Documentary music scores are a lot of fun. And I’ve been lucky enough to do two of these projects with the open source software company, Red Hat. Earlier this year, they reached out to me to score their documentary series “Farming for the Future,” which covers the many ways in which open source technology is being used by today’s farmers.
This track accompanies the introduction of Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture in Freeport, Maine. The crew was there in the middle of winter, and it looked COLD. As a Mainer myself, I was well-acquainted with the kind of freezing weather on display in this section of the documentary. It can be painful but beautiful at the same time. Ice builds up on trees, there’s a sparkling quality to the air as the wind whips up small flakes of snow to dance in the sun.
Thinking about all of this, I tried to bring some of that cold beauty to this moment of the score. Airy pads bring us into a warmer-sounding guitar before the track kicks into gear.
The title is taken from the soundbite of Howard Buffett’s stating that each farmer only has forty seasons within their lifetime to learn from.
No matter the setting, no matter the subject matter, if someone is telling the story visually, there will always be opportunities to draw inspiration from any element - even from imagining forty seasons of farming in the middle of a Maine winter.
Happy listening!
- Matthew
P.S. if you’d like to work with me on your media project, contact me here.