Geoff Zanelli scores Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Last fall, composer Geoff Zanelli recorded his score to the fifth film in the highly successful Disney franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Taking the reigns from Hans Zimmer, Zanelli recorded the score to with a 99-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony (plus soloists), and we’re delighted to present our photos from the scoring session we attended at Sony!

Conductor Nick Glennie-Smith and the Hollywood Studio Symphony

The violin section on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

The cellos and basses

The woodwinds

Recording was split up, with 68-strings, 10-woodwinds and a harpist recording during the day, and 20-brass players at night. For this score, the fifth Pirates film that he has been involved with, Zanelli wrote new themes that fit comfortably in the musical style established by the previous films, while also utilizing a few of Zimmer’s themes from the original trilogy.

The trumpets

The French horns

A massive brass section performs on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Nick Glennie-Smith conducts the strings and woodwinds

In the booth, composer Geoff Zanelli was joined by scoring mixer Alan Meyerson, who was making sure it all sounded perfect. Additional composers Phill Boucher, Zak McNeil, Paul Mounsey and Anthony Willis were also on hand for feedback. Supervising orchestrator Bruce Fowler, score wrangler Bob Badami, music editor Peter Oso Snell, assistant music editor Allegra de Souza, and ProTools recordist Kevin Globerman rounded out the music team that was in the booth when we visited.

Composer Geoff Zanelli and scoring mixer Alan Meyerson

The music team listens to the orchestra

Additional music composers Zak McNeil and Phill Boucher go over a cue with composer Geoff Zanelli

Conductor Nick Glennie-Smith and composer Geoff Zanelli go over a cue with supervising orchestrator Bruce Fowler (seated) while additional music composer Zak McNeil takes notes

Assistant music editor Allegra De Souza and music editor Peter Oso Snell go over a cue with additional music composers Phill Boucher and Zak McNeil

Scoring mixer Alan Meyerson, composer Geoff Zanelli, additional music composer Phill Boucher, supervising orchestrator Bruce Fowler, and ProTools recordist Kevin Globerman (foreground)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales opens in theaters today, May 26, 2017, and a score album is available from Walt Disney Records.

The orchestra and conductor Nick Glennie-Smith record a cue from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales