ARTICLE - Recording The Score for Channel 4's Tip Toe.
- Jack Hughes
- 16 hours ago
- 9 min read
Welcome back to the Northern Film Orchestra blog.
We're incredibly proud to finally share our work on one of our most significant projects to date, providing orchestral production services for the score to Channel 4's suburban thriller Tip Toe.
Composed by Sam Watts, the five-part drama comes from acclaimed writer Russell T Davies (It's A Sin, Years and Years) and Manchester production company Quay Street Productions (Fool Me Once, Lazarus).
Read on below to discover more about our involvment, and behind-the-scenes insight into how the soundtrack was recorded.
Set against the backdrop of modern Britain, Tip Toe explores how online misinformation, polarisation and radicalised rhetoric can transform an ordinary neighbourhood dispute into something far more dangerous. It is an urgent and thought-provoking piece of television that tackles contemporary issues facing the LGBTQ+ community with both nuance and humanity.
For Northern Film Orchestra, it was a privilege to help bring the musical world of the series into existence. Across five episodes, our team supported the recording and production of more than fifty original cues that form the emotional backbone of the show.
A Suburban Thriller with a Northern Spirit
Set and filmed across Manchester and Salford, Tip Toe follows two long-standing neighbours whose worlds collide in increasingly explosive fashion.
Leo, played by Alan Cumming, is the charismatic owner of a Canal Street bar and a much-loved figure within the local community. Living next door is Clive, portrayed by David Morrissey, an electrician and father-of-two who has fallen down the rabbit hole of online conspiracy theories and extremist narratives.
With much of the action centred around Manchester's iconic Canal Street, the city in an active participant in the story itself, rather than just a visual backdrop.
As a Manchester-based orchestra, there was something particularly fitting about recording the score in the city where the story unfolds, allowing the production to retain an authentic Northern identity throughout every stage of the process.
Collaborating with Composer Sam Watts
Sam Watts is one of the UK's most versatile and respected composers, with credits spanning natural history documentaries, investigative journalism and entertainment television.
His previous work includes contributions to Planet Earth, BBC's Panorama, and most recently the hugely successful score for The Traitors.
Northern Film Orchestra was delighted to support Sam by providing orchestral fixing, session logistics and rights management services for the production.
The Role of Music in Tip Toe
Supporting a Complex Narrative
After reading the first scripts, Sam was immediately struck by the emotional weight of the story and the realism of its characters.
The production team provided regular assembly edits throughout filming, allowing musical ideas to evolve alongside the series itself rather than waiting until picture lock. This early collaboration gave the score room to develop organically and ensured music became woven into the storytelling process from an early stage.
Balancing Tension with Queer Joy
One of the creative priorities for the series was ensuring that Clive remained recognisably human rather than becoming a simplistic antagonist.
Reflecting this, the score balances darker thriller material with moments of warmth, celebration and optimism. Alongside pulsing suspense cues sit more uplifting and pop-influenced textures that underline moments of community, resilience and queer joy.
To further ground the music in the themes of the series, Sam specifically sought a trans vocalist for the project, collaborating with singer ILĀ on Leo's Theme, which became an important creative touchstone for the wider score.
The Sound of Inevitability
Because the audience is shown the eventual outcome of the story within the opening moments of episode one, Sam wanted the score to convey a sense of inevitability and forward momentum.
Rather than relying on traditional cliche devices sued to sign ify time such as ticking clocks or percussion patterns, this was achieved through driving and repetitive string figures that create the feeling of an unstoppable march toward the conclusion.
These ideas first emerged during a pivotal speech delivered by the character Melba in episode 1, and gradually became one of the defining musical signatures of the series.
The final score spans almost two hours of music and combines live strings with acoustic guitar, custom synthesizers designed by Sam's Brother Dan Watts and percussion performances by Richard Orpheus Campbell.
The creative forces behind the score for Tip Toe, composer Sam Watts, Mixer Dan Watts, Percussion from Richard Orpheus Campbell, and vocals from ILĀ.
Bringing the Music to Life with Live Strings
At the heart of the Tip Toe score lies the sound of live strings. Northern Film Orchestra assembled a sixteen-piece string ensemble to record the sessions at Manchester's Victoria Wood Hall, capturing the emotional nuance and subtle imperfections that only live musicians can provide.
The sessions gave Sam the opportunity to experiment with extended techniques including tremolo, sul ponticello and aleatoric textures, creating an increasingly unsettled sonic palette as the series progresses.
These textures begin almost imperceptibly during the opening episode before gradually intensifying alongside the drama itself.
The Recording Process: Precision Under Pressure
For Tip Toe, Northern Film Orchestra delivered a full-service orchestral package, managing everything from Musician's Union and PACT compliance through to fixing, contracting, session management and rights administration.
Across three recording sessions at Victoria Wood Hall, our team worked with a hand-picked ensemble of some of the North's finest musicians to capture more than fifty cues within an extremely demanding production schedule.
Efficiency was essential, but Sam deliberately built creative flexibility into the sessions, allowing time for experimentation and discovery alongside the recording process itself.
Many of the most distinctive sounds in the final score emerged directly from these moments of exploration, with players encouraged to push techniques further and embrace improvisatory textures that added tension and unpredictability to the music.
Despite the intensity of the schedule, the sessions maintained an excellent atmosphere throughout. Several cues even featured memorable performance directions written directly into the score, including instructions such as "With swagger"and the now infamous "Play like you're gonna get laid", which provided plenty of laughter in the live room.
Conductor’s Insight – Melvin Tay
For a recording project of this scale, much of the work begins long before the musicians play their first note. With more than fifty cues to record across three sessions, careful preparation was essential if we were to use every minute effectively while still giving the music the detail, character and dramatic sensitivity it required.
For each session, we created a cue sheet setting out the recording order, the time available for each cue and a clear list of priorities. We also made sure to protect additional time for music requiring greater nuance, as well as passages in which Sam wanted to explore different playing techniques and find the effects that best served the scene.
Ahead of the sessions, Sam Watts, orchestrator Andrea Possee and I met online to work through the cue order and make sure that we shared the same musical and logistical priorities. I examined the scores in detail and worked closely with recording engineer Simeon Ogden to prepare and check the click tracks, including the necessary edits and drop-in points. It is the sort of technical work that may go unnoticed when everything runs smoothly, but even a small problem with a click track or edit can quickly use up valuable recording time.
Once we were in the room, the plan gave us both focus and freedom. The cue sheet acted as our map, keeping the sessions on course while also showing us when there was room to take a creative detour, try a different texture or spend longer refining a moment that felt especially important. As conductor, my role was to turn the creative priorities and feedback from Sam and Andrea into clear, immediate direction for the orchestra, while keeping the room focused, positive and moving forward.
We were fortunate to have a dedicated score reader for each session. Joseph Judge and Felicity Cliffe brought exceptional ears to the process, following every detail of the score while providing another expert listening perspective in the room. They helped us evaluate takes, identify anything that needed further attention and keep accurate notes to share with Sam, who was listening and watching remotely through AudioMovers and Zoom.
Their observations could then be addressed quickly from the podium, allowing us to preserve the momentum of the session without sacrificing musical accuracy or detail.
The strength of this approach lies in combining careful preparation with the flexibility to respond creatively in the room. A clear plan, open communication and a trusted team meant that we could work efficiently without losing the curiosity and experimentation that often produce the most distinctive results.
There was a real sense of shared purpose throughout, and it was a joy to work so closely with Sam, Andrea and the wider creative team, including director Peter Hoar and producer Phil Collinson, who joined us in the room for all three sessions.
Recording Engineers Insight – Simeon Ogden
Recording the Northern Film Orchestra and our team is something I absolutely adore! We’ve formed a tight technical workflow that allows creativity to flourish to give an end that is reaching some of the biggest stages.
My initial work usually begins when Melvin has started pre-productions with the composers and team. We discuss the creative direction, focus of the music, use of instrumentation and of course click tracks. On this project Sam delivered ProTools sessions with guide tracks, tempo map and timecode. As we record ‘on location’ where we utilise acoustically brilliant spaces and bring everything with us, it gives me the opportunity to ‘start fresh’ every session, tailoring the mic positioning from what I believe to be the desired capture and creative outcome. This also has its challenges.
String ensembles are where Victoria Wood Hall really shines, the space has an incredible acoustic where you can hear every detail of the string instruments with amazing separation and clarity. This project was to be edited and mixed by others, in these cases I like to give the engineers downstream a way to tailor the sound. The sessions saw me deploy an OCCO array where the outer omni microphones can be blended with the centre cardioid microphones to create different senses of ‘space’ and low-end information. Outriggers were deployed, even for the small ensemble as in this room they give an amazing sense of width, they almost act as room microphones. With a handful of spot microphones the capture was complete, this needed to be replicated over three sessions with laser like accuracy.
Running a session like this with many cues takes strict preparation in the warehouse, stress tested systems and all equipment to be in full working order. ProTools sessions have click variations printed in them for ‘at tempo’ drop-ins, trying to make life for the musicians as easy as possible from a technical side. Remote session access pre-set, tested and clear instructions delivered to those wishing to access it. Mixes for score readers, producers and directors roughly set and adjusted to taste during the session. All these things allow me to focus on the quality of the microphones, instead of being bogged down with tasks at the start of the session I’m free to assess if my microphone placement is the best it can be, I’m getting the desired sound and make sure the session gets off to a great start.
Working with Melvin is amazing, he’s a real pro and we can now communicate via facial expressions. Sam is a true talent and gentleman, he is very supportive and brilliant to work with. Working with people at such a high level and standards really keeps you honest, you have to make sure your work is at a level to justify being there.
The Golden Thread
Projects like Tip Toe perfectly capture what we aim to provide at Northern Film Orchestra, technical precision, legal confidence and an environment where creativity can thrive.
It was a pleasure to collaborate so closely with Sam Watts and a privilege to welcome director Peter Hoar, producer Phil Collinson and orchestrator Andrea Possee into the room during the sessions. The energy, creativity and collaborative spirit of those recording days can be heard throughout the final score.
Personel List
Composer — Sam Watts
Orchestrator — Andrea Possee
Score Mixed By — Dan Watts
Orchestra Music Director & Conductor — Melvin Tay
Recording Engineer — Simeon Ogden
Score Reader & Assistant Conductor — Joseph Judge
Fixer & Orchestra Manager — Josh Hall
Managing Director — Jack Hughes
Score Reader — Felicity Cliffe
Technical Assistants — Jack Cowell, Sam Butterfield
Recording Venue - Victoria Wood Hall, Halle St. Peters
Violins
Will Chadwick, Andra Vornicu, Eleanor Shute, Katie Foster, Alison Jones, Dewi Tudor Jones, Rebecca Howell, Catherine Landen, Jody Smith, Anna Tulchinskaya, Nathan Fenwick, Gemma Bass, Cleo Annandale, Alexandra Webber Garcia
Violas
Alex Mitchell, Henrietta Hill, Kim Becker, Rebecca Stubbs, Tom Congdon, Rosamund Hawkins
Cellos
Svetlana Mochalova, Nathan Jackson-Turner, Polly Virr, Ben Cashell, Matthew Phillips, Andrew Harsley, Johnathan Pether
Double Basses
Thomas Betts, Marcelo Rodrigues, Ria Nolan
Overall, this was a wonderful project to be part of and one that we were immensely proud to see reach audiences around the world.
If you're interested in learning more about the production, we recommend watching the BFI discussion featuring Alan Cumming, David Morrissey and the creative team behind the series, which offers valuable insight into both the making of the show and its wider cultural impact.
Tip Toe is available to stream on Channel 4 in the UK, STARZ in the United States and HBO Max across parts of Europe.
Thank you for checking out this article! If you're planning a project involving live orchestra recording, orchestral contracting or score production support, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact - jack@northernfilmorchestra.com
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