I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
UPDATE 12/03: Hopped back on here to answer a few more.
UPDATE 11/30 - 5:30pm: Hey everybody, this has been a blast. Somehow, it's been 2.5 hours and questions are still pouring in. I gotta get back to writing music, though. But, I'll check back in throughout the weekend and answer some more later. This is so much fun! Be sure to check out the last two episodes of "BLOOD AND CHROME" on Machinima next Friday. There are a couple fun musical cameos for you. :)
My name is Bear. I play accordion. I also write music for some pretty geeky projects. You can currently hear my score in "BSG: Blood and Chrome" on Machinima Prime: http://www.youtube.com/user/MachinimaPrime
I'm also currently scoring "The Walking Dead" and SyFy's upcoming epic "Defiance," as well as its counterpart videogame from Trion Worlds.
To find out more about me, check out my blog, where I discuss all aspects of my career... http://www.bearmccreary.com/
or my YouTube channel... http://www.youtube.com/bearmccreary
Here's proof this is actually me: https://twitter.com/bearmccreary
Ask Me Anything!
Hi I am actually writing my dissertation on your soundtrack for BSG! I think writing for sci-fi, space and the future has dried up and a lot of composers approach this like they would any earth based show/film. What's your rationalising behind a crazy mixture of world instruments? Why does it work so well for space?
That's a tough question. To be honest, I don't approach scoring for space or science fiction any different than anything else. For me, it's about the tone and the characters. 'BSG' tapped into something primal for me, something primordial. Long before I knew what the last episode would reveal, I was drawn to the mythological elements in the names and locations, and the archetypes of the characters.
So, I wanted the music to sound old. Not just old, but ANCIENT. The oldest instruments in the world are the human voice and percussion, followed shortly by primitive woodwind instruments. So, those are featured prominently in BSG.
There's something so weird about watching spaceship dogfights while hearing ancient music. It just clicked.
I LOVED this about BSG. At the exhibit at the Seattle Sci Fi museum, I distinctly recall the display where you could play a scene (from "The Hub") but with two completely different sets of score. You explain, in the video, that you think there is a certain piece that must fit a scene but that is not necessarily the case. I found the exercise quite profound. In any case, the ancient themes certainly came through in BSG. I found that especially true for Kobol's Last Gleaming. Thank you for being a huge inspiration.
No offense to the giant viper model, but I spent over half of my time at that exhibit watching the videos by Bear on the show's music. Absolutely amazing stuff!
The drums man, the drums! Seriously, Season 3 OST is my marathon training soundtrack. Thank you for that!
Another question: Did you know how important the notes in All Along The Watchtower were going to be when you initially composed it, and were the coordinates developed with the music, or done afterwards?
I had no idea! I had no clue what the meaning of the song would be in the fourth season. All I knew was that I needed to do an arrangement of Bob Dylan's song and do it in a 'BSG' style. I kept the lyrics and basic vocal melody the same, but really started from scratch with the music. Somewhere in there, that 12-note line really spoke to me, and it became the basis for what I was doing.
Then, over a year later, Ron called me and told me (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!) that he needed the final coordinates for the ship's last jump to be channeled through Kara, remembering the song she was taught as a little girl. So, I called up Kevin Grazier, the science advisor and asked him how the coordinates work. He told me we needed 12 numbers to describe a location in three-dimensional space.
It was crazy, like it was pre-ordained. I knew in an INSTANT how to do it, because that melody happened to be 12 notes. It was one of those moments when you feel like things must happen for a reason.
I've annoyed more than one Hendrix fan (and a few Dylan's), but your arrangement of Watchtower is my favorite cover of anything.
It's just one of the top songs I've heard period. Cover or not, absolutely brilliant. Dat sitar...
It is the only version that's on my permanent playlist.
I think that scene where Kara plays that song is one of the most powerful and memorable scenes of the series, thanks to your track.
Edit: Here's the flashback to the scene. Spoilers: http://youtu.be/0YpyDMxTZyo
I still get tingles related to anything on that show, especially when McCreary's All Along the Watchtower plays.
i didnt notice it at first but kara says "there must be some kind of way out of here" now i consider it even more fucking awesome
All of this has happened before?
... and will happen again.
So say we all.
I do have to say, I LOVE your arrangement of the song. Took it in a very different direction than both Dylan's and Hendrix's versions.
Hi Bear, Love love love your music and wanted to let you know that at times, it moves me to tears. Was wondering if there are any artists that do the same for you and how that influences the creative process.
So, so many. Nothing moves me like music. It's why I do what I do. For me, it's mostly movie music, but not entirely.
Listening to the music of Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein or Ennio Morricone can just be devastating in all the best ways. I also love Queen, and get chills pretty much every time I hear Freddie's voice or Brian's guitar layering.
Danny Elfman's music is close to my heart as well.
Life would be empty without music. It means so much to me that I find I actually can't listen to it all the time because its overwhelming.
Do you know why "Gaius Baltar: He's the motherfucking shit" never made the final cut in the BSG series?
It is one of the greatest tragedies in Hollywood. Hopefully one day, James Callis and I will go back into the studio and re-record it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bks8Dqtp43s
You are one of the most accessible composers I can think of, with your killer blog (seriously people, if you haven't checked it out, you should) and your YouTube channel videos, and your concerts, so is there anything you are not already doing to engage with your fans that you would like to do?
Well, I'd always wanted to get involved with Reddit and... here I am!
Bear, I love you. I just wanted to tell you that I started learning how to play violin about a year ago because of your incredible song Roslin and Adama. It was the first song I ever learned how to properly play!
Fantastic!
Just wanted to say that apart from your stellar work on BSG, i loved your score for Human Target. Also whose idea was it to incorporate the Gayatri Mantra into the Main Title?
That was Edward James Olmos' idea. We do as the Admiral commands. :)
Wow! Thank you for answering. The Gayatri Mantra went so well with the main title.
If John Williams can't do it, are you ready to step in to do the score for the next Star Wars trilogy?
OH MY GOD! I hope John Williams can, but I would love this so much. I'm torn.
For some reason I thought it was Bear who replied.
Did it take a lot of convincing to get the studios to provide the budget for a live orchestra? I greatly appreciate that you use live musicians, and I'd love to see television go back in that direction.
Yes and no. It didn't take a LOT of convincing, but it always takes SOME convincing. I think the biggest problem composers face right now is apathy. Our budgets are slashed and we're often hired with the feeling that the job could've gone to anyone else, so we should just shut our mouths and do our job.
But, with a little confidence, it's easy to make the case after you get the job. Show the producers what they get in exchange. Show them how you can get a BIG budget sound for a medium budget orchestra. There are a ton of tricks.
But, the first step is to ask, and a lot of people don't even take that first step.
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Maybe when we're done. Once I know how it ends. :)
If you could date any of the cylon models which would it be?
The hybrid. I have a thing for chicks that sit in bathtubs, stammering nonsense all day and night. :)
Is there any update on what's happening with the Caprica soundtrack? There's so many wonderful tracks from it that I want to listen to properly.
Hey cube1701... this is a great question. First, a little background on how I deal with albums. As you guys probably know, I put a lot of time and energy into them and make sure that they are great listening experiences, not just a collection of cues that were mixed for broadcast. This approach resulted in some great BSG albums, and a great album for the Caprica pilot.
The rest of the series was no exception. I assembled a collection of the best cues into suites, re-recorded, re-mixed and re-mastered a fantastic double disc album. It's done, and it's been done for a while.
However, Caprica's swift demise and slim ratings made it difficult to get this album released. I can't move forward on anything like that without involvement from NBC Universal and for a long time, there was little interest in working on an album for a show that was no longer on the air. (For the BSG records, we always had the promotion of the following season or DVD release to piggy-back on for album promotion).
So, the bad news is that no album has come out yet. But, the good news is that we're beginning to make some real progress now. NBC Universal is showing interest in letting me release this music.
The best thing fans can do is continue to show their support and enthusiasm for the idea. I'm confident we can make it happen, as long as the fans make it clear to the powers-that-be that they want it.
How can we show NBC Universal that we're interested? The scores for Caprica's first season (particularly the second half of the season) are some of my favorite cues you've ever written. It would make my week to see a release. :)
Trust me. You guys are helping right now. People who can help make the Caprica album a reality are watching what's happening right now. Keep it up!
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This is the single greatest frustration of my professional life. Welcome to the club.
If you were to 'accidentally' release digital files of the Caprica masters, we would never reveal the source. There is a precedent, according to Internet rumor. A five-disc version of the Avatar score "appeared" online a while back, consisting of James Horner's complete sessions for the film. Some sources have speculated that he released it himself, since the studio would only release the crappy single disc version commercially. Prince is famous for letting recordings loose unofficially. Just sayin'.
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Passacaglia and The Shape of Things to Come are pretty much my favorite tracks from any TV series ever. Question is, how much time do you generally get to compose? I know filming a TV series can be hectic -- does that extend to composers as well? Ideally how much time do you want?
I spend as much time as I possibly can. There were episodes of 'BSG' I could score over two months. There were episodes I had to do in 3 days. The average is somewhere around a week or 10 days for typical TV. I can't do anything of real quality in less than 5 days, so I'm always working with producers to work schedules out in ways that make sense.
I hope you see this. I just wanted to thank you directly for the two pieces EverAccelerating mentioned above (Passacaglia and The Shape of Things to Come), along with Allegro, A Promise to Return, and Prelude to War. While the entire BSG soundtrack is amazing, these songs have each given me chills and nearly brought me to tears on separate occasions. I'm a big music listener, but few artists can evoke that kind of emotion from me. Whatever credit you get as a musician isn't nearly enough.
Seriously incredible work you're doing, Bear. How did you come up with the idea of using Gamelan for the Cylon piece in BSG?
Could you expand a little on your process of choosing which timbres/sounds work best for a given piece? Is it more intuition, experience, formal training, experiment, or perhaps historical consideration?
Thank you for doing this!
Picking instruments and sounds for a project is the absolute starting point for me. It's the first step I take on any project I take on. And in fact, as soon as I start watching a project for the first time, my mind is already racing on this topic. I can't even begin to think of melodies or rhythms until I know what SOUNDS are going to be creating them.
Looking back over everything I've been involved in, there's unique sounds to everything I've done. 'BSG' has the aforementioned world music influences. 'Sarah Connor' had custom-made pounding metallic percussion and electrically amplified string quartet. 'Walking Dead' has detuned distorted banjos, dulcimer and autoharps.
It's a huge part of my creative process.
As for why I picked the Gamelan sound for the Final Five, it was really that I wrote the melody first and found the sound fit it. (One of the rare instances where a melody came first). Years later, a friend came up to me and said he's been to Bali. He'd heard a gamelan orchestra playing a traditional tune in a village somewhere, and recorded it with his phone. He played it for me and sure enough... there was a melody there that was ALMOST my Final Five theme. It was weird.
...there's gamelan in BSG and I missed it? Where?
edit: Temple of Five?
Yes. However, I never used a legit gamelan orchestra until I scored SOCOM 4. That was when I brought in a real ensemble. For BSG, I used some gamelan instrumentation and a gamelan inspired melody.
I think your work on BSG is incredible and I give the gift of your soundtrack, particularly from Season 3 to anyone I know. Even though I had always paid attention to movie soundtracks, it wasn't until BSG that I really started paying attention to them on television before. Do you think there is a trend toward a more integrated musical presence in television and if so, what impact do you think it may have on how shows are produced?
The trend is that television shows in the past decade have just become better, really an elevated art form. EVERYTHING about them is better, including the music. It's been a creative renaissance in the medium.
We love your music, we want to give you and distributors our money to hear and enjoy it! So what in the actual frak is AMC thinking?! Why won't AMC let us give them money so we can enjoy your music in all its glorious splendour? As fans, what do you think we can do to encourage them to sell your music?
I wish I could tell you. The short answer is that AMC does not understand how many people want it. I know I mentioned this fan petition, but I think its our best bet to make our voices heard:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Walking-Dead-Fans-cry-out-for-a-Soundtrack-Album/283650395045737
I've tried EVERYTHING, you guys. I've worked on this for years. It's become clear I can't do it alone. Need your help on this one, if we're ever going to make it happen.
Bear, what was your first real gig? and how did you get it?
I mean. Did you know someone? Get lucky at the right time? or something else? I'm tired of seeing "Step 1: Learn music, Step 2: Hone your skill. Step 3: ??????? Step 4: Profit!"
As I mentioned earlier, 'BSG' was my first gig. It took years of writing music, starting before high school. Scoring dozens of student films, moving to Los Angeles and spending every waking minute trying to get better and loving every minute of it.
Then, it took a lucky break at the right time.
I do believe the technical term for that is "get lucky and knock it out of the park." Seriously BSG was your first big commercial gig?
What are the chances of another BSG concert? Still totally bummed that I didn't have the chance to see it.
Very very good. Keep an eye out on my blog or my twitter feed for more news. It may not be in the next 6 months, but I absolutely plan on performing again. Those concerts were too much fun to NOT do again. :)
Hope you make it to the UK this time!
AWESOME. That's all I want for Christmas.
Thank you so much.
I'm in Europe, but will travel if necessary and at all possible.
Hey Bear, your work is amazing! The intro to The Walking Dead seriously creaps my wife out. And the instrumentals in BSG, especially during space/dogfighting scenes were part of what made that show great.
Do you have a have a piece of work/music that you are most proud of
Wow, that's like picking your favorite child. Kind of impossible. But, some of the proudest moments I've ever had a composer were (in no particular order):
writing DIASPORA ORATORIO for the BSG episode "Revelations"
finishing the score for my first science fiction feature EUROPA REPORT
scoring the HUMAN TARGET finale with the largest orchestra ever assembled for episodic TV. I'll never forget that session as long as I live.
DIASPORA ORATORIO is epic. One of my favorite pieces next to SOMETHING DARK IS COMING and VIOLENCE AND VARIATIONS
Thanks for responding. Human Target was a pretty fun show. I was sad to see it go.
That aria in the midseason finale of Caprica. My heart bleeds to have a recording of that. AJ did a great job!
That was also one of my favorite pieces. I collaborated with my mom who wrote the 'libretto' text. So gorgeous. I can't listen to it very often because it turned out so beautifully.
Thanks for doing this!
Who's idea was it to include the soundtrack into the actual story line of BSG?
That seriously made me so happy when they did it. BSG is still my favourite tv series to date.
Also, how did you pick All along the watch tower? It's was an amazing choice.
It was a natural process. I imagine the idea originated with Ron, since he wanted to use music as a narrative tool to (SPOILER ALERT) reveal the identities of the last four cylons. But, it also evolved throughout the last season as I began to collaborate with the writers more directly.
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Ha!
Do you ever get upset about the plots (as in you don't like where the show is going) you're scoring for? Does your personal feelings towards the plots affect your music?
Music IS personal feelings. There's no way to separate it. So, if I'm scoring a scene on Tuesday, it could be totally different if I wrote it on Wednesday instead. For me, it's about channeling those personal feelings, remembering what it was like to feel emotions the characters are feeling. This is why scoring scenes like the end of "Killer Within" from "Walking Dead" can be so emotionally devastating.
It's like method acting. It might not be the most healthy way to write music, but its the only way I know.
You're the best
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Well, I don't really use a lot of these to be honest. The vast majority of my work is recorded with live instruments or custom made samples. I generally just use VST's for making demos of instruments that will be replaced with the real thing later.
However, in terms of synthesis, I've found the two plug-ins that I like the most are NI's MASSIVE (which you may have heard to great effect i last week's 'Walking Dead') and u-he's ZEBRA (which you may have heard to great effect in 'BSG: Blood and Chrome').
Both pieces of software are relatively easy to use, and I combine them with many plug-ins and effects to custom-tailor the sound I'm hearing in my head.
NI Massive is an absolutely fantastic piece of software. Is the rest of your work done in an environment like Abelton or Reason? For the demo tracks at least?
I've never used those other pieces of software. I primarily work in Digital Performer.
Hello Bear, thanks for doing this AMA and for your very enjoyable work in some enjoyable shows & films.
As an accordionist, how do you feel about the stigma occasionally attached to the instrument? Would you like to see it used in more popular music rather than being associated with dancing white people and "Weird Al" Yankovic?
I hate the stigma. To be honest, I never play polkas or any stupid shit like that, unless there's a really good reason. I think it's a very expressive and powerful instrument. Anyone who argues should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPu3XBSlJyk