Editing Babylon 5 (section)

=== Music and scoring ===
{{Infobox album
| name         = Sleeping in Light
| type         = soundtrack
| artist       = [[Christopher Franke]]
| cover        = B5SleepLightCover.gif
| alt          =
| released     = {{Start date|1999|03|23}}
| recorded     =
| venue        =
| studio       =
| genre        = [[European classical music|Classical]], [[Electroacoustic music|Electroacoustic]]
| length       = 25:01
| label        = Sonic Images
| producer     =
| prev_title   =
| prev_year    =
| next_title   =
| next_year    =
}}

{{Music ratings
|rev1     = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1Score= {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="AllMusic1">{{cite web |title=Babylon 5: Sleeping in Light (Television Soundtrack) |last=Ankeny |first=Jason |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/babylon-5-sleeping-in-light-television-soundtrack-r400716 |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=December 28, 2011 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818015315/https://www.allmusic.com/album/babylon-5-sleeping-in-light-original-tv-soundtrack-mw0000664009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
[[Christopher Franke]] [[Musical composition|composed]] and [[Sheet music|scored]] the musical soundtrack for all five years of the show when [[Stewart Copeland]], who worked on the original telefilm, was unable to return for the first season due to recording and touring commitments.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=19189 |title=Music change from Gathering to |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 8, 1994 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028174040/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=19189 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Initially concerned composing for an episodic television show could become "annoying because of the repetition", Franke found the evolving characters and story of ''Babylon 5'' afforded him the opportunity to continually take new directions.<ref name="ChrisFranke1" /><ref name="ChrisFranke2" /> Given creative freedom by the producers, Franke also [[Orchestration#Film orchestration|orchestrated]] and [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixed]] all the music, which one reviewer described as having "added another dimension of mystery, suspense, and excitement to the show, with an easily distinguishable character that separates 'Babylon 5 from other sci-fi television entries of the era."<ref name="ChrisFranke1">{{cite AV media |title=Celestial Sounds |year=2003 |people=Franke, Christopher |type=DVD Featurette - Babylon 5, Season 4 Box Set |publisher=Warner Bros. Entertainment }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Babylon 5: Messages from Earth |author=Editorial Review |date=July 7, 1999 |url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/b5_messages.html |publisher=[[Filmtracks.com]] |access-date=December 27, 2011 |archive-date=November 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128134056/https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/b5_messages.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

With his recording studio in the same building as his home located in the [[Hollywood Hills]], Franke would attend creative meetings before scoring the 25 minutes or so of music for each episode.<ref name="ChrisFranke1" /> Using the "acoustic dirt produced by live instruments and the ability to play so well between two semitones" and the "frequency range, dynamics and control" provided by synthesizers, he described his approach "as experimental friendly as possible without leaving the happy marriage between the orchestral and electronic sounds".<ref name="ChrisFranke2" />

Using [[Steinberg Cubase|Cubase]] software through an [[electronic keyboard]], or for more complex pieces a [[light pen]] and [[graphics tablet]], he would begin by developing the [[Melody|melodic]] content round which the [[Ambient music|ambient]] components and [[Transition (music)|transitions]] were added. Using playbacks with digital [[Sampling (music)|samples]] of the appropriate instruments, such as a group of violins, he would decide which tracks to produce electronically or record [[Acoustic music|acoustically]].<ref name="ChrisFranke1" /><ref name="ChrisFranke2">{{cite web |title=Babylon 5: Messages From Earth – The Interview |last=Franke |first=Christopher |date=April 23, 1995 |url=http://christopherfranke.com/interview.html |publisher=Rudy Koppl (interviewer) |access-date=January 3, 2012 |archive-date=February 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205123434/http://christopherfranke.com/interview.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Scores for the acoustic tracks were emailed to his Berlin scoring stage, and would require from four musicians to the full orchestra, with a maximum of 24 present at any one time. One of three conductors would also be required for any score that involved more than six musicians. Franke would direct recording sessions via six fiber optic digital telephone lines to transmit and receive video, music and the [[SMPTE timecode]]. The final edit and mixing of the tracks would take place in his Los Angeles studio.

A total of 24 episode and three television film soundtracks were released under Franke's record label, Sonic Images Records, between 1995 and 2001. These contain the musical scores in the same chronological order as they played in the corresponding episodes, or television films. Three compilation albums were also produced, containing extensively re-orchestrated and remixed musical passages taken from throughout the series to create more elaborate suites. In 2007 his soundtrack for [[Babylon 5: The Lost Tales|The Lost Tales]] was released under the [[Varèse Sarabande]] record label.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width=70%
|-
! colspan="5" style="text-align:left; border: 0"|'''Music CD Releases'''
|-
! style="text-align:left"| Episodic Soundtracks || Tracks || Running Time || Release Date || Catalog No.
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Severed Dreams || 5 || 33:15 || September 16, 1997 || SID-0310
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | A Late Delivery From Avalon || 6 || 26:37 || September 16, 1997 || SID-0312
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Walkabout || 6 || 28:58 || September 16, 1997 || SID-0318
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Shadow Dancing || 6 || 33:50|| September 16, 1997 || SID-0321
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Z'Ha'Dum || 6 || 36:23|| September 16, 1997 || SID-0322
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The Fall of Night || 6 || 22:45|| April 14, 1998 || SID-0222
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Interludes and Examinations || 6 || 30:14|| April 14, 1998 || SID-0315
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Into The Fire || 6 || 35:05|| April 14, 1998 || SID-0406
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | No Surrender, No Retreat || 6 || 30:53|| April 14, 1998 || SID-0415
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The Face of the Enemy || 6 || 32:20|| April 14, 1998 || SID-0417
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The Ragged Edge || 6 || 22:42|| April 14, 1998 || SID-0513
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Chrysalis || 6 || 24:51|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0112
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The Coming of Shadows || 6 || 26:00|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0209
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | War Without End, Part 1 || 6 || 32:04|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0316
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | War Without End, Part 2 || 6 || 32:41|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0317
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Whatever Happened To Mr. Garibaldi || 6 || 28:41|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0402
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The Long Night || 6 || 24:32|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0405
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Lines of Communication || 6 || 31:44|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0411
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Endgame || 6 || 35:25|| August 11, 1998 || SID-0420
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Falling Toward Apotheosis || 6 || 23:03|| February 16, 1999 || SID-0404
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Darkness Ascending || 6 || 32:41|| February 16, 1999 || SID-0516
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Objects at Rest || 6 || 27:52|| February 16, 1999 || SID-0522
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Sleeping in Light || 6 || 24:40|| February 16, 1999 || SID-0523
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | And The Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place || 6 || 27:59|| January 9, 2001 || SID-0320
|-
! colspan="5" style="text-align:left; border: 0"|'''Movie Soundtracks'''
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | In The Beginning || 6 || 57:12|| August 11, 1998 || SID-8812
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Thirdspace || 5 || 59:22|| January 12, 1999 || SID-8900
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The River of Souls || 6 || 49:55 || May 18, 1999 || SID-8907
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The Lost Tales (released by [[Varèse Sarabande]])|| 28 || 39:39 || July 24, 2007 || VSD-6829
|-
! colspan="5" style="text-align:left; border: 0"|'''Extended Compilations'''
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5 Vol.1 – Babylon 5 Suites || 6 || 58:03 || April 11, 1995 || SID-6502
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5 Vol.2 – Messages from Earth || 6 || 57:03|| February 11, 1997 || SID-6602
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | The Best of Babylon 5 || 6 || 50:02|| January 9, 2001 || SID-8931
|}