Jediwashington

Humm, this is a tough question. Within the life of the composer, Williams win's hands down. His music gets recorded one day, and a few months later it has circled the globe in under a few days. It is a product of our technology, but very few other composers have been in that situation of having their music famous within only a few months multiple times. Especially composers of 1700 and 1800's where they did not live to see the worldwide spread and success of their music, only local and travels. As for being the most widely heard, I might. When people think of orchestral "classical" music, most would likely think of Mozart and Beethoven. The common joe on the street couldn't distinguish between the two if you let them take a listen to their respective works, but would know it was old music. John Williams on the other hand doesn't have the notoriety of being a classical composer, but has the advantage of being a pops composer, like Leroy Anderson and George Gershwin. He is the most well known film composer, and I believe most people could probably humm the Star Wars or Jaws tune to you. So I'll say Mozart and Beethoven and Bach has the reputation of name notoriety, but not necessarily music memorability. When Williams is an obscure composer name, but has some of the most heard music. Comparing the two is ridiculous though. Williams stands on the shoulders of giants, and the difference of eras and time frame to gain popularity are too great to make comparing worth the effort. They're just different situations. Williams is popular because he knows how to use the media and film to advocate orchestral music and has used recording all his life. Classical composers are not entertainment industry folks, but enlightened thinkers who spent time working on music to make it better. ~JW

You're welcome. I have nothing else to do, so might as well! I actually was curious about the brush stroke too. it seems from what I can find that it is a classical technique where you come up and off the string every bow stroke. Odd, as it sounds legato to me in context. Odd marking to put there, but listening more closely I can hear what is going on. As for the rest of the orchestra: The section at 62 is tutti (everyone is playing). There are only 2 things going on though: the counter melody you're curious about in the Celli, Violas, Violins, Glock, and Harp. Everyone else has one of the 3 or most likely 4 voices Williams has written, which are just chord voices. He has the Soprano line, Alto Line, tenor line, and bass line (parts, not the choir) split between their respective instruments. There is an incredible mount of doubling. Many instruments, like the flute section, are doubled at the same note. The oboes and clarinets tend to split between two octaves. Bassons appear to be split SAB. Horn 1&2 are unison, the other two horns have two combination lines down between C3 and C4. Trumpet I&II have a combination line, Trombones about the same, but an octave below the trumpets. Tuba is Bassline obviously. The Choir is in parts, SATB, Sopranos and tenors unison in octaves. ~JW

The section at 3:15 after the short trumpet quote with the choir has the Violin I and II, and Violas playing marked "Brush" the same line you hear later. That line is played only by those 3 sections, there are no other figures resembling it. The rest of the orchestra is part writing for the chord structure. The Two Bar crechendo you speak of (60-61) has the entire string section marked for the figure in 4 octaves (Bass/Celli- D3, Viola(brush)- D4, Violin II(brush)- D5, Violin I(brush)- D6). Also introduced is the Glockenspiel playing a reduced version acting as an accent for the counter line. At boxed measure 62 where the main theme begins again, the Basses are taken away from the counter line and are playing bassline. Celli remain playing the line an octave below Viola. All strings are now marked "on String." The Glockenspiel part is now doubled by Harp separated in two octaves (start D4 & D6) accenting certain notes and generally playing a reduced rhythmic version of the line. So for the most part, is IS just strings. ~JW

Well, you're not going to find an all in one package for what you're talking about. If you want a professional demo, you're going to need to invest the time to put your music into a sequencer or digital performer and tweak it until it suits. It's a pain, but a lot of newer composers spend a lot of time tweaking rather than composing because of that. To be honest, all of your gripes about Finale have by and large been fixed in the last couple versions. It's still an obnoxious copyist program, but Coda has really tried to move forward with it with regards to sequencing and realistic playback. Human playback, which was mentioned, is a fabulous part of Finale now, which makes it much easier to write jazz music, for instance. Finale now allows VST plug-ins that will accept East West/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra, Garritan, and VSL. The results are far from outstanding, but given what else is out there, I'd highly suggest Finale 2008. Nothing else out there that is MADE for composing is capable of outputting as many options as Finale does. ~Drew

That is certainly beautiful writing. one of the best parts about this piece from an orchestration standpoint is the doubling of nearly all Trumpet parts with low register flute. It just makes the trumpet sound much more rounded and adds a little ambiguity to the instrument. While I like the brass section around 2:40, I'm yet to hear a great performance of it, even on the recording. Good ideas, not the best writing Williams has done for brass though. The writing for the winds in general in this piece is beautiful, especially his use of the Clarinets + Bassoons (Another one of his favorite combinations). The vocal parts are boring to sing, but because they are being used as an instrument, they really thicken the texture and set the mood wonderfully. Great counterpoint writing and chorale overall. ~JW

It sounds like it. These recordings sound different from any other I've heard, but I've probably not heard them all. They usually record and air concerts a few weeks later for most orchestras around Ohio. Not sure If they'll do that for this one though. ~JW

They're not really in any order, but these are some works I consider beautiful, from deep rich beauty Williams is famous for, so simple contemplative beauty such as that from the impression era, to minor almost sad beauty. Most of these win because of their part writing or beautiful chord progressions. Nessun Dorma from Turandot - Puccini Cadillac of the Sky - Williams Flying from E.T./ Last 30 seconds of End Titles - Williams Jazz Autographs from The Terminal - Williams Nimrod from "Enigma" variations - Elgar Most of the Forest Gump score - Alan Silvestri Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune - Debussy Arabesque No. 1 - Debussy Images: I. Reflets dans l'eau - Debussy One for my Baby (and one more for the road) - Sinatra (Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer) Neptune, the Mystic from The Planets - Holst Elegy for Cello and Orchestra - Williams (with Yo-Yo Ma) Immolation Scene from ROTS (dark beauty) - Williams Theme from Schindlers List - Williams Most of Saving Private Ryan score - Williams Some parts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Williams Flight and Technology from American Journey - Williams Somewhere - L. Bernstein The Chairmans Waltz - Williams Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission - Ennio Morricone Aeris Theme - Uematsu Final Fantasy Main Theme - Uematsu New World Symphony - Dvorac The Firebird Suite M. III - Stravinsky Romeo and Juliet Overture - Tchaikovsky Prelude II for piano - Gershwin Ballade II in F Maj. - Chopin A Dream Discarded from Memoirs of a Geisha - Williams w/ Yo-Yo Ma just a few... ~JW

According to my Biology class I took several years ago, Mendelian genetics dictates that a trait like that is related to your mothers father. You'll most likely be bald if your mothers father was bald. I'm kinda glad about that one too, since my father has less hair than williams even. ~Drew

Yes, I'm very interested in seeing this concert. It's not a stones throw away, but it's closer than he's been in years, so I'd love to come to this concert. Not sure what I'd need to do to get tickets though. I'm also worried about them selling out... ~JW

Booo. If you're going to make a CGI film, at least render it like your life depends on it. ~JW

You know, I really want Williams to come back not because I liked his themes or want to hear his mutations for the first scores, but I want to hear how he would treat was is going to be a very emotional story. The book is not out yet, but judging from Rowlings muses about many people dieing and the difficulty of the storyline, I'm just not sure there are any composers out there who would handle it nearly as well. He's always done a fantastic job with death of loved ones. He's had personal experience with it when his wife died, so he knows how to treat a tough situation.. Will he write it though? Up in the air. He's not known for coming back into series after someone else has composed. A pride issue, or just a respect for them, I don't know, but I'm not going to get my hopes for him to score another Harry Potter. ~JW

Definitely changed my life. I'd probably not be pursuing Music composition and education without his works. ~JW

The opening of the last two just stink. I don't understand why after 3 prime examples of how to open a magic film effectively, Doyle would open with some drum junk. And the opening for this film...meh. it's better, but not great. While I respect composers and appreciate individuality, if you come into a well established series, you've gotta take a few hints at least. There are ways to represent a directors vision while staying within the realm of what has come before you. ~JW

Well, I'm pleasantly surprised by this! Definitely a product of Zimmer imitating a style, but still a very nice job. Not the most exciting score ever, but Zimmer doesn't sound so bad when it's just pure orchestra. I'm glad the series has developed a reputation of pure orchestral scoring. Some in the industry might find that limiting, but what a breath of fresh air from Zimmer! I think I'm going to buy this one. Sure, it probably would have been even better with Elfman, but I'll take this. ~JW

Well, it sounds ok. I won't totally disregard it, because there is some nice composition in there, and some decent orchestration too. He has a lot of potential. The standards have been lowered, that's for sure. I have no doubt that if half the film scores being made now had been brought into an orchestra in the golden era, there would have been some raised eyebrows in the orchestra. Still, the fact that Zimmer and many other composers are starting to record again shows a trend in the right direction, and the musicianship of this group is not bad, and the sound is not bad considering it's a modified chamber orchestra. Good work by Hooper, but it does sound a bit young. ~JW

There are no barlines . You have to do everything by hand. it's just 26 blank staffs with no barlines, clefs or anything. The only additive is a transposition and range chart of most orchestral instruments on the back of the front cover. The company is "CARTA" distributed by Hal Leonard, No. 23 manuscript paper. You'd have to make your own hand written templates as I do, but it's large and very easy to work with if you have the room. ~JW

It's called manuscript paper. I have a 12"x18" 26 staff notebook distributed by Hal Leonard under "Carla." You can find it online though. Lots of places have printable manuscript paper. Just go look around for it. I had a hard time finding it too until I found out the proper name. ~JW

I'm sorry, what? Either loose the dialogue entirely, or make it clear to understand. You can't half-drown it under the score. It'll distract the audience. Well, that's true. Typical for me to say something like that without elaborating. Dialog shouldn't be overshadowed, but like in Buckbeaks flight. It sounds like they're more focused on Harry's screaming for joy than they are the music in a sound aspect. While that's not dialog by any means, it's ok to not drown it out completely, but let it just sit on top of the music, not drown it out. This is a problem encountered in documentaries all the time where the audio mixer will constantly distractingly adjust the volume of the music to let the narrator be heard. While it is important to hear what the narrator says, let the vocal mix just sit on top of the music, keeping the music relatively consistent volume wise. This is what destroys Williams music at the mixing stage. Williams writes music with much more aural understanding than the audio mixers have. As such, it constantly gets mixed too low among sound effects and dialog. Buckbeaks flight is one situation where mixers totally hit the ball to the first baseman. Harry's short dialog there should have been cut or left to just the screams. I don't care that the wind is going by, or the water is splashing. The music reflects these things effectively enough. So I agree with you. Sorry for being unclear! ~JW

Definitely. That's my largest gripe about film now. Directors/sound editors don't realize that it's ok to not be able to hear what people are saying in a scene like that, where it's more visual than story telling. Music gets so drowned out, but if it's pop music, it's ok for it to define an entire scene almost. Sad orchestral music isn't given as much focus. ~JW

It's doubled bassoon/bass clarinet. The Bassoon is on the right, cutting over the bass clarinet on the left. I can hear the bass clarinet pop out at 14 seconds if you listen closely. This piece is fabulous in it's timing to film and reflecting what is going on screen. While it's not the best piece ever written by Williams, it was recognized as being one of the most effective uses of Williams taking over the screen. I don't think it's his single best moment, but one of many great moments where he has a whole scene to himself. ~JW

While I'm not a musicologist by any sense, I can give you the names of a few schools. University of Southern California (USC) has a wonderful film scoring program run by the Thorton School of Music. http://www.usc.edu/schools/music/programs/smptv/ the aforementioned Berklee school of music in Boston has a well known film scoring program. http://www.berklee.edu/ Those two are the best ones out there in America, though other departments exist. These two are highly regarded as preparing people effectively to score films. My personal recommendation would be for USC. USC is right near Hollywood and sees a lot of guest speakers who are actual film composers. Berklee is a wonderful program, but it has the disadvantage of being so far away from the industry in Boston. Best of luck with your endeavors! ~JW

He does use synth more often than we think, but not in an overt way. it's usually to replace a certain instrument, such as the celeste parts in "Harry Potter" are always synth, but he has them play live with the orchestra. This I think is the true Williams way. He always talks about the organic sound of and orchestra as being gold. I think he's still fascinated with how an orchestra can make itself sound incredibly different by itself and is still experimenting there. Once in a while I think he'll rely off of a synth part for symbolism purposes, but I think he enjoys orchestrating for live players enough that he doesn't feel the need to use a keyboard that often. ~JW

I was following you until the last quoted proper nouns, and the adjective tied to them. Well, he's not the classic Williams engineer Eric Tomlinson, but he's better than anyone else recording out there right now. I've been depressed by the amount of bad mixing in most scores, and he seems to be the least offensive of them all. 9 bets out of 10 the bad mixes are not from him recording improperly, but a sound effects editor getting to them before the finalization. Next to him is Dan Wallin, who I feel isolates too much and makes the performance less blended. Murphy uses a simple decca tree and 3 Neumann M50's with schoeps wings and that's about it besides some section and solo mics. Any mix he's had complete control of I don't find offensive at all. The fact that he usually doesn't use Pro tools or other digital formats on most of his scores certainly makes me smile. I understand he's not perfect, but certainly he could mix a Zimmer score a little better than Alan Meyerson does. ~JW

If that oboe isn't sampled, what junk wind musician did they get to play it? I hear phasing issues with delayed doubling or microphone problems, tuning issues, and bad attacks. I'm glad to see he's recording live orchestras now, but he's got so many synths going on top of it, it doesn't sound good at all. He needs some good engineer like Shawn Murphy to come in and clean up his recordings, because they sound like they recorded a high school orchestra instead of a group of professional musicians. I seriously don't think Hans Zimmer's music would be that terrible if he would just take on a professional conductor and orchestrator and record everything live to analog without all the obnoxious percussion and over blowing brass. ~JW

Yay! I don't care how long it takes, I'm just glad the man is in good enough health to be writing still. All this silence from his score side has been worrying me. Though I guess if he's agreed to conduct a lot this year, that would douse most of my fear. Anyway, wonderful news, and I hope the projects are to his liking! ~JW