Outlander
After serving as a British Army nurse in World War II, Claire Randall is enjoying a second honeymoon in Scotland with husband Frank, an MI6 officer looking forward to a new career as an Oxford historian. Suddenly, Claire is transported to 1743 and into a mysterious world where her freedom and life are threatened. To survive, she marries Jamie Fraser, a strapping Scots warrior with a complicated past and a disarming sense of humour. A passionate relationship ensues, and Claire is caught between two vastly different men in two inharmonious lives. ‘Outlander’ is adapted from the best-selling books by Diana Gabaldon.
Blog Posts
Outlander: Season 5
Outlander: Season 5
19 August 2020
From the bagpipes of Scotland, the baroque harpsichords of Paris, to the blistering Afro-Cuban percussion of Jamaica, my score for Outlander has continuously evolved to keep up with Claire and Jamie as they traverse both time and space. For the series’ fourth season, our heroes explored America, laying down the foundation for a new home, so I introduced to the...
Read More Outlander: Season 4
Outlander: Season 4
29 January 2019
Outlander Season Four chronicles a dramatic journey: from the bustling streets of colonial era Wilmington, across vast stretches of Appalachian wilderness, to Cherokee and Mohawk lands. This journey leaps from the modernity of the 1960’s to the simmering pre-Revolutionary tension of eighteenth-century America. These settings present a...
Read More Outlander: Season 3 – The Caribbean
Outlander: Season 3 – The Caribbean
12 December 2017
In the second half of Outlander‘s epic third season, our characters undertake a harrowing journey, setting sail across the Atlantic to Jamaica, in search of Young Ian. Like the show’s move to the courts of Paris in Season Two, this massive shift in geography had to be acknowledged with an equally seismic shift in the score. I cannot imagine any project other than Outlander that...
Read More Outlander: Season 3 - After Culloden
Outlander: Season 3 - After Culloden
09 October 2017
I don’t believe I’ve tackled a season of television as richly rewarding as Outlander’s Season Three. Separated by centuries in Season Two’s heart-wrenching finale, Jamie and Claire spend the first five episodes isolated in their own timelines, a narrative journey that spans two decades. This season allowed me to further develop familiar themes, and introduce new melodies, instrumentation,...
Read More Outlander Season 2 Soundtrack
Outlander Season 2 Soundtrack
28 October 2016
While Outlander fans wait with bated breath for 2017 to deliver new episodes, I can perhaps ease some “Droughtlander” anxiety with today’s release of my new soundtrack album, compiling tracks from the epic second season. The album is available today, in both digital and physical formats, in a collaborated release from Madison Gate Records and Sparks &...
Read More Outlander: Return to Scotland
Outlander: Return to Scotland
19 July 2016
In the second half of Season Two, Outlander took a major geographical and tonal leap, returning Jamie and Claire to Scotland at the dawn of the Jacobite rising. These episodes focused on their efforts to prevent inevitable deaths at Culloden. My score needed to shift back to the haunting Scottish sounds of season one, with an added emphasis on military percussion and pipes.
This...
Read More Outlander: In Paris
Outlander: In Paris
20 May 2016
With Jamie and Claire spending half of Outlander’s second season in Paris, I knew I would have to make dramatic changes to the score. The Scottish instrumentation that defined season one was pushed into the background, to make room for an entirely new palette of instruments, themes and performance techniques derived from French baroque music. Adapting my writing style to this...
Read More Outlander: Season 2 Begins
Outlander: Season 2 Begins
10 April 2016
The first season of Outlander gave me the chance to fulfill a life-long dream of incorporating Scottish folk music and instrumentation into an original score. The second season, debuting this weekend on Starz, presented an immensely challenging shift in tone. Our protagonists move from the rolling hills of the Scottish highlands, to the gilded halls of Parisian courts during...
Read More Outlander Soundtrack Volume II
Outlander Soundtrack Volume II
24 September 2015
We now find ourselves in the middle of #Droughtlander, the epic nine-month stretch between Outlander‘s first season finale and the premiere of Season Two. To help fill the gap, I’m happy to announce that my second Outlander soundtrack is available today, from iTunes, Amazon and most other retailers.
The Outlander Volume I soundtrack compiled some of my favorite...
Read More Nobody Likes Bagpipes
Nobody Likes Bagpipes
23 August 2015
Is it possible that nobody likes bagpipes? The true history of my Outlander score is finally revealed in my newest video blog:
“Nobody Likes Bagpipes” is a short little mockumentary about my passion for Scottish folk music, leading to my work on Outlander. Like my now-infamous “A Day in the Life” video, “Nobody Likes Bagpipes” is deep truth...
Read More Outlander: Wentworth Prison & To Ransom a Man's Soul
Outlander: Wentworth Prison & To Ransom a Man's Soul
06 July 2015
One of the most exciting aspects of scoring Outlander is that each episode has its own tone, arc, and character, all fitting within the larger narrative structure. Despite rolling with the dramatic punches on some very dark subject matter throughout the season, I was still shocked by the graphic tone of the final two episodes when I first saw them. These two hours of television...
Read More Outlander: Lallybroch, The Watch & The Search
Outlander: Lallybroch, The Watch & The Search
12 May 2015
Within Outlander’s first season, “Lallybroch,” “The Watch,” and “The Search” form a trilogy. The stories are tonally similar, returning us to the highland life we glimpsed in the first few episodes. Dramatically, these episodes allow us a brief relief after the overwhelming darkness in “The Devil’s Mark,” and before the final two episodes to come. I savored this opportunity...
Read More Outlander: By the Pricking of My Thumbs & The Devil's Mark
Outlander: By the Pricking of My Thumbs & The Devil's Mark
19 April 2015
“By the Pricking of My Thumbs” and “The Devil’s Mark” truly feel like a unified two-part story. The first episode is generally lighter in tone, but it’s events set up the relentless emotional rollercoaster of the second.
THE DULCIMER OF SANDRINGHAM
“By the Pricking of My Thumbs” introduces the Duke of Sandringham, a charmingly effete, backstabbing politician who will do anything...
Read More Outlander: The Reckoning
Outlander: The Reckoning
09 April 2015
After a long hiatus, Outlander returns this week to wrap up the final eight episodes of its first season. “The Reckoning” is a mammoth episode, featuring the series’ most driving action, tense political conflicts and emotional revelations to date. It also includes the controversial spanking scene that has ignited debate amongst fans and critics alike. This episode presented...
Read More Outlander: The Garrison Commander, The Wedding, Both Sides Now
Outlander: The Garrison Commander, The Wedding, Both Sides Now
28 September 2014
The last three episodes of Outlander for 2014 have aired, and despite ending with a huge cliffhanger, they provided me opportunities to bring musical closure to the first half of the season. Each of these three episodes brought unique challenges.
SPOILERS AHEAD: “The Garrison Commander” ranks among the most interesting and challenging episodes of television I have had...
Read More Outlander: The Way Out, The Gathering and Rent
Outlander: The Way Out, The Gathering and Rent
07 September 2014
“The Way Out,” “The Gathering” and “Rent” were exciting to score, because they broadened the scope of the series and pushed me to further explore Scottish folk songs and instrumentation. They were challenges, however, because each had a unique tone. While the story obviously has a larger structure that plays out incrementally, each episode...
Read More Outlander: Castle Leoch
Outlander: Castle Leoch
17 August 2014
With its entire storyline set in eighteenth century Scotland, “Castle Leoch” is more representative of the typical sound of Outlander than the first episode, which spent a fair amount of time establishing characters in the 1940’s. In this episode, we get to know our Scottish characters, including Jamie, Mrs. Fitz and the rest of the MacKenzie clan, especially the Laird, Colum...
Read More Outlander: Sassenach
Outlander: Sassenach
09 August 2014
Outlander, the epic new series from Ronald D. Moore based on Diana Gabaldon’s epic novels, is a project that combines many of my passions. I get to score a sweeping narrative, collaborate with world-class musicians, and integrate the Scottish instrumentation and folk music I’ve adored my whole life. (I have already written a whole blog entry about my experiences with Scottish...
Read More Comic Con 2014 Highlights
Comic Con 2014 Highlights
29 July 2014
As another July comes to a close, I find myself once again coming down off the multi-day adrenaline rush that is San Diego Comic Con. This year, there were so many exciting events relating to my projects that there was no way for me to catch them all. Nevertheless, Comic Con 2014 was a memorable and thrilling experience, filled with revelations about my current projects and...
Read More Outlander Fans' Guide to My Music
Outlander Fans' Guide to My Music
23 July 2014
Dear Outlander Fans,
From the instant Ron Moore and Diana Gabaldon announced my involvement in Outlander as the series composer at the fan event last January, I have been overwhelmed by fan support and enthusiasm. Every day, I see comments from fans eagerly awaiting the moment when they can hear what I will bring to this iconic franchise. I know how much this series matters...
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