The complete Frieren soundtrack is finally out now. Before it was released on streaming platforms, Epicstream got an exclusive interview with Evan Call, the renowned composer behind the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End soundtrack.
As the show’s music got a lot of praise, we asked Call about his creative process regarding the soundtrack’s composition.
Call shared some interesting insight into his approach to selecting instruments, figuring out the atmosphere of specific tracks, and sharing the process of arranging the show’s ending theme.
Evan Call on Composing Zoltraak and His Favorite Tracks
Q: Zoltraak has become one of the most popular songs from Frieren. How did you go about crafting this track?
Evan Call: I'm very happy and surprised with the popularity of the song.
First of all, it's very strange. When I'm writing, I'm not really sure what songs are going to take off and what songs people are going to like more than others.
But for this one, the approach was a little bit different than the rest of the songs.
I think it's a little bit more, not pop, but kind of a little more uptempo and a little more catchy, with more of a beat and a groove compared to the other songs.
Usually, when I'm writing, there's a menu of songs I go through and write for each one.
For this one, it was supposed to be something like “attack magic: Fern”, so I composed it in the image of Fern using high-speed Zoltraak blasts.
I wanted something that had a beat to it, and I wanted it to stand out from the other songs which have a little bit more of an orthodox vibe.
For example, Frieren’s battle theme is a big epic piece with a choir and whatnot. A little more, not classical, but orchestral.
A lot of the soundtrack is quite orchestral and is a bit more on the peaceful side. But for Fern’s battle theme, I thought I'd do something that stands out from the rest of it.
I didn't want to do it solely as a full orchestra song, but I did want it to have orchestral elements. And I didn’t want to use a big epic choir, but I thought maybe female vocals would be nice to add kind of a folk/ethnic feel to it.
So I went about writing it as kind of mostly an uptempo folk-pop track, but then it gets a bit epic later on with strings and other parts coming in.
There's a little bit of orchestra, but it's not the main focus. It’s used mostly as a supporting element.
When I started, I just got to work on the keyboard as usual and started messing around trying to come up with melodies.
I wanted it to have kind of a bouncy melody and work from there. From there, I started figuring out the supporting chords.
Once the foundation was done, I started with my arranging. I decided to put a hammered dulcimer at the beginning to start the song.
Just small stuff like that to make it kind of feel like something kind of “magical”, I guess you could say, since they're using magic to fight.
The main point was trying to give it a special feeling compared to the other songs, and I guess it turned out that way.
Q: Is the catchiness of a track ever in your mind when composing music for an anime? Or are you strictly focused on matching and complementing each scene when creating songs?
Evan Call: Catchy is a difficult word to use in this context, but I try to make music that's enjoyable to listen to outside of the show. So whether that's catchy or not might depend on what people are into.
But for me, I like to write with the idea that, afterward, people might remember the song or they might want to listen to it again, as opposed to writing more atmospheric music, although there is certainly room for that kind of music in most shows too.
Generally, I try to make my songs something that people would want to listen to outside of the show and maybe think back on the story, or even just relax, hang out, and enjoy some music.
So yes, I think I try to write catchy, but not necessarily the pop kind of catchy way most of the time.
Q: Aside from Zoltraak, do you have a personal pick or a favorite song in the soundtrack?
Evan Call: From the pre-release, one of my favorite songs is One Last Adventure. It plays when Himmel and the rest of the party go on their last adventure to see the meteor shower.
From the full release of the soundtrack, it’s difficult to choose, but I really like Frieren the Slayer, which played during the Frieren vs Clone fight.
It’s super epic, and it also plays in the Aura fight at the end when she meets her demise. I really like that song. It's pretty epic, I would say.
That one's also a little bit different than the others as it has a choir as the main focus of the track.
I think another [song] that people will be really into is Dragon Smasher. It’s the Stark battle theme in the Dragon fight.
It’s a little bit similar in a way to Fern's theme in terms of being a kind of uptempo folk track, but it's a little bit less pop and more orchestral-focused. I think those two are maybe what people will like.
I think a lot of people have also been listening to Time Flows Ever Onward, which plays when it shows how many years after the death of Himmel.
Q: Was there a particular song or episode that you had the most trouble with while creating the Frieren soundtrack?
Evan Call: I wouldn't say I had much trouble this time. There was the scene with Frieren, Heiter, and Eisen after Himmel's funeral where Heiter takes his leave.
I had to make a couple of adjustments at the beginning of the scene while film scoring it, but nothing too crazy.
I wouldn't say it was particularly difficult. It's mostly just trying to figure out what the sound director and the director wanted with the scene versus what I originally intended, which wasn't too different, just a few little nuance changes like the exact point where the music should come in.
Frieren is in a genre that I really like. I've always been into fantasy. Ever since I was a kid, I always read fantasy books, played fantasy games, and listened to music about fighting dragons and stuff.
It’s something I’ve always been into, and it’s something I could only dream about being involved in when I was growing up.
Because of that, working on Frieren is basically a dream opportunity for me. I didn't really have much trouble with it, to be honest. It went very smoothly.
However, there's a lot of music. I guess that, in that aspect, it was a bit difficult, just the sheer amount of work. But [composing the soundtrack] was smooth and enjoyable.
How Frieren's Ending Theme Was Arranged
Q: Can you talk us through the process of producing the Frieren ending theme Anytime Anywhere? Especially regarding how its production differs from the soundtrack, given that it's a collaboration between yourself, milet, and the other writers.
Evan Call: Because I was doing the music for the show, they wanted me involved in the ending song to give it a similar atmosphere to the soundtrack, but they still wanted it to remain a pop song first and foremost.
Because milet and her team wrote the song together, it came to me as a one-chorus band-style demo. So it was essentially guitar, drums, and vocals.
From there, I discussed with, first of all, the anime production side about what kind of sound they were looking for. Did they want it to be more piano-based or something?
Previously, they had talked about doing it as more of a piano-centric tune, and then maybe from the second chorus, bringing in the band.
But aside from the animation production side, there was also the record label and milet's producers' opinions to take into consideration. So, yeah, there were varying opinions about how each side wanted to do the song, and I was kind of in the middle.
So, I took in all the opinions, hopes, and desires from both sides and tried my best to find a good middle ground.
One side preferred a piano/orchestral arrangement and the other a more band-focused arrangement with orchestral elements, so I looked for a good balance.
I used both piano and guitar, and I started with just light orchestration for the first chorus, which I knew would be used in the first half of the season.
I knew that they were going to use the second chorus for the second half of the season, so I arranged it in a way that there would be a feeling of development between the two TV-sized versions.
I arranged it with the goal of it functioning effectively for both endings while still being a complete pop song. I varied my orchestration in a way that I feel reflects the story as the show progresses.
It’s a bit lighter in the first cour, then in the second cour, the band is a bit more prominent.
For me, as the arranger of the track, I got the demo from them with the band, and I also got the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data of the tempo and melody.
Without the MIDI data, I would’ve had to listen to it all by myself and copy the tempo and everything.
It's something I could do, but I was also in the middle of writing all the music for the show, too, so whatever I could do to save time was helpful.
If I had the data with the locked tempo with the melody on it and maybe some chords, then I could go from there very easily.
I also did a lot of reharmonizing. The chords that were given to me when I received the data were more in the vein of pop-style writing, so I adjusted the chords to be more dramatic, to fit the world a bit more, and to match the overall feeling of the show.
Overall, the melody is the same, and the chorus chords are the same, but everything else is completely rearranged. It was a great ending to work on!
I thought it was funny when Aura's head gets cut off, and then “And you all right?” plays. It certainly left an impact.
Evan Call's Creative Process and Collaboration with the Frieren Staff
Q: What was the main piece of direction you got from the Frieren director and/or staff when you first began work on the anime’s music?
Evan Call: When I first wrote the theme song, I did it kind of on my own volition. I guess you could say I didn't want to wait for them to give me a concept.
I thought I'd just do what I wanted to do first, and then I'd see if they liked it or not.
After that was decided, we had the first meeting and went over some questions I had. Because it hadn't been animated at that point, I was wondering what the magic was going to look like.
Is it going to be kind of a magical girl-style thing where they strike a pose and use magic? Or is it going to have more of a natural kind of feeling?
They said it would be more of a natural thing as if it's just a regular part of the world.
And so, we mostly talked about how they were going to portray the world, show the magic, and other things to paint me a clearer picture of how the show would look and feel.
As far as the specifics about music, there wasn't too much. I had the main theme done, so they wanted me to keep that atmosphere and feeling going forward.
From there on, it was up to me to do whatever I felt appropriate as long as I followed the general descriptions for each song on the menu, which contained information about what types of scenes they wanted to use them for, like Frieren getting stuck in a mimic, etc.
And then after I'd get several songs done, I'd send it so the director and the sound director could give me their opinion on it.
It was actually one of the smoothest, easy-going shows I've worked on. I think we were all on the same page from the start.
There were a couple of minor adjustments on the film-scoring side for the first four episodes.
Stuff like moving the start of the music a little bit earlier or maybe making the melody come in a little bit later – that kind of thing.
Overall, it was a super smooth experience, so there wasn't too much to discuss in terms of music.
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Q: You mentioned in a Reddit AMA that you played instruments like tagelharpa and shvi in composing the Frieren soundtrack. How did you select or come up with instruments, especially the more unusual ones, while working on the Frieren soundtrack?
Evan Call: I just want to try to create a unique soundscape, I guess you could say; something that fits the world, gives it some character, and doesn't seem too out of place.
I've always been into old folk instruments from different countries since I was a kid just getting into music.
I'm always looking for an opportunity, or well, looking for an excuse to do that kind of stuff, and having the freedom [for this soundtrack] was the perfect reason for it.
So, I wanted to use a little bit of different tones/timbres and different feelings. I used a lot of tin whistle or penny whistle, as it’s sometimes called, for which I hired a professional player.
Aside from that, I also used a recorder, and I'd separate it from the tin whistle depending on what kind of tone I was going for in the song.
Do I want it to have more of an ancient feeling (recorder) or a little bit more of an emotional, happy, fun, folky feeling (tin whistle)?
The shvi and tagelharpa were used more as background instruments here and there. Not really on the melody too much, but just something to add a little bit of color, just kind of an atmospheric background thing on a few of the songs. Just something to provide an old-world feeling.
Also, I used a lot of solo violin, but I also used a lot of medieval fiddle, also known as the vielle. It's played kind of like a violin, more or less, but it's tonally a little bit different.
It sounds kind of, I guess you can say, more medieval. So, I used those different types of instruments to try to flesh out a unique color palette for the show.
ALSO READ: Why Is Frieren So Popular? Exploring What Makes the Fantasy Anime Stand Out
Q: As you’ve been given a lot of freedom to compose the Frieren soundtrack, would you say that, for your creative process, do you prefer having this level of freedom, or do you sometimes prefer having a more specific direction?
Evan Call: It depends on each production. If the client is okay with lots of freedom, I love to have freedom, but if they say they're okay with lots of freedom and I take those words to heart, and then they don't like it and have a specific feeling or style that they are looking for, then it can be a little difficult.
So I think it depends. If the client really has a specific sound that they're looking for, I would prefer that they tell me that and give me the general direction. I’m fine working either way.
But if I already know that it has to be somewhere in the realm of a certain feeling, then I prefer to have more freedom to do it.
Overall genre guidelines are great, but I prefer to have fewer guidelines on an individual track basis.
Sometimes, for the freedom part of it, there will be a show where there's a lot of freedom, but for some reason, I just can't get a particular song right the way the director or sound director wants.
If I have to do a full retake a few times, and I'm running out of time, it’s great to get a push in the right direction.
Q: Would you say that you still enjoyed watching Frieren or the other shows you have worked on? After all, some actors or creators prefer not to watch the projects they’ve worked on as they can get fixated on things to be improved.
Evan Call: It's endless. The amount of things or times where I think I should have done this or I should have done that. But in the end, that's any kind of art. There's no end to it. You can tweak something forever.
So, I've learned to kind of let go a bit. Even if I think something sounds great, and I'm happy with it, there are always slight orchestration changes I could do.
But you also have to consider the amount of music and the amount of time that I have to compose, arrange/orchestrate, record, etc.
Some things you cannot let go of, but if you worry about every single nuance for 70 songs, you’re not gonna finish in time. So, I'm very satisfied with the music that I did.
I always look forward to watching my shows on TV, especially because when I’m doing a film scoring thing, I only get a rough idea of what it looks like.
A lot of times, it’s black and white, and it doesn't have all the movement and whatnot. And sometimes the voices are temporary when doing film scoring.
When I watch it on TV for the first time, it’s usually the first time I'll see my music synced to the picture unless it's a film-scored scene.
But for Frieren, from episode five onward, it was all put into the picture by Shouji Hata, the sound director, and his team.
So, I'm always excited to see how it turns out, as I have no idea what to expect. Maybe he's going to use a super inappropriate song at an inappropriate time and it will sound crazy. But he did great!
Plus, I like the story of Frieren too, so I was super excited to see it all animated. The animators put so much work into it too, so I'm just happy to watch it and take it all in.
Q: Some actors dive deep into the source material when they get roles while others prefer not to. For Frieren, what was your approach to crafting its soundtrack? Did you also dive deep into the manga?
Evan Call: I definitely read the manga. I think it may be a different standpoint from how the actors would approach something where they're still given direction during the scene.
The director, who knows the lore and everything perfectly, is there to guide the actors.
And maybe in that way, not reading through [the source material] themselves gives them a little bit of a different approach when matched with a director.
But I think in terms of music, you're creating an important part of the world-building and atmosphere.
Of course, the characters are super important, but a lot of that can be fixed during the recording session when they're working with the sound director and the director about the proper nuances and stuff.
For music, it’s a requirement to be very familiar with the story ahead of time. That way, there are no surprises.
You know what to expect, and you know what kind of music should fit the world better. If I hadn't read it, I don't think it would have matched in the same way that it does.
READ: Here's Where You Can Read the Frieren Manga Online
Evan Call on What Made Frieren Resonate with Viewers
Q: What is the main appeal of Frieren for you? What about it do you think helped the show resonate with viewers across the world?
Evan Call: I have to say, I think the pacing is extremely well done. For example, one that comes to my mind is the story of old man Voll, Frieren’s old dwarf friend.
I just watched 10 minutes and already felt like I was going to cry. It's so well done. It's so well put together. It feels like I'm watching short movies each episode.
There’s such a huge level of care in all aspects of the show that when it's all together, it amplifies each aspect to greater heights.
I'm not really sure what would be the main appeal of it, but I think it's the overall atmosphere and feeling of the story. I think that resonates with a lot of people.
Of course, I like super action-oriented stuff where everybody's powering up and battling and stuff like that, but I also like peaceful, heartwarming, and easy-going stories.
I'm sure a lot of the fans who watch Frieren are like that too, and this show weaves the cool, peaceful, heartwarming, and easy-going parts together into something magical.
The complete Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End original soundtrack is out now on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, as well as in digital stores such as iTunes and Amazon Music.
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