# TV series with orchestral scoring (not synths/underscoring)



## Trash Panda (Nov 30, 2021)

What are some shows out there that have been out in the past 20 years or so that have full orchestral scoring?

I'm thinking scoring along the lines of shows such as Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: TNG and other shows of the older eras that had "proper" orchestral scoring versus today's trend of synths/pads/drones for underscoring.

I'm mostly interested to see how the greats of the small screen scored to picture as I'm very much not a fan of current TV trends of underscoring.


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## Rob Elliott (Nov 30, 2021)

I was watching Lost in Space (netflix) last night and was impressed with the writing and live recordings. Great nod to the original series scored by then 'Johnny' Williams.


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## NekujaK (Nov 30, 2021)

Battlestar Galactica, the reimagined version scored by Bear McCreary, used a live orchestra.

I believe Lost also did, but am not 100% sure.


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## CT (Nov 30, 2021)

Yes definitely check out Lost. There were some very light electronic touches but mostly it was an interesting small orchestra; strings, trombones, piano, harp, percussion....


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## MusicIstheBest (Dec 1, 2021)

Lost In Space on Netflix was the first thing i thought of. Might be the biggest-sounding orchestra i've heard for a series, and very well done.


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## YaniDee (Dec 1, 2021)

Slim pickings! It's known that Family Guy , the Simpsons use(d) a big orchestra..don't know if they still do it.


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## icecoolpool (Dec 1, 2021)

Pınar Toprak mentioned that they record a full orchestra for each episode of Stargirl.


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## lucor (Dec 1, 2021)

The Orville! Also comes with a great main theme.


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## NekujaK (Dec 1, 2021)

Add Game of Thrones to the list - recorded by the Czech Film Orchestra.


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## Henu (Dec 1, 2021)

YaniDee said:


> Family Guy


I'm a huge fan of the series (and too often cheer excitedly to my wife how Walter Murphy is a genious every time there's a clever trick/ homage in the music while we watch it) and the new episodes still have proper orchestra. Seems like Murphy is still on board according to this, so I highly expect him to use real orchestra once again.

On topic, please bring back orchestral music on TV series which need it. I can't stand those fucking drones and reverbed trash cans for a second anymore.


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## Living Fossil (Dec 1, 2021)

Henu said:


> I'm a huge fan of the series (and too often cheer excitedly to my wife how Walter Murphy is a genious every time there's a clever trick/ homage in the music while we watch it) and the new episodes still have proper orchestra.


+1
...the music is really a big highlight of this show.


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## YaniDee (Dec 1, 2021)

Henu said:


> On topic, please bring back orchestral music on TV series which need it. I can't stand those fucking drones and reverbed trash cans for a second anymore.


Ditto..It's all over current movies as well.


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## JohnG (Dec 1, 2021)

It's partly intentional (that the electronic sound is what they actually want), partly budget, partly schedule / too many minutes of score where it's unnecessary.

But yes, I always try to use live players if there's time and money. It's a lot more work but the final result is so worth it.


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## Trash Panda (Dec 1, 2021)

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Love Battlestar, Lost, Family Guy, Simpsons, etc.

Will have to check out Lost in Space and Stargirl as well.

Also, for clarity's sake, I'm A-OK with shows that use samples for their orchestras as well. Just mainly trying to see more TV show scores that aren't almost all underscoring or licensed pop/rock/country/EDM songs.


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## NekujaK (Dec 1, 2021)

Succession by Nicholas Britell is my current favorite TV score. Definitely uses a live piano - not sure about the orchestral parts. It's a real score that continues to evolve with the show, and it doesn't hide its classical roots. Absolutely brilliant.


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## Richard Wilkinson (Dec 1, 2021)

Lots of Bear McCreary’s stuff, Doctor Who, A Discovery of Witches, The Night Manager, the recent Dracula and Thunderbirds series. Otherwise it’s mostly just drones and pads and the odd violin or felt piano on drama stuff these days!


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## Nate Johnson (Dec 1, 2021)

Richard Wilkinson said:


> Otherwise it’s mostly just drones and pads and the odd violin or felt piano on drama stuff these days!


#thanksspitfire


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## Pier (Dec 1, 2021)

Michaelt said:


> Yes definitely check out Lost. There were some very light electronic touches but mostly it was an interesting small orchestra; strings, trombones, piano, harp, percussion....


I was going to suggest Lost too.

Also that BRAAAAMMM really was unique at the time, at least I had never heard it before.


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## colony nofi (Dec 1, 2021)

Shout out to Nico Muhly's score for howards end too 

An interesting thing to think about.

I just completed a 20min commission where we got to record string quintet, woodwinds, vocals, drums, guitar and piano.  In terms of time and budget, this increased overall costs 50% over the music fee (and that is with ZERO markup) - and added an extra 9 days to the overall timings for the project.

And this has zero fat for any re-writes etc.

Both these things play a massive part in TV commissioning. Timing is always tricky (and directors/producers hate signing off ready for score prep) and $ wise things are tricky in the low/mid part of the market. It is SO hard to get the $ over the line (only compounded by requiring re-records due to different stake holders being able to change things late in the process).

It is so worth it though. If I'm allowed, I'll upload a couple of cues in various stages of this process for people to hear... from full mockups, to adding in some instruments, to the final mix after all recordings were done. The final result is SO satisfying - its amazing to see how different the emotion is.


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## Saxer (Dec 1, 2021)

Old school British TV crime... Midsummer Murders, Lewis, Endeavor


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## NoamL (Dec 1, 2021)

The Simpsons is Bleeding Fingers now.


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## kitekrazy (Dec 1, 2021)

Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Deep Space 9 themes. They remixed both themes in later episodes. The Voyager theme sounded better but I still prefer the early DS9 theme.


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## Henu (Dec 1, 2021)

Saxer said:


> Old school British TV crime


Poirot, Marple, etc....and even though Murder She Wrote isn't British, it has a certain British character stamped all over it IMO. Lovely stuff, especially Poirot.


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## ResidentSmeagol (Dec 1, 2021)

I haven't watched a modern TV show in ages but I can spend the rest of my days doing nothing but watching 70s detective shows just for the soundtracks. Cannon is a personal favorite.


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## Denix (Dec 2, 2021)

"The Mandalorian". Interesting mix of unusual instruments and a 70-piece orchestra. There is a documentary about the approach of Ludwig Göransson on Disney+ as well.


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## Christopher Rocky (Dec 2, 2021)

Another vote for Bear McCreary, The two most recent shows he did (which you wont believe) The masters of the universe (he-man) is pretty much all orchestral with some rock elements. 
The show 'foundation' is mainly orchestral as well, and if you listen to the theme, along with a video of him explaining the software they made specifically for 'foundation', its like an Evo grid arpeggiator for orchestral instruments, so cool!!!


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## mallux (Dec 2, 2021)

Most of new-era Doctor Who is orchestral, up to 2017 anyway when the National Orchestra of Wales were involved (usually under Ben Foster, who I notice often pops up in Spitfire behind-the-scenes footage).


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 2, 2021)

Downton Abbey by John Lunn, I love the music.


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## KEM (Dec 3, 2021)

Does The Mandalorian count? Sure there’s a ton of electronic, rock, and hip-hop stuff, but there’s also a lot of Williams inspired orchestral parts in there too, this track in particular has some beautiful writing


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## MusicIstheBest (Dec 6, 2021)

kitekrazy said:


> Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Deep Space 9 themes. They remixed both themes in later episodes. The Voyager theme sounded better but I still prefer the early DS9 theme.


I too prefer the earlier version of the DS9 theme. Less is more. Same with the Star Trek Enterprise theme...i know it's generally not a favorite for trek fans, but i like it.


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## Zamenhof (Dec 6, 2021)

Chris Westlake famously conducted a 60-person orchestra on the Sony scoring stage for a brilliant episode of "Solar Opposites". He might have done the same with the main theme for "Star Trek: Lower Decks".


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## Piotrek K. (Dec 7, 2021)

NekujaK said:


> Add Game of Thrones to the list - recorded by the Czech Film Orchestra.


This is sad example of live orchestra doing lifeless music, it even sounds like samples for most of the time.

But to also contribute something to the subject - look at Japanese drama shows. Those have brilliant scores

Michiru Oshima




Yoko Kanno

)


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## GregStuckey (Dec 7, 2021)

Zamenhof said:


> Chris Westlake famously conducted a 60-person orchestra on the Sony scoring stage for a brilliant episode of "Solar Opposites". He might have done the same with the main theme for "Star Trek: Lower Decks".



The score for this was so amazing!


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## jeremyr (Dec 9, 2021)

Piotrek K. said:


> Yoko Kanno


I maintain that Kanno's Naotora is the greatest orchestral score written in the past 20 years.


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## paulcheeba (Dec 10, 2021)

NekujaK said:


> Succession by Nicholas Britell is my current favorite TV score. Definitely uses a live piano - not sure about the orchestral parts. It's a real score that continues to evolve with the show, and it doesn't hide its classical roots. Absolutely brilliant.


I agree 100% plus with its “hip hop” stylings it’s so much fresher than the cliche ridden stuff. The expansions are subtle as well which is very cool.


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## Nando Florestan (Dec 10, 2021)

KEM said:


> this track in particular has some beautiful writing



I thought that was easily the worst arrangement of that theme that I have ever heard. The parallel octaves at 0:27 were particularly jarring -- there's a dominant pedal (G#) on the first violins and they join the F# with the horn melody, and I seriously think that was a bad compositional decision in this case, unless there's something happening in the picture to justify it (I have seen the series but don't know where this happens, I may search for it).

Not trying to rain on your parade, just saying between composers there was probably a better sounding option; don't wish to ruffle any feathers (again), and hope I don't get ganged up on for defending there's a reason to avoid parallel motion between prominent parts and this is an example of why.

I do like other moments in his score for the Mandalorian.

Very useful list of stuff to watch in this thread.

EDIT: I actually searched other instances of this to see if I was wrong, which usually is the case. This video has a few instances of the Force Theme; the third one ("Funeral Pyre for a Jedi") has a dominant pedal in the first violins, but that goes up from G to A and it sounds much better this way. I recommend Walter Piston's "Counterpoint"; great book.


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## Nigel Andreola (Dec 10, 2021)

There are some Japanese Anime TV productions that have incredible orchestral scores. In anime there are often long scenes where an entire orchestrated piece can play in the forefront without interruption.

The Eureka Seven score by Naoki Sato is gorgeous. It is lush and romantic. His music can make an otherwise average scene, extremely emotional. I sometimes put on the OST while I work.

The score to Noein: To Your Other Self by Hikaru Nanase, is also very well done with a lot of choral elements.

These are just two of countless good examples of orchestral scores in anime TV where the music plays a more important roll than just an underscore.

Some anime series have very obviously sampled orchestra soundtracks. The compositions are still good and fit the scene, so it doesn't ruin the production.

A lot of family entertainment period piece shows from the 1950s to 1970s have fully orchestrated score such as Wagon Train, The Waltons, and Little House on the Prairie.


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## Gaffable (Dec 10, 2021)

The Netflix anime series Arcane features an orchestral score by Alexander Temple.


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## NoamL (Dec 10, 2021)

Nando Florestan said:


> The parallel octaves at 0:27 were particularly jarring -- there's a dominant pedal (G#) on the first violins and they join the F# with the horn melody, and I seriously think that was a bad compositional decision in this case, unless there's something happening in the picture to justify it (I have seen the series but don't know where this happens, I may search for it).
> 
> Not trying to rain on your parade, just saying between composers there was probably a better sounding option


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## KEM (Dec 10, 2021)

NoamL said:


>




According to everyone ever if John Williams does it then it’s how it should be done!!


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## José Herring (Dec 10, 2021)

KEM said:


> According to everyone ever if John Williams does it then it’s how it should be done!!


Pretty much. Yeah.


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## Akarin (Dec 10, 2021)

The Handmaid's Tale. Great score by Adam Taylor. Also Umbrella Academy by Jeff Russo.


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## KEM (Dec 10, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Pretty much. Yeah.



Well Ludwig is better soooo…


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## José Herring (Dec 10, 2021)

KEM said:


> Well Ludwig is better soooo…


Couldn't agree with you more.


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## KEM (Dec 10, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Couldn't agree with you more.



Not that guy, he’s just a poser trying to cash in on Göransson’s namesake!!


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## Farkle (Dec 10, 2021)

Trash Panda said:


> Thanks for the suggestions so far! Love Battlestar, Lost, Family Guy, Simpsons, etc.
> 
> Will have to check out Lost in Space and Stargirl as well.
> 
> Also, for clarity's sake, I'm A-OK with shows that use samples for their orchestras as well. Just mainly trying to see more TV show scores that aren't almost all underscoring or licensed pop/rock/country/EDM songs.


I'm a big nerd/fan of this sound, so I've built my list of TV composers that do this stuff that I love. A lot of it is, not just "do they use Orchestra", but "are they scoring using the agility and suppleness that the orchestra is known for"? Some ones for you to check out (Several have been mentioned). 

The Orville (Bruce Broughton)
Family Guy (Ron Jones, Walter Murphy)
The Cape (Bear McCcreary)
Human Target (Bear McCreary)
Agents of SHIELD (Bear McCreary).

It's a bit older, but The Storyteller (Rachel Portman), it's VERY good.



You can never go wrong with Star Trek: TNG, DS9 (Ron Jones, Dennis McCarthy, Jay Chattaway). That stuff is timeless. Techincally, Seaquest (John Debney, Don Davis) is just in the "Last 20 years" Cap you put out there.

Honestly, I think that when Bear goes full on orchestral, he's the TV "heir to the throne". His stuff on Human Target, Agents, and the Cape is really strong. 

Mike


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## Jish (Dec 11, 2021)

Farkle said:


> You can never go wrong with Star Trek: TNG, DS9 (Ron Jones, Dennis McCarthy, Jay Chattaway). That stuff is timeless. Techincally, Seaquest (John Debney, Don Davis) is just in the "Last 20 years" Cap you put out there.
> 
> Honestly, I think that when Bear goes full on orchestral, he's the TV "heir to the throne". His stuff on Human Target, Agents, and the Cape is really strong.
> 
> Mike


Spot on, I would actually _maybe _even go a step further and say that McCreary is the most consistently fail-safe composer working for media (TV/Games/Film) today- he can do it all, seemingly at any time (within reason) and has an innate sensitivity for giving the listener something 'extra' without tending to take away from whatever is going on in the medium he is scoring to. Lost track of how many times over the years I thought, "there was some nice music executed here, wonder who did it" and it was Bear.

He is as good as an example of a working composer under 50 where one can point to and say, "See this? This is why continued learning/self-education relating to orchestration/composition is still worth it- and why it's beneficial to be atleast familiar with as many genre and artist's as you can tolerate- because the time just may come when a little extra knowledge may pay off exponentially."

Yeah, I also miss hearing more from some of the name's above, particularly Dennis McCarthy- many 'fans' at the time threw his _Generations_ (film) score under the bus because they found too much familiarity with his DS9 theme...whatever, _nerds_


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## Farkle (Dec 11, 2021)

Yeah, Bear is really consistent, I think. Although, I prefer some of his scores to others. 

OOO! Forgot about this FINE specimen. Joseph Loduca: Hercules/Legendary Journeys, Xena:Warrior Princess, He-Man (the 2002 reboot), and the Librarian movie trilogy. He's really good with TV orchestral stuff.

Mike


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## SzPeti42 (Jan 10, 2022)

Does this count? I loved this cartoon as a kid, such fun adventure music by Christopher L. Stone! So glad it's on Youtube now so I don't have to rely on my old dusty VHS tape recordings :D


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## bitbrain (Jan 22, 2022)

Chris Westlake's score to Star Trek: Lower Decks is a fantastic throwback to that era of scoring. It is the only contemporary Trek score that feels truly Trek to my ears. 

I cannot agree more with the praise for McCreary in this thread. Agents of SHIELD has a proper orchestral adventure score, and his Foundation score is gorgeous and awesome, although not purely orchestral. 

Christophe Beck wrote orchestral scores to both WandaVision and Hawkeye, and in the former he even flexed his writing prowess by mimicking the stylings of the scores of the various eras of television the show travels through. In Hawkeye, Beck combines the orchestral sounds of the Christmas family film and the superhero action flick to a satisfying degree. 

Don't sleep on Nicholas Britell. Succession was already mentioned, but The Underground Railroad is also quite good.


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## AudioLoco (Jan 22, 2022)

Bear McCreary did something amazing amazing for Foundation....
I managed to keep watching the show because of the smuggled Elf from LOTR, and especially, the incredible music.... genius...
I love love samples, but this smelt of real orchestra from the very first notes.


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## Bee_Abney (Jan 22, 2022)

MusicIstheBest said:


> I too prefer the earlier version of the DS9 theme. Less is more. Same with the Star Trek Enterprise theme...i know it's generally not a favorite for trek fans, but i like it.


I'm glad to someone liked it. I liked what the Enterprise theme was aiming for, but not, personally, how it turned out. It was a bold move, which is rather appropriate.


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## Bee_Abney (Jan 22, 2022)

The thing I miss most about older television scores is the amount of silence. Either silence, or the sounds of the scene. I'd like more of that again. It certainly doesn't hurt the power of the music to have less of it.

I can't think of any good examples from this century, but I'm sure there must be some.


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