Featuring Original Music That Takes You Around The World
Composed By Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent
Varèse Sarabande Records will release the LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU: Season One – Original Television Soundtrack digitally and on CD September 30, 2014. The soundtrack features original score composed by BMI TV Award-winners Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent.
“Jay and I really love mining diverse musical genres and experimenting with new combinations of styles and instruments,” described Kramer. “I think it satisfies the little mad scientist that lives in each of us! Whether it’s retro analog synths fused with mystical ney flute, or a funk band meets classical Indian music, we always look forward to conjuring up fresh sounds.”
“From the very outset we set up a musical dichotomy between the heroes and villains, so when the kids watched it they could actually hear good and evil, rather than just seeing it,” explained Vincent. “So we established a simple rule: Winds for the good guys, strings for the bad guys. Wind instruments are played with breath, which suggests life, whereas the bad guys’ instruments use harsh plucking, bowing and scraping. It’s a more intense, slightly more violent and physical way of playing.”
Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent met while attending the University of Southern California’s film scoring program. Their imaginative and playful score for NINJAGO made them two of the youngest composers to receive a BMI Film & TV Award.
Kramer’s other recent TV credits include the original HULU series COMPLETE WORKS, CBS Sports’ BALL UP, and SONS OF TUCSON on FOX. A seasoned composer for documentaries, Kramer scored the upcoming feature film BITE SIZE, profiling childhood obesity and Best Documentary winner at Cinequest. Additional documentary scores include GOLD FEVER, FORGOTTEN MIRACLE, and Hollywood Film Festival Winner WORLD OF Z. On the big screen, Kramer’s music can heard in the recent films THOR: THE DARK WORLD, and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Kramer’s video game credits include NEED FOR SPEED: THE RUN, ASSASSIN’S CREED: BLACK FLAG, and the highly anticipated ASSASSINS CREED: UNITY.
A longtime collaborator with EA Games, Vincent’s music can be heard as the top selling track on the DRAGON AGE 2: EPIC TIMES video game soundtrack, and in award-winning trailers for BATTLEFIELD 4, MASS EFFECT 3, COMMAND & CONQUER, DRAGON AGE 2, and the upcoming DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION. He most recently finished scoring El REGRESO DE ELIAS URQUIJO, a Spanish film by Cannes Film Festival winner Roque Madrid, which won the award for Best Original Soundtrack at the Festival Internacional de Cine Bajo la Luna in Islantilla, Spain.
Kramer and Vincent will also be composing music for the LEGO STAR WARS: THE YODA CHRONICLES on Cartoon Network.
“What makes Jay and I work well as a team is our opposite, yet complementary approaches to scoring,” said Kramer of Jay Vincent. “Jay is a master at looking at the big picture. Having Jay by my side is like having an expert navigator with a clear sense of trajectory. He has an uncanny ability to connect story points with musical themes and material. I think we’ve taught each other a lot over the years.”
Life is never easy for a ninja hero. LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU finds Kai, Jay, Zane, and Cole in a heated battle against Lloyd Garmadon, son of their archenemy Lord Garmadon. Garmadon launches an attack on Ninjago with an army of sinister snake tribes in an attempt to conquer the land. However, his plan backfires when the snakes organize a mutiny and take him as prisoner. Now forced to surrender to his former rivals, Garmadon joins the ninjas to thwart the rise of an enemy prophesied to shroud the land in eternal darkness. Ancient legend states that only one ninja will ultimately rise above the rest to become the Green Ninja those answers and more lie ahead.
“The fun thing is that since the parameters are so simple, there is a wealth of instruments we can choose from depending on which new hero or villain comes along,” said Vincent.
They’ve gone all over the world to find the sounds for the series. Much like the Looney Tunes cartoons introduced a generation to classical music and even opera, Vincent and Kramer hope that NINJAGO introduces this generation to live instruments from around the world, including China (Zonghu, Dizi and Xiao), Japan (Shakuhachi, Shamisen, Taiko Drums), South America (Quena) and India (Sitar, Tabla, Dhol), in addition to traditional western orchestral instruments.
LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU is currently airing on The Cartoon Network. THE LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU: Season One – Original Television Soundtrack from Varèse Sarabande Records, will be available digitally and on CD on September 30, 2014. A soundtrack for LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU: Season Two is being planned for early next year.
