Panelist

Jeff Russo

Composer

“The Aztec death whistle was just something that my engineer, Michael Perfitt, brought into the studio one day. I went behind the glass and played it a couple times. It became very evocative of the stress and tension one might be under when faced with a xenomorph.”

Panelist

Jeff Beal

Composer

“Strings are great at really going to that emotion in a very honest way but also the thriller aspects. I can do all the fun stuff, scary stuff and creepy stuff.”

Panelist

Finneas O’Connell

Composer

“I found these synth patches that, if I turned the envelopes and changed the cutoffs, and then I took the like little pitch-bend thing on the Nord and wobbled it, it really sounded like bees, and it just really stressed me out to play. I was like, well, if it stresses me out, it’ll probably stress everybody out.”

Panelists

Christopher Lennertz

Composer

Matt Bowen

Composer

“There’s actually a lot more emotion this year. There’s a lot more orchestra especially as we get to [episodes] 6, 7 and 8 because it deserves it. We’ve fallen in love with these characters and now we unfortunately have to say goodbye to some of them.”

Panelist

Siddhartha Khosla

Composer

“One of my favorite scores ever was Angelo Badalamenti’s score to Twin Peaks. That show taught me how to score a thriller, because it was scored with deep emotion, and it was about sort of what Laura Palmer meant to all these people in this community, and that was similar here.”

Panelist

Tyler Strickland

Composer

“The French horn … the way it plays is as an isolated instrument for John. Just felt like something that has a lot of valor to it. It’s an instrument I love a lot. It makes him feel kind of like a soldier going through this battle of life.”

Panelist

Breton Vivian

Composer

“It’s Michelle Pfeiffer and she’s incredible. The last thing I need to do is be like it’s all about me — listen to my music. It was about being restrained.”

Panelist

Amanda Jones

Composer

“Seeing those raw moments when they’re scared or vulnerable or uncertain about the intentions of the other crew, feeling very human and scared on a foreign planet, then I bring in solo cello.”

Panelists

David Archuleta

Co-Writer

Sophie Rose

Co-Writer/ Singer

Michael Blum

Co-Writer/ Producer

“Showrunner John Hoffman reached out and said, ‘Hey, I would like for you to write a song.’ He was looking for something that was a little sassy that would rub Selena [Gomez’s] character Mabel’s nerves a little bit.”

Panelists

Gavin Brivik

Composer/ Songwriter

Andrew Bird

Songwriter

“Andrew sent a voice memo back just singing on top of it. I synced the voice memo up to the scene and pitched the showrunners and begged them to use that. It had to go up the corporate ladder, like every exec.”

Panelist

Chris Bacon

Composer

“It’s a funny show, but Tim Burton, he was very serious: ‘Do not play funny music.’ Play them serious.”