“Director James Cameron wasn’t the only one who relied on technological advances to give Avatar an otherworldly feel. Award-winning film composer James Horner also broke new ground with his compelling soundtrack, relying on Pro Tools|HD and Sibelius to compose the music, orchestrate parts, and sculpt otherworldly sonic textures.”
The Avatar score – some people love it, some people hate it, but either way, this is a nice little doco about its creation. It’s not often that James Horner appears on interviews like this – well not that I’ve come across – so it’s nice to hear him speak about what he does. It also includes the legendary scoring mixer Simon Rhodes and electronic music arranger Simon Franglen talking about their contribution.
They talk about how they used the software to bring it all together, especially interesting as the score combines both orchestral and electronic elements.
It is REALLY a promo for Avid (Pro Tools and Sibelius mainly) so prepare for an onslaught of endorsements, but I enjoyed it. Let me know what you think.
I have a routine: every morning I wake up, lean over and pick up my iPhone, I check the news, then I read all of the latest feeds from my favourite blogs. The blogs are music ones of course, and for years I have been filtering through them and the ones I like are the ones that stay. I use the term of “blog” rather loosely – some of these are actual blogs, some are more updates and news, but all just as interesting and worthwhile. Just a note, the links are to the actual RSS feed, not to the website, so they will open in your RSS reader.
Sibelius Blog: A must if you’re a Sibelius user. News, interviews, the latest movies to be scored on Sibelius, tips and more. Run by Daniel Spreadbury, Sibelius’s Senior Product Manager.
The Electric Semiquaver: All about writing with music notation software. The first line of his latest blog sums it up very well: “How music notation software can both assist, and completely destroy, musical texture.”
CompositionToday: Nice updates, news and resources about and for classical composers.
Musical Perceptions: “Perceptions about music, perceptions that affect music, perceptions colored by music, perceptions expressed by music”.
Echoes: They are disc manufacturers for independent artists but it’s a really nice blog of “insights for independent artists”.
I just saw The North Face (Nordwand) at the NZ International Film Festival. It is a new film that’s come out of Germany, Austria AND Switzerland and is fantastic … but I’m not here to talk about the plot!! The score was by a Austrian composer, Christian Kolonovits. Oh my. It was quite something. I got it off iTunes as soon as I got home and I’m listening to it again now. Far out.
It is a fully orchestral score and he does a great job of suiting it to its 1936 setting, but still, musically it is so fresh and very relevant to today. It is very nice to hear the orchestra still being used purely by itself, with no modern technology helping it along. The BEST thing is that there is no Hollywood influence in his music, which is so refreshing. Perhaps I need to be keeping an eye out for more European film composers. In the film it adds so much to the already hugely powerful scenes, but listening to the music now, it could so easily be moulded together to create some sort of 45 minute masterpiece in it’s own right.
Here is the trailer where you get a sneak peak of the film, but as for the music … it’s a trailer, so uses other music … you might notice the opening passage is from James Horner’s score to A Beautiful Mind. This is the original trailer (not english version with subtitles):
Christian Kolonovits really did a great job. I can’t wait to hear more of his work. If anyone has heard of him or knows any of his music I’d be interested to hear from you. Go find some music online from this film, it’s worth it. Here is Christian’s website: www.kolonovits.com.
Okay so I was checking out this recording session at Abbey Road for Grace, composed by Austin Wintory, when I came across this picture which had me watering at the mouth.
Four bass clarinets plus four contrabass clarinets – OH YES. What a combination. I wish I could hear a little of what they were recording. Awesome!!
Recently, award-winning composer Alexandre Desplat was at the Sony Scoring Stage to record his score to the highly anticipated drama, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Directed by David Fincher and stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. While catching up on the scoring session, I was HIGHLY EXCITED by the discovery of a gong drum.Look at this thing. I want to write a gong drum concerto. It’s being played there by Greg Goodall … what a job. I wonder what the likelihood is of one being in NZ. Hmm…..
Ok well I’m working on this film score at the moment, orchestrating it and a bit of arranging. Lol it is very … interesting. I’ve seen different scenes, heard stuff from the composer and seen the teaser website (www.chickencargo.com) – and after all of that I’m completely confused other than knowing it’s a sci-fi comedy. lol Anyway it’s going great and deadline now is January 2008 so things are going to step up a bit. Stay tuned.
 I’ve just confirmed the premiere of “Mei Spero� in Brazil early next year by the Sphera Ensemble. A specific date and venue is still being finalised but it should be a fantastic event. I’m adjusting the instrumentation slightly to suit the ensemble a little better. The original instrumentation of cor anglais, clarinet, horn, trombone, percussion, harp, viola, cello and double bass will now include some violins. Anyway, will post more details as soon as they are available.
Posts on my music and work in the music industry. Also on Apple, Sibelius, online music marketing and music technology. I look forward to your comments and feedback.
