The Quick Question Thread

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?

[bollemanneke 3,338]

Question about Korngold. I recently heard his main titles to Kings Row during some 'JW Star Wars inspiration' thing and was really blown away by the greatness of the piece... and by the absolutely horrible quality of the original recording. Hisotrically important or not, I do not listen to 1942 stuff. I've just been looking some things up and found a complete release (I think) of that score in its original quality.

 

So my question is, how many of Korngold's works have been released in a complete form originally, and how many things have been re-recorded in decent quality (complete or not?)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra recorded an excellent sounding release highlighting Korngold's music. The Kings Row main title is included,

 

 

[karelm 2,903]

20 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?

No.  You are more than what you are.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Bet those science chicks really dig that large cranium of yours, huh?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Whatever happened to this Oroku Saki?

[bollemanneke 3,338]

Does anyone know what's going on with Amazon? I'm trying to order the Hunger Games on DVD, but so far, seven different sellers are refusing to ship to Belgium, including Amazon itself. This keeps happening more and more!

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

1 hour ago, bollemanneke said:

Does anyone know what's going on with Amazon? I'm trying to order the Hunger Games on DVD, but so far, seven different sellers are refusing to ship to Belgium, including Amazon itself. This keeps happening more and more!

 

It's happened to me as well. I chatted with their customer service about it, and they told me they'd investigate and get back to me within 24 hours. That was several weeks ago and I still haven't heard anything from them.

[bollemanneke 3,338]

I hope this hasn't got anything to do with... well, that thing we're all tired of. I literally buy all my DVDs and CDs there.

[Holko 9,499]

Amazon.de exists as well, has an English interface I think. Not sure if it's affected as well and the stock is definitely different.

[Chewy 2,382]

2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Does anyone know what's going on with Amazon? I'm trying to order the Hunger Games on DVD, but so far, seven different sellers are refusing to ship to Belgium, including Amazon itself. This keeps happening more and more!

Are you using Amazon.fr?

[bollemanneke 3,338]

1 minute ago, Chewy said:

Are you using Amazon.fr?

No, UK.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

On 3/28/2019 at 4:28 PM, bollemanneke said:

Question about Korngold. I recently heard his main titles to Kings Row during some 'JW Star Wars inspiration' thing and was really blown away by the greatness of the piece... and by the absolutely horrible quality of the original recording. Hisotrically important or not, I do not listen to 1942 stuff. I've just been looking some things up and found a complete release (I think) of that score in its original quality.

 

So my question is, how many of Korngold's works have been released in a complete form originally, and how many things have been re-recorded in decent quality (complete or not?)

 

Original recordings

Many of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's scores were transferred to tape by his son, George Korngold. Some of these are not entirely complete, but still substantial. The transfers are decent sounding if the right amount of noise reduction is applied. That's not what Tsunami did when releasing them about 20(?) years ago, totally killing the upper register with excessive noise reduction. To hear how good the original recordings can sound, check out the isolated score on the DVD (and possibly bluray) of Robin Hood. There's also been a later album release of Kings Row and The Sea Wolf, on FSM. I'm not a great fan of neither of these scores, so I can't comment much on that release. I believe @Disco Stu has spoken warmly about it.

 

 

Early re-recordings

 

Lionel Newman recorded the first album of Korngold's film music in the early 60's, and it's a great album. Tracks are generally short.

 

Charles Gerhardt recorded several albums with excerpts/suites lasting from a minute up to 15 minutes. One of the albums is entirely dedicated to Korngold's music and is titled The Sea Hawk. Some of the other albums contain music both by Korngold and other composers. Most of his film score re-recordings are part of The Classic Film Score Series, originally issued by RCA. He also did one album dedicated exclusively to Kings Row (Varese), and a seven minute suite of it on the album Hollywood Screen Classics (Chesky). All of Gerhardt's film score re-recordings are worth owning. I happen to have spare copies of a few of these, all in excellent condition. If you're interested, just PM me and I'll give you a fair price.

 

Varujan Kojian recorded one album of Robin Hood and one of The Sea Hawk (Varese). These are also must haves.

 

Carl Davis recorded an album of Elizabeth and Essex (Varese), which also is good, especially the first movement.

 

All these recordings have been released on CD. The Kojian albums and several of the Gerhardt albums were produced by George Korngold.

 

 

Later re-recordings

 

Rumon Gamba on Chandos and William Stromberg on Marco Polo / Naxos and Tribute. Gamba does extended suites while Stromberg does complete scores. I'd recommend Stromberg's Robin Hood and Prince and the Pauper - his complete Sea Hawk sounds under-rehearsed in placed, while the choir has a Russian accent! Gamba is generally good. If I remember correctly he can deviate a bit with the tempi, but not too much.

 

Avoid Kaufman's Marco Polo recording with the Brandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra! A recording with very little detail.

 

Previn's recording of four suites on DG sounds promising on paper - great conductor, great orchestra (LSO), great scores (Elizabeth & Essex, The Sea Hawk, Prince and the Pauper, Captain Blood), but is totally let down by generally geriatric tempi. I imagine it wouldn't sound too bad if it was sped up by 30% or so. To bad it holds the only extended re-recording of Captain Blood that sounds good (apart from tempi).

[bollemanneke 3,338]

Wow, thank you!

[Marian Schedenig 8,178]

14 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

To hear how good the original recordings can sound, check out the isolated score on the DVD (and possibly bluray) of Robin Hood.

 

Yes, the Blu-ray also has the isolated score. And while I'm sure a proper release of the old recordings can do a lot more, it's surprising how listenable the Tsunami release of Captain Blood is, considering its age.

 

Quote

Early re-recordings:

 

There's also a 73 minute Anthony Adverse conducted by John Scott on Varese, which as far as I remember is very good. John Mauceri recorded a 30 minute suite of Between Two Worlds on Decca's "Entartete Musik" series.

 

One of my favourites however is the Richard Kaufman conducted 20 minute suite from Captain Blood (paired on CD with Victor Young's fantastic Scaramouche). I actually prefer this to the Gerhardt recording of the ouverture.

 

Quote

Previn's recording of four suites on DG sounds promising on paper - great conductor, great orchestra (LSO), great scores (Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, Prince and the Pauper, Captain Blood), but is totally let down by generally geriatric tempi. I imagine it wouldn't sound too bad if it was speed up by 30% or so.

 

The tempi certainly are very slow, even if I'd say they're (just) not yet entirely beyond justifiability. But his Captain Blood actually has a pretty normal tempo.

1 hour ago, Holko said:

Amazon.de exists as well, has an English interface I think. Not sure if it's affected as well and the stock is definitely different.

 

I have a couple of CDs on my Amazon.de list which for some unknown reason cannot be shipped to Austria, even by Amazon themselves. And just today, they sent me an email recommending that I buy one of them... I don'T have Amazon Prime, but when I had the same problem with two Blu-rays, a friend of mine confirmed that Prime doesn't help either.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

I forgot to mention there's a decent sounding 2 CD set called The Warner Years, that presents selections from practically all his scores, without noise reduction. It's fun to play around with the noise reduction algorithms in Audite to see how good you can make it sound.

 

27 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Yes, the Blu-ray also has the isolated score. And while I'm sure a proper release of the old recordings can do a lot more, it's surprising how listenable the Tsunami release of Captain Blood is, considering its age.

 

It's indeed one of the better Tsunami releases.

 

27 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

There's also a 73 minute Anthony Adverse conducted by John Scott on Varese

 

Wasn't that re-orchestrated for a smaller ensemble?

 

27 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Wow, thank you!

 

Then there's of course his brilliant violin concerto, partly based on his film music.

 

27 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

One of my favourites however is the Richard Kaufman conducted 20 minute suite from Captain Blood (paired on CD with Victor Young's fantastic Scaramouche). I actually prefer this to the Gerhardt recording of the ouverture.

 

Let's agree to disagree on that one!

 

40 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Avoid Kaufman's Marco Polo recording with the Brandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra! A recording with very little detail.

[bollemanneke 3,338]

Does anyone know whether these published JW arrangements have ever been professionally recorded and released?

 

Devil's Dance (piano and violin)
Escapades (piano and saxophone)
Three pieces from Memoirs of a Geisha (piano and cello)
Air and simple gifts (string orchestra)
With Malice Towards None (trumpet and piano)
 

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

11 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Devil's Dance (piano and violin)

 

(the whole album is great!)

 

 

12 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Escapades (piano and saxophone)

 

12 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Three pieces from Memoirs of a Geisha (piano and cello)

 

(digital release only)

 

 

[bollemanneke 3,338]

Thank you!

[Fabulin 3,510]

.

[Jokerslb 0]

Hello guys:

 

Can you please tell me what piece of music that is in the trailer?

 

I don't think it's from "Far and Away"???

 

 

Titanic ShoWest Trailer.flac

[Faleel 5,340]

So....
 

How were the drum sounds in those two tracks achieved, and how I would I replicate that with samples?

[Oomoog the Ecstatic 314]

What ever happened to that guy who was obsessed with Glazunov. I liked that guy.

[Fabulin 3,510]

.

[bollemanneke 3,338]

Odd question, but a quick one all the same: Does anyone know what the shortest running time is of a John Williams and James Horner cue that was released on an OST?

[Jay 37,322]

For Williams maybe "With Malice Toward None" (Piano Solo) (01:32) from Lincoln

 

For Horner maybe Heading for Sador (00:55)  from Battle Beyond The Stars

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Holiday Flight is 58 seconds long

[Jay 37,322]

Ah yes thank you, I knew I was forgetting an obvious one

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

8 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Odd question, but a quick one all the same: Does anyone know what the shortest running time is of a John Williams and James Horner cue that was released on an OST?

 

Opening Titles from Jurassic Park at about 30 seconds.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

On 5/10/2019 at 4:11 PM, Faleel J.M. said:

How were the drum sounds in those two tracks achieved, and how I would I replicate that with samples?

 

The second example I think is like a low pass filter--actually maybe a high pass-- with high resonance. What do you use to make music on a computer?

 

The Goldeneye one...I _know_ I've heard that effect before...hmmm...maybe a low pass filter with tape saturation cranked up to the point of distortion? (Or just plain distortion)

[Faleel 5,340]

4 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

 

The second example I think is like a low pass filter--actually maybe a high pass-- with high resonance. What do you use to make music on a computer?

 

The Goldeneye one...I _know_ I've heard that effect before...hmmm...maybe a low pass filter with tape saturation cranked up to the point of distortion? (Or just plain distortion)

Fl studio. (With various sample libraries)

[Nick Parker 3,040]

6 hours ago, Faleel J.M. said:

Fl studio. (With various sample libraries)

 

Okay, so FL Studio most likely has an included filter and distortion plugin you could put on a chain after whatever drum samples you choose. I don't quite know how it does effects chains, though.

[Faleel 5,340]

Just to be clear, I am after the snare (?) sound in the GoldenEye sample, that sort of watery-ish gated sound

[Nick Parker 3,040]

6 hours ago, Faleel J.M. said:

Just to be clear, I am after the snare (?) sound in the GoldenEye sample, that sort of watery-ish gated sound

 

If we're talking about the same thing, yeah, it's a snare. Ever experiment with a transient shaper?

[Faleel 5,340]

7 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

If we're talking about the same thing, yeah, it's a snare. Ever experiment with a transient shaper?

Nope, I just started figuring out DAW's and composition "by ear" a couple years back, so I don't know a lot about filters, eq, and other technical stuff.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

8 hours ago, Faleel J.M. said:

Nope, I just started figuring out DAW's and composition "by ear" a couple years back, so I don't know a lot about filters, eq, and other technical stuff.

 

So one of the most basic and important elements of synth sounds is the ADSR envelope--Attack, Sustain, Decay, Release. In context of amplitude (amp you'll sometimes see), the first one, attack, is how fast the sound reaches its peak volume upon a note getting triggered, such as when you press a key on a MIDI keyboard or a drawn note in a piano roll editor triggers a note in a VST. If you turn the attack to its lowest setting, you'll most likely hear a sharp, staccato start of the sound. Think of the bass notes at the start of the original Zelda theme back on the NES, for example. 

 

This is greatly over-simplifying things, but in essence, you can think of this attack phase the transient of a sound. Instruments such as drums and piano (really, most percussion) have very quick transients, whereas, say, a clarinet or bowed viola would have a slower transient (pizzicato would have a high, quick transient, see the difference?) What a transient shaper allows you to do is manipulate the "accent" of these transients, which while not actually changing the volume can give you the illusion of a sound being punchier, or more muffled and subdued. You can see where I'm going from here.

 

You would have to do some research on whether FL Studio has a native transient shaper or designer or envelope shaper or whatever jargon companies use to describe the same basic process, but if not you could find a free VST online somewhere, I'm sure. 

 

From there, you would take a drum sample library, add a transient shaper in the effects chain, and reduce the transient on the snare. It's probably not the only factor creating the sound, but tinker and see what results you might find.

[bollemanneke 3,338]

On ‎4‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 11:44 AM, Jurassic Shark said:

 

It's happened to me as well. I chatted with their customer service about it, and they told me they'd investigate and get back to me within 24 hours. That was several weeks ago and I still haven't heard anything from them.

Did you ever get more info on this? It just took me 10 attempts before I could order The Amazing Spider-Man...

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

36 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Did you ever get more info on this? It just took me 10 attempts before I could order The Amazing Spider-Man...

 

I contacted them again about the items that wouldn't ship to Norway, a month after I first told them about it, and they said it was still being investigated. Then I asked if they could let me know when they'd finished investigating it, to which they replied that they didn't do that in these kinds of cases. I was told to contact them again if I want to know if they have come to a conclusion.

[karelm 2,903]

I'm a fan of 1950's and 60's B movie sci-fi scores.  At some point they transitioned to epic Wagnerian leitmotific.  My question - what was the last great vintage sci-fi B movie score?  I believe Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes was an A list score, perhaps influenced by 2001's avant garde approach?  But I believe there was an overlap of the old with the new.  Perhaps decades long.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

11 minutes ago, karelm said:

I'm a fan of 1950's and 60's B movie sci-fi scores.  At some point they transitioned to epic Wagnerian leitmotific.  My question - what was the last great vintage sci-fi B movie score?  I believe Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes was an A list score, perhaps influenced by 2001's avant garde approach?  But I believe there was an overlap of the old with the new.  Perhaps decades long.

 

I think Logan's Run is very much in that more experimental tradition of the 50s/60s (well, at least the first half  ).  Just compare Logan in '76 to Star Trek TMP in '79 to see how Star Wars changed everything!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

4 hours ago, karelm said:

I'm a fan of 1950's and 60's B movie sci-fi scores.  At some point they transitioned to epic Wagnerian leitmotific.  My question - what was the last great vintage sci-fi B movie score?  I believe Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes was an A list score, perhaps influenced by 2001's avant garde approach?  But I believe there was an overlap of the old with the new.  Perhaps decades long.

 

Have you ever listened to Lalo Schifrin's score for THX 1138? Not a B movie in the sense of what people usually mean by the term, but I don't think it was expected to be an A list smash success.

 

 

 

I feel like there's more I know that are later, but they're not coming to me at the moment. 

 

 

EDIT: Hey, do you think Lifeforce fits the bill?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Why don't they ever show Wilson's face on Home Improvement?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Didn't we have a thread about that?

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

1 hour ago, Ghostbusters II said:

Why don't they ever show Wilson's face on Home Improvement?

 

Because he's a volleyball.

[Marian Schedenig 8,178]

13 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I think Logan's Run is very much in that more experimental tradition of the 50s/60s (well, at least the first half  ).  Just compare Logan in '76 to Star Trek TMP in '79 to see how Star Wars changed everything!

 

And yet Goldsmith did Alien the same year.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

5 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

And yet Goldsmith did Alien the same year.

 

Turns out, he’s pretty good!

[Marian Schedenig 8,178]

4 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

And yet Goldsmith did Alien the same year.

 

And Outland two years later.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Question: When referring to a take on a cue list, what does "sweetener" suggest/mean?

[Fabulin 3,510]

.

[Faleel 5,340]

1 hour ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Question: When referring to a take on a cue list, what does "sweetener" suggest/mean?

It means an overlay basically.