# Film and TV composers (game composers too)....I have a personal question



## José Herring (Jul 21, 2011)

I know this topic has been covered in different ways before but please indulge me. 

I'm curious to know what scores that inspired you to look into the genre of film music as a living. Looking for the scores that made you decided one day that this is what I wanted to do. I have personal reasons for asking this, but the reasons are not to be judgmental so please feel free to be candid. Also, if you can post links. Basically, I'm doing an informal study for myself. I want to see if there's common thread amongst film music that really got to people as well as other things as cross correlated to age.

kind of like look within yourself and say to yourself, "if I could write music like that I would be happy"

(by the way I know this has been covered before but please indulge me as I'll ask specific question as people post)

I'll list some that got me to think about film music seriously:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR2v62mfdX4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC5AzFc3coo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTRIS3rmjKM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KO4d5xNhqw&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KO4d5xN ... re=related)


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## midphase (Jul 21, 2011)

http://youtu.be/zTxBc_-XxmI

I'm totally serious.

But in actuality, it wasn't really music that prompted me to want to score films, it was my love for films.


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## José Herring (Jul 21, 2011)

midphase @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> http://youtu.be/zTxBc_-XxmI
> 
> I'm totally serious.
> 
> But in actuality, it wasn't really music that prompted me to want to score films, it was my love for films.



The thing that I like about John Carpenter's scores is how well they fit the movie. Would you say that that is a bigger concern for you professionally rather than writing a piece of music that stands apart from the movie? 

btw, I've never seen Escape from New York so as part of my study I have it cued up on Netflix and I'm going to watch it.


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## Ian Dorsch (Jul 21, 2011)

I'd say probably the whole Empire Strikes Back OST. My parents bought the 2-disc vinyl OST and I practically wore it out on my crappy little record player.


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## José Herring (Jul 21, 2011)

Ian Dorsch @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> I'd say probably the whole Empire Strikes Back OST. My parents bought the 2-disc vinyl OST and I practically wore it out on my crappy little record player.



Was it the themes that attracted you or was that your first introduction to the sound of a symphony orchestra playing music you liked? How much was it the composing, music orchestra or how much of it was that the music was associated with a film that you liked? If you could look back on it with 20/20 hindsight.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jul 21, 2011)

For me it was Burt Bacharach's score for "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid." I was already writing songs and I thought, "Wow, you mean I could write hit songs AND do the score?"

Mancini had already started me thinking that way with "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and "Days of Wine and Roses" but Butch sealed the deal.


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## midphase (Jul 21, 2011)

josejherring @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> The thing that I like about John Carpenter's scores is how well they fit the movie. Would you say that that is a bigger concern for you professionally rather than writing a piece of music that stands apart from the movie?
> 
> btw, I've never seen Escape from New York so as part of my study I have it cued up on Netflix and I'm going to watch it.



Absolutely, one could say I have two artistic modes, one is where I'm first and foremost a musician and artist and try to create something that really speaks to me personally, the projects that I get to do this on probably represent less than 5% of my total work. The other mode is to do what the film needs and what the concerns of the production are, in that mode the film comes first and the music is always in service to the film.

Regarding Escape from NY...it's still an entertaining film (and probably along with The Thing and Halloween one of Carpenter's best), but it doesn't hold up quite well from a realistic standpoint starting with the fact that it's all supposed to take place in 1987 and 25 years later, although NY has its rough spots, it ain't anywhere close to becoming a state pen.


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## RiffWraith (Jul 21, 2011)

This:


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## Ed (Jul 21, 2011)

midphase @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> http://youtu.be/zTxBc_-XxmI
> 
> I'm totally serious.
> 
> But in actuality, it wasn't really music that prompted me to want to score films, it was my love for films.



I am similar! 

I wanted to be a film maker before I wanted to be a composer, then I realised I was 1. Impatient and 2. Couldn't write screenplays/storys for crap.

I got into film music from Mark Snow's X-Files music, in fact for a while I preferred his sampled/synth stuff to real orchestral film music! :shock: X-Files was a huge influence on me while I was growing up, people always seem to name Star Wars but that only interested me later for some reason. Then i started getting film magazines like Total Film in the UK, which would sometimes have a cd of film themes on it which exposed me to more music like Williams that previously I did like but it felt more attached to the film. I think I loved X-Files music not only because I loved the show but because of how well he wrote for the series and how great I found him hitting exactly what was needed most of the time. Its a shame it wasn't live as it would have stood the test of time like Lost or BSG will for far longer. Sean Callery, Snows friend, is really the only one that managed to pull off Mark's style and he sounded VERY similar to Snow's sound for many years (check out his La Femme Nikita soundtrack its practically identical to X-Files), not sure what Sean is doing now as I've not kept up with 24 past Season 1.


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## autopilot (Jul 21, 2011)

Me Too Riff.


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## madbulk (Jul 21, 2011)

Rocky, when I was about 9, on HBO, snowy because I was stealing HBO with a length of wire with some aluminum foil wrapped around it hooked up to the TV.
Show of hands?


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## Ed (Jul 21, 2011)

RiffWraith @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> This:




Imagine if it was played by a bunch of high schoolers...

LIKE MAGIC WHAT YOU DREAM BECOMES REAL! 



:lol: :lol:

I actually thought it was crappy samples at first. Interesting that! EDIT: Now I come to think about it, its not even the right notes. I dont understand why they changed them, I would say they are that terrible its a mistake except they all seem to be playing the wrong thing so I guess its by design! Mayb a lesson in how you can destroy an iconic theme, have 12 year olds play it, record it through a fisher price mic and change some notes here and there to try and make it sound different for no reason...


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## José Herring (Jul 21, 2011)

@ Jay Asher, Was it the style of music that interested you for Butch Cassidy? A style of film music that went along with your particular talents and likes as a composer.

@Ed, Mark Snow as big as anybody during that time. When I first got here I use to get a lot of people requesting that "XFiles" sound more than anything. Too bad I couldn't do it.

@Riff, A Classic for sure.

@Madbulk, what did you like most about Rocky, was it the combination of music styles, Rock/orchestra or just the overall feeling you got from the score (triumphant/uplifting)?


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## madbulk (Jul 21, 2011)

Butch Cassidy was kool for me too, btw, and I was really just baby then. I still love Bacharach. That was the kind of thing that played in my house when I was a small child.

Rocky was before Star Wars. Star Wars was a revelation. But the die was already cast for me by Rocky. Truthfully it's an emotional thing to even think about, unexpectedly.

Partly it had to be that it was the best movie I'd seen to that point. It won Best Picture. Yes, the rock/orchestra thing was definitely part of it. And it may have been the first time I really experienced music as the integral part of a movie. The music carried those scenes perfectly. He was lonely and scared and the music was lonely and scared. And the uplifting fight scene or running the streets music gave me chills. The Conti counterpoint stuff was magic in my ears. I still like these tunes. I just wish the soundtrack had been better recorded.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/cFRBdVwA4gQ


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## Ian Dorsch (Jul 21, 2011)

josejherring @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> Was it the themes that attracted you or was that your first introduction to the sound of a symphony orchestra playing music you liked? How much was it the composing, music orchestra or how much of it was that the music was associated with a film that you liked? If you could look back on it with 20/20 hindsight.



I'd attribute some large amount of the appeal to an association with a film that I liked. I was just 5 or 6 years old at the time, who knows what was running through my head. :lol:


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## JJP (Jul 21, 2011)

I guess I'm the weird one here. I never set out have a career in film, TV, or games. I just wanted to be a musician and create music. I kinda' fell into this business over the years. I found I was pretty good at it and that I could make a decent living.

Being a classically trained jazz vibraphonist can be hard life.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when (if) I grow up. I hear they may need a new Kool Aid man.

**Goes back to practicing "Oh Yeah!" while running into walls.**


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## Daniel James (Jul 21, 2011)

This is the moment I first noticed music in anything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7aBSUAozE

Dan


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## José Herring (Jul 21, 2011)

Daniel James @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> This is the moment I first noticed music in anything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq6L1HV5gz4
> 
> Dan



Not available in my country. Any other link?


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## RiffWraith (Jul 21, 2011)

Daniel James @ Fri Jul 22 said:


> This is the moment I first noticed music in anything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq6L1HV5gz4
> 
> Dan





> The uploader has not made this video available in your country.
> Sorry about that.



:(


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## Daniel James (Jul 21, 2011)

josejherring @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> Daniel James @ Thu Jul 21 said:
> 
> 
> > This is the moment I first noticed music in anything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq6L1HV5gz4
> ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7aBSUAozE


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## RiffWraith (Jul 21, 2011)

Ah - got it. Yes, good music.


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## gsilbers (Jul 21, 2011)

im into electronic music soo..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkAM0tRv5lM


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## impressions (Jul 21, 2011)

for my limited experience, film, game music, simply seemed like a total freedom of creation to me, even though it has very specific patterns, my aspiration is to create that uniqueness every project i get, and when it comes out good, i feel like i'm doing the right thing.

of course many film, game music, TV serieses gave me the inspiration.

mccgyver(TV), auf wiedersehen monty(an old c64 game with simply the best composition), lady hawke(film) and many others too besides the "regular" music genres jazz, classicals, avant-garde etc.


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## Cruciform (Jul 21, 2011)

Oddly, I was watching tv and zoned out and became aware of what I considered to be really mediocre, cheesy music that didn't go with the images. I thought that I, or indeed anyone, could do better than that....that's what kicked me off. Now I know it's not that simple and now I listen to really good music to inspire me to become better at my own.


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## Lex (Jul 22, 2011)

Mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHDmXtW9Yx0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpSO9mqwcRw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf4OgC3DZZI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB92kcrwBo4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMPkcQkC_KM

alex


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## lux (Jul 22, 2011)

Titles which put me in that mood are usually very complex hamonically and orchestration-wise. John Williams and all the detailed composers are of course in the focus.

You can call me an idiot but i cant think of hoping to have written a melody. I consider myself a decent melodic writer, and have a good respect for my own melodic ideas. My worst holes reside more in a technical/harmonical realm. Which can be pretty frustrating as well, of course.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jul 22, 2011)

josejherring @ Thu Jul 21 said:


> @ Jay Asher, Was it the style of music that interested you for Butch Cassidy? A style of film music that went along with your particular talents and likes as a composer.



At that point in time, absolutely. I was obsessed with Burt. I had not yet finished college and I could not have imagined myself doing the kind of scores that guys like Alex North were doing. Studying orchestration with Albert Harris changed that.


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## José Herring (Jul 23, 2011)

Thanks for all your contributions. I've studied them all.

I got more to say but it's late. Be back tomorrow.


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## robh (Jul 23, 2011)

In my case, I kind of stumbled into it. I'm a late bloomer I suppose, as I'm only now in the middle of my first major job scoring for a 4-part doc. Over the years that I had been working on my CD, I received many comments that my music sounded like film/TV music, so I have now taken my cue from those comments to pursue that as a living.

Rob


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## TheUnfinished (Jul 23, 2011)

Damn. Wrote a big long response but it hasn't appeared.

Oh well... short version. Used to make dance music, although always liked to have a cinematic edge to it. Then heard Harry Gregson-Williams' scores to Spy Game and Man On Fire. Amazing moments for me.

Matt


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## FredrikJonasson (Jul 23, 2011)

I look at film/game scoring as something between mainstream music (sorry for using that word) and classical/contemporary music, that's where I wanna be! And when I played Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, It became obvious that Jeremy Soule had the job of my dreams. Maybe someday..


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## José Herring (Jul 23, 2011)

TheUnfinished @ Sat Jul 23 said:


> Damn. Wrote a big long response but it hasn't appeared.
> 
> Oh well... short version. Used to make dance music, although always liked to have a cinematic edge to it. Then heard Harry Gregson-Williams' scores to Spy Game and Man On Fire. Amazing moments for me.
> 
> Matt



I'd love for you to elaborate if you wouldn't mind. What drew you too that hybrid genre coming from dance music.

I know it's a pain in the ass to rewrite something that was lost. But, I'm interested to know.

Jose


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## TheUnfinished (Jul 23, 2011)

josejherring @ Sat Jul 23 said:


> I know it's a pain in the ass to rewrite something that was lost. But, I'm interested to know.
> 
> Jose


Will do Jose, tomorrow. Right now, it's time for bed!

Matt


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## Patrick_Gill (Jul 23, 2011)

I could probably think of 101 different pieces that made me think ' wow I want to write something like that'... from many different Composers too.

However the big one for me was probably James Horner's score in - Titanic. [link below in particular]. It's so haunting and so alluring.

I became obsessed with wanting to learn this piece on the Piano as a teenager. It's a bit more of a soppy number I know =), but it's given me such a unique understanding of writing emotion in themes. 

After learning this a lot of other music suddenly began to make sense!.


James Horner - The Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16i0_NdPowE


I think this was definitely one of the more major turnings points for me where I decided I wanted to be a Composer.


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## snowleopard (Aug 2, 2011)

I'm late to the party here, but wanted to respond. The first time I heard music in a film that really stood out and effected me was in a film I wasn't even allowed to watch all of: *The Exorcist*. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io6KPtmB9cs

Jaws, Alien, Halloween, Psycho (looking back) all made an impression too. 

However, what really put me over the edge was the opening scene to the movie *Thief*, with Tangerine Dream. I had never heard anything that boldly electronic, that didn't just sound like a gimmick, or sound effects made to augment the "real" score. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEvomyYkIPY

8)


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