LIKED THE MUSIC ON A STREAMING SHOW? SEE HOW THE SOUNDS SHAPE UP

It was bound to happen. Streaming shows are on our flatscreens, on our phones, in our conversations, playing on the commute home. Obviously, it’s now on our music playlists too. “Audiences are paying attention to a show’s background score more than ever before,” says Anand Bhaskar, composer and musician on Mirzapur (2018). Audio clips from the drama series -- slow-building instrumental melodies and chimes -- have been enjoying a viral afterlife on Reels. “Composers writing background scores were never as famous as those writing the songs,” he says. That’s changing.

Part of this has to do with how dramas now unfold on screen. They’re slower, moodier, more immersive than they used to be. So, composers need to match that tone. The shows themselves have a wider platform, so a score must resonate with a global audience. “In Narcos, a show set in Mexico, the music wasn’t just congos, bongos and flamenco guitar,” Bhaskar points out. It’s pushing composers to dream different. See what some of them are up to.

Scoring a nation

Anand Bhaskar, 42, didn’t start out composing for web series. But one of his songs, Mera Safar, created under his classic rock band Anand Bhaskar Collective, was used in the 2016 comedy series Official Chukyagiri.

Creating music for a show is different, he says. “There’s a situation or an idea that the song needs to cater to,” he says. “There are also limitations. The song must sound a particular way, belong to a particular genre. It pushes me to explore a style I don’t naturally go to.”

In Mirzapur, Bhaskar was tasked with composing an item number, Tittar Bittar, and Lallanwa, a version of a folksong typically performed at baby showers in UP, and even a rap song for one of the characters. The songs were sampled online, Munna’s Rap even inspired some memes. It’s changed Bhaskar’s creative leanings.

For Masoom (2022), a show about a dysfunctional Indian family, Bhaskar mixed world music, folk music, some electronic sensibilities, the tabla, sitar, along with the guitar and keys. For Showtime (2024), a misadventure about a family-run production house, the music features modern pop, hip-hop, rock, electronic tunes. It’s a fresh challenge for musicians. Unlike a movie, there’s no signature hit or anthemic number. Instead, audiences must stay hooked across multiple episodes and seasons.

Bhaskar has liked the hummable melodies on Yellowjackets (2021-) and Mare of Easttown (2021). They made the scenes more memorable, he recalls. Last year’s Kaala Paani, he says had a haunting soundtrack that begins with a piano solo and builds up as the show’s plot thickens. Kaalakoot (2023), mixes Hindustani-esque vocals with hip-hop. A good soundtrack, he believes, is part of the storytelling. “With a song, the catchiness of the melody is vital. If I can remember it, so will the audience. With a score, if the audience doesn’t even realise that there was music in a scene, just feels its impact, that’s success for a score composer.”

Ambient genius

Aditya N, 32, grew up in Delhi, releasing songs with his band Cobbled Street in 2012. Audiences know him best for his work on Netflix’s Class (2023), and the Aamir Khan documentary Rubaru Roshni (2019), which he worked on with Nayantara Bhatkal.

The key to background music is to build a strong sound palette, an aural moodboard, and not stray too far from it, episode after episode. “You need to keep the audience engaged. Constantly adding new music themes is detrimental to that process.” The sound palette of songs in Class is varied. They have a drum and bass song, Clay, some progressive rock with Under Cover, electronic lo-fi with Girta Sambhalta, and rap on Dilli Dilli. The disparate genres still share a common vibe, which connects to the show about young students.

Class also featured original compositions by local indie acts, rare in Indian entertainment. “This creates a bridge between commercial and independent music. Something I’ve always hoped for,” he says.

Aditya loves the score for Netflix’s German show, Dark (2017-2020), simple guitar and piano chords, with vocals whispered in till it becomes a harmony-ridden delicious earworm. “It is minimal and yet so effective.” In India, Scam 1992 (2020) had a title track that had its own success story. Sacred Games (2018-2019) used Sanskrit chants and harmonising violin sounds to hook viewers in.

The most important thing to remember? “Start research only after you have read the script.Then, dig deep into international sounds and create a newer, more fresh sound for India.”

Notes from all over

Anurag Saikia, 25, wrote his first song in 1999, while in school in his hometown, Assam. His debut in a film as a musician came early too, for the Assamese film Yugadrashta, in 2007. Saikia formed his unnamed band in 2008 and released modern folksy music. His big mainstream successes include the 2019 show Gullak and Panchayat (2020).

“People are taking note of soundtracks today, so musicians have to adapt,” says Saikia. “There’s no longer that unspoken rule that a song or score will only be a success if it is in a commercial film. The music for Panchayat or Mismatched (2020-) have given me more recognition than my big-screen work on Karwaan (2018), Thappad (2020) and Bheed (2023).”

He’s composing local, but thinking global. He loved the quirky mix of electronica and jungle sounds on the first season of The White Lotus (2021); it hinted at the wild trip the characters are in for. The score to Schitt’s Creek, brings in the horn section, drums and a simple rhythm. It didn’t have songs. “But the little that it had left a big impact.”

From HT Brunch, April 6, 2024

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