media composer / instrumentalist / teacher
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all licensing handled through Titlecard Music — library at titlecard.sourceaudio.com.
Joel Roston is a composer, guitar player, and teacher living in Boston, MA.
Among numerous commercials, independent videos, web-originals, and films, Joel composed, performed and recorded the score for the independent television comedy "Sharing," which, in 2015, was picked up for pilot-production by NBC. He scored the 2017 PBS American Experience short The Turner Diaries: A Call to Action, co-composed music for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial with award-winning composer John Kusiak, and contributed orchestrations/arrangements and prepared scores for the films Uncle Nick and PBS's The Battle of Chosin. Joel arranged, orchestrated, and produced the backing track to Comusica, the centerpiece of MIT's 2020 online commencement ceremony.
As a producer and sound designer, he has engineered, recorded, edited audio, and created custom sound-design elements for Facebook, MIT, TradeStation, Gordon College, Cengage, Huntington, and many others.
Joel has written music for a number of ensembles including RAHA Duo, Boston Nonet, Brooklyn Brass, Till By Turning, Evan Ziporyn's Critical Band, Dedham Country Day School, and Duo Orfeo, as well as several compositions for solo classical and electric guitar.
In 2016–2017, Joel released a two-EP set of embellished, electronic arrangements of Civil War songs, Domain Vol. 1 and Domain Vol. 2, followed by 2018's Day Owl, an album of personal napping music, which was released digitally by Joyful Noise Recordings. In 2019, Joel released Zynthetic Zketches Vol. 1, an EP of analogue-synthesizer sketches/explorations, followed by 2020's Zynthetic Zketches Vol. 2.
Joel has played in, composed for, and toured with his own bands, Big Bear and Beautiful Weekend, as well as other projects including Tyondai Braxton's Wordless Music Group (in collaboration with the LA Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the London Sinfonietta), Man Forever, Evan Ziporyn's Critical Band, MIT's Balinese Gamelan ensemble, Gamelan Galak Tika, Glenn Branca's 100-guitar ensemble for Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City), and Kevin Micka's Animal Hospital Ensemble.
Joel is a partner and composer at Titlecard Music and Sound, a music composition and sound-making company based in Boston, MA.
Joel studied classical guitar performance at the University of Hartford's Hartt School, during which time he also completed Anthony Braxton's "Musical Systems" class at Wesleyan University.
In addition to composing, performing, and private/group instruction, Joel gives guest lectures about music communication to university film/production classes (Emerson College, University of Connecticut, Fitchburg State University, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and others) and, for five semesters, served as a Visiting Faculty Member teaching film-scoring and media composition at Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA (Spring 2023 – Spring 2025).
Whether you're a filmmaker or producer looking for a one-off chat about how to use music in your media production, an instrumentalist looking to dive deeper into theory/composition, or a guitarist looking for regular lessons, Joel is available and excited to chat.
Having worked with individuals of all levels and abilities ranging in age from five to eighty, Joel is committed to tailoring lessons to each person's particular learning style and interests.
Book an online lesson:
[ 30-minute lesson ] [ 45-minute lesson ] [ 60-minute lesson ]
In addition to private lessons, Joel leads group events and discussions centered around helping people listen to and talk about music more effectively.
In his capacity as a composer for media, Joel has guest-lectured to film/production students on subjects ranging from film-scoring to strategies for communicating with a composer.
Workshop/lecture attendees have included:
Workshop content and length can be tailored to any audience or occasion.
Past Workshops
Music Literacy for Content Creators — a workshop designed to help media producers and creators listen to and communicate about music more effectively.
Practical Music Theory for Curious Minds — a longer talk outlining the fundamental building blocks of common practice music theory, presented in a way that doesn't require any previous knowledge or ability to read music.
The Owls Are Not What They Seem: The Music of Twin Peaks in Two Lodges — a deep-ish dive into (1) how Angelo Badalamenti's score to the television show Twin Peaks works, (2) why it's so perfectly composed for David Lynch's story, and (3) why musicians and non-musicians alike are so captivated by it. The talk includes a mostly jargon-free, lightning quick primer on common practice music theory.
University/Community Talks
Guest lectures for film, podcast, animation, and sound design students on how to think about using music in their productions and how to communicate effectively with a composer.