"It's incredible how people get gaga over 'Harry Potter.' As much as I appreciate it, in many ways, it was just another film," he said.

He began by saying that you need, first and foremost, a sympathetic and flexible sound engineer. Without it, you’ll be struggling to find the right balance which will often result in a confusing sonic environment for the audience. He went on to say that good film composers take into account both diegetic and non-diegetic soundscapes (that’s both the underscoring and the sound happening within the characters’ environment – such as music from the Wizarding Wireless playing in the Weasley’s kitchen or the stomping of the staffs of Durmstrang students – for those of you keeping score at home).

To further the discussion of his vision for the sonic environment for the film, another student asked him about his level of control over the choices for “Mickey Mousing” (that’s the instrumental sound you hear to reflect an action – such as when Harry is flying away from the dragon and you hear an ascending glissando from the orchestra or when you hear the accented rhythms on the drums when the Durmstrang students enter the Great Hall and do their indigenous-style dance), to which Mr. Doyle told us that he had complete control over those particular moments in the film.

A long conversation was then had about his techniques surrounding his compositions how technology has transformed his career. Mr. Doyle said that, after having been a composer for 30+ years, he now has the courage and confidence to notate what he hears with his inner ear, whereas before he never really trusted himself. This statement was in reference to his ability to improvise a waltz (Neville’s Waltz) for the scene in which Mcgonagall is teaching the Gryffindor students how to dance. He said that he improvised a melody for the rehearsal with the expectation that he’d write something else to be used in the final score, but the production team liked it so much that they kept it for taping. Mr. Doyle also spoke about his vision for the Hogwarts Song, which was never used for the film. He told us how the deadline was fast approaching and he had nothing to offer in his meeting. When in the taxi on his way to the meeting, Mr. Doyle found inspiration. He envisioned the four tables in the Great Hall all standing and singing the song in a round.

One anecdote that stuck out was his process for gauging his success for some of the music that he hoped to use in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He told us about how he would play some of the music for his children to see if it passed “the cool test”. Apparently, Mr. Doyle is “very cool” in the eyes of his children.