Analysing Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar Theme Song with Elena Alekseeva

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aRtkuEHNN4 title=

Today, our music composition lecturer, Elena Alekseeva, will break down the film’s main theme song and give you an insight into the musical techniques being utilized.

Elena talks through the piece’s key signature, A natural minor, and how Zimmer uses pedal point, in this case, the E note, to build out a background pulse throughout the song. Zimmer mimics the constant ticking of a clock with repeated notes and breaks out into more complex melodies in different octaves later on, to build out the track’s dynamics and add more intensity.

If you’re interested in learning more about music theory, music composition or recording, you can enrol now to study at Point Blank in London, LA or online.

Using Spitfire Audio’s Hans Zimmer software instrument, Elena shows us the theme’s shifting chord progression between different sections and discusses Zimmer’s choice of chords, like Gadd6 or Fmajor7, to further involve the song’s pedal point.

We also learn about the effective use of arpeggios to add more dynamics and intensity in certain sections of the piece and how the original use of ornamentation dates back to Baroque music, as the harpsichord had limited natural dynamics.

If you enjoyed Elena’s analysis and want to study music composition further, you can learn more about the courses offered at Point Blank by clicking here.

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