In December 2018, it was reported that the Newton Brothers—a duo of Andy Grush and Taylor Stewart, who previously collaborated in all of Flanagan's works, since Oculus (2018)—had been assigned to score music for Doctor Sleep.[1] The duo had been heavily inspired by the music of The Shining, and also adapted the main title theme "Dies Irae".[2][3]
Flanagan presented the script of Doctor Sleep to the duo while they were also mixing the score for The Haunting of Hill House (2018). He further insisted them that the music should be bigger with interesting sounds, while adding that he wanted the emotional content and dread of The Shining but also to be expanded in its own way so that it would be woven into the musical landscape curated for the film.[4] The duo then took two different approaches for scoring the film, at first they went with melodic ideas and then decided on constructing the soundscape and tonal ideas which went for a couple of months. Later, they visited Flanagan during the film's production in Atlanta and discussed about his musical intentions, where he wanted it to be tonally driven and resulted it to construct the melodies at sporadic situations. They also wanted the film to have its own soundscape unlike The Shining, which borrowed its soundtrack from needle drops mostly from the late-20th century classical music.[2]
The duo recalled the Flanagan wanted to interpret the 20th century classical music into the score and also incorporate the "Dies Irae" title theme as well. They followed the 12-tone structure for the music and constructed the score at that range.[5] Grush recalled that the piece for a particular melody was constructed in V-flat, and when Flanagan contacted them while supervising the compositions on his IPad, he thought on trying the theme to A-flat which unlocked a series of themes constructed for the film.[6]
Composition
Besides composing, the duo also supervised on the sound effects.[2] Initially, they thought on altering the woodwinds to produce a weird sound that led them to research on wind harps. After talking to manufacturers and travelling to places all over the world, they ended on buying a 90-feet tall wind harp located in a small park in San Francisco.[5] They recorded the sounds of the harp in sync with the wind and manipulated the noises which produced low howling and high weird sounds which were processed manually. They also recorded wind chimes which were processed before recording them. Stewart produced vocal recordings through his modular gears and manipulated those sounds.[2][6]
The duo recorded the Hurdy Grande, a 20-feet long hurdy gurdy instrument and ancient percussions and bass flutes, which were pitched down after recording, to represent the True Knot cult.[6] They also recorded chimes, tubular bells and bowls for different characters. During the orchestra recording, the orchestrator split the players into three parts, where the violins are recorded in three different sections that are recorded seamlessly to produce a non-stagnant sound.[2][5]
Reception
Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture wrote "A score by the Newton Brothers thumps like an errant heartbeat."[7] Michael Roffman of Consequence wrote "At a time when horror scores are so often relegated as forgettable filler, the Newtons really do make a case for placing a precedence on sound again."[8] Brian B. of MovieWeb wrote "The astute listener will recognize occasional musical call backs to the iconic theme from the 1980 adaptation of The Shining."[9] Sandy Schaefer of Screen Rant wrote that the duo's score "give the film the same chilly look and atmosphere as the storyteller's previous output".[10]
Paul Shirey of JoBlo.com wrote "the score to the film is a stand out, hitting all the right beats for atmosphere and, of course, those pesky jump scares, which are peppered throughout to keep you alert".[11] described it as a "moody" score.[12] Clarrise Loughrey of The Independent wrote "Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind’s original score, with those electronic notes that sound like foghorns, only appears once. Otherwise, it’s a more conventional mix of orchestral groans and violin shrieks by the Newton brothers, punctured by the sound of a beating heart."[13]
Track listing
Doctor Sleep (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Dies Irae / Violet (Incorporating The Shining Main Title)"
Recording – Jay Cloidt (hurdy gurdy), Max Hirtenstein (wind harp)
Mixing – Snacky, Jonathan Wales, Matt Ward
Mastering – Patricia Sullivan
Score editor – Mary Webster
Soundtrack co-ordinator – Kari Miazek
Orchestra
Orchestra – The Hollywood Studio Symphony
Orchestrated and conducted by – Mark Graham
Orchestra contractor – Gina Zimmitti
Assistant orchestra contractor – Whitney Martin
Concertmaster – Charlie Bisharat
Instruments
Bass – Bill "B.J." Johnson, Chris Kollgaard, Dave Parmeter, Drew Dembowski, Ed Meares, Geoff Osika, Ian Walker, Oscar Hidalgo, Thomas Harte, Mike Valerio
Bassoon – Anthony Parnther, Damian Montano, Ken Munday, Rose Corrigan
Cello – Armen Ksajikian, Cecilia Tsan, Charlie Tyler, Dennis Karmazyn, Eric Byers, Giovanna Clayton, Julie Jung, Mike Kaufman, Ross Gasworth, Trevor Handy, Vanessa Freebairn Smith,Tim Loo
Clarinet – Dan Higgins, Don Foster, Joshua Ranz, Stuart Clark
Flute – Ben Smolen, Jenni Olson, Johanna Borenstein, Heather Clark
French horn – Allen Fogle, Dan Kelley, Laura Brenes, Mark Adams, Teag Reaves, Dylan Hart
Harp – Cristina Montes Mateo
Hurdy gurdy – Paul Dresher
Oboe – Lara Wickes
Percussion – Matt Chamberlain, Michael Chavez, Pete Korpela, Randy Cooke, Brian Kilgore
Piano, celeste – Robert Thies
Timpani – Wade Culbreath
Trombone – Bill Reichenbach, Phil Keen, Steve Holtman, Alex Iles
Tuba – P. Blake Cooper, Doug Tornquist
Viola – Aaron Oltman, Alma Fernandez, Andrew Duckles, Caroline Buckman, Dave Walther, Erik Rynearson, Zach Dellinger, Jonathan Moerschel, Luke Maurer, Meredith Crawford, Shawn Mann, Rob Brophy
Violin – Ana Landauer, Andrew Bulbrook, Armen Anassian, Ashoka Thiagarajan, Ben Jacobson, Camille Miller, Daphne Chen, Eun-Mee Ahn, Grace Oh, Helen Nightengale, Ina Veli, Jackie Brand, Jenny Takamatsu, Jessica Guideri, Joel Pargman, Josefina Vergara, Katie Sloan, Leah Zeger, Luanne Homzy, Lucia Micarelli, Maia Jasper, Marisa Sorajja, Marisa Kuney, Mark Robertson, Natalie Leggett, Paul Cartwright, Phil Levy, Radu Pieptea, Sara Parkins, Sarah Thornblade, Songa Lee, Tammy Hatwan, Tereza Stanislav, Alyssa Park, Bruce Dukov
Vocals
Choir contractor – Edie Lehmann Boddicker
Alto – Angie Jarée, Baraka May Williams, Edie Lehmann Boddicker
↑ Roffman, Michael (November 7, 2019). "Doctor Sleep | Film Review". Consequence. Archived from the original on October 29, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
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