Dawn Treader Score Complete

Yesterday, Composer David Arnold posted on his Twitter feed: “Narnia recordiing done.mix tomorrow.now for a celebratory glass of lemon squash.”

The next step is to start mixing, where the mixers will combined all the sound effects, dialogue, and music. They also have to decide the levels, what to use and what to leave out, and which speakers to assign each sound to. For now at least, they will probably be mixing to shots with unfinished visual effects.

Director Michael Apted’s son, Paul, is among those working on the sound. Paul also worked on Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “X-Men: The Last Stand.”

In 2006, Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic, and Tony Johnson received an Academy Award nomination for sound mixing in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” but the award went to “King Kong.”

103 Responses

  1. Eustace+Jill says:

    Cool! 🙂 I can't wait to hear it when the soundtrack comes out!

  2. Laylanarnia fan says:

    One of the parts I love of the Narnian movies is the music!!!
    I love Harry Gregson-Williams!!!!
    but these music it's ok I like it!!
    The music of narnia movies it's wonderful
    you feel you are in there when you lisn 🙂

  3. FriendOfNarnia2 says:

    Wow! That seemed pretty fast!

  4. Thanks for the explanation about mixing. I was lost. And I didn't have time to skim the Wiki article. *blushes*

    Interesting info on Apted's son and the Oscar nomination!

  5. Eustace says:

    Hurrah, another thing finished.

  6. Son of Rillian says:

    This is great, now i cant wait for the Movie and the Soundtrack!

  7. RuralNarniaFan says:

    Can't wait to hear it!

  8. Narnian Meerkat says:

    Sweet! Hope it sounds good!

  9. icarus says:

    AslansCountry.com pointed out another tweet he made during the week which greatly excited me:

    "If I can get this fiddle Solo recorded in time I will be heading to the mercurys, anyone going?" (note – 'the mercurys' referring to the Mercury Music Prize ceremony which was this week)

    Although the mere fact of having a fiddle solo is awesome enough for a sea-based movie, I really really really hope its part of some sort of "in-universe" music based scene a-la Master and Commander. I think that would just be brilliant – imagine the whole crew on deck out playing music on fiddles and pipes and singing sea shanties, whilst Eustace sulks away in the corner. It would be fantastic i think. Perhaps the fiddle is the prop that Tony Nixon said he couldn't mention? Probably not, but however it turns out that one little detail has got me waaaay excited about it 😀

  10. Sometimes I listen to soundtrack on YouTube while reading to help me imagine the scene/listening to the audio book in another YouTube tab at a louder sound level i.e. battle soundtrack during battles. I highly reccomend this!!!! It's very fun and helps to visualize scenes!!!!

  11. Starlily says:

    A fiddle solo! That will be cool! And you're right, it fits so well with a sea-based movie. I kind of doubt that the crew will be fiddling on the ship, but it would be great if they did! Can't wait to hear the music! 😀

  12. decarus says:

    This is weird. It seems early to be done with the score.

  13. Narnian Geek says:

    He must be a fast worker. 🙂

  14. LL says:

    I pray it's as amazing as the last two OST!

  15. GlimGlum says:

    Good to see things getting done. Looking forward to David's score. Sail on VDT! 🙂

  16. pselpevensie says:

    AWESOME!!!! CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR IT!!!!

  17. narnian resident says:

    i LOVE the fiddle! yes! that is so awesome that there's gonna be a fiddle solo! im gonna be listening real close for it 😀

  18. Queen Susan the Gentle says:

    I bet this is going to be great. I loved the music to the first two, and I bet there are going to be some great songs at the end! Good job, David!

  19. narnian resident says:

    i do that when im writing. if its a scene similar to a scene in the movie, i listen to that song. its very inspirational. i've actually gotten lots of ideas for my writing from soundtracks, especially Narnia 🙂

  20. narnian resident says:

    this is one of the coolest parts in making a movie: the music and mixing. mixing is so cool! if i worked in making movies, i would probably be a mixer 🙂

  21. Haha, well this is interesting to hear. I've always liked the kind of music that has been in these films. My favorite would be the music playing when Lucy goes into the wardrobe at night in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Anyone agree or know what I am talking about? lol.

  22. glumPuddle says:

    Sounds about right to me. Hard to believe, but the movie releases in three months. There's still plenty of the work to do of course, with the mix and completing VFX shots.

  23. glumPuddle says:

    Yeah, I love that bit because it compliments the visuals so well. You don’t even really notice the music, because it blends so well with what you’re seeing.
    I think Tumnus’ theme is my favorite part of the LWW score.

  24. Edson07bs says:

    I know what you both mean, the music is so fantastic and perfect. I think when lucy find the wardrobe is my favorite par of the LWW score…

  25. Queen Elizabeth says:

    I have to agree with all of you. 🙂 It's really nice to listen to when you want to relax. I can't wait to get the new music on my iPod 🙂

  26. Dymory says:

    can't wait only 90 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) 🙂

  27. DamselJillPole says:

    That is awesome! It's really coming along quickly. Can't wait to see the track listings! 😀

  28. Fire Fairy says:

    Now THAT'S exciting! A fiddle solo? I hope they eventually release the sheet music for it so I can play it on my violin!

  29. Sui-Lun says:

    I listen to the Narnian soundtracks to sleep (and dream) because some of them are so peaceful. They work well as lullibies (sorry for bad spelling)and I never got tired of it even though it's been more than the summer season, so I hope Mr. Arnold could do the same as Mr. Gregson-Williams did. I wonder, would there be hints of old music in VDT like in PC?

  30. Aslans-mane says:

    Im going to by the sound track as soon as it comes out!!!!

  31. always narnian says:

    Interesting. Although I was really sad to hear Harry-Gregson Williams wasn't doing it anymore!

  32. decarus says:

    I guess. It just seems very far from the film to already be finished.

  33. Pepper Darcy says:

    Hurray! I'm so glad they used a new music writer!:) I'm so excited and i can't wait to hear samples. I am SO buying this when it comes out! 😀 EEEEIII! He does amazing work! =D Can't wait for track listings!

    *gasp* Fiddle solo?! no way! I love that. Howard Shore does awesome fiddle-solos (rohan) that makes everything seem more heroic and heartbreaking at the same time… so that should be awesome. That's something I had wanted Gregson to use: solo fiddle 😀 Well, now I have it in VotDT… hopefully it's a soundtrack piece! 😀 *CAN.NOT.WAIT.FOR.THIS.MOVIE.AND.IT'S.SOUNDTRACK!!!*

  34. Elf Maiden Archer of Rivendell says:

    I know it's so weird! About 2-3 weeks, yet it took Howard Shore more than 3 years to develop the LOTR Oscar-winning score!

  35. glumPuddle says:

    I don't think the LWW score is fantastic or perfect, but it gets the job done.

  36. glumPuddle says:

    No production can be compared to LotR. It was totally unique in just about every way. Three giant films shot at the same time.

  37. Shy Galadriel says:

    Meh, it may be weird, it may not. Sometimes an artist can get "inspired" by a work and finish it in record time. "Messiah" was completed by Handel in a matter of 24 days (a whole lot more than a two-hour piece). I'm not saying that I think VDT will have amazing music like that, but I'm willing to give Arnold the benefit of the doubt.

  38. McGunn says:

    That would be so cool! Obviously the fauns will be great musicians – just remember Mr Tumnus on the flute;)

  39. icarus says:

    Equally though, David Arnold has been working on Dawn Treader for almost as long as Michael Apted – over 2 years. Its just taken him a week or so to actually record it, which seems like a reasonable amount of time for 2-3 hours worth or music.

  40. Starlily says:

    Oh, I love that music for Rohan in LOTR! Every time I hear it it transports me to another place and time and I get goosebumps! I feel like I'm actually living there!

    Of course I don't think the fiddle solo in VDT will be the same idea, but I definitely hope it will be lovely music! And maybe, just maybe, it will make me feel like I'm in Narnia. 😀 Can't wait!

  41. Starlily says:

    I didn't know David Arnold had been working on the music for two years. How long did Harry Gregson-Williams work on the LWW score? Hopefully spending a lot of time on the music means it will be good! 🙂

  42. I can imagine the music on the sea of lilies. I'm glad it's complete, I'm so longing to take this voyage.

  43. CoriaKing says:

    The fiddle solo sounds cool, I hope it will be like the score for Master & Commander. I don't think people realized how good that one actually was.

  44. Knight of the Lion says:

    That would be awesome! It would also be an opertune time for Eustice to look over and see Reepicheep sitting alone, keeping watch in the dragon prow, gasing towards the east, while every one else is having a good time. Then run up and start swinging him around by the tail. I'd love to see that in the movie!

  45. F.H. says:

    Can anyone tell me why? Harry Gregson-Williams isn't doing the Soundtrack. I have a feeling it won't be that good. He's like the best, he sure knows how to compose a good quality score.

  46. Sonny says:

    This is a line from the "Full cast and crew" page on IMDB:

    Harry Gregson-Williams …. composer: theme music (uncredited)

    So it looks like it! And I sure hope so. It would not be Narnia without it!

  47. QueenLucy12 says:

    YAY!!!! WE ARE GETTING SO MUCH CLOSER TO DEMCEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH! GO DT!

  48. QueenLucy12 says:

    whoops! "December"

  49. Skandar4Lyfe says:

    it was reported on mundonarnia.com that david arnold is keepin the narnia theme

  50. icarus says:

    Well, it depends on how you define "work". Both HGW and David Arnold were hired very near the start of their respective Narnia films, in fact not long after the directors themselves were hired, as both HGW and David Arnold are frequent collaborators with Adamson and Apted respectively. So they both had the entire length of production to formulate their ideas and themes for the score, but in both cases neither could actually put pen-to-paper so to speak, until the movie had been completed and the final edit compiled. Needless to say though, they both had more than enough time to properly develop the score, and in neither case was it a rush job at the end of production.

  51. Twinimage says:

    Wow, that seemed rather fast. They must have been working on the score earlier than when I first heard about them starting.
    Can't wait to hear what Arnold has come up with. Hope we get to here some of the score soon!

  52. Cynical Narnia Fanboy says:

    if anyone read the big movie companion for LWW, there's a interview with Gregson-williams and he says how he did the Lucy-wardrobe scene music first because that's the most important part of the book…

  53. I'm going to get the soundtrack when it is out!

  54. Queen Elizabeth says:

    December!!!! Hurry up!!

  55. Elf Maiden Archer of Rivendell says:

    Me too, I love the Rohan phanfare theme. I believe it was played on the Hardanger fiddle (Norwegian). But I can't wait for the VDT soundtrack to come out!!!!!! I hope it will be amazing!

  56. Elf Maiden Archer of Rivendell says:

    Yeah, glumpuddle, you're right. I should not compare anything with LotR. It's too huge! What I meant to say is that I am surprised that it took that long for Arnold to record the score. W.O.W. I also meant that Shore took longer because he was visiting sets in New Zealand and going back and forth to England, and he had to record the Extended music separately. He also signed a contract to do the Hobbit score after TTT came out. Anyways, I'm soo excited for the VDT score to come out! I love spoilers, and I will listen (probably) before the movie. Maybe not. 😛 😀 😉

  57. Laura Elizabeth says:

    A solo fiddle track would be awesome 🙂 My sister and I are learning the violin, and so our ears prick up whenever we see anything about violins. Hopefully that won't be the only good thing about the movie.

  58. bless_my_bark says:

    "Buy" what means are you going to "by" it?

  59. bless_my_bark says:

    Its also one of the coolest parts of cooking: the blending and the mixing. mixing is so cool! If I worked in making food, I would probably be a mixer.

  1. September 9, 2010

    […] in its report, NarniaWeb gives a good explanation of sound mixing and also mentions that Paul Apted, son of director Michael […]