MUSIC
FOR
POD
CASTS
🎹
WHITE PICKET FENCE
SEASON 4
(2023)
☝️ (click) ☝️
👇 (read) 👇
From Wonder Media Network:
“White Picket Fence interrogates the structures of inequity affecting women since America’s founding.“
The composition process for WPFS4 started with conversations regarding the needs and wants of the show’s musical identity, including tone and sound palette.
I built out a delivery schedule 🗓️ comprised of multiple delivery and feedback rounds, customized to WMN’s needs: a one-month turnaround of a fifty (:50) second main theme and six (6:00) minutes of sub-themes.
The final delivery consisted of the aforementioned themes at various tempos and full stems for each, per client specifications. Ongoing collaboration with the show’s producer resulted in the work heard below.
👇 (listen) 👇
TITLE THEME
WMN:
“Can we make a tune that someone hearing it for the first time would think of ‘classic suburb’ but with some more modern instruments?”
I prioritized references to the dramatic strings of 1950s incidental music with a focus on a strong piano melody that could re-appear in sub-themes throughout the show. A modern cymbal swell adds to the drama while high-quality woodwind samples support the melody.
SUB-THEME #1: “CONCERN”
All music for WPFS4 needed to be “easily loopable,” (WMN) and the sparse, ambient nature of “Concern” especially ensured this goal. Deconstructed riffs on the theme’s melody further de-stabilize the atmosphere.
SUB-THEME #2: “NEUTRAL”
WMN:
“There are multiple episodes where what we're talking about has an undertone of gloom and it makes sense to have that be reflected in even our neutral theme.”
While not as unsettling as “Concern,” “Neutral” still reflects an unresolved mood, driven by Major 7th chords in a Fender Rhodes soundalike. An ear towards the positive can be heard in the piano melody and supporting glockenspiel arpeggios.
SUB-THEME #3: “PROGRESS”
WMN:
“Mostly positive progress (not overly happy).”
A warm, live ukulele-driven piece with a solid pulse in double bass. Subtly minor moments of harmonic variation in the ukulele arpeggio and flute accompaniment communicate that while we’re in a sweeter place, we’re not out of the woods yet.