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Posted: |
May 13, 2019 - 3:29 AM
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By: |
WillemAfo
(Member)
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What Hans Zimmer does NOT use is woodwinds. I think his synth background works against him here because woodwinds usually need to keep moving and that’s easier to understand if you’re classically trained. Also woodwinds can make a score sound old-fashioned and “classical” if used poorly so he probably doesn’t bother.
Where do people get this from, that Zimmer doesn't use woodwinds ? I can't speak for the recent scores from the last 10-15 years, but for many of his earlier scores, I would have said woodwinds (like panflute) was of the instruments he used a lot, and as a main instrument too.
I could have mentioned several things where he used woodwinds ... but too name one, which is the prime example I would say, is Beyond Rangoon ... do your research, "LOL" (which is the best reaction I can get for this one)
Edit: when I think about it, it's actually harder to find scores he didn't make the use of woodwinds in some way...
You missed my follow up post. The example you gave is exactly the same as what I described which is that Zimmer really only uses "woodwinds" in a lyrical way, and his early stuff was mostly pan flutes, just like he also did in Rain Man. That's not difficult to write for and right in line with his synth background, and probably performed by Jeff Rona who is his go-to "woodwind" guy. The underscore of your Beyond Rangoon example is also exactly what I was describing, which is powerful and muscular layers of strings, brass and percussion with no woodwinds. The melody of course could be interchanged with strings or even brass as well because it doesn't have any characteristics specifically inherent to woodwind playing. Prince Of Egypt also has a couple moments where *gasp* oboe and clarinet are used in a semi-conventional sense but that's about it - also that soundtrack is pretty widely known (as most of Zimmer's music is) to have been put together by the Media Ventures team, which is only more information supporting Zimmer's own statements that he doesn't have enough formal training.
In any event, the Prisoner of Azakaban example I gave is virtuoso woodwind writing specifically for that instrument. Even simpler though, Williams uses woodwinds all throughout the Jurassic Park score, a great example where most of the tracks have woodwinds playing rhythm, scales, runs etc. which is what woodwinds classically excel at. Williams also uses all the different types of woodwinds. It's a staple of most of his action music because he's classically trained, understands how to use them in an orchestral context, and understands how to use them to add color to his music.
I agree with you that the Media Ventures stuff was vastly more interesting and versatile pre-2000 and established Zimmer's instruments of choice (percussion, brass and strings) layered in octaves for a dense, powerful sound.
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Posted: |
May 15, 2019 - 2:44 PM
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By: |
WillemAfo
(Member)
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We might want to ask the question of why certain instruments might be used, which gets into orchestration techniques.
I'd be very interested in more discussion of this. One thing I've heard on the Art of the Score podcast (and maybe someone can back this up) is that the flute is traditionally an instrument to evoke a "girl" character and a clarinet is more of a "boy" character.
A lot of that has to do with how instruments represent the range of the human voice which is generically classified as low = male and high = female. That can also translate to low = maturity and high = youth/immaturity.
Apart from “vocal range” is the playing style: elegant/delicate = female and inelegant = male, and the performance style: agile/fast/fluttery = female/youth and slow/broad/steady = male. And of course culture plays a part as well.
So with your woodwind example you’re seeing that the flute (a high woodwind) is evocative of a “female” and the clarinet (a lower woodwind) is evocative of a “male”.
If you consider brass: Tuba, French Horn, Trombone, Trumpet are all played by blowing vast amounts of air into the the instruments and pressing big clunky keys. I point that out because brass is often associated with “male” and even though the trumpet is a higher-pitched brass, the playing style is not the most elegant.
This gets into cultural aspects - the use of trumpets for war calls, in military bands, etc. gives it a culturally “male” connotation.
The harp would be considered more feminine - while it has a range that is high to low, the way you play the instrument is very elegantly and your fingers are doing a lot of the movement. Of course you can do inelegant things like slap the strings and scrape them too, so it’s not a firm “rule”.
With violins and cellos, you bow both of them but the cello is larger, has a deeper range, and the fingering usually has less movement/agility/elegance than the violin.
So the general perceptions would be:
PERCUSSION = male
BRASS = male
WOODWINDS = female
STRINGS = female
Of course there are subgroups:
WOODWINDS
Piccolo = female
Flute = female
Clarinet = male/both
Oboe = male/both
Bassoon = male
STRINGS
Violin = female
Viola = female/both
Cello = male
Bass = male
As I write this though, the other thing is really the emotion - a female character who is having deep emotional thoughts about some mature subject is represented less by her gender and more by the emotions she’s feeling, so you might score that with cello.
But again, they’re not set rules but just generalizations. The real fun in composing is challenging yourself to communicate what needs to be communicated but changing expectations a bit 
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In the 60s Barry used the cymbalom on Ipcress File, King Rat, Quiller Memorandum, Thunderball, and others; in the 70s The Persuaders.
More. like' overused' it.
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Max Steiner had a thing for harps. And harpists!
Why are harpists always women?
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I've heard quite a good deal of use of the trombone by Dennis McCarthy.
He's got a tromboner for the instrument.
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Lalo Schifrin used the flute as a solo instrument extensively in tv, film, jazz, and concert pieces.
TV: T.H.E. Cat, his Man From Uncle arrangement, and the Mission: Impossible theme's most effective moment is when Schifrin introduces that cool flute line after all that pounding brass and percussion.
film: Bullitt, Che!, Once a Thief, the Cincinnati Kid (a bass flute!)
jazz: Leo Wright solos on flute on Gillespiana, Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts features several flute solos by Paul Horn, and on the Schifrin/Sade album flutist Jerome Richardon takes a nice solo.
concert: Concierto Caribeno for Flute and Orchestra
Many more examples, but that's off the top of my head
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