tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36291501837979613982024-03-14T10:57:08.971-07:00Incidentally, Music: One Girl's Adventures in Analyzing and Enjoying Film ScoresAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-27024147700058553672013-05-13T13:36:00.003-07:002013-05-13T13:37:42.898-07:00May Composer of the Month-Hans Zimmer<br />
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<a href="http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/game-hunters/2009/11/03/hanszimmerphoto03x-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/game-hunters/2009/11/03/hanszimmerphoto03x-large.jpg" style="margin-top: 8px;" width="195" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hello readers! I have three favorite film score composers, artists whose work I always enjoy, regardless of the film genre they're scoring for. I've featured two of these men already: <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2013/02/happy-valentines-day-to-our-february.html" target="_blank">Alexandre Desplat</a> and <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2012/11/composer-of-month-and-skyfalllincoln.html" target="_blank">John Williams</a>. Today, it's time for the third- Hans Zimmer! His score for <i>The Bible </i>miniseries is spectacular and he's about to release his score for <i>Man of Steel</i> (YES), which should definitely be a contender for Best Original Score at the Oscars this year. Since it's summer and I'm feeling lazy, I thought about simply linking a bunch of YouTube videos to this page and saying "Here. Enjoy." I'll probably still do that, since that would be a best way to show you lots of his wonderful work...but Mr. Zimmer is a genius and deserves more love than that, so here's a brief biography! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZk5XRLLouElRXyAr0AMOWxunBN9ZJxrUcKpAANCiikGFUxDTDVPyRqT-B9wTYI4bEXjVinPTkKjAI0luYdcqlAk_jpE0TVNt8R87r0AcUm7RqRgFLH9cBW-XmQ4QxFbKp53ffWCj3pc/s1600/Hans-Zimmer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZk5XRLLouElRXyAr0AMOWxunBN9ZJxrUcKpAANCiikGFUxDTDVPyRqT-B9wTYI4bEXjVinPTkKjAI0luYdcqlAk_jpE0TVNt8R87r0AcUm7RqRgFLH9cBW-XmQ4QxFbKp53ffWCj3pc/s320/Hans-Zimmer.png" width="320" /></a>Zimmer was born on September 12, 1957 (which shall henceforth be known as Hans Zimmer Day) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He learned to play the piano as a child and began pursuing music in earnest after moving to England and graduating from high school. He started out playing keyboard and synthesizer for various European techno bands in the 1970s, including Krakatoa, The Buggles, Helden, Mecano, and The Damned. His first adventures in composing involved writing ad jingles and collaborating with composer Stanley Myers. Zimmer and Myers co–founded the Lillie Yard recording studio, where throughout the 1980s, they wrote music together. Zimmer also wrote some solo scores at this time- <i>Terminal Exposure</i> among them </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.ong8ba8.com/images2/RainManOMPSFront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.ong8ba8.com/images2/RainManOMPSFront.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a>The turning point in Zimmer's career came in 1988, when he wrote the score for <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Q-N_UUSxA" target="_blank">Rainman</a>-</i>a hugely successful film that won Best Picture and earned Zimmer his first Oscar nomination. From there, Zimmer had no where to go but up! Since then, he has earned dozens of awards for his work including an Oscar, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe in 1995 for <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhMUvhIAPtY" target="_blank">The Lion King</a>, </i>a Golden Globe in 2001 for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPnKMCCxPu8" target="_blank"><i>Gladiator</i></a>, and a Grammy in 2009 for <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94TAFSMdkvk" target="_blank">The Dark Knight</a>. </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here <span style="font-size: small;">are some</span> selections from famous Zimmer scores in addition to those above, just to show you how diverse and wonderful his work is! I love his music because it captures my imagination and often makes me want to go on adventures. <span style="font-size: small;">So, l</span>isten to <span style="font-size: small;">Zimmer's <i>music</i></span> today and enjoy :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxqhPi5wzxc" target="_blank"><i>A League of Their Own</i></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRhsJ_KQf6w" target="_blank"><i>Crimson Tide </i></a><i><span style="color: black;"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKJvP688oiU" target="_blank">As Good As It Gets</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eej5QZrg7RI" target="_blank">The Prince of Egypt</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Qa1BkMNYs" target="_blank"><i>The Road to El Dorado</i></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcxQfCZ_9V8" target="_blank">Black Hawk Down </a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opP4PcZ7aN4" target="_blank">Pearl Harbor</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP9IrCCMUUw" target="_blank">Hannibal</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcVfB5meUyM" target="_blank">The Ring </a> </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQu22qIlErU" target="_blank">The Last Samurai</a> </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hVxPss-haY" target="_blank">Something's Gotta Give</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym_InaNfJgQ" target="_blank">Pirates of the Caribbean</a> (</i>all 4 of them!)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfyz-zRgsLs" target="_blank"><i>Madagascar</i></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgRVJksQocM" target="_blank"><i>Sherlock Holmes</i></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-ad-qbdmQY" target="_blank">It's Complicated</a> </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV-ZZp32c2I" target="_blank"><i>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2</i></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imamcajBEJs" target="_blank"><i>Inception</i></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urR8muDTkD0" target="_blank">The Bible </a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I30wE0Ae64w" target="_blank">Man of Steel </a></i></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-59884047979819049232013-05-08T10:01:00.001-07:002013-05-08T10:01:56.006-07:00A Bunch of Score Reviews!<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Good day, delightful readers! It's a sunny day for me at home right now. The semester is finally over and I'm looking forward to a summer of adventure and learning. And of course, listening to lots of music! Here's my reviews of the scores I listened to while studying for my finals during the past two weeks :) <i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>The Host</i>, by Antonio Pinto-7/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span><b>Did it fit the movie?</b> Yes, very well. It captured that sense of wonder accompanied with confusion, sadness, and fear, all important elements of the plot of the movie (and of the book, which I have read multiple times. Although Stephanie Meyer is better known for Twilight, I personally like The Host more! It's a better story.) Pinto uses electronic sounds and strings mostly, with a tiny bit of guitar</span>. <br /><span><b>Did it make me feel something?</b> Yes</span>: depressed, content, amazed, happy, peaceful, worried, confused. This score is very easy to listen to and very emotive-it plays well in the background but still had the ability to draw me out of my work to re-listen to moments that captured my attention. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b> <span><b>Was it original? </b></span></b><span>Hm, maybe? It did remind me of a Carter Burwell oscore r Thomas Newman score as far as instrumentation goes, but some things were definitely original. For example, there's this sound that Pinto uses (hear it on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUXRGRoCvuw" target="_blank">I'm Alive</a>) that is really intriguing and new. It sounds like a drop of water might sound if it made a musical note. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b><span><b><span><b>Did I like it?</b></span></b></span></b></span><span><span> Yes, I did, a little. I liked how it was easy to listen to yet still captivating. My one gripe, as usual, is that there weren't strong melodies throughout. There were some, but they were very understated and not well developed. I think Pinto is new to the Hollywood scoring world, so I'm interested to see where his career goes from here. Purchasing suggestion? Spotify! Or buy the tracks you like. My favorites were: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp5H6X29jsw" target="_blank">One Strange World, </a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqLKdkfa940" target="_blank">Soul Inside</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dVNsHZgUm8" target="_blank">Goodbye Wanderer</a>. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>The Place Beyond the Pines </i>by Mike Patton-7.5/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span><b>Did it fit the movie?</b> Yes, I think so, but in a really surprising and unexpected way. It was very gritty music, appropriate for a crime drama, but at the same time ethereal, due to Patton's use of </span>a choir effect accompanied by synthesizer and electric guitar! So weird. <br /><span><b>Did it make me feel something?</b> Yes, it made me feel uncomfortable! The clash of the choir and guitar, in addition to the dissonant chords Patton implemented made for a somewhat unsettling experience. I felt tense much of the time while listening to the score, which was probably Patton's intent. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b> <span><b>Was it original? </b></span></b><span>Yes, it was original! The use of the choral voices made it very atypical, as well as the other sounds and instruments he used. I heard harp in there, as well as cricket-ish noises on one of the tracks. It was pretty cool. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b><span><b> <span><b>Did I like it? </b></span></b></span></b><span><span>Yes, in terms of artistry. I liked the electric guitar and choir thing a lot because that was new and exciting. No, in terms of listening. It was too hard to listen to by itself. Again, one of the times where context is very important. I did like some tracks though-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI8Xvr-c27s" target="_blank">Broman</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI8Xvr-c27s" target="_blank">ce</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Seon9GWO9hc" target="_blank">Evergreen</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UUK9XCXENc" target="_blank">Forest of C</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UUK9XCXENc" target="_blank">onscien</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UUK9XCXENc" target="_blank">ce </a>were all really cool. Final verdict: The score is definitely worth a listen on Spotify to appreciate the artsy-ness of it :) </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><span><span><i>The Company You Keep</i>-Cliff Martinez-<span style="font-size: small;">5</span>/10 </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b>Did it fit the movie? </b>Yes, I think it did. <span>The movie is a political thriller, dealing with ethical issues and trying to right injustices. The music suits that-It's contemplative, the sounds of <span>someone's mind turning and thinking<span>-guitar, electronic sounds, some strings/orchestral interludes<span>.<span><span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b>Did it make me feel something? </b>I can't really tell. The first time I listened to the score, I started the music , began studying for my Microbiology Exam and then suddenly the score was over. It put me in this "zen-like" mood. The music went along with my thoughts and didn't really intrude on them. That's why I describe it as contemplative music. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span></span><span><b>Was it original?</b> Again, I'm not sure. I don't think so. There weren't any strong melodies or weird instruments or anything to make it stand out. That's why I think I listened to it straight through without consciously realizing it was playing. None of the tracks really stood out to me.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span></span><span><b>Did I like it? </b>Yes, for studying purposes and getting in work mode. No for buying tracks. In context, I think it suits the movie very well and works well accompanying the scenes onscreen, but it's just background music otherwise. Nothing stands out. Listen on Spotify!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span> </span><br /><i>42 </i>by Mark Isham-8.5/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b>Did it fit the movie?</b><span><span><span><span><span><span><b> </b>Yes indeed. It's music meant to inspire, a full orchestra with the horn sections often carrying the melody and the strings accompanying on most tracks. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><b>Did it make me feel something? </b>Yeah :) It's very emotion-filled music. It makes me feel a sense of victorious overcoming, rising above, defeating adversity. (Definitely helpful for studying for finals!) Normally, strings and piano pull at my heart more than anything else, and Isham does use those instruments on a few tracks but he uses primarily horns for his heart tugging melodies. I enjoyed that. </span><span><span><span></span></span></span><br />
<span><b>Was it original? </b><span><span>Hm, not as much. It does sound like a score for a sports movie, and although I mean that in the best possible way, it diminishes the originality of it a little. Isham's melodies are definitely original, but the style isn't. </span></span></span><br />
<span><b>Did I like it? </b>I most certainly did! It's a feel good score, made for a feel good movie. It's very relaxing to listen to and leaves you content and inspires when it's over. Purchasing suggestion? Listen on Spotify unless you fall in love with the music and want it forever :) My favorite tracks are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTc1FxIeYdY" target="_blank">Jackie Robi</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTc1FxIeYdY" target="_blank">nson</a><span style="color: black;">, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAqn_fIWQGA" target="_blank">Jackie is Brought Up</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEz4XALZx0w" target="_blank">You Are A Hero. </a></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Oblivion</i> by M83, Anthony Gonzalez, and Joseph Trapanese-5/10</span></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b>Did it fit the movie?</b><span><span><span><span><span><span> Yep: definitely has the post-apocalyptic feel to it. Lots of electronic sounds, hard gritty tones, ethereal strings, guitar, and strong, rhythmic percussion. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><b>Did it make me feel something? </b>No, not really.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3moHHN84jTE" target="_blank">Ea</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3moHHN84jTE" target="_blank">rth 2077</a> captured my imagination-it made me want to see what Earth in 2077 looks like. But for the most part, I didn't really feel much. This score is for an action movie, designed to produce lots of tension, uncertainty, and suspense. It's really hard to "feel" that outside of watching the movie if the score isn't really anything original or surprising which leads me to my next point...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b>Was it original?</b> No. It reminded me A LOT of Hans Zimmer's scores for the Batman movies or Inception, just not as good. It lacked strong melodies and original sounds. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span></span><span><span><b>Did I like it? </b>No. I hoped that I would because I thought it was cool that M83 was scoring a movie! But alas, I didn't like it. Purchasing suggestion? Listen on YouTube or Spotify. It's not a hard score to listen to, and it plays very nicely in the background. It just didn't seem original or particularly striking to me. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>The Bible</i>, by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe-9/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b>Did it fit the miniseries? </b>Heck yes. I've been reading the Bible all my life, and the music here is exactly the kind of music that I would write if I were scoring the stories in the Bible. Full orchestra, lots of Middle Eastern instruments, beautiful vocal work by Lisa Gerrard-perfection.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><b>Did it make me feel something? </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Yes-peaceful, content, hopeful, happy, excited, inspired, adventurous. There were so many moments in this score that stopped me from studying altogether. I sat back, closed my eyes, and let the music wash over me. It brought tears to my eyes. A major part of thiis intense emotional experience is definitely Lisa Gerrard's voice. Her voice singing at the end of <i>Gladiator</i> makes me cry every time and hearing her sing here has the same effect on me. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><b>Was it original? </b>Yes. Although it sounds similar to <i>Gladiator </i>in some parts, there is an overpowering use of strings and choir here that differentiates it from Zimmer's other works. There's really no one else that I can compare Zimmer to, though. His work is always entirely his own and his style is evident in everything he writes. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span></span><span><span><b>Did I like it? </b>Do I even need to answer this one? Yes, I liked it! In fact, I loved it and bought it as soon as I was done listening to it. The only reason that it didn't get a 10/10 is because some of the tracks are repetitive and sound similar. I wonder if that has something to do with the convention of scoring a miniseries. Since the episodes are spaced apart, it might be helpful to play the same melodies over again to draw the series together as a cohesive whole. I don't know. In any case, I loved it. I don't have a favorite track-they're all my favorite. Here's the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW0Q8xUKDKo" target="_blank"> first track</a> to get you started! </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Wow! That was a lot of score reviews! Let me know your thoughts on all these scores in the comments section and on Sunday, check back here for your composer of the month! :) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-9710298225203924222013-04-21T12:36:00.000-07:002013-04-21T12:36:42.710-07:00April Composer of the Month is...<br />
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<a href="http://isham.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/MIM_Spain_0055-copy-cmyk-500x331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1160" height="209" src="http://isham.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/MIM_Spain_0055-copy-cmyk-500x331.jpg" title="MIM_Spain_0055-copy-cmyk" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mark Isham! </span><span style="font-size: small;">I wanted to give him a little love today because he<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>released a new score<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>this<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>month and because his score for <i>October Sky</i> was one of my favorites before I even knew what a score was! I watched that movie when I was pretty young, about 6 or 7, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHVk6t-q1aE" target="_blank">this violin </a>is the sound that inspired me to learn to play violin. Also, how can you not have tears in your eyes while listening to this theme? If you don't at least feel the possibility of tears coming to your eyes, you might not be human<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://991.com/newGallery/Mark-Isham-Vapor-Drawings-370632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" id="irc_mi" src="http://991.com/newGallery/Mark-Isham-Vapor-Drawings-370632.jpg" style="margin-top: 60px;" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Anyway, Mark Isham! </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">He </span>was born on September 7, 1951 in New York City. His parents were both musicians and exposed him to all kinds of music at an early age. As a child, he studied piano and violin, but his "soul" instrument, his ultimate favorite, was the trumpet. His family moved to San Francisco, where <span style="font-size: small;">at</span> age 15, Isham was playing his trumpet in jazz clubs AND in The Oakland and San Francisco Symphonies. Thinking about my own accomplishment at age 15 makes me feel inferior haha :) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the late '70s/early '80s, Isham had his own band,<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlfOntAmyKA" target="_blank"> Group 87</a>, playing progressive rock music. Around this time, he was also releasing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkZxQ8AwtPU" target="_blank">solo albums </a>of his own. His music from this time reminds me of the music from nature films/old educational films/video games-it has sorta of a new age/electronic/smooth jazz feel to it, very different from his work on films. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&docid=K8BNWe66TkHHYM&tbnid=hNsLJ7VOAbM6AM:&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscorenerdheaven.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F09%2Friver-runs-through-it.html&ei=tTt0UbCKA6Pz2QWt4oDQCw&bvm=bv.45512109,d.b2I&psig=AFQjCNGbOutxTAQIg7L3Zg5KUc0HY8h5mQ&ust=1366658357427301" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px none; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img height="197" id="irc_mi" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoyDYkaF4-xd7P8jQjJswtKWAQNspfFUgjFweVEzEMW5AeWnjRDhbMi5stTanxMykFTV5sHrP6vH67yh7Gn7OU3Iq5IVwafHg71Nfj3U6kxkSsQp0OURyMg22E2kVsy2duOJBPr3RSXs/s200/2892781-Mark_Isham_A_River_Runs_Through_It_cover.jpeg" style="margin-top: 61px;" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Speaking of his work on films, he got into the movie scoring business when film director Carroll Ballard came across his music and liked it so much that he hired him in 1983 to score a little film called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n_GQGfVTz0" target="_blank"><i>Never Cry Wolf</i></a>, a movie that became a HUGE success and launched Isham into Hollywood film scoring. Since then, Isham has scored over 70 films, including <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhBqfNDpiGs" target="_blank">Eight Below</a> (</em>This score makes me smile)<em>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsA1qRIZX3E" target="_blank">The Cooler,</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EJyk8IiegME" target="_blank">A River Runs Through It</a> (</em>So beautiful<em>), <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTf_cBxI0eM" target="_blank">Blade</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmJGT6hdCv0" target="_blank">Nell</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gB8cUkDbss" target="_blank">Miracle</a></em> and<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsQD9sV3ERI" target="_blank"> <em>The Secret Life of Bees</em></a>. In his later work, he has a style that I really, really like, using strings and solo instruments a lot. His most recent scores include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCe_Hhij8I4" target="_blank"><em>Warrior</em></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtbehY3JmMY" target="_blank"><em>Dolphin Tale</em></a>, and <i>42</i> (look for a review of this one next week!) along with the ABC hit <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIgXghdesEk" target="_blank"><em>Once Upon A Time</em></a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Side note: I tend to like TV shows more when there's a good score behind them. If only all U.S. TV shows had the kind of budget where they could hire composers and full orchestras! The Brits tend to budget for good scores, which makes me wonder if that's the reason why I like British TV so much. Of course, the content and script writing is often superior too...but that's another story!) </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWiiKm2Wzu0B3fsCg2acwXjzaazdgBPq7JXFRpdBxZ96lvprhw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" height="199" name="6HbD9tc_G_TmSM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWiiKm2Wzu0B3fsCg2acwXjzaazdgBPq7JXFRpdBxZ96lvprhw" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
conclusion, Isham is a wonderful artist. October Sky makes me cry every
time because of his music, and he's an excellent trumpeter as well as a
composer. I love this quote from him on the art of film composing: “I
create emotion through music. Whether it’s high or low, anger or
passion, exhilaration or death, denial or lust, motion or solitude. And
when I can take a person on this journey through film or recordings,
there’s nothing more satisfying.”</span></span><span class="son rg_ilmn"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Isham</span> has won Grammys for his early solo works, but Hollywood doesn't give him very much love for his scoring work, so let's all appreciate him this week and listen to his music. A lot of it is on Spotify, and I highly recommend giving him a listen at some point in your week :) That's all I have for you today. Check back next week for a TON of score reviews and have a wonderful Sunday! </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-38937541459727050552013-04-07T07:50:00.003-07:002013-04-07T14:00:36.957-07:00April Scores<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hi everybody! Quick hit post today-school is slowly, ever <span style="font-size: small;">so slowly</span> coming to an end and so naturally, the work load is increasing and my life is getting crazier! So crazy that I haven't played the piano in more than a week :( The first thing I'm doing when I get home for the summer is taking a day to do nothing but play piano! Anyway, today I have a list of scores I will be reviewing in April-some are already out now, so if you want to check them out before I review them-please do! </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&docid=f0uSGKHZXGIR6M&tbnid=OcPgPCCeI9rbuM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.musicadefilm.com%2Fsoundtracks.cgi%3Fid%3D14376%26lang%3Des&ei=boZhUZqlDpT62AXv64DgCA&bvm=bv.44770516,d.b2I&psig=AFQjCNHKGfEaDti0pcuv1cSOtrz6USnFIw&ust=1365432294237173" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.musicadefilm.com/images/covers/large/14376.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mmm, Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper <3</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Host</i>, by Antonio Pinto</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(yes, I know I said I would review it last month, but it wasn't out yet!!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Place Beyond the Pines </i>by Mike Patton (Another new guy)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Company You Keep</i>, by Cliff Martinez (New guy)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>42 </i>by Mark Isham (<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I</span> </span>LOVE <span style="font-size: small;">Mark Isha<span style="font-size: small;">m)</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Oblivion</i> by M83, Anthony Gonzale<span style="font-size: small;">z<span style="font-size: small;">, and Jos<span style="font-size: small;">eph <span style="font-size: small;">Trapanese</span></span></span></span> (This one intrigues me<span style="font-size: small;">)</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&docid=u2Wi2HgM6kiK-M&tbnid=rHaWsIKmhY087M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.firstshowing.net%2F2013%2Flisten-spectacular-first-track-from-m83s-oblivion-score-revealed%2F&ei=yYZhUfGcL8nj2wXd_4C4CA&bvm=bv.44770516,d.b2I&psig=AFQjCNHZ_UMjt5lfuiFaGEi3o6N_XZ4e1A&ust=1365432390749738" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px none; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/img6/OblivionSoundtrackCoverbigWalkfull1.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="198" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">I'm not the biggest fan of Tom Cruise</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Bible</i>, by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe (Not a movie, but a TV show score!) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most of these are already out, so have a listen and I'll review them on the blog in the coming weeks, <span style="font-size: small;">and I'll also </span>highlight a yet-to-be-determined composer of the month! Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday :) </span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-2467245217050018592013-03-31T14:55:00.002-07:002013-03-31T14:55:44.029-07:00Happy Easter! Here's some score reviews :) <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hey everyone! Happy Easter! I hope you're all having a wonderful day filled with family fun and <span style="font-size: small;">candy </span>and love and prais<span style="font-size: small;">ing Jesus </span>:) I have a couple score reviews for you today<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>so let's get going!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Olympus Has Fallen</i>, by Trevor Morris-4/10</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it fit the movie? </b>Ye<span style="font-size: small;">p-action movie, driving beats, lots of percussion, horns, electronic sounds, etc. The main titles<span style="font-size: small;">/theme of the movie also sounded very "presidential,<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">"</span> something I'd expect from a movie about <span style="font-size: small;">Wash<span style="font-size: small;">ington D.<span style="font-size: small;">C. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it make me feel something? </b><span style="font-size: small;">Not really. Two tracks did, and those two are <span style="font-size: small;">the only two songs I kinda liked on the entire s<span style="font-size: small;">oundtrac<span style="font-size: small;">k. <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwxjSwawz8I" target="_blank">Land of the Free</a> gave me <span style="font-size: small;">that</span> feeling of<span style="font-size: small;"> awe and respect-how I imagine it feels to <span style="font-size: small;">be<span style="font-size: small;"> there when the president walks in and <span style="font-size: small;">Hail<span style="font-size: small;"> to the Chief plays.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5BGgrNmaU0" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5BGgrNmaU0" target="_blank">Rocky Road Ice Cr</a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5BGgrNmaU0" target="_blank">eam</a> was<span style="font-size: small;"> very slow and heartfelt-I <span style="font-size: small;">wish there had been more tracks like that! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Was it original? </b><span style="font-size: small;">Um, no, and here's my number one reason why: Listen to the opening <span style="font-size: small;">phrase</span> of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwxjSwawz8I" target="_blank">this song</a> and then the opening lines of<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Z8Rrrqe88" target="_blank"> this song</a>. Same melody, d<span style="font-size: small;">ifferent key. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did I like it? </b><span style="font-size: small;">No<span style="font-size: small;">, not at all. <span style="font-size: small;">To be honest, mo<span style="font-size: small;">st of it just wasn't my s<span style="font-size: small;">tyl<span style="font-size: small;">e<span style="font-size: small;">, and I didn't really find it to be original at all. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Stoker</i>, by Clint Mansell-<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">8.<span style="font-size: small;">75</span></span>/10</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it fit the movie? </b><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">I<span style="font-size: small;"> believe so</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">. <span style="font-size: small;">Mansell uses his typical style of piano accompanied by orchestra and sy<span style="font-size: small;">nth to <span style="font-size: small;">creat<span style="font-size: small;">e a<span style="font-size: small;">n ether<span style="font-size: small;">eal<span style="font-size: small;">, </span>other <span style="font-size: small;">worldly<span style="font-size: small;">, </span>creepy mood that completely fits the<span style="font-size: small;"> psychological thriller/horror<span style="font-size: small;"> movie that <i>Sto</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>ker</i> i<span style="font-size: small;">s. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it make me feel something? </b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ye<span style="font-size: small;">s, definitely. </span>Since some <span style="font-size: small;">tracks were very long<span style="font-size: small;">, I felt a broad range of emotions over the entire track<span style="font-size: small;">, which I love<span style="font-size: small;">!</span></span> <span style="font-size: small;">For example, I give you a play by p<span style="font-size: small;">lay of my reactions to <span style="font-size: small;">one track</span>-</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFdp0nRgC08" target="_blank">Becoming</a>: It begins fast paced-<span style="font-size: small;">I fe<span style="font-size: small;">el </span>rushed, out of breath<span style="font-size: small;">. I<span style="font-size: small;">t makes me think of someone running away. Then, the mel<span style="font-size: small;">ody twists and becomes <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">dissonant-I fe<span style="font-size: small;">el</span> scared, caught. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">That running p<span style="font-size: small;">erson is</span></span> now caught<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>and trapped in<span style="font-size: small;"> a corner. <span style="font-size: small;">The musi<span style="font-size: small;">c fades<span style="font-size: small;"> and then swells briefly,<span style="font-size: small;"> then disappears and changes completely. A solo piano be<span style="font-size: small;">gins playing<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">a very slow, <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">b<span style="font-size: small;">eautiful</span></span> melody, strings play light<span style="font-size: small;">ly in the background. This brings me down, I feel sad. <span style="font-size: small;">T</span>hen the strings <span style="font-size: small;">get louder and <span style="font-size: small;">an orchestra begins playing. I feel <span style="font-size: small;">overcome with emotion<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">.</span> <span style="font-size: small;">The orchestra dis<span style="font-size: small;">ap<span style="font-size: small;">pears, then re<span style="font-size: small;">appears, <span style="font-size: small;">this time with a chorus. <span style="font-size: small;">The emotion is hard to define<span style="font-size: small;"> here. I think it's</span></span> sadness and <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">anguish</span>, while at the same time, exul<span style="font-size: small;">ta<span style="font-size: small;">t</span>ion. It feel<span style="font-size: small;">s sad yet triumphant. Such a strange track. I think I would have to se<span style="font-size: small;">e the scene it accompanies in the<span style="font-size: small;"> movie to make sense of it all! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Was it original? </b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes<span style="font-size: small;">, it was. I haven't heard a score quite like this one in a while. It felt like a blend of <span style="font-size: small;">Dario Mar<span style="font-size: small;">i<span style="font-size: small;">a</span>nelli's score for <span style="font-size: small;">Atonement <span style="font-size: small;">and Thomas Newman's score for American <span style="font-size: small;">Beaut<span style="font-size: small;">y or Side Effects. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did I like it?<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes, it just worked for me! I <span style="font-size: small;">loved <span style="font-size: small;">what <span style="font-size: small;">Ma<span style="font-size: small;">nsell did with piano <span style="font-size: small;">here. He showcased it, <span style="font-size: small;">and b<span style="font-size: small;">rought in other instruments/electronic sou<span style="font-size: small;">nds to enhance the feeling. He aso took advantage of the dissonance that can be achieved on the piano-I heard lots of intr<span style="font-size: small;">iguing chords that I really liked a<span style="font-size: small;"> lot :) Pu<span style="font-size: small;">rchasing suggestion? I would go ahead a<span style="font-size: small;">nd b<span style="font-size: small;">uy the whole thing<span style="font-size: small;">/listen to it on Spotify over and over again! </span> It flows really well together as a score<span style="font-size: small;">. My favorite tracks are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNQ7WJPnwkM" target="_blank">The Hunter and the Game,</a> Becoming<span style="font-size: small;"> (see above), and <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr_gIIXbU_k" target="_blank">Happy Birthday</a>. </span></span>T</span>here are some <span style="font-size: small;">tracks that<span style="font-size: small;"> aren't part of the score that are <span style="font-size: small;">awesome<span style="font-size: small;">,</span> like <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzaVZYg0Fdw" target="_blank">Becomes the C</a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzaVZYg0Fdw" target="_blank">olor</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unI2lnHR6RI" target="_blank">Summer Wine</a>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That's all for today! Check back next week for some more reviews and a preview of April scores :) </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-73191159632240746592013-03-24T11:49:00.001-07:002013-03-24T11:49:07.272-07:00Family Friendly Score Reviews for March! <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hi everyone! Due to the high volume of scores<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>released this month, I"m going to release my March reviews in two parts. Today, I'm reviewing the scores from this month's family movies. Let's go! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXz3XXD8bw8SUb9wXYbJfsGOi9oZOW1RLDudggMzqh-LK44AX9dnitU3zETyLHztGds58jlJ6XCj8LMYBSfoER84QXuI2tX8zj1RPiCe4VI_gIAM5wDmWQSlmx_t2IY7E5kYPy1HH5GaU/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXz3XXD8bw8SUb9wXYbJfsGOi9oZOW1RLDudggMzqh-LK44AX9dnitU3zETyLHztGds58jlJ6XCj8LMYBSfoER84QXuI2tX8zj1RPiCe4VI_gIAM5wDmWQSlmx_t2IY7E5kYPy1HH5GaU/s320/images.jpg" width="215" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Oz the Great and Powerful</i>, by Danny Elfman-7/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it fit the movie? </b>Yes, definitely. It had that fantastical quality that Elfman lends wonderfully to all his scores. I hear that specifically in his use of choral voices, harp, and xylophone.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it make me feel something? </b>Yes, at parts. I really liked the tracks with a lilting waltz/dance feel to them-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e6FZz_YjWQ" target="_blank">A Seriou</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e6FZz_YjWQ" target="_blank">s Talk</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-zaR8Gchww&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq49QVFAXybXS-j_U3SuMXFR" target="_blank">Where Am I/S</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-zaR8Gchww&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq49QVFAXybXS-j_U3SuMXFR" target="_blank">chmooze-a-Witch,</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_849277&feature=iv&src_vid=n-zaR8Gchww&v=wZ12KtUixJ0" target="_blank">Fireside Dance</a> were all tracks tha made me feel happy :) Glinda Revealed was lovely as well, evoking feelings of safety and peace. Some tracks were loud and a little bit frightening, such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bm6hyRNOxE&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq49QVFAXybXS-j_U3SuMXFR" target="_blank">Destruction</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOByjQZbpE4&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq49QVFAXybXS-j_U3SuMXFR" target="_blank">Oz Reve</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOByjQZbpE4&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq49QVFAXybXS-j_U3SuMXFR" target="_blank">aled</a>, but none of them really "scared" me. I find this strange, because usually Elfman's scores have at least one track that terrifies me.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Was it original? </b>Interestingly, I didn't think that this score was very original. Every time I hear an Elfman score, it seems as if he borrows from himself<span style="font-size: small;">.</span> I heard things in this score that reminded me of <i>Nightmare Before Christmas, S</i><i>piderman, </i>and especially <i>Alice in Wonderland.</i> The one thing about this score that did make it different is that it felt less...creepy...than Elfman's other work. It was more gentle and sweet than scary. I kinda liked that. Also, I heard the opening lines to the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DECsO0sMhE" target="_blank">Canadian national anthem</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DECsO0sMhE" target="_blank"> </a>in the main theme. Listen to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4IaLtbBvf8&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq49QVFAXybXS-j_U3SuMXFR" target="_blank">Main Titles </a>and you'll see what I mean. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did I like it? </b>The more I listened to it, the more I liked it! It grew on me. Purchasing suggestion? Buy the tracks you like! (From what I've heard, I think the score is probably better than the movie, so give Elfman some love for his work). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Croods</i>, by Alan Silvestri<span style="font-size: small;">-</span>8<span style="font-size: small;">.5/10</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">D<span style="font-size: small;">id it fit the movie?</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Completely.<span style="font-size: small;"> I<span style="font-size: small;">t made me think of family and fun and adventure<span style="font-size: small;"> and <span style="font-size: small;">discovery. Silve<span style="font-size: small;">stri used <span style="font-size: small;">a mix of full orchestra and solo guitar for <span style="font-size: small;">this score, a<span style="font-size: small;">long with several unique instruments<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">that were reminiscent of tribal music. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">D<span style="font-size: small;">id it make me feel something? </span></span></span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes! <span style="font-size: small;">Happiness! Many of the tracks were light and f<span style="font-size: small;">luffy and just made me smile. I could <span style="font-size: small;">totally see the Crood family</span> discovering a new world <span style="font-size: small;">accompanied by this music. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Was it original?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Yes, I think it was! <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Silvestri used bongo<span style="font-size: small;"> drums and marimbas that <span style="font-size: small;">I haven't heard in a<span style="font-size: small;">while, and <span style="font-size: small;">he b<span style="font-size: small;">lended those tribal sounded with a full orchestra very well. He <span style="font-size: small;">implemented</span> other styles as well! There were also a couple of tracks t<span style="font-size: small;">hat <span style="font-size: small;">sounded ra<span style="font-size: small;">ndomly jazzy<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> and t</span>hose </span>were really fun. O<span style="font-size: small;">n one tr<span style="font-size: small;">ack, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI-yh-uWFH0" target="_blank">Smash and Grab</a>, he used the USC marching band to blare out a march! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Did I like it? </b>I really liked it, because I thought it was adorable :) All the music just made me feel so good about life. Even the tracks that were probably supposed evoke "danger" ended up sounding happy in the end, just as they should in a family movie. I think Silvestri was very aware of the younger audience that this movie targeted and therefore composed his music to entrance that audience. Purchasing suggestion? Buy the tracks you like, and if you're feeling particularly in the mood for light, happy music, buy the whole thing! My favorite tracks are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9uumseqLRE" target="_blank">The Croods Family Theme</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtpE9YMyPzc" target="_blank">Prologue</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YclZ38G38tY" target="_blank">Going Guy's Way</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyU7xgTH2xO-silCLXJnWnU-f8GF1hLnJhRy5ay8Ne8zQw9xHBW0O9etpCDEQJVL4lHINNTaEQncR3T1BM6Z0lNs1kdXoIsWd8sHxFgdMLDbL2nW_nOsyZdDviaeUcM6OQvTqgVwc-eM/s1600/Jack-the-Giant-Slayer-soundtrack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyU7xgTH2xO-silCLXJnWnU-f8GF1hLnJhRy5ay8Ne8zQw9xHBW0O9etpCDEQJVL4lHINNTaEQncR3T1BM6Z0lNs1kdXoIsWd8sHxFgdMLDbL2nW_nOsyZdDviaeUcM6OQvTqgVwc-eM/s1600/Jack-the-Giant-Slayer-soundtrack.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Jack the Giant Slayer</i>, by John Ottman<span style="font-size: small;">-6/10</span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">D<span style="font-size: small;">id it fit the movie?</span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"> Yes, it did. I<span style="font-size: small;">t had the feel of an epic adventure movie-full orchestra used pretty much the whole time with <span style="font-size: small;">hea<span style="font-size: small;">vy emp<span style="font-size: small;">hasis on strings</span></span></span>. I ha<span style="font-size: small;">dn't heard of Mr. <span style="font-size: small;">Ottman before, so <span style="font-size: small;">it was nice to hear f<span style="font-size: small;">rom a new composer! <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">H</span>e definitely got the genre right <span style="font-size: small;">in terms of the sound of his score. His style on this film sound<span style="font-size: small;">s very much like Harry <span style="font-size: small;">Gregson-Williams work on the Chronicles of Narnia. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">D<span style="font-size: small;">id it make me feel something? </span></span></span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes, it did.<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>I like<span style="font-size: small;">d the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxhuwiEBcSM&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq6R5spjYl8lDpl1427f0u8D" target="_blank">Jack and Isabelle</a> theme<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">-it </span>made me want to go on an adventure. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t2Y6knza90&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq6R5spjYl8lDpl1427f0u8D" target="_blank">Logo Mania</a> had the same <span style="font-size: small;">effect, with its i<span style="font-size: small;">nvig<span style="font-size: small;">orating r<span style="font-size: small;">hyt<span style="font-size: small;">hms and driving beat. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Tw6EkjhRA&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq6R5spjYl8lDpl1427f0u8D" target="_blank">To Clo</a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Tw6EkjhRA&list=PLQ_GG1H4Quq6R5spjYl8lDpl1427f0u8D" target="_blank">ister</a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> and </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zicoKi8oeu8&list=PLF6tW055HhxdsGLlZKD1BAArNUkt2rmS2&index=6" target="_blank">How Do You Do</a> were really sweet and gen<span style="font-size: small;">tle, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2b-IG5EKVY&list=PLF6tW055HhxdsGLlZKD1BAArNUkt2rmS2" target="_blank">First Kiss</a> <span style="font-size: small;">had <span style="font-size: small;">a gorgeous<span style="font-size: small;">, moving string section. Many of the tracks were just too loud and intrusive for me to really like them, which makes sense if you think about the movie itself. Giants are loud and intrusive :) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Was it original?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> In the sense that the me<span style="font-size: small;">l<span style="font-size: small;">odies were original, yes it was. But as far as <span style="font-size: small;">orchestration goes, it sounded very s<span style="font-size: small;">imilar to other fantasy films. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Did I like it? </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">As a whole, no<span style="font-size: small;">. Listening to it in context of the <span style="font-size: small;">film might make it better, but when I si<span style="font-size: small;">mply listened to the score, <span style="font-size: small;">it was just too loud</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> for easy listening or as background for doing home<span style="font-size: small;">work<span style="font-size: small;">. How<span style="font-size: small;">ever, </span>I think that means that O<span style="font-size: small;">ttman definitely did his job right<span style="font-size: small;">! This movie was about slaying some giants<span style="font-size: small;"> so obviously the score couldn't be soft and gentle<span style="font-size: small;">! P<span style="font-size: small;">ur<span style="font-size: small;">chasing suggest<span style="font-size: small;">ion? <span style="font-size: small;">Listen on S<span style="font-size: small;">potify or You<span style="font-size: small;">Tube</span>, and if you want, buy a couple tracks<span style="font-size: small;">, but maybe not the whole thing.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And that's all for today, folks! <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please listen to these scores and see what you think, and then c</span>ome back later this week for the second <span style="font-size: small;">bat<span style="font-size: small;">ch of reviews f<span style="font-size: small;">rom slightly less family friendly movies<span style="font-size: small;">! </span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-37273601475999329612013-03-08T09:44:00.000-08:002013-03-08T09:44:08.951-08:00Morricone: The March Composer of the Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP01TnE6-Xirh20Upzkjj676bukQUg5mlTfC6p2Ql7rXqBfUT32wyzMrIdh9ccfBbtso-Aq8Cosq3KST0JCO6bM0oY3FmrsWmp1-Rc6PsZPPuZfVqSasUDzeVUSf7vjLbNdCmulC5cNkg/s1600/Ennio+Morricone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP01TnE6-Xirh20Upzkjj676bukQUg5mlTfC6p2Ql7rXqBfUT32wyzMrIdh9ccfBbtso-Aq8Cosq3KST0JCO6bM0oY3FmrsWmp1-Rc6PsZPPuZfVqSasUDzeVUSf7vjLbNdCmulC5cNkg/s320/Ennio+Morricone.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hey everyone! Our composer of the month for March is the legend-wait for it-ary Ennio Morricone, arguably the most prolific film composer of all time! Since the beginning of his career, he's scored over 500 films! That's crazy! He's responsible for the music from timeless and iconic movies such as <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4" target="_blank">The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly</a> </i>and <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3C82Q5I80U" target="_blank">The Untouchables</a></i>, and he's a giant in the composing world-many composers working in Hollywood today cite him as one of the people who influenced them in their own journey to work in the film industry. Let's all take a few minutes and learn about this awesome guy! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0D9mP70faJfNNTuBQEjTtQNpGYDPaFjw43dhlZ59asdiGiwsWISh4jV7jAsAxWzHSXi3sKAdjHBc-MATdHNLX_I4fDamuaX_XGdb7MYtkQtm6f5wLJ_83aKJ_urW1LeoM3fxbCJcENk/s1600/Ennio-Morricone1%252B%2525281%252529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0D9mP70faJfNNTuBQEjTtQNpGYDPaFjw43dhlZ59asdiGiwsWISh4jV7jAsAxWzHSXi3sKAdjHBc-MATdHNLX_I4fDamuaX_XGdb7MYtkQtm6f5wLJ_83aKJ_urW1LeoM3fxbCJcENk/s320/Ennio-Morricone1%252B%2525281%252529.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ennio Morricone was born in Rome on November 10, 1928. His father was a trumpet player and taught him to read music and play instruments from a very young age. Morricone started writing his own music when he was only 6 years old, and when he was 9, he entered the National Academy of Santa Cecilia to study trumpet. At the age of 12, he began to study at a music conservatory<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>and proceeded to complete four years worth of course work in about a year<span style="font-size: small;">. H</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">e als<span style="font-size: small;">o </span>has degrees in both Trumpet Performance and Composition. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">B</span>asically, Morricone is a musical prodigy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">By 1947, Morricone was working as composer for theatre music. In the 1950s, he began to score for radio shows and television as well, and his career as a film music composer started in 1961 with the film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxuxQU_q-is" target="_blank"><i>Il Federale</i></a> directed by Luciano Salce. He rose to fame after his many collaborations with director Sergio Leone. These were good, ol' fashioned American Westerns-<i>A Fistful Of Dollars </i>(1964), <i>For A Few
Dollars More</i> (1965), <i>The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly</i> (1966), <i>Once Upon A
Time In The West </i>(1968), <i>A Fistful Of Dynamite </i>(1971), and <i>My Name is Nobody</i> (1973). Don't those just sound like cowboy movies? :) After his work with Leone made him popular, the rest, as we say, is history. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyBOj-xnwQJARecNXnRhfY5FJB3H5yZJGYE_GIz52gAj3RYVXbCD-me0-2p4dC7Z57hVrSt5Vy9kPPKixeKp2fttIixqOWKayomK7u8t6C4cdWUzndHa4QU_sWJVoPts-a8MqQ6dGoNM/s1600/1181660913517_ennio_morricone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyBOj-xnwQJARecNXnRhfY5FJB3H5yZJGYE_GIz52gAj3RYVXbCD-me0-2p4dC7Z57hVrSt5Vy9kPPKixeKp2fttIixqOWKayomK7u8t6C4cdWUzndHa4QU_sWJVoPts-a8MqQ6dGoNM/s320/1181660913517_ennio_morricone.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm pretty sure Morricone has composed for every single film genre known to man-everything from comedies (<i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2EHcfsjoac" target="_blank">Bulworth</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyy3xKjMync" target="_blank">La Cage aux Folles</a>) </i>to romances (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxuvJU0MVaU" target="_blank"><i>Days of Heaven</i></a>) to horror (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meU2gAU7Xss" target="_blank"><i>The Thing</i></a>) to science fiction (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZkta5p6qQE" target="_blank"><i>Mission to Mars</i>)</a>. All in all, he's worked in Hollywood and in the European film industry for 52 years. Yep, that's right. He's 84 right now and still composing for film and television, although he hasn't worked on an American film since 2002. Morricone has won two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and five BAFTAs. He has also been nominated for five Oscars, but shockingly has never actually won! Thankfully, the Academy recognized that this was an issue so they gave him the Academy Honorary Award in 2007 for his contributions to the film music world. Personally, I think he's amazing. The sheer number of scores he's composed astounds me. My favorite Morricone work is his score for <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixby9BzJfEo" target="_blank">The Mission</a>.</i> The main theme has such a beautiful and haunting oboe melody, and I love the fact that he uses a harpsichord. Such an under used instrument these days. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Let's all take a moment today to celebrate Mr. Morricone for his work. All of his music is on Spotify so go listen! He definitely has a distinct style-he likes to use the strings a lot, and I also notice a lot of woodwinds, timpani, snare, and xylophone. Comment below and let me know what you think of his music! I'll be back next week with the first round of reviews for March :) Have a wonderful day! </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-75828910209521506202013-03-03T14:08:00.003-08:002013-03-03T14:08:41.329-08:00Welcome to March! <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43valtZ9L9ydq8VgQ2YJ1qIXfzhvHk12bmX7yhQ6pU2fmgsv039ykrJT2G6G5xrwZNYgc4q6fQilMIZICHIotjXKH_rE29NeR8SgLx9W0x0rxAhcmGRYw8PKHCcpmhq-rcrMRJupeYZc/s1600/51S%252BbQH1xBL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43valtZ9L9ydq8VgQ2YJ1qIXfzhvHk12bmX7yhQ6pU2fmgsv039ykrJT2G6G5xrwZNYgc4q6fQilMIZICHIotjXKH_rE29NeR8SgLx9W0x0rxAhcmGRYw8PKHCcpmhq-rcrMRJupeYZc/s200/51S%252BbQH1xBL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2013 Best Motion Picture Score! </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi everyone! It's March already! Jeez, how did that happen? This year is already flying by. Today I have a list of scores to look out for this month, but before that, I need to address a couple things! First, the Oscars. Sigh. I really wanted Alexandre Desplat to win Best Score for Argo, but alas, that honor went to Mychael Danna for Life of Pi. Even though it was probably my least favorite out of the 5 nominated, it was still a beautiful score, so congrats, Mr. Danna! I'm glad your work was recognized :) Second, if you've been following along with me, you may be asking where the reviews for Escape From Planet Earth and Side Effects are? Well, the Side Effects score doesn't come out until March 5, even though the movie's already out! So, I'll be reviewing that one this month instead of February. As for Escape from Planet Earth....</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkDQz3ZeGmxuUhUqEIFVa8Fa6p20qWQC0KFVTjN7DQ6QBeCuffyaHx39w-qhFmN-F6yxEEFBS1Nn_3BWXksc6G6_bPstTuc20Hkv0D5pJ0Ko9Z1jd1Y1mo8di37ZfJiCSKvHtDMIc6FA/s1600/220px-Escape_from_Planet_Earth_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkDQz3ZeGmxuUhUqEIFVa8Fa6p20qWQC0KFVTjN7DQ6QBeCuffyaHx39w-qhFmN-F6yxEEFBS1Nn_3BWXksc6G6_bPstTuc20Hkv0D5pJ0Ko9Z1jd1Y1mo8di37ZfJiCSKvHtDMIc6FA/s200/220px-Escape_from_Planet_Earth_poster.jpg" width="134" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Escape From Planet Earth</i>, by Aaron Zigman-6.5/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it fit the movie?</b> Yep, definitely. Space adventure + kids movie = lots of high brass, tons of percussion, and a strong epic melody line that keeps coming up over and over again. In certain areas, it sounds VERY similar to the score for the 2009 Star Trek movie, although there were some strange things I heard that I didn't expect, like harmonicas and heavy metal guitar. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it make me feel something?</b> At some parts, yes, some parts no. I had a hard time relating to the main melody because it sounded like every other space adventure/kids movie theme I've ever heard. There were moments, however. Zigman's use of piano and strings is one of the things I really like about him. He'll have this grand, loud melody playing with a bazillion things going on, and then </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">suddenly, there'll be nothing left but a delicate piano line and strings. This happened all the time on his score for <i>Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium </i>(where he collaborated with Alexandre Desplat), another children's film. I hear that same style again here, and every time it happens, my heart melts :) See tracks like "Let's Go Home" or "Scorch Goes to the Dark Planet." Also, the "Family Theme" is absolutely beautiful. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Was it original? </b>Hm. Yes and no. The harmonica use, the heavy metal guitar, and the piano definitely made this score Zigman's own, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this score sounded like Star Trek. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did I like it?</b> Again, yes and no. No because of the weird Star Trek deja vu. Yes, because I love piano and strings and surprise instruments and strong melodies, and this score contains all of those things. Purchasing suggestion? Listen on Spotify or Youtube before buying any tracks. The 1:30 preview iTunes or Amazon gives you is definitely not enough to show you everything that's going on in the track, because it could change super quickly! So listen, then if you love, then buy! Support these artists! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now, scores for March! <span style="font-size: small;">B</span>ecause Oscar season is over, we have quite a few<span style="font-size: small;">! </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1dcV3VzvV1V0ZcWgh75K2IhIIgk8fOqiHFEFuVpz7_Jz8hj4anBXU44mlROEQ8RTSmazPUM2VWpcvL6NwDnXxA43BnzcczagP3quWaU_8yWx9_fbSo4n1mhNYmumCRnRw-6dOM8UJoY/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1dcV3VzvV1V0ZcWgh75K2IhIIgk8fOqiHFEFuVpz7_Jz8hj4anBXU44mlROEQ8RTSmazPUM2VWpcvL6NwDnXxA43BnzcczagP3quWaU_8yWx9_fbSo4n1mhNYmumCRnRw-6dOM8UJoY/s1600/images.jpg" width="184" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>-Jack the Giant Slayer</i>, by John Ottman </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>-Stoker</i>, by Clint Mansell</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>-The Croods</i>, by Alan Silvestri</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Olympus has Fallen</i>, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">by Trevor Morris</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>The Host</i>, by Antonio Pinto</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Oz the Great and Powerful</i>, by Danny Elfman </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(I totally <span style="font-size: small;">guessed</span> <span style="font-size: small;">E<span style="font-size: small;">lfman</span></span> was going to score this movie btw-definitely fits with his style)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">T</span>here would be even more on this list if I included movies that come out in March, but have score releases in April! I guess I've got a lot of listening to do this month<span style="font-size: small;">!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That's all I have for you this week-check back next week for Composer of the Month<span style="font-size: small;">.</span> I have NO idea who I'll pick yet, so I should probably get on that :) Comment below with your thoughts on the Oscars and if you thought the right composer won or not!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-70480476637407933112013-02-17T13:25:00.000-08:002013-02-17T13:25:26.405-08:00Beautiful Creatures and A Good Day to Die Hard<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi everyone! Here's the first round of<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>score reviews for February!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguV27cftF2YHdf02CXazxvvc7ezbnKZb6vW1BLFOFgzwjiQJCG4c6To8ZNMRHZB_kdmJ4PCuE9goZznVM-aVIEpnFluaAjJlASqW3tjFHmxd5zsB7cNbkUzAMZkpiomPnRWEVjIrL54zU/s1600/Beautiful-Creatures-Soundtrack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguV27cftF2YHdf02CXazxvvc7ezbnKZb6vW1BLFOFgzwjiQJCG4c6To8ZNMRHZB_kdmJ4PCuE9goZznVM-aVIEpnFluaAjJlASqW3tjFHmxd5zsB7cNbkUzAMZkpiomPnRWEVjIrL54zU/s1600/Beautiful-Creatures-Soundtrack.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Beautiful Creatures</i> by thenewno2-<span style="font-size: small;">7</span>/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it fit the movie? </b>Yes. The score was an intriguing mix of a romantic era orchestra with modern pop music beats and guitar or haunting vocal tracks interspersed through out. At times, it felt like the soundtrack to a high school romance, yet at other times, it was more like a dark fantasy adventure. I think that's exactly what the movie is, a blending of those two concepts. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it make me feel something?</b> Yes. There were definitely moments that made me stop, sit up, and listen a little closer. Like on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQvIlvwAsRI" target="_blank">Breaking the Ice</a>, w<span style="font-size: small;">hen t</span>here's suddenly a banjo playing sadly, or in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ngkMv-oYsg" target="_blank">Dark Magic</a>, where the cellos suddenly went crazy and got my heart racing. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Was it original? Yes, I believe it was. I loved what the composers did with blending an older sounding orchestra and modern music styles. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did I like it?</b> Not as much as I though I was going to, but yes, I did, a little. I really like the romantic orchestral feel to some of the tracks.. It was like the music I played in my high school symphony orchestra, the Beethoven and the Saint Saens. Music meant to accompany an opera, where every emotion is heightened to the extreme. I didn't like it as much as I wanted to because of the melody problem. I really like strong, recurring melodies, and the melodies in this score didn't feel used enough or strong enough for me. My favorite tracks were <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=purMHNYAzdU" target="_blank">The Caster Theme</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MmsSBxt1OI" target="_blank">Lena's Magic/The Love Theme,</a> and Lena's Love Rage/Macon's Adagio. Purchasing suggestion? Buy the tracks you like! In any case, I think the style mixing is great and worth listening to if you have time-Spotify is the greatest! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6stf-bykI_YaERvB8zCpaw4rwTb9K3m9kE1rQZZhVh_v_NRwKZCE-AA_KM8p6zToO3U5XBJOEnWYb_jn1gPpP7fsf-wL6BTGx8SRKP9qbdmhf4nF1TAZsBYZvcS9Aa4z6jqaCQhVeVns/s1600/a-good-day-to-die-hard-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6stf-bykI_YaERvB8zCpaw4rwTb9K3m9kE1rQZZhVh_v_NRwKZCE-AA_KM8p6zToO3U5XBJOEnWYb_jn1gPpP7fsf-wL6BTGx8SRKP9qbdmhf4nF1TAZsBYZvcS9Aa4z6jqaCQhVeVns/s1600/a-good-day-to-die-hard-300x300.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>A Good Day to Die Hard</i>, by Marco Beltrami-4/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it fit the movie?</b> Yes, it did. Another typical action movie score-heart pumping beats, loud and boisterous full orchestra. The perfect music to hear while John McClane is firing a machine gun and killing some Russians. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did it make me feel something?</b> Hahaha...nope. If you'll recall, one of my tests for this is listening to the score while focusing on something else. I can tell that the score stirs my emotions if the music pulls me out of my work. With this score, I listened to the whole thing and not once did I look up from my work. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Was it original? </b>No, and here's where I take the most issue and take off the most points-it could have been! The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYTJXzHX8nw" target="_blank">first track </a>was actually pretty original and cool. It riffed on Ode to Joy, which I thought was awesome! It was suspenseful and thrilling. It would have been so cool if Beltrami had taken that Ode to Joy melody, put some kind of twist on it, and then brought it back up through out the entire score. But he didn't. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Did I like it?</b> Not really. I didn't expect to, because as I'll say again and again on this blog, action movie scores aren't my favorite. I usually listen to scores like this one when I need to get in a fast paced groove-during homework time, running on the treadmill etc. Purchasing suggestion? Unless you need it for good background music to your gun blazing adventures, don't buy it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That's all I have for you today! Your score homework for this week is to read my post from earlier this week on our <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2013/02/happy-valentines-day-to-our-february.html" target="_blank">February composer of the Month</a> and get ready for the Oscars by listening to all the <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/january-score-reviews-and-oscar-nominees.html" target="_blank">nominated scores</a>! :) </span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-64419321660972284292013-02-14T09:02:00.000-08:002013-02-17T13:27:36.702-08:00Happy Valentine's Day To Our February Composer of the Month! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6v-j4hVKNk1eb1kL-LHEnrztnXIlEAM4yfneTqL7rjfgn1fM94mj23WxteqpdqsdXirsWUto_LTzpRNz_MGYmor9SjyeWkHqPnRSzU2fGx6CANG68T5Z8AUFx3DuwF84dNMv5IDpqwE/s1600/fotointro.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6v-j4hVKNk1eb1kL-LHEnrztnXIlEAM4yfneTqL7rjfgn1fM94mj23WxteqpdqsdXirsWUto_LTzpRNz_MGYmor9SjyeWkHqPnRSzU2fGx6CANG68T5Z8AUFx3DuwF84dNMv5IDpqwE/s320/fotointro.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Hi! I decided to post on Valentine's Day this week. Why? Because our February composer of the month is my favorite composer of all time and I'm in love with his music :) Everyone, let me introduce you to Alexandre Desplat!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Alexandre (we're on a first name basis in my imagination) was born on August 23, 1961 in the beautiful Paris, France. He began his musical journey by playing the piano at age 5. As he grew older, he was classically trained as a flautist, and then expanded his range of talents to include knowledge of Jazz, Brazilian, and African music. These diverse styles definitely show through in his scores, especially in the rhythms he uses. He had a passion for both movies and music writing, and combined those passions by writing music for film. In his adolescence, he studied the work of the great film composers who came before him, including John Williams.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZrFpKh7lp9ODNnIzqkMp5g7u073ual085lgqKH4yxBHi4ippCO9_vMMvtWNd8CCI111AdvbdKnCyJ4B5BDS7aGGEFqCX3N2g7RI11zgu03mbrkr95roPlVU5pYZciLtotoCq15iEh-E/s1600/Alexandre-Desplat-Girl-With-A-Pearl-Earring---Original-Motion-Picture-Score.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZrFpKh7lp9ODNnIzqkMp5g7u073ual085lgqKH4yxBHi4ippCO9_vMMvtWNd8CCI111AdvbdKnCyJ4B5BDS7aGGEFqCX3N2g7RI11zgu03mbrkr95roPlVU5pYZciLtotoCq15iEh-E/s200/Alexandre-Desplat-Girl-With-A-Pearl-Earring---Original-Motion-Picture-Score.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Alexandre began writing for movies in the 1990s, mostly for European films. He burst on the Hollywood scene when his score for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY8eMgEIfJY" target="_blank"><i>Girl with a Pearl Earring </i></a>was nominated for a Golden Globe, and since then, many his scores have been received with acclaim and nominations galore-five Academy Award nominations, six BAFTA nominations (One win for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s80vveaXhH4" target="_blank"><i>The King's Speech</i></a>), six Golden Globe nominations (one win for <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urci4i9zX6M" target="_blank">The Painted Veil</a>)</i>, and two Grammy nominations. In fact, he's basically been nominated every year for the past 5 years, but much to my chagrin and angst, he's not as decorated with awards as he should be. If he doesn't win the Oscar for <i>Argo </i>this year...well, I guess we'll get 'em next year, Alexandre. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwgDsoz9_lwhIjAXMLwVQpxtQRoteSAp77LLoZ2MHG_K2_rbkOM5BPpHi1gYyCsyOREUauBRQxXd8FYSnEiKtmDxiHTK_f1-QDzGDW4VXHcWHMsO4ZXI7k-HWwkBr3AzzRlmRl2mzAFng/s1600/51rJqLiJSZL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwgDsoz9_lwhIjAXMLwVQpxtQRoteSAp77LLoZ2MHG_K2_rbkOM5BPpHi1gYyCsyOREUauBRQxXd8FYSnEiKtmDxiHTK_f1-QDzGDW4VXHcWHMsO4ZXI7k-HWwkBr3AzzRlmRl2mzAFng/s200/51rJqLiJSZL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">His music is glorious. The biography on his website says that he composes with two major ideas in mind: "function and fiction." "Function" means his music fits well with the overall design and mood of the film and accompanies it appropriately. "Fiction" means that his music should go deeper than just accompanying the film and make clear the characters' deeper psychology and emotions, something which cannot always come across with clarity on film. Before reading his website earlier this week, I had no idea that those were his goals, yet I could have told you that his music always does exactly that. It always fits the film and it always gives the characters more emotional depth<i> (</i>even if they don't actually have it-See <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYQyPy8HRow" target="_blank">Twilight: New Moon</a>) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Interesting Facts:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj191ufU3-Ea6zaQh8wuoNFMyyaAReLo3yFKJ9cYbNaZUnnO9iHWc-ni5FVjkWK2wEVt1PuOs2OZwSZFXrnuYVb20rrs0nl_EVGJcH6QEy0LJ9VamdqmNrZp3gQEkkQOjlOPeEuA9ahxDc/s1600/hp7b_sdtk_cover_final_4.75in_300dpi_rgb_custom-555339dc55723ee59d2d9dfb781b75b7c3978ba5-s6-c10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj191ufU3-Ea6zaQh8wuoNFMyyaAReLo3yFKJ9cYbNaZUnnO9iHWc-ni5FVjkWK2wEVt1PuOs2OZwSZFXrnuYVb20rrs0nl_EVGJcH6QEy0LJ9VamdqmNrZp3gQEkkQOjlOPeEuA9ahxDc/s200/hp7b_sdtk_cover_final_4.75in_300dpi_rgb_custom-555339dc55723ee59d2d9dfb781b75b7c3978ba5-s6-c10.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">-His wife is a violinist in the Traffic Quartet. She collaborates with him on his work, and he collaborates with her on her work by arranging music for her. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">-His father is French and his mother is Greek, but they actually met in the US while studying at univerisity together. When they got married, they moved back to France where Desplat was born.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">-He has written music not only for film, but for the theatre as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">-He composed for the last two Harry Potter films! If you loved those movies, you will probably love his music! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">This week, my challenge to you all is to go out and listen to Alexandre Desplat's work. Here's a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=t_5si9NoWB8" target="_blank">Youtube video</a> to get you started. Every score is different, but he definitely has a distinct sound that is unmistakably his own. Let me know what you think of his work! I love it so much that it's probably unhealthy. Or maybe it is healthy, because whenever I need to unwind or get myself in the zone, I listen to his music! Anyway, have a good Valentine Day, everyone! I hope you feel loved today :) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-17977629776680911662013-02-03T12:25:00.000-08:002013-02-03T12:26:04.352-08:00Argo Review and Feburary Scores! <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hey everyone! Two things today-First, I'm going to give my thoughts on the score for <i>Argo</i> by Alexandre Desplat. Why? Because Desplat's score is nominated for an Oscar and I have reviews for all the other nominated scores! <i>Argo </i>came out before I started writing this blog, so I didn't have a review for it, but now I will. Second, I'm going to list the scores being released this month, which I will review at the end of the month in a master score review post! Ready, set, go! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Argo</i>, by Alexandre Desplat-9/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u>Did it fit the movie? </u>Yes and yes. I just saw <i>Argo</i> itself for the first time last night and while I was watching it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had already seen the movie before, and it's not because the story was predictable or cliched. I think it's because I've actually been listening to this score for the past four months since Desplat is one of my top two favorite composers and I listen to all of his work. Each musical track was familiar to me, and each track came right when it should have in the unfolding of the plot. The music itself is a creative blend of exotic instruments, percussive vocals, drums, and traditional orchestral sounds. A good example of the interplay of these is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6InzazZZng" target="_blank">Hotel Messages</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u>Did it make me feel something?</u> Yes. The first time I listened to the score, I was in the middle of doing homework. My roommate walked into the room and said "This is great working music!" And it is! Many of the tracks move at an urgent pace, but not like the angry, vengeful urgency of Desplat's <i>Zero Dark</i> <i>Thirty </i>score. It's a worried, rushed urgency, like there's a time limit that needs to be met. It is really great music to listen to while working because it heightens your sense of time and makes you move quickly. Not all of the tracks are like that, however. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdiMkihVK3U" target="_blank">The Mission</a> slows down, with horns blaring out a gorgeous, grand melody line that made me smile. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwOFded33Kg" target="_blank">Cleared Iranian Airspace</a> is so gentle and peaceful, like coming out of a storm. I fell asleep listening to that track the other day. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u>Is it original?</u> Yes it certainly is! I've never heard anything like those vocals I mentioned earlier. You can here them on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lHUqOwY744" target="_blank">Scent of Death</a> too. It's almost as if Desplat decided to use the different sounds of fast and heavy breathing as percussion instead of drums. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u>Did I like it?</u> I liked it a lot. In fact, I'm listening to it now while writing this post! Purchasing suggestion? Buy it. The whole album is great and has tracks for every purpose, whether you need to relax or need to do work with some urgency. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And now, here is your list of scores for February! As with January, there's not many, because many films are released before awards season and not during it, but hopefully there will still be some great music to hear this month! These are the four full length scores that I found that will be released this month. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Side Effects</i> by Thomas Newman </span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguV27cftF2YHdf02CXazxvvc7ezbnKZb6vW1BLFOFgzwjiQJCG4c6To8ZNMRHZB_kdmJ4PCuE9goZznVM-aVIEpnFluaAjJlASqW3tjFHmxd5zsB7cNbkUzAMZkpiomPnRWEVjIrL54zU/s1600/Beautiful-Creatures-Soundtrack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguV27cftF2YHdf02CXazxvvc7ezbnKZb6vW1BLFOFgzwjiQJCG4c6To8ZNMRHZB_kdmJ4PCuE9goZznVM-aVIEpnFluaAjJlASqW3tjFHmxd5zsB7cNbkUzAMZkpiomPnRWEVjIrL54zU/s200/Beautiful-Creatures-Soundtrack.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Beautiful Creatures</i>, by thenewno2</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Escape from Planet Earth</i> by Aaron Zigman</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6stf-bykI_YaERvB8zCpaw4rwTb9K3m9kE1rQZZhVh_v_NRwKZCE-AA_KM8p6zToO3U5XBJOEnWYb_jn1gPpP7fsf-wL6BTGx8SRKP9qbdmhf4nF1TAZsBYZvcS9Aa4z6jqaCQhVeVns/s1600/a-good-day-to-die-hard-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6stf-bykI_YaERvB8zCpaw4rwTb9K3m9kE1rQZZhVh_v_NRwKZCE-AA_KM8p6zToO3U5XBJOEnWYb_jn1gPpP7fsf-wL6BTGx8SRKP9qbdmhf4nF1TAZsBYZvcS9Aa4z6jqaCQhVeVns/s200/a-good-day-to-die-hard-300x300.jpg" width="192" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>A Good Day to Die Hard, by </i>Marco Beltrami</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And that's all I have for you today! I hope you have a great week. Keep listening to those Oscar nominated scores and let me know what you think of them! The complete list of nominated scores can be found in <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/january-score-reviews-and-oscar-nominees.html" target="_blank">last week's post</a>. See you next week for our February composer of the month! </span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-76466557032045152632013-01-27T13:39:00.001-08:002013-01-27T13:39:43.600-08:00January Score Reviews and Oscar Nominees<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi all! Welcome to another Incidentally, Music blog post! Let's jump right in with my thoughts on some scores released in January. For those of you new to the blog, I judge scores based on a few things-first, does it fit the movie? The music I hear needs to fit what people see on the screen. Second, does it make me feel something? I know this is a weird question, but one of the points of a movie score is to provide emotional support to the action in the movie. So the music needs to make me feel something! It needs to convince me! Third, is it original? I like scores that do something different, whatever that may be. Maybe a melody pops up that's completely different from any other scores I've heard before. Maybe there's a new instrument that give it a unique sound. Fourth and finally, do I like it? I'm not pretending to be an impartial judge who's word is law. Some scores I will rate high because I like them. Other scores, I will not rate high, because I don't like them. All my thoughts are just that-my thoughts. I'm just trying to get more people to listen to movie music and give the art form some love <3 </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3jn9CfhYuXGMfofAHR8SIrMNwTEc03SVVLBGJV726Kbjdudw-8GPfkzlKkFtdX_1-jW4HDwnvsxcqx2c3mIKXotKMjhx7vLkgx7ZAONKAGEVbQwiQW3y4-Dlh4VPGQ9OAM3yKn-7zsk/s1600/gangstersquad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3jn9CfhYuXGMfofAHR8SIrMNwTEc03SVVLBGJV726Kbjdudw-8GPfkzlKkFtdX_1-jW4HDwnvsxcqx2c3mIKXotKMjhx7vLkgx7ZAONKAGEVbQwiQW3y4-Dlh4VPGQ9OAM3yKn-7zsk/s200/gangstersquad.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Gangster Squad</i>, by Steve Jablonsky-4/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did it fit the movie? Yes, I think so. It was dark and adrenaline pumping. Jablonsky make use of driving percussion and strings a lot, with horn hits in between and the occasional harmonica.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did it make me feel something? No, not really. My heart did kinda jump at points like in the track <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La1H4-lDAok" target="_blank">You're Talking to God</a>, when the sound got really loud and intense, and the one track that got me excited was<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqUa1GQJDbk" target="_blank"> Welcome to Los Angeles</a>, in which there's this really cool beat with a fun string melody. The problem is that the score pretty much just sounds that track the whole time. Perhaps in this movie, the absence of music served to make certain scenes more dramatic because I kept waiting for some kind of dramatic rise beyond the heart-pumping drums and strings, and I didn't really feel it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Was it original? For the most part, no. It sounded like just another action movie score to me, with the driving beats and strings.The addition of the harmonica was unexpected and new, though, so that was kinda interesting. I didn't expect it! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did I like it? No, not particularly. There was no melody, and I have a hard time with scores that have no recurring melodies. It's a personal preference, though. I think that scores can be successful without melodies, but it's harder for me to relate to them when they don't. Purchasing suggestion? I personally wouldn't buy it. I just didn't like it enough. Listen to it on YouTube and see you agree! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_dEVzYyiWlojdQXSWts4iUoAP65zlF4kJ2nRBvLWHw_8AC09s0lgBT9OCXskibad8XCr7kFdDcz6OR9NBboGW8kJjT4L-AZoRYLLkzI70qqriU026ojNRN88gnPRSznXo_iP2FOEiqk/s1600/the_impossible-2_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_dEVzYyiWlojdQXSWts4iUoAP65zlF4kJ2nRBvLWHw_8AC09s0lgBT9OCXskibad8XCr7kFdDcz6OR9NBboGW8kJjT4L-AZoRYLLkzI70qqriU026ojNRN88gnPRSznXo_iP2FOEiqk/s200/the_impossible-2_1.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>The Impossible</i>, by Fernando Velasquez-7.5/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did it fit the movie? Yes, completely. I had no trouble imagining a family struck by tragedy while listening to this score. Lots of strings and piano mostly, with a cello solo popping up consistently throughout and some woodwinds. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did I feel something? Oh yeah. Every single track was designed to pull at your emotional center in some way. Most of the music was longing and heart rending except for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2jCqRvL04M&list=PLaPHUFprMOEfIuoqPYvsTNfisxb3GyYin" target="_blank">Is It Over?</a>, which sounded totally frightening-I'm guessing it came at the point when the family was separated from each other. I felt the separation, loss, and devastation come through very clearly. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Was it original? No, and here's where I took off a couple rating points. Although I really enjoyed the melodies, they just seemed a little too predictable to me. Also, although the use of solo cello with strings and piano was lovely, it's also not very new. I've heard plenty of scores with a similar sound. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did I like it? Yes, I did :) It made me long for my home and my family, and whenever scores make me feel something in my own life, I usually like them. It was very peaceful to listen to while reading or cooking or doing homework, and there are some tracks that I absolutely love, including <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T40Zq2hJVw&list=PLaPHUFprMOEfIuoqPYvsTNfisxb3GyYin" target="_blank">Go and Help People</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gcBctp4UDw" target="_blank">The Impossible End Titles</a>. Purchasing suggestion? Buy the tracks you like! They're worth it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRy8o9_4ZGbF4JwuTXYnpKSDxMRj-jFUfE_dIL9pgIzqN34D2_ep1j_SW4U_XsSQhyphenhyphenOl6sW1mVcdvrnFD0Cl201-hmNrdTr5Rnh34ZxW54hVUvM1knvgC01DPUeUO0Nr4ubQ3Wp4xWTw/s1600/ePvmR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRy8o9_4ZGbF4JwuTXYnpKSDxMRj-jFUfE_dIL9pgIzqN34D2_ep1j_SW4U_XsSQhyphenhyphenOl6sW1mVcdvrnFD0Cl201-hmNrdTr5Rnh34ZxW54hVUvM1knvgC01DPUeUO0Nr4ubQ3Wp4xWTw/s200/ePvmR.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <i>Promised Land, </i>by Danny Elfman (January Composer of the Month)-7.5/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did it fit the movie? You know, at first I wasn't sure if it would! Bouncing back from Silver Linings Playbook, Elfman's usually whimsy and dream-like style comes through strongly in this score, and I don't really think "whimsy" when I think of a movie about the fracking industry. But the more I listened to it and the more I thought about it, I realized that it works. Why? Because the whole premise of the movie plays on people's hopes and dreams. The title refers to the hope of the promised land, the home God promised to the ancient Israelites in Biblical times. So I think a whimiscal Elfman score works well! True to his style, there's lots of woodwinds, xylophones, and strings.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did I feel something? Yes. Tracks like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKCVs3lddIA" target="_blank">Traveling</a> made me think of moving through life holding onto a dream or a goal, and letting that drive my actions. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuIXksfB3Zk" target="_blank">Weepy Donuts,</a> although humorously named, actually made me sad-it's just a solo piano with a few strings, playing out a simple melody. I think of longing for a lost time in my life when I hear it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Was it original? Yes, and here's why-the haunting female voices that show up every once and awhile. They're child-like and on the line between eerie and friendly. I thought it was a perfect addition, and it made the score just different enough from others I've heard, because some of the music does sound very familiar to me.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did I like it? Yes, I think so. It wasn't a perfect score, but I enjoyed a few tracks very much. The ones I mentioned previously, as well as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OokI-D9r9Js" target="_blank">The Speech</a>. Purchasing suggestion? Buy the tracks you like and support our composer of the month! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8C-V9o-hK1Jx_cKGtEWjE4Km-ZrMJJEjtM5htyYlIMoEUcrylia5N4QKM_DAydOSJVEHvRyBNjSjsY3N_RCnlB1tdZNryEvHp97cWP4Y1JApDTr01R-4E2nhWSdXFuZBguvhfR9U6hE/s1600/zerodarkthirty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8C-V9o-hK1Jx_cKGtEWjE4Km-ZrMJJEjtM5htyYlIMoEUcrylia5N4QKM_DAydOSJVEHvRyBNjSjsY3N_RCnlB1tdZNryEvHp97cWP4Y1JApDTr01R-4E2nhWSdXFuZBguvhfR9U6hE/s200/zerodarkthirty.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Zero Dark Thirty</i>, by Alexandre Desplat-8.5/10 </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did it fit the movie? Totally. Dark, intense, scary, horrible, suspenseful, sad, angry, frustrated, heartbroken, lost-all of these adjectives and more came to my mind at some point while listening the score, and I think all of these things apply to the hunt for Bin Laden. Desplat uses a variety of instruments, some definitely Middle-Eastern, others more traditionally orchestral. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did I feel something? Yes, I did. In fact, the score was almost uncomfortable to listen to at some points because of the darkness embedded in it. I let it run in the background while doing homework, and my work suddenly took on this tone of urgency. I felt uptight and uneasy. It's not that the music is awfully written. It's just...uncomfortable. I can't really describe it. Listen to it and you'll understand! There were a few tracks that tugged at my heart too-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtB99IjVZj4&list=PL6cif0ieq0JP_jhuE1yVOm5OlO1knfxq6" target="_blank">Maya On Plane</a> is my favorite. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Was it original? Very much yes. The melodies, though few, were unique. I heard so many instruments and some interesting electronic effects as well. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeBAd8mf4PY&list=PL6cif0ieq0JP_jhuE1yVOm5OlO1knfxq6" target="_blank">Bombings </a>has this sound in the background of the track that sounds like a slow, twisted, almost evil heartbeat, and I'm really curious about how they made it. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhKtvjiDdXo&list=PL6cif0ieq0JP_jhuE1yVOm5OlO1knfxq6" target="_blank">Monkeys</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhKtvjiDdXo&list=PL6cif0ieq0JP_jhuE1yVOm5OlO1knfxq6" target="_blank">Flight to Compound </a>have similar "heartbeats." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did I like it? Yes, and here's why-because it's extremely well crafted. Every track has something distinctive about it, distinguishing it from the others. I've noticed this in other works by Desplat as well. He makes every track different, and I love that. It's also tailored to the film's subject matter very well, another thing Desplat is famous for. Purchasing suggestion? Buy only the tracks that you know you'll want to listen to again and again. <span style="font-size: small;">Most of the score is too uncomfortable for that, but I still think it needs some love and supp<span style="font-size: small;">ort! </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And now, ladies and gentlemen, the nominees for Best Original Score are: </span></span><br />
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<div class="oscar-nominee" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img class="nom-image" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims/GLOB/5/46/46/100/http://o.aolcdn.com/os/movies/movie_posters/1427547_p_m" /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Mychael Danna, <i>Life of Pi</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img class="nom-image" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims/GLOB/5/46/46/100/http://o.aolcdn.com/os/movies/movie_posters/10063417_p_m" /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Alexandre Desplat, <i>Argo
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<div class="oscar-nominee" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img class="nom-image" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims/GLOB/5/46/46/100/http://o.aolcdn.com/os/movies/movie_posters/54808_p_m" /></span></span>
<div class="nom-info">
<div class="nom-data">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dario Marianelli, <i>Anna Karenina
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<div class="oscar-nominee" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img class="nom-image" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims/GLOB/5/46/46/100/http://o.aolcdn.com/os/movies/movie_posters/10084319_p_m" /></span></span>
<div class="nom-info">
<div class="nom-data">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">John Williams, <i>Lincoln
</i></span></span></div>
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<div class="oscar-nominee">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img class="nom-image" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims/GLOB/5/46/46/100/http://o.aolcdn.com/os/movies/movie_posters/10054025_p_m" /></span></span></div>
<div class="nom-info">
<div class="nom-data" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thomas Newman, <i>Skyfall
</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yay! Congrats to all the nominees! The exciting thing about all of these is that I've reviewed 4 out of the 5 scores nominated (see <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2012/11/composer-of-month-and-skyfalllincoln.html" target="_blank">here </a>and <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-last-of-november-score-reviews-and.html" target="_blank">here)<span style="color: black;">.</span></a> Your challenge this week is to listen to all of these scores, which is easy because they're all on Spotify for free listening! Comment below or on my Facebook page to let me know which one you think should win! I'll review <i>Argo </i>next week, along with giving my predictions for who will win :) Thanks for reading and have a great week of good music listening! </span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-18665995125169883262013-01-20T14:55:00.002-08:002013-01-20T14:55:30.903-08:00Part Two: Orchestration! <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi everyone! About a month ago, I wrote Part One of a series about the score writing process. In that post, I described some of the people that are involved in developing a score and syncing it to a film, such as composers, music editors, etc. (<a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2012/12/part-one-players-plus-predicatably.html" target="_blank">See full post here</a>) Today, I'm continuing that series by talking about the what, who, why, and how of orchestration. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>What is Orchestration? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span class="ssens">1. the arrangement of a musical composition for performance by an orchestra</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="ssens"> </span><strong> </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><strong> </strong>2. harmonious organization. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The first definition is more informative, because it tells you exactly what orchestration means! It's taking a simple melody and developing it for a larger group of instruments to play (it doesn't have to be an orchestra necessarily). I really like the second definition, though, because I think it conveys what orchestration sounds like-taking a melody and organizing many instruments to play it, giving it harmonies and layers that the original composition may not have had. This is harmonious organization. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Who orchestrates?</b></span><br />
<a href="http://www.photo-dictionary.com/photofiles/list/3746/5051conductor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" id="il_fi" src="http://www.photo-dictionary.com/photofiles/list/3746/5051conductor.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, um, the orchestrator does. Go figure. But the orchestrator could also be the film composer or the orchestra conductor as well. Like I said in my previous post, it depends on who's scoring the film and what their preference is. <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2012/12/december-composer-of-month-and-special.html" target="_blank">Howard Shore,</a> the composer of the Lord of the Rings music, both composes and orchestrates his music. <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/and-january-composer-of-month-is.html" target="_blank">January composer of the month Danny Elfman</a>, however, just composes the melodies and has an orchestrator arrange the melodies for him. I think this is interesting because it's often the film composer who gets the credit for writing the music when in fact, it might be the orchestrator or team of orchestrators who write most of the actual music you hear in the film. (Not to belittle the composer, though, because coming up with good quality melodies is so much more difficult than it sounds. ) </span><br />
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<a href="http://th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/335/1/4/piano_fingers_by_jclossphoto-d341nrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" id="il_fi" src="http://th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/335/1/4/piano_fingers_by_jclossphoto-d341nrg.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Why orchestrate? </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Why indeed? After all, what's wrong with a simple piano or a lone violin? Who needs a big complicated orchestra playing in the background of a movie? Well, sometimes you don't need an orchestra! There are situations when orchestration isn't necessary when crafting a score. Maybe it's a low budget indie film and so there's not enough funds to hire an orchestra to play the score. Mostly, it comes down to the director's vision for the tone and feel of the movie. If piano solos fit the tone, then piano solos will be the score. If it's an epic movie that calls for sound to match the dramatic onscreen action, then the score will probably be orchestrated for many instruments to provide a fuller sound. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>How do you orchestrate?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">When I first started arranging my own music for orchestra, I thought it would be easy. Write a piece for piano, pick instruments I like, distribute the piano chords across them, and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">boom. It's orchestrated. But I soon found out that it's much more difficult than that. There's tons of things an orchestrator must consider when arranging a composition. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.viola-in-music.com/images/mozart364concertante_score.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" id="il_fi" src="http://www.viola-in-music.com/images/mozart364concertante_score.gif" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Say you write a song on the piano. You decide that your piece might sound good played by a </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">full concert orchestra so you decide to orchestrate it. Cool. One of the first problems will be getting the instruments to play together in the same key at the same time. Why? Notes on some instruments do not match up to notes on other instruments. For example, the note C on the violin sounds like a B flat on a trumpet. This means you have to take the music you've written and make sure it's in the correct key for each one of the instruments so that the melody sounds right. If this sounds confusing, that's because it is! Even I don't completely understand this! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now that you have the keys all worked out, you need to write out the parts for the instruments to play. When you do this, you actually have to write music that's different of your original composition. You have to know the harmonies, the counter melodies, the notes just hanging out the in background, and even the drum beats. You have to decide which instruments get the melody line at specific points in your piece, which instruments are providing harmony, which instruments come in then fade out and when, etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">You also have to balance the instruments to get the right sound level and to make sure the melody gets heard. For example, you've figured out that you want the violins to play the melody and the trumpets to play the harmony. But, trumpets are naturally much louder than violins, so you need to have the correct balance of sound to make sure the melody gets through the blare of the trumpets. You could do this by varying the number of trumpets playing, maybe 2 instead of 10, or telling the violins to play as loud as possible to make sure they're heard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What about the tempo, or speed of the music? Well, when you were playing your song by yourself on the piano, you could speed up or slow down whenever you wanted because it was just you. Now, there's tons of instruments that have to all speed up and slow down at the same time. You need to make sure that you write parts that allow for the instruments to change their tempo without sounding like a train wreck. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">These are just a few of the problems I've encountered while orchestrating, and I'm sure I could list a few more, but you get the idea. ORCHESTRATION IS HARD! Although, like most things in life, it is made easier today by computers. Aspiring orchestrators like myself can make use of various programs that get instruments in the right key or write out parts for us so we don't have to do it manually. Yay technology! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, that's all for today. I hope you've enjoyed reading this post about orchestration :) It's definitely one of the things that I want to get better at in the future, so I've had fun learning more about it by writing about it! If you want to read more about the art of orchestrating, I suggest reading <a href="http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/77-Principles-of-Orchestration-On-line" target="_blank">Principles of Orchestration</a>, written by<span dir="auto"></span> Nicloai Rimsky-Korsakov, who composed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYAJopwEYv8" target="_blank">Flight of the Bumblebee</a> and other wonderful music. His book was first published in 1922, and it's still one of the definitive texts on the subject! It's timeless. Anyway, thanks for reading, and check back next week for four January score reviews and a peak ahead to the Oscars! </span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-34358013316460513722013-01-14T13:51:00.004-08:002013-01-14T13:51:33.336-08:00And the January Composer of the Month is...<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi everyone! I'm back from my adventure in Nicaragua! It was absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately, I didn't get to the chance to listen to any of the native music, but I did hear some samples of the pop music that's popular there-It's called "reggaeton" and here's what it sounds like-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g_G6f4_iGM" target="_blank">g</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3629150183797961398" target="_blank">roovy and good for dancing</a>. My group had the opportunity to take a dancing class while we were there, and we did some shaking and moving to this kind of music :) Super fun!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Danny Elfman</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Today, I'd like to introduce you to the January Composer of the Month...Danny Elfman-the composer for all the Tim Burton movies (A.K.A. your nightmares), the Simpsons TV show theme, Batman, and Spiderman! I had fun reading about his journey to becoming a composer because it is kinda unconventional. Daniel Robert Elfman was born May 29, 1953. He was interested in movies as an art form from an early age, but his interest in until high school. He was friends with many artistically inclined individuals, some of whom were musicians. He didn't play any instruments, but watching his friends play their music made him want to learn. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Young Danny in Oingo Boingo</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After high school, he decided to buy a violin and go traveling the world instead of going to college right away. He stayed with his brother Richard in France for awhile, where the brothers toured with a group called the Grand Magic Circus, a musical theatre group. After touring with this group for a few months, Danny separated from Richard and went to Africa for a year, where he learned how to play drums in addition to improving his skill on the violin. While he was in Africa, Richard had returned to the US and started his own musical theatre group called the Mystic Knights of the Oingo
Boingo. When Danny returned, Richard invited him to be the group's musical director. He also sang and played trombone, violin, and percussion in the group. After the Mystic Knights disbanded, Danny formed the punk band Oingo Boingo, which toured until 1995. Here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iypUpv9xelg" target="_blank">one of their hit songs</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While Elfman was touring with Oingo Boingo, he began writing movie scores! His first score was for "Forbidden Zone" in 1982, which was written and directed by his brother. His work on this soundtrack and for Oingo Boingo attracted the attention of Tim Burton, who was beginning work on a movie called "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSgO9gwW-FU" target="_blank">Pee Wee's Big Adventure.</a>" Burton hired Elfman to score this film in 1982, and the rest is history! Since that time, Elfman has been one of Hollywood's most prominent composers. In addition to his collaborations with Tim Burton (which include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6frI0Xjufg" target="_blank">Batman</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOtEdhKOMgQ" target="_blank">the Nightmare Before Christmas</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5VcWD2LI7U" target="_blank">Alice in Wonderland</a>, and most recently, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMsjs-y7NOw" target="_blank">Frankenweenie</a>), Elfman has worked on many blockbuster films films, including the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTFcyXC7-rk" target="_blank">Spiderman trilogy</a>, the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-OclIvcASg" target="_blank">Men in Black trilogy,</a> and the first <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCo0oAFLejo" target="_blank">Mission Impossible</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What most impressed me about Elfman is the fact that he is self taught! He has little to no formal musical training. He taught himself all he knows about music! I think that's amazing and possibly reveals a little bit of musical genius :) Another interesting fact: He is actually the singing voice of Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas! I didn't know that before. I chose him to be our composer for the month because in 2012, he released SIX new scores. He's been busy, so I think he needs a bit of love and appreciation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That's all I have for this week! Come back next week for Part Two on my series about the scoring process! Assignment for the Week: Listen to Danny Elfman! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-36293490309519354982012-12-30T10:39:00.002-08:002012-12-30T10:40:27.319-08:00FInal December Score Reviews and January Scores :) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi there! I hope you all have been enjoying a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. I certainly have, which is why I completely forgot to blog last week! Oops. This week's post will be short and sweet because I'm busy preparing to go on an adventure! I'm going on a 9 day medical brigade to Nicaragua with 34 people I don't know at all, and I'm so excited and nervous. It's going to be wonderful. What does this mean for the blog? Well, three things: First, for those of you wondering about my series on the scoring process, it will be continued next month-probably the 3rd week of January, so look forward to that (read Part One <a href="http://incidentallymusic.blogspot.com/2012/12/part-one-players-plus-predicatably.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Second, I won't be blogging next week, because I'll be in a foreign country with no access to the Internet! Third and tentatively, I hope to hear some native music while I'm in Nicaragua, so hopefully next time I blog, I'll be able to discuss the cool music I heard while I was there! Today, I just have a couple reviews for you and a list of scores to look out for in January.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Jack Reacher</i>, by Joe Kraemer-6/10</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRfhQ0ZuQb5uyfhT-C1ohzrwGeJnciQF19260rch9U0SgOe8rOzXnKXYN8644pLqynNYtreY6bhVAlaD_ZhrTTfvZ1XHRNgq4-HFJTO3-v82iEOvsGPpZBy3J4rHu4qDDQ6tNoX2cx_k/s1600/jackreacher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRfhQ0ZuQb5uyfhT-C1ohzrwGeJnciQF19260rch9U0SgOe8rOzXnKXYN8644pLqynNYtreY6bhVAlaD_ZhrTTfvZ1XHRNgq4-HFJTO3-v82iEOvsGPpZBy3J4rHu4qDDQ6tNoX2cx_k/s200/jackreacher.jpg" width="200" /></a>You know, this one surprised me! Joe Kraemer's a newcomer on the major Hollywood composing scene-this is the first "blockbuster" film he's worked on, and I have to say, it's definitely an acceptable debut. I'm rating it 6 out of 10 because nothing really stood out to me as fantastically brilliant, but I definitely liked things about it. I appreciated his use of strings to drive his music forward and to form rich full chords. The main theme is reminiscent of a Hans Zimmer theme, with low brass, timpani, and fast moving strings. My favorite tracks are Main Title, Helen's Story, and Suite From Jack Reacher (which you can listen to on Spotify). Purchasing Suggestion? Buy the tracks you like-99 cents on iTunes! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2E38k9ohoAgHE6QfQHJrP-zBDqWLstI6tmE-y45C_4BkmS1UnK1aWBNixpPrzWPOALMNojjtnuec5vwo80cp3f8lzv0dHC73egLqqRP33PcQmsHi6JVpEJzUPWWTfHB8Ayhash_bpwY/s1600/1352864586_7898_Album+Artwork+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2E38k9ohoAgHE6QfQHJrP-zBDqWLstI6tmE-y45C_4BkmS1UnK1aWBNixpPrzWPOALMNojjtnuec5vwo80cp3f8lzv0dHC73egLqqRP33PcQmsHi6JVpEJzUPWWTfHB8Ayhash_bpwY/s200/1352864586_7898_Album+Artwork+%25283%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Silver Linings Playbook</i>, by Danny Elfman-4/10</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Eh. I wasn't really impressed with this one at all. I was actually really surprised to learn that Danny Elfman wrote it, since it sounds almost nothing like any of his past work. In the past, he's tended to make more symphonic sounding scores. In this score, the main instruments are piano, xylophone, and guitar. All of the tracks sounded similar to me, with the same three note patterns repeating over and over again, so I'm actually tempted to rate it lower. It seems like just another romantic comedy score, except for one thing-He used a small chorus of voices to sing his main themes. Interesting choice-Not bad or good necessarily, just different. Purchasing suggestion? I personally didn't like it, so I wouldn't say this one is worth your money. Listen to it on Spotify or something while working or studying. It's unobtrusive background music, but nothing extraordinary. It actually makes me want to see the movie because maybe the acting (which I've heard is excellent) brings more life to the music.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And here's the January scores! Some of these scores have been released already, but the films themselves will be widely released in January, so I'll talk about them when I get back from my trip. I can't wait to listen to this music. You know, my favorite thing about this blog so far is that I absolutely HAVE to listen to new music so I get to discover new composers and hear new things from the ones I know and love. For example, Fernando <span style="color: black;">Velázquez has only worked on Spanish films in the past, and The Impossible is his first major film. I'm looking forward to hearing his work. I'm also excited about the new score from Alexandre Desplat, one of my favorite composers of all time! </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Zero Dark Thirty,</i> by Alexandre Desplat</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3jn9CfhYuXGMfofAHR8SIrMNwTEc03SVVLBGJV726Kbjdudw-8GPfkzlKkFtdX_1-jW4HDwnvsxcqx2c3mIKXotKMjhx7vLkgx7ZAONKAGEVbQwiQW3y4-Dlh4VPGQ9OAM3yKn-7zsk/s1600/gangstersquad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3jn9CfhYuXGMfofAHR8SIrMNwTEc03SVVLBGJV726Kbjdudw-8GPfkzlKkFtdX_1-jW4HDwnvsxcqx2c3mIKXotKMjhx7vLkgx7ZAONKAGEVbQwiQW3y4-Dlh4VPGQ9OAM3yKn-7zsk/s200/gangstersquad.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: black;"><i>Gangster Squad</i>, by Steve Jablonsky </span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRy8o9_4ZGbF4JwuTXYnpKSDxMRj-jFUfE_dIL9pgIzqN34D2_ep1j_SW4U_XsSQhyphenhyphenOl6sW1mVcdvrnFD0Cl201-hmNrdTr5Rnh34ZxW54hVUvM1knvgC01DPUeUO0Nr4ubQ3Wp4xWTw/s1600/ePvmR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRy8o9_4ZGbF4JwuTXYnpKSDxMRj-jFUfE_dIL9pgIzqN34D2_ep1j_SW4U_XsSQhyphenhyphenOl6sW1mVcdvrnFD0Cl201-hmNrdTr5Rnh34ZxW54hVUvM1knvgC01DPUeUO0Nr4ubQ3Wp4xWTw/s200/ePvmR.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: black;"><i>Promised Land</i>, by Danny Elfman</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_dEVzYyiWlojdQXSWts4iUoAP65zlF4kJ2nRBvLWHw_8AC09s0lgBT9OCXskibad8XCr7kFdDcz6OR9NBboGW8kJjT4L-AZoRYLLkzI70qqriU026ojNRN88gnPRSznXo_iP2FOEiqk/s1600/the_impossible-2_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_dEVzYyiWlojdQXSWts4iUoAP65zlF4kJ2nRBvLWHw_8AC09s0lgBT9OCXskibad8XCr7kFdDcz6OR9NBboGW8kJjT4L-AZoRYLLkzI70qqriU026ojNRN88gnPRSznXo_iP2FOEiqk/s200/the_impossible-2_1.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>The Impossible</i>, b<span style="color: black;">y Fernando Velázquez</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: black;">Keep your eye out for these scores and listen to the ones I reviewed-please let me know what you think of them! I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'll see you in two weeks after I get back from my adventure! Have a Happy New Year! </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-45234348420755584922012-12-16T17:36:00.000-08:002012-12-16T17:44:49.921-08:00Part One: The Players (Plus a Predicatably Glowing Score Review)<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Good evening, Internet! I'm beginning a series on the actual process of scoring a film. This is Part One: The Players. Who is actually involved in scoring a film? The simplified answer is lots and lots of people! Today, I'll provide a list of the major players-not all of these roles will be needed depending on the scale of the film.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nu2dNdgsdNovgW-Erv4vP-hM8_OG_OmWcg5G7Kgv9MNLu3YDy48jYnssEIPYDhhMUyCEkMofuib2c3WXQ5iL2kLUd0cHHaTs1WBjebqvlb-s2eCpZ2RDd3fpnP2CmhFPuej5gRxbKKk/s1600/peter-jackson-the-hobbit-facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nu2dNdgsdNovgW-Erv4vP-hM8_OG_OmWcg5G7Kgv9MNLu3YDy48jYnssEIPYDhhMUyCEkMofuib2c3WXQ5iL2kLUd0cHHaTs1WBjebqvlb-s2eCpZ2RDd3fpnP2CmhFPuej5gRxbKKk/s320/peter-jackson-the-hobbit-facebook.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Everyone, I present Peter Jackson with a pipe</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Director</b></u>: A director's artistic and dramatic vision guides much of the movie making process. He/she has an enormous amount of input on the tone and mood of the score and on the final combination of film and music. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><u>The Producer</u></b>: The money that pays the music makers! The director wants it, the producer makes it happen. He/she is often in close communication with the director's desired composer before the director and composer even meet to discuss the film. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LIC39sWifZbE21S1XWSd4jkj3OsJptk5PG8riqBw8qZpSVE1r3dowTk2K4VJyVxFbuOyJPNbQ1xouy6eMTSDfekdVqIBKOb72CjgpAWaeFCje3MzfrjMXSuUUKKmPzUd8yz4VesMFa4/s1600/Shore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LIC39sWifZbE21S1XWSd4jkj3OsJptk5PG8riqBw8qZpSVE1r3dowTk2K4VJyVxFbuOyJPNbQ1xouy6eMTSDfekdVqIBKOb72CjgpAWaeFCje3MzfrjMXSuUUKKmPzUd8yz4VesMFa4/s200/Shore.jpg" width="165" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Howard Shore, looking somewhat tortured</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Composer</b></u>: A composer usually (though not always) comes into the movie making process after filming is done. The director and composer meet to discuss the score and the movie, and then the composer gets down to writing music! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Orchestrator</b>:</u> Interestingly, the composer is not always the individual who writes the score. The composer comes up with the main themes and melodies. The orchestrator takes those melodies and translates them into a larger group of instruments while trying to keep the artistic vision of the original piece written by the composer. Sometimes, the composer and the orchestrator are the same person-Howard Shore, the December Composer of the Month, both composes and orchestrates all of his work. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uH42T1T7zy9-MsR_N-sPCHS6_nz6vv0M146q1ZBJuUmTW1N7mgnljKqSP7htKQm6FKwUW2wn3RwZRw3I7jY6H_Soj_VNsrxYwo_rk14VVGp1Ppe7E6QS9ZmAeW0YHst-U_7msDmYGn8/s1600/tosca3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uH42T1T7zy9-MsR_N-sPCHS6_nz6vv0M146q1ZBJuUmTW1N7mgnljKqSP7htKQm6FKwUW2wn3RwZRw3I7jY6H_Soj_VNsrxYwo_rk14VVGp1Ppe7E6QS9ZmAeW0YHst-U_7msDmYGn8/s200/tosca3.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A little bit of a mess</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Music Historian/Researcher:</b></u> Depending on the movie, the director might hire this person to research instruments or sounds from a certain time period so that they can help the composer and orchestrator match the score to the time period of the film. This person might also find unique instruments to use in the score if the composer want to have a distinct sound that stands out. This job can also be done by the composer.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Copyist:</b></u> This person makes neat copies of the composer or orchestrator's manuscript so it's playable by musicians. Not as easy as it sounds, because the manuscript could look something like this →</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Music Makers:</b></u><b> </b>They actually play the music! For "The Hobbit," this would be the London Philharmonic Orchestra.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><u>The Orchestra Contractor</u></b><u>:</u> Orchestra contractors are the agents and talent scouts of the orchestra world. It's their job to make sure that that musicians are found, hired, and brought into the studio or scoring stage to perform the score. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1RLddTM2nKo1PC-ztoxqw7uZLDM5xhyGYnKgnjcaO2deT5A6pvVQccuTtqWwC8Xqs3FEZy4cfvYB6qyA0JIbrWJZb_WIZcNgSQU5sAtkscktUm3xJ2ju95ntCgWWsrIvq809DcH5M6M/s1600/2009-09-25-TheRadioCityLOTRresized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1RLddTM2nKo1PC-ztoxqw7uZLDM5xhyGYnKgnjcaO2deT5A6pvVQccuTtqWwC8Xqs3FEZy4cfvYB6qyA0JIbrWJZb_WIZcNgSQU5sAtkscktUm3xJ2ju95ntCgWWsrIvq809DcH5M6M/s320/2009-09-25-TheRadioCityLOTRresized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The London Philharmonic</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><u>The Conductor</u></b>: The composer<span style="font-size: small;"> a<span style="font-size: small;">nd<span style="font-size: small;">/</span>or or<span style="font-size: small;">chestrator </span></span></span>is usually the conductor too, but not always! Sometimes, another person is brought in to conduct the orchestra for the composer.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Recording Engineer:</b></u> Recording engineers are incredibly important. They prepare the studio or sound stage for a recording session, operate
the mixing console (the big board with all the switches on it), and maintain the studio
equipment and instruments. During the recording process, the recording engineer manipulates each track that's recording and mixes them together while tweaking tone, intensity, and tempo, applying
effects, and editing the sound. That's a lot of jobs! (Which is why there are often multiple recording engineers involved) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><u>The Music Mixer</u></b><u>:</u> This person is basically the recording engineer, but working after the recording process. Mixers take the final recordings and listen to them again, adjusting and mixing the different instruments or voices together until the balance is perfect. This is especially important if the instruments or singers recorded at different times. The r<span style="font-size: small;">ecording engin<span style="font-size: small;">eer can do th<span style="font-size: small;">is job too<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">, </span>depending on the size and budget of the film<span style="font-size: small;"> and the specific requirements.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFTanxXQ6rGXHsPi6oDFrsXZIWo04lv8tR_KAi0PotdUBw7sfgICUamq6c1WU5odP__0ORZb1hoVpk1f9SFjChfeyjc5RqgzuDbfdiQjTCiizgWXJLtsuL1aokGXw3deXU81sP8V67oQ/s1600/IMG_1423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFTanxXQ6rGXHsPi6oDFrsXZIWo04lv8tR_KAi0PotdUBw7sfgICUamq6c1WU5odP__0ORZb1hoVpk1f9SFjChfeyjc5RqgzuDbfdiQjTCiizgWXJLtsuL1aokGXw3deXU81sP8V67oQ/s320/IMG_1423.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sound engineers hard at work</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>The Mastering Studio</b></u>: The final mix of the score is sent off to the mastering studio<span style="font-size: small;">. </span>When you master a recording, you correct any imbalance that might be left in the final mix by taking all the sound levels and making them even and smooth, so that it sounds lovely coming out of a sound system in a <span style="font-size: small;">theater or out of the ear buds on your headphones</span>. <span style="font-size: small;">Again, d</span>epending on the size and budget of the movie, <span style="font-size: small;">t</span>he recording engin<span style="font-size: small;">eer might also <span style="font-size: small;">master the music. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Music/Sound Editor<span style="font-size: small;">:</span></span></span></b></u><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> This person takes the <span style="font-size: small;">final <span style="font-size: small;">mastered tracks and <span style="font-size: small;">fits</span> them into the <span style="font-size: small;">final cut of the m<span style="font-size: small;">ovie<span style="font-size: small;">.</span> They<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">make sure that<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> the <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">score</span> serves to</span></span> <span style="font-size: small;">enhance the film rather then detracting from the ac<span style="font-size: small;">tion, putting <span style="font-size: small;">music in the right places and adjusting the le<span style="font-size: small;">vels of sound at any given point in the movie.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is just a brief list of people who could be involved in the scoring process. All of these people could have any number of assistants helping them do their jobs. Basically, scoring a film is a big deal and takes a lot of work from many people! Next week, I'll talk more about orchestrating and what that entails. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now for the first December score review! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGsNSe364z9nEValNSg3Hk-v5H7l9gJzpubYuahNKAArE9F-UNlcTwf3PbAygmKsKUS3egesMk-OTo4TDcdVltiFEo3Ry96YqbZBwL-imzpQnbxY2HUZbm_NzBD4YfGtiIR_3qUahL3MU/s1600/movies_the_hobbit_soundtrack_artwork_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGsNSe364z9nEValNSg3Hk-v5H7l9gJzpubYuahNKAArE9F-UNlcTwf3PbAygmKsKUS3egesMk-OTo4TDcdVltiFEo3Ry96YqbZBwL-imzpQnbxY2HUZbm_NzBD4YfGtiIR_3qUahL3MU/s200/movies_the_hobbit_soundtrack_artwork_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"The Hobbit," composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore: 9.5/10</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After seeing the movie and listening to the score as much as I could for the past two weeks, I'm rating this one high. <span style="font-size: small;">M</span>y gushing praise of Howard Shore's work on Lord of the Rings last week<span style="font-size: small;"> probably made this</span> a predictable outcome, but seriously, this score is wonderful. Why? Because it doesn't exactly copy the Lord of the Rings! Sure, some of the main LOTR themes pop up here and there, but only when recurring characters or ideas from the first three films are mentioned. The rest of it is entirely new for an entirely new set of characters on an entirely new adventure! I'm so glad. It would have been so easy for Shore to completely revive all the old music and use that to drive his score. But he didn't! Instead, he took variations on his old themes and expanded them into new melodies! Yay! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My favorite new theme is the "Misty Mountains" melody, hands down, no competition. Every time it plays during the movie. I want more. It's grand, mysterious, mournful, and longing. The whole idea of the movie, without giving too much away, is that this group of dwarfs are on a quest to reclaim their conquered homeland, and without their home, they really don't have a place to belong. I get all of that from the "Misty Mountains" theme. It first comes in at the beginning of the film, when the dwarves all start singing it in low, deep voices filled with emotion and determination. It sent chills down my spine. It comes up multiple times throughout the film. <span style="font-size: small;">I</span>n one particular scene, the adventuring group is traveling over these gorgeous mountains and the theme blares out in horns and heavy drums with high strings playing arpeggios behind them. It made the scene incredibly thrilling. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My favorite tracks on the score? Well, if I have to choose...1)"Misty Mountains" in which the dwarves sing in deep and captivating voices. 2) "The World is Ahead," in which you hear both the Misty Mountains theme and the Bilbo Baggin's theme music that completely encapsulates the quirkiness and endearing nature of his character. 3) "Over Hill," the music that plays on in the moment on the mountains I described above. 4) "My Dear Frodo," in which you hear the Dwarf Lords theme and a lot of the action music that will come up throughout the movie. But, honestly, I don't really have a favorite track. I like them all. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Purchasing suggestion? Buy it all. In fact, buy the extended edition of the soundtrack like I did, because it has tracks like "Erebor" and "The Dwarf Lords" that are super great. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Side Note: See the movie too. I was originally upset with Peter Jackson for splitting the Hobbit into three movies, but he put SO much detail into this movie that I've forgiven him. In fact, he added things that will actually make the Hobbit movies flow directly into the LOTR movies, which I really like. Also, the acting is spot on and the world of the film, including sets, costumes, and scenery, is just astounding. I don't mind Jackson making money off me if he's going to deliver beautiful films like this! </span></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That's all I have for you tonight! Comment below with thoughts on the Hobbit score/movie and on the scoring process! Next week, look for a post on orchestration and another score review or two :) </span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-10844608478715772892012-12-09T16:45:00.002-08:002012-12-09T18:21:36.869-08:00December Composer of the Month and a Special Treat! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnorOWgPDWtw0BSdpnilhlqrMs1pT4pQzERl6w3At458gEVbIrncRCuMv3hjwDevb7GDDtIekW7-0pACdklHH4MBwgTYEkMWqQmSgeZA-BrZJKTuKoAlreUiCO-s8urGb7nnqslpnWTkY/s1600/Howard_Shore_500x500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnorOWgPDWtw0BSdpnilhlqrMs1pT4pQzERl6w3At458gEVbIrncRCuMv3hjwDevb7GDDtIekW7-0pACdklHH4MBwgTYEkMWqQmSgeZA-BrZJKTuKoAlreUiCO-s8urGb7nnqslpnWTkY/s200/Howard_Shore_500x500.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi everyone! Our composer of the month for December is Howard Shore! I chose him because he's releasing a new soundtrack this month for "The Hobbit," for which I'm very, very, VERY excited. Also, I think his work on the Lord of the Rings (LOTR for short) series i<span style="font-size: small;">s</span> astonishing. Even if you're not a fan of the movies, I think you must listen to the music. For most movies, there may be two or three main themes that crop up throughout, but because of the scale of LOTR, Shore had to compose dozens of themes. Each character or set of characters in the vast cinematic world of Middle Earth has their own specific melodies, and ALL of them are beautiful. In my opinion, not one is unoriginal or cliched. He also recorded over 10 hours of music with an orchestra and various vocal artists for the three films. To give you a perspective, most composers only give an hour per movie...that means he, with the help of his production team, wrote, scored, and recorded THREE TIMES the normal amount of music for each LOTR film. He also arranged songs in the original languages that J.R.R. Tolkien invented for his books, which is incredible because writing and arranging songs in normal English can be devilishly hard! I love his work on these films, and so I think he's worth learning about as a composer! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuAEwgMcSvu8_EXqtWWhD8QbBRRcZn1j2o6Hv_nb-Rc8_iu0EX9RQl5wWMgq1d0s8f6JndmIZ3LK6SW9db_tgeCNRfGMLGVzXgmXzHdnfqflEeXIg2tXZ9mWE9pfo4bX0Y-VhE_h_UyM/s1600/MI0001362704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuAEwgMcSvu8_EXqtWWhD8QbBRRcZn1j2o6Hv_nb-Rc8_iu0EX9RQl5wWMgq1d0s8f6JndmIZ3LK6SW9db_tgeCNRfGMLGVzXgmXzHdnfqflEeXIg2tXZ9mWE9pfo4bX0Y-VhE_h_UyM/s200/MI0001362704.jpg" width="200" /></a>Howard Shore was born on October 18, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is cool for me because I'm Canadian via my Canadian father :) He studied music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and from 1969 to 1972, he played alto saxophone in a band called Lighthouse, which incorporated sounds from rock, classical, jazz, and swing styles to create their sound. Here's one of their popular songs-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvVN_KRriTM" target="_blank">One Fine Morning</a>. I like it! It's got a good rhythm :) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-uavOAYNiNDzKJugYlt1cOeg3PaJJRWDvJqDNcjyFHgxY8heEwzZW5soi7q1FtKbtWW5wciOamEHlRqCqK_Khc-7D6AlDIHaRWDQ55J2b_4T-cGurmgnCRQ_syjaJUUh3tVlOpYHtic/s1600/The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-uavOAYNiNDzKJugYlt1cOeg3PaJJRWDvJqDNcjyFHgxY8heEwzZW5soi7q1FtKbtWW5wciOamEHlRqCqK_Khc-7D6AlDIHaRWDQ55J2b_4T-cGurmgnCRQ_syjaJUUh3tVlOpYHtic/s200/The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_poster.jpg" width="133" /></a> Shore was the musical director for Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980, and fun fact: he's the one who suggested the name "The Blues Brothers" to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi for their "band" on SNL. His first major film score was for director David Cronenberg's "The Brood" and like the Williams/Spielberg duo, Shore has since worked on all for Cronenberg's subsequent films except one. In 1991, he scored the Oscar winning film, "The Silence of the Lambs." He received his first set of award nominations for this score, although he did not win any awards-a more light-hearted film, Beauty and the Beast, swept most of the awards that year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJEa2rN48Jk71Dke-TjFE-FpEaxJ6m0NPEF7yCCC5HnX2fQPR_InwScDDTMnOMv9XUQzh47NiU3Jd8j_G1Qc4Q3VXmixiK96AMA_vuSRXXZq3iJcqm2TIjmRWy9FsP4WQQUuknBc6YR8/s1600/lord_of_the_rings_the_return_of_the_king_the_2003_key01_4x6-532x798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJEa2rN48Jk71Dke-TjFE-FpEaxJ6m0NPEF7yCCC5HnX2fQPR_InwScDDTMnOMv9XUQzh47NiU3Jd8j_G1Qc4Q3VXmixiK96AMA_vuSRXXZq3iJcqm2TIjmRWy9FsP4WQQUuknBc6YR8/s200/lord_of_the_rings_the_return_of_the_king_the_2003_key01_4x6-532x798.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPiUS2GR24Lpt75waJfkcwAw65WR6BAvlI8MRO3-R56IVxjs09HvB4jGodP2M_R81yF3GmsDrkS1j2sF2HKbsKvJRRHwIgmzSqS6QcfIk9HX97qPKOJ42fNaTd40TPX2qRCy_23IlS1E/s1600/the-lord-of-the-rings-fellowship-of-the-rings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPiUS2GR24Lpt75waJfkcwAw65WR6BAvlI8MRO3-R56IVxjs09HvB4jGodP2M_R81yF3GmsDrkS1j2sF2HKbsKvJRRHwIgmzSqS6QcfIk9HX97qPKOJ42fNaTd40TPX2qRCy_23IlS1E/s200/the-lord-of-the-rings-fellowship-of-the-rings.jpg" width="127" /></a>Shore's leap into the film music spotlight came with the Lord of the Rings scores in the early 2000s. He won three Oscars for his work on LOTR: two for Best Original Score-"The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Return of the King"<span style="font-size: small;"> and</span> one for Best Original Song-"Into the West"-Return of the King. This set of scores is so popular that he actually tours and conducts orchestras playing the Lord of the Rings Symphony, like a composer rock star! (John Williams does this too for his music-their music is legendary!! ) Here's a link to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lord+of+the+rings+soundtrack%2C+playlist&lclk=playlist" target="_blank">various Youtube playlists</a> that contain basically all his music from LOTR. I recommend just hitting play and letting the glorious music wash over you for 10 hours. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbK-RA4FKtXE_lo74xU7zxCrFy1nTAc0y4loNXhedNb_iMX4nJ7p3yyiWrv-qkcyl0tqmwHyXS4VlKgdZ_TCXa0KUrXsMXR1I85bQKih6Jl2hgjsM0PXBkHVhud4dxvWRYpAgaCAe71AE/s1600/tumblr_m9ahnziR9T1qjot7no1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbK-RA4FKtXE_lo74xU7zxCrFy1nTAc0y4loNXhedNb_iMX4nJ7p3yyiWrv-qkcyl0tqmwHyXS4VlKgdZ_TCXa0KUrXsMXR1I85bQKih6Jl2hgjsM0PXBkHVhud4dxvWRYpAgaCAe71AE/s320/tumblr_m9ahnziR9T1qjot7no1_500.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Since the success of LOTR, Shore has continued to write many other beautiful scores, which I think get overshadowed by LOTR. He wrote lovely music for "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kOFOOKxhtA" target="_blank">Doubt</a>," starring Meryl Streep, my favorite actress. He also scored "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP3Ipk4zxgk" target="_blank">The Aviator</a>," "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1uVG6ciTmA" target="_blank">The Twilight Saga: E</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1uVG6ciTmA" target="_blank">cl</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1uVG6ciTmA" target="_blank">ipse</a>," "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3LLqgq473c" target="_blank">A Dangerous Method</a>," and "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb7ZU6_mbvg" target="_blank">Hugo</a>," all of which are lovely in their own right. He definitely has a style that's evident throughout his work. You hear it especially in comparing his work on "The Aviator," "A Dangerous Method" and LOTR. Classical and elegant is the best way to describe it. I think he's wonderful, and I can't wait for his Hobbit score, which brings me to the treat part of today's post...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9Z-obV-xypdKZQfeW2lwbfWXfGveZGty8MHh5nmez6kk2niqupQrooeeUXy9X7i_yfI4WoVKx8jAkdku-Cd2Av-CPxXk9GtT1OXufH4vqq7buED0Pn-6HMU3NtoLghWUIaQVZ77ZNqw/s1600/the-hobbit-score-special-edition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9Z-obV-xypdKZQfeW2lwbfWXfGveZGty8MHh5nmez6kk2niqupQrooeeUXy9X7i_yfI4WoVKx8jAkdku-Cd2Av-CPxXk9GtT1OXufH4vqq7buED0Pn-6HMU3NtoLghWUIaQVZ77ZNqw/s320/the-hobbit-score-special-edition.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Treat: We don't have to wait to listen to the "Hobbit" score because we can stream it online right now via <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-soundtrack-honors-the-dwarves-premiere-20121130" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a>! Yay! Listen to it now! I'm going to wait to review it until next week after I've seen the movie, but I'll tell you that I got chills listening to the first track. Lord of the Rings, along with Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean, introduced to me to the wonder that is movie music, so Shore's LOTR themes hold a very special place in my heart. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, that's all I have for you this week! Next week, look forward to the Hobbit score review as well as some other movie music related topic yet to be determined! Comment below with your thoughts on Shore's music! </span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-10159740498905941052012-12-02T18:29:00.003-08:002012-12-02T18:31:50.159-08:00The Last of the November Score Reviews and December Scores :) <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hello everyone! I took a unanticipated two week break from writing due to Thanksgiving shenanigans and procrastinating on studying for two Organic Chemistry exams. But, I'm back now with score reviews and a list of scores to be on the look-out for in December!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><b>Reviews </b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><b>(</b>Side Note-I'm going to start ranking them out of 10. For an idea of my scale, think of the Lincoln score as 10 and um, well, I find it really hard to hate on movie scores a 1 would be nothing but something like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4&feature=BFa&list=PL2CC52B2F31180B91" target="_blank">this song </a>repeated over and over and over again until the end of the movie) </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzrcVPwAdfI1u0HLFfCzLTmxs4hQ2Sz0dSFg1pqDqf3Z6OfsK14RLu9bTSiTAFlQ-WGz4ncap9ZvLHgcCcFZhyTGmiIXTrQfmQbrP8MkVmJTeA3emN_M8HqAMlXtcUkX9l886C2dZNTRM/s1600/B009HEP41A.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzrcVPwAdfI1u0HLFfCzLTmxs4hQ2Sz0dSFg1pqDqf3Z6OfsK14RLu9bTSiTAFlQ-WGz4ncap9ZvLHgcCcFZhyTGmiIXTrQfmQbrP8MkVmJTeA3emN_M8HqAMlXtcUkX9l886C2dZNTRM/s320/B009HEP41A.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>Anna Karenina</b>, by Dario Marianelli and Benjamin Wallfisch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">9/10-With a tagline like "You Can't Ask Why About Love," I expected this score to be dramaticand romantic. It is. It's full of plaintive violin solos that feel like they're literally pulling on my heart, and on some tracks, a lilting female voice sings something in Russian that sounds so lovely. Almost every track feels like a dance. Some are fast paced and boisterous, while others glide gently along. There's lots of Russian-esque sounds-accordians, woodwinds, violins, with tubas or low strings beating out oom-papas underneath. It's very, very, very dramatic, and it's reminiscent of a Tchaikovsky ballet-The Nutcracker or Romeo and Juliet. If you want to buy one song that sums it up , I suggest the first track, "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D12FM3iyGDw" target="_blank">Overture</a>," which contains most of the main themes. My favorite tracks are that one, in addition to "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwOHDO7DJXc&list=UL" target="_blank">The Girl and the Birch,</a>" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK3dKXNzfow&feature=BFa&list=ULhwOHDO7DJXc" target="_blank">"I Understood Something</a>," and "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCL14ZUbZs&feature=BFa&list=ULZK3dKXNzfow" target="_blank">Leaving Home/Coming Home</a>." Purchasing Suggestion: Buy it! But only if you like Tchaikovsky ballets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMHuly1pRlIKxyQ9-SceS7sQMMlKbXkBSCGCwgmCLBeYB8W8aD2ctNk6XSiVPE8_j2qnNnP8KVkVBxgMyjaQYz0n8yOUohIgj0fwYdKBzD7vVCrKJhfa9rsN8kX6FXFXI4-oDr6Wn390/s1600/img_3563859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMHuly1pRlIKxyQ9-SceS7sQMMlKbXkBSCGCwgmCLBeYB8W8aD2ctNk6XSiVPE8_j2qnNnP8KVkVBxgMyjaQYz0n8yOUohIgj0fwYdKBzD7vVCrKJhfa9rsN8kX6FXFXI4-oDr6Wn390/s1600/img_3563859.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Breaking Dawn Part 2</b>, by Carter Burwell</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">6.5-7/10-I'm scoring this one just above average, but that's because I really love three or four tracks and don't like the rest. The first track is absolutely glorious and contains everything I've loved about all the Twilight movie scores in the past. But that's because it's the "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfBWTmK1lp0" target="_blank">Twilight Overture</a>," and therefore contains music from all of the Twilight movies, especially Alexandre Desplat's lovely "The Meadow" theme. The rest of the score kinda lets me down. Why? Well, this might be just my own personal preference, but Burwell does this thing with screaming electric guitars that I find absolutely horrendous. (See <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TTibck2kEc" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUNKC90SGSo" target="_blank">here</a>, and<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmVqT3OYNGQ" target="_blank"> here.</a>) It's like he says to himself, "Nope, not putting a voice or a choir in there. Let's make a guitar sing instead. But really badly, so as to increase tension in the scene and make our audience's ears hurt." OK, so that's probably harsh, but the guitar thing really does get on my nerves. This causes me to automatically dislike most of his more fast paced tracks, because he uses that guitar in them. All that said, I do really really like some of the other tracks. Burwell does best when he sticks to simplicity. Simple piano, simple strings, simple woodwinds."<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8zwqjmAsI8" target="_blank">Renesmee's Lullaby</a>" has just piano at the beginning and I really like that one a lot. "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRzvitITfdA&list=UL" target="_blank">At Bedtime A Child Asks About Death</a>" and "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lDg7R_4oHg&feature=BFa&list=ULvRzvitITfdA" target="_blank">Present Time</a>" are similarly pretty, where he rises with the strings and then brings them back down to a different chord, and then moves back to the rising again. I wish he would have make his whole soundtrack like those two tracks, just piano, strings, and woodwinds. Purchasing Suggestion: Buy the tracks you like. Ignore the screaming guitar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Life of Pi,</b> by Mychael Danna</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43valtZ9L9ydq8VgQ2YJ1qIXfzhvHk12bmX7yhQ6pU2fmgsv039ykrJT2G6G5xrwZNYgc4q6fQilMIZICHIotjXKH_rE29NeR8SgLx9W0x0rxAhcmGRYw8PKHCcpmhq-rcrMRJupeYZc/s1600/51S+bQH1xBL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43valtZ9L9ydq8VgQ2YJ1qIXfzhvHk12bmX7yhQ6pU2fmgsv039ykrJT2G6G5xrwZNYgc4q6fQilMIZICHIotjXKH_rE29NeR8SgLx9W0x0rxAhcmGRYw8PKHCcpmhq-rcrMRJupeYZc/s320/51S+bQH1xBL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">5.5/10-It's a good little score. Easy to listen to, some cool instruments, and easy to have playing in the background. But also, just average, because none of the tracks really struck me as "must-haves" for my own collection. There are couple reasons for this: First, I didn't really find any of his melodies to be very strong choices. It all sounded a little generic to me, ambient noises. I listened to the entire score a couple times through, and very little pulled at my ear to draw me away from what I was doing. My heart was not captured. Second, although there are some very nice moments in the score, many of the tracks I liked are only 1 minute or less long, so I'm only buying one moment at a time, not many nice moments strung together in a long track. I do really like like his use of flutes and female vocals crooning above/behind a layer of strings. My favorite tracks are "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vbxdqCi_AQ" target="_blank">Pi's Lullaby,</a>" "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8xzurbD-0" target="_blank">Pondicherry</a>" and "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlrjQMMoNIY&list=UL" target="_blank">Flying Fish</a>." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhzVx9TGdBjPtL4mYTsfAD9us4NddPrsW4wRktHKTEax8J4GyMSSDxaAbH-V4j4rR4QKjWtATZVv26xZLzE8JRoUy1dYJSebv2oznsTLT7IelR7nuZ9GqM1pLX-MDTdPROB9g3_RJOqw/s1600/riseoftheguardians1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhzVx9TGdBjPtL4mYTsfAD9us4NddPrsW4wRktHKTEax8J4GyMSSDxaAbH-V4j4rR4QKjWtATZVv26xZLzE8JRoUy1dYJSebv2oznsTLT7IelR7nuZ9GqM1pLX-MDTdPROB9g3_RJOqw/s320/riseoftheguardians1.jpg" width="320" /></a>Bonus! <b>Rise of the Guardians</b>, by Alexandre Desplat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">8.5/10-HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT DESPLAT WAS RELEASING A NEW SCORE? Seriously guys, this is insane. Desplat is my favorite composer of all time, or, well, tied with John Williams at least. I love every single score he's done. No exceptions at all. So, I am very surprised I did not know he was scoring Rise of the Guardians. His score makes me want to see the movie. It's full of adventure and you can feel the holiday spirit in it as well. You can hear his characteristic use of fast moving strings and a pumping bass line on "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJcKQGsXxL8&feature=BFa&list=ULPujaiavUBGI" target="_blank">Calling the Guardians</a>." "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e42JUr4za4&feature=BFa&list=ULXJcKQGsXxL8" target="_blank">Wind Take Me Home</a>!" must be a track during which Santa's sleigh is flying, because it just feels so right for it- He uses sleigh bells to add to the Christmas-y feeling and high brass to make it feel grand and majestic."<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqiAmNrBfhs&feature=BFa&list=ULPujaiavUBGI" target="_blank">Jamie Believes</a>" is so lovely and delicate, moving along-I feel like believing in magic when I hear it. It's a perfect score for a Christmas movie. It's only ranking 8.5 because, alas, not even Desplat escapes the curse of Christmas scores...meaning that they inevitably all sound cliched at some point because they all sound like Christmas :) Which I don't mind because that's the point but I think Desplat could have possibly been more original because I know he's that good! Purchasing Suggestion: Buy the tracks you like because it could technically be considered "just another Christmas movie score." I personally want the whole thing to add to my Desplat collection <3</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Wow. That was a lot of reviews! December Score time! December is a weird month this year because there's only a couple blockbuster films being released in theatres everywhere. There are, however, a TON of limited release films because they want to get them out in time for Oscar season. These films will be released in the New Year, so their soundtracks aren't widely available even though the movies are out. This makes my job easier during the holiday season because there's less scores, but also makes me sad, because November was such a great month for new music. So here we go!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">December 11th: <b>The Hobbit</b>, by Howard Shore</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">YES. YES. YES. I love the Lord of the Rings movies and their music so much, and when I heard the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q-JGxNuM9M" target="_blank">score preview</a>, chills ran down my spine. SO ready for this. Anticipate a good score rating from me for this one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">December 18th: <b>Jack Reacher, </b>by Joe Kraemer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is a weird one for the list, admittedly, but I include it because it's a Tom Cruise movie and therefore a blockbuster hopeful. Also because there's someone new writing this score, and I'm wondering how it'll turn out. Joe Kraemer has only done low budget films and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18yHMo1DWPQ" target="_blank">TV shows</a> before this, and I've listened to some of his music on Spotify-it's not bad! So, I'll listen to this score and maybe I'll be surprised with something cool!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">December 25th (?): <b>Parental Guidance,</b> by Marc Shaiman</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm including this one because Shaiman composed the music for Hairspray and co-wrote the lyrics too, and I love that musical. His previous scores include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-PYBMuD9oI" target="_blank">The Bucket List</a> and Sleepless in Seattle. It's a family comedy so I'm thinking this one will be average, but I could be wrong! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>(<i>Side Note:</i></b><i>Les Miserables will probably not have a score album released,<b> but</b> I suggest you go see the movie and buy the soundtrack. It's a wonderful musical and is sure to have absolutely glorious music playing behind glorious singing voices</i>) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And that's all I have for today! Next week, it'll be time for Composer of the Month! Thanks so much for reading and please comment below with your own thoughts about the scores I've reviewed. Feel free to suggest any December scores I might have overlooked and ones I should add to my listening list for the month!</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-54652039095716238182012-11-18T17:54:00.004-08:002012-12-02T18:32:08.881-08:00Score vs. Soundtrack<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hello everyone! Today, I want to discuss a question that might seem to have a straight forward answer...but perhaps not! For the most recent Twilight movie and for many other movies, there is a soundtrack album and a score album. So, what is the different between a score and a soundtrack? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXbaEdBwAUVYE_nAts-drcZEG55bkaiSCd3Z_N6kjn1kgmWmdkyrhfxCaP219iM5O4DRu4O2jr-7nAqnblL8HRml4HFd4V9HhBWOQJ0uergRkEddBoQMuAponvNaDDm0IoJfkHHKgMVw/s1600/breaking-dawn-part-2-soundtrack-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXbaEdBwAUVYE_nAts-drcZEG55bkaiSCd3Z_N6kjn1kgmWmdkyrhfxCaP219iM5O4DRu4O2jr-7nAqnblL8HRml4HFd4V9HhBWOQJ0uergRkEddBoQMuAponvNaDDm0IoJfkHHKgMVw/s320/breaking-dawn-part-2-soundtrack-art.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMHuly1pRlIKxyQ9-SceS7sQMMlKbXkBSCGCwgmCLBeYB8W8aD2ctNk6XSiVPE8_j2qnNnP8KVkVBxgMyjaQYz0n8yOUohIgj0fwYdKBzD7vVCrKJhfa9rsN8kX6FXFXI4-oDr6Wn390/s1600/img_3563859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMHuly1pRlIKxyQ9-SceS7sQMMlKbXkBSCGCwgmCLBeYB8W8aD2ctNk6XSiVPE8_j2qnNnP8KVkVBxgMyjaQYz0n8yOUohIgj0fwYdKBzD7vVCrKJhfa9rsN8kX6FXFXI4-oDr6Wn390/s320/img_3563859.jpg" width="320" /></a> Let's start with the basic dictionary and Wikipedia definitions. According to Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster, a soundtrack is "a recording of the musical accompaniment to a movie." A score, however, is "music composed for a movie." Wikipedia's definitions expand on this a little- a soundtrack is "recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture" and a score is "original music written specifically to accompany a film." OK, so what's the difference? If the soundtrack is a recording of the musical accompaniment to the film, and if the score is the music written to accompany a film, then there's really no difference between a soundtrack and a score, right? Well, yes and no. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For many movies, it's true that the soundtrack and the score are the exact same thing-"Lincoln" has no other music accompanying it except for John William's divinely inspired melodies, so therefore, its score is its soundtrack! In other cases, however, there is more music accompanying the film besides the music written specifically for it. In these cases, a score is written by one person, usually for an orchestra.
His/her music plays constantly in the background of the movie with full
versions of each track. A soundtrack, however, contains songs by
various different artists and most, if not all, of these songs were not written specifically
for the movie. These songs are usually not orchestral songs, and each
track only has a small portion of it played throughout the movie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNI0_G88kQ9j-oo0xtlxryWeCmmWJMNJBOp98piAuAjUx7Nsw88EzWdaj0p05kfkb77xlvcEzLaX5U-znPf502_uvEep-pQQjLI5e0OOz8Tehu3FkkgPI5SmewfP92Ge7tmeC6N1rncc/s1600/414HN4RRYPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNI0_G88kQ9j-oo0xtlxryWeCmmWJMNJBOp98piAuAjUx7Nsw88EzWdaj0p05kfkb77xlvcEzLaX5U-znPf502_uvEep-pQQjLI5e0OOz8Tehu3FkkgPI5SmewfP92Ge7tmeC6N1rncc/s320/414HN4RRYPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7PztXEFW6aJLKK3I1g_Xxpuva2UdAMj7z8CL3FZGAXFQLeLpS2MPS5oFgMH6R6aPnIZvUc3MkL0SwYReiva4i79y-KAJRz6t5x8meNTeQglBkKFHhWltXFiwHrMvA6MX0s5iKxZGUpg/s1600/51-924vbZHL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7PztXEFW6aJLKK3I1g_Xxpuva2UdAMj7z8CL3FZGAXFQLeLpS2MPS5oFgMH6R6aPnIZvUc3MkL0SwYReiva4i79y-KAJRz6t5x8meNTeQglBkKFHhWltXFiwHrMvA6MX0s5iKxZGUpg/s320/51-924vbZHL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="320" /></a>Here's how this whole thing works: I loved the movie "Shrek" when I was a kid and I still love it. It's got a gorgeous score written by Harry Gregson Williams and John Powell. (see here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WQRht9PinA" target="_blank">Shrek Score Suite</a>) But "Shrek" also has a soundtrack. Remember that opening scene where Shrek's brushing his teeth with slug slime and Smashmouth is belting out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdt03OgLpWo" target="_blank">"All Star"</a> in the background? Or Shrek and Donkey's epic journey to Princess Fiona's castle accompanied by The Proclaimers singing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_49uyhBIpI" target="_blank">"I'm On My Way"</a>? Or John Cale's heart rending version of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DinEKqtCDkg&feature=related" target="_blank">"Hallelujah"</a> behind images of sad Princess Fiona and sad Shrek after he's given her over to Lord Farquaad? These songs are part of the soundtrack, not the score. You only hear snippets of these songs, and they're not orchestral music. These songs are also written by multiple artists and they aren't exclusive for the movie. For instance, "All Star" is also on the soundtrack to another kids' movie-"Inspector Gadget." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">These distinctions between the soundtrack and the score mostly hold true, but of course, there are exceptions. For example, I mentioned "Breaking Dawn: Part Two" earlier. It does indeed have a soundtrack and a score...but all the songs on the soundtrack were written by those artists specifically for the movie, so that distinction is null. The soundtrack, in that case, is written by lots of people, it's not orchestral, and the songs are played in short sound clips throughout the movie. Actually, I think some of those songs actually aren't even in the movie at all, which kinda makes me wonder why they're even there. Another exception is "Moonrise Kingdom," which has <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycNCAslpZF4" target="_blank">an orchestral score</a> written specifically for the film by Alexandre Desplat...but that score doesn't get an album of its own because it's very short. It's included on a soundtrack album with the rest of the songs from the film, which weren't written specifically for the film. This begs the question...why release two different albums for the score and soundtrack anyway? It's all mu</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The answer is probably that the studios want more money. They try to squeeze as much as they can out of you by releasing two albums at a low/medium price instead of one album at a high price to trick you into buying both (a trick which I have definitely fallen for multiple times). I'd prefer to believe, however, that although it might be more lucrative, it also gives appreciation and acknowledgement to all artists involved in proportion to their work on the film. The soundtrack artists, though their music adds a lot to the film, usually give one song each so they're all compiled together on one album. The movie music composer often contributes over an hour of music to the film with many, many tracks, so there's a special album just for him/her :) I generally prefer the score to the soundtrack...but then again, I do write about film scores, so that shouldn't be a surprise!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, that's all I have for you this week! Comment below with your thoughts on scores vs. soundtracks: Am I right or did I get the answer completely wrong? Let me know! Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving in advance! I hope you've all got fantastic plans for the holiday that involve spending time with those you love :) Next week, look for reviews of the scores for Breaking Dawn Part Two and Anna Karenina, as well as some other topic yet to be determined! </span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-79107325117889070952012-11-13T19:19:00.000-08:002012-12-09T20:23:00.679-08:00Composer of the Month and Skyfall/Lincoln Score Reviews<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi! Welcome to post #3! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRCXGg9VmgmCcY1bADk2Vt4T8CoVT2eIBapjlMRz68Zpp6MShlz5na0zFRhSrVDFrWTOwztPwTAO8RCEb0MMbBy7xKL7q_K_6xscpgGY0NjUmRB8E2Or19JTbNkHUYu2QuSIrCSEdE2k/s1600/johnwilliams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRCXGg9VmgmCcY1bADk2Vt4T8CoVT2eIBapjlMRz68Zpp6MShlz5na0zFRhSrVDFrWTOwztPwTAO8RCEb0MMbBy7xKL7q_K_6xscpgGY0NjUmRB8E2Or19JTbNkHUYu2QuSIrCSEdE2k/s320/johnwilliams.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">First, our composer of the month is...John Williams! Two reasons why: First, he released a beautiful new score this month (to be discussed later). Second, and more importantly, I think everyone who wants to know about film music needs to know about him. If there was a god of movie music, it'd be him. So, who is John William anyway? Well, I've spent this week learning about him and his life, and I realized that I didn't actually know the answer to that question as well as I thought! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">John Williams was born in Long Island, New York on February 8, 1932. He learned how to play piano at a very young age, and by the time he moved to L.A. at age 16, he was the leader of his own jazz band and arranging music. His ambition was to be a concert pianist, and at age 19, he debuted his first original piece of music. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After going to UCLA and Los Angeles City College, he studied orchestration and music composition under film music writers of the time. He conducted for the first time when he was drafted into the Air Force, where he arranged music and conducted for the Air Force Band for three years. After his military service, he studied piano playing at Julliard and worked in jazz clubs to pay the bills. After some years there, he moved back to L.A. where he found work in Hollywood as a film studio orchestrator, working on television show music and on movie music.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">His first film score was for "Daddy-O" in 1958, popularized by Mystery Science Theater 3000 for being, well, a terrible film (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bk1h_pCbdM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bk1h_pCbdM</a> if you're interested in watching some MST3K). The score itself isn't necessarily brilliant, but it reveals William's strong background in jazz. He continued scoring throughout the 1960s, mostly on comedies, but then, in 1971, he won his first Oscar for his orchestration of the musical Fiddler on the Roof! Isn't that awesome? I didn't know he worked on that movie, let alone won an Oscar for it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The 1970s were a pretty awesome time for Williams. He began his friendship with Steven Spielberg in the early years of the decade and won an Oscar in 1975 for his collaboration with Spielberg on "Jaws"-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4</a>. After that, he worked with a guy named George Lucas on a movie called "Star Wars" and won an Oscar for that too in 1977. The "Star Wars" score is widely regarded as the score that changed movie music forever, bringing back the epic cinema sound that had characterized film scores in the 1930s and 1940s. It is still the best selling score of all time-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI</a>. The big, brassy sound you hear in the opening credits to Star Wars came to be known as Williams' characteristic sound.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">His career continued gloriously. He wrote for the rest of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, "Superman," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and "E.T." (Oscar winning). He also wrote for the first three Harry Potter films, "Schindler's List"(Oscar winning), "Jurassic Park," and many many more. He continues to score films to this day, at 80 years old! That's amazing and basically confirms my belief that the music business keeps people young forever and ever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">All in all, Williams has written well over a hundred scores, been nominated for an Academy Award over fifty times, and has won five times (which if you ask me, is insulting considering his INCREDIBLE work). There has never been any one like him in the film score business, and I very much doubt there ever will be, considering the sheer length of time he's been scoring and the amount of scores he's written. I love so much of his work that I really couldn't pick a favorite. And his music only seems to be improving with age. His most recent scores are some of his best ever in my opinion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, that's John Williams in a nutshell! Challenge this week-Go find his music and listen to it! There's tons of if on Spotify and Youtube and Pandora and all those good free music listening sites. Comment below with what score of his you listened to and what you think about him! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now, onto a couple reviews of scores that were released this week.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Skyfall" by Thomas Newman. Hm. I have mixed feelings on this one. First, let me say that I listened to the score before I saw the movie, and I didn't really like it too much. Then, I saw the movie, and well, it's still not my favorite Bond score. "Casino Royale" still wins that battle. But the "Skyfall" score definitely works so much better in context, and I like it A LOT more after seeing it in action. It accompanies the movie quite well and puts the right feelings in the right places. There's lots of driving beats to keep the tension high with stringed instruments and percussion as the baseline and horns entering to escalate and blast out hints of the Bond theme. Particularly in the action scenes, Newman favors low strings-basses and cellos. Newman also uses appropriate instruments to fit the settings of the various scenes, sometimes exotic, sometimes not. (I won't give the settings to avoid spoilers, but if you listen to the score, you should be able to guess!). My favorite tracks are "Severine," "Tennyson," "Brave New World," Komodo Dragon," and "Breadcrumbs." Purchasing suggestion? Listen on Spotify and buy your favorite tracks like I did.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Fun Fact About my listening habits: Often, I'm doing something else like doing homework or making dinner while I'm listening to scores. The tracks that force me to stop what I'm doing and listen again are usually the ones that end up my favorites :) </span></li>
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<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/lincoln-williams.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" id="il_fi" src="http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/lincoln-williams.jpeg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /></a></span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Lincoln" by John Williams. I've already made it known that I adore Williams, so it really shouldn't be a surprise that I love this score. Now, I haven't seen the movie yet, but the story of Lincoln's life is very familiar to me after learning about him so much in school. I have a pretty good idea of about the kind of moods the score should evoke. For the most part, the score should put the audience in the Civil War era with its instruments and inspire in them admiration, sadness, respect, reverence, and awe for this great man. I felt all of that from the first 30 seconds of the score. In fact, um, I teared up during the first 30 seconds. It's just really beautiful! Those of you familiar with Williams' work will find it reminiscent of his "War Horse" score. I don't have a favorite track. I love the whole thing, so I'll just highlight a few tracks. "The American Process" has a really lovely woodwind section-oboes, clarinets, flutes, and bassoons. Then, Williams brings it all down to a simple piano line. He does that quite a bit in this, working with a number of instruments then bringing the melody to a single instrument. In "The Southern Delegation and the Dream," the instrument is a trumpet for a large part of the it, then a french horn. In "Freedom's Call," the instrument is a violin. For me, this single instrument evokes the image of Lincoln standing up amidst a crowd and giving speeches. Another track worth noting is "Call to Muster and Battle Cry of Freedom," which begins with a drum beat and a piccolo, and continues with a full choir singing Battle Cry of Freedom, an anthem for the Union during the Civil War. There's a couple fun fiddling tracks as well-"Getting Out the Vote" and "The Race to the House." Purchasing suggestions? Buy the whole score and listen to it all the time. It's worth your money. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, that's all I have for you today! Thanks for reading! Remember to listen to the wonderful John Williams this week and comment below with what you listened to and what you like/don't like about his music. Maybe you don't think he's a genius at all, but a terrible composer! Let me know. Also, please listen to the two scores above and feel free to tell me what YOU think-I'd like to hear your opinions! Talk to you soon! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(John Williams Biography courtesy of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio">http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio</a> and <a href="http://www.wbur.org/npr/164615420/john-williams-inevitable-themes">http://www.wbur.org/npr/164615420/john-williams-inevitable-themes</a>) </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-81327055701120822012012-11-04T15:06:00.001-08:002012-11-05T17:01:10.173-08:00Female Composers (Or Lack Thereof) and November Film ScoresHi everyone! First of all, HUGE thanks to you who are reading this and following me on Facebook or Tumblr. I'm super excited about starting this blog and writing about something I really love. So thanks for joining me!<br />
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Today, I'd like to address a comment I made in my first post: one of the factors that contributes to my low chances of being a film score composer is that "I'm not a man." Why should that make a difference? Well, let's begin with a generic list of the 100 greatest film score composers of all time from digitaldreamdoor.com (it's a very debatable list, but it's a good illustration of the point I'm making) See that one little red arrow? It's pointing to the ONLY woman on the list.<br />
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You might be thinking, "There must be more out there...maybe they just aren't considered 'great'?" Well, let's go even more basic-how about a Wikipedia article? It's true that there are more female film composers out there in the world...but not many. This page lists at least 500 score composers -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_score_composers">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_score_composers</a>. 38 are women (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_film_score_composers" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_film_score_composers) </a>Not only is that an astonishingly low number, but based on further research, very few of them actually compose for movies. Most are just composers of their own independent music. Apparently, it's not just film music that suffers a lack of females. Orchestral music in general needs more estrogen! <br />
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I really can't believe there are so few female composers, and I have to wonder...why? Thankfully, there are plenty of answers to this question because I'm not the only one who's noticed this problem. I found many articles discussing this issue, and I've posted the links to my three favorites at the bottom of the paragraph if you'd like to read them. The New York Times article, written by Anthony Tommasini, gives two reasons which I think are valid. First reason? "Deep-seated male chauvinism" from the 1700s and before claiming that women couldn't compose music as well as men. Second reason? "Until relatively recent times, musicians, ensembles and musical institutions were overwhelmingly male" because women weren't encouraged to play many of the orchestral instruments...so therefore orchestras were less inclined to play music written by a mere female. Hm. It seems that writing music is yet another field in which men were perceived better than women, and therefore won out. Now, I'm not a hard core feminist, but this gets me really upset, because I'm sure the world has lost some beautiful music because women were prevented from sharing it. Sigh. <br />
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<a href="http://www.iawm.org/articles_html/carlsson_women_in_film.html">http://www.iawm.org/articles_html/carlsson_women_in_film.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/movie-music-aural-fixation-where-are-all-the-female-composers-alori.php">http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/movie-music-aural-fixation-where-are-all-the-female-composers-alori.php</a><br />
<a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/top-10-composers-the-female-factor/" target="_blank">http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/top-10-composers-the-female-factor/ </a><br />
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The good news in all this? Well, maybe I shouldn't be so pessimistic about my own chances in movie music because it looks like things are slowly changing for women in orchestral music. There are now TONS of female musicians involved in orchestras and musical institutions. According to an 2011 article from Equilibrium, the Undergrad Journal for Economics at U-W Madison, women made up about 10% of the members of large orchestras in the US in 1980, but in 1997, they were up to 25% (<a href="http://uwequilibrium.com/46">http://uwequilibrium.com/46</a>) I couldn't find any more recent numbers, but if that kind of progress continued, I imagine orchestras are almost 50/50 now. Now, if that's the case (and as long as that male chauvinism is going away too), I think we can anticipate more female composers on the movie music scene very soon. At least I really hope so! This is an issue I'll be tracking as I write this blog and I'll make sure to let you guys know if a new female composer shows up!<br />
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As I was writing this post, I realized that I probably should have written about something much more basic and introductory. I mean, gosh, I haven't even covered the difference between a soundtrack and a score, or the process of scoring, or the many different people involved in taking a score from a melody to the screen, or a hundred other important things about scores! But, the reason I wanted to talk about this now is that this issue has been weighing on me for awhile. I also wanted to explain why there's no women when I start featuring composers in my writing. I'm going to have a composer of the month segment on this blog and also occasionally writing about some composers who've passed away who deserve to be remembered for their awesome work. Sadly, there are only two female composers that I know of who fit these categories, and in the coming months, I will write about them both. One's alive. The other...well...not. But more on that later, let's move on to film scores! <br />
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Another thing I will be doing on this blog is giving you all a heads up on new scores coming out in the month. So, it's November now, and here are the scores I'm looking forward to and will be listening to all month. This is a really good month for movie score lovers, that's for sure! (The release date shown is the iTunes release date.)<br />
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<li>November 6th-The <i>Skyfall</i> score, written by Thomas Newman. YAY NEW BOND MOVIE. I love Daniel Craig. I'm a little nervous about this score because it's not written by David Arnold, the guy who's scored the last few Bond movies. But, this score preview has gotten me pretty excited, and I can't wait to hear the whole thing when it comes out! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStdJlpcXKY&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStdJlpcXKY&feature=related</a></li>
<li>November 19- The <i>Breaking Dawn Part Two </i>score, written by Carter Burwell. Yes, I know it's a Twilight movie, but that doesn't mean the music can't be fantastic! I was kinda disappointed in Burwell's score for the last Twilight movie. I mean, some tracks were good, but I just didn't think it was memorable, so I hope he does some wonderful things on this last Twilight outing of his. Here's a sample of his work on <i>Breaking Dawn Part One</i>--<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB6G0Qv89SM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB6G0Qv89SM</a>.</li>
<li>November 6-The <i>Lincoln</i> score, written by John Williams. I take back my excitement for the new Bond movie and score, because everything about<i> Lincoln</i> screams greatness. You've got Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln, which guarantees that the real Abraham Lincoln will be alive again onscreen because Lewis's acting is so good. The score...John Williams...the man who basically created all the iconic movie scores ever! Here's a preview of the score...just listen to it and you'll see why I literally can't wait. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBLiADALld8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBLiADALld8</a></li>
<li>November 19th-The <i>Life of Pi</i> score, written by Mychael Danna. This movie comes from a great book, and all the trailers for the movie look so visually stunning that I can't imagine it won't be accompanied by a similarly stunning score. Here's the score preview-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1pMPH7MNHA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1pMPH7MNHA </a>So far, so good, I think! Nice use of beautiful vocals and unique instruments. </li>
<li>November 13(?)-The <i>Anna Karenina</i> score, written by Dario Marianelli. Again, another one that I'm very excited for, because I love the composer. Interesting Fact: He did the scores for <i>Pride and Prejudice </i>and <i>Atonement</i>...both also Keira Knightly movies like <i>Anna Karenina</i>! The score preview definitely gives off the dramatic Imperial Russia vibe of the Tolstoy novel, and I think it's going to be very lovely.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kYGrR0Nw9U" target="_blank"> www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kYGrR0Nw9U</a></li>
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Well, this was a long post! Thanks again for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts about female composers or about these upcoming scores in the comments below. Check back next week for our featured composer of the month and some of my first score reviews! Bye! <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629150183797961398.post-21567337424870483112012-10-28T19:45:00.002-07:002012-11-02T19:22:52.991-07:00First post! Hello everybody! Welcome to the first post on "Incidentally, Music!" my film score analysis and appreciation blog! Yay! The intent of today's post is to provide a quick introduction to film music and give my two reasons for writing this blog. Here we go!<br />
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First, I'd like to answer a question that I'm sure you've all been asking yourselves every time you see a movie and hear the music playing in the background: Why is that music even there? Well, time for a brief history lesson! For as long as there have been plays performed on a stage, there has been musical accompaniment to the action called incidental music. Its purpose is to give a greater theatricality and depth to the action, inspiring emotion and conveying a specific mood. In ancient Greece, a Chorus and minimal musical instruments such as drums provided the music. In Shakespearean times, the music came from the actors or from a flute or a lute player sitting in the wings. As the orchestra developed, plays received more elaborate incidental music. Fact: Beethoven wrote musical accompaniments for plays. Hear his overture to <span class="st">Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play, Egmont. </span>-<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMt9eT262A0" target="_blank">Egmont: Overture</a><br />
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When movies came on the scene in the late 1800s, there was no recorded sound. Movies were silent...silent, that is, except for music! This was called photoplay music, and it wasn't often composed specifically for the movie itself. It was usually a compilation of famous classical pieces designed to provide emotion to the voiceless pictures on the screen. When sound was introduced to movies, the composing of a specific musical score gradually became a part of the movie making process. Throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, film music transitioned from old music recycled for the screen to large, extravagant pieces written for the movie itself. This is the film score and it is an integral part of the movies to the present day. The purpose of the film score is the same as the incidental music of old. It plays in the background, not designed to overpower the action, but to enhance it, creating a particular atmosphere, emotion, or mood. To see what that means, watch from 0:15 to 1:40 in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtVyFdKCAik&feature=related" target="_blank">this clip from The Empire Strikes Back. </a>Of course, you have the iconic Imperial March at the beginning, but you might be surprised at how the music constantly plays throughout the scene, but you don't really notice it that much. It's sneaky, aiding mood and only coming to crescendos at certain times. <br />
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One reason for writing this blog is that I love film music in all its forms, from a simple piano accompaniment in Pride and Prejudice to electronic instruments in The Social Network to a sweeping orchestra score in Casino Royale. I love what music can add to the images on the screen in film so I think the art of composing for movies needs to be appreciated by many more people in this world! <br />
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Now, about me. On the left is one of my favorite paintings-Woman at the Piano, painted in 1875 by
Renoir, a French Impressionist painter. On the right is a picture of me, taken in the not-so-distant past. Do they look similar? I think so, and I find it slightly eerie and amazing at the same time, because that's really me. The woman at the piano. I have been playing piano for almost 14 years, and I love it so darn much. I hated it at first, but then I got good enough that I started learning how to improvise, how to make up my own music, and in 8th grade, I wrote my first song. After that, my piano and my music writing became the way I expressed my heart, and it is difficult for me to go more than a day without playing, because I feel it. I need to get the music out.<br />
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My love for writing and playing music is the second reason I'm writing this blog. If I had all the money in the world, I would drop everything right now, forget my pre-med Bio major, and run as fast as I could to Hollywood to become the female John Williams (He composed for Star Wars, Schindler's List, Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, War Horse, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Memoirs of A Geisha...you get the idea, He's amazing). Sadly, I don't have all the money in the world. More than that, I'm not going to school at a music conservatory for bright young composers, I'm not a musical prodigy, and I'm not a man (I'll discuss why THAT point is significant in another post). So, the odds of being a film composer are quite stacked against me. That's pretty disheartening. But, I've accepted that, I will write music for myself until the day I die, and because I can't be a film composer, I will write this blog and appreciate and enjoy the music of others! <br />
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The purpose of this blog will be, quite simply, to analyze and enjoy film scores (and perhaps the occasional video game or television show score, because many popular shows and games get their own composers these days because the budget for them is huge!). I hope to create a forum for discussion about movie music and music writing in general, and I hope you'll join me in that by following this blog! I'll write once or twice a week, and it'll be a little haphazard at first, because I'm just figuring all this out. Generally, I think I'll talk about one or two scores per post. These scores might be scores from older movies to show you more about the history of movie music, scores that I personally enjoy and want to share, scores from certain movie genres to compare the use of music across genres, or scores from today's box office hits!<br />
Disclaimer: I WILL be talking about some of this music without having seen the movie it belongs to, especially the movies that are in theaters. That might seem strange, but, as stated earlier, I do not have an unlimited amount of money. Therefore, trips to the movies once or twice a week are not within the budget of this blog. I think this will be ok, however, because movie music is designed to convey a specific mood for the movie, and I can often get a feel for that just by watching trailers or clips. For these cases, I promise I will try to see the movie at some point after I talk about its music to see if my perception of the music changes after seeing the entire film instead of just clips.<br />
I might also feature specific composers sometimes, because it's important to acknowledge the makers of the beautiful music! I do have a few favorites that are near and dear to my heart that do not get their due recognition by the award giving entities of the film industry.<br />
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So that's it for tonight! Please feel free to comment below and let me know if you have any scores/composers in particular you'd like me to talk about or if you have any questions for me! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04176781149167716412noreply@blogger.com1