This week saw the beginning of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Recording Marathon. That's not actually an official thing, I made it up. It should be a real thing.
The week kicked off with Doctor Who, next came a couple of days of Atlantis, and next week we recording a number of concerti.
The funny thing about recording is that it can sometimes feel more physically tiring than rehearsing for a concert. I think perhaps it is the start/stop nature of recording, and also because often you are playing music that is quite repetitive.
I don't mean repetitive in a negative way, but rather repetitive because music for TV and film is generally made up of lots of little ideas, sort of like the Wagnerian leitmotiv idea. This means that you may hear the same idea orchestrated differently a multitude of times during a session.
Everyone wants to play big themes, but they actually make up a surprisingly small proportion of what gets put down during a session. There will be a number of extended cues that will be used in a particular episode, and these are normally fun to record as they are a bit more orchestral in nature, and just a bit easier to get your teeth into. Two of my favourites from the last number of Doctor Who seasons have been the music for the Pandorica and Vale Decem.
It is the big themes that people remember, but our job involves recording a lot more. If you listen closely to Doctor Who, Human Planet, Torchwood, Atlantis, Wizards Vs Aliens, or anything we have worked on, you will notice that there is a lot of subtle background music; music that often is barely noticeable and yet enhances an entire scene.
The funniest things to record are the little 'stings' that are used for special effects, or to highlight certain moments. For example, the strings will play mad sounding glissandos into the stratosphere of their range whilst playing as ponticelli as possible, or the brass will make funny, grumbly sounds, or the horns will make that noise that sounds like an elephant. They seem to like doing that.
The possibilities are endless really, but you play these completely out of context, which sometimes makes them sound a lot funnier than they are!
As a string player, you play quite a lot of 'potato notes' (semibreves normally) during recording or swathes of repeated rhythmic motifs, normally in music that is intended to provide a discreet pad of sound underneath dialogue. This is the real killer for the arms and shoulders; repeatedly playing long, slow music, or the same rhythmic and pitch pattern on loop (to what can feel like infinity) - it's like being stuck in a Philip Glass inspired purgatory.
It is worth it all when you see an episode put together though, and there is a real sense of pride at seeing the orchestra's name in the closing credits of a show.
However, some things make the journey even better and so, big thanks this week goes to Murray Gold for the lovely mince pies and sweets, and also to Jules, wife of violist Bob Gibbons, for her incredible, morale boosting carrot cake cupcakes that our section enjoyed immensely!
