Chris Beck

"Almost 100% of the time I compose with specific instruments in mind, and I'm hearing them as I write."

De eerste vier seizoenen werd de (klassieke) achtergrondmuziek in Buffy geschreven door Christophe Beck. Deze man heeft al eerder de achtergrondmuziek geschreven van films als Let the Devil Wear Black (1999), Coming Soon (1999), Bone Daddy (1998), Killing Mr. Griffin (1997), The Alarmist (1997), Past Perfect (1997) en Hostile Intent (1997). Op de soundtrack van 'onze' serie, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Album" staat het ontroerende Buffy/Angel theme van zijn hand (klik op de link en ga naar de gitaarakkoorden waarmee je het stuk zelf kunt spelen). 

Hieronder een aantal citaten van Chris Beck; antwoorden op vragen zoals ze hem gesteld zijn op wijlen het Buffy posting board door fans in de tijd dat hij nog voor de serie werkte.

Over het winnen van de Emmy:
"Thanks for the congratulations on the Emmy. I'm still in a state of shock- I feel somewhat unworthy (though not necessarily undeserving if that makes any sense.)" 

"They're heavy, but surprisingly cheapo-looking up close!"

De invloed van andere componisten
"I love Jerry Goldsmith's work. He and Danny Elfman are probably the composers I try to emulate the most when working on Buffy. I actually studied with Jerry- He taught a class at USC while I was there. Other composers I like (though not necessarily for inspiration on Buffy)- Thomas Newman, Eliot Goldenthal, Mark Snow, Mychial Danna, Graeme Revell, Carter Burwell."

Over het werken aan Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
"Getting any gig as a composer can be a challenge, and with all due respect to other shows I've worked on, Buffy was my first opportunity to write for a show that people actually watched. So I jumped at the chance."

Hoe een aflevering wordt voorzien van muziek:
"-meet with producers, decide where music should go & what it should do ("spotting").
-write the score (this is done at the computer, using samplers and synths to play back the music as it's being written). Since I'm a master procrastinator, I usually wait til the last four days. I can write about 6 good minutes a day. 8 or 10 so-so minutes if I have to. And obviously it depends on the scene, suspense equals fewer notes equals faster writing. The opposite for fight scenes.
-record one or two live players (in my case it's usually a woodwind and maybe another instrument). I have a roomful of samplers that I use to simulate the orchestra and I usually work out ideas on the instruments they will be played on. Sometimes for a huge action scene I'll bang something out on a piano sound, then turn off the video machine and just work with the orchestration until it's done and then go back to the picture. 
-mix all sampled and synth tracks with live players.
-go visit with Joss and watch all the scenes with music, get notes, make revisions, deliver and start the next episode.
This all takes about six days. I spend four days writing, one day recording and mixing, and one final day revising."

Over bepaalde afleveringen
"The sound for season 3 will be pretty much pick-up where 2 left off, darkness and all. Yes more Angel/Buffy love theme, yes more faux romantic swells, and no (sniff) Jenny theme as of yet. She's pretty dead as far as I know." 

On the Lovers Dream Scene in INNOCENCE:
"The instrument used there is an Armenian Dudek. It sounds like a wailing duck, only prettier, I think."