TimCox

Anybody heard the score for John Carter? That mess has me worried about Giacchino on Star Wars...I mean, it's good but some of the fast paced stuff is just a cacophony and not in the good way

I, for one, grew up on Star Wars even though ROTJ was released three years before I was born! Those films are amazing. Plain and simple. I used to talk my parents into getting me every Star Wars book, game, comic, toy, etc. The story is great. The world is astounding. I am completely excited for the new set of movies, I think J.J. is the right man for the job. What about the music though? Giacchino? He's definitely qualified but I feel like he rushes things. He would need to really spend the time on the score if it's to be of Star Wars caliber. It's great to work quickly and on several projects at once, but not for something like this (unless you are, of course, John Williams). Any other ideas for composers? I would love to see Joel McNeely take a crack at it, if only because he took the reins for Williams once before (and Shadows of the Empire was a GREAT soundtrack). I'm holding out hope that John has a few more Star Wars movies left in him though.

I want to reiterate that no, I don't think he's the next Williams or is going to be. If anything, referring to someone as such is a nod to Williams as the gold standard for film composers (like The Beatles with rock bands). What I've noticed with Giacchino scores is that you really have to have seen the movie to feel the emotion in the music, which is something that's not necessarily true for Williams. I listened to the score for The Terminal before I ever watched it and could feel what was happening in alot of it. I do think one of Giacchino's shining moments was "Letting Go" from the Super 8 Soundtrack. It's a lovely cue and, when you know the context of the scene, an incredibly touching moment highlighted by the music. Like anything of his it is stunted, to me anyway, by the inadequate recording of the orchestra :/

I thought Williams used the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra as opposed to the Hollywood Studio Symphony?

I feel like Super 8 came CLOSE but it just falls short of carrying that "oh-so-Williams" punch that a great room can give you. And I wish he'd work with a better orchestra. Don't get me wrong, the Hollywood Studio Symphony guys he works with are great, but they're so robotic sometimes.

I'm, personally, a Giacchino fan. The next Williams? Time will tell but I don't think so. He has some amazing work and Super 8 is definitely a thing of beauty (IMO). I do think he needs to work with a different producer because his scores have that close mic'd almost big band sound (regardless of style). The brass section generally comes off less powerful without a nice room mic, but that's the engineer side of me coming out

When I first heard Zimmer's stuff I was totally blown away, mostly because I had no clue how he got those massive sounds. Then I got a nice computer and became less impressed It seems these days all you need is some loud Taiko samples and a keyboard to impress people. I think it's a young person thing (I'm only 26 so I'm not saying I'm old or anything but still), most people I know who love Hans Zimmer are late teens, early 20s. I'll always thank my parents for raising me on Star Wars and Indiana Jones

Where have you guys been all my life? :') Also, where can I find copies of scores? I would love them for study purposes!

I was listening to The Last Crusade score the other day and I noticed a peculiar effect. It was on The Canyon of the Crescent Moon at around 2:54 or so and it's like a whispering swirling sound. My first thought was brass or woodwinds blown through (i.e. all breath no tone). Anyone know for sure on this?