Dave Warren is a dynamic film and media composer whose recent work includes original music for LEGOLAND California’s Halloween experience and a rescore of DreamWorks Animation’s Curses, recorded with a 19-piece ensemble at Ocean Way Studios.
His credits span ABC’s San Diego affiliate, orchestral recordings in Budapest, and assisting Emmy-nominated composer Joey Newman. He brings a rich visual arts and broadcast background to his cinematic musical storytelling.
I was so excited to sit down with him to talk about all this music.
Let’s dive in.
Dave Warren
Credit: Impact 24
NFS: How has being proficient in both guitar and piano shaped your approach to composing for different genres and emotional tones?
DW: My experience playing guitar and piano has certainly increased the types of genres in which I can compose. A single melody on a nylon string guitar can be so powerful, and the guitar can evoke or emulate many styles efficiently. I will often go to the guitar when I want to create a strong emotional melody, even if the final instrument will be a horn or piano. The piano, specifically piano rather than another keyboard sound, is what I often use when composing for orchestral instruments, though I have to be careful to stay away from traditional piano voicings and left hand patterns. I also prefer the piano for creating and defining rhythmic parts – I wrote a theme based on a contrabass figure for a piece I scored for Legoland, but I created it first on the piano just to get the timing down. I like to do that with rhythmic horn punches as well.
NFS: When you’re working on a new score, do you gravitate toward one instrument first to sketch ideas?
DW: This varies greatly depending on the score, the musical style of the score, and what the final instrumentation will be. If there is a featured instrument, especially if we’ve discussed it with the director, then I will first experiment with that, whether creating a melodic theme or textural cue. But I do most of the composing on a keyboard or guitar. I say keyboard because, often, especially during the sketch phase, I won’t always use a piano sound. I’ve found that a Rhodes electric piano has a kind of neutral tone that lets my ear imagine other instrumentation. Sometimes it’s harder for me to envision something on a piano as another instrument. My theory on that is it’s due to all the piano lessons and pieces we’ve heard in our lives. Like the sound of the piano, and all its associations — home, school, church, old TV — has been burnt into our ears permanently. I know, kind of shaky logic there… just a theory!
NFS: Do you find that switching between instruments unlocks different creative perspectives? Can you share an example?
DW: The greatest value I’ve seen from being a multi-instrumentalist has been the increased variety of creative approaches when composing a piece. Deadlines are always coming quickly, of course. I have more years logged as a guitar player than a pianist, and maybe because of that, I can get locked into some of the same composing patterns on the guitar more easily. So I usually start with the piano or with something I’ve come up with in my head while out on a walk; not being in the studio can often help to free up some ideas.
So back to those creative approaches – what I’ve found is that if I look at something I’ve written on piano – a voicing, ostinato, progression, whatever, and play it on guitar, or do the opposite – I can achieve something new that I’ve not heard before. The reason this helps me is that it takes me out of a one-instrument mindset.
At one point or another, I’ve also played trombone, alto sax, drums, and, though I’m not a singer, had some vocal training. That has helped me to envision a bigger picture when composing. The piano, of course, has such an expansive range, and having played in jazz groups with piano, and even more so with a Hammond B3, has been extremely beneficial when orchestrating for larger ensembles – it has helped me to better define what will be happening in each of the instrument sections.
Another way to think about the guitar is to view it as multiple voices – one per string. For a score I recorded with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, I originally composed some descending horn lines on the guitar’s top two strings. So, for me, it isn’t so much that piano gives me this and guitar gives me that, it’s more that playing multiple instruments gives me a better, wider perspective about my musical ideas.
NFS: As a performer, how does your understanding of instrumental technique influence the way you write?
DW: I played trombone in third-grade jazz band, the bassline to George Benson’s version of ‘On Broadway.’ I had never heard the tune and had no idea who George Benson was, or that he’d become one of my favorite guitarists. What I did know is how percussive the attack of those notes could sound on the trombone, and how hard it was to play that again and again! When studying orchestration at Berklee, there was lots of useful information about instrument technique and how to get the most out of our live scores, e.g., give the strings time to put their mutes away, and give the winds time to breathe. But one of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten is, even if you are not a player, experiment with these instruments. Get an old violin and mess around with it, and get together with a player and have them show you some things that your sample library probably can’t do. This will influence how you write and will give you a more distinctive voice. This does not just apply to orchestral instruments – check out Eddie Van Halen’s volume swells on the track ‘Cathedral.’ A nice technique, and I doubt I’d be aware of it if I didn’t play guitar. For myself, I have to not expect to know everything about every instrument, but I’ve found that the more I learn, the more choices I have. Also, I had more confidence going into a session, which is important. The first time I wrote a glissando for strings, I was a bit terrified.
NFS: Your work often blends orchestral and jazz music. How do you decide what combination serves a project best?
DW: Claude and Maurice! (Debussy and Ravel). Their colorful voicings blended elements of jazz in beautiful fashion, decades ago, as did many others – some of my favorite film scores are from the heavily jazz-influenced era of the 50s and 60s, like Franz Waxman’s Sunset Boulevard score and, of course, Bernard Hermann. So I don’t feel that a jazz influence is novel or is directly part of my secret sauce as a composer. But I will say that it has helped me to open up possibilities when composing to picture, and gives me a playful spirit. Pinning down what defines jazz is not an easy task, but I’ve always used that word… playful, which to me means not silly but rather open to going in different directions. Thelonious Monk’s compositions are playful. Miles Davis’ adaptability from bop to cool and beyond was playful. I definitely don’t look at a project and ask, “Ok, how jazz-influenced is this score going to be?” Instead, I think of how I can push this playful concept. If it is set in the Victorian Era in Britain, I’ll want to do something different without breaking out of the established style of the piece.
NFS: When merging traditional and modern elements, how do you maintain emotional clarity in the music?
DW: Emotional clarity…is that always something we want? I think I know what you mean. Even if we are striving to support unresolved, ambiguous emotions, I can see how a change in style or instrumentation – from traditional to modern or in the opposite direction – could be jarring or distracting. The creative team (composer/director/producer/music supervisor) needs to establish the sonic palette early on in the process. Consistency is important. Could The Terminator have had an orchestral score? Of course. It could be a great score, though it might have been a bit of an outlier for a futuristic film, considering that so many scores were experimenting with synths at the time. Close Encounters of the Third Kind could have been a synth score. Just like lighting, set design, or cinematography, we want to give the viewer a consistent experience during the film. So the important thing to maintain emotional clarity is not to introduce something unexpected outside of what is happening on screen.
NFS: Can you walk us through your typical process from your first musical idea to a final product?
DW: There’s the ideal process and then the IRL method, meaning with time constraints. I’ll try to focus on specific things I do that I find are most helpful and not get too technical.
My first musical idea, if it hasn’t already been used to pitch the project, will exist inside a cue that is sent to the director/producer as a sample cue or a sample theme. By this point, we’ll establish genre and an idea of the general instrumentation, including how many live musicians, which greatly affects budget as well as timeframe. We’ll have a spotting session where the director/producer and I decide where the project should have music. For a standard project, like a TV episode or film, I will work on two or three cues at once, which vary in style.
The cue has to be timed out first, musically – in terms of beats. I will then usually start with a sketch. This concept of sketch varies from composer to composer, but for me, this means composing the music for different sections (woodwinds, brass), but not having broken out every instrument. Ideally, I can create a notated score as I go. This is often not possible, but even if there are no live players and a notated score is not going to be needed, this process helps me to refine and is another way for me to ‘see’ the music.
From the sketch, I will move on to write the specific parts for every instrument and orchestration. After I have fully orchestrated, I’ll present the cues as mockups, which will be very close to delivery production value, unless live musicians are involved.
I’ll make any revisions and will resubmit them for approval. Once approved, I do a final mix and output the cues as stems – basically sections of the music broken out individually. If the budget allows, I may hire a mixer. We’ll also include a stereo version of the completed cue, along with any specific versions or formats the music editor may require.
The tricky part is that we’re working with several cues, and they all are going to be in different phases at any given point – this is where a good organizational tool like CueDB or just a spreadsheet will be indispensable. So in the simplest possible terms, the basic process for an in-the-box cue will be sketch, mockup, mockup revisions, mixing, mockup approval, and stem export. For live recording, we’ll add after mockup approval – score creation, score mixing, final approval, then stem export. It is important to know from day one if live musicians will be used – for myself, and I know many other composers, the process is different when we know we’ll be doing a scoring session.
I’m sure at NFS, you all know the expression ‘We’ll fix it in post.’ For me, within the composing process itself, it is important not to think that way – like ‘This is not great but will sound ok when I add this to the cue.’ For example, moving on and adding some powerful percussion before the melody is nailed down. Creating a sketch is a vital part of the process for this reason. It forces me to lock down the foundation – the structural bones of the cue. If it is a thematic cue, this would be the timing, the melody, and the harmony. If it is more of a sound design cue, this will mean establishing the textures I will use. If I have to go back and change the melody after I’ve gone through a lot of orchestration and other phases, I’m going to run into a time crunch. The directors/producers will have their own curveballs – new timings, changed instrumentation, a random request from an EP, things like that – I can’t be creating my own issues on top of that!
NFS: What tools or technology have become essential in your workflow, and how have they changed the way you create music?
DW: Easily changing articulations for orchestral instruments is very helpful for me. I got into the practice of changing articulations (different instrument performance techniques) on an iPad when I was interning with Joey Newman. I integrated Metagrid into my Logic setup, using their articulation map solution. I feel this is how all setups should work, and hopefully, in future DAW releases, we won’t have to go out and get third-party software to do so.
Getting a solid working template of virtual instruments is very helpful as well. This and the articulation setup create more time to try other possibilities. Both metaphorically and literally, if I have to ‘go out back to the shed’ to try a tool, I’ll be trying out that tool less, whether that tool be an articulation, a synth patch, or a cello bow.
What I also do, outside the composing workstation (DAW), is keep a document that breaks out my sounds in more detail – not every possible sound, but more than how many exist in my template.
There’s a video of Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) where he goes over his massive template. A common theme is that he’ll use one sound from a sample library, kind of as a reminder of a certain type of sound or a specific library. I like this approach since it works as a placeholder without having to have a ton of sounds in the template itself.
Also on the low-tech side of things, I want to promote the virtues of the trackball! Much faster!
NFS: What advice would you give to an aspiring composer?
DW: I have two favorite ‘chunks’ of advice (to use a Digital Performer term!).
First, you are likely a creative person – try to find creative ways to connect with people in the industry. David Newman was conducting The Princess Bride in San Diego. Earlier in the day, I went to the rehearsal, and when they took a break, I yelled up to the stage and introduced myself. Months later, he remembered me, and I was able to interview him for a project. That same day, I also met George Doering, guitarist on countless film scores, and we’ve stayed in touch – he’s given me feedback on my music & hooked me up with his guitar tech. These are experiences that didn’t come from school or an online course – though many of those bring a different kind of value.
Secondly, when connecting with someone, always try to offer something, even something small. It may not always work, but it will keep you out of the category of a one-way transaction and keep you from appearing as someone just trying to get something from them. I offered John Kull, an excellent orchestrator who worked on Sinners & The Mandalorian, to help set up tablet control for his notation software, offered to shoot photos for a John Williams rehearsal, and, when trying to be an assistant composer, sent the composer a technical spreadsheet I’d found online about virtual instrument delay times. That last one worked for me! But even the other efforts kept the connections open and let me continue to build a relationship. If you ask for something and simply get a no, then that makes it difficult to reboot a conversation.
And keep writing all the time, as JW has always encouraged us to do.
