Composers Create Dramatic Track for Tradewind Voyages

Composers and cousins James Waymont and Jack Culpin took four weeks to perfect ‘The Ocean’s Journey’.

It’s a dramatic track that passengers on Tradewind Voyages’ new ship Golden Horizon will hear as the ship sails out of ports.

James, a drummer, has a background in rhythm, while Jack, who plays flute and violin, specialises in melody.  The two combined their skills to create something they describe as ‘triumphant, but also catchy and memorable.’

During the enforced period of social distancing, the two constantly exchanged ideas over video conference and then worked separately on different sections before pulling the piece together in just under a month.

“The first thing to get right was the theme, as that would set the tone for the piece,” said Jack.

“We went for a brass section with strings to grab attention and then it went from there.”

Jack met Tradewind Voyages chief executive Stuart McQuaker, himself a musician, in an orchestra and was commissioned along with James to create a piece of music that captured what it felt like to be onboard the world’s largest square-rigged sailing ship.

“It was great working with the team from Tradewind Voyages, because they were a balance of musical and non-musical people and that works well when you are getting feedback, because you have to remember that many passengers may not be musical,” said James.

“The brief was for a piece of 4-5 minutes and they wanted the track to have a strong melodic aspect, but also a pulse throughout.

“The initial task was to get the first 30 second theme right.  Our first iteration wasn’t quite right for them, but we went away and refined that and built the track from there.

“We had meetings each Monday over the four weeks and that was very helpful in creating the right piece of music for them.”

Both James and Jack felt that the information they received about Golden Horizon was a very useful part of the brief.

“We had a video about the ship and also information about the passengers who will be on the ship.  That really helped us get a feel for exactly what was required,” said Jack.

The composers gained a ringing endorsement from Tradewind Voyages, not just for their work but also for how easy they were to work with and how they went about their business. “We thoroughly enjoyed it and we hope passengers will love the music we’ve created,” said James.