John Barry/David Arnold - Bond themes

In all Bond films, there is the MOTIF which consists of 2 main sections, which occurs at the start and end of the films and also as underscore when James Bond is lurking about, generally being Bond. The composers were John Barry and then David Arnold.  You can find more info HERE



In most suspense music, there are massive DYNAMIC ranges, often punctuated by orchestral percussion such as timpani and cymbals.

Typical orchestration involves electric guitar, strings, brass, synths, percussion and occasionally high pitched wind instruments.

Harmonically, there is a lot of tension and release, meaning dissonance moving into consonance.  See my other blog post about horror music and you can see examples of the intervals for both of these.

Melodically, there is also often a FIGURE that re-appears in various guises. It is a 4 note descending figure that sometimes appears as fragments (rather like Herrmann used fragments in a minimalist style).  It also appears as a repeated figure, or OSTINATO.

A useful scale to use is the Aeolian scale which goes from A to A, only using the white notes. It is the natural minor scale so can be transposed to other keys easily but this is a good starting point if you are only just learning about key.

Cluster chords are also often used to create build up.

The following examples contain all of these compositional techniques:







TASK 1:

Using these techniques and suitable instrumentation, compose a Bond-esque theme! Bounce it as an mp3, upload to classroom and create a document explaining your process.