Ramin Djawadi composes a score of godly proportions for Clash of the Titans
For a composer who has previously soundtracked metallic superheroes (Iron Man), vampire hunters (Blade: Trinity) and swarthy pirates (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), it may not seem like such a stretch to tackle an entire pantheon of Greek gods. Even so, ASCAP composer Ramin Djawadi went the extra mile for his monumental score for Clash of the Titans. Using an 80-piece orchestra and a choir of 40 singers, the Grammy- and Emmy-nominated Djawadi merged traditional orchestral elements with ethnic instruments and a driving percussive undercurrent for his epic score. It's at once overwhelming and powerfully affecting, the ideal setting for Perseus's heroic journey through ancient Greece.
Djawadi took some time out of his busy scoring schedule for the hit ABC science fiction series FlashForward to talk with Playback. Here's how it went down.
Have you seen the final cut of Clash of the Titans?
Actually no! I've seen a locked cut, but I have not seen the finished effects and the 3D, so I'm going to see that tomorrow. I'm very excited to see that. When I was working on it, some of the big special effects were still there, but some of it was still missing.
Did knowing that Clash of the Titans was going to be released in 3D change how you wrote the score at all?
Not really. The scenes, as they were, were already epic and big. There was not really anything for me to change. We played a little bit with some elements in the mix, put them in the surround a little bit, but I didn't mimic any of the 3D effects because I hadn't even seen them.
How far along in production did they bring you aboard for the movie?
It was about two months before release. It was pretty late, so I didn't have much time. I had about four weeks to write the score. It was a lot of work. I didn't sleep much for sure.
That was less time than you usually get for a project of this magnitude?
There are all kinds of different scenarios. Usually you want to start as early as possible so you can experiment a little bit, but it doesn't always work out that way. This one was just a little bit later.
How closely did you work with the film's director Louis Leterrier, and what kind of instructions did he give you?
We worked very closely together, and in fact he had some great visions for the direction that he wanted. The most important one was that he wanted to have a modern element within the score, even though the score is kind of traditional. He would say to me, "Look Ramin, you used guitars on Iron Man, but on this one let's do something like that, but not with guitars." He suggested doing something like that, but on a cello. That was the big experiment - to make it modern, but not go anywhere near what I had done on Iron Man, which had guitar and drums and all that. It was a big part of that search for that sound.
So then there's still something guitar-like in Clash of the Titans. Can you describe that a little bit more? What do you feel is the essential guitar-like motive to the score?
It's all based around the cello. The fact that my main instrument is guitar, and then Iron Man kind of brought that out a bit more. But in a way, I don't even use guitar all that much in other scores. I write on the piano, or on the keyboard. I'm not always drawn to the guitar. So this one might sound a bit guitarish, because of the distorted celli that I'm using, but there's really no thoughts about the guitar. Thinking about it now, maybe the way certain action cues are written is a bit rock oriented. It was this modern sound that we went for. So even though it's orchestra, I think it has a bit more of the rock feel to it. Even the string motifs are based on something you could even play on guitar.
You played an instrument called guitar viol for this score. Is that part of the guitar/stringed instrument sound that you're talking about?
That's part of it, as well. The guitar viol is a hybrid of a guitar and a bowed cello or violin. My main instrument is the guitar, so that's something I can actually play myself. It's a very unique and expressive instrument, and I literally just got it when I was brought on to this film. So that was my new toy. It was perfect timing! I could go nuts on it with this film.
There were a couple moments in Clash of the Titans, in Medusa's lair for example, where it sounds like you're actually using a guitar. There are a few bars where I heard some kind of riffing.
None of that is guitar. Not a single guitar in the score. So all that was done on either the guitar viol, or with a cello. There's no guitars being used. We did all kinds of things with close micing on the cello, or running it through a guitar amp. We did different experiments like that to get different sounds.
Are there any non-acoustic instruments used? I think I heard drum programming in some of the more rhythmic cues.
In some of the action cues, I added a little bit of electronics, but it really fits in well with the organic percussion. I never wanted it to be too much of an electronica score. All that blends in very nicely. So you'll hear electronic bass drums in there, but they're all nicely put together.
The one place where it does go more towards an electronica bent is the track "Be My Weapon," on the soundtrack, which is credited to composer/producer Neil Davidge. Tell me about his involvement with the project.
He did some additional music in the movie, and "Be My Weapon" is a track that you can hear in the movie during the Calibos fight. The electronica version from the album is actually not like that in the movie. In the movie, it's more orchestra-based. We added orchestra to it, and some different percussion, and shaped it a bit differently, just to make it fit within the score and not go too modern. On the album, we thought it could be fun to let it be a ten minute version for listeners to enjoy.
Same with the song "The Storm That Brought Me To You," right? I don't remember hearing that in the film.
That was also another idea of Neil's. It was actually my opening piece, in the opening scene, and Neil said "You know what, I really like what you did. Give me some of that stuff and let me tweak it." And he came up with the song with (Danish singer) Tina Dico. It's not in the movie, but I thought it was an amazing track. So I'm really happy that it's on the album.
It definitely reminds me of a Zero 7 or Massive Attack song.
I'm a big fan of all that stuff, so it's really cool. I'm thrilled about that one.
The first time that we see the palace at Argos and in some other sections, we hear some non-western instruments. What were you using there?
That was the oud, saz and bouzouk. I tried to play around with some ethnic plucked instruments. There are actually these two characters in the movie, these Turkish brothers. They needed their own little sound. So I had the opportunity to get away from orchestral things and add a little bit of ethnic influence.
You used a throat singer when we first run into the desert-dwelling race of creatures called the Djinn. Is it that difficult to find a throat singer 'round these parts?
Yes and no. It's a certain selected group of people that do that kind of thing. It's such a unique sound, so I always thought it was something I wanted to use. That's what I love about film music. Whatever project you're working on, the location or the plot of the movie gives you a sense already of the instruments, and the sound palette you can experiment with. There's always something new. So I always love to explore and come up with something different.
One of the really cool things about this film is that the gods are portrayed as every bit as imperfect and sometimes far crueler, than humans can be. Did you have any sense of treating the gods and humans differently in the film, on a musical level?
I treated the gods as beings that should be admired and feared at the same time. There was usually a little bit of both. That's why they usually get the big choir, and pure power. That's the main way I tried to separate them from the humans.
You've had a pretty remarkable spread of films, from dramas and animated features to big action-adventures. Is there a certain genre or project that you're more drawn to than the others?
The ones that I really love are the big dramas. Movies that don't have big action, but rather really good plotlines. Movies like that are the ones that really interest me. The main thing is to switch it up. After doing a big action movie, then I like to do an animated movie, and then a horror movie. It's the love I have for different styles and different instruments. I try to look for different opportunities to write different kinds of music.
So each genre will exercise a different part of your musical ability.
Exactly. It's always a challenge to come up with something new. I might do a movie without any action cues in it, and then do one where there are a lot of action cues. A movie without any orchestra, and then a movie without any synthesizer, or a movie just with synthesizer. There are so many possibilities these days.
Did you always have the idea of exploring different genres and styles of music, even back before you had your success as a film composer?
My plan was always to get into film music. Whenever I wrote music, even though I do write songs - though I haven't done it in along time - it's always just instrumental. I write melodies and themes, but I don't write lyrics. For me, it was a natural development to go into instrumental score writing.
Tell me how that works with FlashForward, the TV show that you're currently scoring. How do you have to think about it differently than when you're doing a score for a big-budget movie like Clash of the Titans?
That one is actually a pretty big score. I write that one as if I were able to go to a big orchestra. In fact, this year I'm doing live strings. That's a new thing. Last year we did ten episodes without them, and ABC made it possible for me to record with a live string section now, which is absolutely wonderful. It has changed a little bit how I write, because I'm thinking "Wait a minute, I'm going to record this live. Let me do this." And I can do certain things I can't do with samples. So in a way it does change when you have the ability to go live. I'm enjoying FlashForward a lot, actually, because that one has synth, and percussion, but then I'm recording the live strings with it. It sounds fantastic.
Aside from this new season of FlashForward, what's coming up for you in the near future?
I don't know! I think some sleep actually. FlashForward is keeping me busy right now. So we'll see what's in the future.
You should get that throat singer to accompany your sleep.
There you go!
Clash of the Titans opened in theaters on Friday, April 2nd.
The soundtrack is available digitally through WaterTower Music.
Ramin Djawadi's website: ramindjawadi.com/
Clash of the Titans official website: clash-of-the-titans.warnerbros.com/
By Etan Rosenbloom
