We Fix Space Junk - Hedley Knights - Theme from We Fix Space Junk

How I Make Music

The piece of music featured in this episode is called Theme from We Fix Space Junk. It’s a playful and futuristic piece. I wrote it as the opening tune for the comedy sci-fi audio drama We Fix Space Junk, a story about two female repairmen who travel space fixing things (and trying not to get killed in the process.) The soundtrack conveys fun, adventure and an overall positivity, and this week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Hedley Knights. I'm a composer from London, and this is How I Make Music.

IN THIS EPISODE

01:53 Influences for the piece came from Tim Souster’s theme for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy TV show and from historical 70s depictions of the future.

03:32 The piece was written entirely in MIDI, using no live instrumentation. This gives it a more digital, futuristic feel. I used a deliberately fake-sounding string patch from a program called Reason and layered it with a more realistic sample-based string library to give it both the retro feel and extra emotion.

04:52 For the drums in this piece, my free trial expired! I had to replace the drum sounds with a different patch, resulting in slightly different versions of the piece over time.

05:41 I use a technique called portamento to glide smoothly between notes. This roughly emulates a theremin, a really common instrument in vintage science fiction.

07:05 The drums and bass groove well together. The song is in 6/8, but at a faster tempo than most compositions in that time signature. The bass, kick drum and ride cymbal groove well together to really create a fun atmosphere to kick off each episode.

07:41 I wrote the piece in C major, which is usually attributed to happy and bright sounds. I included a Bb to give the melody a darker, almost bluesier feel. I feel this conveys the tone of We Fix Space Junk pretty well, being a comedy with a dark side.

08:31 The brass layer is a synth patch which has a triumphant fanfare sound.

08:58 Once I’d written all the instruments, I reamped them by running them through my Midas 80 analogue mixing desk. The random imperfections give the piece a real, retro feel.

SHOW NOTES

• Listen to audio drama We Fix Space Junk https://pod.link/1360406263
• Check out other work by Hedley Knights https://BattleBird.productions
• Follow Hedley Knights https://twitter.com/hedley_k

MUSIC CREDITS

• Tim Souster - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy TV Theme Music

ABOUT THIS SHOW

How I Make Music is where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and investigate the insights into how it was made.

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How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.com

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