The Amelia Project - How I Make Music - Theme Tune Special

Episode Date: July 26, 2021

“My name is Fredrik Baden. I’m a composer from Oslo, Norway, and this is How I Make Music.” Theme Tune Bonus Episode With Fredrik Baden Created by John Bartmann Last August, our very own Fredrik Baden was the featured composer on John Bartmann’s podcast “How I Make Music”! We’re thrilled to be able to re-release this episode on our feed. How I Make Music is where behind-the-scenes musicians tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and investigate the insights into how it was made. Check out How I Make Music on: howimakemusic.com Subscribe to How I Make Music: pod.link/1460793686
 Contact How I Make Music: johnbartmann.com/contact How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann: johnbartmann.com Music and SFX credits: Juan Cristobal Tapia de Veer – Theme from Dirk Gently (US) Daniel Pemberton – Theme from Dirk Gently (UK) Rolf Kent – Morning Routine from Dexter  ZeSoundResearchInc. – Vinyl Backspin and Beat Scratch.wav The Amelia Project is part of the Fable & Folly Network. Find and support our sponsors at: fableandfolly.com/partners Website: ameliapodcast.com Transcripts: ameliapodcast.com/transcripts Twitter: @amelia_podcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ameliapodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer's here, and you can now get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? You can't get a well-groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parmesan delivered. Sunshine? No. Some wine? Yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. See app for details. Hello everyone, we are working hard on the second part of season three, and are on schedule to be back in April in under two months. If you're a $5 patron, there's also a full-length bonus episode coming out before that. What you're about to listen to is an episode that was originally recorded for the podcast

How I Make Music, a show that explores the music and musicians behind audio dramas. Last year, our composer, Frederick Barden, hosted an episode and talked about the Amelia theme and its many variations. We thought you might be interested in this, so we'd like to thank John Bartman of How I Make Music for letting us share this episode with you. If you like what you hear and are curious to hear from other composers, you can check out How I Make Music on your podcatcher. So, without further ado, here is Frederick Barden's episode of How I Make Music. The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called the Amelia Project theme. the Amelia Project theme. It is a fun and eccentric piece that was written for the dark comedy audio drama The Amelia Project,

written by Øystein Ulfsberg-Brager and Pip Thorne. Today we'll break it down and look at some of the insight into why and how this music was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and investigate the insights into how it was made. My name is Fredrik Baden. I'm a composer from Oslo, Norway. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music. This is episode 71 by me, Freddy.

And thanks for listening in. I come from a really creative family. Maybe the more defining points in my life was making music for an ensemble in high school. In the graduation, we played that piece, and the reception was something very heartwarming for me. It's something that makes me choke up sometimes when I think about it. Here, take a listen.

Congratulations. You've reached The Amelia Project. The Amelia Project is an eccentric and weird comedy drama, which is about a secret organization that fakes its clients' deaths. If you hesitated, do not proceed. Give them the possibility to reappear with a new identity. And it could be anything from eccentric cult leaders or scientists or politicians.

Or we even had an AI at one point. Provided you have feelings. I am programmed to assimilate and display feelings. Do you feel? You are not my therapist. You certainly are a fascinating woman. Thank you. Do not hit on me. And they're all desperate to disappear.

The only way to get the services of the Amelia Project is that you have a really interesting story to tell. And that's how they choose you. So in today's episode of How I Make Music, So in today's episode of How I Make Music, we deal with the version 7.6 of the musical theme for the Amelia project. And I'll explain more later about why it's version 7.6, but just be aware that there are many versions of this musical theme. My girlfriend and I watched Dirk Gently on Netflix and I liked the music so much that I wanted to find the theme version, the BBC version.

And I kept that in mind for making this theme later, so it kind of shares the same rickety-rackety sound. same rickety-rackety sound. It also reminds me of Dexter, the TV show. With the morning routine, which is played at the start of every episode. Which is also this feel of some ominous weirdness. I guess.

So I was approached by Øystein, one of the writers. He wanted me to write the theme. We started talking about what the Emilia project was. I started sending versions to them. And they kept kind of saying, no, this is too serious or this is too... This doesn't really hit the mark about how silly this show is. My family has a cabin down in Fredrikstad, which is funny because it's

Fredrik's place. And we have a pedal organ there where you have to use your feet to get some sound. I just made this umpappa three-fourths rhythm. rhythm. Bounced it out and sent it to them, just to find an extreme where, of course, they're not going to go with this, because this is way too silly. And then they just, yeah, this is perfect.

Just develop this. Big sound with a big melody and big drums and big bass and then you try to offset that with some plucky chords. Piccolo flute. And some really honky strings. So I've made a few versions of this now, trying to suit the story of that particular episode. So we have an episode which is about a funfair park that is called Hell. So I made a metal version of it.

There's about these two Italians and I tried to make this mafioso Italian version. And then there's this Egyptian one where they... I can't really say it because it's a freaking spoiler alert. And we were in Scotland, so of course we need bagpipes. And we had a Christmas special, and I wanted to Frank Sinatra the shit out of it. I can't say that comment. So this is why I kind of have to use this numbering system. We really love to collaborate with others and challenge ourselves. And for World Audio Drama Day in 2018, we collaborated with none other than four other audio dramas. So I Frankensteined all of the themes into one theme.

It went like this. I completely butchered them, but it was really a lot of fun. One of the key aspects of it, I think, is the opening, which is just this beep to make suspense. This theme is in F minor, so I set the beep to be in C. Kind of feel of landing when you start the theme. It's up there and up there and up there and then the theme crashes in. So I kind of like that.

There are five layers to the keyboards in this theme tune. The strings are very prominent with their bitey sound. And there's Rhodes. Rhodes. And there's the accordion. Which gives a nice touch. And a dream piano to fill out the top end. And some bitey harpsichord. And a mellotron that comes in the B part for the dreamy, kind of filling out the gaps.

And all of these are playing different notes in the chord. It's easy to copy-paste and then everybody plays the same, but it doesn't really fill out the frequency spectrum. Summer is like a cocktail. It has to be mixed just right. Start with a handful of great friends. frequency spectrum. Bacardi. Do what moves you. Live passionately. Drink responsibly. Copyright 2024. Bacardi. It's trade dress and the bat device are trademarks of Bacardi and Company Limited. Rum 40% alcohol by volume. So the drums are using a lot of subdivision emphasis to keep the momentum going.

Everything else is very even though they're going boom. I have a habit of trying to make sense out of weird things. When I hear something, wow, why does this sound weird? And then I try to find out what kind of chords there are. Oh, it's because it's Phrygian. Or it's Locrian. Or it's C major, and then it's all of a sudden Bb minor.

That sounds weird. The chord progression and the scale for this theme is not just normal harmonic minor. It's a mix between Phrygian and Locrian, I think, actually. It starts in F minor and then G flat major, which is in the Phrygian scale. Then back to F minor and up to A flat minor. And that minor third allows to get this tritone feel between the natural B and F. It doesn't belong in the scale. It's really the odd one out. In the B section, B major, A flat major, G flat major, C major. And then we resolve to F minor.

It sounds off and it sounds weird. That resonates, I think, with how this podcast and audio drama is supposed to be a bit absurd and off-putting, but also quite funny. You even get a piccolo flute fanfare. And that's about it for this week's episode. We'll listen to the full track in just a moment, but before we do that, thank you for listening to How I Make Music. Catch new episodes every Wednesday on Spotify or Apple or wherever else you get your podcasts. We've been listening to music featured in the audio drama The Amelia Project.

To hear the full story or to check out my other compositions, check out the link to my homepage in the show notes. Visit howimakemusic.com to learn more about the aims of the show and for bonus behind-the-scenes stuff for each episode. How I Make Music is created by John Bartman, and he's a really good guy. For audio experiences that keep people listening, contact John Bartman via the show notes. Because the theme song is really quite short, we're going to be listening to a few

different versions back to back. So get out your cocoa and listen to these different versions of the theme for the Amelia project in their entirety. My name is Fredrik Baden and thank you for listening to How I Make Music. We'll catch you next week. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Terima kasih telah menonton! The Fable and Folly Network, where fiction producers flourish. Sure I can't get you a drink? Uh, I, um... They'd had a moment, hadn't they? That afternoon when Garrett had smiled just like this, warm-eyed and amused in a way that made Tony want another cigarette,

but also want to step forward and... Hey Kate, what are you writing? Ah! you want another cigarette, but also want to step forward and... Hey, Kate, what are you writing? Ah! New text post on Thursday, May 21st. Title. Why you should be watching Selkirk.

So, Selkirk fandom, who wants to read my 5,000-word essay, Garrett's last name, Secret Werewolf? I'm Kate, by the way. They kiss? I think I lucked out when I found Selkirk. Because if I'd loved

something else, I would've made friends, and I would've been able to read a ton of great stories. But, this way, I met friends, and I would have been able to read a ton of great stories. But this way, I met you. Me and Day U,

a new story about love and fandom from the Procyon Podcast Network.