Composer Alec Puro is no stranger to crafting tension and atmosphere, but his latest project, Don’t Let Them Out, presented a unique challenge with its stripped-down cast and intimate setting. In this conversation, Alec discusses how that minimalism influenced his musical pacing, his delicate balance between silence and sound, and the unconventional tools he brought into his workflow. Beyond the film, we dive into his new venture, Viralnoise, a royalty-free music licensing company aimed at online creators, and explore how evolving tech—including AI—is reshaping the future of composition. From his current favorite score to his dream collaboration, Puro gives us a look into the mind behind the music.
Your upcoming film, Don’t Let Them Out, is a very intimate project—did that limited cast and setting change the way you approached pacing or emotional arcs musically?
Absolutely. What made Don’t Let Them Out particularly challenging and exciting was that almost the entire film takes place in this isolated, middle-of-nowhere setting with essentially one actor carrying the whole narrative. The real creative puzzle was figuring out how to use the score to support these long stretches of silence and solitude without becoming intrusive or drawing attention away from the performance. I took a very minimalistic atmospheric approach so the music could really enhance that feeling of dread and isolation in a realistic way, sometimes without the audience even noticing there’s music at all. When you’re working with that much silence and space, every musical choice becomes magnified, so you have to be really intentional about when the score enters and exits.
How did you approach balancing silence and score in scenes where the absence of music might be more powerful than sound in Don’t Let Them Out?
This goes back to something I learned working on Black Summer – sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is pull back completely. With Don’t Let Them Out, I really had to resist the urge to fill too many moments with music. The isolation and psychological tension that comes from silence can be just as terrifying as any music cue or sting. I try to create a seamless soundscape between the score and sound design, and sometimes that means knowing when to step aside and let the natural sounds of that isolated environment tell the story. The goal was to support and enhance that tension or anxiety in a scene without being distracting or even sometimes noticing there is any music at all.
Are there any instruments or tools you used for Don’t Let Them Out that were particularly unconventional or experimental?
Yes, we actually sampled this super old harpsichord that had been abandoned for years on the property of the creepy remote location where the shoot took place. Using this harpsichord as part of the score created a very unsettling texture and undertone that suited the psychological landscape of the film.
With so many tools available, how do you decide what gear or plugins are worth incorporating into your workflow?
For the most part, my approach to composing always starts at the piano no matter what the genre, so that’s always my foundation. From there, I really let the project dictate what tools I need. I end up trying out and exploring a range of plugins and gear at the start of any project to find new inspiration for the score I’m going to create. I most always use collaboration tools like Dropbox, Frame.io, and AudioMovers which have completely revolutionized how I work with directors, producers, orchestras and sound designers. I can now record a full orchestra in Budapest from the comfort of my studio in L.A. as if they were in the next room.
You recently created a royalty-free music licensing company called Viralnoise. Can you talk about this? What prompted you to create Viralnoise?
Viralnoise came about after years of requests from creators who wanted access to the same high-quality music we’ve been creating for major TV shows, films, and advertisements through my company Gramoscope Music. For the past decade, Gramoscope has been creating music for projects like The Real Housewives franchise, Wicked Tuna, the NBA 2K video game series, and countless other productions. Creators kept asking how they could access this same level of professional music for their content, so we finally built a platform that makes this Hollywood-grade audio accessible to all creators at every level whether you’re a YouTuber, TikTok influencer, podcaster, filmmaker, or game developer.
What are some music trends you’re seeing among online creators right now, and how is Viralnoise adapting to meet them?
What I’m seeing is that creators want access to music that sounds professional and unique – they’re tired of the same generic stock music everyone else is using. They want their content to stand out, but they also need music that’s platform-safe and won’t get them copyright strikes. That’s exactly what we provide at Viralnoise – music and sound effects that have been used in countless major TV shows, blockbuster films, and big-budget advertisements, but now available royalty-free. We’re giving creators access to music that’s completely untapped in the digital space.
Do you think AI or generative music tools will change how composers work in the next decade?
I do, I think we’re going to see even more integration between composers and technology, particularly AI tools that can help with the creative process while still maintaining that human touch that’s so essential to great music. We’ve incorporated AI-powered similar search into Viralnoise to help creators find the perfect track quickly, and that kind of organizational and discovery tool is really valuable. But the human element, the emotional connection, the storytelling through music, etc, that’s irreplaceable in my opinion.
What has been your favorite film score this summer?
There are a lot of current scores I think are really great. I’m really loving the use of Philip Glass’s music in the current season and previous seasons of 100 Foot Wave. I’m always paying attention to how other composers are solving storytelling problems through music and finding new sonic territories to explore.
Dream director you’d love to work with?
That’s a great question. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with visionary directors like Jake Paltrow on The Good Night, John Hyams on Black Summer, and having multiple collaborations with Gavin Wiesen. If I had to pick someone I haven’t worked with yet, it would be exciting to collaborate with a director who’s pushing boundaries in storytelling, whether that’s in virtual reality, gaming, or emerging media formats we haven’t even imagined yet. I’m always interested in exploring new ways to organically create and present music, so any director who shares that vision of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible would be a dream collaboration.
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