Scoring CHARGE: Finding the Sound of Americana

When writer/director Steve Gustafson asked me to score CHARGE, the musical direction was clear from the beginning: Americana.

But what does Americana actually sound like?

CHARGE is a period film set in Southern Minnesota in 1964. It follows a Gold Star family through a single day of farm life while confronting grief, hard work, racism, guilt, family and even the forces of nature. For me, those themes called for something bigger than simply writing music that sounded like it came from 1964. I wanted the score to say something about the people themselves and the America they represent.

Finding the Musical Language

Two influences immediately came to mind: Aaron Copland and Thomas Newman.

Copland's musical language has long been associated with the wide-open American landscape. That sense of openness was particularly important to me because quartal harmony has always been part of the harmonic language I love to hear and write.

There is something about those stacked fourths within an orchestra that, to my ears, immediately creates space. I hear open plains. Middle America. The Bible Belt. Salt-of-the-earth people. Foundational Americans.

So rather than trying to imitate Copland—or Thomas Newman, whose approach to emotion and texture has also influenced me—I wanted to take some of those musical ideas and pass them through my own harmonic vocabulary. The result became the musical world of CHARGE.

The Piano Became the Voice

Very early in the scoring process, I decided that piano would become the central melodic voice of the film.

It became the thread running through the score—a musical hook that could return in different emotional contexts while helping hold the film together.

Around that piano, I combined traditional orchestration with sounds and textures I created specifically for the score. Sometimes the music needed to communicate warmth and hope. Other moments required mystery, foreboding, intensity and loss. Underneath all of it, I wanted there to remain something distinctly American.

Writing to the Landscape

The cinematography in CHARGE gave me something composers absolutely love: space.

There are images in this film that simply invite music. Wide landscapes naturally suggested a wider musical canvas, and Steve gave the score room to breathe. Instead of constantly fighting dialogue or sound effects for space, there were places where the music was allowed to become part of the storytelling.

As a composer, when a director gives you that kind of room, you take advantage of it. I certainly did. The orchestration could open up with the photography. Motifs could develop instead of simply appearing for a few seconds. And the score could sometimes carry emotion that didn't need to be spoken.

Music as a Mirror

One of the things I appreciate about CHARGE is that it isn't afraid to look at difficult subjects. The film deals with death, grief, hard work, racism and interracial marriage while examining family and the people trying to navigate those realities.

In that sense, the film becomes a mirror. And sometimes looking into that mirror is good for us.

I didn't want the score telling the audience what they were supposed to think. I wanted it to help them feel the humanity underneath what they were watching. For me, that's one of the most important things music can do in a film.

Working With Steve Gustafson

A film score is ultimately a collaboration. Steve gave me tremendous freedom to explore the musical world of CHARGE while still giving me the direction I needed to understand what he wanted the film to say.

He was simply a pleasure to work with and to work for. As a composer, you don't take those relationships for granted. When a director trusts you with his film and gives the music room to become part of its voice, it makes the entire creative process better.

I count working with Steve on CHARGE as a genuine joy.

And now that the score is complete, I'm looking forward to audiences finally experiencing the film—and hearing how all of those open harmonies, piano melodies, orchestral colors and created sounds became part of the world of CHARGE.

— Rick Balentine Film & Television Composer