The Making Of: “Orchestral Romp!”
Manically euphoric music made for unhinged destruction perpetrated by a chaotic villain. A simple concept, sure! But how do our composers tackle a multi-faceted brief that relies on the contradiction between destruction and joy. We asked Robin Wade, Emmanuel Rousseau and Amadeo Lopez to find out!
The album sounds like the inside of a manic villain’s brain, was there a particular scene you imagined whilst composing to give you inspiration?
RW: I thought quite a lot about the Beethoven and Rossini pieces from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ which played a crucial role enhancing the contrast between the pure psychopathy of Alex and the sense in which the viewer is drawn in by his charisma. That kind of contrast was what I considered to be the soul of this brief.
ER: This may sound silly, but that was probably the point! I was picturing a titan-sized cartoon hippo in a tutu (like that one in Fantasia) destroying a city whilst dancing clumsily.
AL: Yes totally! I imagined a psychopath who has his own anthem and whilst listening to it on his headphones, creating as many disasters as he can. Crazy huh?
How does a composition like this begin? With a melodic idea or with a rhythmic focus?
RW: I was very excited to see the brief as I knew I would likely come up with something suitable fairly quickly, and that certainly doesn’t happen every time I write! Having listened to the reference tracks I found the best approach was to do anything but sit at my computer. I’d do some housework, ironing, empty the bins, all the time imagining the soundtrack to a Villainous romp.
The melodies came to me amid some pretty vivid and gory scenes in my mind, and once I was confident I had sufficient melodic content, I notated them first in Dorico, orchestrated, then transferred the MIDI to my DAW and set about mixing and adding sound design. This required some special assistance from Christoph Allerstorfer who duly sprinkled some of his magical psycho dust on the tracks!
ER: It began with a melodic idea — the clarinet & oboe tune you can hear at the very beginning and throughout the piece. Like most melodies it didn’t come in front of the DAW but in the shower! In these cases I just sing it on my phone and take a listen later. I was very happy with this melody and I didn’t change a single note!
AL: In this case I started with a rhythmic pattern because these cues need a sense of drive, then I added a melodic hook and harmony of course.
How much did traditional orchestral pieces influence your composition?
RW: I spent some time analysing the scores of the reference pieces which was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, but I made a conscious effort to avoid directly emulating anything specific, choosing instead to try to introduce something of their character.
ER: I guess at first it was just a matter of getting in the right mood by listening to some of the references provided in the brief, but I always try to be careful with these. It’s easy to get “too close” in your track, even without noticing it!
AL: I would say A LOT! This is pretty much music for ballet.. So I listened to a lot of traditional classical music for this particular album.
Do you have a favourite anarchic villain from film history? If so, who and why?
RW: I really enjoyed Robin Lord Taylor’s portrayal of Oswold Cobblepot a.k.a. The Penguin in the Gotham series. He made for a really likeable psychopath and is a fantastic actor. If I had the time I’d definitely watch Gotham again!
ER: Of course the Joker comes to mind, who is such a fascinating villain. There is undoubtedly a “before” and an “after” for each and every actor who had to play this character.
Stream “Orchestral Romp!” now:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3mll17q
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qxuP0p
YouTube: https://youtu.be/17jpwDhNrZY
