Documentary

Music that stays out of the way

Documentary scoring is an exercise in restraint. The music has to establish place and feeling while leaving the centre of the mix clear for narration, interview and the sound of the location itself.

These tracks are written long, with slow harmonic movement and few abrupt events, so they can run under an extended sequence without drawing attention to a loop point. Where a cue does build, it builds gradually enough to ride under a voiceover.

The collection is organised by subject rather than instrument: wildlife and natural history, historical and archival, science and technology, atmospheric and observational, and international travel. Within each you will find both orchestral and contemporary treatments of the same brief.

Everything is cleared for global broadcast, festival and streaming release, with stems for the passages where you need to drop the percussion and keep the strings.