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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeNov 17th 2012
    'Correct & confirmed' would have been the better response, Thor!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
  1. Well, it’s like Thor supposes: People who like C&C presentations have their interest rooted in the film itself.
    It’s certainly true with me: My love for film music is an extension of my love for film. Granted, I am a sucker for emotive music in general, but still, I never separate the music from its film.

    That is why I love C&C presentations: Such releases provide me with the musical narration that I’m seeking. There are scores, though, witch I find to be too repetitive in their complete form. I than will prefer a more condensed, well rounded album presentation. I love, for instance, to listen to the 1993 Fox edits of the STAR WARS TRILOGY scores. I wouldn’t want to miss, though, the 1997 releases. They allow me to listen to some parts of the music that are missing from the Fox edits. But I rather seldom listen to the RCA/Sony releases as a whole. The same is true for the “Lord of the Rings” scores. Sometimes it’s just too much.

    Listening to a score is like watching the film. Indeed I don’t watch my favourite movies as frequently as I used to do, because I listen to the music so often.

    Sometimes a great score will leave me rather uninterested because I have no passion for the film. On the other hand I might fall in love with a mediocre score if I have a soft spot for the film. (Broughton, “The Ice Pirates”, anyone?)

    Now, concerning samplers: When I started collecting film music over 20 years ago, samplers were a great starting point. They were a means of orientation. For example “Hollywood’s Greatest Hits” by Erich Kunzel opened up whole worlds for me. Today I don’t listen to such samplers very often any more. They seem like a Sunday afternoon musical request radio programme now. I have developed into a score listening person. I am much more interested today in how a composer develops and vary his themes over the course of a score.

    An exaption would be "The London Session" by George Delerue. These albums feature not only themes but lengthy suites of scores. Since you can't collct everything, these albums a a fantastic alternative.

    So, this would be my thoughts!

    Cheers!
    Volker wink
    Bach's music is vibrant and inspired.
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeNov 17th 2012
    Thanks for your thoughts, Volker. Your approach is certainly the opposite from mine, but no less valid!

    Your thoughts on samplers reminded me of something. I'll post it later (gotta take the pizza out of the oven now!).
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeJun 13th 2020
    God help us all. Let’s see this all the way to the end. I forgive you, my brothers. As above, so below. Now stop that crying and look after yourself. It’s what he wanted. All the way from Belgium to the heavenly plane.
    • CommentAuthorOnyaBirri
    • CommentTimeJun 27th 2020 edited
    I feel like we have gone from one extreme to another.

    We started out with 30- to 35-minute soundtrack albums that either worked extremely well, completely missed the mark, or fell somewhere in between.

    Now, in the era of 80-minute CDs, they include everything. If there is 15 seconds of yeehaw music written for a western that is briefly seen in the background on a TV, it is included, even if it completely disrupts the overall mood.

    Moreover, producers are afraid to exercise any aesthetic choices. It is as if we are being handed the rough files from which to produce an album.

    For example, if a piece of source music falls apart at the end, because they know they have recorded enough for the film, the CD will often feature the track falling apart at the end rather than going for a more artful fadeout.

    Similarly, producers feel compelled to the allow the final note or chord of a cue to fade out until inaudible nothingness, producing what is perceived as glacial pauses between tracks when listening at a normal volume.

    I can't even begin to tell you how many film score CDs I've had to load into ProTools so I could tighten up transitions, omit the yeehaw tracks, and create a satisfying listening experience. I am more than happy to do this, but it should not be the listener's job to finish someone else's album.

    As for the OP's original question, sometimes going for a consistent mood works, sometimes going for variety works.

    When I originally had all those Herrmann albums of suites, I used to wish for complete scores. After I acquired some of these, I realized how redundant some of the scores were, and how satisfying some of the suites were. I write this as a diehard Herrmann fan, incidentally.

    Ultimately, it is up to the listener to decide how much or how little of a score she wants to hear. After all, we are living in the era of Spotify playlists, and albums are a relic from our recent past.
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 28th 2020 edited
    A sensible post, Onya, except the last bit. I still think it's the obligation of the album producer to make a coherent listening experience out of the music. It's not up to me. All I can do is create playlists, really, and a playlist does not constitute an album. But if no such album production exists, a playlist is often the second-best option.
    I am extremely serious.
    • CommentAuthorOnyaBirri
    • CommentTimeJun 28th 2020
    Thor wrote
    A sensible post, Onya, except the last bit. I still think it's the obligation of the album producer to make a coherent listening experience out of the music. It's not up to me. All I can do is create playlists, really, and a playlist does not constitute an album. But if no such album production exists, a playlist is often the second-best option.


    My last paragraph about albums is simply a cultural observation. People stream the tracks they want. They are no longer obligated to experience full albums, for better or worse.
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeAug 7th 2021
    I currently have a list of some 50 titles that need to be whittled down to a proper listening experience. That's the time we're living in....the work is all in our hands.
    I am extremely serious.