How to Compose Science Fiction Music: My Personal Recipe

If you been reading my posts for the last week or so, then you’ll have noticed that I’ve recently been spending my days writing science fiction-related music.

Also, a lot of the search engine terms used that send traffic here to my blog are along the lines of ‘how to write film music’, so here’s one for you guys and gals.

My own personal shortcut recipe for writing sci-fi tunes:

1. Liberally mix major and minor scales and lydian mode up in your sequencer, using strings and/or pads for your harmonies.
2. Sprinkle in relationships of the tritone – use them in your suspensions instead of whatever otherwise fits with the key.
3. Build major chords on every note of your melody and use that for your harmony, a la Williams.
4. Go to new, unrelated keys regularly – flat or minor 6th relationships especially. Don’t bother modulating.
5. Bring out the trumpets! All the brass deserve massive fanfares suggestive of ‘coming to the rescue’. 
6. Soaring french horns.
7. Extreme contrasts of dynamics – subito fff and ppp are de rigeur for adjacent passages.
8. Use ‘acousmetre’ for anything vaguely alien or otherworldly. Originally describing the voice, this term describes any sound that the audience has no idea of how it was created, and so will get uncomfortable, uncertain, apprehensive, a little bit scared. Think: weird sounds. Electroacoustic stuff. Spooky sound design.
9. Get mechanical and repetitive in your counterpoint, especially when describing futuristic or alien technologies.

These are definitely my personal top tips for composing music with a science fiction ‘flavour’, but it would be great to know if you’ve any more to add!

I love science fiction. And I love writing about all things music, film, theatre and games. And tips, tricks and little creativity hacks about composing for media. Subscribe to my mailing list for more of this. No spam, ever, I promise.