Cet hiver, j’ai composé la musique du merveilleux téléroman O’. Produit par Sovimage et réalisée par Éric Tessier, cette série nous fait découvrir la famille O’Hara, avec tous ses hauts et ses bas. C’est la première fois qu’on m’a confié une série dramatique et ce fût une joie totale! La qualité des textes, le jeu des comédiens, la direction photo, le montage, la direction des acteurs, etc – tout est de si grande qualité que je n’ai eu aucun problème à trouver ma muse, mon inspiration. La seule contrainte (si on peut appeller ça une contrainte) fût d’avoir une écriture très mélodique. Éric m’a donné beaucoup de liberté quand au choix des instruments, des couleurs et après seulement deux ou trois semaines, le monde musical de O’ a pris sa forme finale. J’ai surtout utilisé ces instruments : piano, guitare et basse électriques, violons, violoncelle, hang drum, dulcimer et de textures synthétisées (Omnisphere de Spectrasonics). Je suis très heureux de savoir que je fais partie de l’équipe pour la deuxième saison – j’ai déjà hâte!

Pour entendre des exemples de la musique, veuillez visiter ma page à Soundcloud.

© TVA, Serge Gauvin

This past winter, I composed the music for the wonderful Quebec television series O’ (TVA). Produced by Sovimage and directed by Eric Tessier, this series follows the highs and lows of the O’Hara family. This is the first time that I have had the opportunity to work on a dramatic series and it was a total joy! The quality of the writing, the acting, the photography, editing, directing of the actors, etc, was so great that I had little trouble finding my muse, my inspiration. The only restriction (if one can call it that) was that the music had to be very melodic. From the outset, Eric gave me much freedom in the choice of instruments, colour, and within 2 or 3 weeks the musical world of O’ had been defined. I mostly limited myself to the following instruments: piano, electric guitar and bass, strings, hang drum, and synthesizer textures (Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere ). I’m very happy to know that I will be back on the team for the second season – I can’t wait!

If you wish to hear some of the music of the series, please visit my Soundcloud page.

You can view some video excerpts by clicking here

Next showings-
Sunday, Sept 04 Discovery US
Thursday, Sept 08 Science Channel

On iTunes US

This is a family-friendly thriller set in various parts of Europe, and it features Christine Baranski, Skyler Day, Loren Dean, Robyn Lively and Drew Koles. It was true joy working with the production team from Montreal’s Muse Entertainment, and getting a chance to sit and work with the talented director, Paolo Barzman. His directions really helped shape the sound of the soundtrack, which features dramatic virtual-orchestra cues, rocked by guitar and driving rhythms. Here’s the promo (not my music):

Every time I play with my Roland SH-5, I feel like I’m taking the controls of a spaceship of some kind! What an amazing chameleon, this mid-70s synthesizer is: soft, harsh, simple, complex, funky, spaced-out, out-of-control, sweet sounds can be easily coaxed out of it with a little love. The filters are particularly musical, rich, and the ability to mix 5 different sources allows me to create a whole range of tones. Of course, there’s no patch-saving of any kind, so every sound you create remains the same only as long as you don’t touch anything… which is impossible! So I hit ‘record’ and twist away madly, joyously lost in the ever-bountiful ocean of analog waves.

Here’s an example of what its filters sound like:

You can read a good review of iHolophone on the excellent promusicapps site.

Sonic Wire is so strange, it could only have come out in 2010! A fantastic synthesized-sound generator, it allows me to create a long, looped trace of finger gestures that can then be manipulated in 3D space, with various scales. You can see a video demonstration of it on Zach Gages’ website.This app is based on a real-life interactive installation by Amit Pitaru, exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide.

Backline Calc is like the Swiss-army knife of audio-related calculations. If I need to figure out time in samples, tempo or bars or beats in seconds, minutes, etc, compare tempi in percentage change – it’s all a breeze, and it even includes a very useful file-size calculator.

I’m also enjoying Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers’ Trope, making ambient soundscapes with a few gestures that automatically loop, and jamming over them with my Korg MS2000 (not an app!). There are a dozen moods to choose from which correspond to various musical keys and modes. Like his other apps, Bloom and Air, the experience is as beautiful to look at as it is to hear.

Changing patches in Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere is now made even easier with their app, Omni Live. I sometimes will load 8 different Rhodes patches and switch between them in real-time while noodling, to quickly assess which is the best sound for the cue I’m trying to nail.

And for a little old-school fun while waiting in line somewhere, I break out technoBox, complete with an 808/900 drum machine, a 303 bass-synth clone, and some useful effects. There’s chaining of sequences and saving/loading of sessions (songs). After playing with it for a few minutes, it’s hard for me not to dance!

For the past few months, I’ve been composing music for a new CBC prime-time domestic comedy, 18 To Life. The producers and I decided early on that the music production and performances should not be too slick. I opted for some country-blues inspired music, along with simple jazz-blues riffs and rhythms. I bought or rented a bunch of great instruments for this truly fun project: national steel guitar (also known as a Dobro), harmonicas, a banjo, a late-70s Gibson Les Paul, a kazoo (!), etc. I also rely on software instruments like Spectrasonics’ new Trilian basses, RMX with Cajun and Jazz percussion/drum loops, AcousticsampleS‘ Kawai piano, SAM Symphobia and LASS strings.

Produced by Montreal’s Galafilm, the series will premiere January 4, at 8 pm.

Here are a few examples of my cues:

Close The Blinds

Down Home

Flirting On Bench

Kazoo Boogie

Refugee Hop

The Proposal

I’m thrilled to report that Roger Cantin‘s Un Cargo pour l’Afrique is in the official competition of the Montreal World Film Festival. I composed part of the soundtrack, which includes as well the beautiful songs and voice of Oumar Ndiaye. The music I wrote features traditional african instruments like drums and kora, alongside orchestral strings. I attented the premiere last night, and it was a rousing success! The film features the superb acting of local acting legend Pierre Lebeau, and will be out in Quebec theatres in the second week of September.

While writing the soundtrack, I met and became friends with the very talented Senegalese singer/songwriter Oumar N’Diaye. His infectious joie de vivre, his professionalism and amazing voice make any musical collaboration a real joy. Here are a couple of recent photographs, taken by my wife Brenda Keesal:

Award-winning composer Leon Willett offers his analysis of film scoring devices, complete with score and audio examples (Willett’s an excellent mock-up composer). This is a really great resource for composers interested in learning more ‘tricks’ of the trade. The composer also offers one-on-one courses in harmony, counterpoint, creating mock-ups and more. Click here to explore it.

For the past few months, I’ve been composing the music for YTV’s new reality-tv competition series, In Real Life. The music is a mix of action orchestral and power-pop, and it’s been a fantastic challenge for me to keep ramping up the musical adrenaline! Produced by Montreal’s Apartment 11, the series features 12-14-year olds competing in various incredible challenges. I couldn’t have created this music without these amazing tools: Nine Volt Audio libraries, Stylus RMX, StormDrum 1 and 2, Tonehammer instruments. Keep a lookout for new YTV episodes on Wednesday nights, at 7 pm.

Here are some examples of the music I created for the show:

Running Out of Time

Watch Out For Teeth

Battling To The Finish

Hanging Out