TP:TR Soundtrack released- Listen to the sounds musing

[TheGum]

So the score/soundtrack was released today and with no TPTR to watch on sunday nights, clearly I immediately had to binge listen to it. It's remarkable. The choices they've made in terms of which score pieces to include, are really powerful, and do much to really distill down the emotional point and impact of the show.

Whereas I listened to the original score to bring myself back to that place, this soundtrack brings you into the emotional space of the Return. It does so much to help you understand the impact, and in my opinion the purpose of the show. Gone is most of the dreamy jazz of the original, and we find dark, synth pad laden tracks of sadness, loneliness, and dread. Juxtaposed with the elements of the original, I feel two major points of the Return, the fact that you can't go home again, and that nostalgia is dangerous are very clearly articulated. The whole time we were lamenting not having more Badalenti, it was there, and we were looking for a different version. Badalenti and Lynch have grown, and changed, and we weren't coming to terms with that. But what did we even want?! Like, other versions of the old soundtrack? That would have sucked, and listening to the new soundtrack that truth is painfully obvious.

Another function of the new soundtrack is to experience the whole of the Return in a little over an hour. The music is so effective, well placed within the series, and sparing so that in this context we can experience the Return all at once- something essentially impossible with an 18-hour motion picture. It's a valuable experience, and gives much insight into what happened, and which parts are crucial and important to focus on. There is a clear reason a large chunk of the middle of this soundtrack is directly pulled from part 8. It gave me chills, filled me with emotion and understanding, and personally it gave me closure.

After listening to the soundtrack, my take away is that Twin Peaks: The Return is not about Agent Cooper's return from the Black Lodge to Twin Peaks at all, but the series functions as his brief return to earth before leaving forever. I stand by my previous theories of "what exactly happened." I DO think that the point in terms of action was Cooper's inability to learn from his mistakes, and repetition of a cycle that was too focused on attachments rather than acceptance. I also love the temptation of the idea that perhaps the ending was a trap laid by Cooper and the White Lodge to rid the world of Judy by sacrificing Cooper, Diane, and Laura (though, I do find it unlikely). And I also have my theories about whether the ending of FWWM was actually the true end of the series, perhaps coming after what happens in TP:TR's finale either eventually as Cooper learns and lets go, or after defeating Judy, of if Cooper actually disrupted that. But what the soundtrack really drives home, is how much Dale Cooper did love our world. The people, the coffee, the pie. And while we were yelling at Dougie to wake up, we were missing so much of the point. Dale was right there. Inside Dougie's life. Dougie WAS Dale. We knew that, they SHOWED us that it was him. Listen to "Windswept (reprise)" and feel the sadness of the last time Cooper would be a part of the living world. The last time he would experience kindness, love, sex, sadness, joy, coffee, pie. Because no matter what "happened", he's gone now. And as the strains of "Dark Space Low" ring out at the finish of the album, you'll realize that as well.

Listen to the sounds, indeed.

[Novalis]

Agree with you on this soundtrack -- it's almost a narrative in itself.

Dark Space Low - this is a profound track I've been playing over and over. A little redolent of Badalamenti's work on MD with the sad and mysterious synth work, but besides the darkness and lowness to me it also has a very spatial feel to it. I'm reminded a lot of the aeolian harp, an instrument that is not played by human beings but by the wind, that was very popular with artists during the heyday of romanticism. The synth pad sound used has the same sort of soothing harmonic qualities. As I dabble (very much on an amateur level) with synth myself, I'd love to know more about the exact rig used to play this theme and how the basic synth patch is set up.

It's a very 'cosmic' sound.

[LateReg]

So the score/soundtrack was released today and with no TPTR to watch on sunday nights, clearly I immediately had to binge listen to it. It's remarkable. The choices they've made in terms of which score pieces to include, are really powerful, and do much to really distill down the emotional point and impact of the show.

Whereas I listened to the original score to bring myself back to that place, this soundtrack brings you into the emotional space of the Return. It does so much to help you understand the impact, and in my opinion the purpose of the show. Gone is most of the dreamy jazz of the original, and we find dark, synth pad laden tracks of sadness, loneliness, and dread. Juxtaposed with the elements of the original, I feel two major points of the Return, the fact that you can't go home again, and that nostalgia is dangerous are very clearly articulated. The whole time we were lamenting not having more Badalenti, it was there, and we were looking for a different version. Badalenti and Lynch have grown, and changed, and we weren't coming to terms with that. But what did we even want?! Like, other versions of the old soundtrack? That would have sucked, and listening to the new soundtrack that truth is painfully obvious.

Another function of the new soundtrack is to experience the whole of the Return in a little over an hour. The music is so effective, well placed within the series, and sparing so that in this context we can experience the Return all at once- something essentially impossible with an 18-hour motion picture. It's a valuable experience, and gives much insight into what happened, and which parts are crucial and important to focus on. There is a clear reason a large chunk of the middle of this soundtrack is directly pulled from part 8. It gave me chills, filled me with emotion and understanding, and personally it gave me closure.

After listening to the soundtrack, my take away is that Twin Peaks: The Return is not about Agent Cooper's return from the Black Lodge to Twin Peaks at all, but the series functions as his brief return to earth before leaving forever. I stand by my previous theories of "what exactly happened." I DO think that the point in terms of action was Cooper's inability to learn from his mistakes, and repetition of a cycle that was too focused on attachments rather than acceptance. I also love the temptation of the idea that perhaps the ending was a trap laid by Cooper and the White Lodge to rid the world of Judy by sacrificing Cooper, Diane, and Laura (though, I do find it unlikely). And I also have my theories about whether the ending of FWWM was actually the true end of the series, perhaps coming after what happens in TP:TR's finale either eventually as Cooper learns and lets go, or after defeating Judy, of if Cooper actually disrupted that. But what the soundtrack really drives home, is how much Dale Cooper did love our world. The people, the coffee, the pie. And while we were yelling at Dougie to wake up, we were missing so much of the point. Dale was right there. Inside Dougie's life. Dougie WAS Dale. We knew that, they SHOWED us that it was him. Listen to "Windswept (reprise)" and feel the sadness of the last time Cooper would be a part of the living world. The last time he would experience kindness, love, sex, sadness, joy, coffee, pie. Because no matter what "happened", he's gone now. And as the strains of "Dark Space Low" ring out at the finish of the album, you'll realize that as well.

Listen to the sounds, indeed.

Very well said. I was surprised while listening to the score to find just how many great new Badalamenti pieces there actually were. Six, to be exact, but they're all wonderful to the point that they seem like so much more.

[LateReg]

Agree with you on this soundtrack -- it's almost a narrative in itself.

Dark Space Low - this is a profound track I've been playing over and over. A little redolent of Badalamenti's work on MD with the sad and mysterious synth work, but besides the darkness and lowness to me it also has a very spatial feel to it. I'm reminded a lot of the aeolian harp, an instrument that is not played by human beings but by the wind, that was very popular with artists during the heyday of romanticism. The synth pad sound used has the same sort of soothing harmonic qualities. As I dabble (very much on an amateur level) with synth myself, I'd love to know more about the exact rig used to play this theme and how the basic synth patch is set up.

It's a very 'cosmic' sound.

Was "Dark Space Low" used in The Return prior to the final credits? I want to say no but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed it. It's a glorious and sad and yes, cosmic finale to the finale. It feels so right in the most unsettling, moving kind of way.

[TheGum]

This is a guess but I think it's just one of those semi cheesy sounding "glass pad" patches, (think of the sound that is used during the Harold scenes in season 2) but played and then slowed down. I'm on my iPad and don't have access to my Pro Tools rig right now, but I'd bet if you speed Dark Space Low up, it is going to sound like a normal pad synth but the pitch shift makes such a dramatic difference.

[Tailsun]

Giving this a listen IMMEDIATELY. Thanks so much for the reminder.

[Tailsun]

The synth pad sound used has the same sort of soothing harmonic qualities. As I dabble (very much on an amateur level) with synth myself, I'd love to know more about the exact rig used to play this theme and how the basic synth patch is set up.

I'm no professional, but creating organic ambient/drone/electronic music is my outlet of choice. To my ear it doesn't actually sound like a synth (at least not entirely). My guess would be simple pad for the lower tones with electric guitar drenched in reverb, downpitched, and reversed. Or maybe a piano patch?

I'm gonna mess with it a bit and see if I can pinpoint it.

[C-Lee]

"The Fireman" is godlike.

[Tailsun]

"The Fireman" is godlike.

It really, really is. I'm going to give the whole thing another full listen the moment I get a chance. I'm actually amazed at how much I didn't consciously pick up on when I was watching - most likely a side effect of being so enamored with the visuals and watching with my girlfriend on our TV with less-than-stellar audio. When I inevitably go in for a rewatch I'll be using my headphones for sure.

[MysteryMan14]

This soundtrack's a damn good piece of pie, especially those Badalamenti's. However I wonder how the hell happened that Lynch didnt use these scores much more times in the show. The return has many of long scenes which sometimes are unbearably silent. For me they're almost screaming for a little music. I know that this time Lynch much more focused on sound designe but TP's the place where music's always in the air.
David shame on you.

[claaa7]

^ i disagree with that.. i think having the compositions be exclusive to a certain scene gives both the scene and the score so much more power. and the long parts without music hightens that even more. take for example "Slow 30s Room" and "The Fireman", those cues and songs wouldn't have been at all as impactful if we already had heard them in different contexts in earlier episodes. i guess that's one of the ways it was edited as a movie.. the one song that appeared several times (four if i'm not mistaken) is "Accident / Farewell Theme" but it was all used in similiar context to underscore intense loss, something it did really well.

one track i had hoped to hear at least one more time later in the season was "Windswept" by Johnny Jewell though, the way it was used in ep. 5 and 6 really sold it as the leitmotif for Cooper in Dougie's world this season. it wouldn't have hurt to include it in a later "Dougie" scene to hammer this point home imo.

it is also interesting how much expectations can alter your experience. i, and a lot of others, were expecting to hear new, jazzy Badalamenti type of productions when we first entered the first four parts. i, and a lot of others, experienced that there were almost no music and a lot of silence in the new series. however, with the expectations gone, on rewatches i notice how much music and sound in between the space of sound design and music that are actually attached to the visuals in those four first parts. for example the Mauve Room in episode 3 has a nice score underneath which really brings out the omnious atmosphere and dark space mood.

if you look at The Missing Pieces it is edited in much the same way as The Return if you look at the sound design and use of soundtrack. i really like it! and the soundtrack works great as a stand alone album for me