Tag Archives: Nathan Barr

True Blood Finale: A Look Back on… The Music

Nathan Barr Discusses His Musical Choices:

True Blood composer Nathan BarrWhen you ask anyone what song they think of when they are asked about HBO’s True Blood, most people would answer Bad Things by Jace Everett. But there is someone else who is just as responsible for giving True Blood its musical groove: Nathan Barr. He is the TV show’s composer and is the one who makes the song choices for each episode. According to Nathan, creating an original music score for True Blood is easy because he is a fan first, composer second:

If I can react as a fan then it gives the music a chance to really be a part of the show in a way that’s going to be of the best benefit and please the audience.

And, being such a fan of the show, it was his idea to push for True Blood: The Musical. It is an idea that has stayed with him from the time he composed the song Take Me Home for the scene in Season 1 when Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) eats her Gran’s pecan pie after her death. While his idea may never come to fruition, he is still hopeful:

There are no guarantees at this point… It’s more about finding the essence of what the story is about and if you look at it from that point of view, it actually becomes quite simple because a musical is two hours.

But before he can even seriously push for a True Blood musical, there is still the question of the True Blood finale: who will live and who will die? Considering the fact Nathan hasn’t seen the episode yet, but he has composed the music for it, he has this final gem to add:

I haven’t even seen [it] yet… I know that the absolute last scene in the show is going to be really, really emotional.

What do you think he means by this? Let us know your thoughts and theories on the True Blood finale by commenting below!

Source: Out.com – A True Blood Fan First, Composer Second

(Photo Credit: NathanBarr.com)

True Blood Composer Represents at WonderCon

Nathan Barr Attends 3rd Annual “Behind The Music” Panel:

One of the most impressive things about True Blood is the music. Not only the various songs borrowed from other artists, but the original compositions as well. Who doesn’t remember the beautiful Sookie and Bill theme?

Nathan Barr has traveled the world and studied music extensively from a very young age. This definitely comes out through his compositions. True Blood has had some truly unique music over its four seasons. During the panel at this year’s WonderCon, Barr and many other Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Action/Animated television series composers discussed with fans the ways in which they evolve and elevate music composition to new heights.

Also in attendance at the panel was Ellen Greene, star of ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” and Warner Brothers’ “Little Shop Of Horrors,” Jim Dooley (FX’s “Wilfred”), Robert Duncan (ABC’s “Castle”), Mark Isham (ABC’s “Once Upon a Time”), Danny Jacob (Disney Channel’s “Phineas and Ferb”), David Ari Leon (Disney XD and Marvel Entertainment’s “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”), and Blake Neely (CBS’ “The Mentalist.”).

WonderCon 2012 Behind the Music Panel

Source: CW3PR

True Blood Auction – Studio Tour with Nathan Barr

Proceeds Go to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG):

Nathan Barr (composer from HBO's True Blood) eBay AuctionIt’s auction time again for HBO’s True Blood. This time, on offer, is a studio tour with True Blood composer, Nathan Barr. Barr has composed the music for all four seasons of our favorite hit HBO TV series.

This item is being auctioned on eBay and there is not a lot of time left! Barr has worked with the likes of Alan Ball and the master or gore-horror, Eli Roth. Not only does Barr compose the music – he plays it too! And not just your everyday items, he has in his studio amongst other peculiar items, the following: a human bone trumpet from Tibet, dismantled pianos and gourd cellos.

Make sure you bid on this item before it gets away. All proceeds will go to helping out Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and their fabulous (and award winning) children’s literacy programs, BookPALS and Storyline Online. Plus, benefits will also go to the Foundation’s Catastrophic Health Fund and the Actors Center.

You can bid on the item here. Let us know how high you go!

Source: eBay – “True Blood” Composer Nathan Barr Gives Personal Studio Tour

(Photo Credit: eBay/HBO, Inc.)

True Blood Composer Nathan Barr at Comic-Con

True Blood star Janina Gavankar and composer Nathan Barr attend Comic-Con composer panel

During the panel Q & A, True Blood star Janina Gavankar, Luna, introduced herself and thanked Nathan for his great musical contributions to the show. She stated that his music really gives the characters more depth and life, including Luna.

The other panelists in the group picture are L-R Christopher Young, Robert Duncan, Danny Jacob, Helene Muddiman, James Levine, Edward Rogers, and Nathan.

TOP FILM AND TELEVISION COMPOSERS SPEAK AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO

Award-winning music talents Nathan Barr, Ramin Djawadi, Robert Duncan, Danny Jacob, James Levine, Edward Rogers, and Christopher Young to speak to fans at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront as part of Comic Con 2011

San Diego, CA (July 15, 2011) – Back by popular demand, the second annual Behind the Music with CW3PR: Composing Horror to Animation and Everything in Between will be held at Comic-Con International:  San Diego.

Seven legendary composers in film and television are slated to speak for the program from 6 to 7 pm on Saturday, July 23 in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront, 1 Park Blvd.

Together, Nathan Barr (HBO’s “True Blood”), Ramin Djawadi (HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Paramount Pictures’ “Iron Man”), Robert Duncan (ABC’s “Castle,” WB’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Danny Jacob (Disney Channel’s “Phineas and Ferb”), James Levine (FOX’s “Glee,” TNT’s “The Closer”), Edward Rogers (Syfy’s “Warehouse 13”), and Christopher Young (Columbia Pictures’ “Spider-Man 3,” New World Pictures’ “Hellraiser”) will discuss their pivotal roles in some of today’s top film and TV projects.

This year’s panel will focus on the different creative processes required for composing music in a wide variety of genres and platforms.  Panelists will also discuss expanding music to ancillary projects such as motion comics, video games and more that boost some of Hollywood’s largest growing franchises.

Attendees will receive exclusive giveaways and be the first to view (and hear) some surprise sneak peeks from upcoming projects. A fan-led Q&A will follow.

The panel will be moderated by film and television composer Hélène Muddiman.

About The Panelists

NATHAN BARR can currently be heard on one of HBO’s hottest shows True Blood.  Having written and performed the music for all four seasons of this show, he has come a long way since working as an assistant to world-renowned composer Hans Zimmer.  Barr has since composed original music for film and television.  Film credits include: IFC Films’ The Ledge, Lionsgate’s The Last Exorcism, and Stonebrook Entertainment’s Open House.

RAMIN DJAWADI received a Grammy nomination for Paramount Pictures’ Iron Man, as well as Emmy nominations for ABC’s FlashForward for “Outstanding Music Composition for a Series,” and FOX’s Prison Break for “Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music.”  Djawadi is currently scoring the original music for HBO’s Game of Thrones and A&E’s Breakout Kings.  He recently completed MGM’s Red Dawn, and is also working on Zoom Entertainment and Silver Screen Studios’ The Camel Wars and DreamWorks’ Fright Night.  He has collaborated with Hans Zimmer, co-composing and producing the score for Universal Pictures’ Thunderbirds, as well as collaborating on both Columbia Pictures’ Something’s Gotta Give and Warner Bros. Pictures’ Batman Begins.

ROBERT DUNCAN is a Canadian composer of film and TV, currently scoring music for ABC’s Castle, for which he was nominated for an Emmy.  Other credits include: Foundation Feature’s The Entitled; FOX’s The Chicago Code; FX’s Terriers; ABC’s The Gates; FOX’s Lie to Me; CBS’ The Unit; the WB’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and FOX’s Tru Calling.

DANNY JACOB is a three-time Emmy-nominated composer and producer of more than 300 original songs for the Disney Channel’s mega-hit animated series, Phineas and Ferb.  Influenced by his life-long experience as a world-class guitar player, Jacob bridges the worlds of score and song.  As a featured guitarist, he has performed on DreamWorks’ Shrek, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Picture; the Emmy-winning Bette Midler HBO Concert Divas Las Vegas; and Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin’s “Heaven Help Us,” which won the Grammy for Best Duet.  Other credits include: Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, Disney Channel’s The Emperor’s New School, and Kids’ WB’s Jackie Chan’s Adventures.

JAMES LEVINE is a film and television composer currently scoring original music for FOX’s hit series, Glee.  He has won two BMI awards, and his credits include:  TNT’s The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles; FX’s Nip/Tuck; CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles; FX’s Damages; and Paramount Pictures’ The Weather Man.  Levine has also provided additional music for DreamWorks’ Madagascar and Touchstone Pictures’ Pearl Harbor.

EDWARD ROGERS is an Emmy-nominated composer for film, television and videogames.  Prior to scoring original music for the Syfy network’s hit series, Warehouse 13, for which he received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music,” Rogers also brought the gritty streets of New York to life with his underscore for ABC’s award-winning series, NYPD Blue, for six years.  He continued his collaboration with producer Steven Bochco on FX’s acclaimed series, Over There.

CHRISTOPHER YOUNG is one of the foremost talents in film music today.  A Golden Globe-nominated composer, he has scored an impressive number of features in virtually every genre, all with strikingly original music.  New World Pictures’ spine-tingling Hellraiser showcases the composer’s seminal upbringing in horror; the new-techno sound of Warner Bros.’ Swordfish displays his versatility; the resonant, genuine Celtic sounds of Miramax Films The Shipping News display his attention to detail; and the heart-pounding rhythms of Columbia Pictures’ Spider-Man 3 are all evidence of his willingness to experiment.  These scores are among the nearly 100 films that embody the work of this prolific composer.

HÉLÉNE MUDDIMAN (Moderator) is a British film and television composer who recently scored ITV2’s The Only Way is Essex, a British award-winning reality show based in Essex, Southeast England.  Muddiman is currently composing original music for Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet 2 with composer John Powell who scored for Shrek and Happy Feet.  She has provided music for the entertainment industry since she was 18 years old, and has written in a wide variety of musical styles for film, television, radio and multi-media advertisements.  Muddiman has also worked on E4’s Skin for which she was nominated for a World Soundtrack Award.

For more information, please visit comic-con.org
(Photo credit:Nathan Barr)

Nathan Barr of True Blood to Score “30 Minutes or Less”

True Blood Composer Nathan Barr Scores Upcoming Flick:

Nathan Barr, the man responsible for all of the fantastic music heard on True Blood will be scoring a new film from Columbia Pictures called 30 Minutes or Less, directed by Ruben Fleischer of Zombieland fame.

According to First Look the action comedy is about:

“A small town pizza delivery guy who is kidnapped by two wanna-be criminal masterminds and is forced to rob a bank.”

It stars Jesse Eisenberg, also from Zombieland.  Also appearing are Aziz Ansari, Michael Pena, Fred Ward, and Danny McBride & Nick Swardson as the kidnappers.  The film is set to be in theaters August 12, 2011.  You can see stills from First Look here.

Sources: Nathan Barr Official Site and First Look

(Photo credit: last.fm)

Nathan Barr to Attend Sundance Film Festival 2011

See Nathan on a Music Panel at the Festival

The composer behind True Blood‘s amazing score, Nathan Barr, is quite the busy man. He’ll be attending the Sundance Film Festival 2011 and participating in a panel about creating film/tv scores. The panel will be moderated by Doreen Ringer Ross, the BMI vice president of tv/film relations, and is being produced by BMI.

Better yet, this panel is open to all Festival Credential Holders as well as the public, depending on the availability of seats! So if you happen to be attending the Sundance Film Festival 2011 and get in to the panel, please let us know how it goes!

SOURCE: Sundance Film Festival

(Image Credit: NathanBarr.com)

PHOTOS: Sunset Reception with True Blood Stars

Composer Nathan Barr and Kevin Alejandro Attend Charity Event:

True Blood Composer Nathan Barr and Actor Kevin Alejandro (Jesus) at a Laguna Bch, CA event. Photos Credit:Nathan Barr's Facebook

The California Teachers Association and Equality California (EQCA) held a ‘Sunset Reception’ in gorgeous Laguna Beach, California recently. Topics of the reception included ‘better protecting youth and their rights.’

HBO’s True Blood composer Nathan Barr and actor Kevin Alejandro, who plays Jesus Velasquez on the hit series, attended the event.

We hope that both Barr and Alejandro had a great time while there, and we also thank them for supporting such a wonderful cause.

True Blood Composer Nathan Barr and Actor Kevin Alejandro (Jesus) at a Laguna Bch, CA event

EQCA's

Source: Kintera.org–  Sunset Reception with ‘True Blood’ Stars

(Photos Credit: Nathan Barr’s Photos – EQCA’s “Sunset Reception with True Blood Stars”)

Join Kevin Alejandro and Nathan Barr to Support Equality

Stars to appear at Sunset Reception December 4, 2010


Kevin Alejandro (Jesus Velazquez) and Nathan Barr (composer) will be supporting Equality California and attending the Sunset Reception at the ocean front home of Jeff Harbor in Three Arch Bay, Laguna Beach.  You can meet Kevin and Nathan as well as hear from Executive Director of Equality California Geoff Kors about how to protect the rights and lives of gay youth after the recent suicides.  He’ll also speak about how to continue going strong in 2011 after the recent electoral victories.

The event takes place Saturday December 4th at 3:30pm.  Dress is holiday cocktail attire. There will be holiday hors d’oeuvres, holiday cocktails by Blue Angel Ultra Premium Vodka, and a shuttle provided by Premiere Valet.  Tickets start at $100 and can be purchased here.

Come out and meet two of True Blood’s amazing cast and crew and support a good cause.

Source: Equality California

Image credit: CBS.com and Truebloodnet.com

True Blood’s Nathan Barr Featured in FAULT Magazine

The Talented Composer Will Grace the Pages of the Magazine’s December Issue

FAULT Magazine's December issue will feature True Blood's number one composer, Nathan Barr.True Blood‘s musical mastermind, Nathan Barr, will be featured in FAULT‘s December issue, which will hit newsstands very soon. Let’s hope Barr gives us a peak at what we can expect musically from season 4!

FAULT Magazine is a quarterly publication out of London and aims to define our generation and focus on the things that matter in a matchless style.  FAULT represents a new way of thinking and perceiving, and was created for any creative soul disillusioned with the mundane and superficial. Due to popular demand, you can now download FAULT Magazine’s digital editions, starting at just €2.00.

 Source: FAULT Magazine

(Photo Source: FAULT Magazine)

True Blood Composer Nathan Barr is Spotlighted by Carson Daly

Last Call with Carson Daly Spotlights True Blood Composer Nathan Barr

On Carson Daly’s October 16 show, he put the spotlight on Nathan Barr, a highly talented composer who is best known for his scores for seasons 1-3 of True Blood. Carson visited Nathan’s home and private recording studio to learn more about the man behind the music.

Nathan is a man of many talents. Not only does he compose, but he also performs his own compositions. He told Carson that he works hard to keep things as organic as possible while composing, and also tries to keep everything the audience hears real rather than synthesizing sounds. In making music his way, Nathan has become a popular choice as a composer for horror films. He has worked closely with directors like Eli Roth and Kevin Kever, and most recently scored the movie The Last Exorcism.

Nathan’s Personal Recording Studio

Unlike many other recording artists, Nathan has his own studio right at his house. On most days, all he has to do is walk from his house to his garage, which was converted into his studio. He often “sits down with a cup of coffee and starts working.”

This studio is where Nathan has composed all of the original music for True Blood. He began his work for the show by creating Bill and Sookie’s love theme, which came out of Nathan sitting down with a guitar and playing chords. From there, he doubled the guitar line and played it on his cello. After creating Bill and Sookie’s theme, Nathan had the confidence to create the themes for other characters on True Blood.

Nathan showed Carson how he created the sound for a scene from Season 3 of True Blood when Bill’s invitation to Jason’s house is rescinded. He explained that because vampires have to leave houses as soon as they are uninvited, and they are sucked out of the house backwards, he played a bagpipe, a piano, and a bell, then reversed the sound for each of the instruments to create an entirely new sound to fit what we saw onscreen.

There was a lot more shared in the video Carson showed his audience, and it really gives fans a peek into the process of how Nathan creates the music that we all know and love on True Blood. Check out the video and enjoy!

Source: Youtube.com, user account JodyK78

True Blood Score Nominated for Music Award

Nathan Barr’s Original Score Among Nominated

True Blood HMMA Nominee

In November, Hollywood will be host to the Hollywood Music in Media Awards & Conference and the original score for HBO’s True Blood written by Nathan Barr is among the nominees.

The 2010 award categories include Original Score – Feature Film, Original Score – Indie/Short/Documentary, Original Score – Video Game, Best Song – Film, Best Song – TV, Original Song – Video Game, Best Song – Commercial Advertisement and Original Score – TV.

The True Blood original score has competition in the form of the original scores for other shows, such as Sanctuary, Wheel of Fortune, 24, Criminal Minds, Hawthorne and Nurse Jackie.

The conference runs from November 18-20 2010 in Hollywood. Event location and ticket information can be found on the HMMA website.

SOURCE: http://www.hmmawards.com — 2010 Visual Media Nominees

(Photo Credit: HMMA)

Carson Daly Chats up Nathan Barr

Nathan Barr’s Contributions to True Blood

Without Nathan Barr, most of the best True Blood scenes would fall short. Without this gifted composer, the scenes between Sookie and Bill wouldn’t be as special. Nathan may not be on our physically on True Blood but is talent sure is and now fans will be able to put a face to the sounds.

See Nathan on Late Night TV

Nathan will take over late night when he appears on Last Call with Carson Daly on Friday, October 15. Set your DVRs or if you’re a night owl, set your television for 1:30 a.m to get a first hand tour of Nathan’s studio. Perhaps he’ll even give secret tidbits about the True Blood Season 2 score, which was released September 21, and includes Sookie’s Dreams, Eric’s Grief, and Goodbye Godric.

For more information on Nathan or his appearance on Carson Daly, visit Nathan’s facebook page or check out NBC’s homepage for all Carson Daly updates and his guests. True Blood may be on hiatus for the winter but with great interviews like this one, the wait won’t be too terrible for fans.

Source: www.facebook.com — Nathan Barr and www.nbc.com — Last Call with Carson Daly

(Photo Credit: Nathan Barr)

Music to Vamp By: An Interview With Gary Calamar

A picture of Gary Calamar.Gary Calamar is the music supervisor for HBO‘s hit series True Blood. In an interview with IFC, Gary explained that the specific songs and music are a delicate balance when chosen for an episode, or scene location. For example, tunes for Merlotte’s is “upbeat bar music, rockabilly, southern rock”.

For the most part, Gary says the music for True Blood “has sort of a dark undercurrent to it like a lot of New Orleans blues seems to have. Those classics – Slim Harpo, Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf – those are what really kind of speak to me as the sound of Bon Temps.”

Asked if it was true that show creator Alan Ball said he did not want opera music in a vampire show, Gary could not confirm it. However, Alan did tell him he wanted non-traditional music without the overly dramatic type heard in previous vampire movies.

Actually, Alan found Jace Everett‘s “Bad Things” to use as the theme music and Gary said they got lucky with it. During a writing break, Alan found it on iTunes.

“We all liked it but we all kind of thought that we would eventually find the one. But the more we placed other songs against it we realized that it actually was the one. It was perfect and it had just that right combination of menace, romance, sexiness, and humor to it.”

Every episode of True Blood is named after a song. According to Gary, this is difficult due to budget concerns. Some licensing can be too expensive or just not available. In a few cases, the episode titles were changed because the song didn’t work out as planned. But, as music supervisor, this touch makes his job more fun and interesting.

And it’s actually the writers who provide the song ideas. With the mood they set, sometimes they’ll write a song into the script.  But it doesn’t work 100% of the time. Gary said that putting the song up against the picture will sometimes show it’s just not a good fit. That’s when Gary provides the “Plan B” music.

In one example, Gary talked about a song titled “Hitting the Floor”, which was to play during a scene of an actual severed head hitting the floor.

“But the song was not working. Well, I actually knew of a great song by P.J. Harvey called “Hitting the Ground.”  So, we changed the title [from “Floor” to “Ground”] and it still worked thematically.”

Working at night as a DJ, Gary listens to a lot of music, which helps him with ideas for True Blood. Now that he has the feel for what the series ‘sounds like’, it’s a little easier for him to read the script and find the right song to recommend. Once the music is approved by Alan, it’s Gary’s job to check on the license and negotiate the deal for use.

Nathan Barr is the show’s composer for original score and often it’s a song that leads into the score. So both Nathan and Gary need to be in sync. But what about the show’s characters?

“Yeah, each character definitely has their own taste and their own type of music that might be playing along with their theme. It depends on what’s going on in the scene, but Jason‘s taste is much different than Sookie‘s and Sam’s taste is much different than Lafayette‘s.”

In discussing the budget for music, Gary sighs when he thinks about a Led Zeppelin song that worked perfectly for a particular scene.

“But they’re just way too expensive and you know, don’t really do television unless you want to pay them an exorbitant amount of money. No TV show could really afford to have Led Zeppelin. Then it’s my job to find something that’s even better for a fraction of the price.”

I, for one, think he’s doing a really fine job.

Source: ifc.com (1st part2nd part) – The Man Behind the Music of HBO’s “True Blood”

(photo credit – ifc.com)

Preorder Nathan Barr’s Score for True Blood Season 2

True Blood Season 2 ScoreWhen the summer ends, True Blood fans do one thing: try to figure out what to do with themselves until they see a new season of their beloved vampires.

HBO and Nathan Barr have been kind enough to help fans through their fang withdrawal. Why not spend the winter months curled up on the couch listening to the score from Season 2?

The 13 track album is due to hit stores on September 21 and will include songs such as Sookie’s Dreams, Eric the Viking, Hoyt and Jessica, and Goodbye Godric. All the songs were written, performed and recorded by Nathan himself.

The album can be pre ordered at www.varesesarabande.com; for less than $20, fans can relive the most heart breaking or sexiest scenes of the show, while they commute to work or read the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. Whatever the plan is this winter, the Season 2 score is a great way to keep warm until True Blood comes back for its 4th season in the summer of 2011.

Source: www.facebook.com — Nathan Barr’s Photos

(Photo Credit: HBO, Inc)

Nathan Barr Talks True Blood and Future Projects

Nathan BarrMany people work behind the scenes on HBO‘s True Blood adding in the sound effects, visual effects and music once the scenes have been filmed.  Composer Nathan Barr is responsible for the musical score that we hear each week on the show.  Nathan sat down with Dreadcentral.com to talk about how he got his start in the industry, his work on True Blood and his upcoming projects.

GETTING STARTED

Although Nathan loved music and movies as he was growing up, he did not start out in the industry as a composer.  His first job was as an assistant on the business side.  After responding to an ad where a prominent composer was looking for an assistant he ended up working for Hans Zimmer, who is now head of the film music division at DreamWorks.  He worked for Zimmer for 8 months and he describes the experience saying:

“The experience of working with someone like Zimmer inspired me to continue working as a composer when I finished my time with him.  When he told me that he thought I had a future as a composer, I knew I had to go for it.”

He started his career working on projects such as the wrestling documentary Beyond The Mat and From Dusk Til Dawn 3, however it was a meeting with horror director Eli Roth that really launched his career.  After the director saw Nathan’s DVD collection of horror movies, Roth knew he had found the right person to score the movie Cabin Fever.  The two have since worked together on a number of movies including both Hostel movies as well as the upcoming movie The Last Exorcism.

TRUE BLOOD

Currently Nathan works closely with Alan Ball and is in charge of the music we hear on True Blood.  Barr says that working with Alan has been a “dream” from the start.

“It was between me and a few other composers for ‘True Blood’ in the beginning.  We met with Alan and his team, and I pitched him my take on the score and how I thought the songs we picked at the end of the show should be what define the Southern style of the series, by finding songs that incorporate the blues or instruments like the harmonica.  This would then free up the score for the episode to complement the story being told each week. He really liked my approach, and from there I got hired.”

Nathan says that the first character theme song he wrote was the Bill/Sookie love theme because it was so central to the first season and he felt that if there was one song that had to really work it was that one. His method of writing is to use the music to enhance the cast’s performance not to outshine it.

“The ‘True Blood’ cast is so strong that when I score an episode, it’s less about helping make a scene work as it is more about the music gently supporting the characters and their stories.”

UPCOMING PROJECTS

Barr’s next project is the documentary style horror film The Last Exorcism which is released in theatres August 27th.  Creating the score for this film was quite a bit different from his work on True Blood and he admits that he was very nervous going into this film.  Director Daniel Staam sent Barr a long email before filming began and told him he wanted the music to sound “warped”.  Barr immediately thought of the sound his guitar makes when it is tuning and used that as his focal point for the score.  Since the film was done documentary style, the score was more understated with effects made to jump out at you.

“The last thing you want to do with a movie score like this is to do too much too quickly so I had to let all those sounds build to something huge near the end.  I think what I created really lent itself to the creepy feeling of the movie.  I actually got creeped out watching it.”

With Season 3 of True Blood almost finished, Barr will tackle another “first” for him – a drama film.  He will be working on a film called The Ledge staring Liv Tyler and Terrence Howard.

Source: Dreadcentral.com – Composer Nathan Barr Talks True Blood and The Last Exorcism

(Photo Credit: Dreadcentral.com)

True Blood at Comic-con 2010: Behind the Music with Nathan Barr

Comic-con is finally here and True Blood is well represented with the actors and crew attending various panels this year.  One of our writers here at TrueBloodNet.com, Isis Nocturne, is attending the Behind the Music with CW3PR: Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Film & TV panel which has True Blood composer Nathan Barr as one of the seven panelists discussing the behind-the-scenes perspective on creating music for television and film.  Below are Isis Nocturne‘s tweets from the event and photos.

The music panel

Next up is the music panel with True Blood‘s composer Nathan Barr!

OMG! Charlaine Harris is opening the panel!

Opening with music from each composer…

Introductions are awesome!

Waiting to hear from Nathan Barr

Nathan Barr started working under Hans Zimmer.

Nathan was there only 8 months.

The panelists... Nathan Barr is 3rd from the right...

Nathan practiced by doing other movie scores earlier in his career.

Music from Nathan‘s score for Hostel was put into the pilot for True Blood, then he wrote music for True Blood to use instead…

Talking about composing for character-driven shows/movies & the difficulties

Everyone says that silence needs to be a part of tv and film b/c it can be so powerful.

Nathan uses cool instruments like a human bone trumpet…

this instrument is made of a femur… it’s from Tibet

Nathan looks up weird instruments on Ebay

as we know, Nathan plays his own instruments

That panel felt soooo short! It was very interesting!

In closing, that panel was great & Nathan Barr and John Ottman were both really nice!