Meet "Who is Lun*na Menoh?" Original Score Composer, Ali Helnwein
ORIGINALSCORE - Ali Helnwein - composer
Ali Helnwein is an Austrian born composer now living in Los Angeles. He has written scores for several Emmy and Grammy winning projects. In 2006 he founded the Traction Ave Chamber Orchestra, which for many years he conducted and performed with in unlikely places such as a skatepark, rooftops, a Chinatown alley, etc., bringing classical music to new audiences.
In 2010 he composed a violin concerto that was commissioned by Kat Von D, and premiered at the Million Dollar Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, conducted by legendary arranger/ orchestrator David Campbell.
As an arranger he arranged strings and orchestration for projects such as Florence & The Machine’s “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” and Draco Rosa’s Grammy Winning album “Vida”.
Today he scores a wide variety of films projects, some of which have gone to Sundance, SXSW, TIFF and many other festivals.
What were some of the biggest challenges in scoring music for this film?
oI think with a project such as this, which is filled with so much creativity, it’s important to find the right musical approach. Finding the right instrumentation, thematic moments and have the score evolve with the scenes in a way that goes hand in hand with Lun*na’s journey. So, finding that musical voice is one of the first, most important
challenges. The other challenge is piecing together so many live instruments, everything from woodwinds, to brass, to strings, percussion, piano, etc. I have a particular dislike for sample libraries, and a love for live instrumentation and working with musicians, so it was recorded live with many musicians in many locations and then pieced together like a puzzle.
Do you rely on certain techniques when you compose or score music?
It always depends on the score. In this case, I sketched out some initial demos and recorded some live instruments already in the demo stage to get it to sound and translate properly. From there then it was a matter
of building it bit by bit, usually staring by sketching out the main melodic or chordal structure and then orchestrating it out and recording live instrumentation. The recording industry being at a halt in 2020, I worked with a lot of remote musicians, sending them the sheet music for their instrument plus files to record to, then having them remotely record, and piecing it together on my end.
How do you feel when you’re creating a music score?
I love it! I’ve been involved in making music since I was a kid. When I was around 9 years old I sold a painting to buy my first violin, and ever since have been in love with the music and the process of making music. Working on a project like this is especially rewarding because it’s so full of creative potential and musically so up my alley that the process is a great experience.
Who is Ali Helnwein?
Hmmmm...who knows, I’m still figuring that out!