01:05You seem to go full Star Wars there with the show within a show,
01:09The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.
01:11Tell me about that.
01:12Oh my goodness, that was pure bliss, just writing that piece,
01:15and it was just be as wild and wonderful, definitely Bernard Herrmann-esque also.
01:22And the co-creator, showrunner, Chris Weitz hummed that piece,
01:27sent it to me, orchestrated it.
01:30And we ended up with this lovely piece.
01:32Nice way to end it, but it is very different, or it is different to the rest of the show.
01:38Did you approach these things in different sort of ways?
01:41I did.
01:41So that show is just goofball, you know, space, soap opera, over the top,
01:48visually over the top, sonically, acting-wise.
01:51So it's just, it's just, it's just so much fun.
01:53Yeah, you had a bit of opportunity to play, I imagine.
01:55Very much so, yes.
01:56Let's go back to Murderbot.
01:58I gather that you read the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells long before you ever got this job.
02:04I did.
02:04That's quite serendipitous.
02:06It is.
02:06Were you thinking, when you were reading that, the score, did you have a score in your head when you
02:11were reading the book?
02:11I always do whenever I'm reading a book.
02:14So, yes.
02:15So, yeah, I read the first book kind of during COVID era.
02:20And, yeah, there's so much voiceover, and there's so much internal dialogue, and so much angst, and anxiety, and emotion
02:26from Murderbot.
02:27As we're kind of tracking a story, their story.
02:31And, yes, I'm always thinking of that.
02:33So I was like, how can I ascribe this feeling to instruments?
02:35So definitely very much, like, analog instruments and, you know, organic.
02:39When you get the call to say, actually, we would like you to work on this show that you have
02:43already read the book of, how do you approach that?
02:46What are you thinking in terms of themes, and what are you thinking?
02:48Exactly.
02:49Well, just listening deeply to, you know, the objective.
02:53It's like, how do we want to make everyone feel?
02:55Definitely thematic elements for the crew members.
02:58But tracking Murderbot's humanity was, like, a big thing.
03:03And also giving space for the voiceover and the acting and just the moments of mounting anxiety.
03:12So that was really important, too.
03:13And you used the Roland Juno 60, which seems like a pretty good instrument, given that this robot is sort
03:20of becoming more human over time.
03:22Yeah, it's a synth I have and I absolutely adore.
03:24And if anyone has one, they know that it has a mind of its own.
03:27And I feel like it just was the perfect instrument for Murderbot.
03:30Just something that you can program, but then it kind of, like, kind of goes off on its own tangent
03:35and creates sounds that just don't exist anymore.
03:37I was going to say, probably to create sounds that you can't replicate.
03:40Exactly.
03:41And which gives it that human element, even though it's, like, a robotic thing.
03:44And then you have this sort of analog synth mixed with this 50-piece orchestra.
03:49Yes.
03:49How was that?
03:50Talk us through that process.
03:51Yeah, that was amazing.
03:52So just, you know, creating that mock-up, but then just the orchestra brought it to life.
03:56And, you know, the arrangements, they were just kind of doubling some of the synth ideas and playing with dissonance
04:02and just high, high-frequency textures.
04:05And, yeah, it's just fun just to play with things that make you feel a little bit uncomfortable.
04:11Yeah.
04:12That was what you were going for?
04:13Yeah, a little bit.
04:13Yeah, it had to because just the nature of Murderbot, it's like they're having trouble making eye contact.
04:19They're having trouble engaging with their human crew, but at the same time falling in love with them.
04:24So it's like this feeling torn apart inside and trying to discover who you are.
04:28It's all very uncomfortable, so.
04:30And you've got a 90s rave moment in this, sort of the crew theme.
04:35Oh, say it once again?
04:36The 90s rave crew theme.
04:38Oh, yeah, exactly.
04:39It's a whole different tangent.
04:40Yes.
04:40That was fun to just capture them in a certain way and just kind of give them this groovy sort
04:47of vibe, you know.
04:48And there's like a whole throuple thing that happens, so it's like bouncy and playful and, yeah.
04:54You mentioned Chris White and the White's Brothers.
04:57How did you, what were the conversations like?
05:00Were they, there's sort of different parts of this show.
05:03There's different elements to this show.
05:05How did they sort of say, did they give you all the episodes and you watched them?
05:08Were you, what was it sort of?
05:09It was like an evolving conversation.
05:10So, you know, reading the book, just sharing ideas and then hearing their input.
05:15But at one point there was like, let's try like a Vince Giraldi kind of vibe, you know.
05:18Let's go 70s.
05:19Maybe we don't want to anticipate what the future sounds like, what this universe sounds like.
05:23And I think ultimately I was like really driven on the, I want this robotic analog synth thing.
05:28And just blending that with cello and orchestra, just like very intimate, intimately mic'd instruments.
05:36There's also a sang one, there's another instrument that I'm using in the score.
05:40It's a Korean instrument.
05:41Tell us about that.
05:41Yeah.
05:42I can reach these really, really high frequencies that I'm doubling with the synth.
05:46That gives it this like human element and then the synth element and you're like, and it, as I'm pitch
05:51shifting, it just creates this crazy frequency and textures that mess with your ear drum.
05:57So I just wanted to play with that too.
05:59It was just really important to just like play with synth and then organic elements.
06:03Were you compartmentalizing all of these different sort of parts of the show?
06:06Yeah, so anytime that Murderbot is trying to make eye contact with someone or experiencing great anxiety that this, this
06:16instrument comes into play coupled with the synth.
06:19The crew just bouncy, rave vibes, but also solo cello, solo cello for connecting all the different crew have like
06:30their moments in their cup, like their, their bedrooms.
06:32So just like seeing those raw moments and when they're scared or feeling vulnerable or uncertain about, you know, the
06:40intentions of the other crew, you know, just feeling just very human and scared on a foreign planet.
06:47Then I bring in solo cello and just to kind of give that feeling with this like a little bit
06:51of synth, yeah.
06:52Well, nothing uncertain about this score.
06:54Please give it up for Amanda Jones, everybody.
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