rachel - Exactly. Mr. Newman’s musical style is a perfect counterpart for WALL-E; it all fits together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
I still wouldn’t mind seeing Mr. Williams do something for just one Pixar film, though, no matter how redundant it may seem. (snigger)
– Mitch
Hi everyone. Not too much to post about really, but wanted to let you know that the scoring process for Wall-E is continuing, and seems to be going nicely. I’ve written a few posts here before, but haven’t really said what I do. I’m a studio musician in Los Angeles that has played on a number of Pixar films, including Wall-E. I also happen to personally like the Pixar films myself as much as my kids, so I enjoy reading the posts here. To be clear, I am NOT an employee of Pixar, just a musician who has played in the orchestra for many of their films. I hope nobody minds me posting this (if so, please let me know). I’m not going to post things such as spoilers (it’s not my place, and is bad form), but will answer generic questions on scoring if I can. I don’t think it’d be out of bounds however, to say that the scoring for Wall-E has begun. There was one day in July, and two days this week (yesterday and today), with more days in the coming months. Pixar likes to score at Sony (the old MGM lot) in Culver City – which is a historic scoring stage, and the stage that Williams uses. Sadly, two of the five large scoring stages in LA are closing down: Paramount closed their stage earlier this year, and Todd-AO (where James Horner scores) is slated to close in the coming months. This leaves only Fox, Warner Bros, and Sony for large stages. The Sony stage looks something akin to the inside of a meat locker (old wooden walls, ancient music stands with cigarette burns on the wood from the days musicians smoked in the room)… but has pretty much been left as is because the sound is so good. As a joke, a few things hang from the rafters, including a bunch of Hawaiian shirts leftover from previous Pixar productions. When recording, the movie is projected on a screen as we record the music (as well as during playbacks), and it’s interesting to see scenes in their various states of completion (for Ratatouille, many of the unfinished scenes had the characters only in their underwear – a stage before the clothes were added). What I’ve seen so far for Wall-E looks really good, and I was surprised at how many of the scenes (maybe about half?) were already close to fully rendered this early. We did a lot of random scenes, ranging from the opening to scenes near the end of the movie, and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun (I hope Pixar will release a better trailer soon, to let people see more of what’s coming up). Sorry, I’m not going to post spoilers. You’ll have to wait until Summer 2008. 
)
Animated films will often start their scoring process earlier than live-action films (where scoring is one of the last things done). Normally in a live-action film, each music cue is given a “number” (such as “2M3” or “4M6”) instead of a title (“4M6” would mean the cue is the 6th piece of music in reel 4, “2M3” would mean the 3rd piece of music in reel 2, etc). However because Wall-E’s scoring is being started so early before any kind of final edit is done (as Tommy said, “before we know what goes where”), there really can’t be any numbers assigned yet – so instead, titles (such as “Going to work”) were given to the cues. Music sounds great so far, and Tommy’s a blast to play for. Hmm… as I said, there’s not really much to report, except to say Wall-E’s production seems to be coming along nicely.
Welcome, miafka! You are indeed truly welcome here. 
I enjoyed your wright-up - music composition of a film sounds really neat.
Again, thanks for joining and welcome! 
Hi, miafka! I don’t think I have welcomed you here yet, so “welcome to Pixar Planet!”.
Thanks so much for letting us know how the orchestration for Wall.E is progressing. As someone who loves Pixar’s soundtracks/scores, it’s a real treat to actually correspond with someone who is playing in the orchestra. I hope you don’t mind me asking you a few questions…
How would you describe Wall.E’s music?
If you could compare Wall.E’s music to any other Pixar film, which film would that be and why?
It’s interesting that there is a title called “Going to Work”. Have you noticed any recurring main themes played throughout the score? (As with The Incredibles and Ratatouille).
What other Pixar films have you worked on and, what instrument to you play?
miafka - Thank you thank you THAAANK YOU for discussing your position in all of this. I’m working to become a film composer, and I found your information to be very insightful. It’s late in the night, so I’ll have to think up questions tomorrow, heheheee…
Thanks for the welcomes everyone. I’m probably the worst person to ask to describe the music, since it’s my job and I tend to hear it differently than someone who is just listening to it. It’s also hard because so far, I didn’t hear any real recurring themes (we did a lot of random cues), so that would also make it difficult for me to compare it to other films. Remember also, that the music in a film changes quite a bit during the scoring process – especially on films when the scoring starts early. Changes and adjustments are made, and this is still early on in the process. Also, I think it’s a bad idea to try to compare one score to another score since they’re for different movies (it’s interesting when you get to hear different composers’ ideas for the same movie… occasionally you get this when one composer replaces another on a project, or in film composition school, when all the students have to write a score to the same set of scenes). In the end, a score works when it matches and helps move along the actions on the screen – and the cues I’ve heard so far do a very good job at that. As far as the titles of the cues go, I remember one cue with a title of what would be the PERFECT name for a Disneyland ride – but sorry, I’m not going to post it, because it’d be a spoiler. As I said before, there’s not really a lot I can post on at this point because I won’t post anything that will even hint at giving story details away. But just wanted to let you all know that the production and scoring seems to be going nicely. By the way, Tommy Newman conducts the orchestra himself (a lot of times composers will have an orchestrator conduct, while they stay in the booth with the director). But Tommy’s out there in the room conducting us. The next sessions aren’t until the first part of 2008, so now he has time to do some more writing.
One thing I was wondering is if anyone knows if there is much dialogue in the film, or if it’s mostly just robot sound effects (since we only see picture when recording and don’t hear dialogue, I’m as much in the dark about this as any of you). I only ask because if there’s not much dialogue, that will usually mean a lot more minutes of music in a movie (otherwise you’d just have a lot of dead air).
Well, thanks for getting back to us, miafka.
And thanks for trying your best to answer our questions. I totally understand that it would be hard for you to describe the music, and you have probably gotten used to hearing it after playing it pretty often. Would you desribe the music as spacey? Robotic? Cute (because Wall.E is cute)?
I can’t believe that the music is still recording, and it will still be recording during 2008! That’s pretty late, at least I think, but it must be standard procedure for Pixar and I’m sure they will finish it in time.
In answer to your question: [spoil]I heard that the first 1/3 of the film will be dialogue-free (I’m guessing this is when Wall.E is by himself and has no-one to talk to), so yeah, as a lot of people have said, music will play a big part in this film to tell the story because there is no dialogue to spell it out for the audience.[/spoil]
BTW, what instrument are you playing? What other Pixar films have you worked on? (Sorry if I’m bugging you).
Okay, I have a question! If you feel you shouldn’t answer, that’s alright.
What is the orchestration set-up? Are there any ‘unusual’ instruments being used, or ones that are not often heard in an orchestra score? The theramin comes to mind… hehe. I ask because this film certainly looks and feels different from other films… perhaps a different approach in instrumentation is being done.
Oooh, I love it when composers conduct the cues themselves! It gives a chance for the composer to see how much work the performers put into their composition. It shows that he/she wants to connect. So sweet. 
You’re very kind to be telling us all this, miafka. And I ESPECIALLY appreciate it!
Let’s see…
and you have probably gotten used to hearing it after playing it pretty often.
Actually it’s not as if we play the music a lot. For those who don’t know, we don’t get sent the music beforehand or anything… we see it for the first time when we arrive at the job. That’s why one of the most important skills for a studio musician is to be a good sightreader. Most of the time what happens is, we’ll take out a cue, play it through so the composer and director can hear how it sounds with a “live orchestra” (often the composer will make a temporary synth version before the orchestra comes so the director can have an early idea of what it will eventually sound like with a real orchestra), then some small changes might be made, maybe it’s played through one or two more times, and then recording of it starts. Some cues can take a while to record if a lot of changes need to be made or there are discussions in the booth about how to tweak it… but once changes have been decided, it’s usually only recorded once or twice (unless mistakes are made or more changes are needed) before going on to the next one. Every once in a while they’ll turn on the red light and record the very first time reading it through (though it’s rare, and usually just on very simple cues, or cues that are very similar to others we’ve just played).
Would you desribe the music as spacey? Robotic? Cute (because Wall.E is cute)?
Yes. In that, depending on the scene, it fits. We did some action/peril cues and they sounded just like they should (loud brass, fast string parts), yet other cues where the scenes were gentle or cute sounded as they should.
I can’t believe that the music is still recording, and it will still be recording during 2008! That’s
pretty late, at least I think, but it must be standard procedure for Pixar and I’m sure they will finish it in time.
Actually it’s quite early. I wrote a post on this topic elsewhere here on Pixar Planet (do a search of my other posts to find it), but music is one of the last things recorded on a normal (non-animation) movie. Often it will be within a month of the movie’s release date – and sometimes it will be VERY last minute (there was still scoring going on for the original “Pirates” movie the weekend before the premiere!) Animation (whether it be Pixar or Disney) tends to score early for a couple of reasons (music being more important in story, harder to justify the cost of doing last-second changes in animation vs live-action, etc) so compared to a normal live-action movie, this is early. Trust me, it’ll not only get finished in time, it’ll be in the can a lot sooner than if it was a live-action picture.
My instrument? Well, I guess you could say I play one o’ them musical-thingies. Sorry, I’ll keep that anonymous for now. By the way, you’ve probably noticed that musicians almost never get their names up on a film. The reason is a long boring one (basically producers said "oh, X number of musicians means Y more feet of film on each print for their names to be on the credits, times Z prints that have to be made… that’s too expensive… do you want a raise, or your names on the film?) – which is ridiculous nowdays when you see credits for van driver, caterer (my favorite… as if the guy who made the pasta for the crew contributed to the film more than the people whose music you hear on it), babies born during production – and even sometimes the name of the clickmeister (the guy who runs the click track for the musicians) – but not the musicians themselves. But we always hope. “Cars” had the orchestra listed, but “Ratatouille” didn’t, and it’s a rare film that lists musicians names on the actual film. However more common now is to list the orchestra on the CD soundtrack pamphlets, so for all you upstanding people out there that buy the CD soundtracks properly, you’ll see our names in tiny, tiny sized fonts.
Regarding the “click track” mentioned above… for those who don’t know what a click-track is, maybe I should explain. When recording a movie score, every musician puts on headsets and hears a “click-track” – clicks (like the sound of a metronome) through the headset. Unlike in a symphony orchestra (where the musicians are supposed to follow the conductor on the podium), in a studio setting, you follow the click, NOT the conductor. In a studio session, the conductor is there mostly to pass along directions, changes, give warnings about tempi changes, etc – but if the conductor is not conducting in time with the click, you ignore the conductor and listen to the click. Before the musicians arrive for the session, everything has been worked out on a computer, so even in cues that change tempi (speed) often, it’s all programmed in, and we follow the clicks we hear through our headphones. Occasionally (very rare) certain cues will be done “wild” (no click), mostly for expressive reasons (a really emotional cue). There was one cue in Ratatouille where the conductor really wanted to conduct it wild (he heard the clicks as a guide, but they turned off the clicks for us, and we followed the conductor)… but it’s only the rare cue that won’t have a click track to it. And yes, they had click-tracks even in the old days, way before computers. Don’t know how they rigged it up, but even in the 40s and such, click track was used. It’s very important that the music match the picture right where it should be, so it’s all worked out before the musicians arrive.
What is the orchestration set-up?
Pretty standard, though a little on the large size. There were two harps instead of one… some large string sections… no “unusual” instruments so far, though note that Tommy likes to use a lot of pre-records on his scores (various sounds and stuff he does himself) to mix with the orchestra, so any “strange” sounds would probably be done as a pre-record. Generally they turn off any prerecords in the headsets when we play (as it can sometimes get too confusing to hear too much stuff) and usually just give us click only, unless we need to hear the pre-records to match rhythm or intonation, or for some other special reason.
Wow. Thanks so much for answering our questions. I like learning about the orchestration of music. Your answers have been very interesting to read, and they are making me very excited to see/hear Wall.E.
I am sort of hoping that Wall.E will be a bit robotic sounding, but I don’t want it to sound too… what’s the word? Impersonal. But I’m sure whatever they came up with, it will suit the film to a T.
I didn’t know what a click track was before, and I didn’t know that you take your cues from it, and not the conductor… What cue on Ratatouille did you not use the click track for? I’m going to guess it was for “Heist to See You” (one of my favs) because that is an intense track, but that’s just a wild guess on my part.
I just adore the Ratatouille soundtrack. I haven’t listened to it on CD yet, (because once I start, I won’t stop and it’s better to listen to the music within the context of the film, the first few times I’ve found). So you’ve done a splendid job with it (whatever you did 
), so you should be very proud of your contribution. I’m sure it was a treat to play Michael Giacchino’s score.
What other Pixar productions have you had the pleasure of working on?
That’s ok. I understand. I just wanted to know if I would be able to spot you during the making-of, or listen out for your contribution when I listen to the soundtrack.
Well, for a last minute process, you guys and Pixar sure do kick out some great scores.
That really stinks. Especially as it is Pixar - I would expect them to credit everyone who contributed to their productions… And especially as they have room for production babies. But I actually read the orchestra list on the CD to see who plays what, and I watch the making ofs for the music on their DVDs, so your contribution doesn’t go unnoticed by me, anyway.
This is all very, very interesting miafka! Thanks so much for describing all of this to us.
Hi, sorry it’s been a few days… the smoke and ash from the wildfires here in Southern California has been terrible (hundreds of homes burned). It’s gotten better but the air is still foul and there was an orange moon tonight (from all the ash and soot in the air).
What cue on Ratatouille did you not use the click track for?
Sorry, I can’t remember exactly, but it was one of the emotional ones near the end of the picture. I remember we tried it a few times with click, and the conductor lobbied to try it without click.
By the way, besides the clicks that are heard by the musicians and conductor, there are also “streamers” on the screen to help the conductor out (not really the musicians, as we don’t see the screen unless we make a point to look at it). “Streamers” are colored “bars” that go across the screen horizontally right before an important change, like the start or end of the part that will be recorded, an important tempo (speed) change, etc. It’s programmed in (superimposed over the film as it’s projected) to help the conductor know where he is and/or warn him of important things coming up.
What other Pixar productions have you had the pleasure of working on?
Oh, that’s easy. Let’s see… the one about the dancing penguins… the one about the surfing penguins, the one about the escapees from the zoo… no! Stop! Wait! Don’t throw those desks at me!
Er… have to say “no comment.” If I said which ones I played on, it wouldn’t be too hard for anyone to compare the CD pamphlets and figure out who I am. No big deal, but sorry (and of course I was kidding about the penguin films above. No need to flame me).
But I actually read the orchestra list on the CD to see who plays what, and I watch the making ofs for the music on their DVDs, so your contribution doesn’t go unnoticed by me, anyway.
Thanks. A shame the Ratatouille DVD is being treated so poorly by Disney (ie, a bare-bones release) unless it’s part of a master plan to release a 2-disc version a few years from now to milk more money out of it. By the time Wall-E comes out on DVD (over a full year from now) , the dust might have settled in the HiDef wars (if yet another media format hasn’t surfaced by then).
Oh, and as with most films these days, Wall-E’s music is being recorded “to disk” instead of “to tape” (Ratatouille was actually done to analog tape instead of disk because of the composer’s fondness for old analog sound).
Really? That’s a tad disappointing. Give me a vinyl any day. It sounds a lot warmer.
As usual, thanks for putting up with my questions, miafka.
Neat-o. What an interesting fact, there!
You mean, Disney’s The Wild? Heheh. For mentioning that we will throw desks at you.
Right. No worries. I just wanted to know if you worked on one of my favourite soundtracks of all time, The Incredibles. I have probably listened that over 30 times (and counting), and have watched the making of the soundtrack, numerous times.
But you’ve worked on Ratatouille, which is just totally awesome for words. That soundtrack would have to be my fav, or on par with The Incredibles. It’s so delicious.
You’re welcome.
Yeah, us Pixar fans are pretty riled up about it the whole Ratatouille 1-disc debacle. It’s all for the sake of money, really. That’s all it boils down to (sorry for the pun). I think it rubs more salt into the wound because of the fact that we thought that Pixar were better than that… I really hope we eventually get a 2-disc when this format war is over, with everything on it, but this has made me at least, lose a little bit of respect for Pixar (but not too much).
Maybe they wanted to go for a digital sounding quality, because the main character is a robot…? That’s just a wild guess.
Hi everyone. We just finished another group of Wall-E scoring sessions these past three days, and I’m getting more and more impressed the more I see of this movie. As I said before, I will NOT divulge any spoilers (it’s bad form and not my place), but will give you an idea of what the sessions were like.
As usual, they took place at Sony Pictures Studios. On Tuesday we started out by going back to a couple of cues we did back in October that needed to be re-done due to changes (the scenes had been lengthened), then went onto the new stuff. Back in October the cues only had titles on the page, but no numbers yet (such as 3M1 or 4M2 for example) because at the time they didn’t know the final order of everything. Now though, all the cues had numbers as well as titles.
Up on the screen the scenes were still in various stages of completion. Some parts looked fully rendered, while others were still only half finished. As you can see in the previews, the humans are quite large – and what’s really funny is to see the human characters before they’ve been fully rendered. In this stage of being unfinished, they’re all white (no clothes, and even the skin is white) – and look like huge Stay Puffed Marshmallow Men. The only other comment I’ll say is that all you A-113 fans out there will definitely smile.
As with the previous sessions last year, it’s a nice large orchestra (especially winds and strings). The music is really good, and matches the film nicely. Many of the cues had prelays (in this case, existing electronic music and effects) that will be combined with the orchestra in the final mix. On Wednesday some cameramen came in to take pictures and do a bit of filming… so who knows, maybe when the DVD gets released there will be some shots of us.
Everyone at Pixar was incredibly friendly. On Tuesday the director came out to say they’d be treating us to lunch the next day – and then catered a great meal of salmon and beef outside the stage, joining us for lunch. And even though the sessions aren’t over yet (there’s still more in the future), everyone got a Wall-E poster signed by the director (with a tiny Wall-E sketch next to the signature).
I have to say that I’m just blown away at how the Pixar artists can make inanimate objects like robots so incredibly expressive. It’s a testament to their artistic ability… and that extends to the writing as well. Today there was a scene where everyone in the room just completely cracked up laughing upon seeing it on the screen during playback. The movie’s not finished yet, but I can hardly wait to see it in its completed form. Only three more months!
Cool, thanks for posting about it.
I always assumed movies where usually mostly finished by this point in production, and the last few months where there just in case, to make sure they have enough time to mass produce it before it hits theaters. I guess I get a false impression from the trailers, which look fully rendered to me.
Thanks for the update, miafka. I’m happy to know that the recording has run smoothly. Pixar seems like a dream to play for…
Also, you might be interested to know that there is music added to the official website. At least we think it is… Personally, I love the whistling, the hovering and electronic noises in the background (they may have been added in post, not sure if you have heard them), and the general quirkiness of the music that represents WALL•E the robot. I just know this score is going to be great.
Wow, miafka, I didn’t even realize this thread before and it’s great to have a musician speak about the score with us!
I’m just very curious. I currently go to school in a neighborhood somewhere by the ocean in LA and was wondering where they score the Wall-E score. I know there are many Sony Pictures Studios around here, but is the sound studio the one in Culver City?
Thank you and I can’t wait to hear the riveting score in Wall-E.
If you go back a bit in this thread (I think page 6) I posted quite a bit on the earlier sessions for Wall-E and what scoring sessions are like in general (it’s safe to read; no spoilers). Yeah, I’m sure a lot of people skip this thread now because it’s an older one (“Composer Speculation”), but glad you found it Yes, the scoring has been taking place at the main Sony lot in Culver City (which used to be the old MGM lot years ago) – go back to my posts on page 6 to read a little about the stage.
Rachelcakes, I honestly can’t remember if the music on the website is from the earlier sessions or something made just for the website. I don’t recognize it, and am inclined to think it’s music made specifically for the website (as is usually the case) but can’t be 100% sure. At any rate, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the score.
Glyph, more often than not, movies (in general – not just Pixar) are still being finished very close to their release date, and often the order of scenes chosen to be finished first are selected with the trailer in mind.
Hi everyone. Well, the music for Wall-E is now finished! (At least as far as orchestral music). We had our last two recording sessions yesterday and today (April 29/30) – and for a change they took place not at Sony, but at the Newman Scoring Stage on the Fox lot (named for Alfred Newman – Thomas Newman’s father, who was head of music at Fox and a prolific composer). The stage is quite large and has a wonderful history to it.
There’s not really a lot to write about (as I won’t post spoilers), but just wanted to let everyone know the music has finished recording. We basically spent the past two days recording the last reel of the movie, and it looks and sounds great. I just can’t believe it’s over though (it’s been going on little-by-little since July). For the last day today we all got special Wall-E orchestra caps, and when it was all over Andrew Stanton came out to thank us.
I have to say, Pixar has managed to outdo themselves yet again with Wall-E. I can’t wait until this comes out in theatres.
And well… I guess this pretty much takes this thread full circle, from “Composer Speculation” to “Finished”