MRH: A problem inherent to daytime and nighttimes soaps is the repetition of events to the same characters, whether it’s the same group dating / breaking up / marrying / sleeping together / etc., and there are times when even the writers are at wits’ end to create something fresh; certain characters have reached a creative limit, if you will, and sometimes a character or two needs to die.

Is it difficult for a composer to give these dramatic bumps a fresh angle, or does the familiarity with the affected characters give the composer an edge that’s more unique than what the writers, directors, and perhaps actors can achieve, perhaps because of their over-familiarity?

DBN: We tend to write story-specific cues rather than character-specific. So as the same characters go through different situations the music behind them is changing and evolving. We try not to use the same music over and over in a recurring situation. For example, we have over 25 cues for the “Nighttime Hope” story. This way we can vary to some degree the dramatic impact in scenes that emotionally we could be using the same 2-3 cues for.

MRH: Unlike feature films and even episodic prime time TV, soaps really dwell in the sweat and tears of characters. I wonder if you feel it’s harder to score soaps because the composer has to support deep human vulnerabilities, and keep track of a character’s mental and social state with each subsequent plot turn?

DBN: I love writing for this medium. I get to explore how the subtle influences of color and tone emotionally impact the scenes. A tiny hint of movement or angst will bring out that particular nuance of an actor’s performance. A lot of our scenes are emotionally multi-layered. On the surface the character seems like he’s being a “good” guy, sincere, genuine. But if you know the story, you realize that he is actually a snake in the grass and he’s plotting, deceiving. You wouldn’t play a nice cue here; it should be sinister with an emotionally appealing aspect. The music will become invisible and what you get is a compelling and believable scene. When the music disappears and the drama becomes enhanced, that’s when you know that you have made the right musical choice. Enhancing the performance and the writing is the goal. You need to know the history of these characters well to get it right.

MRH: Does the scoring system for DOOL differ greatly from prime time TV practices (where there are perhaps a max of 23 episodes per year), or are there select episodes or parts of episodes that are given new material, and the rest are edited with material from the in-house library?

DBN: It’s approached like any one-hour drama when it comes to putting music against picture and editing it together. We work mostly from a library of music pre-designed for these scenes.  What differs is that we don’t have the time to write an entirely new score for each show, although there are usually brand new cues that appear for the first time every day. We write on average 20-40 cues a week, some of them are to picture. We differ dramatically in the fact that our show often tells snippets of 4-7 different stories in the course of 6 minutes. From happy to sad to deceit to action to danger: getting the score to flow coherently from one to the other is how we are the most challenged.

MRH: Perhaps the CD set’s strongest components are the variety of moods (action, suspense, romance, tragedy) and the balance between electronic and acoustic instruments. I’m just curious if that balance of sounds was there from the beginning, when Corday and yourself began on the series, or whether it developed over time?

DBN: It evolved over time as we reacted to what was being written, story-wise. We love so many different kinds of score and have found a way to incorporate many styles. That’s my trick.  It gives our soundtrack variety and yet there is a consistent thread throughout. We are always searching for new colors. It keeps the drama exciting. We have applied this to our original source music too (unfortunately not available) where we have written Country, Blues, Jazz, Cocktail Piano, Roadhouse, Coffee House Acoustic, Hip Hop and Electronica for our music sets like Alice’s, The Cheatin’ Heart, Tuscany, Java Café, etc…

MRH: Lastly, while it’s logical to assume that the success of the current DOOL CD will be tied to a follow-up album, I wonder if you think the set is a bit of a breakthrough, for yourselves as composers, as well as soaps, in terms of getting some of the countless hours of music out there for anyone to enjoy?

DBN: I must confess, in hindsight, it was not a great idea in this economy to put out a CD that cost over $22. It would have been better to make this two single CDs priced around $8 each.  Most fans prefer the first disc with its romantic themes and don’t want to pay for the second disc, which seems abrasive to them. And yet for some (me included) who like electronica, the second CD is killer. I’m sure we’ll have something new out in a year or two.