Mazzaro soundtrack highlights Naim for Bentley in Flying Spur

MANILA: Bentley and its audio partner Naim have collaborated with a Hollywood music industry titan to create a soundtrack unlike any other, specifically created to highlight the capabilities of Bentley's pinnacle in-car sound system.

Bentley commissioned composer and producer Steve Mazzaro, whose recent film score credits include No Time to Die and Dune, to create a piece of music that would showcase the Naim system's power, clarity, and richness while also expressing a musical interpretation of Bentley's design philosophy – inspiring, harmonious, and potent.

“To me, Bentley represents elegance and class but also power, speed and mechanical complexity, so for this piece, I used guitars, plus powerful, heavy low synths and very technical drums combined with intricate hand percussion. As with the workings of a car, you don’t see them, but you know they’re there, working in the background. I wanted to take the listener on a journey, with the essence of a film to be in a listener’s subconscious mind, so there’s flow to this piece — starting a specific way and then leading the person somewhere,” Mazzaro stated.

The Flying Spur is the perfect venue for Mazzaro's work, which also serves as an exhibition for Bentley's phenomenal Naim audio system. The system has the power and frequency range to make any song sound spectacular, with a 2,200 watt amplifier feeding 19 speakers around the interior and two kinaesthetic shakers in the front seats. When the track has been created particularly to complement the system, the effect is genuinely remarkable.

“For the opening, I wanted everything to be done with smaller instruments, but be powerful, organic, and kinetic.” Mazzaro explained. “I then introduce this big, cinematic orchestra, before ending with an orchestral, electronic, explosive culmination. I really wanted to push the power of the Naim audio system and see what it was capable of, so this also became more of a technical endeavor. There are so many speakers, I wanted to try lots of panning effects, bouncing the sound from left to right. This is a score for the driver’s seat.”

The finished track, titled "The Extraordinary Journey," will be distributed to Bentley's global retailer network for use in showrooms, and loaded into Bentley press cars all over the world.

Naim for Bentley produces the world's most advanced music systems, both for Bentley drivers on the road and for home users, through a never-ending quest for the cleanest sound.

The sound system in the Flying Spur is the latest iteration of Naim for Bentley products and technology. The sound is delivered by nine 80mm innovative Balanced Mode Radiators (BMRs), which are supported by four 6" x 9" bass drivers and a corresponding subwoofer. Four 25-mm "Super Tweeters" handle the high notes, while Active Bass Transducers in the front seats and one 32mm transducer augment the deepest bass.

The sound settings are managed through the 12.3-inch HD touchscreen display in the dashboard's center. Customers can set it up in various ways: as a single display, split 2:1, or displaying three different functions at once. The general design emphasizes ease of use while maintaining a modern and refined appeal.

Naim and Bentley, both pioneers of British design and engineering, collaborate to create the most advanced in-car original equipment manufacturer (OEM) system in the market.

Occupants can listen to music, digital radio, or spoken word media such as audiobooks and podcasts through the Naim for Bentley audio system, since it is compatible with Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, and Deezer.

The Naim for Bentley system has been designed to maintain performance even when the roof of the Continental GT Convertible is down, and as Bentley's hybrid lineup grows, starting with the Bentayga Hybrid, the even quieter powertrains offer a completely different audio environment to design for.

“We know that music is a passion of many of our customers — indeed, the Bentley x Naim sound system is specified on almost 40% of customer orders,” Bentley Board for Sales, Marketing, and Aftersales Member Alain Favey said. “It’s been a great pleasure to work with Steve Mazzaro to craft a piece of music to really demonstrate the prowess of the system. His talent, experience and incredible artistry have been inspirational to us. While the finished piece sounds amazing however you hear it, to truly appreciate every element of it you have to hear it in a Naim-equipped Bentley, where it’s unlike any in-car music experience I’ve ever had.”

Photos from Bentley

Also read: Bentley posts sales growth in 2021