Jump to content

Learn to compose film scores from Hans Zimmer!


Jay

Recommended Posts

No. But it's nice to hear someone you admire, express fondness for others you admire. Makes him more relatable to me, I suppose. And you could even say it offers a certain insight into his own philosophy and approach to music, given the backgrounds of the aforementioned composers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems like those would be pretty neat, if for nothing else than to gain some insight into the specific artist's thoughts and processes. I would probably try a few out if I could afford to splurge. I see Steve Martin's got one coming on comedy...that would probably be super interesting, actually.

 

Let us know what you think of Z's class when you finish!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Has anyone here got any reviews of it? It's still popping up in my Facebook feed, and I am not sure how much the course is really worth. I might consider taking it, but I'd hate to be disappointed by it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 22/11/2016 at 1:45 AM, TheGreyPilgrim said:

In other news, check out how pretentious my language sometimes gets in the Interstellar analysis.  Sweet fancy Moses.

 

Quote

Time - Simple movement through four chords, sometimes with full harmonies or adorned with florid figurations, sometimes only as a bass moving under rising two note gestures. In this, one hears a musical embodiment of the passing of time, inevitable, never resolving. Sometimes deviating slightly as outlooks change or understandings are reached, but always returning to its original pattern. For some perhaps a cloyingly familiar harmonic device. For others, shattering and haunting.

 

I read that with the dulcet tones of John O'Hurley, and at other times, Stanley Tucci

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

I think Hans Zimmer is the last person I'd want to teach me how to compose music.

 

I think I'd choose Hans Zimmer over Manikin Skywalker, at any rate.  

 

2 hours ago, Biodome said:

Has anyone here got any reviews of it? It's still popping up in my Facebook feed, and I am not sure how much the course is really worth. I might consider taking it, but I'd hate to be disappointed by it.

 

What do you expect it to entail?  If you think it will teach you how to write music, it will not.  This is Hans talking about the job of scoring for film itself, it is not a composition lesson.  You might find it interesting if you are an enthusiast, useful if you are actually in the business, a disappointment if you think it will be anything but supplementary to what you should already know.

 

1 hour ago, JohnSolo said:

He seems like a real friendly chap.

 

He is.  It's absolutely comedic how your average internet poser, and even the occasional legitimate but spurned former RCP employee, try to demonize him in any of a billion ways. And dilettantes around the web eat it up.  The dumb ones, at least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

What do you expect it to entail?  If you think it will teach you how to write music, it will not.  This is Hans talking about the job of scoring for film itself, it is not a composition lesson.  You might find it interesting if you are an enthusiast, useful if you are actually in the business, a disappointment if you think it will be anything but supplementary to what you should already know.

Well, that's what I would be afraid of, I guess. I don't want the course to be a glorified interview of Zimmer where he talks about the philosophy of how film soundtracks are made. I'd rather he went into some concrete, deep specifics, which could not be easily found by doing a simple Google search. Guess I'll stick to the free Coursera courses on composition then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

I could be John Williams himself for all you know!

 

I would much rather have Zimmer teach me how to score a film than Williams. Not because Zimmer is a better composer, he is not. But because if I am a composer, I know there is less than 1% chance I could remotely compose like Williams no matter what I learned. Zimmer is far more relatable, more modern, and he is a guy who embraces all the tools. He can teach you how to be a successful composer even if you do not have an amazing foundation in composition. That and the fact that Zimmer probably understands how to build connections in the industry more than anyone. 

 

Besides, I can't remember the last time I write anything with a pencil and paper :). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Mephariel said:

 

I would much rather have Zimmer teach me how to score a film than Williams. Not because Zimmer is a better composer, he is not. But because if I am a composer, I know there is less than 1% chance I could remotely compose like Williams no matter what I learned. Zimmer is far more relatable, more modern, and he is a guy who embraces all the tools. He can teach you how to be a successful composer even if you do not have an amazing foundation in composition. That and the fact that Zimmer probably understands how to build connections in the industry more than anyone. 

 

Besides, I can't remember the last time I write anything with a pencil and paper :). 

True.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that we're on the topic, has JW ever discussed his working process in detail (so not the standard bit about how a spotting session works, but really how he thinks, works, creates music, decides who/what gets a theme etc.?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/21/2017 at 2:53 PM, TheGreyPilgrim said:

 

He talks about musical rhetoric, working with directors, creating a collection of material to draw on for a score, designing electronic sounds.  That kind of thing.  There is no basic music theory or composition technique involved. Again, if you're looking for that, this is not the place.  It's a masterclass on film scoring, not composition.   It's basically a very condensed, less personal, perhaps less stressful version of the education you'd get by working with him. 

 

You know, this is what I suck at most so have much to learn.  I should probably invest in this. Grey, how long is the full masterclass?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

Something like 30 videos at an average of 10-15 minutes each?  It's hefty.  Almost definitely worth 90 bucks for anyone.

That is easily worth the cost.  Cheers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I found this masterclass really interesting but I have to agree that if you want to learn how to compose, technically speaking, this is not for you. But other than that, it truly is a nice glimpse into Zimmer process. There are also some brief passage where he talks about Williams. Feel free to ask specific questions I'll try to answer ;) there are 31 lessons. ;) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Watched the first two videos.

 

1. I like how he welcomes the viewer with this mixture of pride and humility.

2. I can't help wondering why someone who clearly has a few interesting things to say is so determined not to be creative with his themes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.