Theoretical tracklists for expansions

[Holko 9,526]

21 minutes ago, crumbs said:

WOTW had 4 versions of the Boston reunion,

5!

[Faleel 5,353]

42 minutes ago, Holko said:

5!

[Richard Penna 3,694]

I kept the variations of Boston reunion and they work well purely because (and as other have said) they are all very different.

 

That's where I support multiple alternates being included - where you're listening to such musically different approaches that they could easily be different scenes.

 

Where I take issue a bit is including 2/3/4 (etc) versions of one cue in its entirety just to include what can be very minor changes, such as the last 30 seconds of a 5 minute cue. I don't know how playable that is - I'm personally a bigger fan of the 'alternate segment' or 'alternate end' type bonus tracks where you focus on the differences rather than opting to include many minutes of identical material back to back.

 

For example, when Gladiator eventally happens I really hope that the opening track is the film takes of the battle sequence, with the alternate 'lament' section (with Gerrard's vocal) being its own 90 second or so 'alternate end' track, and not the entire 11+ minute track all over again.

 

Given that recording sessions often contain multiple takes of a cue that only have tiny performance-based differences, I'm going to suggest a no doubt extremely debatable view that aside from the final film takes (or intended, for unused ones) of every cue, we don't need literally every variation of every cue a composer wrote. I'd love a FotR Matessino set but I'm sure we don't want every variation of every cue Shore recorded. We have to trust the producer to pick the most different and relevant alternates.

 

I have no doubt that for many here, being given a HDD with literally every single take recorded at the sessions would be a dream, and you'd have fun putting it together into a mega-complete four-CD set, but I wonder if you'd focus so heavily on wanting an ultra deluxe, definitive set, that you'd create something that would actually get a bit repetitive.

[Faleel 5,353]

9 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

I kept the variations of Boston reunion and they work well purely because (and as other have said) they are all very different.

 

That's where I support multiple alternates being included - where you're listening to such musically different approaches that they could easily be different scenes.

 

Where I take issue a bit is including 2/3/4 (etc) versions of one cue in its entirety just to include what can be very minor changes, such as the last 30 seconds of a 5 minute cue. I don't know how playable that is - I'm personally a bigger fan of the 'alternate segment' or 'alternate end' type bonus tracks where you focus on the differences rather than opting to include many minutes of identical material back to back.

 

For example, when Gladiator eventally happens I really hope that the opening track is the film takes of the battle sequence, with the alternate 'lament' section (with Gerrard's vocal) being its own 90 second or so 'alternate end' track, and not the entire 11+ minute track all over again.

Well in this case, the cue is short (2 minutes). and large portions of the cue are replaced with inserts of decent length, so there wouldn’t be too much repetition

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Sure, it very much depends on each case. It's when we're talking about lots of versions of a cue and whether the differences are noticeable enough to warrant presenting (a) all of them and (b) in separate tracks.

 

It's very rare for me to keep bonus sections exactly as they are, simply because even the biggest fan of a score may not find every single cue interesting enough that a subtle variation is worth repeatedly hearing. I ditched a lot of the Sleepy Hollow alternates either because only a few seconds was different or because in some cases there's a good reason Elfman revised them.

 

I suppose in the end you can have an album that plays magnificently, or one that presents all variations of everything. I don't think you can have both even from MM if the sum of revised material is approaching an entire CD.

 

That said, bring on Last Crusade!

[Holko 9,526]

3 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

It's very rare for me to keep bonus sections exactly as they are, simply because even the biggest fan of a score may not find every single cue interesting enough that a subtle variation is worth repeatedly hearing.

And somebody else will find another one interesting. And somebody else will want to keep them all. And somebody will prefer a version and want to put it in the main program and it's easier when it's already joined in as intended, no editing needed, just a track rename. So where's the problem?

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Oh, if loads of cues were revised then the bonus section should be as long as it needs to be to present those variations.

 

My point was that surrounding those alternate takes within often large component cues can result in a very bloated bonus section. If you're looking at it purely as a resource for alternates you find interesting (and swapping out) then it's a good approach. I'm essentially a bit skeptical that when a cue that has (say) 5 revisions, as a composer slighty rethinks their idea, do we really need to hear all of them? This is where I put my trust in a producer to determine where a revision is musically and creatively interesting.

[Holko 9,526]

Well yeah the multiple cue track for one alternate thing is stupid but I can only really remember that happening in Sleepy Hollow.

[Bespin 8,483]

Oh wow this thread!

 

Somehow... you read my mind.

[Faleel 5,353]

5 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

But I wonder if you'd focus so heavily on wanting an ultra deluxe, definitive set, that you'd create something that would actually get a bit repetitive.

We wouldn't.