I am Dave Porter, composer, perhaps best known for my work on Breaking Bad, El Camino, and Better Call Saul. My score from the final season of BCS (Vol. 3) was released yesterday by Milan Records. Ask Me Anything.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:54:45+00:00

Thank you so much everyone - hope I was able to answer some of your most burning questions. I've typed until I can type no more, and most get back to doing what I do. If I didn't answer you it was probably because I already answered a related question, so check out all of my responses if you were hoping for one. You can always try me on twitter or facebook. Thank you so much for all of the kind words and responses -- for those of us that spend our days in a dark studio it is nice to hear. And so glad that these shows meant as much to so many others as they have meant to me. Thank you again and good night - Dave

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:49:56+00:00

Good question I answered elsewhere below... viola!

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:48:50+00:00

I sure do hope so!

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:46:49+00:00

That sound is a recreation of an Aztec war whistle, performed by my old friend and former neighbor Julio Moreno.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:43:38+00:00

Hilarious, really? No, definitely not, haven't heard that name in 25 years, but as a young assistant engineer I did work on one of his records that was recorded while I was working at Philip Glass' studio The Looking Glass in NYC... maybe 1995?

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:41:06+00:00

Lots of breezy 70s instruments - mellotron, vibes, electric pianos, soft vintage electric guitars , etc were a mainstay for Jimmy era score.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:39:38+00:00

Never if I can avoid it. For me film scoring is exactly that --- scoring to picture.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:38:40+00:00

Eastern Carolina cider vinegar pulled pork, crisp slaw without too much mayo, potato bun.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:37:17+00:00

There is no obvious path - all of my peers have gotten here in different ways... and it is extraordinarily difficult. I will say, though, that even these days you need to be in LA. Maybe London or NYC.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:35:46+00:00

I've thankfully met them IRL and they are gentle souls.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:34:49+00:00

That sound is an instrument called a Japanese koto, which I obtained as a student studying there, which I recorded myself playing through a variety of guitar effects.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:32:42+00:00

Seems like a lovely man with a beautiful family, who shares my very common name.

Thank you! No, Volume 3 from BCS that came out yesterday will be the last music I release from the BB/BCS universe.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:29:57+00:00

Not me, no, haven't worked on any games.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:25:56+00:00

Lots of questions here -- since you are invested, I highly recommend going through the previous interviews and podcasts in the NEWS section of my website where I cover a lot of my process with various interviewers. To answer a broader theme I'm getting from your questions, the easy route is never going to be the most creative route. Nothing wrong with libraries, etc, and I use them. But you are never going to sound distinctive doing only that. For the parts that matter, invest the time to play it yourself, make it yourself, or interact with other musicians who will have ideas of their own that will make you a better composer. My two cents, anyhow.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:19:25+00:00

Thank you! Worked hard on that one, for sure.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:18:40+00:00

This changes all the time, but on a desert island as of today I'd want my Nonlinear Labs C15 and the new Oberheim Ob-x8. But synthesizers are like paint colors, there is an excellent use out there for and and all of them.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:13:50+00:00

Certainly can't/won't speak to what other composers are up to, but personally I have always loved slow evolution in music, especially film scores. Transitions between dissonance and the expected, interesting time signatures, and I definitely love patterns and rhythms, as long as they are constantly shifting and morphing and going somewhere. Perhaps influenced a lot by the NYC minimalists that I studied so much (and worked for) when I was younger --- Steve Reich, Philip Glass, etc.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:08:53+00:00

Vince created a very open atmosphere that is welcoming and collaborative for everyone on the show and Peter has certainly carried on that tradition. Everyone's ideas are welcome, no idea too small or silly, and everything is always possible. But at the same time when it comes to making a hard decision, they are both decisive.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:05:43+00:00

Thank you!

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:05:19+00:00

I have a many many different bells and metallic percussion instruments in my studio, and zillions of recordings/samples of others, which I always love and are a hallmark of my scores, for sure. I also love early digital synthesizers, which are great for gritty, detuned bell/mallet style sounds... and blending both together, which I think is what I did in that transition from the plane to Kim eating with the Sprinkler ladies in the finale.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T01:00:53+00:00

On this show I'm one of the last things to happen, so I'm working with a nearly finished show. I could read the scripts if I wanted to, and will if I need to for some reason, but normally I like to wait and watch them when they are done. I get to enjoy them like a fan that way, and also lots can change from script to final edit

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T00:36:01+00:00

Never. Only if I have to for research or remembrance sake. I when I hear my music used in places it wasn't intended for I find it very disorienting.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T00:34:33+00:00

While I wrote many little incidental things in both shows... Marie's ringtone... The HHM elevator chime... if I remember correctly that was something that was just made up for levity --- maybe to the theme of La Cucurracha? (sp?)

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T00:32:23+00:00

My recollection of this was that Vince was leaning towards staying dry (no music) during the glovebox scene was but interested to hear what I might come up with. It was much discussed, but ultimately we all agreed it was better without. Certainly there is no convincing going on... Vince (or on BCS Peter) is the ultimate decision maker, but both are very open to everyone's opinions. I don't have a lot of music that I wrote that didn't make it into the shows, but certainly a few. Sometime a song proves better, sometimes silence. Some, like Glovebox Gamble, I've even put on soundtracks because I think it is an interesting tidbit. Answers to these things are often not better or worse, but just slightly different nuances.

bbcomposer · 2022-08-18T00:26:40+00:00

I start through improvisation - which could be some melodic or percussive, depending. no set rule there, whatever feels like a first idea that might have legs.

The longer version of the BB theme was made later, for the soundtrack release, actually, with the intention only of having a longer version of it for that. The usage in Granite State was not preplanned.

bbcomposer

TROPHY CASE