This News Friday 3/13/98
by Lukas Kendall
There will be extra music added to Rykodisc's imminent release (June
9) of The Living Daylights (John Barry). If all goes well there
will be quite a bit; however, the album is not finished so there's no track
listing--so please don't write for one just yet.
Media Alert
Check out NPR's Weekend Edition this Sunday morning for coverage of
Jerry Goldsmith, as NPR continues its weekly roundup of the Oscar-nominated
film scores.
This week's Entertainment Weekly had some massive coverage on
film music, interviewing Celine Dion and James Horner about Titanic,
running a sidebar on Danny Elfman, and also a well-written overview of
top composers working today. See http://cgi.pathfinder.com/ew/features/980313/soundtracks/index.html
From: IRobiUK <IRobiUK@aol.com>
I don't know if you've seen it, but the USA Today web page has a
short interview with John Williams about his Oscar nominations - he says
he looks at it as losing 30 times rather than winning 5. But he says he
may not be at the ceremony because he'll be in London working with the
LSO. Any idea what he'll be working on?
I tried to check this out but I couldn't find it at USA
Today. I don't know what Williams is doing in London at the moment.
Titanic
From: "Alasdair Spark" <A.Spark@wkac.ac.uk>
1) On track 7 (Hard a Starboard) at 1 min 26 sec you hear a crescendo
- think it marks the iceberg strike. Underneath it you can hear a strange
noise - best I can describe it as is a sort of atonal cuckoo! Any idea
what it is?
2) Horner's bagpipes. Am I right and they are Irish (or Northumbrian
as we also call them) pipes, eg inflated by underarm bellows, and not Scottish
bagpipes, inflated by breath. They have that very distinct sound.
Because I will no longer devote one second of time to Titanic,
I cannot answer these. Anybody?
Composer Assistance
From: "Christopher M. Franke" <croisis@email.msn.com>
I have recently been approached for a rare oportunity to score for
a pilot currently in production for a major television channel. The pilot
is still in pre production, and I have never professionally scored anything
this commercially big before( experiance scoring collage films & shorts).
I don't know how the process of getting paid works in the big leauges (for
me anyway) as I have scored for a little cash or nothing... for example
should I ask a fee or bid? Or have them tell me how much they will pay?
Do I need any copyrights for my work, or is that something there lawyers
handle? Any info greatly appreciated...
For one thing, this is, I presume, NOT the Christopher Franke from Babylon
5.
I'm chagrined to say I can't really help, as I'm not a television music
agent and don't know the particulars of how the deal happens -- the deals
vary so much too. But this IS an instance -- when you already have a job
-- where an agent can help.
See the film music network info at www.filmmusic.net
or cinematrax.com--these are designed
to help aspiring composers. Congrats and good luck!
Questions
From: Edmilson Chagas <lumen@uol.com.br>
Have you got any publications on the work of Nicola Porpora (some
of his music is included in the film "Farinelli, Il Castrato")?
Afraid not. Folks, let me take this opportunity to welcome you to what
we call the Internet and the World Wide Web. Here, you can find the answer
to any question of what so-and-so has done by going to the Internet
Movie Database. It rocks. And see our home page here at FSM for access
to a soundtracks database by Tom DeMary that will tell you what has been
released on vinyl or CD. Let's hear it for progress!
Trailers
From: Dan Goldwasser <dgoldwas@earthlink.net>
From: mikael.carlsson@metro.se (Mikael Carlsson)
For those of you who are interested in the art of composing music
for trailers, I would like to recommend an interview I have done with composer
Kendall Schmidt. He talks extensively about his current work as a copyist,
but also about his many experiences in the field of scoring trailers (including
LICENCE TO KILL, TOTAL RECALL and GLORY). The interview is located at http://moviescore.home.ml.org,
the quicklink is http://home6.swipnet.se/~w-67269/pages/composers/schmidt_interview.html
From: Scott Hutchins <sahutchi@iupui.edu>
By the way, 20/20 frequently uses film scores in their pieces. among
them are Trevor Jones's Kiss of Death, Thomas Newman's The Shawshank Redemption,
and James Horner's Legends of the Fall. I'm sure they used Air Force One
for another story, but I haven't heard that score.
From: Warren F. Cox <wcox@hertreg.ac.uk>
I think I have the answer to Steve Latshaw's "Maverick"
question. It's obviously been a long while since I saw that trailer but
I'm pretty sure that the music used was from Alan Silvestri's "Back
to the Future Part 3", and I think it also features at the end of
the second movie, but it's only on the third disk.
I also have a question to ask: Is it possible to get a recording
of the Vince Guaraldi tracks "Joe Cool" and "Little Birdie"
other than the covered versions on the "Happy Anniversary Charlie
Brown" album?
I don't know, but I love Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown music and was
disappointed with that anniversary album. If anybody knows of good Vince
compilations on CD, let me know.
Elfman Reactions
In response to our article
this week about Danny Elfman's Oscar double-nomination (containing
new interview material):
From: "Kyle Beatty" <saracen_cabana@email.msn.com>
As a subscriber to the magazine, I feel no guilt about loving the
website's piece with Elfman. That's the stuff that makes it heads and shoulders
the best out there. As far as Elfman's Oscar nominations, I think that
people have just forgotten about Oingo Boingo and are taking him and his
scores seriously.
From: Jeff Commings <Jeffswim@aol.com>
If the Academy doesn't give Danny Elfman an Oscar for Men in Black,
it would be a travesty. This is the first really good year for comedy scores
since the music category split three years ago (Men in Black, In &
Out, etc.). Although a non-musical did win last year (Emma), I think the
creation of this category has given composers an incentive to creat less
fluff and more substance in their comedy scores and not be so afraid of
the mighty Disney king Alan Menken (who was strangely left out). Of course
there has always been Marc Shaiman, James Newton Howard and Randy Newman,
but now it seems that these composers have stepped up and really given
us something noticeable to date. Danny Elfman is the composer who has really
exemplified that, and it's about time someone did something to reward him.
Plus, his competition is pretty stale in comparison (was there really a
score to The Full Monty?)
I finally saw Good Will Hunting and can see why the score was
nominated--it's really terrific, so subtle but moving without being new
age nonsense. I think if there's one score that knocks off Titanic,
it will be Good Will Hunting--as the movie overall is perched to
be the "alternate" choice for people who don't want to hand Titanic
all those Oscars.
Williams Info
From: Richard and Scott Hanson <srh@shore.net>
I believe I can add a little insight on the speculations of the
Saving Private Ryan scoring session; I was there... sort of. I spoke with
two cellists after the Sunday session and they both said that the music
is extremely moving, but couldn't tell me much more. When I spoke with
Mr. Williams himself very briefly, and asked him how the session was going,
he said that they were actually doing very well and were ahead of schedule.
And yes, Tom Hanks was indeed there on Saturday. A lot more can be found
(as well as info other than on the sessions... Spielberg and Williams in
general) in the lengthly article that the Boston Globe's Richard Dyer wrote
which can be found on my site (http://www2.shore.net/~srh/jwhome.htm)
as well as my own personal account of the day.
As far as the Superman Speculation (last week) is concerned... Megadeth,
Bill Williams and myself are working on somewhat of a formal letter to
urge the re-release of the score. The same day as the Sunday recording
session, I spoke briefly with Mr. Williams about this and gave him a rough
draft of the beginnings of our letter to hopefully get his backing in this.
I am rather unsure if I will hear from him or not, but Mr. Spielberg also
has a copy (whatever good that will do, but I got a kick out of talking
to him!)
From: Jim Hollis <JHOLLIS517@aol.com>
You have to remember than are dealing with Warner Brothers here
on Superman. This is the same bunch who sent an already rated version of
"The Wild Bunch" back to the MPAA for rating and the resultant
mess took around two (2) years to straighten out when the film (already
rated R) was given NC-17. And who could forget the alleged restoration
done to "Giant" that was nothing more than a reissue of mostly
inferior film elements, although there was an attempt to clean up the sound.
It's too bad with such a rich film library that we have seen such lackluster
efforts toward any type of preservation; and this even goes down as far
film music.
Don't slam Warner just yet; see below:
Enter the Lalo
From: Ron Novinson <ETVIDEO1@aol.com>
There is a newly restored and remastered release of ENTER THE DRAGON.
The catch is that you can only get it by purchasing the $50.00 special
edition box set of the VHS video release. That or get one from a video
store that received an advanced copy like I did.
I have heard this new Enter the Dragon CD and it is sensational.
If you are a fan of big orchestral scores and want to sample either what
Lalo Schifrin is all about, or a big-sounding score with a lot of cool
'70s effects, this is the one. The movie is fun too, so I say, get the
video! I think it's planned for late May release by Warner Home Video.
A Brief Word from a Happy Fan Of...
From: "Anders Stalblom" <devilfish@analogue.org>
I just whant to say a few words about the album 1492. I am a professional
film score maker here in Sweden and I have, of course, heard a lot of different
types of film music in my years. When I first listened to 1492 by Vangelis,
I felt something I never felt before, a feeling of perfection that made
me stop doing music for some time. The feeling that a score couldn't be
more perfect then 1492 really put my work about 100 miles back, and other
work that I admire wasn't really interesting anymore. I just want to say
that I can't think of any other composer that have made such (for me) a
perfect and wonderful score album that really made me a different composer
after. A big salute to this all time greatest composer VANGELIS, for leading
the way....
Oh, you continental types. I do like Vangelis, by the way. Anyone see
the rumors of a Blade Runner 2 at Harry
Knowles's web site? Hey, when you're done reading it, come back here
and read the rest of this column!
Secret of NIMH Answer
Responding to a question from last week:
From: matthew c hightshoe <mchights@indiana.edu>
In response to the Secret of N.I.H.M. sound problem, it occurs on
every copy. I have the original LP and CD by TER (That's Entertainment
Records) and the Varese CD and it occurs everytime.
From: Hidetsurumaro Takayanagi, gtuck1@banet.net
The flaw mentioned on the "Moving Day" cut was also on
the LP. Must be a flaw in the original recording tape.
DTS: Dollars To Spare?
This is in response to a letter that just appeared in the February issue
of our FSM magazine (the hardcopy)--yes, we are also a magazine, and one
that has much much more useful info than this site! Because we are crazy,
write us for a FREE TRIAL
ISSUE this instant! Use these magic words: "Hour of the Spectre
of the Gun Tombstone." And include your address. And if you are a
subscriber, bless you, and you should have your Feb. issue imminently if
you don't already.
From: Guy McKone <guymck@cims.net>
I knew I wasn't the only one concerned with the new Fifth Continent
DTS discs. I actually was looking forward to the expanded edition of Best
Years of Our Lives, but I'm not upgrading my system just for that one.
Some companies have us by the proverbial short hairs, hoping that we'll
be desperate enough to fork over enough green that would buy two regular
priced discs, in order to buy one of these premium jobs. What gets me is
that prices haven't come down - in fact some list prices have actually
gone UP over the past 4 years or so! Vinyl is lookin' good to me once again!
Now, I was also looking forward to the CD reissue of Frances, arguably
not one of Barry's finest - but has a deeply moody sequence called "Bug
House" that was the highlight for me of the Southern Cross LP (SCRS-1001).
I was also looking forward to listening to the CD ,without having that
rasping, buzz-saw sound that plagues many vinyl albums since the late 60's,
a.k.a. inner-groove distortion.
But not for $50.00 (in U.S., yet!) I was flabbergasted to find out
that it was only available in that special edition. However - I did find
Barry's High Road to China for $5.99 a couple of years ago. It pays to
look around, and put some wear in your feet.
I don't buy the fact that the only ones who'd purchase it can actually
afford to spend (at least) twice as much for something they might play
more than once. I like to think that there are more Barryphiles out there
who'd buy it at "regular" price. But - that's part of the game
isn't it? Oh, for those 2-for-97 cents days at K-Mart...
Have a good weekend kids!
Send your questions and comments: MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com.
And visit our message
board for some good old loopy fun. If there's a CGI programmer out
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