SCORE: Earth to Echo

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I like a good full-on orchestral score. I also like a good full-on electronic score. But I love a score that fuses orchestra with electronics. It just seems right, the merging of organic with inorganic. In a way, it's what we humans are, we're the arm of nature that decided to build a wheel, a combustion engine, and then an iPhone. Unfortunately, since Jerry Goldsmith passed away we never really got a composer that could merge organic and inorganic in a way that seems inevitable. In fact, the first time in over six years that I had a moment where I went..."that's a beautiful marriage of electronics and orchestra" was Tron: Legacy, in the track called "Solar Sailer." It's a track that relies on the orchestra to create a rather muted mood, with layers of orchestra entering the piece, literally giving it a sparkle and life that electronics can't quite give. Despite some early talks with Hans Zimmer, Daft Punk decided to steer largely away from RCP when working on that score, because they wanted the score to have a unique voice. But they still needed someone who understood orchestra and electronics, so they turned to a then unknown young man named Joseph Trapanese. The rest, as they say, is history.

And history brings us to Earth to Echo. It's actually a 2014 score that was attached to a "no one saw it" kid's film about an alien that gets stuck on Earth and needs to go home. So let's be clear, this score is not E.T. Not even close. But it's still good, and six months later, I still can't help but going back to it every now and then. There is a main theme that runs through the whole score, but it's simple.

So why do I keep coming back?

I think it's because there's some kind of magic in the way the whole score brings together electronics and orchestra. The music is more than the sum of its parts, and it's so tightly knit that it vacillates effortlessly through very different musical styles. There's definitely skill on display here, but I can't help but think that it's limited by the film's kiddy-target (not to mention its paltry $13 million budget). Outside of the solid construction of the score (there's really nothing you can point to and say "that's bad!"), there are some really strong moments and tracks including: "The Move," "In the Barn," "Looking Home," "Fallen Star," "Here It Goes," and "The Way Home"

Ultimately, the score isn't as bold as it could be, but what it lacks in boldness, it makes up for in a clean and surprisingly satisfying listening experience. It's a score that you listen to when you wake up in the twilight hours of morning, where your ears and brain aren't quite ready to handle music that smashes your emotional state with its own. That makes it...strangely likable.

Earth to Echo...Musical Breakfast. I like it.

Alright Mr. Trapanese, it's time for lunch.

BlumeScore5000-XTREME: 71%

[RedBard 71]

I agree that electronic music can have its place in orchestra, provided that it doesn't turn into a battle for sonic presence between the two.

In the case of Earth of Echo, it sounded like the electronic music was used to embody the character Echo: unfamiliar, yet advanced centuries, even millennia ahead of mankind in an awe-inspiring way. And you're right: despite the story being like E.T. almost beat-for-beat, the score for the film shouldn't resemble the score for E.T. It had its own sound-scape and its own synergy (hence the phrase you used where the music is "more than the sum of its parts"), and it shouldn't have to rely on the sound-scape of another film in order to realize its own identity.

Here's my theory, and you can take it with a bucket of salt:

You come back to this score six months later because it elevates you instead of pandering to you, as good music ought to do. The sample cues from the score you provided are the evidence I present.

But that's just my take. Am I in the ballpark at least?

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I'm going to listen to this tomorrow. And God help you if I don't like it, Cauliflower!

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Listening now. I like how clear and dry the recording aesthetic is - very un-Meyerson. I like.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I didn't mind it. I like his taste in synths.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

It's a grower.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Reviews printed in Georgia typeface have more credibility.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

And they're easier on the eye too!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Unfortunately, since Jerry Goldsmith passed away we never really got a composer that could merge organic and inorganic in a way that seems inevitable.

*ahem* Powell.

[RedBard 71]

Unfortunately, since Jerry Goldsmith passed away we never really got a composer that could merge organic and inorganic in a way that seems inevitable.

*ahem* Powell.

*Cough* Davis *Cough*!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

*sneezes* Zimmer *sneezes*

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Piss off!

[RedBard 71]

Piss off!

I was joking when I put Davis in the same arena as Goldsmith.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

You shouldn't have been.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

But TheGayPilgrim was not!

[publicist 4,643]

Since when is JG considered THE GREATEST merger of synth/orchestra? A lot of times it stood out like a sore thumb.

[RedBard 71]

Since when is JG considered THE GREATEST merger of synth/orchestra? A lot of times it stood out like a sore thumb.

Examples?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Pub doesn't give examples. He merely complains.

[KK 3,307]

But it's a valid point. He was a great experimentalist, and nailed the merging of electronics and orchestra in some scores, but in others, the classic Goldsmith fart noises can be grating.

Piss off!

I was joking when I put Davis in the same arena as Goldsmith.

As TGP said, you shouldn't have been.

Davis nailed that balance.

Unfortunately, since Jerry Goldsmith passed away we never really got a composer that could merge organic and inorganic in a way that seems inevitable.

*ahem* Powell.

[RedBard 71]

You shouldn't have been.

Then I take it back. Davis could very well be the next Goldsmith if he's willing to push himself in future projects.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I consider Zimmer's biggest contribution to be in sampling, not integrating purely synthetic sounds with traditional organic sounds. Don't get me wrong, he's good. But he's also a bit timid, sticking to mostly dark and smooth sounding synths.

Powell's work with synths (going by memory here) is mostly characterless.

Don Davis? Really?

I mean shoot, take 20 seconds from an "auto-pilot Goldsmith" score

1:02-1:21 here:

None of these halfling composers have done something remotely as well integrated!

Even if they did, they don't have Bruce Botnick to put the finishing touches on so perfectly!

[publicist 4,643]

Pub doesn't give examples. He merely complains.

Rubbish. As expected.

I would cite (and that is an extremely limited selection):

Afghanistan (Rambo III)

Arrivals (Extreme Prejudice)

Not without my Daughter (really all of it)

The Goblins (Legend)

Sniper (Under Fire) synth outbreak, middle)

Theme from Hoosiers (Hoosiers)

With Malice (Malice) cheap tv scoring effects

A lot of mid-80's till mid-90's stuff features synth work that sounded cheap and unappealing even back then, especially when he resorted to stock Yamaha effects and drum machines that were used in a similar manner and thousands of tv shows.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I consider Zimmer's biggest contribution to be in sampling, not integrating purely synthetic sounds with traditional organic sounds. Don't get me wrong, he's good. But he's also a bit timid, sticking to mostly dark and smooth sounding synths.

I wouldn't say that he's "contributed" anything with regards to sampling. It's just something he uses, along with probably 90% of other Hollywood composers. But to marginalize his ability to blend purely synthetic sounds with organic sounds is nuts - what the hell is the last score he did without doing that? And since when does he stick to dark and smooth sounding synths? Another sort of generalization there which doesn't really hold much water... if anything, Goldsmith was far more timid with the sorts of electronic colors he used and the roles he gave them.

Ok, I see your autopilot Goldsmith synth blending mastery, and raise you these. And since you handicapped yourself by picking an autopilot example, I'll stick to those "dark and smooth" sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5k60wnQP7A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOIzPCy7xz0

Take a listen to TASM2 for some very different synth action - much more of an 80s, pop vibe to it. Or listen to the blending of the Temple Church organ with those distant, windy synths in Stay. I can't know what your brain processes as "dark and smooth" but mine tells me he's much more varied than that.

[publicist 4,643]

The strangled cat sounds from GREMLINS excepted.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

One of my favourite HZ synth patches...

 

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Could be Holkenborg though, yeah?

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Yeah, could be. That's a proper nasty Reese Bass there.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I heard that vi-control was losing their shit yesterday because he Tweeted pictures of his latest template - something like 4000 tracks, much of which are his own custom patches or sound design stuff. Interesting guy.

Actually I just had a look and Hans posted that it's something they're working on together. You know what that means!

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

THEGREYPILGRIM!

Don't get me wrong, he's good. But he's also a bit timid, sticking to mostly dark and smooth sounding synths.

I just don't like bloated/muddy music. Goldsmith kept it crispy!

To be fair to Zimmy, the bloated, muddy, smooth, blurry, dark synths became more fashionable in the 2000s, right around when Jerry dropped dead. Who knows maybe Jerry also would have gone down that path too? He already started:

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

"This video is not available"