ana8
Missing you....
WARNING: It's really,really long🙂
The fans of Miracles and Angel get up close and personal with music composer Robert J. Kral in Part One of this special two-part feature. Rob Kral has been a great supporter of "Miracles" and a joy to work with in getting this feature published. Fans of his music will find this question and answer session interesting, humorous and refreshing.
1. Kathy: How did you get started in this line of work? How did you train, and what was your first job?
Well, it's been a long and difficult road. I wanted to create moods and atmospheres and started hearing music in my head at about age 14. At 15, I forced myself to write music for full orchestra, because I already knew that the best job for me would be film music--creating moods and atmospheres for the audience. Of course, to do that, I'd need to learn to orchestrate, so I dove into the deep end and taught myself. The very difficult thing for young composers is the inability to hear your final work since orchestras do not come cheap! They are also busy with the classics and aren't usually interested in new material, as I found with our local Symphony.
I decided to get a bachelor's degree of Music at Adelaide University. It wasn't exactly film music training, but it was the best next step. Luckily, Tristram Carey, a film composer from the UK, was teaching part of the degree, so I began some of my training with him. The University was not very encouraging of this career and was more interested in Academic styles (read contemporary, atonal music). I adapted swiftly to this by making sure everything I wrote had "wrong notes" in it and they loved it. Actually, it is fairer to say they did teach me a lot about atonal* music and I did begin to hear it "properly." The lack of encouragement at University was difficult, however, whereas encouragement in High School was, well, high. That was a very good thing, because in Australia, unlike the States, kids decide their careers in Year 10, choose their subjects for year 11 and by the final high school year they are concentrating only on their "major," which doesn't happen in America until further into University!
So, the pressure is on at age 16 to decide. Anyway, after the degree I was, of course, unemployed, and found small music projects for video production companies. They got bigger as they went along, plus I worked in the sound departments of the South Australian Film Corporation and Channel Nine where I learned live mixing and more about sound recording. I was extremely fortunate to get both those jobs through word of mouth; a total answer to prayer, literally. These helped me to raise money to come to the States to study film scoring at USC, which is mighty expensive!
My first gig in the States was writing for another composer who was a teacher at USC. This is how I met Chris Beck, who was also writing on this show, and most of my work in the States stems from knowing Chris initially.
*Atonal refers to music that lacks a tonal center or has no dominant tone or diatonic scale associated with it. Atonal music is often considered disconcerting by those who are accustomed to "traditional" harmonies.
2. Rekka: What was the first instrument that you played, and how old were you when you became interested in music? Were you a "good" music student, or were you forced to practice from time to time?
My first instrument love was the drums! I remember being about four and seeing a drummer in a band and thinking that was amazingly cool. I started learning at five, but swiftly changed to the piano, because we'd watched a Liberace special on TV and I thought that was really cool too! I was a fairly good student, but progress was slow. I didn't know at the time, but then a High School music teacher and Piano trainer at our Church met me and realized I was way behind in my abilities considering the years I had put in. It came down to the fact that the first few teachers I'd had over the first six or seven years weren't so great. This new teacher crash-coursed me into 7th grade piano -- boy was it tough.
I don't know if you could have called me a good student. I am sure that teacher thought otherwise! I saw the progress other students made and they flew past me. I wasn't too bad, but not great, and the 7th grade exam terrified me (I never took it). I tried very hard and practiced a lot, but it seems performance was not my talent. Once the tunes came to my head, that's all I wanted to do (well, more than play someone else's music anyway).
Yes, I was forced to practice a lot. Toward the end (I was about 16), it just got to the point where playing difficult pieces was a chore. I wanted to create music, not learn the robotics of playing other people's music. I guess my Liberace inspiration wore off. I had something far more exciting to pursue as far as I could tell.
3. AlvaFan: Which instrument/s do you prefer to compose on, if any?
I compose on a keyboard because piano is my background, and it's usually the best instrument to use for composition. However, the percussion training (I went back to learning percussion in University, so I am not talking about the drums when I was 5!) comes in extremely handy and I also learned violin for a few years (talk about forced into practicing with THAT instrument! I hated it). The knowledge gained by playing even a little of other instruments comes in very handy for orchestral work. I then also taught myself a little guitar, and I use that if guitar stuff is needed. In fact, if you write guitar music on the piano, it turns out all wrong a lot of the time. Guitar is one instrument where it is best I use that instead of piano if I'm writing for it.
4. Vicki: What kind of music do you listen to most often? What is your favorite "driving-in-the-car" music?
I just love film music. I also listen to the radio to try to keep somewhat current with the latest music, bands, etc. I must admit, though, I am a fan of Queen and love to listen to them from time to time. There are many, many new [bands] I've loved too. The problem with radio these days is that they RARELY tell you what the song was and who the band was. I also love ELO's "TIME" album. The synth instrumentation throughout that is amazingly rich. Right now, I am on a James Bond soundtrack craze and listen to old Bond music in the car! What I listen to chops and changes; I love variety.
5. MiraclesTV: Were you ever in a band?
I was in a Christian Rock band back in Australia. We played at the beach in summer. Those were some of the best times of my life. Perhaps when I retire, I might get back into song writing, but I haven't written songs in a long while.
6. 1chameleon: Rob, [has] being an Australian helped you in the industry by giving you a different view of the world [as opposed to] the American way of thinking?
It hasn't helped in terms of work, but there is a very different way of thinking that might be called Australian as opposed to American. America generally is very individualistic. [The] "I take care of ME" kind of attitude comes up constantly. Australia is much more communal, or community-oriented if you will. My wife and I have a theory about this that really makes sense. In America, the pioneers conquered the land. They "Won the West." In Australia, a lot of our explorers just died in the desert. The land beat us to death. Because of this, "mateship" was born. In Australia, generally everyone is looking out for each other, helping out, making experiences pleasant, the "G'day Mate" approach. There is a very real sense that we need each other, whereas, at least in LA, it's much more total competition and people stick to themselves. In Oz, you always feel you might see someone again, even strangers. In the States, there's a sense that you won't.
That might all sound a little bizarre, but practically every traveler we've met has had the same experience when coming to America. The media here constantly reminds us that America is "the best country in the world," and doesn't report on world news like other countries do. It's as if we don't need the rest of the world. In Oz, we know we need the rest of the world, and that it's out there and we need to know about it.
7. MiraclesTV: Was it hard for an Australian to break into the business?
It's hard for anyone to break in... Someone from overseas has a difficult time breaking in here in LA because of immigration challenges. Doing it by the book is extremely difficult, and requires lots of time, money, and credentials. An American has a hard time breaking in also, but doesn't have the other stuff to worry about on top of it. My story involves lots and lots of small steps, one leading to the next and to the next. It's one of those things [where] you can't have it all right away. Slowly, you take the gradual steps towards your goal.
8. Overuser: Love the music Rob--you've added so much to the "Miracles" experience. Could you perhaps share with us the technical side of your writing process (where you start, what equipment you use - keyboards, PCs, software, etc)?
Thanks for the compliments! "Miracles" was an absolute joy to write, and I miss it still.
The technical side? Well, I could write a book, but I'll be brief I think! We have a meeting each week called the "spotting session" where we spot where the music will go (and where it won't) in the episode and talk about the direction of the music, watching the videotape. I then have about five days to write and record the score, then I put it onto a video so the producers can watch it and request any changes. I then do a final multi-track music mix and that goes to the sound stage to be mixed with the dialog and sound effects. As that mix is happening, we've already "spotted" the next episode and I am off and running.
I use a Mac running Digital Performer, which drives 4 PCs that have GigaStudio installed. I am about to add three more of these amazing units. GigaStudio revolutionized sampling by doing away with memory limitations and even midi channel limitations. This means one machine can do what about 10 could do before. The sound libraries are incredibly realistic, and provide the sounds for strings, brass, choirs, etc. It's like playing any electronic keyboard, but I have up to 300 tracks I can instantly layer, and each track contains sounds of the highest realism and quality.
All this is locked to a digital version of the video, so wherever the music is, the video is playing instantly right there with it, and vice versa.
At 15, I wrote that orchestral piece for the first time mentioned earlier, but couldn't hear it with an orchestra. The amazing thing is that [with today's technology] I can hear my music almost instantly and record it the same day.
9. TVwriter23: What was your inspiration when working on the music for "Miracles?"
The inspiration was the show itself! What a fantastic show! When I first saw the pilot, my jaw dropped. I got the chills a few times! I knew I was destined to write the music for it, but also knew that because the quality was so high, they might choose a bigger name to do it. Which is what happened, but eventually it all worked out in my favor. When I FINALLY was chosen to do the pilot (they were working with other composers first), I couldn't believe I was doing it. It was a total dream.
10. Miracles Fan: What's your own personal favorite episode of "Miracles?"
The pilot without question. It looks stunning, the writing is first rate and extremely clever, and the acting is superb. It's unlike any hour of TV I've ever seen before. My next favorite for continuing the story is "Hand of God." I also really like "Saint Debbie," and think that it is also a "perfect" episode. "Little Miss Lost" wins out for chills factor (that GIRL!), and there is a scene in "Mother's Daughter" which is both beautiful and simultaneously gut wrenching (takes place on a lake of ice).
11. Luckee: "The Ferguson Syndrome" was so emotionally moving. Was this episode a big challenge musically?
Yes it was! There are a few different styles going on: the Spanish guitar, the atonal creepy stuff (I played the violin myself to get those effects!), etc. Everyone loved the temp score, so I had a big challenge to go up against it. [They were] used to that temp and loved the pilot, so I knew I was handling everyone's delicate baby that they had already reared for many months.
But it all came together in so many ways. It would take a very special show to get me to handle a violin again, but this one did it. I also played guitar in the boy's bedroom scene. I felt like a part of my destiny had arrived as I put the music together and performed it.
Compositionally, there were interesting challenges. David liked the idea that sometimes we'd have a dark moment in the dialogue on screen, but the music was allowed to play against it. For example, when Tommy talks to Paul about the train dream, and Tommy mentions the Darkness, it's incredibly spooky and eerie, but a synth string line plays major chords. David Greenwalt really liked this type of stuff and it worked great. It's scary, but grand because of the major ("happier") chords playing. Then I sneak in a harp line very slowly, the chords are still major, but the harp is minor. Gradually the harp gets louder over time and the strings die out. The major material gets taken over by the sad, sinister minor stuff.
I did a lot of tricks like that, and I've never done them before in this way. David liked to have moments that go against the grain, and this opened up a big new palette for me.
12. MiraclesTV: What was your first reaction when "Miracles" was cancelled?
I really was, of course, shocked. There had been some talk of the possibility of course, so in some ways you could see it coming. It is important for all overseas viewers to know why and how it happened. ABC wanted a smash hit opening night. The ratings were good for a new show, but not the stellar results they had hoped for. From some talk I have heard, right away they lost interest. Instead of further promoting this new baby, they neglected it. "Joe Millionaire's" two-part finale aired over two weeks, and ABC (amongst other networks also) changed their programming, not wanting to compete against it. "Miracles" was postponed and not advertised for two weeks. Then the war broke out, and it was postponed another two weeks. In the end, for a total of five weeks it was postponed, but with no advertising and no mention to the public about when it would reappear. Even fans thought it might have been cancelled. Fans of the show didn't even know when it was on. So when it finally came on again, again with no advertising, the rating was extremely low. The following morning it was cancelled.
So you can see that, by the way it was handled, it didn't have a chance. It confirmed for me the insanity of the ratings alone being relied upon to tell a network what to air and what to cancel. Here in the States, we all have favorite shows that were cancelled prematurely. The tragedy is that it is not uncommon.
13. Crashnburn: Do you have a favorite story related to your work on "Miracles"? A favorite Richard Hatem or David Greenwalt story perhaps?
I remember Richard hearing an idea I had for the main title. He politely, but hilariously, said he'd keep it in mind if he ever does a "cop show."
I don't have a lot of stories, I guess, because I only saw them for one meeting per episode, although there were a few extra meetings before I officially got the job. There was a high degree of fun in those meetings which I'd not experienced on other shows. David and Richard were like Beavis and Butthead! Amongst all the creativity and artistry and talent of these two guys put together, there was also a healthy dose of mucking about! It was as if these two had known each other since school -- well, especially college perhaps! The atmosphere over there was great.
14. MiraclesTV: When writing music for an episode of "Miracles" or "Angel," how many times do you typically have to view the episode to compose for it?
Well, I don't count, but my guess is hundreds of times. The music is mostly midi, meaning what you hear is mostly me playing the instruments and multi-tracking. This is all off a keyboard of course; I don't REALLY know how to play the tuba. Anyway, because of this, each track is played individually and the layers are built up very slowly, meaning with each pass I am watching it again. I watch these scenes, and sections of these scenes, over and over and over, all day, every day.
A former Star Trek composer taught me an interesting technique. Sometimes, I'll watch it first without thinking of the music, just to get to know the scene. This includes watching it backwards, fast forward, etc. It gets your mind to know the scene inside out and at subconscious levels. I'll watch a scene knowing I might not score it for a few days, [but] back there in the dark recesses of my mind, it's being worked on without my conscious awareness.
15. Luckee: Have you ever experienced a sort of musical writer's block? If so, what do you do to get past it? Also, how do you approach composing for an episode time-wise? Do you tend to take your own time or do you work better under pressure, working closer to deadline?
Writer's block becomes less of a problem the more I compose in this career. With the sheer amount of work to be done, I've gotten used to HAVING to just churn it out even if it is not that inspiring. It sure can happen though, especially if I'm asked to score a scene that I don't think needs music. Everything in me tells me there shouldn't be music, so what should I write? That is always the trickiest situation. To get past it, you need to try anything possible: listening to other music, older compositions and cues I might have done and trying tricks like the one mentioned previously (watching the scene without thinking of music on purpose), etc.
I split the work out equally over the various days before the deadline. If I stick to this schedule, I know I can make it, but if I back off from it, it's just too much of a nightmare. The tightest deadline was for "Darla" on "Angel," 38 minutes in 4 days. You don't want to let a schedule like that slip. There just isn't time to procrastinate, which is something I used to suffer from earlier on.
16. MiraclesTV: Does writing music for a show "ruin" the show for you? For instance, can you go back and watch finished "Miracles" or "Angel" episodes and enjoy them as a viewer later on, or is that hard to do?
I always think it's going to ruin it, but it doesn't. Sometimes I have felt unhappy with the score on other productions, I am aware of the mistakes and the shortcomings, and that can make it awkward to watch. "Miracles" has a lot less of this factor. In fact, most of it really came out how I wanted it to, and watching it back again is still a thrill. Some "Angel" episodes are like that also. "Darla" (Season 2, episode 7), for example -- a fine vintage I must say!
17. Voltaire2003: "Miracles" was so beautifully accomplished--unusually creative and imaginative. As an artist working in the television industry, how do you deal with the "fickleness" of the industry itself--the decisions made about which shows will be given a chance to succeed and which will not, and the eventual impact those decision have on what you will be working on?
It's a very tough part of the job, or career should I say. Because in many ways it is more than just a job--we really invest in these productions. If the show isn't that interesting or isn't that great, the job of the music composer is still to truly believe in it 100%, to live and breathe those scenes so they can be translated into music. We composers are supporting the scenes, and to do that we have to believe it. In the case of "Miracles," this is compounded by the fact it IS a great show! So a premature cancellation is a real slap in the face. It can be very difficult to deal with, as projects like that come up rarely. There is indeed a lot of great material being produced in Hollywood, but I guess it's mostly by good fortune if you find yourself involved with this. "Miracles" was so rare and special that it made the cancellation a total shock, and yet even fans knew it was "too good to NOT be cancelled."
That's the saddest part. Hollywood execs are famous and can almost be relied upon to cancel GOOD television shows. Fans were fearing it right from the first episode.
After the fact, all I can say is we all put at least 200% into the show, we all loved it dearly and we all miss it. In the end, it is what it is and we can't bring it back, but we can safely say we gave it our best shot, we gave it our all. When you talk of being beautifully accomplished, I think particularly of the pilot and of a scene in "Mother's Daughter" on the lake of ice. There's nothing else like it around. That's when the travesty of it all sets in. But it was beyond our control.
So it's my hope that whatever good comes out of its short-lived production life be nurtured. What I mean is, I hope the relationships formed in the production team that started with "Miracles" might be maintained and grown. They can kill the show, but there's stuff they can't touch. They can't touch the great time we had putting it together, they can't touch the memories of the fun relationship that formed between Richard and David, they can't touch what I learned doing the music for this splendid production. All that stuff will go on and continue...
18. Subjugationsux: Where do you turn for inspiration on musical selection for Angel?
I really try to turn to the episode itself, to hear what's going on in the scene and what is coming out of it. When in a rush, I turn to the temp track! This is a temporary music track put together by the editors, made up of cuts of the last 4 years of Angel music.
The best scores, however, are written by hearing what's coming to you in your head. Composers experience music that is "given" to them, if you will. This is always the best stuff; however, it's not always what the director wants. For this reason, the temp track must be taken into consideration as it is very carefully worked on -- even reworked up to three times -- until approved. So, often the temp now gives the direction on Angel.
19. Nicholas: You have written such wonderful music for Angel. Will there be a soundtrack of either your score or songs?
Wiseblood: I love the music you create for Angel; for me, it's an integral part of the show's power and appeal. What can we as fans do to help you get a soundtrack of AtS music made?
In Season Two there was a lot of interest from fans and three -- three! -- record labels to do a soundtrack album of the score for Angel. Unfortunately, the big dogs at FOX didn't want that to happen. There were some at FOX who really, really wanted it, but they were unable to convince the powers that be. FOX owns the music, so nothing can be released without them, even if it's not costing them a cent to produce it. I think it's sad that you can have up to three [record] labels ready to go with it, but the big studio won't allow it. Their reasons sometimes [were] weird too: For example, they thought a soundtrack album for a TV show signified that the TV show was canceled. This just makes no sense.
Write to FOX TV if you feel strongly about wanting an album. Jacquie Perryman very much wanted to get an album going; perhaps she could forward such mail to the powers that be.
Note: E-mail Jacquie Perryman at askfox@foxinc.com or write to:
Ms. Jacquie Perryman
Vice President of TV Creative, Fox Music
Twentieth Century FOX Television
10201 West Pico Blvd., Bldg. 88, Room 29
Los Angeles, CA 90035
20. Flamedrake: What brought on the idea to segue the episode music into the opening credits in a few of last season's Angel episodes? And are there any plans to do so more in the upcoming year?
Yes, there is much more of this coming up!! This type of thing is lots of fun. Chris Beck was the first to mention the idea to me at the beginning of Season One. I've kept it in mind ever since and sometimes it's just the greatest thing to do. I am fortunate that we "own" the "black" that appears between the teaser and the opening credits (main title). Often, though, it does work better to not bridge that gap. But it sure is fun when I can.
21. Dianna B: I love your scores because they bring a lot to an episode. I especially like the themes you've written for individual characters like Darla and Fred that really fit them, so my question is what's the first thing you do when coming up with a theme for a character?
Glad to hear you like the themes! Darla's theme is one of my big favorites and it appears in many different ways. Her theme first appeared during a fight scene in a bar. Angel was drunk and fighting and she was just sitting back watching and admiring. Rather than play fight music, I have the first appearance of her theme -- which is laid back and seductive -- on viola. It contrasts the fight, but captures her mood, her mind. I guess the inspiration for the themes comes form the characters. Darla's my favorite character. She actually has three themes, or one theme and two other "ideas" that play throughout different situations with her, e.g., the "Dream" motif when she's seducing Angel through his dreams.
Fred's theme was also lots of fun but it appeared only in the Pylea episodes, and maybe once thereafter. Tim Minear loved it, but David Greenwalt wasn't so keen on it once we were out of Pylea.
22. Guenevere: Since Angel is often so melodramatic (in a good way) does that make it easier or harder to write music for? In other words, do you have to make sure you don't overdo a scene so that the balance is right?
The bigger scenes that are melodramatic [are] very easy to write for -- I can pull out all the stops. In fact, I was just thinking the other day how fortunate I am to be working on this show where I can write the type of music that I have always wanted to...the big, epic sweeping stuff, the exciting action orchestral stuff....the, well, Angel, stuff! I am very lucky to have the type of show where I can do that. A sitcom would be somewhat more limiting!
It can be easily overdone though, as your question asks. Jeff Bell has been a little pickier about the fight scenes for example. He keeps it to the degree that he feels is warranted for the particular fight and situation. With David, I was able to go more hell for leather every time. But David was certainly in control of the melodrama when it came to underscore. Sometimes I'd write something a little too sweet or sugary, and he'd make sure the level of "subtleness" was correct.
Tim Minear asked for "BIG WAGNERIAN HORNS" in "Darla". He got them. He loved them.
23. Matt: Earlier on Angel, more along the first season, there were songs from the band VAST-songs with vocals in the scenes. I was wondering if any rock with vocals will be used in upcoming Angel episodes?
Recently there was an episode with a lot of dance music because it's a Halloween party. It's also the funniest, most outrageous Angel episode ever! In Season One the show was still finding itself. I like the VAST material and its use on the show. But the show has found its groove I guess, and songs aren't a big part of it. I do feel there could be more songs in the show at special times. There have been times when the idea has come up. Finding the right song at an affordable price is tricky, however, [but] there are some more songs coming up.
Episode 9 of this season featured a closer look at a day in the life of Harmony, and featured some songs that work great for her getting ready for her day at work, for example. In an earlier season -- when Angel took the elevator to "Hell", when [Angel] exited the elevator after talking with Lindsay, there was a song that worked great there in the temp over the collage of our main characters -- all feeling depressed! But we opted out of that because the song was used in a recent movie.
24. Angel Fan: Are the rumors true that "Angel" is going to have its own musical episode this season, as Buffy did with "Once More with Feeling" in Season 6? If so, are you working with Joss Whedon on the score or songs for that episode, and what are the biggest challenges you face?
Hmmm, I haven't heard about this at all!
25. Taran: Do you have a favorite movie, and what kinds of movies do you typically enjoy and why?
I have different favorites. I just cannot deny that I enjoy the first Star Wars movie (Episode IV) immensely -- it works every time. That thing is timeless! My favorite comedy is an Australian GEM of a movie called The Castle. I love that movie so much; it is hilarious, but has TONS of heart. It's all about the little guy standing up to the big guns. In Australia we call that person a "Battler," in the USA I guess he's called the "underdog." My favorite musical is Moulin Rouge. I thought it was immensely powerful. My favorite stage [production], however, is Les Miserables -- again, immensely moving and powerful. I guess I like to be moved, I like to feel the emotion. Even with the comedies -- The Castle, Muriel's Wedding, Better off Dead, I like these because [in addition to] being hilarious, at the end of these films you want to stand up and cheer! There was a wonderful feeling of triumph when I saw The Castle in Santa Monica on opening weekend. Here's this movie with a "little" feel -- about a little family that has no power, ordinary people with tons of beautiful quirks, but at the end of the movie there's this triumph and the entire packed out audience in the theater burst into applause.
I have often felt that movies are the successful pulpit for the masses. I don't mean blatant preaching, but in movies these huge audiences are brought skillfully and artfully to a place -- a point in the film where you can hear a needle drop - [where] the plot comes to fruition and the masses are moved, experiencing a life changing event along with the characters. Hollywood is often blasted for producing "Hollywood" rubbish, but Hollywood and movie-makers around the world have produced wonderful material, responsible for uplifting thousands of lives.
26. Rageon: Aside from music, what are your other interests and hobbies? What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Snow skiing. I check the snow reports in winter and the lead up to winter several times a day. It reminds me of the world out there beyond the studio, and planning a ski trip really helps pull me through when the workload piles up! Skiing is an incredibly freeing experience.
I'm also a nut for photography, and the computer programs available and cheap high-speed photo-printing at home creates a lot of divergence from work from time to time!
27. 1chameleon: Rob, who are your musical heroes?
Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds inspired me when I was young. I listen to it now and even [with] the dated sounding parts, I still appreciate the mountain of work that must have gone into it. It's brilliant!! John Williams [Star Wars trilogies, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, E.T.] simply astounds me, and James Newton Howard [Hidalgo, Signs, The Prince of Tides] amazes me
28. Easymix: Is there any one composer or musical group who has inspired you or whose work you admire above all others?
In addition to the above I should mention I'm a big fan of "Queen." This might be because they don't follow too many rules in their songs -- they go off the beaten path, e.g., the "A Night at the Opera" album. Many of their songs go down their own road -- Bohemian Rhapsody, The Prophet, Who Wants To Live Forever, and others might follow the formula but are incredibly rousing, like The Show Must Go On. I guess I appreciate bands and musicians [that] do things differently, but there is an art to doing that and making it work.
29. AlvaFan: If you could have composed any piece of music other than one of your own, which would it have been and why?
Well, the last track on the Star Wars album original release -- it's a montage of the themes -- first comes to mind. It's so rousing, perfectly composed and orchestrated. I don't know how [John Williams] does it; it's mind blowing. That's just off the top of my head, but so often I'll go to a movie and simply be blown away by most of the music. I was relieved to hear at a seminar that James Newton Howard feels intimidated by music scores he hears on many films these days....there's hope for me yet!
30. AlvaFan: Do you have a favorite song or piece of music that you associate with a particular time and/or place in your life?
My first original piece of music is cemented [in] 1982, [when it] came to me during the evening I prayed that I might have the ability to create moods and emotions for others. Talk about answered prayer! I think song-wise a lot of us enjoy hearing again the songs of our youth, our teenage years, and for me that was the 80s. As such, I have huge collections of 80s music (American and Australian collections). I'm not embarrassed about this! The 80s had strong melodies, developed electronics/synthesizers, etc., and tons and tons of "feel good" moments in the music. The 90s reacts against this with a more raw, dirtier feel, and I love this too, but the 80s music just takes me back to my teen years. My personal spiritual life is a powerful one for me, and these years are when I guess a spotlight turned on to really begin my path, spiritually and professionally. As such, it is this immensely crucial point in my life, on top of just having all the teenage fun.
31. Taran: Have you ever considered working in other areas of film and television other than music -- writing, directing or acting?
This question reminds me of the film Sliding Doors where Gwyneth Paltrow's [character] experiences a fork in the road and we see where both futures go side by side. I don't know if my opportunities have really provided that fork, but I am immensely interested in filmmaking. I was also a good creative writer but dropped that when the composing workload piled up.
Now and again the thought crosses my mind [and] I wonder about what else I might do. I love art and painting and lots of creative areas, for example. But I really am fascinated with all of the processes of film and TV creation. (I'd say producing but that has more of a business/marketing meaning in Los Angeles). As a kid, I made many Super 8 movies that were quite ambitious now [that] I think of it. I didn't have actors, so I tried other things: an episode of Flash Gordon, for example, that starred a real live dragon lizard! Poor thing had to fly about on a speeder thing dodging laser beams that I hand scratched into hundreds of frames of Super 8 film!
Another movie I made was a prequel to Silent Running (my favorite film as a kid). I used friends to act in it, and they all got tired of it, but I got through it. I had to build a drone robot (see Silent Running) and have it walk around, etc., and that was incredibly difficult. In the end this robot was very convincing and my neighbors were amazed! The thing is only I could operate it properly to get it to walk like in Silent Running, so others had to do the Super 8 filming of those scenes. I got such a huge kick out of all this and thought maybe I'd be a filmmaker some day. It's one of those creative things -- stuff comes up from within and you just can't stop throwing everything you have into it.
32. Easymix: What do you most like and dislike about composing for television?
It's not that well respected compared to film music. Most people hear the word "TV" and cringe -- for good reason. Yet, there is a lot of great material on television, Smallville for example. It can be disheartening because so much work and effort goes into composing for shows like this, but when I meet new people and say I write music for television, you can tell they are not thinking dramatic underscore! And they usually then ask "What about film? Have you done any movies?!"
There [are] these worlds of creativity going on that are superb, but the overall reality-game show-commercial-advertising world of TV kind of brings it down in a lot of people's minds.
As for what I like most, this is answered in Q34 below.
33. MiraclesTV: Are you seeing any trends in music for television right now? Positive or negative?
I think the X Files helped pave the way for a more film-like look [for] TV series. Along with that comes the film-like music which is now used a lot in many series. This is far different from Mike Post's new trends of using rock music in scores, which in the 70s and 80s was actually a new thing. One thing I really don't like is when TV scores pep up the content beyond what it really is. It's like watching Steve Irwin [Crocodile Hunter] who tends to drive me nuts with the hype. ("Are all Australians really like that?" people ask!)
I just feel manipulated by some of the overly energetic music in some shows, and my reaction is to switch off or resist. This can also happen in the midst of a good episode or show, however, where I feel the composer might have been asked to keep the energy going where it isn't necessary. Producers sometimes don't trust that their work is working, and want the music to keep things going when it doesn't need to. This cheapens the product in my opinion, and is one thing I despise about some TV work compared to film, which trusts the audience more. Of course, that audience can't change the channel, but still I sometimes feel TV productions that I watch [are] dumbed-down when [they don't] need to be.
34. MiraclesTV: You've made a name for yourself by writing music for shows with darker/supernatural themes. Is this a coincidence or conscious choice? What do you feel sets you apart stylistically when you write music for these kinds of shows -- and do you tend to naturally prefer those shows as a TV viewer yourself?
It's interesting that as a kid I loved these kinds of shows on TV, and I used to [refer to] the music that underscored [them] as "ghost music". This type of music is very different from what I was learning from piano teachers, and eventually I tried to create it myself. But I never would have guessed as a ten year old asking a piano-teaching nun at the local convent if she could teach me "ghost music," that 20 odd years later I would actually be creating this music on a daily basis for television!
Even more interesting is that I didn't go out looking for this particular type of work in this style of music. I came to Los Angeles from Australia pursuing a film/TV music career, and it has just worked out this way. I do actually prefer to write more pleasant sounding music, and have had opportunities for some of that -- Pylea, Fred's theme, Cordy's princess theme, and some of the Miracles music like The Ghosts of the Civil War and God Is Now Here.
I feel extremely fortunate that I have been placed in a position to write this music -- the mysterious dark music -- and also the other emotions that come up in these shows. It's like writing for a movie every week. This would be my choice, but I didn't make this choice -- these assignments have been given to me as if they were a gift.
I am not sure what might set me apart, but as mentioned I have enjoyed this style and wanted to play and write this style ever since I learned piano as a kid. In the back of my mind, I guess these styles and emotions have traveled with me even when I wasn't writing music for a living, and now they are being expressed where appropriate in these productions. A composer feels something for the scene and expresses it; it doesn't always match what the director has in mind, but fortunately for me, in most cases it does.
35. MiraclesTV: You've mentioned the concept of "hearing music in your head." Paul McCartney once described how he coped with this experience when he was away from the piano or any musical instrument by writing on napkins so that he would not "lose" the music. Can you describe this phenomenon as you experience it, and what you do to capture these moments: Do you need to play them immediately? And do you go through a similar ritual at times when you do not have access to a musical instrument or other easy way of recording them?
This experience is such a big part of everyday life to me that it is completely foreign to think that others don't hear it. The best way to describe [it], I think, is that it's like when you remember a song in your head. If you remember your favorite song, in your mind you hear it all -- all the instruments, singers, etc. -- as you heard it in a recording (well, something close at least). For us composers, it's like that, but it is all original and your mind has complete control over the sound and the direction of the music. It's like sculpting clay in your mind but with sounds.
The biggest challenge is that what you hear is great but can be extremely difficult to transcribe in the real world -- the music in my head is playing in real time and it's very difficult a lot of the time to slow it down, pick it apart, to figure out what it is (especially full orchestra, fast music) and then transcribe it. Mountains of music pass through my mind that I'll never hear again and can't transcribe. I've learned to simply enjoy it and let it be (no intentional Beatles pun in regard to the question!); otherwise, I'd go nuts trying to capture it all.
I used to go around with a small cassette recorder in case anything came to me. That was really helpful. Other times I've done the napkin thing, but I'm pretty bad at accurate transcription of music notes to paper without actually sitting at a piano, so I've sometimes drawn just the shape of the music -- a notation of sorts that only I would understand!
I've been fortunate enough to have recorded so much music (over 190 episodes plus films, etc.) that I am more able to let a lot of stuff in my head just go without being frantic about recording it. But yes, there are many times when there's some wonderful stuff going on but I just have to grin and bear it as it goes by -- lost for good in many cases.
36. MiraclesTV: What's the most important advice you would give to aspiring composers?
When I studied at USC, Jerry Goldsmith came and gave a seminar on film music and his experiences. During the Q & A time, a similar question was asked and his answer was "Well...you just keep doing what you do, and fate has a way of working things out." At the time I didn't necessarily think this was particularly helpful, but I did enjoy the answer in the sense that I believed if God wanted me to be doing this, there would be a way that it would work out somehow. Jerry's answer also acknowledges that everyone's story is different and there's no way to predict how it will work out. So, I would have to say, similarly, that you just keep writing -- keep pursuing your dream. I always felt I would rather look back on my life seeing that I had given my dream its best shot rather than shy away from it.
Composing music --- being so specialized and isolating -- can be a very "narrowing" experience also, in the sense that you concentrate on that only and give up everything to try to "make it" in the business. So, along with the above advice I would also suggest to balance your life out and keep things open to other possible directions. Fill your life with some kind of balance of other interests -- the ones that mean things to you; [this] will allow certain things to come to you instead of having to chase them. This is how I also interpreted Jerry's answer: Don't just write music all day. Go skiing, go to the beach, attend to your walk with God -- whatever makes you YOU -- and these things will happen. We tend to want to control our lives in a certain way, when sometimes the opportunities will come from left field, from the places you would least expect.
If I were to write about my life, it would be filled with stories of opportunities in my professional and personal life that came from unexpected places, and big things eventually coming from very, very little things in the beginning.
37. MiraclesTV: What's next for you? What other shows or projects are you composing for?
Right now I am writing for Angel, Season Five, and Duck Dodgers, Season Two, is coming up soon. We just recorded Tia Carrere (the "Martian Queen" of the series) singing a blues song about her unrequited love for Dodgers and that was loads of fun!
SOURCE
The fans of Miracles and Angel get up close and personal with music composer Robert J. Kral in Part One of this special two-part feature. Rob Kral has been a great supporter of "Miracles" and a joy to work with in getting this feature published. Fans of his music will find this question and answer session interesting, humorous and refreshing.
1. Kathy: How did you get started in this line of work? How did you train, and what was your first job?
Well, it's been a long and difficult road. I wanted to create moods and atmospheres and started hearing music in my head at about age 14. At 15, I forced myself to write music for full orchestra, because I already knew that the best job for me would be film music--creating moods and atmospheres for the audience. Of course, to do that, I'd need to learn to orchestrate, so I dove into the deep end and taught myself. The very difficult thing for young composers is the inability to hear your final work since orchestras do not come cheap! They are also busy with the classics and aren't usually interested in new material, as I found with our local Symphony.
I decided to get a bachelor's degree of Music at Adelaide University. It wasn't exactly film music training, but it was the best next step. Luckily, Tristram Carey, a film composer from the UK, was teaching part of the degree, so I began some of my training with him. The University was not very encouraging of this career and was more interested in Academic styles (read contemporary, atonal music). I adapted swiftly to this by making sure everything I wrote had "wrong notes" in it and they loved it. Actually, it is fairer to say they did teach me a lot about atonal* music and I did begin to hear it "properly." The lack of encouragement at University was difficult, however, whereas encouragement in High School was, well, high. That was a very good thing, because in Australia, unlike the States, kids decide their careers in Year 10, choose their subjects for year 11 and by the final high school year they are concentrating only on their "major," which doesn't happen in America until further into University!
So, the pressure is on at age 16 to decide. Anyway, after the degree I was, of course, unemployed, and found small music projects for video production companies. They got bigger as they went along, plus I worked in the sound departments of the South Australian Film Corporation and Channel Nine where I learned live mixing and more about sound recording. I was extremely fortunate to get both those jobs through word of mouth; a total answer to prayer, literally. These helped me to raise money to come to the States to study film scoring at USC, which is mighty expensive!
My first gig in the States was writing for another composer who was a teacher at USC. This is how I met Chris Beck, who was also writing on this show, and most of my work in the States stems from knowing Chris initially.
*Atonal refers to music that lacks a tonal center or has no dominant tone or diatonic scale associated with it. Atonal music is often considered disconcerting by those who are accustomed to "traditional" harmonies.
2. Rekka: What was the first instrument that you played, and how old were you when you became interested in music? Were you a "good" music student, or were you forced to practice from time to time?
My first instrument love was the drums! I remember being about four and seeing a drummer in a band and thinking that was amazingly cool. I started learning at five, but swiftly changed to the piano, because we'd watched a Liberace special on TV and I thought that was really cool too! I was a fairly good student, but progress was slow. I didn't know at the time, but then a High School music teacher and Piano trainer at our Church met me and realized I was way behind in my abilities considering the years I had put in. It came down to the fact that the first few teachers I'd had over the first six or seven years weren't so great. This new teacher crash-coursed me into 7th grade piano -- boy was it tough.
I don't know if you could have called me a good student. I am sure that teacher thought otherwise! I saw the progress other students made and they flew past me. I wasn't too bad, but not great, and the 7th grade exam terrified me (I never took it). I tried very hard and practiced a lot, but it seems performance was not my talent. Once the tunes came to my head, that's all I wanted to do (well, more than play someone else's music anyway).
Yes, I was forced to practice a lot. Toward the end (I was about 16), it just got to the point where playing difficult pieces was a chore. I wanted to create music, not learn the robotics of playing other people's music. I guess my Liberace inspiration wore off. I had something far more exciting to pursue as far as I could tell.
3. AlvaFan: Which instrument/s do you prefer to compose on, if any?
I compose on a keyboard because piano is my background, and it's usually the best instrument to use for composition. However, the percussion training (I went back to learning percussion in University, so I am not talking about the drums when I was 5!) comes in extremely handy and I also learned violin for a few years (talk about forced into practicing with THAT instrument! I hated it). The knowledge gained by playing even a little of other instruments comes in very handy for orchestral work. I then also taught myself a little guitar, and I use that if guitar stuff is needed. In fact, if you write guitar music on the piano, it turns out all wrong a lot of the time. Guitar is one instrument where it is best I use that instead of piano if I'm writing for it.
4. Vicki: What kind of music do you listen to most often? What is your favorite "driving-in-the-car" music?
I just love film music. I also listen to the radio to try to keep somewhat current with the latest music, bands, etc. I must admit, though, I am a fan of Queen and love to listen to them from time to time. There are many, many new [bands] I've loved too. The problem with radio these days is that they RARELY tell you what the song was and who the band was. I also love ELO's "TIME" album. The synth instrumentation throughout that is amazingly rich. Right now, I am on a James Bond soundtrack craze and listen to old Bond music in the car! What I listen to chops and changes; I love variety.
5. MiraclesTV: Were you ever in a band?
I was in a Christian Rock band back in Australia. We played at the beach in summer. Those were some of the best times of my life. Perhaps when I retire, I might get back into song writing, but I haven't written songs in a long while.
6. 1chameleon: Rob, [has] being an Australian helped you in the industry by giving you a different view of the world [as opposed to] the American way of thinking?
It hasn't helped in terms of work, but there is a very different way of thinking that might be called Australian as opposed to American. America generally is very individualistic. [The] "I take care of ME" kind of attitude comes up constantly. Australia is much more communal, or community-oriented if you will. My wife and I have a theory about this that really makes sense. In America, the pioneers conquered the land. They "Won the West." In Australia, a lot of our explorers just died in the desert. The land beat us to death. Because of this, "mateship" was born. In Australia, generally everyone is looking out for each other, helping out, making experiences pleasant, the "G'day Mate" approach. There is a very real sense that we need each other, whereas, at least in LA, it's much more total competition and people stick to themselves. In Oz, you always feel you might see someone again, even strangers. In the States, there's a sense that you won't.
That might all sound a little bizarre, but practically every traveler we've met has had the same experience when coming to America. The media here constantly reminds us that America is "the best country in the world," and doesn't report on world news like other countries do. It's as if we don't need the rest of the world. In Oz, we know we need the rest of the world, and that it's out there and we need to know about it.
7. MiraclesTV: Was it hard for an Australian to break into the business?
It's hard for anyone to break in... Someone from overseas has a difficult time breaking in here in LA because of immigration challenges. Doing it by the book is extremely difficult, and requires lots of time, money, and credentials. An American has a hard time breaking in also, but doesn't have the other stuff to worry about on top of it. My story involves lots and lots of small steps, one leading to the next and to the next. It's one of those things [where] you can't have it all right away. Slowly, you take the gradual steps towards your goal.
8. Overuser: Love the music Rob--you've added so much to the "Miracles" experience. Could you perhaps share with us the technical side of your writing process (where you start, what equipment you use - keyboards, PCs, software, etc)?
Thanks for the compliments! "Miracles" was an absolute joy to write, and I miss it still.
The technical side? Well, I could write a book, but I'll be brief I think! We have a meeting each week called the "spotting session" where we spot where the music will go (and where it won't) in the episode and talk about the direction of the music, watching the videotape. I then have about five days to write and record the score, then I put it onto a video so the producers can watch it and request any changes. I then do a final multi-track music mix and that goes to the sound stage to be mixed with the dialog and sound effects. As that mix is happening, we've already "spotted" the next episode and I am off and running.
I use a Mac running Digital Performer, which drives 4 PCs that have GigaStudio installed. I am about to add three more of these amazing units. GigaStudio revolutionized sampling by doing away with memory limitations and even midi channel limitations. This means one machine can do what about 10 could do before. The sound libraries are incredibly realistic, and provide the sounds for strings, brass, choirs, etc. It's like playing any electronic keyboard, but I have up to 300 tracks I can instantly layer, and each track contains sounds of the highest realism and quality.
All this is locked to a digital version of the video, so wherever the music is, the video is playing instantly right there with it, and vice versa.
At 15, I wrote that orchestral piece for the first time mentioned earlier, but couldn't hear it with an orchestra. The amazing thing is that [with today's technology] I can hear my music almost instantly and record it the same day.
9. TVwriter23: What was your inspiration when working on the music for "Miracles?"
The inspiration was the show itself! What a fantastic show! When I first saw the pilot, my jaw dropped. I got the chills a few times! I knew I was destined to write the music for it, but also knew that because the quality was so high, they might choose a bigger name to do it. Which is what happened, but eventually it all worked out in my favor. When I FINALLY was chosen to do the pilot (they were working with other composers first), I couldn't believe I was doing it. It was a total dream.
10. Miracles Fan: What's your own personal favorite episode of "Miracles?"
The pilot without question. It looks stunning, the writing is first rate and extremely clever, and the acting is superb. It's unlike any hour of TV I've ever seen before. My next favorite for continuing the story is "Hand of God." I also really like "Saint Debbie," and think that it is also a "perfect" episode. "Little Miss Lost" wins out for chills factor (that GIRL!), and there is a scene in "Mother's Daughter" which is both beautiful and simultaneously gut wrenching (takes place on a lake of ice).
11. Luckee: "The Ferguson Syndrome" was so emotionally moving. Was this episode a big challenge musically?
Yes it was! There are a few different styles going on: the Spanish guitar, the atonal creepy stuff (I played the violin myself to get those effects!), etc. Everyone loved the temp score, so I had a big challenge to go up against it. [They were] used to that temp and loved the pilot, so I knew I was handling everyone's delicate baby that they had already reared for many months.
But it all came together in so many ways. It would take a very special show to get me to handle a violin again, but this one did it. I also played guitar in the boy's bedroom scene. I felt like a part of my destiny had arrived as I put the music together and performed it.
Compositionally, there were interesting challenges. David liked the idea that sometimes we'd have a dark moment in the dialogue on screen, but the music was allowed to play against it. For example, when Tommy talks to Paul about the train dream, and Tommy mentions the Darkness, it's incredibly spooky and eerie, but a synth string line plays major chords. David Greenwalt really liked this type of stuff and it worked great. It's scary, but grand because of the major ("happier") chords playing. Then I sneak in a harp line very slowly, the chords are still major, but the harp is minor. Gradually the harp gets louder over time and the strings die out. The major material gets taken over by the sad, sinister minor stuff.
I did a lot of tricks like that, and I've never done them before in this way. David liked to have moments that go against the grain, and this opened up a big new palette for me.
12. MiraclesTV: What was your first reaction when "Miracles" was cancelled?
I really was, of course, shocked. There had been some talk of the possibility of course, so in some ways you could see it coming. It is important for all overseas viewers to know why and how it happened. ABC wanted a smash hit opening night. The ratings were good for a new show, but not the stellar results they had hoped for. From some talk I have heard, right away they lost interest. Instead of further promoting this new baby, they neglected it. "Joe Millionaire's" two-part finale aired over two weeks, and ABC (amongst other networks also) changed their programming, not wanting to compete against it. "Miracles" was postponed and not advertised for two weeks. Then the war broke out, and it was postponed another two weeks. In the end, for a total of five weeks it was postponed, but with no advertising and no mention to the public about when it would reappear. Even fans thought it might have been cancelled. Fans of the show didn't even know when it was on. So when it finally came on again, again with no advertising, the rating was extremely low. The following morning it was cancelled.
So you can see that, by the way it was handled, it didn't have a chance. It confirmed for me the insanity of the ratings alone being relied upon to tell a network what to air and what to cancel. Here in the States, we all have favorite shows that were cancelled prematurely. The tragedy is that it is not uncommon.
13. Crashnburn: Do you have a favorite story related to your work on "Miracles"? A favorite Richard Hatem or David Greenwalt story perhaps?
I remember Richard hearing an idea I had for the main title. He politely, but hilariously, said he'd keep it in mind if he ever does a "cop show."
I don't have a lot of stories, I guess, because I only saw them for one meeting per episode, although there were a few extra meetings before I officially got the job. There was a high degree of fun in those meetings which I'd not experienced on other shows. David and Richard were like Beavis and Butthead! Amongst all the creativity and artistry and talent of these two guys put together, there was also a healthy dose of mucking about! It was as if these two had known each other since school -- well, especially college perhaps! The atmosphere over there was great.
14. MiraclesTV: When writing music for an episode of "Miracles" or "Angel," how many times do you typically have to view the episode to compose for it?
Well, I don't count, but my guess is hundreds of times. The music is mostly midi, meaning what you hear is mostly me playing the instruments and multi-tracking. This is all off a keyboard of course; I don't REALLY know how to play the tuba. Anyway, because of this, each track is played individually and the layers are built up very slowly, meaning with each pass I am watching it again. I watch these scenes, and sections of these scenes, over and over and over, all day, every day.
A former Star Trek composer taught me an interesting technique. Sometimes, I'll watch it first without thinking of the music, just to get to know the scene. This includes watching it backwards, fast forward, etc. It gets your mind to know the scene inside out and at subconscious levels. I'll watch a scene knowing I might not score it for a few days, [but] back there in the dark recesses of my mind, it's being worked on without my conscious awareness.
15. Luckee: Have you ever experienced a sort of musical writer's block? If so, what do you do to get past it? Also, how do you approach composing for an episode time-wise? Do you tend to take your own time or do you work better under pressure, working closer to deadline?
Writer's block becomes less of a problem the more I compose in this career. With the sheer amount of work to be done, I've gotten used to HAVING to just churn it out even if it is not that inspiring. It sure can happen though, especially if I'm asked to score a scene that I don't think needs music. Everything in me tells me there shouldn't be music, so what should I write? That is always the trickiest situation. To get past it, you need to try anything possible: listening to other music, older compositions and cues I might have done and trying tricks like the one mentioned previously (watching the scene without thinking of music on purpose), etc.
I split the work out equally over the various days before the deadline. If I stick to this schedule, I know I can make it, but if I back off from it, it's just too much of a nightmare. The tightest deadline was for "Darla" on "Angel," 38 minutes in 4 days. You don't want to let a schedule like that slip. There just isn't time to procrastinate, which is something I used to suffer from earlier on.
16. MiraclesTV: Does writing music for a show "ruin" the show for you? For instance, can you go back and watch finished "Miracles" or "Angel" episodes and enjoy them as a viewer later on, or is that hard to do?
I always think it's going to ruin it, but it doesn't. Sometimes I have felt unhappy with the score on other productions, I am aware of the mistakes and the shortcomings, and that can make it awkward to watch. "Miracles" has a lot less of this factor. In fact, most of it really came out how I wanted it to, and watching it back again is still a thrill. Some "Angel" episodes are like that also. "Darla" (Season 2, episode 7), for example -- a fine vintage I must say!
17. Voltaire2003: "Miracles" was so beautifully accomplished--unusually creative and imaginative. As an artist working in the television industry, how do you deal with the "fickleness" of the industry itself--the decisions made about which shows will be given a chance to succeed and which will not, and the eventual impact those decision have on what you will be working on?
It's a very tough part of the job, or career should I say. Because in many ways it is more than just a job--we really invest in these productions. If the show isn't that interesting or isn't that great, the job of the music composer is still to truly believe in it 100%, to live and breathe those scenes so they can be translated into music. We composers are supporting the scenes, and to do that we have to believe it. In the case of "Miracles," this is compounded by the fact it IS a great show! So a premature cancellation is a real slap in the face. It can be very difficult to deal with, as projects like that come up rarely. There is indeed a lot of great material being produced in Hollywood, but I guess it's mostly by good fortune if you find yourself involved with this. "Miracles" was so rare and special that it made the cancellation a total shock, and yet even fans knew it was "too good to NOT be cancelled."
That's the saddest part. Hollywood execs are famous and can almost be relied upon to cancel GOOD television shows. Fans were fearing it right from the first episode.
After the fact, all I can say is we all put at least 200% into the show, we all loved it dearly and we all miss it. In the end, it is what it is and we can't bring it back, but we can safely say we gave it our best shot, we gave it our all. When you talk of being beautifully accomplished, I think particularly of the pilot and of a scene in "Mother's Daughter" on the lake of ice. There's nothing else like it around. That's when the travesty of it all sets in. But it was beyond our control.
So it's my hope that whatever good comes out of its short-lived production life be nurtured. What I mean is, I hope the relationships formed in the production team that started with "Miracles" might be maintained and grown. They can kill the show, but there's stuff they can't touch. They can't touch the great time we had putting it together, they can't touch the memories of the fun relationship that formed between Richard and David, they can't touch what I learned doing the music for this splendid production. All that stuff will go on and continue...
18. Subjugationsux: Where do you turn for inspiration on musical selection for Angel?
I really try to turn to the episode itself, to hear what's going on in the scene and what is coming out of it. When in a rush, I turn to the temp track! This is a temporary music track put together by the editors, made up of cuts of the last 4 years of Angel music.
The best scores, however, are written by hearing what's coming to you in your head. Composers experience music that is "given" to them, if you will. This is always the best stuff; however, it's not always what the director wants. For this reason, the temp track must be taken into consideration as it is very carefully worked on -- even reworked up to three times -- until approved. So, often the temp now gives the direction on Angel.
19. Nicholas: You have written such wonderful music for Angel. Will there be a soundtrack of either your score or songs?
Wiseblood: I love the music you create for Angel; for me, it's an integral part of the show's power and appeal. What can we as fans do to help you get a soundtrack of AtS music made?
In Season Two there was a lot of interest from fans and three -- three! -- record labels to do a soundtrack album of the score for Angel. Unfortunately, the big dogs at FOX didn't want that to happen. There were some at FOX who really, really wanted it, but they were unable to convince the powers that be. FOX owns the music, so nothing can be released without them, even if it's not costing them a cent to produce it. I think it's sad that you can have up to three [record] labels ready to go with it, but the big studio won't allow it. Their reasons sometimes [were] weird too: For example, they thought a soundtrack album for a TV show signified that the TV show was canceled. This just makes no sense.
Write to FOX TV if you feel strongly about wanting an album. Jacquie Perryman very much wanted to get an album going; perhaps she could forward such mail to the powers that be.
Note: E-mail Jacquie Perryman at askfox@foxinc.com or write to:
Ms. Jacquie Perryman
Vice President of TV Creative, Fox Music
Twentieth Century FOX Television
10201 West Pico Blvd., Bldg. 88, Room 29
Los Angeles, CA 90035
20. Flamedrake: What brought on the idea to segue the episode music into the opening credits in a few of last season's Angel episodes? And are there any plans to do so more in the upcoming year?
Yes, there is much more of this coming up!! This type of thing is lots of fun. Chris Beck was the first to mention the idea to me at the beginning of Season One. I've kept it in mind ever since and sometimes it's just the greatest thing to do. I am fortunate that we "own" the "black" that appears between the teaser and the opening credits (main title). Often, though, it does work better to not bridge that gap. But it sure is fun when I can.
21. Dianna B: I love your scores because they bring a lot to an episode. I especially like the themes you've written for individual characters like Darla and Fred that really fit them, so my question is what's the first thing you do when coming up with a theme for a character?
Glad to hear you like the themes! Darla's theme is one of my big favorites and it appears in many different ways. Her theme first appeared during a fight scene in a bar. Angel was drunk and fighting and she was just sitting back watching and admiring. Rather than play fight music, I have the first appearance of her theme -- which is laid back and seductive -- on viola. It contrasts the fight, but captures her mood, her mind. I guess the inspiration for the themes comes form the characters. Darla's my favorite character. She actually has three themes, or one theme and two other "ideas" that play throughout different situations with her, e.g., the "Dream" motif when she's seducing Angel through his dreams.
Fred's theme was also lots of fun but it appeared only in the Pylea episodes, and maybe once thereafter. Tim Minear loved it, but David Greenwalt wasn't so keen on it once we were out of Pylea.
22. Guenevere: Since Angel is often so melodramatic (in a good way) does that make it easier or harder to write music for? In other words, do you have to make sure you don't overdo a scene so that the balance is right?
The bigger scenes that are melodramatic [are] very easy to write for -- I can pull out all the stops. In fact, I was just thinking the other day how fortunate I am to be working on this show where I can write the type of music that I have always wanted to...the big, epic sweeping stuff, the exciting action orchestral stuff....the, well, Angel, stuff! I am very lucky to have the type of show where I can do that. A sitcom would be somewhat more limiting!
It can be easily overdone though, as your question asks. Jeff Bell has been a little pickier about the fight scenes for example. He keeps it to the degree that he feels is warranted for the particular fight and situation. With David, I was able to go more hell for leather every time. But David was certainly in control of the melodrama when it came to underscore. Sometimes I'd write something a little too sweet or sugary, and he'd make sure the level of "subtleness" was correct.
Tim Minear asked for "BIG WAGNERIAN HORNS" in "Darla". He got them. He loved them.
23. Matt: Earlier on Angel, more along the first season, there were songs from the band VAST-songs with vocals in the scenes. I was wondering if any rock with vocals will be used in upcoming Angel episodes?
Recently there was an episode with a lot of dance music because it's a Halloween party. It's also the funniest, most outrageous Angel episode ever! In Season One the show was still finding itself. I like the VAST material and its use on the show. But the show has found its groove I guess, and songs aren't a big part of it. I do feel there could be more songs in the show at special times. There have been times when the idea has come up. Finding the right song at an affordable price is tricky, however, [but] there are some more songs coming up.
Episode 9 of this season featured a closer look at a day in the life of Harmony, and featured some songs that work great for her getting ready for her day at work, for example. In an earlier season -- when Angel took the elevator to "Hell", when [Angel] exited the elevator after talking with Lindsay, there was a song that worked great there in the temp over the collage of our main characters -- all feeling depressed! But we opted out of that because the song was used in a recent movie.
24. Angel Fan: Are the rumors true that "Angel" is going to have its own musical episode this season, as Buffy did with "Once More with Feeling" in Season 6? If so, are you working with Joss Whedon on the score or songs for that episode, and what are the biggest challenges you face?
Hmmm, I haven't heard about this at all!
25. Taran: Do you have a favorite movie, and what kinds of movies do you typically enjoy and why?
I have different favorites. I just cannot deny that I enjoy the first Star Wars movie (Episode IV) immensely -- it works every time. That thing is timeless! My favorite comedy is an Australian GEM of a movie called The Castle. I love that movie so much; it is hilarious, but has TONS of heart. It's all about the little guy standing up to the big guns. In Australia we call that person a "Battler," in the USA I guess he's called the "underdog." My favorite musical is Moulin Rouge. I thought it was immensely powerful. My favorite stage [production], however, is Les Miserables -- again, immensely moving and powerful. I guess I like to be moved, I like to feel the emotion. Even with the comedies -- The Castle, Muriel's Wedding, Better off Dead, I like these because [in addition to] being hilarious, at the end of these films you want to stand up and cheer! There was a wonderful feeling of triumph when I saw The Castle in Santa Monica on opening weekend. Here's this movie with a "little" feel -- about a little family that has no power, ordinary people with tons of beautiful quirks, but at the end of the movie there's this triumph and the entire packed out audience in the theater burst into applause.
I have often felt that movies are the successful pulpit for the masses. I don't mean blatant preaching, but in movies these huge audiences are brought skillfully and artfully to a place -- a point in the film where you can hear a needle drop - [where] the plot comes to fruition and the masses are moved, experiencing a life changing event along with the characters. Hollywood is often blasted for producing "Hollywood" rubbish, but Hollywood and movie-makers around the world have produced wonderful material, responsible for uplifting thousands of lives.
26. Rageon: Aside from music, what are your other interests and hobbies? What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Snow skiing. I check the snow reports in winter and the lead up to winter several times a day. It reminds me of the world out there beyond the studio, and planning a ski trip really helps pull me through when the workload piles up! Skiing is an incredibly freeing experience.
I'm also a nut for photography, and the computer programs available and cheap high-speed photo-printing at home creates a lot of divergence from work from time to time!
27. 1chameleon: Rob, who are your musical heroes?
Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds inspired me when I was young. I listen to it now and even [with] the dated sounding parts, I still appreciate the mountain of work that must have gone into it. It's brilliant!! John Williams [Star Wars trilogies, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, E.T.] simply astounds me, and James Newton Howard [Hidalgo, Signs, The Prince of Tides] amazes me
28. Easymix: Is there any one composer or musical group who has inspired you or whose work you admire above all others?
In addition to the above I should mention I'm a big fan of "Queen." This might be because they don't follow too many rules in their songs -- they go off the beaten path, e.g., the "A Night at the Opera" album. Many of their songs go down their own road -- Bohemian Rhapsody, The Prophet, Who Wants To Live Forever, and others might follow the formula but are incredibly rousing, like The Show Must Go On. I guess I appreciate bands and musicians [that] do things differently, but there is an art to doing that and making it work.
29. AlvaFan: If you could have composed any piece of music other than one of your own, which would it have been and why?
Well, the last track on the Star Wars album original release -- it's a montage of the themes -- first comes to mind. It's so rousing, perfectly composed and orchestrated. I don't know how [John Williams] does it; it's mind blowing. That's just off the top of my head, but so often I'll go to a movie and simply be blown away by most of the music. I was relieved to hear at a seminar that James Newton Howard feels intimidated by music scores he hears on many films these days....there's hope for me yet!
30. AlvaFan: Do you have a favorite song or piece of music that you associate with a particular time and/or place in your life?
My first original piece of music is cemented [in] 1982, [when it] came to me during the evening I prayed that I might have the ability to create moods and emotions for others. Talk about answered prayer! I think song-wise a lot of us enjoy hearing again the songs of our youth, our teenage years, and for me that was the 80s. As such, I have huge collections of 80s music (American and Australian collections). I'm not embarrassed about this! The 80s had strong melodies, developed electronics/synthesizers, etc., and tons and tons of "feel good" moments in the music. The 90s reacts against this with a more raw, dirtier feel, and I love this too, but the 80s music just takes me back to my teen years. My personal spiritual life is a powerful one for me, and these years are when I guess a spotlight turned on to really begin my path, spiritually and professionally. As such, it is this immensely crucial point in my life, on top of just having all the teenage fun.
31. Taran: Have you ever considered working in other areas of film and television other than music -- writing, directing or acting?
This question reminds me of the film Sliding Doors where Gwyneth Paltrow's [character] experiences a fork in the road and we see where both futures go side by side. I don't know if my opportunities have really provided that fork, but I am immensely interested in filmmaking. I was also a good creative writer but dropped that when the composing workload piled up.
Now and again the thought crosses my mind [and] I wonder about what else I might do. I love art and painting and lots of creative areas, for example. But I really am fascinated with all of the processes of film and TV creation. (I'd say producing but that has more of a business/marketing meaning in Los Angeles). As a kid, I made many Super 8 movies that were quite ambitious now [that] I think of it. I didn't have actors, so I tried other things: an episode of Flash Gordon, for example, that starred a real live dragon lizard! Poor thing had to fly about on a speeder thing dodging laser beams that I hand scratched into hundreds of frames of Super 8 film!
Another movie I made was a prequel to Silent Running (my favorite film as a kid). I used friends to act in it, and they all got tired of it, but I got through it. I had to build a drone robot (see Silent Running) and have it walk around, etc., and that was incredibly difficult. In the end this robot was very convincing and my neighbors were amazed! The thing is only I could operate it properly to get it to walk like in Silent Running, so others had to do the Super 8 filming of those scenes. I got such a huge kick out of all this and thought maybe I'd be a filmmaker some day. It's one of those creative things -- stuff comes up from within and you just can't stop throwing everything you have into it.
32. Easymix: What do you most like and dislike about composing for television?
It's not that well respected compared to film music. Most people hear the word "TV" and cringe -- for good reason. Yet, there is a lot of great material on television, Smallville for example. It can be disheartening because so much work and effort goes into composing for shows like this, but when I meet new people and say I write music for television, you can tell they are not thinking dramatic underscore! And they usually then ask "What about film? Have you done any movies?!"
There [are] these worlds of creativity going on that are superb, but the overall reality-game show-commercial-advertising world of TV kind of brings it down in a lot of people's minds.
As for what I like most, this is answered in Q34 below.
33. MiraclesTV: Are you seeing any trends in music for television right now? Positive or negative?
I think the X Files helped pave the way for a more film-like look [for] TV series. Along with that comes the film-like music which is now used a lot in many series. This is far different from Mike Post's new trends of using rock music in scores, which in the 70s and 80s was actually a new thing. One thing I really don't like is when TV scores pep up the content beyond what it really is. It's like watching Steve Irwin [Crocodile Hunter] who tends to drive me nuts with the hype. ("Are all Australians really like that?" people ask!)
I just feel manipulated by some of the overly energetic music in some shows, and my reaction is to switch off or resist. This can also happen in the midst of a good episode or show, however, where I feel the composer might have been asked to keep the energy going where it isn't necessary. Producers sometimes don't trust that their work is working, and want the music to keep things going when it doesn't need to. This cheapens the product in my opinion, and is one thing I despise about some TV work compared to film, which trusts the audience more. Of course, that audience can't change the channel, but still I sometimes feel TV productions that I watch [are] dumbed-down when [they don't] need to be.
34. MiraclesTV: You've made a name for yourself by writing music for shows with darker/supernatural themes. Is this a coincidence or conscious choice? What do you feel sets you apart stylistically when you write music for these kinds of shows -- and do you tend to naturally prefer those shows as a TV viewer yourself?
It's interesting that as a kid I loved these kinds of shows on TV, and I used to [refer to] the music that underscored [them] as "ghost music". This type of music is very different from what I was learning from piano teachers, and eventually I tried to create it myself. But I never would have guessed as a ten year old asking a piano-teaching nun at the local convent if she could teach me "ghost music," that 20 odd years later I would actually be creating this music on a daily basis for television!
Even more interesting is that I didn't go out looking for this particular type of work in this style of music. I came to Los Angeles from Australia pursuing a film/TV music career, and it has just worked out this way. I do actually prefer to write more pleasant sounding music, and have had opportunities for some of that -- Pylea, Fred's theme, Cordy's princess theme, and some of the Miracles music like The Ghosts of the Civil War and God Is Now Here.
I feel extremely fortunate that I have been placed in a position to write this music -- the mysterious dark music -- and also the other emotions that come up in these shows. It's like writing for a movie every week. This would be my choice, but I didn't make this choice -- these assignments have been given to me as if they were a gift.
I am not sure what might set me apart, but as mentioned I have enjoyed this style and wanted to play and write this style ever since I learned piano as a kid. In the back of my mind, I guess these styles and emotions have traveled with me even when I wasn't writing music for a living, and now they are being expressed where appropriate in these productions. A composer feels something for the scene and expresses it; it doesn't always match what the director has in mind, but fortunately for me, in most cases it does.
35. MiraclesTV: You've mentioned the concept of "hearing music in your head." Paul McCartney once described how he coped with this experience when he was away from the piano or any musical instrument by writing on napkins so that he would not "lose" the music. Can you describe this phenomenon as you experience it, and what you do to capture these moments: Do you need to play them immediately? And do you go through a similar ritual at times when you do not have access to a musical instrument or other easy way of recording them?
This experience is such a big part of everyday life to me that it is completely foreign to think that others don't hear it. The best way to describe [it], I think, is that it's like when you remember a song in your head. If you remember your favorite song, in your mind you hear it all -- all the instruments, singers, etc. -- as you heard it in a recording (well, something close at least). For us composers, it's like that, but it is all original and your mind has complete control over the sound and the direction of the music. It's like sculpting clay in your mind but with sounds.
The biggest challenge is that what you hear is great but can be extremely difficult to transcribe in the real world -- the music in my head is playing in real time and it's very difficult a lot of the time to slow it down, pick it apart, to figure out what it is (especially full orchestra, fast music) and then transcribe it. Mountains of music pass through my mind that I'll never hear again and can't transcribe. I've learned to simply enjoy it and let it be (no intentional Beatles pun in regard to the question!); otherwise, I'd go nuts trying to capture it all.
I used to go around with a small cassette recorder in case anything came to me. That was really helpful. Other times I've done the napkin thing, but I'm pretty bad at accurate transcription of music notes to paper without actually sitting at a piano, so I've sometimes drawn just the shape of the music -- a notation of sorts that only I would understand!
I've been fortunate enough to have recorded so much music (over 190 episodes plus films, etc.) that I am more able to let a lot of stuff in my head just go without being frantic about recording it. But yes, there are many times when there's some wonderful stuff going on but I just have to grin and bear it as it goes by -- lost for good in many cases.
36. MiraclesTV: What's the most important advice you would give to aspiring composers?
When I studied at USC, Jerry Goldsmith came and gave a seminar on film music and his experiences. During the Q & A time, a similar question was asked and his answer was "Well...you just keep doing what you do, and fate has a way of working things out." At the time I didn't necessarily think this was particularly helpful, but I did enjoy the answer in the sense that I believed if God wanted me to be doing this, there would be a way that it would work out somehow. Jerry's answer also acknowledges that everyone's story is different and there's no way to predict how it will work out. So, I would have to say, similarly, that you just keep writing -- keep pursuing your dream. I always felt I would rather look back on my life seeing that I had given my dream its best shot rather than shy away from it.
Composing music --- being so specialized and isolating -- can be a very "narrowing" experience also, in the sense that you concentrate on that only and give up everything to try to "make it" in the business. So, along with the above advice I would also suggest to balance your life out and keep things open to other possible directions. Fill your life with some kind of balance of other interests -- the ones that mean things to you; [this] will allow certain things to come to you instead of having to chase them. This is how I also interpreted Jerry's answer: Don't just write music all day. Go skiing, go to the beach, attend to your walk with God -- whatever makes you YOU -- and these things will happen. We tend to want to control our lives in a certain way, when sometimes the opportunities will come from left field, from the places you would least expect.
If I were to write about my life, it would be filled with stories of opportunities in my professional and personal life that came from unexpected places, and big things eventually coming from very, very little things in the beginning.
37. MiraclesTV: What's next for you? What other shows or projects are you composing for?
Right now I am writing for Angel, Season Five, and Duck Dodgers, Season Two, is coming up soon. We just recorded Tia Carrere (the "Martian Queen" of the series) singing a blues song about her unrequited love for Dodgers and that was loads of fun!
SOURCE