiment with instruments even if you don't know how to play them. For example, I was doing a soundtrack for a horror project, so I took an old violin, cut up some cardboard, and played the violin with the cardboard. (Remember to get permission first!!!)How have you overcome any barriers to creating music in the professional world - not expecting everything to be a success?
It doesn't matter if you are bad at Maths, English, Science, or Sport. It also doesn't matter if you are bad at music! Find what you love, and keep exploring that path. If you love it, keep doing it!