# Michael Giacchino Composer



## Dave Connor (Mar 9, 2017)

Since there was an unfortunate thread title that seemed to pit two composers against each other I thought I would remove the negative nature of that and talk about one of them on his own merits.

Michael Giacchino is a monstrous talent that has the rarest of gifts that could only be seen in today's compositional world: an equal amount of talent on both the sound design and pure writing ends of the compositional spectrum. His work on LOST alone proves that. His sound palette not only unique in itself but used to astonishing effect in framing the visuals in an almost unheard of way just as that show was a never-experianced way in the television medium. So you have the brilliance of the invention of a unique sound palette but also the most tasteful, dramatic and musical application of it in serving the picture and heightening the experience as music rarely has ever in that medium.

As if that weren't enough, he displays an equally new sound and approach in his composition with relentlessly fresh harmonic and melodic writing often in string textures that are easily as good as anything Thomas Newman has ever done. Very complex melodic textures that are at once clearly defined harmonies while always transient in nature with multiple melodic lines all standing out at the same time. You need a Bach to pull that kind of thing off and this guy was doing it weekly on a TV show.

Giacchino's feature work broke onto the scene in a huge way with The Incredibles with a score that every age bracket seemed to be reveling in and talking about. That is something John Williams cornered the market on and once again shows a huge musical gift. It doesn't mean he will _replace_ John Williams or other legends it just means he is being chosen to follow the great names because he has that level of spark and gift. Has he been able to write the huge operatic, epic scores and themes of the greats? Well, it's probably the one area he still hasn't quite conquered but he's getting more opportunities all the time and if anyone can, it's him. You can count on both hands the number of film composers that have scaled that particular mountain and on the way there, it's unlikely Giacchino will get lost.


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## prodigalson (Mar 9, 2017)

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you like him then?


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## Jaap (Mar 9, 2017)

Dave Connor said:


> Giacchino will get lost



Yup he did indeed 

On a serious note, nice post Dave and agree. It is a great composer with a wide set of skills. I always love his work!


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## Ashermusic (Mar 9, 2017)

I like him and have enjoyed his work, especially on Alias, but there was a Muppets TV movie that he wrote songs for, and let's just say that he is a much better composer than songwriter IMHO.


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## resound (Mar 9, 2017)

Ashermusic said:


> I like him and have enjoyed his work, especially on Alias, but there was a Muppets TV movie that he wrote songs for, and let's just say that he is a much better composer than songwriter IMHO.


That must have been before they found Bret McKenzie, who is a perfect match IMO


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## Dave Connor (Mar 9, 2017)

Ashermusic said:


> I like him and have enjoyed his work, especially on Alias, but there was a Muppets TV movie that he wrote songs for, and let's just say that he is a much better composer than songwriter IMHO.


Part of the reason for this thread was to highlight his strengths because when you make a comparison with another composer it seems you are forced to talk about weaknesses. That can give a false impression and I wanted to present him in the light he deserves. The guy can write for days. Rare is the composer who rises to the highest levels of every musical form. You have to talk about Mozart in the classical world to give an example of that.


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## LamaRose (Mar 9, 2017)

Giacchino literally _replaced_ the late, great Michael Kamen on the "Incredibles." Brad Bird had used Kaman previously with great results, imho, on the "Iron Giant." Giacchino did a wonderful job, so Bird obviously has an ear for elite composers.


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## vicontrolu (Mar 9, 2017)

Dave Connor said:


> fresh harmonic and melodic writing often in string textures that are easily as good as anything Thomas Newman has ever done. Very complex melodic textures that are at once clearly defined harmonies while always transient in nature with multiple melodic lines all standing out at the same time.



couple of examples please?


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## Dave Connor (Mar 9, 2017)

vicontrolu said:


> couple of examples please?


Any of the later episodes in season 1 including the [last?] launch of the raft which is a tour de force of string writing. Examples are abundant though and not hard to find.


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## tonaliszt (Mar 9, 2017)

I like Giacchino, I really do. Like you mentioned, he's written a lot of very good music (I would add Up as an example as well). 

He's also written some not-so-good music (the most recent Star Trek, Rogue One).


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## Andrew_m (Mar 9, 2017)

tonaliszt said:


> I like Giacchino, I really do. Like you mentioned, he's written a lot of very good music (I would add Up as an example as well).
> 
> He's also written some not-so-good music (the most recent Star Trek, Rogue One).


Rogue one was a pretty sad display, But let's not forget that he only had I believe two months to create it - or even less time, if I recall correctly! Which then makes it pretty impressive


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## sherief83 (Mar 9, 2017)

LamaRose said:


> Giacchino literally _replaced_ the late, great Michael Kaman on the "Incredibles." Brad Bird had used Kaman previously with great results, imho, on the "Iron Giant." Giacchino did a wonderful job, so Bird obviously has an ear for elite composers.




I actually thought he replaced John Barry Him self, it was posted in Film score monthly not too long ago from Barry's Agent and he talked how Brad wanted Barry to do it and he agreed and sent a few demos to Brad bird but it didn't sound Bondy enough so they tried really hard to get John Barry to fix things but he gave up and dropped out and thats when Giacchino Stepped in. 

Also I was just admiring Michael Kaman's Iron Giant Work! It doesn't exactly have memorable motifs but Boy is it the PERFECT Score and Mood for the film, What a master and what a Loss!


Anyway on the subject it self, Giachinno...yaay...


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## stonzthro (Mar 9, 2017)

He's good - seems like a nice guy.

Too bad he forgot to orchestrate Rogue One...


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## Dave Connor (Mar 9, 2017)

I think Rogue One was three weeks. That's not enough time to remember anything but the delivery date.


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## LamaRose (Mar 9, 2017)

sherief83 said:


> I actually thought he replaced John Barry Him self...



Interesting about John Barry being tied to this film. My first, and still favorite, soundtrack purchase was Dances with Wolves... that one's all about themes and motifs! Agree 100% with Kaman's Iron Giant score... so perfect and so instrumental to the moods and characters... no pun intended.


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## vicontrolu (Mar 10, 2017)

Dave Connor said:


> Any of the later episodes in season 1 including the [last?] launch of the raft which is a tour de force of string writing. Examples are abundant though and not hard to find.



this right?


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## Trombking (Mar 10, 2017)

Rogue One was surprisingly good. I liked his old Medal of Honor scores and some of his action writing in Lost are quite cool. But his emotional themes are always cut from the same cloth and are a bit on the simplistic side...


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## Hanu_H (Mar 10, 2017)

For me, one of his best scores is this:


You can clearly hear that Lost soundtrack uses a lot of the same tools as this. But I think that he had a much more time to write this than a Lost soundtrack.

-Hannes


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## Dave Connor (Mar 10, 2017)

vicontrolu said:


> this right?



That's one of the things I was referring to yes. First off, what an absolutely beautiful tune. Not phrased traditionally but more of a sequence which is treated musically as a passacaglia of sorts. The harmonic accompaniment right off in the piano is as beautifully bent and dissonant as anything Morten Lauridsen or Thomas Newman has written. Yet it's pretty and accessible, peaceful and tense at the same time. This is TV don't forget. By the time it all blooms at 3:40 the tune is harmonized in 3rds below with two counter melodies above. Completely transparent where there is zero effort to hear all simultaneously: hear the tunes, the harmony, the reiteration of the opening sequence - as one beautiful tapestry. All bringing a depth to the story on the screen that must of had the filmmakers in tears as no doubt many in the audience were.

It's the work of a born composer and I can't imagine many composers wouldn't be suitably impressed if not knocked out at that kind of musical insight and command of composition. Add the consistency of that level of writing with both conventional and unconventional instrumentation and you have a huge talent on your hands as we do with Michael Giacchino.


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## Dave Connor (Mar 10, 2017)

Ashermusic said:


> I like him and have enjoyed his work, especially on Alias, but there was a Muppets TV movie that he wrote songs for, and let's just say that he is a much better composer than songwriter IMHO.


Jay, didn't mean to imply this was a thread only permitting 100% endorsement and no criticism. I appreciated your comment on MG's song writing since I'm completely unfamiliar with it as far as I know. My purpose was to create a thread where one didn't have to compare him to another composer which by nature invites negativity as a starting point.


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## Ashermusic (Mar 10, 2017)

No problem, I know where you are coming from.


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## marcotronic (Mar 10, 2017)

Michael Giacchino is more or less the only composer I immediately identify when I hear his tunes in a movie - especially in sad movie scenes. I have watched LOST completely back then and always totally loved his soundtrack. He has his unique style. I love his music. This is my favourite piece from him (probably my all-time-fav in orchestral music overall...) Soooo beautiful


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## gatwell (Mar 13, 2017)

Dave Connor said:


> I think Rogue One was three weeks. That's not enough time to remember anything but the delivery date.


Maybe that accounts for the lack of even ONE original note! I suffered through this dismal score waiting, hoping, expecting for something to happen...to no avail! This is what I would call a "phoned in" score. Sad


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## Dave Connor (Mar 13, 2017)

I haven't heard that score which was a rush job by any definition as I understand it. Three weeks? John Williams had four months on the first SW? I don't know any composer working today who could meet expectations on that franchise in barely enough time to complete the film at all. Let alone write some of the most popular themes in the history of film.

Still (you read my posts?) as I have said, my thinking on his epic orchestral scores is that he is yet to write the memorable epic themes of recent and former giants. That's a small group that did though out of nearly a century of film composers. The point being that he's a hugely gifted composer by any measure even if he hasn't hit a home run in that particular genre.

It's not that I refuse to evaluate MG's Rogue work critically since he had basically no time to step into a franchise where the original fellow had nearly enough time to write an actual opera. It's that I wouldn't criticize _any_ composer for not being able to pull that off. People like to site Kong Kong and Troy as example of the quality last minute score but I think those scores prove my point, not detract from it. And those weren't films where the entire planet knows every single theme ever written for it by heart.


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## AlexRuger (Mar 13, 2017)

Dave Connor said:


> John Williams had four months on the first SW? I don't know any composer working today who could meet expectations on that franchise in barely enough time to complete the film at all. Let alone write some of the most popular themes in the history of film.



Yes you do--John Williams. If memory serves correctly, he had two and a half weeks to score Empire. Somewhere in those two and a half weeks was the writing of the Imperial March.

This is not a comparison, however. Film production and film scoring of old vs now are apples and oranges.


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## Dave Connor (Mar 14, 2017)

Ok so one new them by John Williams and abundant use of the themes he had a whole lot of time to write previously. The issue here is less about MG as it is about _anyone _coming up with a rousing memorable score that could stand up in the SW canon even with a reasonable amount of time. Desplat with ample time would have been a far more fair comparison than even the very best coming in at the last minute.


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