jgraves

Agreed!

BTW, here's a (previously) composed edited version of a demo I did for the King Kong game (just ignore the title): http://www.rednoteaudio.com/Conan/Battleof...oth_Rednote.mp3 Jason

Funny, the clip towards the end of Shore's weblog sounds a LOT like the lighting of the beacons from Return of the King.... Sorry to say I'd have to go woth JNH on this one. Dinosaur and Atlantis are two of my favorite scores of his, action-wise. Safe to day we'll be gearing a lot of that style in KK. Jason

There we other people in the room with Zimmer, but I was sitting right in front of him and asked the most questions. Very interesting stuff. I'll type it all out when I get a sec... Jason

Ummmm, just Jason here.... I know none of this is Wililams related, but we're all film music fans, right? ALSO had a 30 minute talk with Zimmer, sitting in his studio, about King Arthur (I did the music for the game) him always copying himself, and other interesting topics. Plenty of pics as well, will upload all ASAP. Like I said, I'll post more later when I get time! Jason

Hey all - just got back from LA and had a blast going to the scoring sessions with John Debney and Zathura. An interesting event since I'm just now finishing the music for the video game score. I'll post more soon - I literally just got back into town! Jason

I got BotFoJ complete off E-bay about a yeat ago for $30. Jason

Here, here! I'm in audio professionally and have spent that last ten years and about $18,000 dollars on my dream home theater (so far). I have yet to find a theater with better sound in town. But the screen size is different. I still like big theaters for new, big, spectacles (WotW, for example, I have seen 3 times so far). Not to mention, the popcorn and candy is a little cheaper at home. Jason

I don't think it's the kind of thing that would work as well in the concert hall. Just some "icing" he puts in the studio because he's a perfectionist! Just repeating what I see in the score. Thought it was interesting: For example, synth "organ" doubling the bass trombone pedals and harp gliss. on "In the Jungle." ARP synth doubling string harmonics, "quasi oude with deep echo" under violins gliss, another synth "organ" under low strings on "The Cave." ARP synth again doubling the low strings/brass an octave LOWER throughout “Map Room.” …and the list goes on… Again, not stuff that you would hear as much as feel if it were missing. Jason

Exactly! I guess you really need the score to get the complete idea. Good example! And can I say one of about a MILLION examples in the JP score... Jason

Let me repeat what I said first thing. Even in Raiders, Williams has got synths going on in the background. You wouldn't hear anything at all, unless they were taken out and then the mix would probably be less beefy. I'm sure some mainly string-based scores are non-synth (Angela's Ashes, Always, Born on the 4th, Stanley and Iris) but all the big, blockbuster scores have got 'em just for the beef if not anything else. Jason

The Answer is YES, almost all the time. Examples? ET, Raiders, Jurrasic Park, Hook...I could go on. BUT, he doesn't use them in a "look at the cool synth line!" kind of way. I know he'll use a texture here and there, but what I'm talking about is the underlying synths he has doubling the orchestra almost all the time. Now before you chasten me and tie me to the Tree of Woe, keep in mind I've got the written scores to a lot of his films, and he almost always has at least one, more often than not two, synths double the strings, harp, voices, or woodwinds. Even back in the 80's he was using ARPs and Moogs (for you non-gear folks they were the original, first synths) in scores like Raiders, not to stand on their own, but to THICKEN the texture. My Friend the Brach - One synth doubles the low strings (that gorgeous pedal tone), another some ww stuff Welcome to JP - One doubles the strings, another the voices Actually, every time he has voices a synth is doubling them (with a voice patch). I'm sure he's still doing it - it makes total sense. Most inst. that get doubled are harp, glock, voices, or strings. Sounds that are easily mocked up on synths so they blend well and just beef it all up! Just thought I'd share this fascinating tidbit...now discuss amongst yourselves.... Jason

Well, thanks! I can only take credit on the orchestration for that title, but it was a lot of fun working on, especially with a live orchestra. The celtic aspect of it totally makes the soundtrack, IMHO. Jason

Ha! Had to do it in a day, so the first one was about 6 hours and the second less than an hour. Jason

Here, here, Jesse! Same thing for me, almost all the time. As I learned from my years of bad reality TV scoring, if it's good enough to get some attention from the viewer, it's a DISTRACTION! And it must be changed or God help us, people might start paying more attention to the music than the actual game/program/film that they are suppose to be playing/watching. I learned quite quickly to tuer down all my music mixes to practically nothing in the pre-mix for music approval and then let the final engineer mix proper levels once everything's been approved and they can't make any more changes. Jason

Funny you should say that, Richard. Since it was my first attempt I obviously thought it was more appropriate. But like I said at the beginning, there's nothing subtle about video games! A lot of times I end up having to re-write a lot of stuff just becuase it's "too melodic" or not "in-your-face" enough. I imagine that's why Zimmer keeps using the same action style over and over. It cuts and (I guess) gets the typical neanderthal male moviegoer's pulse racing. Blah! Jason

Seeds of Darkness? Good lord - that was a while ago! But of the whole soundtrack I think I had the most fun with "Outmaneuver Them." I was conviced the producers would pull it because it was so much fun and maybe not serious enough, but figured I give it a shot. The guy doing the flying was having wayyyy too much fun, so I hoped I could squeak by and sneak it in. Guess it worked!! Jason

Here's the link to the original, unused file: http://www.rednoteaudio.com/Jaws/Unused.mp3 Jason

Another funny aside - the original piece (which I will post in a little) was much more subtle, as I said before, but also used the INGENIOUS if not truly original "ocean" motif. You know, the two major triads played in triplets a tritone apart. Love it! (thank you, mr herrmann) So I used that a lot becuase to me that said "underwater mystery," but the game developer thought it "took him out of the world of Jaws," which is funny since it was another major theme straight off the soundtrack they paid fees to be able to use. Oh, well... Jason

Yeah, man. I know some others are making light of it all, but I also try to take a half day every month or so and just LISTEN. Not in the car, not in the theater, not while I'm walking around the studio cleaning up (I am always doing those anyway ), but just sitting in front of the speakers and listening. A concept, I know! I totally dig your enthusiasm and can relate! And I don't think it matters how many CD's you have or how much you THINK you can just sit and do nothing but listen to music. What a treat! It's really beneficial (especially if you have the written score to read as well) for me and I always come out of it feeling very affected. The power of music!! Jason

Hey Jesse. Wow - that was a lot of questions. Most of which the answers are on my (VERY outdated by say, oh, five years) web site: www.jasongraves.com Beware!! Nothing equipment related or job related is up to date. However, my new company's site is only about 6 months behind: www.rednoteaudio.com Hope this helps! Jason

Hey, thanks, Richard. Long time no speak! Hope things are going well. We can talk scores a little more in a few days. Thanks for being patient with me, my excellent trading friend! Jason

What's really interesting is the first one I did was way too subtle, though I really like it better. It souded more like the suspense stuff Williams did in the film. But game folks want big, hit-you-over-the-head-at-all-times music. I had to more or less chuck it and do a new one. I'm sure the old will will find a home in one of the other games I'm working on. It's like the native americans with buffolo - I use ALL parts of the music. Nothing goes to waste!! Jason

Sure. Me and about 7 other guys. I guess video games got a jump on the movies for a change (like the Zimmer/Howard collaboration for Batman Begins). Game companies have been making us split up scores for the last five years. Currently I'm working on 5 different games and three of them are collaborations with other composers. I guess it's a little easier for games - you just split up different level to different folks... Jason