Indaba Spotlight: Michael Whalen - Indablog

News, sessions, and oddities from the Indaba community. Written and curated by Streeter Seidell.

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Streeter Seidell is a comedy writer and (mediocre) drummer living in Brooklyn, NY. During the day he edits the front page of CollegeHumor.com but when the sun goes down he takes his place at the helm of the Indablog. He maintains a personal blog at StreeterSeidell.com and wants to make sure you know he once wrote something for the New York Times and that it was, in the words of his mother, "Amazing! You're so talented!"

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Indaba Spotlight: Michael Whalen

Friday November 23, 2007 at 01:00 PM

This week we'll be getting to know one of Indaba's most accomplished users, composer, film scorer and musical man-about-town, Michael Whalen.

From Michael's Website Bio

For Michael Whalen, the passionate pursuit of music represents his life story, not merely the contents of a resume. The evocative works he composes and produces have become a part of our lives too, through his remarkably diverse ventures in television, films, theater, multi-media and on his own recordings. So far, Michael has more than 400 television scores and dozens of feature and short film credits to his name.

He created the uplifting opening theme to the ABC News morning show Good Morning America, music for the Oprah Winfrey Show, Martha Stewart, and Inside Edition. He also created the Emmy®-nominated score for PBS’ 2006 “Violent Hawaii” special and the sprawling score to the acclaimed four-hour 2005 PBS series Slavery and the Making of America, and material for the inspirational 2004 indie film hit What the Bleep Do We Know? His music is currently featured on over a dozen shows including the CBS soap opera, As the World Turns

Well, it appears as if we've discovered another Indaba user who makes you feel bad about your own accomplishments. I joke, of course, but in all seriousness Michael Whalen's career is a wonder to behold. A veritable powerhouse of composition and scoring, Michael has, as mentioned earlier, scored more than 400 films and television programs. Aside from scoring work, Michael has also recorded his own solo material (both classical and non-classical) and, did we mention, has an Emmy?

Michael was nice enough to answer some of my questions.

When and how did you decide to get into scoring film and television?

I was 7 years old. It was 1972. I was in a movie theatre watching the film "The Cowboys" starring John Wayne and directed by Mark Rydell. John Williams scored the picture. The music isn't just great. It's sublime. It's a character in the film. Even as a child, the music amazed me. More than anything, I NOTICED music in films for the first time. After College, I moved to New York in 1987 and got a job working at a music house. After working on ads and on some records, I started doing TV in 1990. From there it's been a blur of projects.

Does being a composer of film scores affect your ability to enjoy film if it is scored poorly? Is there any movie that stands out as particularly poorly scored?

It's funny, I used to not be able to go movies because I would be so distracted listening to the music! I have been told by all the women who have dated me that going to the movies with me is a little like going to my old film scoring class at Berklee College of Music [Michael was on the faculty for 4 years]. It used to really bother me when composers we write similar sounding music over and over again. Bad scores? Hmmm.... the score that really bugs me is the score from "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1999). Bill Conti did the music (Rocky) and the music is lame. The movie is sexy and well-done and the music tries to pull the film in a direction that doesn't work. Bill is really talented. So, I am not sure what happened there. Scoring movies is a collaborative process and you just don't know what the director tells the composer. Now, a truly great score is "Ratatouille".... Michael Giacchino did a great job with an amazing film. I hope he wins an Oscar® this year.

What television program or film stands out as particularly well scored and why?

Two TV shows jump out: Jeff Beal's scores for the HBO series "Rome" were amazing. Great scoring with a historical vibe. I also think the score for "24" is great. It's so hard to score action shows and not sound cliche'. Sean (Callery) does a great job - - great sounds.

Walk us through the process of scoring a film or television program. Where do you start? How does the score take shape?

Right now, I am scoring a new series for Discovery. I have about 4 days to complete an hour-long show. First, they post a quicktime video and I download it. The video has rough music temped-in that helps in giving me an idea of what the producers want. Most of this music is mine - - so its cool. Then, I have a conversation with the director and producer about the show and what they want. Then, I start writing. There's usually 30 - 40 cues per show and the 44-minute show. I like to lay out the themes before I start arranging or orchestrating. Scoring TV is all about colors and pacing. Most scoring is MUCH SIMPLER musically than people think. The simplicity gives space for dialog and sound effects. You can always hear when someone is a inexperienced composer when things are too busy. The key is write a theme, trust your theme and use the best sounds and performances you can. One of the big limitations is time and the other is budget. Most television is scored using all samples and synthesizers because of these factors. So, the bottom line is concentrate on the writing and not on the technical crap. There is no substitute for good music. So, once I get a first-pass done, I make a bounce of the music and post it for the producers to review. By the next day, they give me notes and I make the changes. Then, I do a 5.1 surround mix of the final. The mixer does a stereo "fold-down" for international TV. Then, I get a few days off and then I do it again.

Your credits include a myriad of music-related projects, what do you consider your expertise? Is there any one area you enjoy working on more than others?

I think my expertise are in three areas: writing themes, writing orchestral music and using ethnic textures. I like working in many different areas: scoring in many styles, doing sound design for ads and now I do music supervision for film and tv as well. The combination of my composition background and my expertise in copyright law made it a natural that I would start expanding into that area. I am also producing a number of projects. I love producing. Its fun when I can produce a track for a film and then it all comes together. So, the key for me is variety and keeping it interesting.

Finally, what accomplishment are you most proud of in your long, varied career?

I think the fact that I have been successful in every part of the music field I have gone into is my proudest achievement. The next thing for me is live performances. I am doing a bunch of them in 2008 and I look forward to playing out. I am also really proud of my new holiday project "Seasons of Light". Its getting released on Tuesday November 20th. It features some of my favorite vocalists like Paul Buchanan (The Blue Nile), Toni Childs, newcomer Julian Velard and the very wonderful Kristin Hoffman - - to mention just a few. It was a wonderful experience. People can check out the project on MySpace or on iLike.

Check out Michael's website and his a few of his Indaba tracks below.