When we were putting Subterra together, we wanted the music to be special. Too often, TV shows, podcasts, movies, fall back on generic music score to heighten their scenes. With Subterra, we felt that it was not just a narrative, but a specific place; an immersive auditory location that needed to sound specific and unique. The sounds of the bunker had to feel immersive and real. And the music needed to complement that.
The problem? We have never scored anything. As the amatuer musician of the two of us, I took on the role of composer. I do love listening to music. But I am not an accomplished musician and have limited skills. So the task was pretty daunting and to make Subterra have it’s own ‘sound’ seemed nearly impossible.
During this period, I rewatched a favorite movie of mine from my childhood, “John Carpenter’s The Thing.” I was reminded that John Carpenter scored a lot of his early movies and dipped into the internet to find out how and why. It was less of a creative decision and more financial. His movies were low budget and when it came time to score it, he didn’t want to pay someone. I felt his pain, as we didn’t want to spend money. Carpenter’s scores were heavily reliant on synths, and have a scaled-down, minimal feel. And as a fan of minimalist electronica, I felt a kinship to this style.
“The Thing” wasn’t scored by John Carpenter. It was his biggest budget movie of his career and he had the money to hire a composer. So he hired the legendary Ennio Morricone. And instead of doing a sweeping, orchestral score, Morricone kinda mimicked Carpenter’s style, still adding some flourishes that elevated it. If you haven’t listened to “The Thing”’s score, you really should.
So that was the template for my approach. Very minimalistic sounding synths. Like something from the ambient era of Aphex Twin. But with touches of strings and guitar to make things feel big in the moment. The soundscape needed to feel futuristic and high-tech while at the same time, deeply emotional and organic feeling. Hazel may be a bucket of microchips and motors, but she is a real friend to Ace. So our musical theme needed to reflect this. The world of Subterra is massive so the wide, thick bass synths should give the listener a sense of that. But Subterra is a small, emotional story, and our score should feel intimate and personal. Guitar chords accompanied by piano seemed like a good way to touch the listener’s heart.
As I put the episodes together and started scoring, I found myself listening to the scene and recording instruments live as the show played. Instead of recording a track and then editing the show to the music, I tried a different approach. The result, to my ears, is a looser, more in the moment score that feels organic and, yes, a little unpolished. But to me, the sound of Subterra is rough, beaten up, covered in rust, worn and a little chaotic; the style of the score fitting the series well.
Subterra 