Custom scoring: sometimes original music is the only way to go. Here's why …

Post, Nov, 2003 by Christine Bunish

It's undeniable that production music libraries have improved significantly in recent years, but sometimes only custom scoring can fill the bill for spots, independent films, TV programming, videogames, multimedia presentations and trailers.

ARTICULATING ALTERNATIVES

New York City's Big Foote Music (www.bigfoote.com) creates only specifically commissioned music. "We really specialize in bringing added value to the process--it's a content creation mission," explains composer/creative director Sherman Foote. "We love making sound and music audioscapes that can help convey a story."

Big Foote is a collaborative corps of composers, writers and arrangers who produce music every day. "We're chameleons in terms of the number of styles of music we create," Foote says. "We try to be fluid in our choices. When an assignment comes on board, if there are clear directives, if the client says, 'We need a certain kind of track,' we present that idea, but we also say,'Here's another way to think about this! We provide an alternative."

Foote believes music "needs to be articulated in very discrete and definable terms: melody, rhythm, harmony and color. A lot of clients may not know how to speak about these things while others are very sophisticated and can tell you exactly what they want. So it's part of the role of the musical artist to ask the client, 'What are you trying to do? How do you want to feel? What mood do you want to create?' You don't have to be musically literate to engage in this conversation. Hopefully, what we do best is communicate on a very intangible, emotional level that's compelling and satisfying and causes people to respond in a really direct way."

While much of Big Foote's custom scoring is for TV spots, the company works in various media. Foote scored all the incidental music for The Boys of Second Street Park, a Showtime original movie, which aired this fall. "They had a lot of source music from the '60s and '70s, the music of the era. Some of the incidental music had to be focused on what the characters were talking about, but it couldn't be so modern that it was out of place and inappropriate to the time."

Big Foote recently participated in its first game project, working with California-based composer Sean Callery on new music for the PlayStation2 game of James Bond's Die Another Day. "We developed three-and-a-half-minute musical compositions to fit a particular style. The style guide was very clear," Foote reports. "The editorial and game-playing process needed to be interactive, and the music had to evolve as the player went deeper into the game. The editors wanted access to every layer of the composition."

Foote points out that there was "an interest in using live music instead of electronic music" for the game. Compositions created on MIDI gear were critiqued by the client, adjusted and then recorded with a live orchestra.

Big Foote has the infrastructure for fast, flexible, efficient music production. Five identical writing stations feature Mac G4s with IGB processors running Logic Audio 6.1 with Digidesign 888/24 hardware on the front end. Outboard synths include Roland's 5080 and 1080, Nordlead, Waldorf MicroQ and a KorgTR rack; GigaStudios samplers are also on hand. There are Class A, Focusrite, Avalon and API mic pre EQs, a collection of vintage mics, an Empirical Labs distressor and Eventide H3000 harmonizers. One of Big Foote's five rooms is configured for 5. I surround mixing.

"The role of the commissioned composer is one of service," Foote reminds us." We're hired to create something we're passionate about but which will work within a particular creative vision. Every project is a different kind of interaction. That's what makes it enjoyable, surprising and fun."

ELECTRONICA

At San Diego's Flashpoint Studios (www.flashpointstudios.com), a company that handles any audio production need including custom music and voice talent, president Marc Lyman teamed with composer David Helpling of DHM Music Design (www.dhmmusicdesign.com) on a CD-ROM and Web presentation for Covigo Wireless.

Covigo required a quick turnaround on a music score for a three-minute movie showcasing the company. "They wanted something techy, upbeat, edgy, positive and powerful," Helpling recalls. "So we went with a sort of electronica sound, fast paced with synthesizers and a few Enya-like female vocal phrases for the human element we needed."

"Direction on custom projects can often be a challenge since subjective verbal descriptions of music vary widely from each individual's perspective," Lyman points out. "David has an amazing ability to translate client descriptions of what they want into a tangible piece music that often exceeds their expectations. In the case of the Covigo project, no revisions were requested. They were thrilled with the first and only version we delivered."

Working to a QuickTime of the Covigo movie, Helpling began to cut and process the music in his studio. In his main room he runs MOTU's latest version of Digital Performer on a dual 1 GHz G4 Mac on OS X; a dual 2-gig G5 is on order Helpling has Dyn Audio Air 6 studio monitors; an Akai Z4 sampler; Access Virus, Roland JP-8080, Roland JD-990 and Micro Korg synths; Lexicon PCM 91 and 80 reverb processors; and an Eventide effects processor.