Original Music By Mark Ovenden

Cultural Music Co-Ordinator Stewart Kellaway

Cultural Singers

Mandawuy Yunupingu Djanga Yunupingu (Ronnie) Guttutjiri Gurruwiwi (Alfred) Gambujdjiki Yunupingu Daneminu Yunupingu (NIcky) Rrawun Maymura

Yidaki Players Naikuma Burarrwanga Daneminu Yunupingu (Nicky) Gavin Yomunu Yunupingu Gapanbulu Yunupingu Minbakurri Gurruwiwi Gauwuma Yunupingu

Ganga Giri Guitars- Clive Young

Keyboards supplied by Roland Corporation Australia

'Neva Mend" (NoKTuRNL/Kram & Whit) Performed by NoKTuRNL, Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia Licensed from The Festival Mushroom Group

"Black Bugs" (Ben Fly), Performed by Regurgitator Taken from the album "Unit" ℗ 1998 Warner Music Australia Licensed from Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd, © 1987 EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Ltd Licensed by EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited

"Gapu" Written by G. Yunupingu, (Yothu Yindi Music/Mushroom Music) Performed by Yothu Yindi, Licensed from The Festival Mushroom Group

"Poisonous Love/Ghost Spirit" Written by M. Yunupingu/L. Lowders/S. Kellaway/M. Yunupingu, (Mushroom Music) Performed by Yothu Yindi, Licensed from The Festival Mushroom Group

"Treaty" Written by M. Yunupingu/M. Mununggurr/G. Yunupingu/S.Kellaway/ C. Williams/W. Marika/P. Kelly/P. Garrett (Yothu Yindi Music/Mushroom Music) Performed by Yothu Yindi, Licensed from The Festival Mushroom Group

"Surrender" Written and Performed by Kelly Howell From "Making Tracks" by Songlines Music Aboriginal Corporation

"Farewell" From the album Manmoyi, Written and Performed by the Garmadi Community, Co-Ordinated by Laura Naberhiborhl

CD:

A CD of the soundtrack was released:

CD Australian Children's Television Foundation CMF001 2001

Original Score composed by Mark Ovenden (except "Kakadu" composed by Mark Ovenden and Mandawuy Yunupingu)

Special acknowledgment is made of the vocal performance of Mandawuy Yunupingu on "Kakadu" and Djanga Yunupingu (Ronnie) on "Baru"

Performed by Mark Ovenden with Cultural Singers: Mandawuy Yunupinqu, Djanga Yunupingu (Ronnie), Gurrutjiri Gurruwiwi (Alfred) Gambujdjiki Yunupinqu, Daneminu Yunupingu (Nicky), Rrawun Maymura

Yidaki Players: Naikuma Burarrwanga, Daneminu Yonupinqu (Nicky), Gavin Yomunu Yunupinqu, Gapanbulu Yunupingu, Minbakurri Gurruwiwi, Gauwuma Yunupingu, Ganga Giri

Guitars: Clive Young Drums: Bill Heckenburg Cultural Music Co-ordinator: Stewart Kellaway Keyboards supplied by Roland Corporation Australia Samples courtesy of Spectrasonics "Distorted Reality 2”

THE SONGS:

1. Treaty, Yothu Yindi (4’03”) 2. Neva Mend, NoKTuRNL (3’13”) 3. Gapu, Yothu Yindi. (5’06”) 4. Surrender, Kelli Howell (3’48”) 5. Ghost Spirits, Yothu Yindi (5’04”)

THE SCORE:

6. Walking (Mark Ovenden) (2’39”) 7. Kakadu Part 4 (Mark Ovenden and Mandawuy Yunupingu) (1’50”) 8. Botj's spirit in water & Botj's spirit flies (Mark Ovenden) (1’50”) 9. Opening sequence (Mark Ovenden) (3’27”) 10. Botj on the gangway (Mark Ovenden) (3’10”) 11. Turtle Hunt (Mark Ovenden) (1’15”) 12. Botj and the community (Mark Ovenden) (2’37”) 13. Kakadu Part 1 & 2 (Mark Ovenden and Mandawuy Yunupingu) (1’35”) 14 Goanna Hunt (Mark Ovenden) (2’25”) 15. The Canoe (Mark Ovenden) (2’22”) 16. Baru (Mark Ovenden) (1”42”) 17. Closer (Mark Ovenden) (1’17”)

Composer Mark Ovenden:

Composer Mark Ovenden had a one line wiki at time of writing, here. There was much more detail about Ovenden and his career at his public LinkedIn listing here.

But at least the wiki provided a link to a June 16th 2005 story published in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, about composing for the screen, which, inter alia, contained this about Ovenden’s work:

Composing the score for the 2000 film Yolngu Boy required Australian expatriot Mark Ovenden to go on a walkabout. Living in Berlin while the film was shot, he tossed musical concepts around with director Stephen Johnson long distance before heading to Gove in East Arnhem Land. The plan was to record traditional songs to use in the score, reflecting the film's theme of the clash between indigenous culture and modern society. Helped by Yothu Yindi's bassist Stu Kellaway, Ovenden drove around in a troop carrier looking for singers to whisk off to a recording studio. "The first guy we recorded was an old man we found standing up to his waist in a bay with a spear hunting stingrays," Ovenden recalls. Later, Ovenden relocated to a friend's spare room in Melbourne where he spent eight weeks working on the score using MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and Logic Audio software on a Mac synched to a VHS player. "Less stressful than being in a studio and cheaper," he says. "I had a small budget and planned to use real strings but this never came about due to all the usual stress with deadlines and endless scene re-edits." The finished score was mixed with dialogue and audio effects at Melbourne post-production studio Soundfirm on a digital console. Ovenden's soundtrack received positive feedback, including a Deadly Award - an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music award - and an Australian Centenary Medal. Ovenden now works as a sound designer for Wizoo Sound Design in Bremen, a company developing software instruments co-owned by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer. After 20 years of working as a freelancer, Ovenden says this is his attempt at achieving a normal life. "Although living on the other side of the planet and having a daughter who can't speak a word of your mother language might not be considered so normal, I guess."

The film’s press kit provided this short bio:

Yolngu Boy's composer, Mark Ovenden, has been heavily involved in the music industry for over two decades and is regarded as one of Australia's leading composers and producers. As composer of the soundtrack for Yolngu Boy, Mark was responsible for bringing the film's music together including the commissioning of the bands Yothu Yindi and Nokturnl as well as approaching Regurgitator for the inclusion of their song Black Bugs on the soundtrack. A musician himself, Mark is also responsible for playing a number of the instruments for the scores that you can hear on the soundtrack of Yolngu Boy. Mark is now based in Germany and over the years has toured and recorded extensively. He has worked with some of Australia's hottest talent including Midnight Oil, Yothu Yindi, Neil Finn and You Am I.

The kit also provided these details on the music:

Composer Mark Ovenden worked closely with indigenous musicians in Arnhem land and with the natural rhythms of the Australian bush itself to create a unique soundscape for Yolngu Boy. He has created a backdrop that is both true to the indigenous Australian spirit and thoroughly contemporary. Mark uses the most modern techniques of electronic music to harness the beauty and power of indigenous Australian instruments and voices. Mark was responsible for bringing together the film's music including the commissioning of the bands Yothu Yindi and Nokturnl as well as playing most of the instruments for the scores that he composed himself. All of the film's music, except for the didgeridoo played by Ganga Giri in Melbourne, was recorded in the small Yothu Yindi studio just outside Gove in Arnhem Land. Mark had assistance in sourcing singers and didj players for the film from Mandawuy Yunipingu (lead singer and Associate Producer) and Stu Kellaway (bass player) from Yothu Yindi. The first musician that Mark, Stu and Mandawuy found was an old man they had worked with before. At the time he was walking in the bay, in his underpants with his spear ready to hunt a stingray. Reflecting on the time, Mark said, "When we nabbed him, I guess he figured it was a better deal to get payed by us than to spear a stringray." Mark and Stu brought together traditional musicians and recorded traditional songs for each of the animals identified in the film hence they got songs for Manata Ray, Baru (crocodile) songs, hunting songs, Goanna songs and turtle hunt songs. A normal working day was probably only about 2 or 3 hours of actual recording with most of the time spent actually finding people, getting them back to the studio and getting all the technicals done. Mark approached Regurgitator to use their song Black Bugs. It was a song that Mark really wanted to use but didn’t think he would be able to get permission. When Mark was nearing the end of scoring the music he decided to go for it and an approach was made to the band. They gave Mark permission to use their song. He says that Regurgitator really wanted to contribute in some way to this landmark film and “this was a great gesture from the band.” The Yothu Yindi studio is located about 30 metres from the beach at the edge of the bay which meant that on dinner breaks, Mark and Stu could catch, cook and eat fish (and dodge snakes!) before returning to work for the night. At one point in Mark’s life he lived “just down the road” from the recording studio (a mere 450km away!) and thoroughly loved living in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Mark is now based in Germany and over the years has toured and recorded extensively. He has worked with some of Australia's hottest talent including Midnight Oil, Yothu Yindi, Neil Finn and You Am I .

(Below: Mark Ovenden)