Blog: Write The Theme Tune, Sing The Theme Tune

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Last night Mr T Pattison was in the studio again, doing final mixes on the theme tune and SUNDRIES for A Brief History Of Time Travel. We'd had some online discussion about what needed doing, and it looked like there was a LOT - not only was he doing a big POP HIT final mix of the main theme, but also an instrumental version, some "STABS" (those short bits of music you get sometimes in radio/tv shows to punctuate the action) and ALL the incidental instrumental tracks that had been JAMMED.

Just after eight o'clock I had a call from Tim, which i MISSED. I rang back ten minutes later. "I wanted to ask you opinion of something", he said, "But I've done it now anyway." They'd thought that there should be TWO choruses at the end. "Good Idea" I said.

And that was that - there have been occasions in the past when i've had SEVERAL calls from and to The Studio, but all was STILL for the rest of the night, until around midnight when I checked my email to find that Tim had sent the "final" mix. I say "final" because often the rest of us will hear it and have NIGGLES, sending Whoever Is Producing This Time BACK to try again. No such worries this time - it sounded AMAZING! We'd been talking about making this an Official Single later in the year when the podcast comes out, and I think we'll DEFINITELY be doing so now, as it sounds GRATE! Hooks! Tunes! Danciness! WORDZ! It's FAB!

I was very very pleased - for the past three or four years MIXING has been a TORTUROUS and COMPLICATED process, so I'd forgotten how EXCITING and (seemingly) PEASY it can be when you DON'T have to link it to dialogue sections on other side, add on an orchestra, and then layer it with EXPLOSIONS and DINOSAURS.

Surely THAT had taken all night though? I responded favourably, asking if by any chance they'd had a chance to do the STABS, and LO! Just as I pressed SEND a new email appeared, containing a ZIP of a LOAD of STABS, which all sounded DEAD PROPER. "That must be it", I thought, sending congratulations, but NO! Fifteen minutes later yet ANOTHER file arrived, containing all the instrumental incidentals. I'd asked Tim to turn down the DRUMZ on all of these ones, so they wouldn't STICK OUT as much when placed under dialogue, and BLOW ME but he HAD and it sounded FAB!

As you may have noticed, I am really rather a) please with b) excited about all this. I've just sent the theme tune to the ABHOTT chaps, so I rather hope they agree! In the meantime THORTS are rocketing around about what we can do for a VIDEO for it - HIT PARADE AHOY!

posted 18/4/2013 by MJ Hibbett

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