Interesting a thread gets started up about movie scores and the such since Ive been tossing around the idea of attempting something in that vein. Lately Ive been listening to a lot of movie scores and modern classical music. From what Ive gathered from some recent movies scores is that some do just mainly have synth keyboard ostinato sequences along with some drone-y stuff thrown in. Then maybe a dabble of orchestral. Actually, movies scores run the gambit now days of every style. I tend to dig the more full orchestral stuff more, but if synths can be added in with a nice flavor, thats cool too, I dig keyboard action.
A lot of my favorite composers have been mostly the previous names listed by others. I have noticed to that recent movie soundtracks have some umph to them. The Brian Tyler soundtrack to Eagle Eye is pretty loud and thick as is his to Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem. Ive been used to hearing scores with a more roomy orchestral setting, but recent stuff can contend with your average rock albums. One of my top favorites has been Elliot Goldenthal. He seems to always have a nice balance between orchestral, electronic and some pretty inventive arranging and melodies. One of my favs of his is his Interview With a Vampire score and the track Louis' Revenge. Midway thru is has this awesome sort of orchestra bassdrop of where the low end is massive and makes the speakers shake. Also, Howard Shore is someone Ive taken a liking to as well. I had never checked out his work on The Lord of the Rings, but I picked up the expanded soundtracks, which are about as long as the movies themselves and thinks its amazing. Of course, Jerry Goldsmith never fails. The 13th Warrior and Total Recall are action out the ass. His score to The Omen reminds me a bit of Stravinskys Symphony of Psalms, only Goldsmiths music is just evil.
Ive also read that getting into the field can be extremely hard and very intense and time consuming. Having to trim down music to the second or write something else at the last minute for a new scene. Plus, Ive noticed a lot of soundtrack music differing from what is in the film, so I guess that even once the music is done, its still being trimmed by editors and directors. But, also, as has been stated, you can make some very good money doing such work.
Since I know jack about how to go about doing a score in general, and let alone know how to purchase one, my only bet was to raid to the college music library of anything score that caught my eye. The closest thing they have is the suite version of Prokofievs music for Alexander Nevsky, which is an awesome listen. So I decided to go modern with a touch of romantic and classical. Here are the spoils:
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I almost felt guilty for checking out some much stuff, but I realized, not many music majors at my college check out music, let alone any of the composers I like, or, even go down there unless their doing a thesis or a paper for their senior year. Ive learned a lot from these scores and hopefully can take away cool ways for arranging and sounds. This addiction has also hindered me from playing guitar, yet opened up my thinking to a lot of different ideas and approaches.