Week 10 Flashcards
(49 cards)
1
Q
What do we start to see in 1980s?
A
Composers are getting into film music w/o formal training/classical upbringing
2
Q
What makes this change in the 80s possible?
A
- changes in technology
- in 50s we see synthesizers for the first time
- the 50s look much diff compared to the 80s
3
Q
What year was Forbidden Planet made?
A
1956
4
Q
What was the significance of Forbidden Planet?
A
- 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
5
Q
What were the benefits of the end of 60s synthesizers?
A
- 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)
6
Q
Switched on Bach
A
- 1968 Wendy Carlos
- created an album based on Back but was performed using synthesizers
- popularized synthesizers in pop culture
7
Q
Walter/Wendy Carlos:
A
- a pioneer in the field of synthesized version of concert hall music
- “Switched on Bach” popularized her as a film composer
8
Q
What are other notable works of Walter/Wendy Carlos?
A
- A Clockwork Orange 1971
- The Shining 1980
- Tron 1982
9
Q
What are some notable works of Vangelis?
A
- Chariots of Fire 1981
- Blade Runner 1982
10
Q
What are the two directions synthesizers go in?
A
A. Abstract sounds
B. Layer synthesizers that’s similar to concert hall/classic composers in a way
11
Q
Was synthesizer scoring possible in the early 1980s?
A
- yes but not common
12
Q
How did MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) change the scene?
A
- 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
13
Q
Benefits of MIDI:
A
- 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
14
Q
How does having a computer benefit with owning a MIDI?
A
- 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
15
Q
Who are the two most influential of this new generation?
A
Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer
16
Q
Danny Elfman
A
- 1953
- American born, self-taught
17
Q
Where did Elfman start his career?
A
- in art-rock band “Oingo Boingo”
- not that popular but had a cult following
- wrote all sorts of genres
18
Q
Who was his big fan who was starting as a film director?
A
- Tim Burton
19
Q
What was Elfman’s breakthrough score?
A
- Pee Wee’s Big Adventure 1985
- directed by Tim Burton
20
Q
How would Wood describe Elfman’s Pee Wee score?
A
carnival-esque, frantic, child-like but NOT childish, child-like in a nightmare way (like this class amirite)
21
Q
What were the influences for the Pee Wee score?
A
- Bernard Herrmann and The Day the Earth Stood Still
- strived for unusual sound that Herrmann created
22
Q
Why did Elfman not think he could be a film composer despite having a huge knowledge of film scores?
A
- he wasn’t formally trained
- but this also meant he didn’t feel bound by the “rules” of formal training
23
Q
What are general characteristics of Elfman’s music?
A
- 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
24
Q
Beetlejuice
A
- dark, comedic
- music rapidly changes from one set of sounds to another
- little references the music is catching
- main instrument is violin
25
How is the violin used in Beetlejuice?
- plays in aggressive arpeggio
- virtuosic violin refers to devil and evil
- violin flips to country twang
26
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
27
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)
28
When does the actual score of Edward Scissorhands start?
- only when she sees the "scary house" for the first time
29
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
30
Clip 1B: When Peg drives through the gate
- music for transition area
- waltz
- celeste
- church bells
- harps
- evocation of death and funerals
- almost scary
31
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
32
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
33
Scene 2B: Cutting Joyce's hair
- tango
- sex
- sensual
- violin: demonic virtuoso
34
Scene 2C: Cutting Peg's hair
- love of family
| - piano
35
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)
36
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
37
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
38
"BRAM"
- a technique invented by Zimmer
| - make a bunch of brass instruments scream
39
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
40
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
41
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
42
DMD Scene: Daisy doesn't want to be driven around
- suck it up bitch
- Jazzy
- p much just keyboard and synthesizers
43
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
44
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
45
Who wrote music for Interstellar?
Zimmer lmao
46
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
47
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
48
Mad Max
- 2015
- music designed to be as big as possible
- common in contemporary films
49
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
