DISCOGRAPHY
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RECORDINGS
FILM
PRESS
UPCOMING EVENTS
PAST EVENTS
COMMISSION
Bespoke SoundImagine your sonic world. Custom soundscapes and compositions for practitioners, creators, and spaces.
DEVELOP
Music LessonsDevelop your musical craft. Music Lessons are a 1:1 space for people who want to grow their musicianship while staying connected to intuition, integrity, and expression.
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BESPOKE SOUND
Imagine your sonic world.
I make sound for people whose work deserves the same quality of attention that they bring to their craft.
Custom soundscapes and compositions, made to hold a specific intention or atmosphere. Sound that fits the work it serves.
Every piece begins with listening: to your work, to it's resonance, and to what's being communicating beyond the words. The music is created from an immersion into this world.
WHAT THIS CAN SUPPORT
Each project is shaped to fit its specific use, audience, and context.
HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
Every project begins with a conversation about your work, your audience, and the kind of attention the sound needs to hold.
From there, projects take different shapes:
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Every collaboration is tailored, but may include:
PRICING
What a project costs depends on the kind of sound it asks for.
Some work is atmospheric — drones, tones, field recordings, and ambient textures that create a space or a state. A soundscape for a meditation, a treatment room, or a practice. This work begins at $400.
Other work is composed — melody, arrangement, and structure that develop into something with a clear shape and signature. A podcast identity, a theme for a course, a sonic world for a brand. These projects generally range from $1,500 to $4,000.
Larger commissions — retreats, platforms, or systems of pieces working together — are scoped on their own.
The discovery call is where we find what your work is actually asking for. It's free, with no expectation beyond seeing if the work fits.
IS THIS FOR YOU?
This work is most aligned with people who:
LISTEN
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
NEXT STEP
If this resonates, you're invited to schedule a discovery call.
PROJECTS
IOS APP
LANDING PAGE
WEBSITE & BRAND IDENTITY
NOTION TEMPLATES
ABLETON TEMPLATE
STARTUP / PRODUCT DESIGN
MUSIC LESSONS
Develop your musical craft.
Music Lessons are a 1:1 space for people who want to grow their musicianship while staying connected to intuition, integrity, and expression.
Whether you're picking up an instrument for the first time, or returning to one you've played for years, we begin with the songs and sounds that already inspire you, using them as the doorway into embodied craft.
AREAS OF FOCUS
WHO THIS IS FOR
Students of all ages and skill levels, from complete beginners to working musicians refining their craft. My primary instrument is the guitar. I also teach ukulele, voice, and music technology.
PRICING
$100 per hour. Packages, sliding scale, and alternate payment options available upon request.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
NEXT STEP
If this resonates, you're invited to book a free 15-minute clarity call, or go straight to a first lesson.
ABOUT BEING SOUND
Being Sound is a sonic arts studio by Stu Pender. Exploring sound as practice — from deep listening to sounding with.
ABOUT STU PENDER
Stu Pender is a Chicago-based guitarist, composer, and sonic artist whose work is rooted in deep listening and sounding with.
A founding member of the hip-hop collective Poetic Thrust, Stu has performed and recorded with artists including Photay, Carlos Niño and Laraaji, Topaz Jones, Elijah Wolf, and Maggie Rogers — touring internationally and performing at the Greek Theatre, MoMA PS1, Central Park Summerstage, and the Beacon Theatre. His solo recordings have been featured on KCRW, KEXP, and Apple Music's Headspace playlist.
Stu's practice is shaped by years of study across traditions — from jazz (John Abercrombie, Barry Harris, SUNY Purchase) to West African kora music (Derek Gripper) to North Indian raga (Silvia Nakkach) — alongside contemplative training in the Zen and Tibetan Bön traditions. He holds a certificate in sound and the healing arts from the New York Open Center.
Through Being Sound, he composes original music and soundscapes for practitioners, creators, and spaces, and teaches guitar and music privately. He lives in Edgewater, Chicago.