Backyard Gothic Soundtrack (A Guide)

So, I have released the soundtrack to Backyard Gothic HERE on BANDCAMP.COM.

"Even before the film is completed?" I hear you exclaim. Yes, it generally works for Christopher Nolan / Hans Zimmer and whilst I'm in no way comparing their world conquering exploits to mine - it seems to have renewed the enthusiasm I originally had for the project and sonically has influenced certain camera angles and techniques so it's a win / win. It's a necessity too.

A- It gives a little buzz and has reignited conversation about the film and ...

B - Every penny the soundtrack makes is going straight back into financing the movie.

I have been feverishly composing since August and this is the fruit of my labours. I have no doubt, there will be new pieces as the filming progresses but rest assured, anyone who has already or is planning to buy the soundtrack will receive these free as a bonus for their trouble and a huge dose of my heartfelt gratitude.

As is we have.

1: "Main Titles" - Does exactly what it says on the tin, whilst introducing us to our heroes: Charlie and his best friend, Jellybean. His trusty Cavalier King Charles.

2: "Monsters Are Real" - An ominous cautionary narrative from a grown up Charlie as we journey through a storm hit neighbourhood.

3: "Bad News" - It's rare to hear good news on the telly anymore.

4: "Beast In The Backyard" - What lurks outside in the dead of night?

5: "Silver Bullet or Holy Water" - How do you kill a monster? Ok Google....

6: "Cain Gives Chase" - A race for survival as a shocking discovery is made.

7: "A Mother's Love Vs The Big Bad Wolf" - There's someone at the door...

8: "Charlie To The Rescue" - Charlie and his Uncle Eddie attempt a daring rescue.

9: "A Hero Falls" - Not everyone will survive....

10: "Farewell To A Friend / Prepare for War" - Vengeance in the air.

11: "The Final Confrontation" - The proverbial shit hits the fan.

12: "The End" - Or is it?

Still curious, check out HERE with MASSIVE thanks to Pijus Jasaitis!

Film Scoring Update: "Charlie To The Rescue"

Filming "Backyard Gothic" is a slow and tedious task, between getting people together and working on the right dialogue, but as a labour of love, I'll get there by hook or crook.

I would consider myself a competent composer, who enjoys leitmotifs. Leitmotifs, I suppose are a character theme. As ambient soundtracks take hold - themes hold less weight. It's now more about atmosphere and sound fx. Which I've no qualms with. There are some truly wonderful examples of it out there. But for my little short film, I wanted it to be a throwback to the John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein sound. You know the 80's / 90's BIG sound with leitmotifs galore?

Now, I am not comparing myself to these guys, I am not anywhere near that level but as a reference, there are none better. I also want to use as little hybrid sound as possible. Keeping the electronic sound from the orchestral. I am employing at points but for a retro sound, they are kept to the bare minimum.

I uploaded a version of "Charlie To The Rescue" a little while back and surprise, surprise.....it was missing something. The entire scene is basically child vs The Big, Bad Wolf and it needed more "Oomph!". I added some trumpet triplets and the ominous bad guy motif at the start, with some marching snares deep, but noticeable, in the mix. It's a piece I'm very proud of. And I can't wait to start editing it into the scene.

2018 - Plots and plans.

A very happy new year to you all! I've been pretty busy musically. Personally too - and this will take precedent over the next couple of months as plans come to fruition so expect my musical output to be significantly less during this time.

I've signed up for an international trailer scoring competition, which I have completed over the Christmas but the final judging takes place in April, so I must keep the piece to myself before then. Anyone who is curious or willing to take part can find the details at HORRORHOTEL.NET.

I've reviewed the previous competition winners and it does seem pretty competitive and high quality. I'm also happy with my own efforts and quite confident in my ability, as one would need to be. It involves scoring a trailer (provided) which is shorn of the original music.

The trailer is of the film "The City Of The Dead" renamed "Horror Hotel" for American audiences. It features Christopher Lee in a Hammer-esque role typical of his career at the time c.1960.

It provides pure gold in terms of theme and timing and I think I may be on to a good thing with what I have created. Watch this space and thanks for reading.

Bechstein Debauchery & An Ode To Danny Elfman

I recently acquired a Bechstein D 280 concert grand piano. Well the sound samples of one anyway! My dream piano, and unfortunately, I don't possess the fortune or solid gold bank account to buy one.

Eastwest QL pianos have a collection of 4 pianos: Steinway, Bosendorfer , Yamaha and Bechstein. A very expensive collection but upon investigation I discovered that I could buy just one of the models, thus saving a fortune and the Bechstein tone won it out for me.

Having a tinkle on the (plastic) ivories today, I tested the dynamic of the touch sensitivity by playing the opening chords to Danny Elfman's "Beetlejuice" and it struck me that I'd never really paid tribute to the man who is by far one of my biggest influences. So I utilised the driving hammered piano style and added trombone, french horn, 3 part choir (men and women in stereo, boys in mono), some deep staccato brass ensemble and some cheeky organ. I finished with celesta, boys choir, some flautando strings and the oboe. I'm very pleased with it and named it "Oiche Shamhna" as it is that time of year!

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed creating it. You can listen to it HERE.

5 Favourites From Off The Beaten (Sound) Track

Soundtracks. We love 'em! But some soundtracks get a lot more love than others. We all have a soundtrack (or two, or three etc!) that ticks all the right boxes for us but never seems to receive the acclaim we feel it deserves.

Obviously there are some pure classics out there. The most identifiable themes probably belong to John Williams, but I'm just looking at some of the less lauded and potentially, not as well known, that have had a huge influence on me personally.

Number I - "Dances With Wolves" by John Barry. My father took me to see this film when it was released and I fell in love with the story, the imagery and the beautiful music. Here is my personal highlight from the soundtrack:

Number II - "Fright Night" by Brad Fiedel. Rented out on a VHS tape (remember them) way back in the early to mid 90's. Fiedel is generally revered, and rightly so, for his Terminator soundtracks - T1 & T2. But this soundtrack, awash with 80's idiosyncrasies (Fat synths, guitar with a brutally obvious chorus) spoke to me on another level altogether - particularly this piece:

Number III - "Candyman" by Philip Glass. Introduced to this in the early / mid 90's by a good friend of mine who lent me the VHS. I think what appealed to me was that it wasn't a typical horror/slasher soundtrack, it had more of Gothic fairytale vibe to it. My wife bought the vinyl as a Christmas present for me, just gone. Yeah, she's awesome.

Number IV - "The Edge" by Jerry Goldsmith. Ok, so Jerry Goldsmith is immediately synonymous with big budget, sweeping, grandiose soundtracks. Deservedly on a pedestal with Williams, Jarre et al. But I don't think this soundtrack gets half as much love as so many of his others. Bought this on, you guessed it, VHS when it was newly released. Just listen to that from 0.51. It positively soars and takes your soul and breath with it. You can almost touch the Alaskan wilderness....

Number V - "The Last Of The Mohicans" by Trevor Jones. Now funnily enough, the following piece was actually written by Dougie Maclean but is interspersed with the main theme from the film which was written by Trevor Jones. It's a perfect musical marriage. The whole soundtrack is absolutely stunning and well worth snapping up, should you feel so compelled. Nightwish clearly plagiarised the theme for their song "Stargazers". But that's none of my business. (Insert VHS viewing story here)

A TOE IN THE WATER.

So I have been in minimal contact with a producer about the possibility of scoring a feature film. Nothing has been decided as of yet. We've not even personally met but there has been conversation over social media as regards to the would be job. There is an agreement that we should meet soon, but post production has taken precedent over this, and rightly so. I have composed a few ideas based on the trailer that I've viewed whilst conscientiously ignoring the temp track that accompanies it.

I imagine the fee would be a main talking point, but as they are an independent company and have done some fund raising appeals, I am willing to work on contingency. If I become as passionate about the project as they are - then it will be more a focus on art, than financial. I'm not in it for the money. I'm blessed to have a full time job, as much as I loathe it. But a credit, and a little recognition, would go a long way.

In other news, I bought a desk to contain my ever expanding software orchestra and a chair. Not terribly exciting but..... IT HAS WHEELS! I've also ordered a proper sized midi keyboard as the trusty and reliable KORG microkey 37 is too small for my sausage fingers and it's becoming increasingly harder to play more complicated passages without deleting them several times due to fluffed notes. I may cut down on the breakfast fries.

Let's Hear It For The Boys.

Choirs, I love them. You don't need instruments to make one. Bar a voicebox, or several. They are the perfect ensemble. A truly organic orchestra.

If I had to pick a favourite choir "type", it would be a boys choir. It just has that perfect in between range. It's not too peaky, not bass heavy and it doesn't explode into your space, like a full choir ensemble. I recently had to retire my young nephew as my would be boys choir (A lot of overdubbing, but so worth it) as mother nature kindly decided that puberty take priority over my music and his voice bears all the telltale hallmarks.

So I procured a copy of SoundIron's Mercury Elements, to help me in my search for a would be replacement.

 I'm heavily influenced by Danny Elfman and his unique, almost ethereal style he gave to such films as "Edward Scissorhands", Batman Returns and "Sleepy Hollow". I'm still figuring out the nuts and bolts of the software but some early experiments have been promising! Here's some examples of the classic "Elfman" sound with boys choirs:

The Dark Knight Returns: A Trilogy.

3 pieces that I've written in tribute to Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" graphic novel. To be totally honest, I'm not particularly gone on the "Batman" theme as I had recently gotten hold of some new sample software and completely over produced and rushed it, completely ignoring the "less is more" aesthetic. Not that I really follow it. Regardless, I will be revisiting this piece in the future. Personally, the "Superman" theme is my favourite. My first stab at the "BIG" Hollywood sound.

All music is strictly copyrighted to me and my production studio - SHAP Sound.

PHIL McCLEAN - Movie Composer

The world and it's mother knows that I'm a failed movie music composer, or am I....?

I love movies, good and bad! If you HATE a film, there's a chance I found something to like about it. Chances are that something was soundtrack related. Could be any genre but I'm easy when it comes to that. If it sounds good to my ear, I'll take it. With the continuing and ever worsening blandness of today's popular music, I tend to take shelter in soundtracks. Not that I'm a total oaf towards new music. You just have to dig a little deeper to wade through the auto-tuned, Simon Cowell sponsored crap we seem to be drowning in nowadays.

Anyway, you may not know I have done a VERY short movie soundtrack for an American film by a gentleman called A.J. Bangs. It was a fun experience. I had put up on my old MYSPACE account, a header of "Free movie composer for hire". No idea why really. Clearly that days cocktail of weed and beer (Ah, crazy youth!) went to my ego, and practically a day later, this guy came knocking, so to speak. he told me the story, sent me a rough cut and described the mood. He asked for an end piece that really made no sense to me as the mood was very different than he envisaged. But I concurred and created the music. He was genuinely pleased with my efforts. Said that he was looking towards a professional cut of his film. So I sent him different variations on the music. He promised me a dvd and a credit, then the emails stopped. He has been silent since then online. Though traces of his (once?) online existence are there. The music itself has resurfaced in various songs of mine to date.

For all I know the man could be dead now, but thanks to him I finally got a movie credit. So technically I succeeded at soundtrack composing. I made it, Ma. I really made it!
The film can be watched on this link HERE   . 

Thanks for reading.