Maybe a song about the World Cup’s notorious vuvuzela stadium horn could create more buzz than the South African instrument itself.
Calgary musician Alec Harrison was one of the people behind a musical score created for ESPN to help viewers understand the tradition behind the vuvuzela. It’s some of the music created in conjunction with the U.S. sports network’s ongoing World Cup soccer coverage.
“We did a minute and a half clip about the vuvuzela horn everyone is talking about and it gives a bit of culture of where it came from and why people are so proud of it,” Harrison said from his Calgary home studio. “But we bring a lot of the South African culture and their voices through the work and just put music around it.”
Harrison, though Redshift Studios, has worked with John Iaquinta of Six Degrees Music to compose several “trailers” for World Cup Coverage since March, though he doesn’t get to see most of his handiwork.
“ESPN is American so I haven’t really seen much but it’s pretty neat knowing there are 100 million people watching and seeing what we’ve done,” he said, adding they also created the opening score for the games.
Harrison began composing and producing musical scores out of his Okotoks high school and ever since has helped create music four soundtracks, video games, television and film.
“I really enjoy the creative process of collaborating with others. It’s a pretty solitary job when you work in the studio alone, so that connection and the creative outcome is really fulfilling.”
