Sharkissimo

You're right, in some cases it does. Usually these people teach themselves (autodidactism), which can can work very well. I'm just saying that a lot of talented people don't often have the privilege of a musical education. It would be nice if correspondence courses were available to the ghetto, but that's not how the system works. Another final loose thought to his paragraph, would be that one shouldn't necessarily equate talent with motivation or drive. A lot of gifted people don't even recognise the potential of the talent, or make the choice to capitalise on it. It's not as simple as, I dunno musical talent = instant ticket to world renowned success as film and television composer, with work spanning 5 decades. There are a lot more variables to the matter. I hope you get the drift. You could. But (implicitly) making suppositions about not only my character but my compositions from one or two posts, is not only of bad taste, but quite frankly ridiculous. In my short time I haven't gone after anyone here or their posts, I've just criticised a system of composition for screen (and slammed two hack composers), but that's all. Also, verbal and non verbal intelligence and imagination are fairly separate mental faculties. Which is perhaps why a lot of composers (Williams including, along with Benny Herrmann) aren't the most imaginative or interesting in conversation, but their non-verbal communication through music makes up for that. I'm not saying I'm Williams I'm Herrmann, only that I hope my music does most of the talking. And once I get round to recording, hopefully you and the rest of the jwfan community can have the opportunity to hear it. For the record, I haven't had a good night's sleep in the last couple days. I'd say that wariness, rambling on and lack of enthusiasm doesn't help (neither does the Walter avatar, TBH). I'm usually a nice guy, alert and all. Imaginative too. Finished belabouring my point.

If you're looking to the realm of video game scorse, you probably are. That's not to say they're unsuccessful, though. I mean they've got huge fanbases. But the sad truth of the matter, is that the vast majority of these 'composers' no longer write their scores, they play and record through a MIDI keyboard, sequencer and sample library - getting orchestrators and conductors to perform via proxy. Which further dilutes the composer's own creative voice, especially if his mock-ups and Finale/Sibelius sheets are undeveloped, resulting in the dozen or so orchestrators making their mark. To make matters worse, most of these aren't trained in composition, harmony, orchestration and counterpoint, meaning they've got about as much musical expertise as your average 10 year piano student. So that's an entirely different approach and experience from the traditional one that bred us the likes of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Without ever fostering the skill of hearing an entire orchestra and various tone colours in one's head, because they've got the instant reward of the sampled orchestra in front of them. From what I've found, handwritten scores tend to have a unity and meta-structure to them that I've never heard on a track cooked up on Pro Tools + VSL/ES. One tends to self-critique (which can be harmful in excess, take Paul Dukas) and self-analysis more, when one has a piano and that daunting blank manuscript paper in front of you. Whereas a MIDI set-up is an entirely different mentality. Personally, I don't know about you, but I find writing out say a septuplet run on a written score, a hell of a lot less time consuming than any of the possible keyboard short cuts or mouse manoeuvring on Finale. That's one of the reasons why I gave up on notational software, the clumsiness of it all, but also the expensiveness of it. Whereas I can I buy a book of manuscript paper for £7.99. So for now, unless video game and film composers start realise the cost to creativity their digital approach and lack of training ensues, nothing's going to change. And as for most film makers needing mockups for every cue, I say screw em. Setup a contract that includes a clause that states 'You shall not require that this composer should produce any mockup.' I honestly miss the age when film makers trusted composers enough to not demand an ad verbatim digital reconstruction of the entire score, for them to preview. Sure, a lot of hearts get broken, but that's part of the business. Though if you do want to play along, team up with a Sample Library guro to mockup cues from your score. Sigh, for the sake of conversation I share a rhetorical musing at the beginning of the thread and you respond with a frankly pointless diatribe in which you lecture me on the pros of traditional compositional technique vs modern digital practices? With all due respect, did you not at any point stop to think that I may have simply been referring to RAW talent? You know, that God given stuff... No need to be so dismissive. It's not pointless, it relates to your musing as to whether or not the next Goldsmtih will come from the world of video game scores. Fair do, so I made a considered argument on why we might not see another Goldsmith or Williams for quite some time. As for God given talent. Even though Jerry Goldsmith did have that innate predisposition to being a composer, it would have amounted to very little without the musical education he received. And hypothetically, if the instant reward MIDI technology was available in the 50s and early 60s, Jerry Goldsmith had the innate talent for composition (which he clearly did), but no musical knowledge - I think that situation would be comparable with what he have with quite a few film and video game composers today. What I'm saying is that for greatness, you need both. Likewise, someone with musical imposed in him from a young age, with no natural talent for it, and he feels smothered by it. Knowledge is no substitute for talent, and vice versa. It's careful balancing act, but we should be doing a better job providing at providing the access to that crucial education. And that post wasn't aimed at you in specific, by any means. It was much more general than that. Sorry if I've ruined your thread. Next time I'll remember to just post Youtube links to good video game scores and be done with it.

If you're looking to the realm of video game scorse, you probably are. That's not to say they're unsuccessful, though. I mean they've got huge fanbases. But the sad truth of the matter, is that the vast majority of these 'composers' no longer write their scores, they play and record through a MIDI keyboard, sequencer and sample library - getting orchestrators and conductors to perform via proxy. Which further dilutes the composer's own creative voice, especially if his mock-ups and Finale/Sibelius sheets are undeveloped, resulting in the dozen or so orchestrators making their mark. To make matters worse, most of these aren't trained in composition, harmony, orchestration and counterpoint, meaning they've got about as much musical expertise as your average 10 year piano student. So that's an entirely different approach and experience from the traditional one that bred us the likes of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Without ever fostering the skill of hearing an entire orchestra and various tone colours in one's head, because they've got the instant reward of the sampled orchestra in front of them. From what I've found, handwritten scores tend to have a unity and meta-structure to them that I've never heard on a track cooked up on Pro Tools + VSL/ES. One tends to self-critique (which can be harmful in excess, take Paul Dukas) and self-analysis more, when one has a piano and that daunting blank manuscript paper in front of you. Whereas a MIDI set-up is an entirely different mentality. Personally, I don't know about you, but I find writing out say a septuplet run on a written score, a hell of a lot less time consuming than any of the possible keyboard short cuts or mouse manoeuvring on Finale. That's one of the reasons why I gave up on notational software, the clumsiness of it all, but also the expensiveness of it. Whereas I can I buy a book of manuscript paper for £7.99. So for now, unless video game and film composers start realise the cost to creativity their digital approach and lack of training ensues, nothing's going to change. And as for most film makers needing mockups for every cue, I say screw em. Setup a contract that includes a clause that states 'You shall not require that this composer should produce any mockup.' I honestly miss the age when film makers trusted composers enough to not demand an ad verbatim digital reconstruction of the entire score, for them to preview. Sure, a lot of hearts get broken, but that's part of the business. Though if you do want to play along, team up with a Sample Library guro to mockup cues from your score.

Which bar does that mockup start from?

Yep. Also the tam-tam cresc. at 0:53 seconds before the horn rip, isn't there either.

Sorry if this has already been dealt with, but in the cue 'Raptors Appear' there's no Shakuhachi (which is present in the film and CD release of the film) notated in the score for the menacing intro - just the Synth Pad, Synth 'animal voice', Log Drums, Tablas and Celli. Do you think Masakazu Yoshizawa ad libbed this part at the last minute?

My immediate answer is: because they're lazy, overpaid, arrogant hacks. A more considered one, would be that they prefer the booth, so they can play around with the switches.