Something about robots

“More Than Robots” is a documentary about a bunch of geeky kids (I think I can say this, as I’m quite geeky myself) from around the world that come together to build robots and, in the process, learn that to life more than robots there is! The original score is by Stephanie Economou and is conceived using musical robots, i.e. synthesizers and other electronic gizmos. Stephanie, in case you don’t know yet, works a lot with Harry Gregson-Williams, and “More Than Robots” has quite a HGW vibe going on. If you liked “The Martian“, you’ll find some similar material here.

Look, there are quite a few of these type of electronic scores around and “MTR“, as good as it is, just falls short of being really memorable. That said, I love the style and I love the sounds. Stephanie keeps it light and playful, with warm synth sounds and occasionally adding sampled orchestrations for a touch of extra drama. This is definitely not one of those really dark, gritty, distorted synth scores. This one is bubbly with a positive attitude.

Other scores to movies about robots include “Robots” by John Powell, which is a hyper-active explosion of musical styles; “I, Robot” by Marco Beltrami, which is quite dark and action-driven; “Blade Runner” by Vangelis, which is very good; and “Bicentennial Man” by James Horner where a robot magically becomes a real person… wonders never cease to amaze me. “MTR” doesn’t sound like any of those by the way, it’s closer in style to Mac Quayle’s “Mr Robot“, but more upbeat.

I like Stephanie’s score. I’m sorry to say it’s not going to get stuck in my head for long, but “More Than Robots” is very pleasant and inoffensive; and it’s the kind of thing I do return to frequently and that inspires me to load up a few soft-synths of my own. (21 tracks, 42m.)

Article by Pete Simons (c) 2022 Synchrotones