Flamenco & flamenco fusion for background music

Background music adds a great deal to a film.  It connects scenes, it strengthens the emotion of scenes (or sometimes, actually tells the audience what emotion they should be feeling), it helps keep the audience from losing interest in slow sequences, and it simply adds another layer of beauty and art.

In Domino:  Caught in the Crisis, we used two kinds of background music:  instrumental, and voice supported by instrumental.  And as you will see, we kept the musical part all in the family, relying on a very, very musical family.

The voice supported by instrumental music is flamenco, sung by Antonio de la Malena (who is also Luis, the lead character, although we don't see Luis singing).  Malena has a beautiful voice, and a strong and pure flamenco sense of interpretation.  He wrote the lyrics for some of what he sings, and in other parts, he interprets traditional verses.  The verses, whether his own or traditional, are directly related to the action we are seeing, something that Spanish speakers will be aware of and appreciate.

Antonio de la Malena (photo:  Miguel Angel Gonzales)

We chose him because our director (yours truly) admires his voice and interpretation.  In addition, he has three solo CDs to his name, in addition to being one of several singers on many CDs that are collections of flamenco singing.  (His most recent solo CD came out in Spain this past summer.)

In Domino, we hear his original lyrics in the final scenes, where he sings about the Indignados (Movimiento 15-M--similar to our Occupy Wall Street) and about recent problems in Spain. 

The instrumental background music is in some cases traditional flamenco, and in others, flamenco fusion composed by Malena Hijo.  Malena Hijo is a very fine, young guitarist who is the eldest son of Antonio de la Malena.

Malena Hijo

Whether for purely musical numbers or as accompaniment to Antonio de la Malena's singing, all of the guitar in Domino is performed by Malena Hijo.  All of the singing is Antonio de la Malena, although in one of the instrumental pieces, there is also a voice that works as an instrument, going "le, le, le, le...."  That voice is Antonio de la Malena's second son, Diego de Malena.

Some of the music also includes percussion instruments, played by Alejandro de Mateo (nephew of Antonio de la Malena), electric base played by Malena Hijo, and palmas (hand clapping) performed by Luis de la Tota, Ali de la Tota, and Diego de Malena.

All in all, the music is great.  It does just what it is supposed to do, beautifully complementing the visuals and the narrative line.

OUR NEXT POST will be about getting that post-production work done.