Bong grateful for chance to be lead composer

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Bong (centre) seen with the directors of the Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal during an event recently.

Andrew Bong

KUCHING:  Sarawak-born composer from Kuching Andrew Bong was grateful for the opportunity to be the lead music composer for the film Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal.

According to a press release in which Bong shared his experience, he said that as lead composer for the film, composing original music that can move people’s emotion is a challenge while it is even more challenging to write the right music to fit a movie.

“The composition process is based on trial and error as every mistake counts, as it is also part of sculpting and you will eventually know it when it is ready. When you put on your hat
as a film music composer, this is not a self-serving job too,” he added.

Revealing the story behind the uniqueness of Upin & Ipin soundtrack, Bong stated that he was first approached by Burhanuddin Md Radzi who is the producer and managing director of Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd ( the company that produced the film) to write a Hollywood-style  score, but they wanted something uniquely Malaysian and not just traditional orchestral music.

Bong primarily worked together with three young movie directors for this animation namely Adam Amiruddin, Ahmad Razuri Roseli, and Syed Nurfaiz Khalid Syed Ibrahim.

He also said that in Malaysia, Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd really breaks the mould because they do not want to rely on readily available music and they sourced it directly from the original composition.

“The animation featured many different characters from different background and multiple traditional Malaysian folklore; therefore it calls for multiple thematic materials to tie the whole story together.

“The three directors loved the idea of combining the Malaysian Gambus (oud) with the orchestra and this became the main music formula for Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal,” he said.

Apart from that, Bong also said that there are many different emotions which the music has to support in the movie, and each piece of music has to be written from scratch and to the picture (animation).

Following his work with the film, Bong hoped that he will inspire more people (aspiring musicians) to venture into media composing locally (film, TV, video games).

His advice to young aspiring composer is that they should write a lot of music for various musical instruments and styles, and record live musicians.

“Do not forget to be bold and adventurous, and always remember who your audiences are,” he said.

Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal is a feature-length animation produced by Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd which set a milestone for the industry and has been creating a buzz nationwide as The Walt Disney Company quickly congratulated Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd, on the success of the film which cost up to RM20 million to produce and it has collected up to RM5.3 million in just four days since its release last month.

Bong composed more than 70 minutes of original music for the animation.

Movie poster for the Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal movie.