BLAZING MUSIC + SOUND DELIVERS ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR HIGH PROFILE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC / NOVA DOCUMENTARY
RALEIGH, N.C. (July 17, 2007) – “The Great Inca Rebellion,” a documentary produced by NOVA and National Geographic, is brought to life with original music, sound design and a 5.1 surround mix provided by Blazing Music + Sound (www.blazingmusicsound.com). The one-hour special, which sheds new light on the fall of the great Inca Empire, premiered June 26 on NOVA accompanied by global press coverage of the discovery of the first documented gunshot wound in the Americas.
Producer Graham Townsley came to Blazing Music + Sound with the challenge of creating a score and sound design with the dynamics and power of a theatrical film on a particularly tight timeline. The Blazing Music + Sound team welcomed the opportunity.
Blazing handled all aspects of the project in house, allowing for a seamless integration of music and sound design. The team brought together all elements of dialogue, sound effects and music to portray this chilling, pivotal event in world history.
Music and sound production required the use of multiple Digidesign Pro Tools systems. Composer Aaron Keane used a Pro Tools HD 3 system and software synthesizers and samplers from Native Instruments and Propellerheads for primary composition, then replaced many of the electronic instruments with live percussion, strings and ethnic woodwinds. Willie Elias, sound designer and mixer, recorded everything from footsteps to fierce, skull-smashing axe and sword impacts using the Pro Tools HD 2 system, then performed surround and stereo mixes in record time.
“National Geographic wanted the production to be very cinematic in all areas including the music, sound design and mix,” said Eric Johnson, executive producer at Blazing Music + Sound.
“The Great Inca Rebellion” was offlined at Serious Robots (www.seriousrobots.com), a sister boutique to Blazing Music + Sound located at the same facility. Freelance editor Bonnie Cutler worked with Serious Robots’ Bill Blankinship and Dave Hogan on the offline editing and with Scott Roy and Joe Wilson on the preliminary HD online editing for the show.
“The Blazing/Robots team proved to be a highly efficient and talented duo,” said Townsley. “The composer and sound designer were able to get involved early in the process at the same time the offline edit was happening right there under the same roof. They created temp music and preliminary sound design at the offline stage, which made the approval process go quickly and smoothly. This was critical given our tight schedule for the production.”
Townsley describes the making of “The Great Inca Rebellion” as a moving personal experience. A documentary filmmaker based in Washington, D.C., he is a trained anthropologist and has written, researched and filmed extensively in Latin America.
“[The film] seemed to restore to the world of Inca Peru, so complex and divided against itself, a sort of epic and tragic grandeur,” he says about the production. “I felt like I was creating a collective memory for people and events erased from history. … In a funny way, making this film also restored my faith in television documentary.”
Townsley credits NOVA for embracing and supporting his vision for the piece. “It reminded me that it is possible to tell new and intricate stories on TV, and that people want to see them,” he said.
For more information on “The Great Inca Rebellion,” visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/inca/.
Blazing Music + Sound provides all aspects of music and sound production, including original music composition, voiceover recording and sound design. Serious Robots is one of the Southeast’s top post-production companies offering editorial, animation and visual effects. Their work includes programming for Discovery, National Geographic, Fine Living, Fox Sports Network and PBS. Both boutiques are divisions of Trailblazer Studios (www.trailblazerstudios.com).
NOVA is the highest rated science series on television and the most watched documentary series on public television.
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