What is 12 Story Music?

12 Story Music is Ryan Leach’s hub for music education.

From a robust YouTube channel to a thriving Discord community, inspirational composing competitions to in-depth courses, we are all about helping people become better composers.

Our aim is to make learning to write music more fun, easier to understand, and more accessible to everyone.

Why are so many music theory books and courses so academic and stuffy? It doesn’t need to be that way. We love everything from Bach to Beyoncé, and are not afraid to mix serious compositional study with enjoying music for its own sake.

So take a look around, try your hand at entering a composing competition, come say “Hi!” on Discord, and keep in touch!

(And where does the name “12 Story Music” come from? Back in high school Ryan’s band was called 12 Story House!)

Meet the Team

Ryan Leach

Founder, Creative Director
As an 8-year-old American growing up in South Australia, Ryan started studying guitar so that he could play Beatles songs, which marked the beginning of a lifelong passion for music.
Before branching out as a freelance composer, Ryan earned a degree in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music and worked as assistant to veteran composer Michael Levine at Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions.
Now an award-winning composer for Film and TV, his music has been heard on every major network and clients include Disney, The California Lottery, MTV, Lowe’s and Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake. He has scored over a dozen feature films, including the Netflix Original Film Candy Jar, directed by Ben Shelton and starring Academy Award-winning actress Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, and Uzo Aduba.
Favorite Soundtrack: Ori & The Blind Forest - Gareth Coker
Juan Visser

Content & Production Coordinator
Juan is a composer, musician, and Content and Production Coordinator of 12-Story Music.
After studying a BMus in Composition at Stellenbosch University, he now works as a freelancing composer for games, films, and anything in between under his online persona flowerhead.
Juan brings his dedication, talent and countless hours of YouTube videos watched to the 12-story-music table, with the aim to help better the online music composing scene.
Favourite Soundtrack: Super Mario Galaxy - Koji Kondo
Celeste Wright

Community & Branding Coordinator
Celeste is a composer, musician, and Community and Branding Coordinator of 12-Story Music.
Having spent years playing piano, violin and any instrument she could get her hands on, she moved to the world of composition and film scoring during university.
Celeste has just finished her Masters in Screen Scoring and is now based in the Netherlands working as a composer for films, games, and anything for the screen, and also sometimes off!
She brings her dedication and compassion to the 12-story music table with the aim of encouraging more women and non-binary people into the music composition scene.
Favourite Soundtrack: Finding Nemo – Thomas Newman

Music Education

Ryan Leach’s YouTube channel is the heart and soul of 12 Story Music. He shares his wisdom, tips, and feedback on how to become a better composer.

We also have in-depth video courses hosted by Master the Score. Learn how to compose in the style of your favorite movies and video games like Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, and the rich tradition of Japanese Anime and JRPGs!

Watch on Youtube

Discord Community

Come join the community!

The 12 Story Music Academy is a place to geek out about all things music!

Discuss your favorite scores, share your work for feedback, get advice on production and tech, and whatever else inspires and keeps you motivated to engage with other composers!

Join for Free