First listen: 'Steve Jobs' score has opera, synthesizers

Carly Mallenbaum | USA TODAY

Chances are, you've already heard about how good the Steve Jobs biopic is. Now, it's time to actually listen to the film's score.

Steve Jobs opens wide Oct. 23 after this weekend's record-breaking limited release. The movie follows Jobs (Michael Fassbender) as he prepares for three different product launches, which serve as the film's three clearly-drawn acts: Act 1 is the 1984 launch of the Mac; Act 2 is the 1988 presentation of the NeXT computer; Act 3 is the 1998 release of the colorful iMac.

Composer Daniel Pemberton shared the film's score and chatted about writing music for a dialogue-heavy biopic with USA TODAY:

Act 1: Change the World

Before Pemberton agreed to compose the Steve Jobs score, he read the movie's abnormally long script (185 pages, as opposed to the usual 120) and thought, "this script is amazing, but where the hell am I gonna put any music?" Don't worry: He took the job, and found plenty of places for music that ranges from electronic to symphonic and helps every onscreen conversation (of which there are many) sound epic and varied.

In Act 1, Pemberton wanted the music to feel as if it was from 1984, so he composed it on synthesizers that were tuned to sound like keyboards from the '80s. And if you hear something that resembles Chariots of Fire, the inspiring Vangelis theme that was played during the actual '84 Mac launch, that's no accident.

If you want to use this song to score your real life: Play it when you have a great idea.

Act 2: The Circus of Machines

This act, which shows Jobs presenting a computer at his new company after being ousted by Apple, is about revenge and betrayal, so "Why not write an opera?" says Pemberton.

Pemberton indeed composed an Italian opera that can be translated to be about "the wonders of machines," he says, which was perfectly set in the San Francisco Opera House.

The pairing of opera and Jobs made sense to Pemberton, because the score is "using the oldest computers of all time: the orchestra, this amazing machine," he says. "You give it data, and it interprets in a way that hasn't be replicated by technology today, with emotion and nuance."

If you want to use this song to score your real life: Play it when you're being dramatic, but playful.

Act 3: Life Out of Balance

Pemberton says, "(Screenwriter) Aaron Sorkin's dialogue is the libretto" of the movie, so it was important that he let the dialogue breathe, while also not creating a " 'Social Network, Part 2' score," he says. To achieve both of those goals, Pemberton created distinct moods for each act, concluding with Act 3, which manages to have a "coldness," but also feature Jobs "achieving what he set out to achieve," says Pemberton. Of course, the music was written on a MacBook Pro with Apple Logic software.

"One of (Jobs') big ambitions was to allow you to achieve great things — he calls the computer a bicycle for the mind," says Pemberton, who says he felt very connected to Jobs while composing music for the film. "Working inside my Apple, I used just Apple software to interpret (the Jobs) story."

If you want to use this song to score your real life: Play it when you're upset with someone.