In the Studio Pt. 2 ft Zedd | One Strange Rock

They didn't want me to create a Zedd song. They wanted me to create a piece of music that matches what this is all about.

[music playing]

My first thoughts when the project came to me was, finally, and excited, because I've made classical music in my life. I've always wanted to be more in the scoring world. And the way it was presented to me is, it's a project that Darren Aronofsky is filming for Nat Geo. And I'm a big fan, so I was immediately interested.

So what I find really inspirational about One Strange Rock is that it's much more visually stimulating, and it keeps you engaged with the topic, and it was my mission to try to match that in the audio world. So in the series, it's a lot about seeing things from a different perspective. And even if you think you know what a certain thing is, looking at it from a different perspective you learn a new side of it.

And that's the thought behind this chord progression as well. The first half is all one bass note, and these chords, this melody, that's really haunting. You think you've heard it already. But it never really opens up. It's always this question mark because of this pedal note. It doesn't move.

And then after that big reveal, you see that exact same melody, the same chords, but with a different bass note, and it opens up a completely different emotion. The second step was obviously recording that piano and then adding elements to it—cinematic moments, some hits that really grab your attention, building a huge climax, and then the orchestra is a big piece.

I asked my friend Brian Tyler to help orchestrate this piece. Then it goes back up. I'm in the process of the second half of the songs, which is the big climax where the whole orchestra comes in.

And [music starts] I really want to find a way to add my elements to it, that sound like Zedd, but keep the epicness of this choir and orchestra. So I'm still halfway done.

[music playing]

I hope that when people hear this piece of music that I made for One Strange Rock, they will realize that I am capable of writing emotional music outside of what they think I can do. And I just hope that people give this a chance and really listen to it, and listen to the intricacies and details of the chord progression, and how this musical piece changes you when you listen to it.