‘Game of Thrones’ composer on making truly epic scores

Ramin Djawadi’s theme for Game of Thrones has inspired covers upon covers. The Iranian-German composer’s music has helped shape the magic, power and terror on every episode of HBO’s most watched series. While the show’s haunting score is his most celebrated offering to date, his recent work on Warcraft: The Beginning also made its mark. Despite the abysmal reviews of the videogame-turned-movie, the soundtrack has held its own with its larger-than-life orchestral elements.

Djawadi’s recent scores for fantastical worlds have been the most prominent, but his repertoire dates back almost two decades. He started his career at legendary composer Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions after graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1998. A few years later he went on to score Blade: Trinity and in 2005 he composed for the popular TV series Prison Break, which got him an Emmy nomination. Four years later he won an ASCAP Award for his guitar-heavy Iron Man score and was nominated for a Grammy for best soundtrack.

Over the years, Djawadi’s eclectic scores garnered recognition and a solid fan following. But its his ability to build massive melodic themes that has made him one of the most coveted names on the composers circuit. I recently talked to him about his iconic scores and the ways in which technology impacts his compositions for the mythical creatures that he helps bring to life.

How would you describe your sensibility as a composer? What are you instinctively drawn to?

I always have a hard time describing myself. But I would say I’m drawn to melody. My task is to tell a story with the music. I always like to have themes, in terms of characters or plots, and things that can tell a story always interest me the most.

Tell me about Warcraft. What was that process like and what was the sound you were going for?

I really enjoyed working with [director] Duncan Jones, he had great ideas and the collaboration was great. He had a clear vision for what he wanted with the score. I’m very happy with how the score came out -– it’s a thematic and melodic score.

The two big things were: you have two sides — the humans and the orcs. We wanted to make sure we distinguished them soundwise. With humans we kind of stuck with the orchestral elements and for the orcs we went in the opposite direction –- a much more tribal feel. I used a lot of percussion and flutes. Their voices are really low so I thought about what I could use. We used a low choir and voices and I used a contrabass that can give a low range. We really wanted to distinguish the two musically.

Music composer Ramin Djawadi. Photo credit: Matt Sayles

From Pacific Rim to Game of Thrones and now Warcraft –- how do you navigate those worlds stylistically but still manage to leave your stamp on every score?

I like to jump around quite a bit. That’s the nice thing about being a film composer. In Warcraft, for example, there was a lot of action and it required bombastic music. For Iron Man we decided to go for a more rock and roll approach; we used electric guitars. In Game of Thrones, the cello is a very prominent instrument and there’s small music because it’s dialogue heavy. That’s what I love about [being a composer], every project requires something different and has its own challenges.

What does it take to compose music for fantastical worlds?

I actually enjoy the fantasy world quite a bit. You have no boundaries. you can decide to give the character either a fantasy feel or more organic feel. You can play around quite a bit with instrumentation. Game of Thrones is a good example of that. It’s set in medieval times but at the same time it’s a completely fantasy world so you don’t know what time period you’re in. We can play around with it but the focus is on not making the music sound medieval.

In Game of Thrones there are themes for individual characters but the soundtrack overall is so cohesive. How do you keep those distinct themes tied in together?

Before I even started writing the music, it was the most important thing we discussed. The fact is that it’s a highly complicated show. There are a million characters and plot lines going on. I sat down [with showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss] and said how can we support this with the score without making it more confusing? So we approached it in a way where sometimes we went with a theme for the plot or the house and sometimes we said this character deserves his own theme. Then we developed them over the seasons. I always give the example of Theon. In season one, he didn’t have a theme. In season two his character developed, he stepped out a lot and we decided it was time to have a theme for him. So it kind of expands with the narration.

“The computer is limited in expression. It can’t do what the human player can do.”

Everything in the show is constantly changing. The characters and their respective sounds continue to evolve and take on a power of their own. How do you keep up with that?

The nice thing is that there are a lot of different locations to work with. With the White Walkers, for example, I went for the icy feel. With Daenerys, we’re in the desert a lot with the Dothraki so then I go for a different sound there. I get inspired by the visuals and the story a lot. It helps me pick my instruments and be creative. We always laugh because every season I come up with one new instrument and say: “Oh the tuba! We haven’t really featured it yet.” It’s a challenge [to keep up] but it’s a lot of fun too.

In what ways would you say technology impacts your work as a composer?

Most of the time, the people you work with, the directors or producers, aren’t musically schooled. If you play them the theme on the piano and then say: “once we go to the recording stage and a full orchestra plays it, it’s going to sound great, trust me!” It’s very hard to imagine. It’s like looking at a green screen and then somebody telling you the special effects are going to look perfect when done. But what’s been great is that with technology, with samples and sequencing, I create these very accurate demos that I present to my producers. Then we can discuss in detail what we should change or not. They can hear the percussion and the orchestra, it’s a full arrangement on the computer. Then there are no surprises when you actually have many people sitting in front of you, the clock is ticking and you’re recording and everything has to go fast and they go: “oh wait that’s what it sounds like? I didn’t hear that before.” The goal is to have the most accurate demo and the computer can help you with that. When you record with live players, it goes up another level but there shouldn’t be any surprises.

What are the limitations? At what point do you know a computer won’t cut it?

The computer is limited in expression. It can’t do what the human player can do. What’s dangerous is that you fall for writing for the computer and what sounds good on it instead of writing something that actually sounds good when a player performs it. It’s dangerous when you go down that road. For example in [GoT], I use a lot of choir for the big Daenerys scenes and use Valyrian-inspired lyrics. I can’t demo that so I have some kind of shady choir just kind of speaking something but then I have to tell the [producers] to imagine it with lyrics — they’ll speak and it’s going to be bigger. Sometimes you have to let it go and tell them to trust you on it.

CW shows like ‘Arrow’ might be leaving Hulu this year

One of the worst parts about getting your TV fix through services like Netflix and Hulu is that your favorite show can disappear on any given day, with little warning. If you’re a fan of the CW (home to shows like Arrow, Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), it unfortunately looks like it’s getting a bit harder to stay up-to-date on the network’s shows. According to Variety, the CW will pull out of Hulu in favor of putting up its shows on its ad-supported website. As with the current (and expiring) Hulu deal, only the five most recent episodes of any particular show will be available.

It’s generally more work to get a stream from a network’s website up as compared to just jumping onto the Hulu app in your set-top box of choice, so it’s hard to say how this benefits consumers. Indeed, part of the reason that Hulu and the CW are parting ways is that Hulu wanted access to an entire season’s worth of current episodes, not just the five most recent. Hulu’s customers had been complaining about that restriction, but now it seems they won’t be able to watch the CW’s shows on Hulu at all.

However, there’s a bit of good news for Netflix users. A new deal between the network and the streaming giant means that shows will arrive on Netflix just a few weeks after the season wraps. That’s much better than the months it usually takes for a wrapped season to show up on Netflix. When all these changes will take place remains to be seen, but Variety believes the current five-year deals in place with Hulu and Netflix will expire this October.

Source: Variety

How ‘Game of Thrones’ put together its biggest battle yet

If you’re caught up on Game of Thrones, you’re probably still reeling from last night’s “The Battle of the Bastards.” The show is no stranger to big battle scenes, but it was an episode that still managed to outdo anything we’ve seen before when it comes to large-scale mayhem (even last year’s zombie-filled “Hardhome”). As you’d expect, it was all thanks to a smart combination of practical effects and CG, as the HBO behind the scenes feature below points out.

(Spoilers ahead, obviously.) To capture horses running at full tilt across the battlefield, director Miguel Sapochnik relied on a specialized remote controlled camera rig (dubbed the “Russian Arm”) that was sitting atop a Land Rover. And to turn its hundreds of extras into thousands, the show’s VFX artists implemented some heavy-duty crowd replication. There were also digital effects throughout the battle, including a swarm of arrows filling and falling from the sky, as well as composite effects weaved in to safely show things like soldiers flying off horses

Oh, and if you were wondering, that wonderful shot of Jon Snow confronting a wall of enemy soldiers on horseback, entirely on his own, was completely real.

Spotify Has Twice as Many Paid Subscribers as Apple Music

Spotify confirmed to The Telegraph today that it now has more than 100 million monthly active users worldwide, including approximately 30 million monthly paying subscribers.

Comparatively, Apple services chief Eddy Cue announced at WWDC 2016 last week that Apple Music has 15 million paying subscribers, just two weeks before the streaming music service turns one year old. Apple Music was at 13 million subscribers in April and 11 million subscribers in February, meaning that it has been growing at a rate of about 2 million subscribers every two months.

Spotify, which launched in Europe in October 2008 and expanded to the U.S. in July 2011, thereby remains the world’s most popular streaming service, but Apple Music is quickly closing the gap. Both services cost $9.99 per month for individuals and $14.99 per month for families, while only Spotify offers a free ad-supported tier.

Nevertheless, Spotify recently said that Apple Music has helped, not hurt, its business. Since Apple Music launched on June 30, 2015, its European rival has grown at a faster pace than beforehand. Spotify has now surpassed Skype as the most lucrative European startup, with an estimated valuation of roughly $8.5 billion.

“It’s great that Apple is in the game. They are definitely raising the profile of streaming. It is hard to build an industry on your own,” Jonathan Forster, a vice president and one of its first employees, told Reuters in an interview.

“Since Apple Music started we’ve been growing quicker and adding more users than before.”

Despite rising users and revenues, Spotify continues to operate at a loss due to expensive royalties and revenue sharing with music label partners. The report claims Spotify’s losses rose by 10 percent to $195.7 million (173 million euros) last year, prompting some investors to question the viability of its business model.

Tags: Spotify, Apple Music
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Apple CEO Tim Cook to Host Fundraiser for House Speaker Paul Ryan

Apple CEO Tim Cook plans to co-host a fundraiser for House Speaker Paul Ryan next week in an attempt to strengthen Apple’s relationship with key Republicans, reports Politico. The announcement comes following news Apple has decided not to donate money and Apple products to the Republican National Convention, reportedly because of comments made by presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

Cook and Ryan will host a private breakfast on Tuesday, June 28 in Menlo Park alongside longtime Apple treasurer Gary Wipfler. Money raised will benefit Ryan and a fundraising committee that helps elect other House Republicans. Invitations were sent out today, and Politico was able to obtain one.

Cook is hosting the fundraiser on his own accord, as Apple does not have a corporate political action committee like Facebook, Google and other tech giants in Silicon Valley. Still, the move reflects Apple’s desire to court Republican and Democratic officeholders alike, even at a time when it has serious reservations about Trump, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee.

Over the weekend, Apple told Republican leaders it would not donate resources to the convention due to Trump’s comments on women, immigrants, and minorities, despite having traditionally made donations to both the Republican and Democratic conventions.

HP has also announced that it will not provide funding, but Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have all agreed to provide support to the upcoming event. It is not clear if Apple will donate to the Democratic convention.

As Politico points out, Cook has made an effort to bolster relationships with both Democrats and Republicans in the past, with donations to Senators and Representatives from each party.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: Tim Cook, Paul Ryan
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iPhone 7 Rumored to Ship With Standard 3.5mm EarPods and Lightning Adapter

Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be manufactured without a 3.5mm headphone jack, leading to speculation about the accessories that will be included alongside the two devices.

Lightning-equipped EarPods and wireless EarPods are two rumors that have been bandied about, but a new report from Japanese site Mac Otakara suggests Apple may ship the iPhone 7 with standard 3.5mm headphones and a 3.5mm jack to Lightning adapter to allow them to connect to the new devices.

Mac Otakara’s information comes from sources at Computex Taipei 2016 and the reliability of those sources cannot be confirmed. Shipping EarPods with a 3.5mm jack included seems like an unusual choice for Apple, even if an adapter is included in the box.

At Computex Taipei 2016, many manufacturers showcased their new Lightning audio adaptors, and it seems there has been rumors that the headphones to be included with the new iPhone 7 series will still come with its own headphone jack as usual, and that a Lightning headphone jack adaptor will also be included in the package.

Past rumors, including one from Mac Otakara itself, have suggested Apple will introduce a new EarPods design that connects to the iPhone via Lightning or Bluetooth, something that would better ease the transition away from the 3.5mm jack than an adapter. We’ve only heard a few rumors about the EarPods, though, so Apple’s exact plans remain unclear.

Mac Otakara’s report also reiterates claims 256GB of storage will be an option and suggests the iPhone 7 will feature speaker holes on both the right and left sides of the Lightning port, filling the space left by the headphone jack. Rather than introducing stereo sound, the site believes the two speakers will be “on a monaural system.”

Rumors about the fate of the space left by the removal of the headphone jack have been mixed. Early rumors pointed towards two speakers for stereo sound, but later rumors and design schematics have cast some doubt on whether the iPhone 7 will feature dual speakers.

A lot of the information we’re hearing about the iPhone 7 is mixed, making it difficult to narrow down the exact features we can expect to see, but the removal of the headphone jack is one of the most consistent rumors we’ve seen about the device. Other expected features include an iPhone 6s-style design with relocated antenna bands, faster LTE and Wi-Fi, a more water resistant casing, and dual cameras for the larger iPhone 7 Plus.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
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