Philip Sheppard

Category: Music Production

  • Keanu Reeves Brawn Soundtrack

    Keanu Reeves Brawn Soundtrack

    Keanu Reeves with thje Brawn F1 car

    Philip Sheppard’s soundtrack to the Keanu Reeves series; ‘Brawn: The Impossible F1 story’. Music score from the new Disney+ Hulu series

    Philip Sheppard’s soundtrack to the Keanu Reeves series; ‘Brawn: The Impossible F1 story’. Stream here

    About Brawn and Keanu Reeves

    In a Hollywood-worthy narrative that Keanu Reeves insists had to grace the tv screen, the saga of Brawn: The Impossible F1 Story unfolds against the backdrop of Formula 1’s tumultuous 2009 season. The symphony of triumph and tribulation crescendos with the documentary’s pulsating soundtrack, a creation of Composer Philip Sheppard, perfectly attuned to the highs and lows of the series now streaming on Disney+.

    In the annals of motorsports lore, the departure of Honda from Formula 1 in 2009 stood as a seismic event, leaving Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello without a team. Enter Ross Brawn, a maestro of managerial prowess, who orchestrated a takeover of the team for a mere £1, an audacious move that set the stage for a tale that few believed could unfold favorably.

    Brawn’s audacity paid off in a dazzling display of resilience and skill. Against the odds, Jenson Button claimed the world title, and Brawn GP secured the constructors’ championship, transforming what seemed like a eulogy into an exultant ode to triumph.

    Keanu Reeves, our tour guide into the inner workings of that fateful season, takes us on a riveting journey through the lens of a four-part documentary series. Brawn: The Impossible F1 Story peels back the layers of disruption preceding the season, unveiling the meteoric rise of Button, who, despite the early-season turmoil, clinched victory in six of the first seven races in 2009.

    The climax of the season, aptly set in Brazil, witnessed Button’s dramatic ascent from 14th to finish fifth, securing the championship in a heart-stopping finale. Button’s quote resonates like a poignant soliloquy in the ears of BBC Sport, “I could have finished eighth and still clinched the title at the last race by finishing fifth or sixth. But I wanted to finish on a high – prove to yourself as much as anyone else that you’ve got that killer instinct.”

    The heartbeat of Brawn GP’s success lies in their innovative approach to Formula 1’s new regulations of 2009. While others saw problems, Brawn GP saw opportunities. Episode one of the documentary delves into the intricacies of their strategic gamble, focusing on a ‘double diffuser’ that ultimately passed the scrutiny of the FIA despite protests from rival teams.

    Bernie Ecclestone, the sage of Formula 1, opines in episode two that interpreting rules has been a timeless art, and Brawn, a seasoned architect of Michael Schumacher’s triumphs, wielded his rulebook wisdom with finesse.

    The narrative weaves through Brawn’s journey from orchestrating Schumacher’s victories to the Honda tenure, sealed with a symbolic pound coin – an artifact now sacredly carried by Honda executive Hiroshi Oshima.

    The revelation that Brawn GP operated on a shoestring budget adds a gritty subplot to the fairy tale. Button, reflecting on the challenging times, notes the camaraderie forged in adversity but can’t help but rue the financial constraints that often left the team “running out of bits.”

    The Music

    Philip Sheppard’s musical score, an epic accompaniment to the series, resonates through the twists and turns of the Brawn GP saga. It is a testament to a team that, against all odds, turned a symbolic £1 into a priceless championship triumph.

  • Shut Your Eyes – Philip Sheppard’s new album

    Shut Your Eyes – Philip Sheppard’s new album

    Shut Your Eyes – Philip Sheppard’s new Album: I am thrilled to announce the release of my latest album, “Shut Your Eyes.” It’s been a while since my last album! I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to share my passion for postclassical music and electronica with you through this collection of seven tracks recorded with my friends at Abbey Road Studios. Each piece is an expression of my love for music and my unwavering dedication to my craft. This album was created with my friends at Audio Network – and if you sign up… you can download it from them for free!

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    Shut Your Eyes

    One of the highlights of the album is the titular track, “Shut Your Eyes,” which has been described by critics as a “mesmerizing piece” and a “lullaby that feels like undulating waves across a sea of sleep.” To capture a sense of ebb and flow, I asked the musicians to breathe extra deeply while recording this track. As musicians, we are often inclined to hold our breath in..! The result is a hauntingly beautiful playing that I hope will take you on a journey to the deepest recesses of your subconscious.

    Rain Begins

    Another favourite track is “Rain Begins,” which has been lauded for its “gentle ode to a pastoral landscape that incorporates an electronic bouncing pattern in the background.” This fusion of genres is just one of the ways that I strive to push the boundaries of classical music and create a unique sound that is entirely my own. This trip hop vibe is deeply inspired by my work with UNKLE.

    Walking in the Lodge

    “Walking in the Lodge” is piece that tries to capture the feeling of awakening to the smell of jasmine and honeysuckle on the morning breeze. The use of long glissandi tunes, created through experimenting with writing solos entirely from slides, adds an uneasy ethereal quality to the track.

    The Dock On The Lake

    “The Dock On The Lake” is an attempt to paint glass-like water disturbed by the smallest ripples in an inspiring landscape. The use of a cycle of 5ths in the harmonic structure is thought to provoke a positive physiological reaction in listeners, which I hope makes this track the perfect antidote to a stressful day.

    Komorebi Sunburst

    “Komorebi Sunburst” takes its inspiration from the Japanese word for the effect of sunlight on – and through – leaves. This delicate and intricate piece showcases my love of soundscapes, and nature at balance with the weather.

    Amber Sky

    “Amber Sky” was inspired by a hike I took in Montana and captures the colour of twilight as day turns to night, with a melody designed for dreams.

    I Give You This Earth

    Finally, “I Give You This Earth” offers a contemplative journey through the rotating night sky, dotted with satellites and little meteors. I’ve been fascinated with space since working with the Apollo astronauts on my first movie – In the Shadow of the Moon

    in conclusion….

    I hope that “Shut Your Eyes” is a serene and contemplative experience for you. As one reviewer put it, “put on your headphones, close your eyes, and let the music take you away.” I hope this album will transport you to another world and leave you feeling refreshed and inspired.

    For those interested, the album is available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. [Links to Philip Sheppard Shut Your Eyes Album] Thank you for taking the time to read about my latest work, and I am deeply grateful for your support.

    See below for a live performance of part of the album.

    In short: Shut Your Eyes – Philip Sheppard’s album – Multiple Emmy and Grammy-nominee Philip Sheppard shares a hybrid orchestral set spanning moods from pensive to optimistic. Joining a mix of plucked and legato strings are synths, piano, harp, electronic patterns and minimal tuned percussion.

  • Detroit Become Human Sheet Music

    Detroit Become Human Sheet Music

    The Detroit: Become Human sheet music for Kara’s theme can be downloaded HERE. Password is LittleOne

    We have flute, clarinet, guitar, violin, cello, piano, or any combination of the above! We do not have other scores available from Detroit: Become Human at this time.

    If other friends would like copies, please direct them to this page too.

    There’s no charge for this, but if you want to look at my other albums you’ll find them here, and there are lots of resources about the soundtrack here.

    Thanks for your amazing support!

    Philip Sheppard – Composer – Kara – Playstation/ Quantic Dream Soundtrack Detroit: Become Human

    Detroit become human sheet music
    OOOOOH Sheet music for Detroit!

    “If that’s the case, and we’ll soon be living with walking-and-talking Artificial Intelligence: fuck our lives. But still, if our lives must be fucked, then please can we have Philip Sheppard’s beautiful compositions playing in the background – all the cellos moving in wonder together as the final sequence of our life plays out in slow motion like a scene from a science fiction film. That’s a dark image, sure. If we’re going to go out that way though, then that’s the way I want to go.” – Noisey / Vice Music Review

     

  • The Minsky Tapes

    The Minsky Tapes

    Here’s how Marvin Minsky found his way into the PlayStation game Detroit: Become Human via Abbey Road Studios.

    https://youtu.be/P3pUYCHzSLM

    Marvin Minsky was the godfather of Artificial Intelligence. One of the modern world’s great thinkers, Marvin had a profound effect on the future of science, as well as the popular consciousness. He designed the concept of  HAL for Kubrick in 2001 A Space Odyssey, and taught Arthur C Clarke and Richard Feynman.

    Marvin was a friend of mine – a great raconteur, dinner party companion and fellow musician. I had met him through his friend and student, my friend Michael Hawley – the polymath and amazing impresario behind the EG conference.

    After Minsky passed away, his daughter, Margaret Minsky, shared Marvin’s musical archives with me. It’s maybe not a widely known fact that Marvin was a fantastic composer and pianist. (I honestly think there was nothing he couldn’t do).

    He had composed many short piano pieces directly onto reel-to-reel tape, hand splicing them with a razor blades and tape, recording them at different speeds to create pitch effects. It was a real treasure trove.

    One of Marvin’s pieces sounded so beautiful, I decided to write a musical frame for it – a sort of concerto accompaniment around his recording.

    I took Marvin’s tape into Abbey Road Studio 1, and recorded orchestral musicians around it using the Beatles’ microphones – I mean – why not?!

    Gloria Minsky and Philip Sheppard at EG 2018
    Gloria Minsky and Philip Sheppard at EG 2018

    Over the last year, I had been working on a soundtrack for the game Detroit: Become Human – a PlayStation title developed by Quantic Dream, itself a deep mediation on Artificial Intelligence and the sentience of Machines – entirely Marvin Minsky’s realm of expertise.

    Here’s the director of Detroit, David Cage to explain the coda to this story in his own words;

    You never know where ideas come from. Sometimes it is something you heard or read years ago. It is there, somewhere in your brain, but you don’t know it… until it comes to the surface. When I was looking for a name for the inventor of the androids, the name “Kamski” came very naturally. It sounded like a very good name for a genius working on AI and creating a technological revolution. It is only years later during the development of Detroit, when composer Philip Sheppard evoked Marvin Minsky, that I made the connection.

    Who other than Marvin Minsky could be the inspiration for a precursor and absolute genius of AI? He worked on the first prototype of virtual reality (in 1963!), worked on artificial neural networks, theorized the concept of self-replicating AI, and was even the consultant on one of my favorite movies (Kubrick’s 2001).

    What I absolutely didn’t know about Minsky is that he was also a fantastic composer and piano player. When Philip mentioned this to me, we felt it would be a great opportunity to pay a tribute to Minsky by adding his music to the game. So we recorded one of his beautiful soundtracks, orchestrated by Philip and recorded at Abbey Road studios, and we used it in one of the most dramatic scenes in the game.

    Minsky would have probably enjoyed having his music in an interactive experience talking about androids and AI, and how machines could become a new form of intelligent life. It was also a way for us to pay homage to one of the most brilliant minds of our time. I would like to thank Philip and Minsky’s family for this amazing opportunity.

    Footnote… I’m lucky not only to have been friends with Marvin Minsky, but also with many of Silicon Valley’s most exploratory thinkers. My friend Tom Gruber was one of the inventors of Siri, and he’s a great believer in the power of AI to augment rather than replace human work and play. Here’s a rather lovely, optimistic talk on the augmentation of Human intelligence:

    Marvin Minsky at the piano
    Marvin Minsky at the piano

     

  • Chosen Road

    Chosen Road

    [bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=75147650 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=3634784012]

    Chosen Road from Fall From Earth – by Philip Sheppard – Clio Gould Violinist

    For Clio Gould

    This track was written in a single afternoon just before our Abbey Road Sessions for my album Fall From Earth.

    I had just had confirmation that Clio Gould would be leading the orchestra for my recordings. I knew I had to write something special for her.

    I’ve known Clio’s playing for most of my life – in fact, we first played together when we were 15 years old.

    Even then, her sound was utterly and totally breathtaking and I’ve been in love with her playing ever since. Her sound is effortless, silken, chocolatey and quite unlike anybody else.

    Chosen Road is about the paths that you take and the routes that you choose through life. Sometimes the going is hard, but the views can take your breath away.

    Clio is the greatest violinist in the world. This is my way of saying thank you to her.

    Order from Bandcamp
    [bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=75147650 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=small tracklist=false tracks=4061886354 esig=009513d550468b4c06c10eaa8d787d62]

    Order from iTunes

    Featuring Clio Gould (solo violin), conducted by Philip Sheppard

  • Grammy News with Odesza!

    Grammy News with Odesza!

    ODESZA’s third studio album, A Moment Apart, came out on September 8, 2017. This album marks my second collaboration with the Seattle-based electronic music duo. I scored and performed the strings for 3 of the tracks on the album: Line of Sight, Higher Ground, and Just A Memory.
    And now there’s some BIG news…

    The album has just been nominated for two Grammy Awards! I’m stoked about this as I’m a huge fan of what Harrison and Clay create and they’re constantly on rotation on my playlists despite the fact there are some noises by me in their tracks!

  • Unkle – The Road – new album

    Unkle – The Road – new album

    The new UNKLE album is released Friday 18th August 2017.

    Philip Sheppard has been working with UNKLE for the last 14 years, as a writer, cellist and orchestrator. Last year, Lavelle and Sheppard presented an UNKLE event at London’s Somerset House fusing the visuals of Stanley Kubrick and the band’s music.

    After a rollercoaster twenty-five year career as an artist, curator and tastemaker, James Lavelle returns with UNKLE’s fifth studio album: The Road Part 1.

    The Road Part 1 is a collection of fifteen new UNKLE tracks inspired following James’s curation of 2014’s Meltdown Festival at Southbank, their most successful to date.

    The Road Part 1 is a collective creative venture by musicians including London folk-rock artist and poet Keaton Henson, Primal Scream’s Andrew Innes, The Duke Spirit’s Liela Moss, long time UNKLE collaborator Mark Lanegan, and Mercury prize nominee ESKA.

    Lavelle also found new friends and collaborators in Queens of the Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore and Beck drummer Justin Stanley, who make definitive contributions throughout the record.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq0iplfH3l0&w=560&h=315]

    Recorded in London and Los Angeles’ Pink Duck Studios, The Road Part 1 is the product of a desire to create something fresh and innovative, that also celebrates the rich history of UNKLE, and showcases a new wave of talent such as Elliott Power, Mïnk and YSEÉ.

    Lavelle set out to make a record that tapped into the multicultural landscape of modern London. His mission was to unite the eclectic mix of ideas, cultures and genres under the UNKLE umbrella and create something unique.

    James Lavelle praises the role of collaboration, and its important at the core of the project: 
    “I hadn’t made a record in a long time, and the incarnation of UNKLE had changed in that now, it was me on my own. For that reason, I wanted to make a record that I hadn’t been able to before, going back to the roots of where I came from, with a foot in modern London”.

    In July last year UNKLE released their first single in seven years. Lavelle teamed up with Elliott Power, Mïnk and YSEÉ for the gospel infused Cowboys or Indians. Followed by Sick Lullaby in February 2017, his second collaboration with Keaton Henson. Sick Lullaby is tender and cinematic, a beautiful lullaby that empowers Henson’s delicate vocals.

    The latest track from The Road Part 1, Looking For The Rain, is a call to arms in our turbulent modern world, written by Lavelle and Mark Lanegan.

    The masterfully curated list of visual collaborators extends to the physical release of The Road Part 1, which will include a 36-page booklet featuring artwork by contemporary luminaries including Turner Prize nominee Nathan Coley, John Isaacs, David Nicholson, Norbert Schoerner, Doug Foster, Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones. It was designed by James Lavelle and up-and-coming designer George Stewart-Lockhart.

  • How to succeed as a movie composer – a post from 2009!

    How to succeed as a movie composer – a post from 2009!

    I wrote this in 2009. I don’t think much has changed… except, what on earth was Myspace..?!

    The 12 rules for success as a media composer:

    1. WORK really hard. Work harder than anyone else you’ve ever met.
    2. If you don’t love working really hard you won’t enjoy being a composer (and believe me, it’s a great job)
    3. Ask people to show you how they do what they do. No composer minds being asked how they put a track together
    4. Learn how sound works – if you study the physics of sound, you’ll be more likely to be able to shape it into agreeable forms
    5. Make a portfolio of what you do. A showreel can be virtual – myspace is a start but can look fairly horrible. WordPress is excellent as a shop window
    6. Specialize in something unique. A small business advisor will call this your USP – Unique Selling Point. (I got into the business by doing leftfield  things with string instruments)
    7. Always work with people who are better than you. I do, and I hope they can’t tell. this keeps me on my toes, and I learn from every job
    8. Network network network… but in a cool way. If a player writes to you asking for work, it’s less appealing than if they write to invite you to a gig isn’t it? A mailing list/website with news and forthcoming events is a surefire way for people to see how busy you are. Once you’re seen to be terribly busy, this will attract more work. this sounds like a catch 22 – but it isn’t. You are likely to be self-employed, so employ yourself now!
    9. Listen emotionally, analytically and critically to everything. If you love a piece you hear, try to work out why you love it. Dissect it into its elements. Equally if music doesn’t move you or grab you, try to work out exactly why.
    10. Always carry a bit of manuscript paper with you (or a dictaphone if you don’t read music). Moleskine do really nice pocket manuscript books. Your best tunes will always hit you when you’re not looking for them
    11. See point number one…
    12. Coffee is your friend and enemy. Keep it close, but use it wisely.