EXCLUSIVES

January 2004

What is The Matrix? This is the question that has captured the imagination of fans around the world since directors Larry and Andy Wachowski released their film "The Matrix" in 1999. The answer to the fateful question turned out to be deeper than many thought. The Matrix is: Kung Fu versus robots, religious myth meets post-modern philosophy, bleeding edge special effects meets old school detective story, and the list goes on.

But, according to the Wachowskis, The Matrix is really about control. Control over the artistic process is exactly what allowed the Wachowski brothers to separate themselves from the usual Hollywood pap and turn what started as a Japanese manga-style comic book treatment into the franchise of the 21st century.

After the success of the theatrical release of "The Matrix," the DVD release of the film became the first DVD to sell one million copies. Warner Bros. got the message and green-lighted two more sequels to the original film, entitled "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions." Today, as "Reloaded" has broken worldwide box office records, and fans eagerly await the imminent release of the final installment "Revolutions," the Wachowski brothers seem to be in full control of their artistic destiny.

Yet, behind the twin concepts of control in the world of "The Matrix" and behind the camera, there are hundreds of collaborators who helped make the Matrix phenomenon possible. One of those central role players happens to be film score composer, and avid Mac user, Don Davis. Davis first met the Wachowski brothers when he was slated to work with them on their thriller "Bound" in 1997 which became famous for its notoriously steamy lesbian sex scene featuring Gina Gershon. After establishing a close relationship with Davis, the Wachowski brothers decided to entrust their magnum opus, "The Matrix," to Davis' finely tuned orchestral ear. The result was a film that exquisitely meshed classic orchestral composition and modern electronica aesthetics. It is not far-fetched to say that if the scoring for "The Matrix" had not been on par with the ground-breaking plot, visuals, and special effects of the movie, the film may not have had the same visceral impact with audiences.

But this wasn't something that completely took the directors by surprise. Before meeting the Wachowski brothers, Davis had already amassed an impressive television scoring resume. Davis began his scoring career working on "The Hulk" television series with his mentor Joe Harnell. Davis later moved on to the hit television drama "Beauty and the Beast," the Steven Spielberg-produced "SeaQuest DSV," and the science-fiction staple "Star Trek: The Next Generation." As a graduate of UCLA's music school, Davis was steeped in a robust knowledge of music theory that would eventually allow him to make the leap to the larger canvas of film scoring.

Since teaming with the Wachowski brothers on the first Matrix film, Davis has raised the bar and honed his ability to mix techno beats with classical music in a way that adds even more depth to the story of Neo, Morpheus and Trinity. Davis says, "I'm honored that the Wachowski Brothers wanted to release the music as a whole [soundtrack and score] to keep the musical integrity of the project, and that Maverick Records had the foresight to release a two-disc set. As brilliant as they are in helming the Matrix franchise, the brothers were [equally so] in overseeing the soundtrack. As a consumer, I always feel a little bit slighted if I get a soundtrack CD that's mostly songs or only score music. This soundtrack is a real effort to change the paradigm of what's being offered to consumers in film music."

On "The Matrix Reloaded" soundtrack album, Davis weighs in with "Matrix Reloaded Suite," "Trinity Dream," "Matrix Main Title," and collaborations with Juno Reactor on "Mona Lisa Overdrive," and the now famous 100 Agent Smiths versus Neo scene called "Burly Brawl." Of the old school/new school mix, Davis says, "I took a postmodern musical style, and generally added a harder edge to it-that's what made it work with the Matrix pictures. There is much going on between atonal music and aleatoric ideas and the postmodern concepts - the minimalist things - within the films." The fact that Davis was entrusted to score only the most crucial aspects of the plot again points towards the Wachowski brothers' trust in Davis to evoke the right sense of urgency, emotion, and grand scale of "The Matrix." "The Matrix's signature mix of modern orchestral scoring techniques with the prevalent alternative rock and techno music required that I worked my score in between and around those songs," says the composer. "[I had to make] sure the musical flavor, rhythm, and frequency was compatible with the songs so that there would not be any jarring juxtapositions between them."

And, while there are no Macs featured in the on-screen world of "The Matrix," it will please many Mac fans to know that Davis depends on Mac hardware and software for his Calabasas, California studio called The Hacienda. Included in the studio is a wealth of Mac gear that includes: a Mac G4/dual processor; a Mac G4 Titanium Laptop; a Mac G3/300; Bit 3 PCI expansion chassis; Digidesign Pro Tools HD; two HD Process cards; Atto SCSI accelerator card; Aurora Fuse video card; Samsung 770 TFT 17" LCD monitor; Viewsonic G810 computer monitor; Viewsonic E771 computer monitor; 120GB FireWire drive; 70- and (2) 36-GB Glyph hard drives; and 2 rack-mounted PC systems (okay, so no one is perfect).

Situated near his home in Southern California, where he lives with his wife Megan, and their two children, the studio feeds Davis's need to be close to his composing work. Next to hit the public from his lab is the score to "The Matrix Revolutions," the third and final film in the trilogy that will finally reveal the ultimate truth behind the Matrix. If Davis' past work is any indication, we can look forward to an even more topsy-turvy ride this time around, made possible in part by the power of Macs, and a virtual world's worth of dynamic imagination and artistic passion. www.whatisthematrix.com