Tenet
Ludwig Goransson is a Swedish record producer, conductor and film composer. He has worked on productions such as Creed (2015), Black Panther (2018) and The Mandalorian (2019-2022). I will be focusing on his work on the 2020 Christopher Nolan film ‘Tenet’.
One of the most interesting techniques Goransson used for this film was reverse scoring. Ludwig scored a brass band piece, then reversed the score, recorded an orchestra performing that piece, then reversed that recording. This resulted in a very interesting sound, you can hear that the composition is intended that way, not reversed. However all elements within the overall composition are reversed, which is a very pronounced as brass instruments tend to have a distinctive envelope. This score was not only sonically interesting but also thematically relevant as the film is about reversing entropy.
‘The recording is playing backwards but the theme is playing forwards’
This reminds me of the letter from a composer in Schaeffer’s in search of concrete music, drastic manipulation while maintaining the overall form/structure of the music.
For the ‘trucks in place’ score, Gorranson utilises the sound of a truck engine for the low frequency rumble. The recording is pitched down and manipulated, but retains the essence of the truck. This is a version of what my research is about, its a diegetic anchor in the music. I think that the music for a film scene is more impactful and interesting for the listener when the instruments are informed by the screen/context.
‘You’re in this world with these trucks and firetrucks and buses, and the music you’re hearing is also coming from that world. Its not too on the nose … manipulated sounds from the world you’re actually in’
Goransson utilised a similar technique for the film Creed, he recorded a boxer doing their workout and used the recordings as musical elements for the score. These recordings also acted as inspiration informing the composition. The sound of a train was also used in the score as a train plays a prevalent part in the film, the rhythms of the tracks are manipulated and weaved into the score.
‘The movie was so powerful so you didn’t need a traditional score, you didn’t need melodies to tall the audience what he was going through, everything is just glued on the screen. So you just want the music to kind of highlight and heighten the tension and the uncomfortableness that you’re watching on the screen.’