Walter Murphy: Composing The Musical Score For Family Guy

One of the defining features of the Family Guy TV show, apart from its resolutely irreverent sense of humour, is its use of lush musical arrangements. Almost every episode features a musical number, and these are performed by top swing players and recorded on the legendary Newman scoring stage at Fox Studios in Hollywood.
While the show’s writers pen the lyrics, someone has to turn these into musical pieces that work. That person is Walter Murphy, a musician of note in his own right whose disco version of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony shot to fame as part of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
In this video, Walter walks us through two musical cues, from turning a script into a song, to creating demos, right through to recording a live, 60-piece swing band on one of the most famous scoring stages in the world. We also find out how he and the show’s creator, Seth MacFarlane, created the title sequence music for the pilot episode on a shoestring budget.
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Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:03 - 'Family Guy Through The Years' clip
01:56 - Walter's Approach To Working From A Script
04:18 - Walter's Process And Composing Demo Tracks
05:52 - Recording A Scoring Session
07:37 - Writing Original Music With Lyrics From A Script
13:12 - Example Of A Scoring Cue
15:30 - 'Post Raisin Bran' & 'Sci-fi' Family Guy Clip
17:36 - Production Of The Family Guy Intro Theme
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#familyguy #scoring #composer #musicproduction #soundtrack
CREDITS
Orchestral Session Personnel
Recording Engineer - Armin Steiner
Assistant Engineer - Christine Sirois
Chief Technician - Dennis St. Armand
Pro Tools Recordist - Steve Hallmark
Walter’s Personal Engineer - Richie Raposa
The Orchestra
Family Guy Orchestra, contracted by Murray Adler, conducted by John Elg
Fox Studios Liaisons
Erin Moody
Jordan Frey
Alex Alcala
Stacey Robinson
Camera, Direction & Post Production
Harding & Brookes Ltd.
www.hardingandbrookes.com

[@shinjiikari1989]

this seems to be the most comprehensive behind the score for any film or series

[@paulcristo]

On the contrary... kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJa6oquieLOhgac

[@paulcristo]

Uniform You’re saying “Nah” to an in-depth exploration of arguably one of the greatest film composers writing one of the best scores ever written?

[@shinjiikari1989]

@@paulcristo I like it

[@retinalcircus]

@@paulcristo video not available, who was it?

[@whitesedan99]

Can you believe this was the guy who made A Fifth of Beethoven?? How old is this guy? Legend!

[@galleryofrogues]

white sedan 66

[@jacobruiz97]

I mean being the scorer for Family Guy isn’t a small title lol

[@alexallan-musicaaovivo500]

The guy looks younger now than his bearded version in the 70s. Must be the music! LOL

[@paulytheking7365]

He also made the music for Foodfight

[@bonbonbonbons]

​@@alexallan-musicaaovivo500It's turning him on

[@mharbaugh]

This is by far the best documentary on film/tv scoring I've ever seen. Awesome!

[@joanhill4666]

One of my favorite things about Family Guy is the music. I just LOVE how much effort is put into each episode to make it sound AMAZING!

[@Bashanvibe]

His job is more complicated than I thought!!! This was always my dream job!!! I don’t want to just do cover bands my whole life!!! This was inspirational!!!

[@counterpoint1014]

11:51 - I love that he mentions the importance of executing quality voice leading in his process. Many have asked me if studying music theory is worth it. I not only feel it's worth the time but essential. Further, I believe counterpoint should be learned either in tandem or prior to harmony as it demystifies the reasons for harmonic guidelines.

[@darnelltheartist]

and the dish ran away with the spoon.

[@soduno596]

It must be very rewarding to mic the complete orchestra and finally hear it in the studio

[@AlexBallMusic]

Pure gold. Thank you!!

[@AMReed8]

Alex Ball 😁

[@RC-sz4ub]

Seth MacFarlane and Walter Murphy = GENIUS !!!

[@LouisEmery]

That was amazing. I'm happy that the guy who made the disco Beethoven is doing this. The composer is very well spoken.

[@javieralbadalejo6354]

I absolutely adore this guy's music.. I wish he could do more movies with the sound of Seth's work.. only because then, we'd get more of his work released.

[@responsibleparty]

It amazes me that they go to this great of extents. The percent of viewers who would be able to tell the difference between his computerized orchestra from the live performance must be so insignificantly small. The fact that they take the extra time, planning and cost to record those live performances really surprises me.

[@sthembisonkomo4231]

That’s passion for you and attention to detail

[@JamesCA]

I heard he has a large orchestra palette

[@rhonga2k]

He said it like 15 times 😂😂😂😂

[@kbtube8125]

that can be cured now.

[@cameronsitton501]

Oh good, I can finally take off this ochre ribbon

[@ccselementarymusic3968]

I love how the "demo" for the intro became the actual intro. So often that is how it works.

[@BenRajan]

7-8 months for one episode. Damn that's insane. Especially when you think about how they work on multiple episodes at the same time.

[@russdoesmusic5088]

It's so incredible how much talent goes into such a big show and I love for it!

[@TGFalk]

Lucky there's a composer guy!

[@west4coast77]

So well done! Rarely do we get to see how a score is developed from start to finish. Walter Murphy shows a great deal of humility and skill. Love these behind the scenes mini-docs. Many thanks for posting!

[@ASX2001]

He's such a great composer in each genre! The secret star of Family Guy and American Dad.

[@sthembisonkomo4231]

By far my best score had to be the intro of the episode “and then there were fewer” I just love it

[@drummerjeroensimons]

What an intense job to do, but very creative and rewarding!!! My respect!! Thanks SOS magazine for this!!!

[@osaka_a]

How interesting. I always knew about Seth's obsession with big band sounds and I really didn't know how he got the music for his shows. The music for the beats between acts where the scenes are set have always been so unique every time and it's always perplexed me because it's only ever like a 6 to 8 second song and it didn't seem logical to hire a composer to make unique setting music for every episode but Seth knows how to get what he wants I guess. Still I appreciate a lot of those tertiary pieces because while being seemingly unimportant the show would be nowhere near the same without it.

[@golf-freq]

OMG! Fantastic! I totally agree with others saying that they would love to see more videos like this -- brilliant!

[@charlesgaskell5899]

Glad to see it's been unblocked. Thanks for posting SoS, really good information here - and Walter Murphy seems like a really nice guy! Very funny about the title sequence music...

[@LiamGaughan]

amazing video. thanks !

[@Astrapionte]

This is ironically my favorite song of family guy. I’ve listened to it on loop for days!!

[@tiscover]

Great video! I have tremendous respect for this people - stying fresh over all this years is a hard thing to do...

[@MrTayloreh]

Much respect for this guy. The music is the best part of Family Guy.

[@AvivC1]

Anyone else spot Wayne Bergeron at 6:41 ? Walter literally has THE best players on these sessions!

[@scj6693]

Aviv Cohen wow, he played trumpet for The Incredibles

[@matt-uh6mu]

I kind of geeked out when I saw him haha.

[@carlovar]

He is EVERYWHERE

[@jacobruiz97]

Yeah. Hollywood has all the best players out there

[@ThirdFocusMusic]

Very awesome video! Love to see more like this, maybe towards more cinematic stuff; Trailer scores, Fantasy music etc

[@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE]

Yep definitely, would love to see one on Gordy Haab and his stuff with the Star Wars video games.

[@KnapfordMaster98]

14:57 I adore how in 2018, with ground breaking sample technology, he still does mockups with the JV1080. It can sound pretty damn good when you know what you're doing.

[@BigOlSmellyFlashlight]

yeah time cant kill most samples

[@SlyHikari03]

Yup

[@peaceofkake1085]

There are no words that exist that can express just how much I really enjoyed this video!

[@SonicologyRecords]

Bravo! What a wonderful job.👏👏

[@AmazingDogShorts]

I have no knowledge of music composing but I found this video really interesting. What a genius this guy is! You are so unaware of the time and creativity put into these shows.

[@Wayne_Robinson]

Great! I appreciate hearing the two pieces in the context of the finished animation.

[@brunorio01]

Wow! So many details we take for granted... Such a labor of love. Congrats for the talent, grace, care and good taste. And that’s for all involved.

[@bigl5343]

It is great that quality music production followed Seth into the "Orville". The music perfectly catches the character of scifi similar to Star Trek.

[@ufox77]

An absolute treat to watch, thanks!

[@TheLuizSouza]

I hadn't seen how long the video was and kept worrying it'd be too short. I'm glad you went in detail with this. Very enlightening!

[@ryans413]

Love how the intro music has not been altered all these years

[@DaleNorth]

This was wonderful! Thank you! Also, Digital Performer for life!

[@garyharrison8891]

I've been with them from the start. Man has it changed. It's my go to DAW for writing.

[@AidanMcLeodProductions]

Meg.

[@iberneticsllc8182]

It was fascinating to hear him describe how his thought process and work flow went together.

[@bengolding1551]

This is absolute gold. LOVE seeing all the behind the scenes!

[@SapphireAdizes]

New drinking game: drink every time he says “orchestra pallet” 🤣

[@curtisunit]

This is a masterclass in writing, arranging and pre and post production. Given free. 🙏🙏

[@oinkbastudios3150]

Totally awesome Walter.. thank you so much for you time! And thank you SOS!!

[@danwool]

Yay, MOTU Digital Performer 9.5! Someone should tell Walter that if you set the velocity of the Key Switches to 0, you can have Quickscribe ignore them and not see them in the charts (see 10:35 in the vid). ...that may be the only thing i know that walter doesn't. he's amazing. the music for this show is consistently stellar.

[@galleryofrogues]

dan wool Saw an older behind the scenes and the score being was recorded to Otari Radar. Guess they switched studios or methods.

[@NealFox]

This was great. Loved every bit of it. Thanks.

[@TimLucasdesign]

Fantastic documentary! Brilliant work!

[@MoojiSoul]

I'd freaking pay for watching this, big big big thank you for everyone who made this and showing us the secret Walter!!!!!!

[@richardgordon9939]

amazing scoring

[@curtisunit]

Nice to hear the midi mock-up flushed out with a real section! There’s no substitute for that sound.

[@remdem]

I learned so much from this! So informative! I would love to hear more from Walter Murphy!

[@ArnoldVeeman]

This is absolutely fantastic! A real and comprehensive tutorial on film writing!!

[@Mrfailstandstil]

i never would have thought that so mush work is being done music-wise on each episode, i just thought that they were using some prerecorded public domain music pieces, it's amazing!

[@Criminal.Lawyer]

I’d love to see the recording of that godfather scene where the trumpet keeps getting louder and louder

[@ChristopherWoods]

Fascinating video and well produced by the SOS team, appreciate the insight.

[@sourcefor]

Been waiting for this LOVE the music..always sounds so good and I love both of these shows!!! Kudos to Walter!

[@benusmaximus3601]

16:43 - love that modulation!

[@des1877]

13:33 so awkward without music lmao

[@MarkHatlestad]

Fantastic interview, fantastic video production, fascinating topic. Thanks so much!

[@garyharrison8891]

I wonder if he wrote the “Prom Night Dumpster Baby”. Song? It’s bloody brilliant stuff.

[@dirkda2451]

thanks for such an insightfull video and all the years of making the most insightfull music magazine

[@MrMetallidude]

Thank you so much for this insight behind the scenes.

[@stephenward2743]

this was fantastic, thank you so much guys!

[@TheRealHucasys]

This is hilarious, and the most insightful video I've seen aboput scoring, awesome! Learnt a lot!

[@Unibabble]

Really enjoyed that, thanks!

[@spencerlayne7453]

You have to a brilliant sense of humour and really understand music to score for family guy. They all work together so well.

[@michellew.3691]

Oh my gosh, thats so cool! Big thumps up! 👍 Please more of that!

[@ChrisMHall]

Great video. Best yet from SoS

[@MichaelCosta_]

Terrific video! Thanks SOS.

[@retinalcircus]

So refreshing to know such a well humoured, inspired and creative composer and orchestrator is behind the music of this show! Absolute genius

[@buschman7114]

Very, very cool! Thank you!

[@ranzee]

Great work guys, love this show and had no idea how much effort goes into the music! Shared & liked :)

[@soundonsound]

Thanks ranzee!

[@wezlam]

Such a good insight into what goes on behind the scenes.

[@thelightmonkey1970]

Fascinating. So much work goes into something so irreverant! Bravo, Mr Murphy.

[@malcolmjacobson6226]

Outstanding video, great work Sound On Sound!

[@Andy-nd5ub]

This was very insightful . Thank You!

[@JDAZ]

“I have a large Orchestra Pallete” is my new pick up line

[@johnredberg]

Fantastic work! It's just a bit ironic that the two main pieces used in the documentary were eventually aired so heavily EQ'd ('50s TV effect) that you can hardly tell the difference between demo and full orchestration.

[@ccselementarymusic3968]

True. Not to knock the effort put in, but when it is processed like that...it could have been done on with a keyboard.

[@MathieuFerronMusic]

Probably comes from the producers, they love music, they have money, so let's pay musicians.

[@ovniusa15]

Great episode great music 🎵

[@artisticinterventionsinc.5721]

Great informational video. Thank you!

[@gabrelconner9146]

Loved this!!!!! More please!!! 🙏❤️❤️❤️

[@SlyHikari03]

14:57 good ol’ Roland JV1080. Still holds up to this day.

[@martti7363]

really interesting, glad this is so thorough!

[@rmo52]

Original brass players are, as I recall, Rick Baptist on all 4 trumpet parts; Alan Kaplan on the ‘bone parts. Maybe Sal Lozano or Dan Higgins on the 5 sax parts? Great stuff.

[@liquiditey]

A composer i admire from a Magazine i love,with such an in-depth BtS/interview has made this a great start to the week !!Ty!

[@mcblahflooper94]

Wow, this is super informative and super helpful

[@roryoconnor861]

Love this stuff. Thanks.

[@fatmumlickslips445]

Walter Murphy is a family guy genius.

[@cinematicsunsetrecords1895]

that is a lot of work behind every episode, very interesting!!

[@zzzyzzzyzzzyxxx]

7:35 - the coveted Funk Logic 3P-III Palindrometer. 3 empty RU's never looked so good.

[@greggiacona238]

Very informative, thank you!

[@scrumtrellecent]

The musical score for the epic fight between Herbert The Pervert and the old Nazi Lieutenant is my all time favorite...

[@jacobruiz97]

Yeah. Sounds like something out of Star Wars!

[@alexnekita]

amazing and inspirational. thanks!

[@gregwesthoff6206]

Great Interview!!!!

[@TravisLohmannMusic]

TWO Kensington Trackballs!!! :-O

[@OofysAnimations]

Seth loves music

[@djjuno106]

brilliant vid many thanks