Week 10 Flashcards
What do we start to see in 1980s?
Composers are getting into film music w/o formal training/classical upbringing
What makes this change in the 80s possible?
- changes in technology
- in 50s we see synthesizers for the first time
- the 50s look much diff compared to the 80s
What year was Forbidden Planet made?
1956
What was the significance of Forbidden Planet?
- heavy synthesizer
- something that sounded like sound effects was really music
- to most of the audience, it was a novelty but confused others
- was impossible to interpret what this sound/music was
- couldn’t tell what this emotion was
What were the benefits of the end of 60s synthesizers?
- smaller “modular” synthesizers were replacing earlier, larger ones
- could create, shakes, modulate sounds, create envelope
- “patches” describes sound set on synthesizer of some kind (e.g. brass patch or string patch)
Switched on Bach
- 1968 Wendy Carlos
- created an album based on Back but was performed using synthesizers
- popularized synthesizers in pop culture
Walter/Wendy Carlos:
- a pioneer in the field of synthesized version of concert hall music
- “Switched on Bach” popularized her as a film composer
What are other notable works of Walter/Wendy Carlos?
- A Clockwork Orange 1971
- The Shining 1980
- Tron 1982
What are some notable works of Vangelis?
- Chariots of Fire 1981
- Blade Runner 1982
What are the two directions synthesizers go in?
A. Abstract sounds
B. Layer synthesizers that’s similar to concert hall/classic composers in a way
Was synthesizer scoring possible in the early 1980s?
- yes but not common
How did MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) change the scene?
- advents of MIDI were pop musicians in 1983
- powerful synthes and computers allowed musicians w/o formal training to compose and produce film scores
- anyone could build midi into their synths
Benefits of MIDI:
- allowed you to connect diff synthesizers together– even when they’re made by diff companies
- could create monstrous sounds by layering synth and playing them all together using “master” keyboard
How does having a computer benefit with owning a MIDI?
- you can play your keyboard and the computer will record it
- the cpu can play the MIDI in diff cpus: so you can record a part on strings and have the cpu play it in brass
- can add notes one at a time and build complex and massive layers of music and have them all play back by multiple synths
- if you don’t have formal training but can play music, the cpu creates the notes for you so you don’t have to write it down
Who are the two most influential of this new generation?
Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer
Danny Elfman
- 1953
- American born, self-taught
Where did Elfman start his career?
- in art-rock band “Oingo Boingo”
- not that popular but had a cult following
- wrote all sorts of genres
Who was his big fan who was starting as a film director?
- Tim Burton
What was Elfman’s breakthrough score?
- Pee Wee’s Big Adventure 1985
- directed by Tim Burton
How would Wood describe Elfman’s Pee Wee score?
carnival-esque, frantic, child-like but NOT childish, child-like in a nightmare way (like this class amirite)
What were the influences for the Pee Wee score?
- Bernard Herrmann and The Day the Earth Stood Still
- strived for unusual sound that Herrmann created
Why did Elfman not think he could be a film composer despite having a huge knowledge of film scores?
- he wasn’t formally trained
- but this also meant he didn’t feel bound by the “rules” of formal training
What are general characteristics of Elfman’s music?
- dance rhythms
- frantic/carnivalesque (child-like in a nightmareish way)
- frequent use of 3/4 time (waltz) and 2/4 (polka)
- e.g. Simpsons theme
- frequent use of celeste (bell-like instrument, has a Christmas-y sound like in Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy) and wordless choir to evoke sense of childlike wonder
- hitting the action– the point of “Mickey Mousing”
- child-like by dark
- Tim Burton’s work is absurd– deliberately absurd and extreme and exaggerated which is why Mickey Mousing approach works
Beetlejuice
- dark, comedic
- music rapidly changes from one set of sounds to another
- little references the music is catching
- main instrument is violin
How is the violin used in Beetlejuice?
- plays in aggressive arpeggio
- virtuosic violin refers to devil and evil
- violin flips to country twang
Edward Scissorhands 1992– what’s it abt?
- abt conformity
- “diff” person wants to conform and belong but his uniqueness spreads throughout the neighbourhood so the neighbourhood lashes out and persecutes them for being unique
What was the source music?
- organ lady playing
- Elfman didn’t write for an orchestra– played score on a keyboard and hired ppl to transcribe it to a page an orchestra to play it
- akin to David Raksin (wrote music for Charlie Chaplin)
When does the actual score of Edward Scissorhands start?
- only when she sees the “scary house” for the first time
Clip 1A: When Peg thinks of the house
- car squeaks bc it’s rusty and needs help
- ominous music
- low woodwinds: bassoons and bass clarinets to sound menacing
- wordless choir coming in
Clip 1B: When Peg drives through the gate
- music for transition area
- waltz
- celeste
- church bells
- harps
- evocation of death and funerals
- almost scary
Clip 1C: When Peg walks through the gate
- wonderment
- wordless choir
- music changes from fearful and threatening to wonder and spectacle
- gentle and soft still, but playing reaction of Peg
Clip 2A:
- Edward has come to live w/ Peg and is trying to adapt to suburban life
- clipping neighbourhood’s hedges to be pretty things and then the dog’s fur
- cutting dog’s fur music:
- frantic
- lots of E
- excitement
- polka rhythm (2/4 beat)
intense
Scene 2B: Cutting Joyce’s hair
- tango
- sex
- sensual
- violin: demonic virtuoso
Scene 2C: Cutting Peg’s hair
- love of family
- piano
Hans Zimmer Musical History
- German born/self-taught keyboardist
- does not read musical notation
- late 1970s/early 1980s: pop music keyboardist
- worked w/ The Buggles (video killed the radio star- 1979)
What did Zimmer do w/ Stantley Myles?
- 1980: Working on TV/radio jingles brought him attention of British film composer- Stantley Myles who was looking for someone to help him w/ electronic stuff
- Moonlighting 1982
- My Beautiful Laundertte 1985
Why is Zimmer the raddest composer?
- he could listen to diff composers and easily catch their style
- wrote incidental music for Lion King, Russian spy film
- composes music during or even before film is in production
“BRAM”
- a technique invented by Zimmer
- make a bunch of brass instruments scream
Zimmer and Nolan bromance
- would compose music during or even before a film is in production
- Nolan made the film listening to a bit of music Zimmer wrote abt the basic concept
- Zimmer would write the music not to the film but during production
- Zimmer and Nolan would lowkey edit the film and music together
- cues would sometimes be assembled from multiple pieces
Rain Man
- 1988
- Zimmer’s breakthrough
- first solo effort as a film composer
- some acoustic elements and some band elements
majority is performed by Zimmer alone using synthesizers - early films such Rain Man and Driving Miss Daisy 1989 made extensive use of synthesizers
Driving Miss Daisy
- 1989
- black driver for old white lady
- from diff worlds but face mortality together as #bffls
- Zimmer uses jazz for DMD
- uses synthesizer patch that resembles clarinet
DMD Scene: Daisy doesn’t want to be driven around
- suck it up bitch
- Jazzy
- p much just keyboard and synthesizers
What are most recent works by Zimmer described as?
- spacious and powerful: a fusing of electronics and orchestra
- often an emphasis on timbre and rhythm, rather than melody
- notable collabs w/ Nolan
- minimalistic: Simple ideas- repetition - complex layers - slow changes
Batman
- high strung
- harsh distorted note and huge explosion of sound
- notes not important
- abt instrument and how it’s being played and production and arrangement
Who wrote music for Interstellar?
Zimmer lmao
Inception: Conclusion scene
- Zimmer 2010
- basic theme + layers
- simple idea that builds and builds
- “wall” of sound
- his approach to layering has become a technical thing ppl talk abt
Inception: Truck falling scene
- this cue is assembled out of 3 diff pieces of music
- hella BRAMs
- second of brass BRAMs coming in a diff key
- hear music cross-fading
- cross-fade + pre-written music is not the usual way of doing things
Mad Max
- 2015
- music designed to be as big as possible
- common in contemporary films
Star Trek:
- trailer music not from film
- company was hired out to make trailer music
- “2 Steps from Hell” company makes movie credits for big name movies; e.g. crimes of gringelwald, avengers infinity, etc.
- copy Hans Zimmer’s style
- writes Big Music
