When it came to directing his sound and music collaborators, DaVinci’s Inquest creator Chris Haddock made only two demands: make the coroner series sound like its hometown Vancouver and keep it innovative.

As a result, sound designer Jane Tattersall spent a week recording the sounds of Vancouver’s busy harbor, the city’s indigenous song birds, the busy SkyTrain transit system and other ambient sounds. Composer Tim McCauley, meanwhile, allowed the gamut of musical influences – from opera, to rap to jazz – to inspire his score.

‘Sound and music address the same part of the brain for people watching the show,’ says McCauley, who by all accounts shares an unusually harmonious creative rapport with Tattersall. ‘The picture will always tell you what to do and this show has great range.’

DaVinci’s Inquest, only the second primetime Canadian drama series to be produced in Vancouver, follows the investigations of a city coroner and his team. Made for the cbc, production on the first season of 13 episodes wrapped earlier this month, with sound, music and other post-production to continue through the summer.

The producers, Haddock and Laszlo Barna of Barna-Alper, Toronto, already have the okay for a second season even though the show won’t debut until September.

The musical theme for DaVinci’s Inquest is described by McCauley – who formerly worked for six seasons on North of 60 – as ‘Henry Mancini meets hip hop’ and only had to go through two versions to win Haddock’s approval.

The series’ theme features the trumpet of Vince Mai, guitarist Dave Sinclair, bass player Mike Mackay and drummer Darren Gilmour mixed on top of a computer-generated base.

The determination of the lead character DaVinci, meanwhile, is represented by a relentless percussion, says McCauley.

In melding the score with the sound design, there is at least one example in which McCauley and Tattersall merged their efforts. In the climactic scene of episode three, which concludes a three-part opener, a nine-minute dynamic score is tempered by the sound of lapping water which becomes a part of the music, says Tattersall.

In another case of innovation, scenes open and close with sound effects rather than music, which Tattersall says places a new level of importance on the sound design.

Of course, as with any Canadian show, the budgets for sound and music are bare. Haddock wanted to put more on the screen and that put more of a squeeze on the sound and music.

Tattersall says she and McCauley are completing one episode in a five-day cycle as compared to a more normal seven-day cycle. She’s able to stretch the budget because her interest in the project has encouraged her to cut her own fees and she has hired more junior sound designers who need the credit.

Sound editing is being done at Tattersall Sound in Toronto and foley is being done at DAVE Audio, also in Toronto. Tattersall and McCauley complete the mixing and adr at Sharpe Sound in North Vancouver.