Spitfire Audio Presents: A Conversation with Harry Gregson-Williams

Summary

In this insightful episode from Spitfire Audio, host Robert invites the esteemed film composer Harry Gregson-Williams for a compelling conversation about his journey and creative processes. Harry dives deep into his work on 'Gladiator 2', discussing the unique challenges of scoring such an action-packed film, his collaboration with Ridley Scott, and the inventive use of ancient and authentic instruments. He shares his thoughts on the dynamic between live musicians and samples, his approach to starting a project, and reflects on the continuous pursuit of artistic growth. Harry also touches on the impact of renowned composer Hans Zimmer on his career, and how he navigates his instinctive self-criticism to perfect his craft.

Highlights

• Harry Gregson-Williams shares insights into his work on 'Gladiator 2', revealing the complexities of scoring action sequences while managing sound effects and music dynamics. 🎬
• He narrates his inspirational journey to Northern Spain, recording with local musicians to incorporate authentic ancient sounds into the score. 🎻
• Harry reflects on his creative process, often starting with just a piano and a manuscript to capture the essence of the film. 🎹
• The discussion highlights Harry's relationship with Ridley Scott, noting the trust and collaboration that fosters creativity and excellence in their projects. 🤝
• Highlights include anecdotes about his experiences with famed filmmaker Tony Scott and legendary composer Hans Zimmer. 🎥

Key Takeaways

• Harry Gregson-Williams emphasizes the importance of balancing live instruments with synthetic sounds to enhance the cinematic experience. 🎼
• His travels to capture authentic music underscore the value of cultural and historical elements in modern compositions. 🌍
• A recurring theme is the ongoing quest for improvement and the willingness to embrace self-criticism as a tool for artistic growth. 🌱
• The interview provides a window into the collaborative nature of film scoring, where the composer's vision aligns with the director's storytelling. 🎭
• Harry's stories convey the profound impact of mentorship and professional relationships on artistic trajectories and achievements. 🤝

Overview

Harry Gregson-Williams, a maestro in film composition, joins Spitfire Audio’s Robert for an enlightening discourse on navigating the world of cinematic music. This episode focuses on Harry’s recent score for 'Gladiator 2', exploring the syncopation between thematic development and the intense demands of action sequences. Such detailed orchestration requires a balancing act, particularly when integrating live and synthetic elements, a challenge Harry relishes.

The composer recounts his adventure to Northern Spain to source authentic sounds, weaving ancient instrumental textures into a modern film score. This pursuit not only enriches the movie's soundscape but also showcases Harry’s commitment to authenticity and depth in his music. His dedication and adventurous spirit open up new sound realms that transport audiences beyond conventional movie experiences.

Beyond technique and travels, Harry discusses the intrinsic relationship with directors, particularly Ridley Scott. Trust and collaboration form the bedrock of their working synergy, fueling creative excellence that complements visual storytelling. Ultimately, Harry's dialogue with Robert emphasizes the power of continuous growth and the artist’s tireless quest to elevate each piece of work to new heights.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter 'Introduction' discusses the launch of a new series by Spitfire, focusing on interviews with the world's greatest composers from film, television, and video games.
• 00:30 - 02:30: Interview Beginning The chapter titled 'Interview Beginning' starts with an enthusiastic welcome for Harry Gregson-Williams, a renowned and versatile composer in Hollywood and globally. The host, Robert, expresses his admiration and excitement for having Harry on the show. Harry humbly accepts the compliment and inquires about Robert's well-being. Robert acknowledges working with a producer who has also collaborated with Harry on some films. The chapter sets a positive and warm tone for the interview.
• 02:30 - 06:00: Talking about Gladiator 2 In this chapter, the speaker discusses notable aspects of the film 'Gladiator 2'. The conversation includes a mention of Gregster Wilson's involvement in the film. The speaker praises Harry Gregson-Williams, referring to his impressive body of work which includes composing for films such as 'Shrek', 'The Chronicles of Narnia', 'The Martian', and 'The Rock'. The speaker also acknowledges his collaborations with directors Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, and his contributions to Ben Affleck's movies like 'The Town'. The speaker plans to frequently reference and commend HGW (Harry Gregson-Williams) for his remarkable contributions to film music.
• 06:00 - 08:30: Challenges in Film Scoring The chapter titled 'Challenges in Film Scoring' discusses the success of 'Gladiator 2', focusing on its global impact, potential for an Oscar, and personal preparations like having an award speech and tuxedo ready. The conversation aims to explore the film Gladiator and its score in a broader context.
• 08:30 - 12:00: Unique Instrumentation This chapter discusses the unique challenges faced in scoring a film, particularly an action movie where the sound effects, such as those of the Coliseum, can overshadow the music. The speaker reflects on their experience of watching a film and feeling the need to listen to the score separately to fully appreciate its depth. The chapter highlights the importance of balancing the sound effects and the musical score to ensure the music can be appreciated within the cinematic experience.
• 12:00 - 17:00: On Collaborating with Directors and Composers The chapter discusses the dynamics of collaborating with directors and composers, particularly focusing on the balance between music and sound effects. It highlights the careful considerations involved in the process to avoid conflicts with sound effects. The specific example given involves a film project where the challenge was identified early on from the first cut that included an extended rhinoceros scene within the action sequences.
• 17:00 - 23:30: Composing Process and Philosophy The chapter discusses the challenges faced in the composing process, particularly when certain audio elements are not finalized, such as the sound of a beast and crowd noise. The composer anticipates the characteristics of the sounds, like the beast's sound, while dealing with the absence of completed sound layers, such as the Coliseum crowd, until late in the process. This impacts decisions and strategies throughout the development of the film's audio landscapes.
• 23:30 - 30:30: Final Words and Upcoming Projects The editor initially set a soundtrack that resembled a monotonous crowd sound similar to a soccer match, which did not react to events in the Coliseum. However, as time progressed, adjustments were made to work more dynamically in tandem with the final production elements.
• 30:30 - 32:00: Conclusion and Piano Medley In the chapter titled 'Conclusion and Piano Medley,' the narrative focuses on the collaborative process of film production, particularly emphasizing the roles of the editor, sound effects, and visual effects team. It speaks to the iterative nature of crafting a scene, where initial work begins even without all the elements finalized. Gradually, as sound effects and visual enhancements are layered in by the dedicated teams, the storytelling is significantly enriched, showcasing the artful integration of such details. The chapter underscores how these modifications help in vividly conveying the narrative, including the crucial reactions of the crowd, which are pivotal to the story's impact.

Spitfire Audio Presents: A Conversation with Harry Gregson-Williams Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to Spitfire presents a new series we're going to do with the world's greatest film television video game composers
• 00:30 - 01:00 artists musicians couldn't be more excited to welcome one of Hollywood's and the world's greatest and most versatile composers may I say that Harry greggson Williams you are one of the greatest most versatile and fabulous composers and one of my favorites you're too kind Robert and good morning how are you it's always tempting Harry I'm doing great too you know I worked with a producer who you did too on some of our films who used to ask me if we could get Harry
• 01:00 - 01:30 gregster Wilson to do the film and I always want to refer to you but I'm going to call you hgw and I'm going to brag about you for a minute because Harry your Opus is kind of unbelievable uh from Shrek to Chronicles of Narnia The Martian The Rock how about the rock you work with Ridley Scott and Tony Scott you did all those cool Ben Affleck movies like the town and I just
• 01:30 - 02:00 such great stuff and I know that right now Gladiator 2 is making a billion dollars around the world with your score and it's been shortlisted by the Oscars and uh I hope you have your speech ready and your tuxedo all set so that you can go in there but uh I wanted to ask you some questions about Gladiator today and just talking General
• 02:00 - 02:30 and go for it find out I mean I I read about it I read about I mean I saw the film and I wished that I could hear more score in the movie theater and had to go back and listen I was kind of amazed at how deep the score is when I'm not hearing the sound effects of the Coliseum well that's what that's what we uh we encounter when doing a you know what is essentially uh partly an action movie yeah you know and um we have to choose
• 02:30 - 03:00 our moments carefully and and not battle with the sound effects um I I didn't feel it was too much of a struggle on this movie the the um I mean I I could tell from the first cut that really sent me um there was certainly going to be a challenge the the action sequences because um yes the first cut um which contained an elongated uh rhinoceros scene
• 03:00 - 03:30 for instance the the the sound the sound of that Beast hadn't been done yet um but I you know it's pretty pretty sure it was going to be low and mean so I didn't need to be anywhere near that frequency um but the um the thing that was actually most difficult to work with um until very late on was the sound of the crowd in the Coliseum because again that hadn't been done they' obviously done Loop groups and all the rest of it but I I didn't have that until quite late Tom but um what um I guess a film
• 03:30 - 04:00 editor had laid in there sounded like a Saturday afternoon at Manchester United um you know it was crowd baying but it was it was very monotone and it was in one pitch and it wasn't reacting to what was going on in the Coliseum but gradually as time went on you know as you very well know we we as composed we work in tandem with with the the final
• 04:00 - 04:30 editor of the film the sound effects the visual effects so all these things come in when they come in um and one's got to start somewh you can't can't keep putting things off saying well I I can't work this scene because I don't have the final sound um but gradually you know layers started being putting in and uh being put in by the sound effects people and really artfully actually and and which actually helped tell the story immeasurably um you know the the reaction of the crowd whether it was a
• 04:30 - 05:00 positive one or a negative one or or whatever um so I was able to um duck and dive around that but yeah the the the the noisy bits were challenging they they they always are man I mean going back to uh um let me see well you mentioned the rock earlier Armageddon uh which I did with TR um yeah me that I mean you know the the the the sound of the sound effects um yeah how do you score a rocket ship taking off
• 05:00 - 05:30 right so why Trev did that extremely well it was beautiful his theme then and um yeah yeah I think it makes me wonder I read about the score and how much effort you put into recording authentic instruments I saw that you traveled to Northern Spain to find some guy who made period instruments I mean does that come I listened on the score album and it's fabulous now I have to wonder did I hear
• 05:30 - 06:00 that underneath the crowd sounds well yeah th those particular sounds probably aren't playing there um you know I chose my moments to to use the colors where I felt necessary I mean you know you'd be hard pushed to hear a vile gamber quartet um if I were trying to play that over you know o over the naval battle in the Coliseum um but no I'm I'm playing that actually the the speaking of the vials
• 06:00 - 06:30 um yeah there are a couple of scenes that were Ridley and I really wanted to be kind of cold and frigid uh and I'd written the cues which he liked but they you know I was using at that point obviously my demos I was using rather Lush muted string sounds um and that's what I would have recorded uh and I'd be wrote at the end of the process if if it if um I hadn't to figured out to to to
• 06:30 - 07:00 to to put this vial quarter in front of those um those muted strings that I would record um and have Rec in ABY Road you know they don't play with verato they're kind of ancient instruments um uh well ancient they're older U and they're tricky to play they're tricky they got kind of nasal very chilly sound um so but
• 07:00 - 07:30 using the the the arrangement that I had uh on strings and transcribing that for the the vile quartet and put them in the middle of Abbey Road um alone uh oh that's a great these these are the sounds were were you know that that's very very typical of the way that I went about the score I'm curious about the you know of course you have to have super high quality samples to write those demos and
• 07:30 - 08:00 uh I wonder if it's tempting to stick with the samples as opposed to the players because you have this blend of synthetic and acoustic instruments when you record I've done that with you is there a uh is there a time you have to decide or is it just understood that you're not going to use the synthetic versions and you're going to go spend the time and money on the uh well um as you know the
• 08:00 - 08:30 players no I don't I don't work on Films all the time that will afford me to go and replace everything that I'm writing uh on this occasion I was able to um so that was one of the great Joys and Gifts of doing a movie like this uh it was very well supported by par beautiful department and that yeah um but having said that in the writing process I tend to um know what sound I'm after and um Ian I wouldn't be using a muted string
• 08:30 - 09:00 patch in the with the thought that the sample had in any way got anything going on that I wanted more than the live thing you know a lot of for instance high pitched High string sounds like harmonics which are quite difficult to record effectively within the orchestra when they're all sitting there only because that pitch it travels man it's like a piccolo you try getting you know getting less volume on a harmonic that's it's been played by a few violins um in
• 09:00 - 09:30 a room like Abby R it's very difficult so actually that's qu quite a good point you make go going into the recording I separate sound there are one or two sounds orchestral sounds that normally would be played um in the room with the orchestra um and actually if I perform it live they're going to have to be um I'm curious about those uh ancient instruments you know the guy had I never had heard of this of course a carnic do
• 09:30 - 10:00 you record him do you sample that instrument and then play The Melodies you want on it do you write something out for him to play on the carnic and he in his farmhouse in Northern Spain plays a Harry Gregson Williams q that you then take it's actually was um a combination of the two um he uh his instruments aren't transportable certainly not over over to head Los Angeles um
• 10:00 - 10:30 uh and anyhow I thought it was what a fun trip let's go to Northern Spain so um yeah I took down D really in a farmhouse yeah yeah beautiful rural very uh isolated place um um and then in the back of behind Was An Old Stone Barn which has been beautifully converted into you know with a a Proto rig and a little mixing desk and and a room where he had all his instruments and um far far better for me to go down there and
• 10:30 - 11:00 discover the instruments with him and what they might be able to do um than than than to do something over the Internet with him um so yeah team was it just you showed up with a um did you record me but me from my Yeah Yeah from LA but he had a recordist there oh and actually a camera crew I think um um I wasn't party to that but uh I took down in my back pocket a a
• 11:00 - 11:30 couple of drives with uh I think the Roman Invasion at the beginning of the film The Big action sequence which I had I had done fairly early on but I certainly hadn't finished with it it was kind of my first pass I think I'd played it for Ridley um he'd been very positive about it uh but I knew that I wanted to flavor this with uh some ancient instruments that I hadn't even dreamt of yet um and I took that queue um downt
• 11:30 - 12:00 him which is quite long actually much longer than how it exists today because the film was longer yeah um so an early editor of the film um yeah uh and I had a couple of lines or I would sing him I had actually written some things out for him to play whether they worked on this instrument or that instrument that was down to what we did that afternoon I was there um and he had a couple of uh yeah I mean the kind
• 12:00 - 12:30 good luck writing music for that I it's a wondrous sound but it makes it it's not it's not going to be chromatic put it that way what is theic you do you blow through it or play it yeah oh absolutely there's a huge tubing um tubed instrument with a beautiful kind of Serpent's head on the front where the sound comes out um his was is um and uh yeah he he took me around the the instruments he have various shells with holes um pushed in them um I guess you
• 12:30 - 13:00 could call them conscious but they they were a bit more developed than that um quite a few brass instruments an instrument that looked remarkably like it was the grand grand grandfather of the French horn so it was brass and it was it was uh you know it was world world Whirlwind kind of look to it but many more circles and a much thinner tubing um uh but again he he was able to um key wise I didn't worry too much
• 13:00 - 13:30 about what was going on there if I sense that this instrument for instance this um warhorn I think he called it if it were if I discovered that it was going to be able to behave a bit like a French horn so it would like perfect fourth and perfect fifths um uh you know we we're on the Fly and so okay we get to that part let's let's have a bit of that um I discovered that the the the key that the only key that it would playing was not a key that I would want to be in
• 13:30 - 14:00 but I hadn't play it nonetheless you know I deal with it back here um so yeah there was a lot of give and take um I love that and I love that um I thought it was the other way around like you would sample it you'd go to ABY Road and record and then you'd kind of play on a keyboard you know the carnic sample in The Melodies you did but you actually recorded there and then tweaked post um you said something to me
• 14:00 - 14:30 randomly a few weeks ago we had a conversation and you said that when you went to the premere at the man Chinese I think he said there were moments in the film that and I believe everyone probably has this when they've worked on a movie that you thought could have been different or better um I wondered number one do you think that at most premieres do you listen to your yeah I I think when we had that
• 14:30 - 15:00 conversation I was someone had asked me whether it was you or somebody else we were with you know are you satisfied with it and my answer was no I I rarely satisfied with anything um you know when I sit and watch a finished film whether it's at a Premiere or later on a DVD or whatever it is catch it on TV you know I can't I I that's just the my nature is to be self-critical about something and think wonder why the music didn't come in two beats earlier it felt like there
• 15:00 - 15:30 was a pregnant pause there uh you know it's not like um a score Like Gladiator gets just thrown against the wall and there's no care taken about it I mean that particular queue if I'm sensing that the queue came in a bit late well you can bet your bom dollar that I spent a lot of time before precisely finding the best place for it but just in that moment seeing you know a finished result of a a film that I'm doing maybe I'm looking for things I that's interesting
• 15:30 - 16:00 um I think I think listening to this I I wonder I'm hearing how many people first of all no one else in that man Chinese Theater is thinking what you're thinking everybody this is the movie This is the way it's supposed to be we have experts working on it that queue started exactly where they wanted it to start and uh it's really interesting to hear your perception of that moment but when I listen to what you're describing you're describing an
• 16:00 - 16:30 unbelievable amount of work to make this score and traveling to Spain sampling ancient instruments do you ever reflect on the fact that not a lot of people will know or care how hard the composer worked to create this soundscape no that doesn't occur to me at all because um now the only person I really need to know to know that he knows that I know that he knows is
• 16:30 - 17:00 the director you know I um he knows that you know Ridley knows that about me that's probably why his brother uh recommended me to him um uh I didn't realize that you got to Ridley through Tony um well I can only imagine that was partly the reason you know keep what was the first Ridley film and what of Heaven it was Kingdom of Heaven which we did together I done anime State man on Far
• 17:00 - 17:30 Spy game maybe one more movie before before so i' had done a lot of work with Tony before I did Kingdom um but you know it's it's it's so strange looking back on how things work and how how we sort of travel through our lives and um you know some things we really want and we don't get some things we're not looking for and they find us um you know I uh having had such an
• 17:30 - 18:00 amazing experience and relationship with Tony Scott you know I feel very I feel very honored to to to to do the OB movie for Ridley and you know I I know that he has choice and I've never I've never felt um entitled to to do his his movies certainly not this one you know with knowing who did the first score um so and and um and so if he calls me and uh now that just says to me he trusts that I can can do it and he knows that I'll
• 18:00 - 18:30 bust my gut to do it interesting you say knowing who did the first score I read is this actually is this accurate that Hans either listened into to a mix or you put him on speaker or something or put them on a session I did man I've got to dig it out on my some someone there was actually the the well doubling back I was I was in London for a week and uh uh recording the Orest orchest component and the choirs for for um for
• 18:30 - 19:00 the movie and uh I happened to have dinner in the midweek I had dinner with Hans who happened to be in London also I think he was doing Blitz at the time um you're up against him now on the short list how fabulous I don't it doesn't feel that way uh I'm not I don't feel rivalry between me and Hans I know who the master who the boss and who The Apprentice is here in this relationship um no so so we had dinner I he said you know what are you doing I said well what
• 19:00 - 19:30 do you think I'm doing I'm doing Gladiator 2 um and I'm actually um you know what uh the guy who leads my Orchestra who's not everybody's choice to be the leader his name is Perry monteu Mason um he was my leader going back I don't know 20 years or something like that maybe 15 years and before that he was certainly in the first Orchestra I had the pleasure of having play on my stuff way back in the '90s but he maybe he was
• 19:30 - 20:00 leading the seconds but he he he became my the leader of my Orchestra and uh I think his last day um before he retired was going to be the next day that I I was having dinner with Hanson the next day was going to be Perry's final day he' you know he was going to retire I told H that and we discovered that actually Perry's first first gig at all for anybody as leader
• 20:00 - 20:30 was Gladiator oh the original Gladiator all years said listen man I've got a camera crew there tomorrow this they're going to be doing you know the EPK stuff um so I don't know I don't know whether we mind or not but what if you zoom in and I tell you I'll do I'll I'll record um actually I had already recorded the this queue but I said mate I'll I'll play and we can record the Queue at the end of the movie where lucius's theme becomes maximus' theme
• 20:30 - 21:00 and you can hear your big old Germanic tune but you got to zoom in we um he said I'm very busy but I want to do it I want to do it so we arranged it and um uh as I halfway through the morning session I had the full Orchestra there I 80 or 90 people and um yeah hans's big old ugly face came up on the screen behind me so the orchestra could see it and uh um yeah we played down that queue and um he was omnipresent you might say
• 21:00 - 21:30 oh that's incredible he was really chuffed you know he's he's he's happy yeah I bet I bet he is I mean you hear the evolution of his theme I think it's really fabulous the way he did that and integrated it in and developed it uh it's huge storytelling I mean it's interesting I'm thinking of huge storytelling I'm thinking of that final scene with Paul Mescal and Denzel and they're fighting and I thought I actually had thought while I was
• 21:30 - 22:00 watching it that Harry and Denzel have a funny screen and composer relationship I don't know if Denzel even realizes how his work has been scored by you I mean man on man on fire is for both of you you told me man on fire was your first electronic score did I get that right no no no I think phone booth was phone booth okay cuz we did we did both together and I um it's funny and you also mentioned
• 22:00 - 22:30 Kingdom of Heaven I remember Ridley on Kingdom of Heaven when you finished a queue and you came into the control room at Abby rod and he just lifted his head and said um I and you said I know and it was like wow this is a very unspoken kind of relationship between a director and a composer that I don't know what you guys are both understanding about what I just heard that sounded great but on uh a Man on
• 22:30 - 23:00 [Music] Fire did was it completely you'll have to remind me was it completely electronic no not not completely at all but it was it was um predominantly and this is in a pre I mean if I may be so bold a pre-s Spitfire Universe oh yeah and so your samples before you had the luxury of the libraries did you create a lot of the electronic sounds were they generated by synths
• 23:00 - 23:30 yeah I think I think so I was just taking a deep dive into having having done F booth and really enjoyed myself on that movie with no real right to because I didn't have I had no history of being your your synth guy I mean I just spent a bit of time around H Zimmer and you know you go into his room at 2: in the morning and he was likely to be underneath some synth trying to fix it you know as opposed to tuning up a violin so yeah that rubbed off on me I
• 23:30 - 24:00 was like man you realize the irony of that is that I think you're thought of as one of the Masters of blending synth and Orchestra and everybody assumes you're a master at synth as well as I can tell you I'm still I'm still I I still I'm intrigued by I'm still learning um I'm still experimenting with that I mean on on Gladiator there's very very little that is synthetic um uh there are couple couple of sort of baselines that had to had to be be fortified with like I don't know so se1
• 24:00 - 24:30 or something um but but yeah syn was very far from my thoughts on this one you know there's a there's a huge vocal component on Gladiator I actually was wondering about that because the vocals I listen carefully it's sometimes unclear whether it's a vocal or a sample or a blend cuz there's a very interesting Sonic quality to some of the vocals and I are they actual singers are they samples of singers well the the the
• 24:30 - 25:00 um well you know the the phenomenon and uh the empress Lisa Gerard yeah I mean you know no one has this sort of spirituality down as well as she does and it it just seemed like a a com a a beautiful thing to ask her to repre um just for a minute or two with it within this film and um and as as soon as you know she'd agreed to do it and I got
• 25:00 - 25:30 really excited about it really said well I don't know where we want to put it and he wasn't by the way referring to the end title song now we are free that that wasn't my choice tour that wasn't that was predetermined um elsewhere um but I just her her contribution um to the schore uh once she'd agreed to it I thought okay I'm going to put her right at the beginning in fact it's going to be so at the beginning it's going to be over the logos um and you know I I really wanted to find a way of giving
• 25:30 - 26:00 people a warm and fuzzy feeling that they ah this this this is this is a there's a legacy here you know uh and trying to join the adults that way but you know it just comes it comes and it goes within 35 seconds or something at the beginning of the movie and then we're off into something completely new but um uh in London this amazing soprano who I found for the first time on the last jeel and really really loved on that her name's Grace Davidson she's a leading soprano she sings in a couple of
• 26:00 - 26:30 spots it's quite ambient it's not nearly as featur as it was in the last duel but really important to me um on top of that some uh beautiful uh voices from Northern Africa um and uh yeah yeah I I love I love you know painting with these sort of colors um there was one particular uh vocal that I I had in my head that what I wanted to do with it and actually which coincided with what Ridley had asked me to look for which
• 26:30 - 27:00 was a kind of Northern African um plaintive voice uh for the arak character at the beginning of the movie um and actually I repre it during the movie to help remind the audience that this is kind of what Lucius has lost this is what's driving him forward is the loss of his wife at the beginning of the movie um so I searched for a voice we searched high and low um um um a friend of mine Adam SMY pointed
• 27:00 - 27:30 me to he he he he was in my studio listening to some music encouraging me as he's done over the years many many many times he didn't work on the movie this movie um worked on the original but um and he said you know there's a score from about 25 years ago that's got an Acappella voice in it that you have listen to it see what you make I found found it on on Spotify or whatever um and and I listened to it and I I really lik the quality of it liked it a lot um
• 27:30 - 28:00 and it was like a two and a half minute AR capella track um so I so I sent out kind of search parties looking for this uh vocalist who's known as gii um but to to no Veil we could not find her um last scene you know in San Francisco or maybe she's on the west coast uh the East Coast rather um we really couldn't find her so being a little bit impatient I I realized that there were within this 2 and a half minute piece if I snipped up
• 28:00 - 28:30 some bits that I really wanted to put it put it into my uh my system I could actually manipulate it to work sonically and melodically with the music Cube that I already had for ARA um so that's what I did and uh I thought well I better call something about that someone's got to play this lady and license music uh but before I do that I might as well see if really likes it because if he doesn't like it yeah point
• 28:30 - 29:00 in going down that path yeah so he I sent it to him he was in France at the time and he got immediately back love it h love it um uh so yes my next call was to the music department in par say it's it's only about eight or 10 seconds but we we need to license this thing bless you for taking care of the artist I appreciate oh goodness gracious yeah I mean I would have it would have been lovely to have her but to be honest with the in my time constraints at that point that happened quite late on in the process and I still have music to write
• 29:00 - 29:30 and being left alone with this 2 and a/ half minute AR capella track it was it was a perfect little soundbox I could uh yeah I'm afraid it probably doesn't possibly doesn't make any sense in in Ethiopian anymore because I might have switched the order of yeah yeah um it's just a little blip and you know it's just just happens and and those sort of um those sort of uh moments the moments that I I enjoy more than any
• 29:30 - 30:00 other uh perhaps not more than any other but i' really love to to put together kind of a tapestry of sound uh and and the colors that can be afforded by whether it's a A cantelli or a santour um or an oud uh or I mean I try to stay away from the duok as much as possible I think I I utilized it in one one piece it just it's so beautiful I love it there's no particular reason to stare away from it um other than it's quite
• 30:00 - 30:30 it's it's quite well used uh these days and it's kind of almost a caricature of itself which is a hell of a shame beautiful instrument um but i' kind of been down that path on a movie called Prince of Persia years ago um uh and a bit on Kingdom of Heaven but um but you know there were weird and wonderful instruments all over the place to be able to tap into and I tend to want to do that as I'm writing the demos you know because that's kind of how I'm imagining the music um as opposed to
• 30:30 - 31:00 leaving it all to the end of the process what you know maybe having a couple of extra days at Abby Road to record these featured vocalists and instrumentalists but by then I I feel I really want the director to know feel exactly what I'm doing I think there are a number of young composers listening who would love to know I mean you're describing it in pieces here but I mean your range is enormous I mean you
• 31:00 - 31:30 go from from Shrek to Gladiator 2 kind of you know with a little penguins documentary in there and Narnia and uh really enormous but it all comes down to this kind of central approach you have which is incredibly creative but I think for a young composer they would wonder is there any way that you use to
• 31:30 - 32:00 start a project is there something in all that unites these a huge variety of music but is there a a ritual or routine or is there a you know what's a day in the life of Harry when he is mainly I I start as you see I've got a nice piano behind me the the the um after two or three years of of uh being in you know in America with h his assistant I I
• 32:00 - 32:30 could afford to buy a piano I certainly couldn't when I arrived um and that's the piano I still have it um and it fits nicely in my studio here and I usually start there man because I'm on Terra Firma there not because I'm half the quarter of The Pianist that a gentleman like Chris Bowers is this gu like a monster piano or you know many people composers and otherwise pianist um great pianists everywhere I'm not one
• 32:30 - 33:00 of them but I've been playing since I was four or something and I can play and I like to play enjy to play um so I generally uh I generally will start over my piano with a sketch pad some manuscript and a pencil and is it you've read a script and you have a general idea do you close your eyes and start noodling Melodies and thinking this this sounds like what a man on fire would sound like I mean is it yeah do you come with an idea to the
• 33:00 - 33:30 piano or do you just let your fingers no I I will try and resist the tempation to to move over to this side of the room which is where you know Q Bas where I start programming and arranging music I find that if I if I go there too quickly which is what the Temptation is because that's where all the joy of all the sounds exist um then I maybe short changing the creative process the the the my opening
• 33:30 - 34:00 Salvo should not be restrained or restricted by the picture at this point so you I think it has to sort of speak for itself a little bit to me to me just privately to me uh and if if I possibly can at that stage um I'll have a director come in here and I probably would have chosen a couple of moments in the film to take what I'm going to play him on the piano Maybe main theme or or or or whatever it is I'm going to play him but i' have
• 34:00 - 34:30 sequenced up arranged orchestrated a couple of moments uh not vast amounts but um so to bring someone into into our world and maybe sit him down and play him the sort of idea this is what I'm thinking this is what I'm thinking so it's just piano at that stage there's no piano in Gladiator 2 actually might be a little bit somewhere but very little but that's besides the point it's a Feeling um and also it's a good chance to read you know
• 34:30 - 35:00 read body language um and get a reaction and and then I'd move over to saying look this is how it could work for this character in a scene like this not this is what you're getting for this scene not at all fed compete at that point more like so this is how it would evolve into your film and and a scene like this it could play kind of like this and I like that idea because it gives the direct an opportunity to feel like he's not being
• 35:00 - 35:30 cornered to feel like he's a part of the process um you know I I think and I'm sure I've been guilty of this um previously probably on a few occasions where you know the Temptation is to get your man or your your lady into the room sit them down and hit them with your music and expect them to love it love it love it love it love it don't give me any notes no but that's not really the real world so I it might happen a few times occasionally but but I think to to
• 35:30 - 36:00 easey and gently not not so that there's there's a gentle fall but just to yeah so this is I've been sitting at the piano and this is what I'm feeling but in addition to that have a listen to how that might sound with some strings and a FL what do um and and I feel that a director come he can push back in a more civil uh uh and decent environment by saying you know I'm I'm not really I'm not I'm not really feeling it here as
• 36:00 - 36:30 opposed to you know sending a bunch of music over to a director and then probably getting a a bunch of notes back but you know can can we all work like that all the time no because I it's definitely wasn't Co that that but Co didn't help but um this kind of composing remotely yeah it's taken on a uh quite a thing uh and you know we we we actually don't have to be in the same
• 36:30 - 37:00 room as the filmmakers sadly but there's nothing better than the body language the best the best moments have been a director saying to the composer wait wait wait go back you know and then you have this interaction what was that bit and then but back yeah absolutely back in the day thinking about it I mean that's kind of how I learned the ropes with with Hansen he you know I would be in the back of the room it would be his his movie I'm perhaps helping with um um but it would always be about the
• 37:00 - 37:30 meeting that week the meeting and I was the director composer uh review um and you know the the the DreamWorks movies that I was so lucky to do particularly at the beginning so Sinbad and Shrek and Chicken around ants these movies you know Jeffrey kenberg was came to my studio I mean he came to my room at H's studio and and Hans would come into the meetings he'd offer up any any Pearls of
• 37:30 - 38:00 Wisdom himself and there was a change I don't know when it happened um where perhaps it was just the um the facility of the internet it wasn't the invention of the internet because that happened before but but like it really is possible to send good quality demos over the internet and safely so you might say well why not do it um sometimes it's unavoidable I mean Ridley spent some of some of the months that I was on this movie um I was
• 38:00 - 38:30 probably on the movie 16 months or something like that certainly a year um he spent some of that in post production in France and you know I made a vis I I went over to see him nothing better um I have done a few times but uh some of the music I had to send and um one just has to get used to it but if you if you can if one can engineer it so that you can be in the same room um certainly for the first few for the first but before you really set sail on a direction oh it's
• 38:30 - 39:00 so critical tell me I think as we get near a WP as they say in Show Business um I was asked to ask you when I said I'm going to have a conversation with Harry what's a piece of advice that another composer musician director gave you that you felt was really valuable that you would want to share with composers today I
• 39:00 - 39:30 kind of liked that question I was asked to ask you and I thought it's a good one um I have I have a a I have a quite a small but perfectly formed home studio now back in the day when I when I moved from hans's Studio to my own place um in Venice uh it was a vast building with a vast staircase and I had all my posters up there uh and I used to love it every time I did a movie put a new poster up and and
• 39:30 - 40:00 it just felt good and it was fun here I only have the space for a couple of posters but one of them um is Spy game I always I like the way the poster looks but I also like what Tony wrote on it um he said H everyone takes a bit of us and uh he actually clarified that when he gave it to me uh that the poster um you know because uh I thought I was in his office we were probably doing the next film by then but he gave me a PO of
• 40:00 - 40:30 there going um and I S unraveled it and there was that message and he saw me read it he said you know it's important to know that although everyone everyone we do takes a bit of us um we can't let it take too much of us um which I suppose knowing his fate was perhaps a little ironic but so you give everything I try and bear that in mind I mean the thing
• 40:30 - 41:00 is that's not devaluing the effort and the the soul that we have to put into these things it's actually reverse of that it's saying because everyone takes a bit of us to do it it should do it ought to but because of that you can't let it take all of you um I don't know whe makes it's just lovely tell us is there anything special coming up that we should look for that you can special film um I'm just starting but I
• 41:00 - 41:30 don't know I someone said to me before I came don't mention it because it hasn't been announced what announced I'm a film composer I'm not a director I'm not Brad Pit for God sake who cares but talk to me in again in a couple of weeks um it's just it's and you're going to love it man you love it you know me so well you are everybody's going to be like yes not that I'm doing it but that that that that that film is being made so I'm excited I really love our conversations
• 41:30 - 42:00 I always have for 30 years or 50 years or whatever it is and I also I got to say that being in that room with you whether it was it's usually I see you in room one at ABY Road you've turned the orchestra sideways which I always think that's really Harry's vibe to kind of not go the way I usually am used to it with the conductors back
• 42:00 - 42:30 to me but Harry's over on the left wall as you're looking out the window looking at the orchestra sideways and you're showing the orchestra I must say you do something that I really love you show the orchestra the scene and you talk about the emotional content and you warm them up with you know this one she's really sad here but the audience doesn't know why you know you'll give them something I'll think that's so smart because they're not going to play with a little information a little emotional
• 42:30 - 43:00 content so Harry gregster Wilson which I will call you when I can't actually remember why he could never remember Harry greggson Williams but you're a fabulous composer a wonderful human being I really appreciate your time I can't wait to find out what that next picture is and I also recommend to all of our listeners if you have an opportunity dial up the Gladiator 2 score album because it's a
• 43:00 - 43:30 revelation of how hard Harry worked to make these cues beautiful fabulous stuff I appreciate your time I appreciate you Harry God bless oh thanks I appreciate you thanks a lot Robert see you soon hey thanks everybody for joining us for this episode of Spitfire presents we really love talking to these composers as you can tell I mean I'm
• 43:30 - 44:00 privileged to have a conversation with Harry greggson Williams he's one of the great composers of this generation actually of any generation a real master of film scoring Carol I'm glad you are helping us with all of this did you feel that you had your questions answered by Harry yes they were all answered thank you so much for asking them uh and you know I was trying to think what my favorite question was uh
• 44:00 - 44:30 and it might have you know one of the might be the premiere question uh and Harry said that after a Premiere he you know he's rarely satisfied with his own work and I think it's a great reminder for myself at least or to anyone else listening that there's always Room to Grow yeah I think that's probably the seed of Harry's
• 44:30 - 45:00 greatness is that or any artist when you think ah you know John Lennon said I never finish a record at one point I just walk away and I kind of love that that the great artist is always looking but to grow our craft fended thank you very much spelled with a K Spitfire presents a great great opportunity to share with you thank you to Spitfire
• 45:00 - 45:30 audio and we're going to close out Carol has a special treat for us because she's not only the coordinator of our show as you will hear she has a fairly magnificent ability at the piano thanks Robert you're too kind um yeah I'm very excited to be playing a piano medley of some of my favorite har greggson Williams's themes uh using Spitfire audio sounds uh
• 45:30 - 46:00 so I hope you guys enjoy and thanks for tuning in we hope to see you on the next one [Music]