SoundtrackNet Exclusive:
Serenada Schizophrana
by Dan Goldwasser (dsg@soundtrack.net)
on December 8th, 2005
Recording has begun for the soundtrack to Deep Sea
3D, featuring music by Danny Elfman. The score to this IMAX 3D short film
will include excerpts and adaptations of Elfman's Serenada Schizophrana.
Last week at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox, recording took
place of the complete six-movement symphony for use in the film.
John Mauceri conducts at the Newman Scoring Stage
Back in 2004, composer Danny Elfman was commissioned by the
American Composers Orchestra to write a piece of music for the concert stage.
The result, Serenada Schizophrana, is a six-movement work that runs
approximately 42-minutes long, and is distinctly Elfman in style, musical
phrasing, tonality, and everything else you can imagine it to be. Written
for a full orchestra, electronics, two pianos, and female choir, the piece
premiered on February 23, 2005 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
John Mauceri conducts at the Newman Scoring Stage
Danny Elfman gives instructions to the orchestra
There was some work to be done in order to prepare Serenada
Schizophrana for the scoring stage. Orchestrator Steve Bartek explained
that the Carnegie Hall performance allowed Elfman to see what parts needed
to be retooled, and Elfman spent about three weeks doing additional writing
and honing the movements. Bartek orchestrated four of the movements, while
Edgardo Simone orchestrated two of them.
Bruce Dukov and strings
Danny Elfman gives notes to the brass section
Music contractor Debbie Datz-Pyle was tasked with hiring a large orchestra,
bringing in concert pianists Robert Thies and Gloria Cheng, as well as flautist
Louise DiTullio, violinist Bruce Dukov (concertmaster), and master percussionist
Emil Richards (who has performed on every Elfman session in Los Angeles since
he started). Bobbi Page brought in the female choir, and tapped to conduct
the orchestra was Maestro John Mauceri, who is the music director of the Pittsburgh
Opera, and principle conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra here in Los
Angeles.
John Mauceri conducts at the Newman Scoring Stage
Robert Thies and Gloria Cheng on piano
The percussion section
Bobbi Page and the female choir
With a 96-piece orchestra laid out before him, Mauceri worked
through the six different movements over three full days of recording.
It was not an easy job, and as one breathless musician put it, "it's a
lot of notes!" In the booth, Elfman and Bartek would be following the
score along with Mauceri's conducting assistant, Scott Dunn. Armin
Steiner was at the mixing board making sure that each musical voice
could be heard, and Tim Lauber and Christine Sirois handled the score
recording, with Sirois on the ProTools system. Generally, there would
be intense practice of different sections of each movement followed by
a run-through before recording it, and then they would go back and do
pick-ups for each of the troubled areas. Sometimes they would record
large chunks multiple times, until they got it just right. Keeping
track of all the different takes and editing them together was music
editor Shie Rozow.
Steve Bartek, Scott Dunn, Danny Elfman, and Armin Steiner
Music Editor Shie Rozow
Tim Lauber handles recording duties
The six movements of the piece are: "Pianos", "Blue Strings", "A
Brass Thing", "Quadriped Patrol", "I Forget (Choral)", and "Bells and
Whistles". Each piece has a distinct musical signature to it, but they
are all unmistakably Elfman, from the violin solos and somber strings
in "Blue Strings", to the jazzy saxophone and muted brass in "A Brass
Thing", to the celesta with pizzicato strings in "Bells and Whistles".
Danny Elfman listens as the orchestra performs his Serenada Schizophrana
John Mauceri listens to a cue playback
Elfman will be working with composer Deborah Lurie (An Unfinished Life) to record additional new music and adaptation of Elfman's themes to flesh out the rest of the score to the film.
Conductor John Mauceri, Composer Danny Elfman, Conductor Assistant Scott Dunn,
Orchestrator Steve Bartek, Agent Richard Kraft and Contractor Debbi Datz-Pyle
Special thanks to Richard Kraft, Laura Engel, Steve Bartek, Deborah
Lurie, and of course, Danny Elfman. Photography by Dan Goldwasser
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