You can always tell a great film composer...

[BLUMENKOHL 1,070]

Or is it just me?

Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, James Horner (in his peak days), James Newton Howard, and nowdays Michael Giacchino.

Conversely, most of todays composers are putting the brass behind everything else. Opting instead to use chopping strings and at best, French Horngalore! It's as if they don't know how those golden shiny things fit in with the music. And it is difficult, because poor parts/uses for/of the brass stick out like a sore thumb...

[Trent B 337]

I agree. I generally can tell if it's a Goldsmith score with the way how it's done. Goldsmith for some reason just has this distinct sound I can pick up on. Probably because of his use for the synth that he always mixed in the orchestra.

[Henry B 50]

Yeah. Modern orchestration seems to consist exclusively of strings, French horns and synth percussion.

[ChuckM 1]

Don't forget Michael Kamen in that list.

[Neimoidian 14]

... and David Arnold.

[Quintus 5,399]

Howard Shore and John Barry aren't the best when it comes to brass, but they're hardly bad composers.

[Richard Penna 3,749]

There's some amazing brass work in LotR - it's just used in some unusual ways.

But I agree with the overall point. I just listened to Rabin's score to National Treasure 2 before promptly deleting all but two tracks. It all has that wall of chopping strings that a lot of MV/RC music has these days. What's aggravating is that it probably isn't synth - it's just the orchestration and at least in Zimmer's case, the recording method, yet we know from listening to some of the smaller scores that most of them do have talent waiting to escape.

[Romão 2,276]

And Goldenthal of course

[Maglorfin 196]

I would definitely agree that Barry and Shore (in 007 and LotR movies respectively) did some best brass work in film music that I've ever heard.

[Luke Skywalker 1,805]

I agree. I generally can tell if it's a Goldsmith score with the way how it's done. Goldsmith for some reason just has this distinct sound I can pick up on. Probably because of his use for the synth that he always mixed in the orchestra.

Williams sound is also very distict, and he does not need the ussage of synths

IMO, Golsmith sound is like williams'. Their music sounds theirs, but not because this or that instrument, but the actual composition.

[ChrisAfonso 188]

I agree. I generally can tell if it's a Goldsmith score with the way how it's done. Goldsmith for some reason just has this distinct sound I can pick up on. Probably because of his use for the synth that he always mixed in the orchestra.

This post has nothing to do with the topic of the thread

/edit: this one neither.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Giacchino is great with it.

[bruckhorn 105]

Perhaps some of the "lesser" composers were classmates of mine. There was only one class for orchestration and it was only three hours a week for nine weeks of looking at Ravel and Debussy (apparently Wagner and Mahler weren't worthy of study) and it wasn't a requirement. Now, the same school requires a full year of orchestration. (So, there's hope that the "next wave" of composers will be better educated.)

If a composer is not given an opportunity in school to develop the skills required to manage an orchestra, when is he supposed to? On the job? Well, if he hooks up with an orchestrator that is capable of teaching and has the time to do it. Yeah, maybe he's got a shot. Otherwise, what can the composer be expected to do? Emulate the dreaded temp score and flounder in mediocrity. He's not allowed to acknowledge his short-comings and attempt to teach himself-- self-actualization is not allowed.