ChrisAfonso

But "out of range" is a very fuzzy term. Is it not playable at all? Is it playable, but only by a seasoned pro? Is it hard to play soft/loud/get it to sound good? Is it hard to play fast in context? Apart from cranking out a full 30+ staff score (which may or may not be needed to create parts, as the interview shows), orchestrators provide a lot of expertise and assistance regarding voicings, doublings, avoiding pitfalls that cost time/money during recording etc.

I'm also watching - the first half of the current season felt a bit weird and tonally disconnected from what came before, but that could be because the first three seasons felt somewhat concluded arcwise at that point. However, the recent arc really got things going at a mighty pace and, despite the "virtual" world much of it is set in, upped the stakes by making it personal again. The watchdogs never felt really fleshed out as villains for me, which had a negative impact on the first half of the season...

I also think it sounds rather well-played, but seems to be extremely close-miked without any real amount of room reverb... which is unusual to listen to. But since it seems to be a live recording, optimal acoustics can't be expected.

I haven't watched that DVD in years, but as far as I recall, it's not an isolated score track, it's the film audio (dialogue and sfx) with the live performance of the score, just as the audience at that concert would have heard it. Plus occasional applause, especially during the end credits (don't remembers if also during the film).

Depends on your level of OCD and seat position I fell victim to this during Jurassic Park, was watching the streamers on the conductor's monitor a lot of the time, which he wasn't completely in sync with often... which mostly wasn't much of a deal music-wise, I just couldn't take my eyes off them... hypnotic things... Performance was great, though. I'd say it's really worth it going to these concerts, as long as they are in a decent hall with good acoustics.

I really have to say, I'd rather have had it a month ago without teeth.

Finally got it! LLL's replacement shipment got here in record time (6 days) Now on to sinking my teeth into this for days to come... speaking of which, the booklet came fully teethed. Also got Starship Troopers from Music Box last week, so for now I'm a happy camper again.

Mine's also vanished on the way, last update one month ago from Vienna (before customs)... postal service could not help either. Luckily LLL now sent a replacement, great service on their end! Fingers crossed that this one comes through without any shenanigans...

I got the impression he meant the EQ faders (that's where the keyboard sat on), not the mixing ones. Huge thanks for posting this, I watched several videos from this series and found it both enlightening and entertaining HGW has a nice sense of downplayed dry humor.

I'd say yes. It took me a good time to get into it, as I really don't listen to most of the popular styles used there (Hip-hop, but also RnB, pop ballads etc. - not that it doesn't contain a good dose of jazzy and broadway numbers) [frame of reference: My other favorite musicals are Sweeney Todd, WSS, On the Town, Evita, Les Mis, Wicked, Disney stuff]. But what won me over was the engaging narrative, great character performances (some cast members even in two major roles, which I didn't even notice for a time due to a totally different performance for each), and the exceptional wordcraft that Miranda put into the lyrics and rhymes. Almost every line has a deeper meaning or alludes to some historical fact, if you're willing to dig deeper (otherwise they just sound cool).

Mine's apparently stuck in customs in Vienna for 10 days now, the message of the most recent tracking update from the 13th is the last one before the "cleared by customs" on all my previous LLL orders. Don't expect it before January now, a bit inconvenient as I also ordered both HA sets for some quality holidays listening...

I've been listening to Hamilton a lot lately, and will definitely try to see it live when it comes to London next year.

That would be awesome. Have to check the site from time to time - or do they announce stuff like "back in stock" in newsletters?

Leave my illusions alone! At least I still have a footwarmer.

I ordered the set together with both HAs, and The Fury... my first pure-Williams multi-CD order at LLL, I guess. Expensive times, but incredibly looking forward to it! (makes up for missing Starship Troopers...)

I was especially astounded how little of the bow they were using... can't have been more than the upper half most of the time. Which added to the effect that they just had to barely whisper it out of their violins, but from the whole section combined, it was crystal clear. Never have seen that before in my life. I found the whole concert to be first-rate, at least regarding film music concerts it must have been the best performance I've ever seen. Such crisp, on-point tutti playing from an enormous brass section (5/5/4/1) in perfect sync... I was especially awed by the first half ("Theme from...") of the Jurassic Park medley, apart from the missing choir it must have been the best performance I've ever heard of it, live or on CD (including the film version from Journey to the Island). It had the quasi-religious awe of the original, supported by an impeccable legato arc over the whole piece that's mostly missing from re-recordings (usually due to too much emphasis on the rhythm underneath) with, as Marian mentioned, the addition of some perfectly placed rubati too milk some build-ups for maximum effect. A pity that the island fanfare afterwards was "just" very good - all versions of it that I know, apart from the statement in the original Journey to the Island, are missing something that's difficult to describe... perhaps in the performance of the lead trumpet.

anyway... -------------------------------- I know, it's Zimmer... but inside the minimalistic power anthem style this theme does indeed build up momentum and excitement, at least until the 4th phrase, where he already has landed on the tonic, and can't be arsed to come up with a better conclusion than landing on it a second time, via a tiny detour to the neighboring VII chord. Actually, there's another example directly after that - the more triumphant, expanded thematic statement at 2:55 - augmenting the motivic leap an extra 4th upwards... just to fall back to the original conclusion of the theme, as apparently the inspiration has run out halfway through... Compare this part from Batman Begins: A very minor difference, but now the theme actually seems to lead somewhere.

I like a lot of Giacchino's music, but it bothers me a bit that this description imho fits a lot of his themes. Great hook/motif, bland conclusion (often by too much rhythmic repetition). Sometimes it works great (when the theme itself is more minimalistic in style), oftentimes, less so. It's as if you can confidently predict the final phrase after listening to the initial ones - a feat that would be near impossible with many Williams themes.

Without really knowing any details, I'd have guessed it's a licensing/exclusivity thing, because some other label than his Sparks& Shadows is putting out song compilations and perhaps doesn't want any competition on the merchandise front?

From reading his blog posts about album releases, i get the impression that McCreary takes a middle ground on this issue and weighs the wish to release more music that he thinks is worthwhile against presenting a good album experience. Some of his releases are more on the expansive side (human target, da vinci - although n that case there are normal and collectors editions), some are more compact (agents of shield with 2 seasons on one disc). Many are roughly, but not slavishly, in sequence, others really jumbled up. Perhaps we could agree that in some cases his albums fall more on this, in others more on that side of the great divide?

...especially since the presentation of the two parts (France/Scotland) already partitions the cd nicely into two shorter "mini albums", which keeps the relations similar to the first season, which had one disc for each 8-episode half. Even within the two halves of the S2 disc I find the music quite varied from track to track, this is far from an hour of samey cues one ofter the other (imho the Da Vinci's Demons albums are harder to listen through in one sitting, much more subdued underscore on there).

Outlander S. 2 (McCreary) A very nice score that really offers a remarkable range of styles, from the early French baroque in the first half to the rousing Scottish/Jacobite music in the second, with a few tracks of the grandest orchestral splendour that Bear yet has written for this series thrown in. He continues the very successful integration of original music from the times and places depicted into his score, in a way that it's often not immediately apparent what is composed and what is adapted (had to read his blog to catch some of that), which serves to ground the music and lend it a lot of authenticity. Looking forward to what he has in store for S3 next year. Favorite tracks: Into Paris, Moch Sa Mhadainn (Jacobite battle song with gaelic vocals), and A Fraser Officer Survived (stirring finale).

I always found the Hunger Games scores to have a fair number of great to outstanding moments hidden in the middle of otherwise fairly nondescript (if competently written) tracks (be it action stuff or broody ambience), apart from a few tracks that are great on a whole. I don't know the Silva album, but can thus imagine that a more compact selection of the best stuff from all scores could make a fairly strong album. And of course they work well for me as background listening material that keeps a nice mood going while I'm working and occasionally grabs my attention at the better spots.

Awesome! Have been listening to that one repeatedly on bandcamp, but was holding my money for the physical release.

Finally finished BSG last week. As was prophecied (?) to me, it did really grab me at some point in the first season, and never let go after that. Very emotionally engaging throughout, lots of engaging plot threads about timeless questions about the nature of humanity and civilization. It does bring up a lot of relevant questions, even if it doesn't answer them all - the achievement being that it makes you think about them. I'm a bit ambivalent about the coherence of the ending and the later events leading up to it - plot threads from all seasons were tied up quite thoroughly, and on a emotional level it worked really well, but compared to earlier parts of the show it drifted a bit too much into the metaphysical for my taste. Didn't really harm my enjoyment much, though, and I liked the pervading theme in the 4th season that everybody should strive to learn to live together. Perhaps Helo and Athena grew to become my favorite characters because they were at the forefront of that story thread. Also Tigh, who exemplified that it matters less what your origins are than what you do with your life. I was astounded about the quality of the visuals, especially during space fights, given the budget they must have had to work with (crazy amount of stuff flying around during every major encounter). And of course, Bear's music really started to shine after a short while and provided excellent accompaniment throughout - awesome how they worked with him to integrate the music even more into the story during the latter two seasons. This week now I started watching Agents of SHIELD (see the connection there?...). Without having seen any of the MCU movies, I noticed there are a lot of references made that allude to this or that character or event from the movies, but so far it hasn't been detrimental to following the story. I'm generally not that attuned to the whole superhero-craze (although I did enjoy the Spider-Man and X-Men movies of the 00s), so I like that this show is more of a MIB/Fringe/Alias kind of thing, with lots of funny lines and character interactions so far.