The latest release from our in-house label, West One Music, is the dramatic yet elegant Classical Drama & Tension.
The album features string-dominant tracks written by Emily Lim, Vince Webb, and Matt Norman and was recorded at North London’s RAK Studios. Using the studio’s spacious room, we used modern production techniques to capture the intricate and sophisticated melodies that classical music is so well-known for.
Violin and cello solos, a string quintet and orchestral timpani work harmoniously across the tracks to create heavy, dramatic tension. We were thrilled to work again with three talented composers who have all previously composed for West One Music. We knew the album was in good hands and would provide our catalogue with an album of virtuosic neo-classical pieces.
Check out this behind-the-scenes look at how the album was created in the legendary RAK Studios in the Summer of 2024.
Scroll down to read about how all three composers found working with us on the brief and what they thought of the recording and creative process.
EMILY LIM
“I loved writing these tracks – receiving the brief, it struck me as current, exciting, and interesting to work with, with scope for some very creative approaches towards driving the tension up and over the edge. It was fun to create tracks with the impact and immediacy of the tension-building cues that can be heard across various media usages currently, but with the added depth of live string ensemble and soloists to make for something unique and extremely high quality in its sound and feel.
The recording sessions were an intensely focused but fun two days of the highest levels of musicianship, impeccably organised by the production team to get the most out of the exceptional performers we were lucky to have available to us. The studio sounded beautiful, and it was a pleasure as ever to be able to record at RAK. The virtuosic playing was able to shine.”
“Interestingly, the sessions highlighted how each composer had played to their strengths in their writing – utilising more traditional instrumental techniques as I had or drawing more heavily on creative production elements, for example. I think it’s made for an inspiring, highly usable album with varied tracks united throughout by one clear mood. It was fantastic to hear each composer’s work coming to life and learn from their approaches – attending recording sessions is always one of the most enjoyable parts of the process.”
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VINCE WEBB
“Working with West One always feels like a truly collaborative experience. The initial brief gave me plenty of creative freedom while offering clear direction on our goals. I received valuable feedback throughout the process and sensed that the team listened closely, ensuring the album would be as helpful as possible for their clients. West One was also highly involved in the recording and post-production phases, which allowed me to focus entirely on composing. With so much talent in the room at RAK, including the exceptional engineers, I could relax and enjoy engaging with the musicians and shaping their performances.
I focused on more straightforward material for my tracks, allowing the live strings to shine while leaving ample space for other elements, such as voiceover or sound design. One of the more unique aspects of these tracks was the blend of traditional and contemporary production techniques. For instance, in The Tense Prince, I extensively used delay effects alongside the notated pitches to form the ‘melodies.’ During the recording session, I exported several artificial delays (created with samples), which the musicians could hear in their headphones while playing. This allowed them to grasp the full musical context as they performed. We later added the ‘real’ delays to the recorded strings during post-production.”
MATT NORMAN
“This was an especially inspiring project to work on. Mostly because I love working with live strings, but blending them with electronic sounds and percussion was also challenging. Strings are incredibly good at creating tension, and I was able to employ more unusual and traditional techniques to achieve this. And, of course, it’s always a fantastic experience hearing all the elements coming together in the recording session and production stages.”
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