Ryan David Rhea

I am a composer and guitarist based in Knoxville, TN, specializing in orchestral, hybrid, and guitar-driven music cues for film, television, and sync licensing.

Some examples of my music on SoundCloud.

A lifelong musician, I have been playing guitar since 1987 and composing orchestral music since 2020. My workflow utilizes Logic Pro and Ableton Live, combining top-tier orchestral sample libraries with organic guitar performances spanning rock, fusion, and blues.

A 2022 alumnus of the inaugural Momentum composing program, I spent a semester studying under the mentorship of accomplished composers such as Chris Young (Spider-Man 3), Javier Navarrete (Pan’s Labyrinth), and Stephen Barton (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), sharpening the precision composing, mixing, and business skills required for modern sync and film scoring.

I bridge the gap between technical innovation and cinematic storytelling. With 20 years of motion graphics and video editing experience, I know exactly how a cue needs to serve the narrative pacing of a scene. To meet the demands of modern production, I utilize a one-of-a-kind sketching approach that enables me to perform a full orchestral arrangement on a single MIDI track in real-time. This allows me to move from concept to a highly detailed, fully mixed sketch faster than traditional methods (often in one take!), providing directors with broadcast-quality ideas in record time.

Beyond the studio, I am a technologist and researcher with a two-decade legacy in B2B entrepreneurship. I currently write about the intersection of AI and quantum computing, bringing a human-centric lens to tech that stems from my University of Memphis studies in Cultural Anthropology and Foreign Language. A fluent bilingual speaker of English and Spanish, I also maintain a working, rudimentary proficiency in Portuguese.

Whether I am dialing in the perfect guitar tone or building a sweeping string arrangement, my goal is to create music that elevates the visual story.