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Music back in
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Hi William,
I enjoyed listening to this piece very much. The harmonies and orchestration were quite intricate. The percussion was used in ways I haven't heard before. Overall there was not a dull moment. I do hear a touch of Goldsmith's influence.
This is a sophisticated composition that is well beyond the standards of today's Hollywood film scores.
I must admit though, that despite VSL being great I wish I could hear this performed by a top orchestra. It would sound absolutely fantastic.
Also this left me wishing that Hollywood films employed composers like you and Guy Bacos rather than the repetitive crap thats out there. (sorry I've been pretty sore for a few days after listening to that HZ video I shared where they spent 2 hours talking about nothing of substance except samples this and that)
Best wishes for the Holidays and New Year!
Anand
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Thank you for this offering Bill, maniacal indeed... It's interesting that I also have a work titled thusly, for wind quartet.
Merry Christmas everybody, and all the best for the impending new year. Hopefully, COVID -and inspiration patches- free! (I know, I know I'm asking for too much. Given a choice, I'll suffer the spread of COVID over the patches).
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Also this left me wishing that Hollywood films employed composers like you and Guy Bacos rather than the repetitive crap thats out there.
Anand
Hi Anand,
The comment is well appreciated (not just for me) and this is brought up now and then. Why not talk about it now? My apology William for hi-jacking this thread temporarily. Scoring for films is a different type of art and dedication. One could be an excellent composer and not do well scoring films, and one could be an excellent film composer but not able to write a stand alone concert piece. Very rare are film composers who could do both well. Danny Elfman recently wrote a violin concerto, I haven't heard it yet and can't say anything about it. There is also the collaboration aspect, you are the servant of the director in a manner of speaking. Are you comfortable with that? If he gives you 5 min to redo a scene, will you be to handle that? If he wants a style of music for a scene you find denigrating, can you work with that? I personally happen to prefer stand alone concert music, and like to have full control of what I want. I wouldn't want to spend my life writing film music, despite the glamor side sometimes associated with it, and nothing wrong with that or any other aspects of the craft. On the other hand, there is a prestige associated with concert music along with the long tradition of concert music. Many of the great 20th century composers would refuse to write film music even when offered. Possibly they might of been bad at it too. Anyway, this could be a discussion that could go on and on, but just thought I'd put in my 2 cents.
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Hi Guy and William,
I totally appreciate that being a good classical composer doesn't necessarily imply that one would want to score for films. Actually just as I finished writing the post I though I should add parenthetically "if they wanted to score for films".
My post was more of a lament that there are few good quality film composers today that make it to the the top grossing movies. I understand that film is an entirely different genre that is largely driven by directorial demands, but the quality of film music, and to William's point, the quality of films themselves, has deteriorated to such an unimaginable degree (Thanks in large part to HZ) that one could only dream of music like what you guys make adorning film music these days. The days of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith and the likes seem to be getting over and all replaced by thump thump music as I like to call it, or as Errikos said somewhere, its all about ostinatos and taikos these days.
Best
Anand
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Yes, but film music will always follow the trend its time, so you can't be too critical on that. I'm sure Stravinsky or Rachmaninov didn't have much esteem for the film composers during their lifetime. It's a completely different art form and Hans Zimmer is just following the trend of his time and I honestly don't think he has any pretense about it, and it doesn't take anything away from Jerry Goldsmith or Bernard Herrmann which I admire as much as anybody else, but even if they were alive today, they surely would of had to adapt their styles to the current trend.
Anyway William, keep doing what you're doing, you do it very well, it's great music, nothing to envy.
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Extremely well crafted, Sir.
Inspired, balanced —form-wise, orchestration-wise, production-wise.
The kind of music I still wish to listen watching an on-par movie.
And enjoying listening without a movie coming with, too.
VI Special Edition 1-3, Reaper, MuseScore 3, Notion 3 (collecting dust), vst flotsam and jetsam -
Hello William,
your composition is beautiful as usual.
I like the mix, which I find very creative, also I haven't heard anything with a similar dynamic range in a long time.....which makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life ahahahahah.....It's excellent., seriously.
There is also the collaboration aspect, you are the servant of the director in a manner of speaking. Are you comfortable with that? If he gives you 5 min to redo a scene, will you be to handle that? If he wants a style of music for a scene you find denigrating, can you work with that?
yes the collaboration side of music for media can be a downside, in my little experience with games and ads I was very lucky but one can always bump into the client who doesn't really know how long it takes to make things or sometimes it's just communication issues (see the book "No Minor Chords")......
the best clients hire you because they like you and they trust you, and then give you freedom: it doesn't happen every day.
Also on the general matter of film/game music, I think the taiko/ostinato is slowly being replaced buy a new more minimal and "intimate" trend.....where "intimate" means 3 piano notes drowned in reverb..... I sense that we're gonna hear more and more of that....but it's okay and I don't blame HZ or anybody else, there's no blame in my opinion: in that context, the film is the medium and music is an element of it, the director has a view and the audience has a preference......
But anyway I agree that both William's and Guy's music would be very interesting and enjoyable to hear in the context of other media as well.
All the best
Francesco
Francesco -
Hi William,
Very impressive, William. Such expressive music, well crafted and recorded. It has a very cinematic feel, although it's deeper and very colorfully orchestrated. It shows so much emotion and reflection. That is music which appeals and attracts. I can't imagine a music lover who doesn't want to hear this. And I can't think of an orchestra not willing to put this score on their desks. (Although that's another matter as we say, it takes some serious 'elbow work' to enter the inner circle of performed composers...)
Many congrats! Love the piece!!!
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I wouldn't say I like this genre of music. I like something more popular, cheerful, and upbeat. I respect all musicians' work and think they are excellent, talented people. Tastes vary, so don't be offended by listeners' subjective opinions. I listen to music daily, on the road, at home, at work. It helps me live and move on. I think that music is the best motivator, so I try to find such songs in the tracks charts, which will be best for me. I look for music both in apps and on the internet. Lately, I like the service where you can find top music charts and choose something fabulous for yourself.
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Glad to see YOU back, William. I've just listened to this whole piece on YouTube and enjoyed letting it take me on a very engaging and satisfying journey. Altogether a superb piece - adroit and adept, if I may say so. I agree with Fabio's remark and would like to hear this with an on-par movie. (But given the current state of the mainstream movie business, where can an on-par movie be found nowadays?)
As for the post here that irritated you so much, in my book it falls into the category of needing the sterner kind of handling. No decent community can afford to accommodate that kind of toxicity, which preys upon and hides cunningly within the "being nice to everyone" general policy for online communications. They are certainly not nice people and oh how they lie and masquerade to concoct a phony good image of themselves. Officially, in the U.S. there's a 6% incidence of the particular disorder (NPD) which seems to apply here (although I'm certainly not qualified to make a diagnosis). Those afflicted individuals are "half shot-away inside"; qualified pros discussing this disorder online seem to agree there's no real remedy, no redemption. A crude kind of creativity is there but is malign, predatory, cunning and cold, sort of reptilian; they're inherently incapable of composing good music and have no business talking about it.
Anyway, sorry; that's my rant done. Also sorry to hear the creep affected you like that. (I'd say he's had lots of practice doing it to others too.)
Many thanks again for sharing this piece and all of your work, William.
Take care.
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