Desplat13

What is your favorite finale/culmination of themes? I mean the big last hurrah of a piece, the finalizing resolution, where the composer uses all the means at his disposal to move you after having prepared you through the rest of work. Film or classical music (or anything else). My favorite: Last three and a half minutes of the third movement of Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto. In my opinion, probably the best three and a half minutes of music ever written. Colin Thomson

After importing to itunes, I keep all my cds in a large portable cd holder (so larger that it is not really portable) and then shelve the cases, only pulling them out when I want to look at the cover artwork, or anything that might be included in that. But then, I only have 2517 tracks in itunes, which I expect is considerably less than many here. Colin Thomson

Thanks, whoever changed the spelling of 'Ultimate'. That was really starting to annoy me. Colin Thomson

You keep your cds in the case

Here is something I wrote a while back, called "Pastorale Prelude". http://www.badongo.com/file/7989258 Colin Thomson

I know it would be the ultimate nightmare for most of you, and I myself am opposed to the idea, but do you think Fox would just close the doors on one of the biggest money making machines they have? This poll is not about whether you want them or not, but whether or not you think they will be made. Colin Thomson

Does Williams decide what goes into his OSTs? If so, where did you learn that? Colin Thomson

Didn't the Harry Potter makers want James Horner originally, but he rejected them? Kind of amazing JW was a second choice... Colin Thomson

Actually, his themes are often quite compositionally complex. Something simple sounding like Across The Stars has, apart from its very tonal and hummable main melody, a very chromatic, yet sweeping, beautifull, tragic melody. Of course, the classic example is The Imperial March, which begins by using the tonic minor arpeggiation for its melody. But then it also moves to a very chromatic section, yet everyone can hum it, so it seems like it must be simple, when really it isn't. This is part John Williams genious: his ability to create complex, semi-atonal sections that do not sound strange and foreign, but relatable, while avoiding the cliched sound that results from overly tonal pieces. John Williams 'overscoring' is because of his background. He comes from the operatic school of scoring (which I sonsider to be the better one) where music is an integral part of the story, just as visuals are. Though you might get a bit of blank screen here and there on different movies, the majority should have something happening visually. The same is true for music, because why should the eye get more attention than the ear? I think that the ear starts developing seven and a half months before the eye. It is just sadly neglected in today's culture. Why should visuals tell the story any more than audio? Next time you think there should be less music, ask yourself if adding blank screen sections would enhance the movie. Probably not for most people, but that is because most people rely so heavly on their eye for any and all information about what is happening. Just some thoughts for ya'll to think about. Colin Thomson

True, maybe I should change that to soundtrack analyst. In that case I would certainly have to include Doug Adams. Colin Thomson

This is the way that they sum it up: "Introduction on what happened The International Music Score Library Project was a repository of more than 15,000 musical scores that are in the public domain here in Canada. I was forced to close the site due to circumstance after receiving lawsuit threats from music publishers that do not want the public domain to exist. The immediate threat was from Universal Edition, a publisher in Austria. Whereas copyright in Canada lasts until 50 years after the author's death, copyright in Austria lasts 20 years longer. Universal Edition threatened to sue me, perhaps in Canada or perhaps in Austria, for violating Austrian law. There is no reason why Austrian law should apply to this site in Canada, but as a student I did not have the resources to resist even an absurd threat from a company with money to pay lawyers to attack music. " It really is a shame. Colin Thomson

Probably this has been discussed, but I did a search and didn't find it. Who do you most enjoy reading when it comes to soundtrack analyst? Probably my two favorites (as of right now) are Christian Clemmenson of Filmtrack.com and Christopher Coleman of Tracksounds.com. Who do you enjoy? Colin Thomson

Yeah, I have been missing that site a lot, too. It was incredibly helpful. Colin Thomson

I'd be thrilled about more JW Star Wars. But then, I would be thrilled about anything JW, so it doesn't really matter to me. Colin Thomson

Indiana Jones is fine, I suppose. But John Williams is simply the best. No debate here. Gotta have the music. Then I'll read reviews and see if watching the movie will add or detract from the score. Colin Thomson

Journey to The Island - Jurassic Park Confrontion With Count Dooku And Finale - Star Wars: The Attack Of The Clones Battle Of Hoth - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Balin's Tomb - Lord Of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (Complete) Your Hands Are Cold - Pride And Prejudice Something like that. Colin Thomson

Smee's Plan Colin Thomson

I am sure this has been discussed, but are they planning more than one Indy film, or is this supposed to be the end the those movies? Colin Thomson

I can understand putting on Zimmer when you don't want to think about the music. I even enjoy a little Trevor Rabin in the right moods (I guess I better hide now). But to say that Zimmer's music stands on its own away from the film better because it requires less of the listener makes no sense to me. I would say John Williams' music stands alone as well as any other film composer. Colin Thomson (who has never watched E.T., but loves the music)

Yeah, I began one using NOTION for their composer contest but then ended up doing a Bartok-inspired piece instead. Corigliano is one of the judges this year so perhaps I'll just re-work that one. I've always got a few pieces I'm simultaneously working on. I guess I have creative ADD. what contest? Not that I need competition with you guys (you fellows have some solid chops on this forum) but NOTION is a software product that has integrated London Symphony samples built into the notation program. You simply plot the notes on the screen with the articulations and dynamics you want, even phrasing, and it selects the correct sample automatically. No need for searching through ones sample libraries and and assigning MIDI channels. Just compose! That's amazing, I knwe that the LSO had samples, but this sounds exactly like what I need. I know how to put notes on staves in MIDI programs but I have never mastered how to use samples. Therefore I always have a very unreliable and unrealistic sound from which I have to get my audio 'feedback' of what I write. Can you link to a site for technical and pricing details? I don't use NOTION, so I cannot say how good it is. But, if you are willing to sink some money into your work, than I would HIGHLY recommend the Vienna Symphonic Library. And now, if you are not willing to go through the work of the sequencer, I believe Sibelious can host it, and possibly Finale (not sure about that). Even if they couldn't, it really is worth the work to use the sequencer. I think you can even just import the midi info from a notation software into your sequencer (Logic Pro 7, in my case), and then tweak performances all you want. Anyway, VSL offers there Special Edition, which starts at around $445, and is what I have. Really, the sound is incredibly realistic. Check out there page and demos http://vsl.co.at/en/67/394/253.vsl and right here http://vsl.co.at/en/67/4587/5001.vsl# click on 'Catch Me If You Can'. It really is amazing, and while I cannot get quite the sound out of them that these demo makers can, it still is just great, and I am sure that with enough practice I could. Colin Thomson

Ok, thanks, Demodex. Colin Thomson

I have the AOTC movie, but none of the others. So I only got that score. That sounds pretty close to the same as having someone else make a back-up for me, right? And I never claimed to be smart Colin Thomson

Sorry if this has been asked before, but where exactly is the Geonosis music tracked from? Colin Thomson

Right now, I don't really want to see either the Water Horse movie, or Spiderwick. I like both soundtracks a great deal, and I am afraid of ruining them. Great music often can't be explained. Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto means more to me than pretty much any piece i can think of off the top of my head, yet I can't explain what exactly it means to me. It is not like, for instance, we all know that The Imperial March is great bad-guy march music, Star Wars main theme is great swashbuckling adventure theme, and Across the Stars is a great love theme (I just had to throw that one in for controversy). We all know that, and perhaps it means different things to each of us, but it is always bridled to Star Wars (for those who have seen the movie, which I assume is pretty much everyone). Many times I am listening to a soundtrack, and someone asks me "what part of the movie is that from?" Usually I don't know and I don't care. Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto is free to soar. I can tell you it is unashamedly romantic. I can tell you it has some of the best melodies ever written in it. But I can't hold it down to any representation. Of course, I am not saying that stand-alone music is better. I am just pointing out that strengths apposed to film music. But then, I am not really a movie fan, and don't watch very much. Mostly, I am a music fan, and music can be plenty meaningful to me without any help from its representing easily explainable characters and story plots. Colin Thomson P.S. This may seem hypocritical when compared with my thread started to explain the different theme representations in Star Wars, but the difference is that I like Star Wars, and also would like to be able to communicate better about those themes with others.

No, no, I have a high respect for those who can work under the constraints of the film music industry and still produce works of art. Of course opera and ballet are closer to film than a symphony. But the fact is, they both focus on music MUCH more than most films today. And besides that, Beethoven could never have survived in this click-track music industry, because I don't think he even fit into his own music industry. He got some credit, but it was Liszt who really started bring attention to him, some time after Beethoven's death. Do you think film director's would have liked working with a mostly deaf, cranky genius? Probably not, because he would not fit the music to their interpretation of the story. I would also suggest that stand-alone music requires more artistic skill than film music, because the composer must tell his complete story without the help of visuals, dialogue and such, which tell the audience exactly what the music is portraying. Ok, I don't believe it takes 'more artistic skill', but I want you to see my point. If all you get out of Beethoven's symphony is 'fate', than you are missing out on a great deal. Film can take away the imagination side of music, because all the imagery is done, and nothing is left to the listener (of course, I don't even watch many of the movies that I buy the soundtrack to, so I can create my own ideas without any preconceived imagery). But with a stand-alone piece, it always means different things to each person. Let me quote myself from another forum, http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php : "I have been learning Prelude in C# Minor by Rachmaninoff (overplayed, yes. Still great). I have gotten past the initial learning of all the notes and such, and I have been trying to put some sort of interpretation to it (so that it is just a tiny bit original). As it gets to the end when there is a three octave A, and then three chords up high, and then a three octave G#, a chord up high, etc., I have been thinking about it as a story. Nothing very defined, but it has helped me. There are two, um, things. I am not sure what. Could be nations, could be individuals. But anyway, the low notes are so much the same over and over again, and the high notes keep trying different things to appease the low ones. But nothing is working. Occasionally the low notes will change slightly, but they continually go downward and are octaves, as the high notes can never find a common ground. I try to show this idea with my playing. The low notes are harsh, unforgiving, and consistently repetitious, while the higher ones get more and more desperate to find some sort of resolution, while probably not helping anything because they are becoming so flustered. In the end, there seems to be resolution, but I have not very well developed how and what. But that is the idea." Cheesy? Yes. But I love to put my own imagery with music. Sometimes it is not very defined at all, and most of the time I would have a hard time putting it into words. But it has meaning to me. This is called 'active listening' (well, active playing in this case, but you can do the same thing with listening). One can create a great piece of art in either film or stand-alone music, and every great piece of art takes huge talent. Colin Thomson