So simple in it's musical idea, yet so beautiful:

 

@5teezo Same:

For Von_Steyr

 

Simple does not mean easy. If I would ask half the modern producers why he did what he did there they would probably miss the point.

 

now this is iconic!

 

Now, this is an example of how to compose a great theme, what an example on genre/style composition. Zimmer, a self promotion master, said in an interview at the time of Man of Steel release that "-if John heard my superman theme, it would explode his mind".

This cue refers to a time when film music was made to be memorable, different from what is done today, when you go to any film screening and are unable to remember and hum themes, 'cos it's all about functional music, and not music in a proper sense... or when the film director comes to you and says: -I want this cue as neutral as possible! (as if there were neutral music and sound). Dude, it's really difficult.

I remember seeing a film director complaining that people no longer buy film music CDs. He spoke clearly that it was an issue that went beyond the change in the industry (streaming, youtube, etc.). Listening to most of the OSTs produced today compared to what has already been done, I wonder why, I wonder how...

 

Last edited: Mar 10, 2020

Hans Zimmer is no Curtis Mayfield, but Curtis is no Hans. Every movie score is commissioned by the producers of a film, and every conceptual need is unique to the demand of the story in how the decision makers see fit to utilize the talents du jour.

 

Music is the only art which is "kinda" subjective, mostly because you can´t see it, the perception of sound is quite different than the other senses. Most people "know" what a good drawing is because we intuitively understand anatomy, perspective and we see in color, representational art is about capturing the elements of real-life into a static image.

Music is not like this, taking also into account that the music system we use goes against the very nature of the acoustics of the sound, also add to this the perception that if you play something as complex as Stravinsky to the "Layman" listener, you won´t get a positive response (most of the cases), mostly because like all complex things, accomplished technical music is an acquired taste, much like food or any other thing. The brain is wired from birth to make the minimum effort to "think", most of what we do becomes automatic in order to save calories in the brain. That´s why people can´t lose weight, or won´t try new things (or listen to new music).

On the other hand, the entertainment business is a complex world, one thing is your technical or artistic level and another one is your ability to develop your career, Zimmer managed to forge an empire in a time where his style was pretty unique, so he had the advantage of being highly charismatic, great businessman, and had a unique style due to his musical limitations but technological innovations in sampling and digital sound making. Zimmer´s music "works" with the picture, all Hollywood composers do this at the very least, and that is enough to get the job done.

Well, this is only what I´ve seen on my personal journey through a career in music and being educated on the subject. I can´t make a good critique of painting because I´m not accomplished in that field (though I could have a totally valid opinion, like anyone else).

 

I agree with you, but equally, extolling only the functional aspects of the film score genre does not solve the problem of disengaging audiences (I mean, in the sense of moving the masses' interest towards the original scores, as the composers before Zimmer did).

Sometimes, I think there is a lot of radicalism, in the sense of valuing purely and solely what is functional and less musical (note that when you pasteurize compositional practice in the last instance, anyone can replicate this jumble of extremely similar sound gestures - just notice how personal style was valued before, in the sense of stylistic differences between Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Basil Poledouris, Lalo Schifrin, etc.). My personal opinion is that it is necessary to recover what was lost (specific moments when film music really acted as real music, and I realize the merit of Zimmer here, but the Remote Control pattern allows the emergence of countless uncle Hans clones and therein lies the problem).

Otherwise, the genre will be restricted only to those who are interested in the technicalities of the audiovisual experience, where physical, psychological and technical functions are fulfilled by sacrificing the sensory, affective and cognitive bond that real music offers the viewer.

This chat is really cool, thanks guys!

 

Last edited: Mar 10, 2020

Fun shit to play

 

Im a freeloader like all of you guys on here. I saw this thread by accident while browsing for Kontakt libraries and new VSTs. I made a account just to say this. You can discredit and belittle Hans Zimmer and his music in every way you want. It doesnt matter. If you hear these chords and strings you know its him. He left his mark and his scores are known all around the world. 99% of humans on this planet dont have a distinctive quality like that. It is a matter of fact that most people couldnt be interesting or produce something interesting if their life would depend on it.

 

Well, that's a reality I'll just have to live with. (For the record I think Hans's scores are genuinley great about 15% of the time, inoffensive and non-irritating about 25% of the time and only truly horrible shit 60% of the time.)

 

In Hollywood we have a small cult dedicated to Hans where we sacrifice small kittens and squirrels so that his synths can properly envelope theatre surround-sound. If you join the Hans Zimmer Patrion account @5 euros, dollars, or yen you can get access to a bootleg copy of HZ Spitfire Strings.

 

I couldn't define it better than that!

 

Regret to inform you, but Hans was not in Mahavishnu Orchestra. That was Jan Hammer. So much negative stuff here. I think there is much to appreciate with what Hans Zimmer does. "Gladiator" and "The Last Samurai" among many others would be lesser films without his great work. There's certainly room for appreciation of all the modern composers. (Powell, Newman, Horner, Newton-Howard and on and on) Blessings to all.

 

Re-watched Rain Man last night, that theme song is probably the best thing he ever did, and it's not even that good imo.
And then there was this abomination :

I almost puked when I heard this, which would have been a huge shame, since the morphine pills hadn't dissolved in my stomach yet. It sounds like a porn director mortgaged his house to buy a rompler and did his best Moroder impression as his first foray into music. It sounds like a million psychopaths gathered together to find a consensus on what human emotion is while shooting coke in their urethra. It sounds like someone worked their ENTIRE LIFE to specifically know nothing about anything, then convey that to a talk show audience.

It sounds entirely fake, like Las Veg... holy shit, he might be a genius actually

 

Wow, those vids are painful to watch
But I empathize with him. I too hear angel trumpets and devil trombones in my head, but when I try to play I can't pull a basic triad off.
Where's my academy award?

 

I'm not sure what you're trying to get at. I don't have a problem with 80s synth sounds, and my problem with that song is not that it sounds dated.
My problem is that it sounds unauthentic. It's like he's trying to mimic a musical style he never listened to before. It reminds me of those rock opera stage shows where the music is composed by someone who wants to come up with a Jimmy Page riff on paper. It sounds shallow.

And yes, I'm aware it's not his best, I just HATED it during the movie. Can't a brother vent anymore?

(btw Rain Man was released in 1988)

I realize now there may be some confusion : I'm not saying the Las Vegas song is his best, I'm saying the main theme is his best work (imo) and even so I don't think it's THAT good.

 

Robert Dudzic is a producer, engineer and sound designer who has spent the last 15 years designing and composing music and sound effects.