Mel Wesson
Encyclopedia
Mel Wesson is a British
film
, TV and video game composer and ambient music design
er. He is one of the most influential 'musical sound designers' in Hollywood, yet his sound is often hard to describe or even identify. He is probably best known for his tight collaboration and work with Hans Zimmer
and has contributed with both ambient music design
and music to some of last decades biggest Hollywood blockbusters
. He has also made numerous production music
CD's for Extreme Music which loosely feature some of the atmospheric textures in his world of ambient music design
.
On the Inception
premiere in Hollywood, Mel and Hans
designed an out-door sound installation
using the atmosphere and soundscapes from the movie itself, exclusively for the audience. In Mel's own words: "Hans wanted the audience to remain within the Inception dreamscape as they left the LA Inception Premiere. In order to achieve this I put together a 40 minute soundscape
designed to surround the audience as they followed the mirrored walkway from the Gaumans Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to the nearby aftershow reception. The soundscape
ambience
from the movie, together with a few well chosen FX from Inception
sound designer Richard King."
, despite numerous efforts to persuade him to follow a more conventional musical path he gravitated towards the synthesizer
as his instrument of choice.
After leaving art college the formative stages of Mel's career saw him touring and recording with a number of New Wave bands. Mel also began working out of Hans Zimmer
s' Lillie Yard Studio where he began to explore the studio and experiment with sound and picture as well working with such artists as the punk icons Siouxsie and The Banshees, Brit Pop producer Mike Hedges
and techno guru Youth. He received a multi platinum award for his contributions to The Verve
's 'Urban Hymns
' album and the anthemic single 'Bitter Sweet Symphony
'. It was this album Hans Zimmer
was listening to in the New Year of 2000 when he spotted Mel's credit and invited him to work on the score for Mission Impossible 2.
Since that time Mel has created his own niche within the movie score genre as 'Ambient Music Designer
'. This area of atmospheric sound has weaved its way through many of Hans' scores including Ridley Scott
's 'Hannibal
' and 'Black Hawk Down'. Christopher Nolan
's 'Batman Begins
' , 'The Dark Knight
' and most recently 'Inception
'. Sometimes ambient, sometimes disturbing, often unclassifiable, Mel's music is always created with a passion and an artistic commitment.
Outside of his feature film work Mel continues to write prolifically, he composes for commercial, television and video games and his production music can be heard throughout the world on various BBC
, ITV
, Discovery
and MTV
productions, CNN
News broadcasts, Sky
Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family, News, Sports and beyond...
for his contributions to The Verve
's 'Urban Hymns
' album and the anthemic single 'Bitter Sweet Symphony
'
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, TV and video game composer and ambient music design
Ambient music design
Ambient music design could be seen, in a musical way, as a fusion of original film score and sound design or, simply, a kind of 'musical sound design' that lives between these two worlds...
er. He is one of the most influential 'musical sound designers' in Hollywood, yet his sound is often hard to describe or even identify. He is probably best known for his tight collaboration and work with Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
and has contributed with both ambient music design
Ambient music design
Ambient music design could be seen, in a musical way, as a fusion of original film score and sound design or, simply, a kind of 'musical sound design' that lives between these two worlds...
and music to some of last decades biggest Hollywood blockbusters
Blockbuster (entertainment)
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
. He has also made numerous production music
Production music
Production music is the name given to recorded music produced and owned by production music libraries and licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media.-Introduction:...
CD's for Extreme Music which loosely feature some of the atmospheric textures in his world of ambient music design
Ambient music design
Ambient music design could be seen, in a musical way, as a fusion of original film score and sound design or, simply, a kind of 'musical sound design' that lives between these two worlds...
.
On the Inception
Inception
Inception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
premiere in Hollywood, Mel and Hans
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
designed an out-door sound installation
Sound installation
Sound installation is an intermedia and time based art form. It is an expansion of an art installation in the sense that it includes the sound element and therefore the time element...
using the atmosphere and soundscapes from the movie itself, exclusively for the audience. In Mel's own words: "Hans wanted the audience to remain within the Inception dreamscape as they left the LA Inception Premiere. In order to achieve this I put together a 40 minute soundscape
Soundscape
A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology...
designed to surround the audience as they followed the mirrored walkway from the Gaumans Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to the nearby aftershow reception. The soundscape
Soundscape
A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology...
ambience
Ambience (sound recording)
In filmmaking, ambience consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the opposite of "silence." This term is often confused with presence....
from the movie, together with a few well chosen FX from Inception
Inception
Inception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
sound designer Richard King."
Early life and career
Mel Wesson was born and raised in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, despite numerous efforts to persuade him to follow a more conventional musical path he gravitated towards the synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
as his instrument of choice.
After leaving art college the formative stages of Mel's career saw him touring and recording with a number of New Wave bands. Mel also began working out of Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
s' Lillie Yard Studio where he began to explore the studio and experiment with sound and picture as well working with such artists as the punk icons Siouxsie and The Banshees, Brit Pop producer Mike Hedges
Mike Hedges
-Career:Mike Hedges started as a tape-op at Morgan Studios in London in the late 1970s. Having graduated to engineer, he went freelance in 1981 and became an engineer/producer....
and techno guru Youth. He received a multi platinum award for his contributions to The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
's 'Urban Hymns
Urban Hymns
Urban Hymns is the third album by English rock band The Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Recordings. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year...
' album and the anthemic single 'Bitter Sweet Symphony
Bitter Sweet Symphony
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by English alternative rock band The Verve, the lead track on their third album, Urban Hymns. It is based on music from an Andrew Loog Oldham adaptation of a Rolling Stones song, "The Last Time". It was released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings as the first single...
'. It was this album Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
was listening to in the New Year of 2000 when he spotted Mel's credit and invited him to work on the score for Mission Impossible 2.
Since that time Mel has created his own niche within the movie score genre as 'Ambient Music Designer
Ambient music design
Ambient music design could be seen, in a musical way, as a fusion of original film score and sound design or, simply, a kind of 'musical sound design' that lives between these two worlds...
'. This area of atmospheric sound has weaved its way through many of Hans' scores including Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's 'Hannibal
Hannibal (film)
Hannibal is a 2001 psychological thriller film directed by Ridley Scott, adapted from the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1991 Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs that returns Anthony Hopkins to his iconic role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter...
' and 'Black Hawk Down'. Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
's 'Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
' , 'The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
' and most recently 'Inception
Inception
Inception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
'. Sometimes ambient, sometimes disturbing, often unclassifiable, Mel's music is always created with a passion and an artistic commitment.
Outside of his feature film work Mel continues to write prolifically, he composes for commercial, television and video games and his production music can be heard throughout the world on various BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, Discovery
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
productions, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
News broadcasts, Sky
Sky Film
Sky Film is a German set of movie channels owned by Sky Deutschland.The Sky Film package includes eleven Sky-branded channels:*Sky Cinema, the premium channel with 20 television premieres per month.*Sky Cinema +1, Sky Cinema with an hour delay....
Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family, News, Sports and beyond...
Feature films
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
|
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
|
Other projects
- Inception Live Premiere Performance
- Inception: The App
- Inception: The Soundscape
- The Dark Knight: 2-CD Special Edition
- SOS Short Films: Electroland
- Shrek 4-D Universal Studios Theme Park Ride
- Various TV-series, theatrical teaser trailers, production music CD's, music albums, music videos and commercials
Inception Live Premiere Performance
On the 'Inception Live Premiere Performance' Hans Zimmer invited Mel on synthesizers, Johnny Marr on guitar and a small-piece orchestra to perform the Inception film score exclusively for the Hollywood Premiere audience.Awards
Received a multi-platinum awardRIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
for his contributions to The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
's 'Urban Hymns
Urban Hymns
Urban Hymns is the third album by English rock band The Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Recordings. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year...
' album and the anthemic single 'Bitter Sweet Symphony
Bitter Sweet Symphony
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by English alternative rock band The Verve, the lead track on their third album, Urban Hymns. It is based on music from an Andrew Loog Oldham adaptation of a Rolling Stones song, "The Last Time". It was released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings as the first single...
'