Composer Tim Davies Talks Epic Score for Netflix's "Trollhunters"

When Guillermo del Toro’s animated adventure series, Trollhunters, premiered on Netflix late last year, many of the show’s colorful elements instantly resonated with viewers, quickly making it a “binge worthy” series. One of the contributing elements being the show’s epic score by composer Tim Davies. Not only is Davies a composer, but he is a conductor, orchestrator and active arranger as well with some of his past tv orchestrating credits including Revenge, Empire and Star. With Netflix recently announcing Season 2 of Trollhunters we decided to speak with Davies about his work on the much buzzed about show. Read the full interview here:

-Some of the worlds in Trollhunters are very over the top, was there a lot of pressure to make the score over the top to match those settings?

Guillermo certainly has a crazy imagination! There was no pressure, I just wrote what I felt would complement the visuals. Sometimes that means being as over the top as them, others times it means clearing out and giving them space so as not to overload the senses.

-Is composing for animation a different experience than live action?

I still approach it the same way: watch the scene and be inspired by it. What makes Trollhunters unique is that it is a blend of fantasy, drama, and comedy, sometimes all in the one scene. That can make it a little tricky sometimes.

I have never felt that my music has to help the animation, in the way that it might have to in traditional, old school 2D animation. There is a lot of warmth and depth to the animation.

Trollhunters is meant to be a fun homage to the action adventure series Jonny Quest, which Guillermo watched as a child “with milk and cookies.” Did you ever watch this show when preparing for the job?

No, I did not hear that until later. I started to read the book, but then the pilot showed up so I just started to react to that. I was also given the main title and a few themes that Alexandre Desplat wrote. They are awesome and gave me a starting point.

-How would you describe your style of composing?

I try to keep it interesting, there are a lot of harmonic shifts. I also like to layer things, so there will usually by a few things going on, but maybe not all evident on the first listen. I have been an orchestrator for many years, so even though the score is all produced in the computer, I still start by writing a score. I can then orchestrate it the same way I would if it were going to be played. I try to write so that all of the real instruments, even though they are samples played by a computer, could be played the same by an orchestra.

-What is the best part of working with Guillermo del Toro on Trollhunters?

He really has everything thought out. Something that seems random, is usually not!

-Since Trollhunters is on Netflix and can be binged watched all at once, did that affect your score?

I never really consciously thought about this being an issue, and it was not something that came up with the producers. Each episode has its own little story, but is also part of the larger arc. I always just try to write the best music I can for each scene. The one thing that was discussed was not having music all the time. Each episode is 22 minutes and we usually have 16-19 minutes of music.

-Can you tell us anything about Season 2 and what to expect?

The end of Season 1 is a big clue, we see Jim go to the Darklands. I am having a lot of fun writing music for it.

You can learn more about Tim at http://www.timusic.net/.