John Lunn is a classically trained music composer in London. He’s probably best known for scoring the TV drama Downton Abbey — for which he received two Primetime Emmy awards. His recent work includes the scoring of the feature film Electricity and the hit TV shows: The Grantchester Mysteries, Shetland, and The White Queen—for which he received a Primetime Emmy nomination. John and I chatted about how he always wanted to be a music composer and the journey that made his dream a reality. I asked him about the various mechanics of scoring a TV show, his tools (Mac, Logic Pro), the production process, and how the music is keyed to the scene to produce desired emotions. I played sound snippets and he explained the instruments. If you love his music and the TV shows he’s scored, this is show is essential listening.
My Background Mode interview with John Lunn
- John on Twitter.
- John Lunn's home page.
- John's Wikipedia page.
- Downton Abbey soundtrack.
- Shetland soundtrack.
- Grantchester soundtrack.
- The White Queen soundtrack.
- Electricity (movie) soundtrack.
- This show's music snippets: Downton Abbey @ 11m:48s; Shetland @19m:08s and 36m:13s. (With permission.)
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- The story of my Background Mode podcast.
- TMO Background Mode Twitter feed.
- Archive of all Background Mode Shows.
- Background Mode at iTunes.
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