John Lunn, composer for film and television, with a pair of Ultrasone Signature Pro headphones
Today I visited the writing room of John Lunn, one of the UK’s most successful composers for TV and film, to find out a little about his writing process, and why he has chosen to own a pair of Ultrasone Signature Pro headphones.
Starting life as a professional double bass player in London, he moved to playing for dance companies like London Contemporary Dance and Ballet Rambert, before one day finding he was writing more music for them than he was playing. So the transition to full time composition was obvious. That was more than 20 years ago, and his CV since then is enviable. Recently he’s written for BBC series like Little Dorrit and Hotel Babylon, plus Granchester and of course Downton Abbey on ITV (for which he has won two Emmys). He also writes for film, and his most recently scored film, Electricity starring Agyness Deyn, has just opened in London.
John was generous enough to show me a little of his process. For each “cue” he always starts with the finished picture, against which he creates a mock-up of the music to suit in ProTools and Logic (running on two Macintoshes side by side, synchronized), using standard sound libraries like Vienna.
He then creates a QuickTime movie of the picture and music, which he sends to his orchestrator, along with the bones of a score from Logic. His orchestrator can then generate the individual parts for each musician. John said that he is “lucky enough to use real musicians on nearly all productions”, and generally records his TV music in London at venues like Angel Studios or Abbey Road. The Downton Abbey score is arranged for about 35 musicians, and they record in Abbey Road Studio 2, the “Beatles Room”. I wonder if Lord Grantham would approve?
For each “cue”, John always starts with the finished picture, against which he creates a mock-up of the music to suit in ProTools and Logic
So, where do his Ultrasone Signature Pro headphones come in? John explains, “Back in 2013 I was working on the score for TV mini-series The White Queen. It was part funded by Flanders, and this meant recording had to take place in Belgium. Which resulted in me catching the Eurostar every two weeks, travelling to Galaxy Studios in Mol.”
“The orchestrator and I were always working on the music up to the last minute, which meant I needed a really good pair of headphones to listen back on the train, without annoying the other passengers. After extensive use, I feel that the Ultrasone Signature Pros are the best headphones available that isolate you [through their closed back design and extremely soft leather ear cups] without employing noise reduction, which in my opinion degrades the sound.”
“I also like the discrete look, which is great for a pair of headphones that deliver all the sound I need.”
“Since those Eurostar trips, I’ve taken to using them regularly when travelling. I have a ColourFly HD audio player, and can only use the very best closed back headphones when enjoying 24 Bit 192kHz audio on the go.”
Our thanks to John Lunn.
Find out more about the Ultrasone Signature Pro headphones