The Name Game Pro Tip:
  1. Didja accidentally blow through the whole, "We're using our real names" thing on registration? No problem, just send me (Mike) a Conversation message and I'll get you sorted, by which I mean hammered-into-obedient-line because I'm SO about having a lot of individuality-destroying, oppressive shit all over my forum.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. You're only as good as the harshest criticism you're willing to hear.
    Dismiss Notice

Scoring an Audio Drama

Discussion in 'Critique & Feedback' started by Duncan Formosa, Oct 17, 2023.

  1. #1 Duncan Formosa, Oct 17, 2023
    My youngest brother has been putting together a little Doctor Who audio drama with his friends and he asked me to do a couple of cues for him while he does the rest. I thought it would make a good challenge since I don't tend to score to things very often.

    One of the biggest challenges I faced writing these 2 cues is the fact that it's super dialogue heavy, so I was trying to be cautious that the music didn't steam roller everything that was being said. So the themes are very bare bones (you probably won't be humming it any time soon) and the orchestration is very limited as I wanted to try and leave enough room for the vocals to sit naturally.

    I'm a little on the fence about the final result of these tracks. I guess to an extent they have the right vibe going for the scene, however, I'm not sure that all the ideas connect all that well and might seem a bit sloppy, particularly the track "Freeing the Soldiers." The whole time I was writing it I was thinking back to scoring 2 and thinking "this is the kind of score Mike would probably slate for not connecting very well and stopping too often."

    For now, this is the best I was able to come up with, but I'm hoping that I've managed to learn a lot while doing this. Very curious to hear peoples thoughts on this one.



     
  2. #2 Michael Lückgen, Oct 19, 2023
    Can you share the music without VO? I find it hard to hear at places and would be nice to see if it holds up on their own.
     
  3. #3 Duncan Formosa, Oct 19, 2023
    Sure

     
    Michael Lückgen likes this.
  4. #4 Michael Lückgen, Oct 19, 2023
    Just some thoughts:

    Carsons Plan
    0:15 I kinda expected the note to go down here in order to make one coherent phrase, before you keep going. I know it's some sort of build up, but still I think it would be better in my opinion.
    0:55-1:00 seems like a good opportunity for some sort of high notes counter figure/embellishment. There is some space in the VO too, so it seems like a missed opportunity to me.
    1:03-1:18 Maybe add a bit of bass movement here? Maybe use the motif from the beginning of the track, to round it out.

    Freeing The Soldiers
    0:40 I think the music can get a bit busier when moving into the next section. Maybe just 2 8th notes leading into the next section in the bass.
    0:43 Would love some sort of counterpoint here. Or maybe just add something that arpeggiates, but something to give it the impression of more development.
    1:10 I think it would be nice to do some sort of figure here to bridge to the next section. And it would nicely draw attention to the music, which I think would be cool. You could accent the "no mercy at all" line right before and thus make it more dramatic.
    1:36 nice string entrance. I think it comes at exactly the right time.
    1:47 I guess you intentionally played over the execution, but maybe get a bit darker here just to acknowledge it?
    1:58 I would do a rising string figure, which builds by adding more Instruments, in order to bridge that empty space. By adding the coming instruments of the next section it would make for a nice transition and you won't fall into the stopping and starting again pit.

    Overall I think it works great. Not so sure if the music will draw too much attention to itself with my notes implemented, but I guess this can be done gracefully.
     
    Duncan Formosa likes this.
  5. #5 Duncan Formosa, Nov 30, 2023
    Here's another one I done for the audio drama. Didn't really like it when I wrote it but after listening to it again when it came out it's maybe the better one out of the three?

     
    Michael Lückgen likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page