There are a few elements of sound that really pique my curiosity when it comes to production. Two that delight me the most are foley and music production.

In this post, I’m going to talk about music production as I’ve been delving into creating a little soundtrack for our project A New Place I Call Home.

As my study, I’ve chosen composer Carlo Giacco who is more a music composer than a media practitioner but to be fair, his catalogue’s focus contains soundtracks he has created for TV Shows and motion films.  You can check out his work at www.carlogiacco.com.

Upon closely studying his style for Food Safari, (check out an example episode here,) You will hear the layers in what makes up a really interesting ‘textured’ tapestry of instrumental sounds and emotion.  Similarly, if you play any of the featured soundtracks on his website you will notice the emotion conveyed in different ways. For Food Safari there is a fast momentum that sounds exciting and builds anticipation, adventure and drama and echoes the spirit of far-off lands. As you continue to watch the episode, the music changes to a track that is inspired by the culture that the episode is about which is fused with a smooth contemporary feel. All kinds of instrumental sounds are used to create this exciting sound.

With Carlo Giacco’s background in music composition, it is no surprise that his tracks are cleverly and strategically composed. While I’ve studied a bit about music’s foundation and have a natural understanding of how it works, on a personal note my husband has a similar education background to Carlo and played in youth orchestras, studied both orchestral and contemporary music and can write scores. While music can be very instinctive for many creatives, make no mistake when it comes to composing music for TV shows and movies: there is a strategy and theme involved and a certain level of innovation required to create rich and moving tracks that can captivate the viewer and help create the momentum and ambiance of the moving image.