Mission to Zyxx (2016-2022)

This off-the-wall improvised science fiction podcast dubbed “space opera” by The New York Times, includes extraordinary sound design by Shane O’Connell and is written and performed by members of the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre. The premise called for an epic orchestral score based on the work of John Williams, Gustav Holst, Igor Stravinsky, and others.

While music for the first two seasons was made using orchestral samples, seasons 3-5 features live music recorded by the FAMES Orchestra, mixed and mastered by Shane O’Connell and Danny Keith Taylor.

Episode 419 ('The Story of Beano') called for music in the Renaissance style. Brendan took the familiar Zyxx theme and brought it back several centuries, arranging it for lute, wood flute, and recorder. This music is performed by lutenist Ophira Zakai (lute), and Zyxx listeners Cynthia Sutton (flute) and Penelope Millar (bass recorder). Recordings are in the playlist.

Hamlet, Son of a Kingpin (2015)

This film is noteworthy for being the first bi-lingual version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece. For the score, Brendan drew upon Latin rhythms and percussion, reimagining them with the more intimate soundscapes of synth-based instruments. The reductive, electronic-based orchestration is used not only to provide a modern flavor to this age-old tale, but to suggest the interior conflicts that haunt the main protagonists.