NICK PECK FILM COMPOSER, ARRANGER, PIANIST and ORGANIST

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Film and TV Composing

As a freelance film and TV composer, I have worked on a number of award-winning short and feature length soundtracks, both for broadcast and  film festivals. This has constituted a large percentage of my composing time over the last five years. I have a formal training (Guildhall School of Music and Drama), but I am also open to sounds outside the conventional spectrum, from jazz, to electronic music and Bollywood. I am currently available for TV, media, documentary and film projects.

The following excepts are all taken my from past work.

Films using my music have been featured at the following festivals:

Strasbourg film Festival 2010, Budapest Short Film Festival 2010, Portobello Film Festival 2008, The London Film Makers’ Convention 2008, Cannes Film Market 2008, Wood Green Film Festival (2008). Canary Wharf Film Festival 2007, Deptford Design Festival 2007.

What is My Style?

My musical sound world is heavily influenced heavily by jazz, funk, rock and pop. Especially the music of Miles Davis, Gill Evans, Lao Shifrin, but I exploit a wide range of colors from the orchestral field, (think Toru Takemitsu, Ravel, Messiaen, Debussy...) and I have kept my finger on the pulse with the latest sounds in electronic dance music. I try to be open to whatever I chance across, and consider how it might fit into the context. I particular like contrasting cultures, and I have tried hard to consider new approaches to film and TV composition, especially in the art house / short film context. I like the music to question the audience as much as the movie does. At the other end of the spectrum, I have also worked on a number of comedies and enjoy working on short cartoons and pastiches.

 I like to think of the music as suggesting an parallel narrative to the film - always working closely with the screen, but sometimes hinting at a deeper interpretation of the events.

What Instrumentation do I Use?

I like to make use of interesting instrumentations. I play a number of instruments myself, (keyboards, brass, bass, percussion, vocals) but am often open to using whatever objects I can find at my disposal - as long as they make an interesting noise!!! Abstract electronic music (or 'musique concrete') offers another big vocabulary of sounds to work with, using electronic effects and sounds from our everyday environment. Another technique I make use of, is to record large ensemble pieces using a smaller number of players who can multi track the parts. For example - a bigband excerpt can be multi tracked using a saxophonist who can overdub alto, tenor and baritone parts, and a trumpet/trombone player to finish the brass parts. This is relatively inexpensive compared to hiring 18 musicians into the studio.

When orchestral sounds are called for - I make use of a wide variety of software synths. These are sometimes more restrictive, (strings, especially, will sound best in more 'clichéd' contexts), but the level on nuance available has increased dramatically over the last few years, and combined with a few 'live' players in the mix, often yielding excellent results.

How do I go About Working on a Film or TV Soundtrack?

This really depends. Sometimes, I go the 'old-fashioned' way and score everything out on Sibelius with timecode before multitracking it down. I've also been known to bring in some basic ideas and 'jam' them with other musicians, cutting sections from the resulting improvisation to suit the visuals. Either way, you've got to be prepared to change your perception of the finished piece as new ideas come to light during the process. A lot of liasing with the director usually helps.

 

What Software / Tools do I Use for Film and TV composition?

I switch between a number of operating systems depending on my needs. Most of my work makes use of Linux. This is especially useful thanks to 'JACK' - the underlying  linux sound controller which enables me to quickly link timeframe between audio and video editors - very useful when mocking up a soundtrack to a sequence of events. As Linux's resource overheads are generally lower/more efficient, I am able to run more complex audio processes. I also use a number of Windows-based mixers - Cubase and Cool Edit Pro (Adobe Audition) have been my favorites. After several years of trial and error - I now almost always use 'Ardour' for mixing work. Regardless of sample rate, I find the bouncedown resulting sound quality to be clearer, and in some respects, the GUI is easier to learn than Logic.

As I tend to work with open-source formats, its usually easy to share my work with other members of the production team. When working with non-binary session files, I sometimes use distributed source control (SVN). This makes it easy to backtrack to a previous revision of an audio mixing session.

At the end of the day, the tools are only there to help articulate the flow of ideas.

Contact me:

I am always open to new projects as a film and TV composer, so if you are a filmmaker with a project in production, or you are in need of original music for corporate media such as advertising or product branding/marketing, I'd be keen to hear from you. Please use the contact form to email me with your ideas.

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