Disney’s For Scores podcast hosted by Jon Burlinggame is back with a new episode this week. LA Native Tyler Bates shares some fun stories behind his scores for Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy film series and attractions as well as the 20th Century Studios film Daredevil 2.
For Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn told Tyler that all of the characters are real people, so he couldn’t make the score too cartoony for Rocket Raccoon and Groot. He wrote longer melody lines than he usually does for action movies as a result of the human connection. James also wanted to have some score on set while they were filming, so he was involved earlier than the typical post-production composer work. A visit to the set in London caused James Gunn to cast Tyler in the film as a ravager, a role he was very reluctant to take.
On Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, James Gunn asked Tyler to score out the entire film in advance. The process was similar to the one Spaghetti Western filmmaker Sergio Leone implemented in the 1960’s where Ennio Morricone wrote more score than what ended up in the film because of cuts. The same is true of Tyler Bates’ score for Guardians 2, where he had to rearrange the songs he wrote again in post-production to fit the final edit. The cast wore earbuds to listen to Tyler’s score while on set, which were digitally removed in post production.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout at Disney California Adventure brought new challenges for Tyler Bates, who expanded his score for the Collector for the queue and hold music. He worked directly with Joe Rhode on the project, which was complicated because Guests hear the music through speakers throughout the attraction. When the decision was made to make a Halloween overlay called “Monsters After Dark,” Tyler had to ride it an estimated two-hundred times after the parks closed to mix it.
The score for Deadpool 2 was tonally very different from his work on the Guardians films and became the first score album with swear words in the choral sections. In the episode, he laughs about getting the chorus to take it seriously. That score also draws upon his rock n’ roll roots. You can listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app.