Be Legendary

​​Having already written music for two basketball documentaries (The Dancin’ Bulldogs and Farewell), it was important to me that the music for Be Legendary was differentiable from the other two films. Ultimately, this led to me crafting a much more electronic, synth-heavy score than my past sports documentaries.

While the Kobe documentary (Farewell) featured an almost entirely orchestral score, it was important to the director that this score sounded modern and contemporary, and we found that sound through the use of hip hop synths and beats. This decision was founded in Devin’s character. Devin is a modern NBA star, and while he borrowed his foundational skills from past NBA legends, his play style is completely his own.

The primary instrument in the score is a nylon string synth guitar. Almost every time Devin’s theme plays, it’s played on the guitar. In addition, this guitar is used as a texture during action scenes, often playing quick riffs and ostinatos underneath other instruments. The second main instrument that forms the texture of the score palette is a modified dynamic swell synth (you can find the base model of this sound using Logic Pro X). The dynamic swell played any sustained chords used throughout the film, including Devin’s theme, and complimented the thin sound of the guitar with its thick synth sound.

​This documentary was my first chance as a film composer to revisit one of my prior movie themes and bring it back in a new way. Kobe Bryant was a huge influence on Devin Booker, literally telling Booker to “be legendary,” the title of the documentary. As a result, Kobe has a crucial scene in this film, and it made sense to me and the director that we would bring back his theme from Farewell: A Kobe Bryant Documentary.

The scene begins by revisiting Kobe’s death, and the piano solo from “Mamba Out” comes in, a nearly identical version to what plays during his death in Farewell. Then, as Devin and others discuss what Kobe meant to them and their careers, Kobe’s main theme plays.

However, I didn’t want to merely rehash music I’d already written for Farewell, so I made some small tweaks to differentiate between the two. Careful listeners will notice in this scene that Kobe’s theme, instead of being completely orchestral, is a blend of orchestral and synth-instruments. The best way musically for me to show Kobe’s influence on Devin was to literally combine their two musical styles: strings and horns for Kobe, and synthesizers for Devin. Devin is discussing how Kobe changed his life, and so we literally get to hear that influence as their score palettes combine.

In addition, we get to see the two themes intertwined. We start with Kobe’s theme, then switch to Devin’s theme as Kobe passes on advice, and then end with a soft version of Kobe’s theme, quietly remembering the impact he’s had on Devin.