Music of The X-Files

Last updated

Music of The X-Files franchise is composed and written by American Mark Snow; the franchise was created by Chris Carter. Snow has composed the music for all the franchise main releases (etc. television shows and films). Together with the show, the music was positively met by critics and viewers of the show alike. Snow has been nominated with over twenty awards and nominations for his music on the various franchise releases, but notably The X-Files. Among the most famous compositions of the franchise is the theme song for The X-Files. The theme was a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart.

Contents

With The X-Files peaking in popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s, the music did too. When the show was hitting its peak in popularity, Carter created a spin off to the series, entitled Millennium which aired from 1996–1999. While never gaining as much attention as The X-Files, the show's theme song and soundtrack releases were well received by critics. The Lone Gunmen is the last television spin off of The X-Files which only aired for around two months. A soundtrack of the original music has been released in a set with music from Carter's other short lived Science Fiction series Harsh Realm. Snow returned to compose music for the franchise with the film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe .

The X-Files

Early conception and series (1993–2002)

Mark Snow got involved with The X-Files, since he was a good friend of executive producer R.W. Goodwin. At the start, Carter and the producers wanted Snow to focus on using synthesizers to craft heavily ambient soundscapes. This early emphasis on abstract arrangements bored Snow who instead wanted to take the show in a much more musical direction. [1]

When creating the music for The X-Files film, Snow had a couple of months to write and to produce the music while he also created the music for the television show. The first film marked the first time the music for the franchise was composed and recorded with help from an orchestra. According to Snow, the recording and writing process didn't change during the making of the film. The biggest difference was that he used MIDI files to save his musical scores and pieces, which would go to a copyist who would take it through one of their programs and eventually give it to the orchestrators. [2]

The sixth season episode "The Unnatural" marked the first time in the series that the show recorded the score with musicians rather than synthesizers. Slide guitar player Nick Kirgo and harmonica player Tommy Morgan assisted Snow with the score. [3]

For the seventh season episode "Closure", Mark Snow's music was not used, being replaced by Moby's "My Weakness". Carter never told Snow about this change. While Snow has been confirmed to be more positive to it than negative, saying it fit "perfect", and further stating, "Every once in a while, when Chris would pick out a pop song or whatever, he would always make really great choices and I thought that was a good one." [2]

"Within", the season eight premiere, was the first of six episodes to feature the song "Scully's Theme". The other five were "Without", "Per Manum", "This Is Not Happening", "Deadalive" and the season finale "Existence". The song features a solo female voice that repeats the distorted words "We are near" over and over. According to Carter, it is one of the greatest things that series composer Snow has ever done. Carter himself admitted to "tweaking" the song a little, adding the three words that are repeated over and over, with the idea to "distort" them. [4]

I Want to Believe (2008)

After The X-Files was cancelled in 2002, Chris Carter and his crew started working with a goal of releasing a second X-Files film. In 2003, Carter called Snow, who by that time lived in London, UK and said he wanted him to return for another film. Snow was positive to the idea, but filming got bogged down by contract issues between Fox and Carter. Once the contract issues were sorted out, Carter re-contacted Snow about the development and later on sent him the script for the film. Carter and his production crew wanted as much secrecy for the film as possible, forcing Snow to sign a contract when receiving the script. Snow wrote a couple of demos at the start, in which Carter and Frank Spotnitz were not too pleased about, but it eventually worked out when Snow re-recorded them. [2]

When composing the music for The X-Files: I Want to Believe , Snow said it was "different" from the previous film which followed the show's mytharc storyline about the government conspiracy with aliens. He said it was much "more heart, warmth and tuneful music" since this film was much more based around Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully's (Gillian Anderson) relationship. [2]

Snow recorded the score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony in May 2008 at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox in Century City, California. [5] No music was written out during Snow's recording season with the symphony orchestra. When making the music, Snow used many instruments such as a "battery of percussion", taiko drums and whistle with live singers, among other things. It took four days to record and writing music for and with the orchestra. He used no trumpets and no high woodwinds when recording, but used up to eight french horns, five trombones, two piano, one harp, thirty-two violins, sixteen violas twelve cellos and eight basses. [2]

British performers UNKLE recorded a new version of the theme music for the end credits to the movie. [6] Some of the unusual sounds were created by a variation of silly putty and dimes tucked in between and over the strings of the piano. Mark Snow also comments that the fast percussion featured in some tracks was inspired by the track 'Prospectors Quartet' from the There Will Be Blood soundtrack. [7] UNKLE's song "Broken" was also included in the end credits.

Millennium

The theme music for Millennium was created by Mark Snow. A popular belief amongst fans is that the theme song was inspired by Kylie Minogue's dance-pop song "Confide In Me". In reality, Chris Carter allegedly sent him a traditional Scottish céilidh song. [8]

Reception and legacy

"The X-Files" theme music went straight to No. 2 on March 30, 1996, on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for three weeks before dropping. [9] In France, the single entered the chart at No. 42 on April 6, 1996, climbed quickly until reaching No. 2 four weeks later. It remained blocked for five weeks at this position, behind Robert Miles's hit "Children", then topped the chart for a sole week, becoming the second instrumental number-one hit, before climbing. It totalled 1 weeks in the top ten and 30 weeks in the top 50. The single was re-charted from October 1998, but remained in low positions.

Related Research Articles

<i>The X-Files</i> American television series

The X-Files is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The original television series aired from September 1993 to May 2002 on Fox. During its original run, the program spanned nine seasons, with 202 episodes. A short tenth season consisting of six episodes ran from January to February 2016. Following the ratings success of this revival, The X-Files returned for an eleventh season of ten episodes, which ran from January to March 2018. In addition to the television series, two feature films have been released: The 1998 film The X-Files and the stand-alone film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, released in 2008, six years after the original television run had ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Mulder</span> X-Files protagonist

Fox William Mulder is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series The X-Files, played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrestrial or paranormal activity as those of a conspiracy theorist and supernaturalist; however, his skeptical but supportive partner, Special Agent Dana Scully, often finds them to be unexpectedly correct. He and Scully work in the X-Files office, concerned with unsolved FBI cases that are often revealed to be supernatural or extraterrestrial in nature. Mulder was a main character for the first seven seasons, but was limited to a recurring character for the following two seasons. He returns as a main character for the tenth and eleventh seasons.

<i>Millennium</i> (TV series) American television series

Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, which aired on Fox from October 25, 1996, to May 21, 1999. The series follows the investigations of ex-FBI agent Frank Black, now a consultant, with the ability to see inside the minds of criminals, working for a mysterious organization known as the Millennium Group.

<i>The X-Files</i> season 4 Season of television series

The fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on October 4, 1996, concluding on the same channel on May 18, 1997, and contained 24 episodes. Following the filming and airing of the season, production began on The X-Files feature film, which was released in 1998 following the show's fifth season.

<i>The X-Files</i> season 5 Season of television series

The fifth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on November 2, 1997, concluding on the same channel on May 17, 1998, and contained 20 episodes. The season was the last in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; subsequent episodes would be shot in Los Angeles, California. In addition, this was the first season of the show where the course of the story was planned, due to the 1998 The X-Files feature film being filmed before it, but scheduled to be released after it aired.

<i>The X-Files</i> (film) 1998 film by Rob Bowman

The X-Files is a 1998 American science fiction thriller film based on Chris Carter's television series of the same name, which revolves around fictional unsolved cases called the X-Files and the characters solving them. It was directed by Rob Bowman, written by Carter and Frank Spotnitz and featured five main characters from the television series: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, John Neville, and William B. Davis reprise their respective roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, Well-Manicured Man, and the Cigarette-Smoking Man. The film was promoted with the tagline Fight the Future.

In The X-Files television show and feature film, the Syndicate is a shadow government group. They were also known as The Elders, The Consortium, and The Group. Because of their cover-up of extraterrestrial life, they were the primary antagonistic force opposing Dana Scully, Fox Mulder, John Doggett, and Monica Reyes during the series.

Mark Snow is an American composer for film and television. Among his most famous compositions is the theme music for science fiction television series The X-Files. The X Files theme tune was released as a single in the United Kingdom, where the series aired on BBC Two and BBC One, in early-1996, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Snow also wrote the music for another Chris Carter series, Millennium, and the background music scores for both shows, a total of 12 seasons.

<i>The Truth and the Light: Music from the X-Files</i> 1996 soundtrack album by Mark Snow

The Truth and the Light: Music from the X-Files is a 1996 album by Mark Snow. The album is composed of excerpts of instrumental music scores from the first three seasons of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, on which Snow was the resident composer. These tracks are linked together with portions of dialogue from the series.

<i>The X-Files: I Want to Believe</i> 2008 science fiction film

The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a 2008 American supernatural thriller film directed by Chris Carter, and written by Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It is the second feature film installment of The X-Files franchise created by Carter, following the 1998 film. Three main actors from the television series, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Mitch Pileggi, reappear in the film to reprise their respective roles as Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and Walter Skinner.

Our Town (<i>The X-Files</i>) 24th episode of the 2nd season of The X-Files

"Our Town" is the twenty-fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 12, 1995. It was written by Frank Spotnitz and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Our Town" received a Nielsen rating of 9.4 and was watched by 9.0 million households. The episode received mixed reviews from critics.

"The Truth" is the two-part season finale of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. "The Truth", the 19th and 20th episodes of the season and the 201st and 202nd episodes overall, originally served as the series finale for the series until The X-Files was revived in January 2016. First aired together on the Fox network on May 19, 2002, the episodes were written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. "The Truth" was the most-watched episode of the ninth season and was seen by 13.25 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. The finale received mixed reviews, with many commentators criticizing the episode's lack of closure. Others were pleased with the full return of actor David Duchovny to the series, as well as the episode's conclusion.

Merchandise related to the American television The X-Files franchise includes VHS and DVD sets, compact discs, video games, T-shirts and a magazine devoted specifically to the show.

<i>The X-Files Mythology, Volume 2 – Black Oil</i> Season of television series

Volume 2 of The X-Files Mythology collection is the second DVD release containing selected episodes from the third to the fifth seasons of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episodes collected in the release form the middle of the series' mythology, and are centered on the discovery of a mind-altering extraterrestrial "black oil".

<i>End Titles... Stories for Film</i> 2008 compilation album by Unkle

End Titles... Stories for Film is a compilation album by British electronic music act Unkle, inspired by feature films created since Unkle's previous 2007 album War Stories, released on 7 July 2008. Unlike their previous album, the 2005 mix Edit Music for a Film: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Reconstruction, "End Titles..." is composed of original material. It features collaborators: Josh Homme, Black Mountain, Gavin Clark, Joel Cadbury, James Petralli, War Stories producer Chris Goss, Dave Bateman, and James Griffith of Lake Trout/Unkle's touring band.

<i>The X-Files: I Want to Believe</i> (soundtrack) 2008 soundtrack album by Mark Snow

The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is an original film score composed and performed by Mark Snow for the motion picture The X-Files: I Want to Believe. It contains a remixed version of the theme tune by Unkle and one hip hop version by Xzibit.

Closure (<i>The X-Files</i>) 11th episode of the 7th season of The X-Files

"Closure" is the eleventh episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files, and the 150th episode overall. It was directed by Kim Manners and written by series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. The installment explores the series' overarching mythology and is the conclusion of a two-part episode revolving around the final revelation of what really happened to Fox Mulder's sister, Samantha. Originally aired by the Fox network on February 13, 2000, "Closure" received a Nielsen rating of 9.1 and was seen by 15.35 million viewers. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics; many felt that the final reveal was emotional and powerful, although some were unhappy with the resolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deadalive</span> 15th episode of the 8th season of The X-Files

"Deadalive" is the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and was directed by Tony Wharmby. It explores the series' alien mythology story arc. Following its North American premiere on April 1, 2001, it received a Nielsen household rating of 7.3 and was watched by 12.4 million viewers. It garnered mixed reviews; while most critics were happy with the return of actor David Duchovny, some criticized the episode's plot holes. It later won the show's last Emmy Award, for Outstanding Makeup.

The mythology of The X-Files, sometimes referred to as its "mytharc" by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder, a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully, his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, was also often involved. Beginning with season 8, another skeptic named John Doggett, and Monica Reyes, a believer like Mulder, were also introduced. The overarching story, which spans events as early as the 1940s, is built around a government conspiracy to hide the truth about alien existence and their doomsday plan. Not all episodes advanced the mythology plot, but those that did were often set up by Mulder or Scully via an opening monologue.

<i>The X-Files: Revelations</i> Season of television series

The X-Files: Revelations collection is a DVD release containing selected episodes from the first to the sixth seasons of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. Released on July 8, 2008, the collection has received mostly positive response from critics. The episodes collected in the release were chosen by writers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and include entries in the series' overarching mythology, as well as standalone Monster-of-the-Week stories. Spotnitz intended the release to act as an entry point for viewers new to the series.

References

  1. ↑ "The S Files". Soundtrack.net. May 27, 1998. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "ScoreKeeper With Composer Mark Snow About THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE, The Creation Of The Series' Theme, And Much More!!". Ain't It Cool. June 24, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  3. ↑ Meisler, Andy (2000). The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 5. Harper Prism. p. 262-263.
  4. ↑ Carter, Chris, Patrick, Robert, Snow, Mark, Spotnitz, Frank and Gish, Annabeth (2001). The Truth Behind Season 8 (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
  5. ↑ Dan Goldwasser (May 30, 2008). "Mark Snow scores The X-Files: I Want to Believe". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  6. ↑ ""X-Files" theme gets a fresh spin for summer film". Yahoo! Movies. June 6, 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  7. ↑ Carter, Chris and Snow, Mark (2005). Trust No One Documentary (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
  8. ↑ Carter, Chris, Tiplady, Brittany, O'Quinn, Terry, Henriksen, Lance and Gallagher, Megan (2004). Order in Chaos, Making Millennium Season One (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
  9. ↑ ""The X-Files", Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company . Retrieved August 1, 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.