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1) Release day! My soundtrack for period drama THE WOMAN IN WHITE is out today on all digital platforms.
https://orcd.co/l1jmkvv
The show was first broadcast on @BBCOne in 2018 & is currently available to watch on Amazon @PrimeVideo
Here's a thread on the making of the score
https://orcd.co/l1jmkvv
The show was first broadcast on @BBCOne in 2018 & is currently available to watch on Amazon @PrimeVideo
Here's a thread on the making of the score
2) I'm very pleased to have this score released. It was a special project for me - my first period drama score and an atmospheric project with a really strong cast, including Jessie Buckley, Olivia Vinall ( @OVinall), @benhardy0291, Dougray Scott, Charles Dance & Art Malik
3) It was my first time working again with the brilliant director @CTibbetts after the two episodes of BLACK MIRROR that we worked on together - "White Bear" & "White Christmas". It was great working with Carl on a larger canvas, across all 5 episodes of THE WOMAN IN WHITE
4) After initial discussions with Carl and producer David Thompson we decided that the score should veer neither too far towards an acoustic, string orchestra-type approach, nor too far towards the electronic side...
5) Carl's main note for me was to treat the score as a psychological drama rather than a period drama, which made it very interesting ground to explore musically. The score needed to encompass a wide narrative range between romance and oppressive, unsettling tension.
6) Around this time I watched the 1973 Sidney Lumet film THE OFFENCE, which features the only film score by contemporary classical composer Harrison Birtwistle. I was struck by the electro-acoustic nature of this score. Acoustic sounds, but manipulated with analogue electronics.
7) Birtwistle described in an interview how the music was written away from picture and recorded with acoustic musicians, and then these recordings were manipulated to the film using analogue tape processing techniques in an electro-acoustic studio to create the score...
8) Having been really struck by the score and this process I became interested in the idea of using tape manipulation of acoustic sounds, and felt that this could work very effectively to create some of the unsettling musical textures that I was looking for.
9) With some advice from my friend (and extended family member) @MarkAyresRWS of The Radiophonic Workshop ( @radiophonicwork), I got hold of a Sony TC377 reel-to-reel tape recorder, with three speed settings, and began experimenting
10) I began work on the score at an early stage, during filming. I would receive rough cuts of each week of filming to get a sense of the atmosphere and characters, and I began writing themes inspired by this footage early on.
11) I knew that solo strings - violin & cello - would be key to the score, particularly for the more lyrical, emotional elements, and so I began writing some early sketches for these instruments.
12) Recording some of these early on - with violinist Clare Wheeler and cellist @petergregson - also allowed me to experiment with manipulating some of this material using the tape techniques. I also recorded vocal material with singer @lorelixenberg
13) Recording to reel-to-reel tape and then playing back at half speed or quarter speed pitched the music down and created unusual, grainy textures. I experimented with then running this through analogue tape delay and guitar pedals...
14) I experimented with improvising on this setup like a musical instrument - recording extended performances of textures into the computer to chop up in Logic and use in the music for the unsettling, claustrophobic aspects of the score
15) This approach is most evident in episode 3, where the score reaches its darkest. On the soundtrack album, the electro-acoustic manipulated tape elements of the score are heard to best effect on the track "Other Side of the Door".
more to follow...
16) Another key aspect of the score is the textural electric guitar work of the amazing guitarist (and @ECMRecords artist) @EivindAarset, often creating undulating textures that had a similar ambiguity between the electric & acoustic worlds to the analogue tape textures...
17) Good examples of Eivind's guitar work on the score are the cues "Adam Has Two Eves" (atmospheric textures at the more romantic end of the narrative), "Fire In The Church" (dark tension) and "Wedding Day" (pipe organ-like textures)
18) The palette for the score was falling into place - solo strings (violin, cello & double bass), soprano voice, electric guitar, prepared piano & tape effects. Some use was also made of samples - particularly glassy, bell-like sounds - and also splashes of analogue synthesis
19) Prepared piano was used for bell-like sounds, with screws and rubber pads placed between the strings - both recorded naturally and also processed through the electro-acoustic setup. The double bass material was recorded by my brother @james_opstad
20) Another element of the palette was for the character Erasmus Nash, played by Art Malik. These scenes are largely separate in time & place from the rest of the narrative...
21) It was important to find a timbre that felt suitably separate from the rest of the score, while also feeling like it came from the same world. I settled on alto and bass flutes for this strand of the music, performed by @Garethlockrane
22) This aspect of the score can be heard on the soundtrack album in the cue "He Took Her In The Carriage"
23) Lyrical writing for string soloists was an important aspect of the score to convey the more emotional aspects - love, angst, longing - of the narrative. On the album, "A Letter", "Wedding Day" & "A Proposal" are good examples of this side of the score
24) Each episode of THE WOMAN IN WHITE felt slightly different tonally and this was reflected in the score, with ep3 significantly darker in tone than ep1. Eps 4&5 introduced a greater sense of urgency and at this point I introduced percussion into the score
25) Two long cues in ep5 are largely based around low percussion rhythms, where I experimented with recording bass drums in different ways (with different mallets, with rice poured on them, with kitchen trays on top)
26) The atmosphere of THE WOMAN IN WHITE and the contrast between light and dark in the imagery and performances was consistently inspiring for the score. As well as the direction and performances, special mention goes to cinematographer @ebenbolter and editor Helen Chapman
27) There was a large selection of music to choose from for the soundtrack album. I chose to focus a little more towards the lyrical, melodic end of the score than the darker, more textural end. I hope to release a second volume in the future focussing on the darker material.
28) Special mention in creation of the soundtrack album goes to the brilliant engineer @JakeJackson, who mixed all the tracks.
29) Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the soundtrack. Here's the link once more to listen:
https://orcd.co/l1jmkvv
If you haven't seen the series then it's well worth checking out on @primevideouk
https://orcd.co/l1jmkvv
If you haven't seen the series then it's well worth checking out on @primevideouk
