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TV soundtrack composers move into the spotlight
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Composers for television shows don’t usually get the same critical recognition as those composing soundtracks for films, but an increase in viewers “binge-watching” shows has led to a brighter spotlight on TV’s musical backdrop.
Emmy-nominated Robert Duncan, who scored “The Last Resort,” a TV show about a US nuclear submarine crew, said viewers who watch several episodes of a show in a row on platforms such as Netflix were changing the art form of television soundtracks.
“Times are changing,” he said. “TV’s becoming more cinematic and there’s an expectation for the music to follow suit.”
Canadian-born Duncan, whose career was jump-started by a prestigious Hollywood composing workshop in 2001, also worked as series composer for “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”
Now he is represented by the same agency that works with top composers such as Oscar-winner John Williams, who wrote the score for “Star Wars.”
For the musical overtones of “The Last Resort,” Duncan climbed aboard a Cold War-era boat in San Diego and recorded sounds from the vessel to incorporate into the music.
The effort paid off for the 42-year-old composer, who has been known to tinker with old instruments and industrial salvage to find unique sonic qualities. His soundtrack for the “Captain” episode of the Walt Disney ABC series earned him his third Emmy nomination.
Duncan will vie against five other composers in the Best Dramatic Score category today at the Creative Arts Emmys, which are held a week before the Primetime Emmys and focus on behind-the-scenes crafts like music and make-up.
Duncan is a product of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Film Scoring Workshop, an industry incubator of sorts.
Each year, 12 aspiring composers from around the world and averaging in their mid-20s, are picked by ASCAP for a four-week program during which they compose an original score to a scene from a major film.
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