After two years of shooting, editing, and walking, I recently completed my travel documentary series Notes from Nepal. From the unique culture and breathtaking views to altitude sickness and crazy bus rides, these episodes tell the story of what it’s like to trek around the world-famous Annapurna Circuit in Nepal’s stunning Himalayan mountains.
Having a vision
What really helped with the music choices for this project was having a clear vision from the outset. This is a travel documentary, so I knew that I wanted the music to emphasize elements of Nepal and the Himalayas as a way to ground the viewer in that time and place. For the same reasons we may associate romantic accordion music with scenes of Paris or jazz music playing over a busy New York sequence, I wanted to source songs incorporating Tibetan bowl chimes, chanting monks, and local Nepali folk instruments.
Using Artboards
As soon as I returned back from my trek, I set up an Artboard on Artlist. This is basically a brainstorming tool where I can store music I like or think might be a good fit for a particular project. Even when I wasn’t working on Notes from Nepal, I would add to this Artboard any pieces I came across while searching for music for other projects that I felt were a great fit for the series. Over time, I slowly built up this playlist of songs, which proved incredibly helpful when it came to the editing process.
Every time I began to edit a new sequence in the film, I would fairly quickly have an idea of what I wanted the accompanying music track to be. I’d head straight over to consult my Artboard because I knew that within this playlist, the chances were pretty high that I already had the right song saved. If I couldn’t find the exact song, I used the “similar songs” tool or checked out the Artist’s other work. It really helped to streamline my editing process and made sourcing music that much easier.
Local artists
What I love about Artlist is its extensive catalogs for each artist. I discovered Suraj Nepal’s work while searching for “Nepal,” and quickly realized that many of his songs could be used in the series. Even if I heard one song that wasn’t quite the right fit for a particular sequence, I knew I could sift through his other works to find what I was looking for.
By featuring Suraj’s work extensively throughout the series, I created a cohesive thread that binds the episodes together through music. Since this is a travel documentary, it makes sense to ground your audience in a particular place by featuring local musicians from that country or region.
Featured songs
Below, I’ve highlighted a selection of my favorite song choices for the series, breaking down why I picked them and how they work for the edit.
The busy streets of Kathmandu
The first episode of Notes from Nepal is all about exploring Kathmandu. I knew from the start that I wanted to find a track that could reflect the hectic, busy, chaotic streets while also staying true to the city’s ancient heritage. The sequence was going to be fast-paced with a lot of cuts and high energy, so when I found Jerusalem by Suraj Nepal, I knew straight away that this was the right song.
The bus scene
At the beginning of part two, we travel by bus from Kathmandu to N’gadi, where our trek begins. Taking a bus in Nepal is an adventure in itself. The roads are often wild, fast, and dangerous, and the buses are old and filled with all kinds of characters, plus the journeys can be incredibly long.
For this sequence, I was in search of a slightly deranged, unconventional piece of music. I needed it to reflect how we felt—the longer this bus journey dragged on, it drove us closer to the edge. It needed to be frantic, fast-paced, and unpredictable, much like the journey itself. After searching around for “acid jazz,” I eventually came across this brilliant piece by Dialgo.
Folk music
We started our trek in the relatively low foothills of the Annapurna Region. This part of the Himalayas has many small settlements and villages, where Nepali folk music has emerged over the centuries. As we passed through the foothills, I knew I wanted to soundtrack it with an authentic folk song, and once again, Suraj Nepal was my first choice. Freedom is exactly the song I had in mind.
Meditation and nature
Notes from Nepal is a series about trekking through some of the most beautiful mountains on earth. Naturally, there’s a reflection on being immersed in nature and meditative themes due to the peace and quiet you experience in such a place. I wanted to begin part three with a song that introduces and reflects those themes, as well as the religious beliefs of the region – they’re a key reason why so many people have fallen in love with the Himalayan mountains. 136 Hertz EARTH TONE by Mystic Flute is a beautiful song that captures the essence of all this.
Shifting cultures
One of the best things about trekking the Annapurna Circuit is experiencing all the diverse habitats and environments of the Himalayas. As you climb higher, the landscapes and cultures shift. I wanted my music choices to reflect this change. While Nepali folk music plays in the foothills, as we reach higher altitudes and more remote settlements where Buddhism is more dominant, I began to search for songs that incorporated these specific elements.
In the sequences focused on Upper Pisang and Manang, I found two songs by Suraj Nepal that were perfect. Voice of Windy emphasizes how remote and empty Upper Pisang felt, while Mongolian Voice really taps into the unique music of this region’s culture and religion.
Unforgettable moments
I wanted to end part three with a grand crescendo of epic mountain views as we walked from Upper Pisang to Manang. The landscape is phenomenal, and epic views call for epic songs. Searching for “uplifting,” “epic,” and “cinematic” eventually led me to the work of Hans Johnson.
I loved his Human Spirit song, but the human vocals didn’t quite fit —for me, they evoked feelings of the African continent more so than Nepal or the Himalayas. Fortunately, with Artlist, there is the option for an instrumental version without vocals, which was perfect for that unbelievable trekking sequence.
Altitude sickness
In part four, we reached extremely high elevations, and as a result, I suffered from severe altitude sickness. It’s quite a challenge to convey on camera just how bad altitude sickness can make you feel because the physical symptoms aren’t always visible. I knew that the music choice here would be integral to communicating a sense of something going wrong, and I found the perfect song in Ben Winwood’s Hope. It really gives you this feeling of unease and concern, immediately conveying that something isn’t right.
As I waited for the sickness to pass in a teahouse overnight, I knew this intense song couldn’t continue playing throughout the entire sequence. Instead, I switched to Lance Conrad’s Waiting and Hoping, which still conveys a sense of unease and tension. It also features a “countdown” ticking sound, emphasizing the urgency and the question of whether I would be well enough to cross the pass the next morning.
Climbing the pass
I heard Dawn Raider by Tristan Barton very early on in the editing process for Notes from Nepal, and I instantly knew that this was the song I wanted to use for the climbing sequence in part five, where we attempted to make it over the Thorong La Pass.
Even the name ties nicely into this scene – we woke up at 4am and hiked through dawn on our own mission. The way the song builds plays perfectly into that, as does the increasing intensity, reflecting how the stakes kept rising the higher the higher we climbed. It’s a really epic song that matches those incredible mountain vistas perfectly, and there’s this lovely moment when it all reaches a peak that feels like Tristan had composed this song just for this moment.
Wrapping up
Despite having so many diverse sequences across five episodes, I was able to find the perfect soundtrack for each one through Artlist. There are so many tools available to you, like the Artboard feature, and the search filters really helped me to narrow down and hone in on exactly what I was looking for each and every time. I loved discovering all of these amazing artists from all over the world—it was one of my favorite parts of the editing process.
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