COMPOSER's THREAD

What are some of our favorite scores out there and why?

My all-time favorite score is from "The Natural" with Robert Redford simply because the music played such an important role in the "mystical" and "magical" eliments of the story. When those heroic horns play that fanfare-type theme, reserved for the momentus moments of the film, moves me the way a good score should.

I have many other favorites, but this one always stood out for me.
 
Well... mine would have to be the feather song... Alan Silvestri... forest gump - radical...
Did anyone here find the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings, irritating, repetative and just plain distracting? I did...
 
I only saw Lord of the Rings (1) in the theatres and yes I found the score to be very boring and distracting and everything else you said. I remember thinking, "I'm glad I didn't write this" while watching the movie. I guess that's pretty bad.

Alan Silvestri, however, is one of the best. Nothing ever boring there.
 
Stephen,

Great call on "The Natural" - it was a real winner.

I particularly like the work of James Horner. My criticism of him would be that he tends to plagarize his own music. None the less, I like his style. I also like Danny Elfman's stuff a great deal. I'm a hopeless romantic, and his stuff really lends itself to that genre.

But, to answer your question, John Barry heads my list with his score to "Somewhere in Time". The title theme (and perhaps the movie) was written for hopeless romantics like myself. I don't remember a theme that better compliments a story and, at the same time, is memorable but doesn't get in the way of the story. John also did a great job on Dances with Wolves.

Regards,

Hutch
 
Dances With Wolves! Yes! Beautiful score that was effective but not in the way.

Did you know that the 1st Batman movie (Tim Burton's) was originally going to feature only songs by "the artists formerly known as" Prince instead of the score that was brilliantly done by Elfman? How horrible would that have been!

I don't think I've ever been disappointed by a John Williams score either, except in Harry Potter he borrowed some Star Wars progressions. Great score and very forgivable never-the-less. Anyone remember the J. Williams score to the Posiedon Adventure?
 
Ah John Williams! The famous musical borrower!

I have often recognised melodic phrases / chord progressions etc from famous classical composers - it's all good though - respect the musical past!
 
Hmm, it's interesting how the big names get mentioned as being good, while the not-so-well known ones aren't. I would love someone to hear some Horner, say, and be told it was Shore or some random person, and see how that affects their judgement of the piece.

I'm not saying this to be controversial - it's a well known psychological fact, one that businesses use every day in order to sell ordinary items at high prices (the "Brand Name effect"). It's also a test that me and my old composition mentor at Uni did once, and the results can be very surprising!

BTW, I really like Jerry Goldsmith :D , mainly because of his sheer diversity of styles. Comparing things like Planet of the Apes, Alien, or Secret of Nimh (just to mention a few) you can hear how he just goes for it, no matter what the style (or decade!).

And as for Howard Shore - well, he had a short amout of time to make a lot of music, and having to represent several races and cultural groups for the fans and non-believers alike - I personally feel he did a damn good job of it. And to the best of my knowledge (could be wrong, tho!) he didn't use ghost writers.

Phew! Didn't mean to write so much stuff!

So do you guys prefer to write in a certain style? Pastiche? Serialism? Trance/techno? Metal?
 
Do any of you music guys like Philip Glass? I haven't see it in a long time, but I remember really, really liking the music he did for The Thin Blue Line.
 
Baz has a good point about name brand composers, but for this discussion and because the composers cover a world-wide area it's easier to relate. Most of us have heard their work so it's easier to discuss Elfman, Goldsmith, Williams, Silvestry and Glass with someone in, let's say, Guam. Lesser-known composers are not worse just because they are not known to the world. So Baz, yes I think you're right.

Who ever heard of Klaus Badelt? I never did until he scored "Pirates of the Carribean". The score was produced by Hans Zimmer but the writing credit was given to Klaus. What a great job he did!

BTW... I'm not a big fan of Phil Glass. I can, and have done, his style before, but I find him extremely boring and unmoving. (Re: score to the documentary The Thin Blue Line)
 
I liked Phillip Glass's soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi... but, Stephen, I can see where you're coming from in the sense of long drawn out repatitive parts. Mind you, the Koyaanisqatsi track was very creative and matched the mood, and style of the film very well! Any one agree / disagree?
 
Shot Renegade said:
Did anyone here find the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings, irritating, repetative and just plain distracting? I did...
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Fool of a Took! I loved every moment of the score. So many great themes, it rivals Star Wars for great themes.

CommanderGoat said:
Do any of you music guys like Philip Glass? I haven't see it in a long time, but I remember really, really liking the music he did for The Thin Blue Line.
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I like Glass sparingly. His music works well with Errol Morris, but not so well in other cases (he did the score for Taking Lives, and I found it extremely distracting - yet somehow I still figured out the twist ending, hmmm).

BazTheHat said:
Hmm, it's interesting how the big names get mentioned as being good, while the not-so-well known ones aren't. I would love someone to hear some Horner, say, and be told it was Shore or some random person, and see how that affects their judgement of the piece.
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Well before I get to some lesser knowns, John Williams is the master, Danny Elfman is second, Silvestri Third.

Other than that, I will like any score that's well done. Jon Brion comes to mind as a lesser known. He did great work on Magnolia and I just saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I liked his stuff there as well. John Ottman has done some really good work, most notably The Usual Suspects (I also loved his score for The Cable Guy, even though it wasn't a very big part of the movie). The late, great Michael Kamen did some good work. I think when James Newton Howard works with M. Night he does some spectacular stuff, but other than that he's just average. I loved The Dust Brothers' work on Fight Club. I love Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell's work on all the Dreamworks animated films (Antz, Chicken Run, Shrek). And last but not least, I love the work of the guy that I'm beginning a colaboration with, he's about as unknown as you can get.

Poke
 
By the way, as of this post we are at 60 replies and 620 views for this thread. (I'm sure Matte is glad we got off his thread.) What's the record IndieTalk?

Thanks for making this thread so popular folks!


Shot R., I have heard Koyaanisqatsi but haven't seen it. (but still ... ZZzzzzzzzz....)
 
Stephen Kaminski said:
What's the record IndieTalk?
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I haven't been here since the very beginning, but I came a couple of months after it. I wanna say that this is the hands down winner so far, but just to warn you I'm thinking of starting a Jar Jar thread in The Lobby.

Poke
 
Pokewow? Jar Jar? Nooooooooooooo! (as if falling down a bottomless pit)
Yes indeed this is a very good thread.
Stephen, you should definately see 'Koyaanisqatsi' = visual / musical master piece.
Poke, the eye of (saramon?) (sardine?) (salad cream?) (er...) is watching you! And I still think the LOTR sound track is boring, and repetative! ;)

What about the old classic black and white films from way gone... for instance the sound track to those classic war films, romantics, horrors!? Any takers?
Psycho soundtrack - Awwwwww NICE! quiet possibly the best horror / slasher / thriller sound track to date!
 
BazTheHat said:
Hmm, it's interesting how the big names get mentioned as being good, while the not-so-well known ones aren't. I would love someone to hear some Horner, say, and be told it was Shore or some random person, and see how that affects their judgement of the piece.
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Baz,

I'm sure that what you describe does happen, but not in this case. I can say that objectively because there is one thing that Horner did, that I hate! In fact, although I place Horner in my top tier of favorite composers, I still credit one of his efforts as literally the worst thing I have ever heard associated with a film score - BAR NONE!!!!

While I really like the score he did for "The Perfect Storm", the piece at the end where he turns his main theme into a pop song with vocals (performed by John Mellencamp no less) is at the top of my "Worst music of all times" list. It was co-written with someone named George Green who apparently has no other writing credits to his name (make that shame.) It sounds to me like Horner scored an instrumental piece and someone came behind it and tried to add words where words never belonged. Heck, they might as well have tried to add words to the Theme from Star Trek - it might have actually sounded better! :D

Anyway, back to Horner, he uses an effect over and over in each of his scores. In fact, I hear it so frequently now that I have been able to predict that he scored several movies lately before I saw his name in the credits. He'll write a couple of bars, provide a big pause, and then answer it with a single note in the lowest registers of a sweetened grand piano. I liked the approach and mimicked a piece of it it in a recent project I scored. Pick any of his scores and you will almost consistently find that progression in it.

There is another progression, not worth mentioning, that he also uses over and over again. I heard someone sometime back accuse him of stealing from his own tunes. I thought they were sour grapes, but I have since realized they were right on the money. None the less, I think the guy is one of the best writers on the market and I like what he does...

Regards,

Hutch
 
An Invitation...

I mentioned in the first page of this thread my recent opportunity to compose a piece for symphony and have it performed locally. Well, the 4 minute romantic piece, entitled "Patty's Song", is finished, has been rehearsed, and will be presented in concert on April 15, 2004 by the University of West Georgia Symphony, in Carrollton Georgia, with the composer conducting. The piece and the performance are both being dedicated to my wife.

I know you guys are mostly out-of-towners, but just wanted you to know you're invited if you are in the neighborhood. Concert begins at 8:15 PM on April 15 (tax day) at the University of West Georgia concert hall in Carrollton, Ga.

Regards,

Hutch
 
Will you be making a recording of the concert that you could post online? I don't know how practical that is in this situation so I may be sticking my foot in my mouth here :blush: . In any case, best wishes with this and I hope to hear it someday!
 
@Hutch - thanks for the offer - I think the flight might be a bit pricey, though :cry:

And what a great response! I'm really glad my comments opened up the box for discussion.

@Shot Renegade - you guys probably never heard of it, but I had to teach some 'A' level stduents (17-18yr olds) about some music from a 1950's comedy called Passport to Pimlico. Personally, I hate that style of music for film - I guess it's film music in it's pre-pubity stage! Far too active, without much thought for what's actually going on on-screen. But it can work OK as a piece to listen to with no visuals.
 
Baz, yea, know what you mean by those old classics... the melodies smother the action - euurrrgggh!
One film that does have a good score is 'Suddenly last Summer'.
 
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