24 GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 gramophone.co.uk
COMPOSING FILM MUSIC
films. The ‘appropriateness’ of a particular instrument’s sound
within the context of the film is defined not by whether that
instrument originally comes from the place being depicted in the
film (although that can be a consideration), but rather by
whether the colour of the instrument serves to tell the story.
One particularly interesting example of this is the duduk,
a double-reed instrument from Armenia possessing a mournful
tone that has found a starring role in scores as diverse as
Zimmer’s Gladiator (2000), Williams’s Munich (2005), John
Debney’s The Passion of the Christ (2004) and James Horner’s
Avatar (2009). And for a deep dive into modern, borderless film
scoring, try Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson’s 2019
Oscar-winning soundtrack for Black Panther (2018; set in
a fictional African kingdom of Wakanda), for which Göransson
spent time exploring West African music and joining Senegalese
singer Baaba Maal and his band on tour. The integration of
traditional West African instruments with a 92-piece symphony
orchestra and large choir, plus Maal’s extraordinary voice, is
entirely coherent and convincing.
FROM COMPOSING TO RECORDING
But how much time do these composers have to conjure these
alluring new sound worlds? As Wallfisch says, it can vary hugely:
‘On average we have probably around six to 12 weeks to
composethescore,followedbyanothermonthorsoto
orchestrate,recordandmixit.Butyoucanhavelesstimethan
that,andsoyouhavetokeepastrictquotaofminutestobe
writteneachdayinordertohitthedeadline.’
Ifthatkindofhard-and-shortdeadlineturnsyourbrainto
panic-inducedmushthenyouareprobablynotdestinedtohave
alongandsuccessfulcareerasafilmcomposer.Butifyou’ve
alreadylandedaproject,justwheredoyoubegin?Wallfisch
confides:‘WhetherIhaveayeartothinkaboutthescore,or
Ihavetojumpinstraightawaywithfourweekstowrite
everything,Itrytospendatleastafewdaysatthestartwriting
musicawayfrompicture,developingthemesuitesandcharacter
ideas.Itcanprovetobetotallyinvaluablehavingthatarsenalof
materialreadytodrawonwhenthepressureison–andit’s
normallyalwayson.’Ifyou’veeverwatchedfootageofWilliamsconductingone
ofhisscoresinarecordingstudio,youmayhavenoticedone
keycontrastwiththewaythatsoundtracksaretypicallyrecorded
now:withWilliams,noneofthemusicianswouldwear
headphones–theywouldsimplyfollowtheconductor.Today,
however,allofthemusicianshaveatleastoneeardedicatedto
followingaclicktrack.Theclicktrackisessentiallythesoundof
atickingelectronicmetronomethattellsthemusiciansthe
precisetempoatanygivenmoment.Wallfischisahighly
experiencedconductorandIwonderhowhefeelsabouttheuse
ofclicktracksinperformance–canitmakethemusicfeelabit
lesshuman?‘Everythingisnormallywrittentotheframeof
picture,soevenwhenIconductmyownscores,it’smoreabout
facilitatingtheprocessofcommunicatingthephrasing,dynamics
andoverall“performance”ofthemusictotheorchestra,rather
thanchangingthetempo,’hesays.
Havingsaidthat,Wallfischisopentoexperimentation.
‘OnoccasionI’llturnofftheclicktrack,andusethesystemof
“streamersandpunches”tosynctopicture,atechnique
developedmorethan 80 yearsagoinfilmscorerecordingswhere
conductorswereguidedontempoandpacevisually,byasystem‘Even when I conduct my own scores, it’s
more about phrasing and dynamics than
changing the tempo’ – Benjamin Wallfisch
Tom Holkenborg taps into electronic music to create synthesised soundscapesLudwig Göransson worked with singer Baaba Maal for his Black Panther soundtrack PHOTOGRAPHY:
DIRK KIKSTRA, AMANDA EDWARDS/GETTY IMAGES