THR33P4C
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Anyone else love listening to movie soundtracks?
JSBach
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Is anything I'm saying making sense to anyone?

Yes it does but putting van Halen in the same class as Handel is, for me, a big stretch. I don't share your compulsion to view the eye candy after having consumed the ear candy though. In fact the opposite is happening a lot with me of late in that the bashing to death of classical scores for advertising is destroying my love a number of pieces. (Think Carl Orf for coffee commercials for instance. AAAAGH!)
There's another way of experiencing a 'movie score' that may have a profound effect on you (if you haven't experienced it already). Attend a world class performance of any part of Wagner's Ring Cycle. I doubt you'll ever be the same again and as a composer may find the tonal richness utterly intoxicating or on the other hand, very irritating. Another score worth studying for it's intimate match of music and on screen action is Leonard Berntein's 'West Side Story'.
The original film version segues the action with the music in a manner that many other composers have failed to do with film scores. Jerome Robins choreography does help with the blend as well.
The soundtrack to 2001. A Space Odyssy comes to mind too, especially the spine chilling usage of the Lighetti Requiem at the second appearance of the black monolith.

ncdrawl
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I love the Philadelphia soundtrack, singles soundtrack, Rob Roy, Chelsea Walls, and Apocalypse Now..oh and Juno

THR33P4C
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I don't understand what exactly you mean by tonal richness... I'm only in my second year of college as a music major and I haven't yet been exposed to a lot of different styles. If by tonal richness you mean stepping out of tonality as in a lot of 20th century music then I would probably find it irritating... This is another hard thing to explain. I prefer listening to classical music over jazz, I think it has to do with the harmonic structure. For example If handled correctly a i64 V i cadence can be so powerful that it causes a physical response (tingles if you will) same with a 4-3 suspension on a V chord. Borrowed dominance is also very powerful and moving. I don't get the same feelings from a 9 chord or color tones... But maybe I will open up more to those sounds after my next semester (We will be studying Jazz form and such)

As a composer I have to be open to all styles and be able to compose in them as well. Personally I love controlled dissonance. I am writing a choral piece right now that uses quite a bit of unique harmonies. I try to displace heavy dissonances by at least an octave though, messing around with inversions helps subdue dissonances as well.

I think It will be interesting to see how I react to some of the music I consider less desirable to listen to after this semester. Maybe analyzing jazz will give a me a new perspective on the style. I will also be studying a piece by Bela Bartok a 20th century composer.

I actually have the West Side Story score on vinyl but its in pretty rough shape...

THR33P4C
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but putting van Halen in the same class as Handel is, for me, a big stretch.

Oh, and I am definitely not putting Van Halen and Handel in the same class... I was just stating that I was moved by some of the instrumentation. Modern music will never come close to most classical music IMO. I don't know how they did it back then.... Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, JS Bach just to name a few, were so good at what they did...

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My favorite sound tracks, and near the top of my favorite CD's are

Chinatown
The Wind and the Lion
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (poor movie but great music)
Any Max Steiner film score like Key Largo

One of the all time great movie soundtracks is Laurence of Arabia but every single soundtrack I have found of that movie has been awful, compressed, an lacking all quality control. If someone knows a well recorded version of that film track, please let me know.

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THR,

where are you in music school ?

For grad school you should look at USC . They offer a Masters in Film comp.
It is the hardest program to get into. But students from there develop priceless contacts with the film industry.

judicata
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Yes!! Finally someone else! I posted a similar question awhile back and didn't get much love.

My favorite guys are Zimmer, Thomas Newman, Horner, Glass, among a bunch of others.

With certain film scores, I have a lot of trouble separating them from the movie. But others, I can listen to completely independently without an urge to see the film. John Williams stuff (which, of course, is legendary) tends to make me think of the film and want to watch it. He uses a lot of very identifiable themes, and you almost can't help but think of the movie (Star Wars, Jaws). Others, like Thomas Newman, and sometimes James Horner and Hans Zimmer, can compose some music that is, in my opinion, more independent.

Some favorites:
Gladiator (Lisa Gerard's vocals are breathtaking)
Braveheart
Bicentennial Man (bad movie, good score)
Glory
Beyond Rangoon (another bad movie, but good score)
Shawshank Redemption (and a great film to boot)
The Mission
The Hours
The Last of the Mohicans

If you have some favorites - especially lesser-known films - I'm all ears.

THR33P4C
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Quote:

where are you in music school ?

For grad school you should look at USC . They offer a Masters in Film comp.
It is the hardest program to get into. But students from there develop priceless contacts with the film industry.

I'm going to school in Wisconsin. I am at my local extension right now, they have very good music instructors and small class sizes. I'm transferring to UW Eau Claire next fall. It's an excellent school for music... They have world renowned choirs and such. I will be getting my Bachelors in Music Theory and Composition there... After that I don't know where I am going.

You should send me a link to that comp program from USC...

If you want to check out some of the music I have done so far check out my site... The link is in my signature.

THR33P4C
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Judicata,

Its nice to hear that someone else enjoys soundtracks!
Zimmer is excellent, but he usually works with a team and the other composers don't get much credit for example Klaus Badelt actually composed some of the more memorable pieces for "Gladiator" and "Pirates of the Caribbean"

If you like Zimmer though, check out "The Rock" soundtrack. Its one of my favorites. I also really like James Horner and Howard Shore, but Steve Jablonsky is my favorite. He did the score for 'The Island' and 'Transformers'

judicata
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Oh, I am aware of Badelt's (as well as Gerrard's) contributions on Gladiator. All three are listed on the CD of the score, at least.

I'm sure the higher up in the chain you go, the more this is an issue, and it isn't unique to the music industry.

I'll check out the Island score - I haven't heard it yet.

zane9
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Very much enjoyed the August Rush soundtrack. The soundtrack listing can be seen here: IMDB

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I'm a big fan of soundtracks, and for a time there, particularly when listening to music while driving, it was all I was listening to.

Hans Zimmer is my favorite soundtrack composer. He's incredibly talented, and has the ability to make his compositions specific to the needs of the film, rather than sounding the same in every film, like John Williams (who I don't like at all).

My favorite soundtracks are
Hans Zimmer:
The Thin Red Line
Gladiator
Blackhawk Down
The Last Samurai
King Arthur
The Dark Knight
Batman Begins

Other faves:
Blade Runner
GATTACCA
Road to Perdition
Brokeback Mountain

judicata
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I don't usually listen to John Williams' scores outside the films, but I do generally enjoy them during the movies. I've always thought he was one of the best about composing a score most appropriate for the movie, but since I just replay the movie in my head when I listen to him, I usually don't.

I mean, his themes from Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Jaws, and now even Harry Potter, are probably the most memorable in film ever. I just don't find them as fun to listen to separately.

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If you ever get to Las Vegas, I gotta hook you up with my friend Don. We used to be business partners, and he listens almost exclusively to soundtracks. Hanging with him each day was educational about film music!

He can hear a piece and not only tell you the movie/composer; he can tell you the motif from a previous film by the same composer was used in order to derive a new major theme in a different film.

Amazing stuff.

At a given movie, I generally don't/can't follow the musical line, but when Don plays the soundtracks, it's amazing how much stuff is going on!

I just learned about some apparently non-credited soundtrack work for Apocalypse Now! and it leapt out of my brain as I went to post this who did it - not carmine Coppola, but....dang!

OK, if you know that one, help me out.

JIMV
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Film soundtracks are today's classical music.

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Film soundtracks are today's classical music.

Then what would that make today's classical music?

You are dead right - and even much current 'classical' music is very soundtrack-y.

Gorecki and Glass come quickly to mind. I love both. (And, of course, Glass does lots of music/visual work!)

THR33P4C
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Exactly... It seems like the quality of music has been in rapid decline lately. (I think that's mostly because of MTV pushing whatever music they want down the throats of the young, and since its on MTV it must be cool, and good, right? :\) Just my opinion...

-But I think movie soundtracks/scores have gone unaffected. The musicality and quality of soundtracks is the closest we have been to 'Classical' in a long time.

JIMV
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Quote:

Quote:
Film soundtracks are today's classical music.

Then what would that make today's classical music?

Does the word CRAP ring a bell? Think what RAP is to music, something that will be gone and forgotten in a few years...

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This topic has come up before and had some good posts but the search function is lame. If anybody can find I will buy them a drink.

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I'm not a big fan of movie soundtracks, but the Dead Presidents soundtrack is out of this world.

ncdrawl
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Rob Roy is great... The General's daughter is, too.

Also...The Godfather and Chinatown.

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