I love telling stories through sound. Whether I’m writing for screen, stage, or song, I aim to create music that moves people and serves a purpose — emotionally, narratively, and sonically.
Jack Folden is a Sydney-based composer, songwriter, and producer with a focus on cinematic, narrative-driven music for film, television, advertising, and contemporary media. Known for blending emotional depth with technical precision, Jack brings visual stories to life through rich, evocative soundscapes.
A graduate of JMC Academy with a Bachelor of Music (Production and Songwriting) and a distinction-average, Jack’s foundations in orchestration, theory, and modern production are
complemented by real-world experience in both screen and commercial music.
Jack’s composition credits include:
Original score for a short narrative film directed by James Beaufort, whose credits include The Hitman’s Bodyguard and The Man from Toronto. “Super professional Sydney recording studio, and super talented Sydney screen composers. James and his team, including young gun Jack Folden, did a brilliant job on my short film – fast and with multiple iterations. World class.” — James Beaufort (March 2025)
Composed a jazz-inspired opening theme for a television series currently in development, written by Finnegan McGrath and Wolfgang Saker.
Assisted on commercial music briefs and client-driven compositions under senior composer Jeremy Richmond, composer Felix Bornholdt and Executive Producer Michael Gie.
Composing and producing original music for branded and narrative projects under Head Producer and Founder James Englund.
Co-wrote and produced contemporary music in sessions with UK songwriter Paul Aiden, known for his work with Jason Derulo, Rudimental, and Dean Lewis.
Led a songwriting and music theory masterclass for over 50 high school students.
Delivered hands-on music sessions for children with special needs across Sydney as part of The Rhythm Village’s inclusive music education program.
As a performer, Jack has gigged extensively across Sydney venues, including a residency at The Field and performances at Lazybones Lounge. He has also taken the stage at major venues
such as:
With a strong sense of story and a commitment to craft, Jack continues to develop music that connects, communicates, and elevates the projects he works on.
The art of being an excellent sound engineer is not as prominent now that video has become the focus of our world. However, a top quality sound engineer can augment the quality of a production dramatically. When we record a vocal for music or a voice over for an ad we have the ability to enhance every aspect of that recording. The modern tools available to the twenty-first century sound engineer are truly remarkable. Staying on top of the rapid progress is very much a full time job. Let’s take a quick look at what work is involved in producing an excellent vocal recording for a typical voice over job.
Our sound engineer will setup the session prior to the talent arriving. In the most extreme cases, often film ADR sessions, the project and microphones will need to be prepared first. Our clients, from film productions companies, are often located in another country like the USA, the UK, or somewhere in Europe. They will send the sound engineer the program material. This will be the video files with SMPTE timecode, the cue sheet, and all specifications required by our sound engineer to capture a similar sound to what was recorded on set.
Once these program elements are received our sound engineer in Sydney will go into Pro Tools and mark out all the cue points on the timeline of the film. Each entry point will have ADR beeps that will help the talent execute their lines in Synch with the film. In ADR the talent’s job will be to lip synch in time with their delivery on set. By setting up the project prior to the talent arriving our sound engineer ensures that the session flows smoothly for the talent.
Often these “remote sessions” (where the directors and producers are overseas) are facilitated by software that helps us communicate with the overseas studios. Programs like Zoom and Source-Connect allow sound engineers in both locations to be actively involved in the session. The sound engineer overseas can literally press the recording button in one country and our software will obey the command here in Sydney. The directors and producers can watch the video content on their screen whilst listening to the audio being recorded by our sound engineers in Sydney. It’s real-time. It’s the modern way. It’s remarkable!
In this example, an ADR recording session, the sound engineer would also need to setup two microphones. One would be a lapel mic, similar to what might have been used on set, and the other a shotgun microphone. These two microphones are setup by our sound engineer in Sydney in front of a screen. This is to allow the talent to clearly view the film as they are performing. An iPad is also positioned in close proximity to the microphones. This will have all the cue points and lines that the talent will be reading during the ADR recording session.
During the session the sound engineer will be facilitating the smooth capture of cue lines. They make sure that all the takes of each line are saved for future recall and re-listening, and can even cut recorded takes together to create a composite “best take”.
Once the ADR session is complete the post-production work on the re-recorded lines begins. The amount of work that goes into the audio post-production is beyond the scope of this example. However, we can give a few examples of the kind of technology our sound engineer might decide to use on the recorded cue lines. There is software to reduce lip and mouth noises. Harsh sibilant frequency can be curtailed. The synch of the spoken lines can be further tightened by intelligent algorithms that look at the original “on set” spoken audio and literally stretch, cut, and compress lines recorded in our Sydney recording studio and make them even tighter. The list of tasks, options, and enhancements that our sound engineer can apply to a voice recording is enormous.
