While Dennis’s first experience with music was playing rock and roll drums, early on he discovered a curiosity for music from other cultures. His interest in world music eventually led to study of the Indian tabla with Prenash Khan (son of sarod maestro, Ali Akbar Khan) and tabla master Zakir Hussain (son of Alla Rakha). Eventually this interest brought him to the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock NY where the focus was on many different world music cultures, improvisation, and an introduction to the world of composition. These explorations eventually led to sound experiments blending the sounds and textures of world instruments with electronics and western musical structures, something that continues to influence his work as a film composer to this day. This, along with associations with young filmmakers, triggered an interest in how music and the moving visual image could work together to create meaning.

“I sort of fell into writing music for film while working on my undergraduate degree in the late 80’s. I got to know some filmmakers and started to help them out with sound on their films. One thing led to another and by the mid 90’s I was scoring film and TV on a regular basis. The best part of writing music for film is to be part of the team that brings a story to life. For me, the film always comes first and I try to find ways to reveal more about character, story, or situation than is on the surface. I try to get under the skin of the film.”

This soon developed into a personal philosophy for sound and the moving image.

“Music and sound is a landscape that does not merely support the visual but infuses it with deeper layers of meaning and emotion. The power of music is its ability to expand the experience past its original intent. I try to compose music that is situated as far away as possible from what is in the visual while at the same time enriching the film experience. Suddenly the picture becomes much larger.”

Currently, Dennis continues his practice as a film music composer and sound designer, always interested in new collaborative projects exploring unique, custom music and/or sound design in any medium.