Star Trek: Into Darkness ... A Short Review

J.J. Abrams returns to the Star Trek universe with his second film in the franchise, Star Trek Into Darkness. The sequel ramps up the action compared to the last film, offering plenty of ship-shattering set-pieces. Michael Giacchino offers a score to match the raw energy of the Abrams film series. The score rarely slows down to take a breath. Giacchino blends material from the last film and adds a few new ideas to continue the new, bold direction for Star Trek.

Highlights abound on this album. “London Calling” features a 12/8, homophonic melody over arpeggiated chords for piano. In an interview with HuffPost Entertainment, Giacchino explains his approach with “London Calling”:

"J.J. (Abrams) just wanted it to feel like we weren't in a 'Star Trek' movie. It was a very conscious decision to make that base sound different; then, from there, we were able to evolve to our theme for the character. I remember when J.J. heard it, he said, 'Oh, it sounds English. That's perfect!' I'm not exactly sure what that meant, but in his mind it fit perfectly. I was just going for something that felt emotional and questioning as opposed to being so direct that it tells you what's going on” (HuffingtonPost.com).

“Kronos Wartet” is a polar opposite of “London Calling”. The 41-person choir rips through the track while the percussion provides additional, brute force. “The San Fran Hustle” uses a dash of music from the original series, music from the pivotal fight scene in the episode, “Amok Time”.

“Star Trek Main Title” concludes the score with a straight rendition of Giacchino's main theme, rather than Alexander Courage's theme for the original show. Although the end credits performance of Courage's theme is similar to the first film's presentation, its absence here is keenly felt, especially since the penultimate track, “Kirk Enterprises”, leads so naturally into Courage's theme.

Varese Sarabande's 44-minute release makes for a decent, though short, sampling of Giacchino's work. The running time of this release is similar to the Varese release for the 2009 film. Varese later released a limited edition, expanded release, which more than doubled the running time from the first release. One can only hope Star Trek Into Darkness would receive the same treatment sometime in the not-too-distant future; preferably sometime before the 23^rd century. 

Hans Zimmer's The Man of Steel

“When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either.”

Advertising executive and creative genius Leo Burnett used this quote to describe his unwavering quest for greatness. Burnett's reach for the stars inspired many memorable ad campaigns; the Jolly Green Giant, Tony the Tiger, the Pillsbury Dough Boy and others. There is no mud in this cast of commercial characters.

Burnett's model of reaching for the stars could easily be applied to John Williams. Throughout his career, Williams has scored hundreds of films with a seemingly endless amount of energy and creativity. He has on many times reached those celestial bounds. His score for Superman: The Movie is a perfect example.

That film landed in cinemas in 1978. The superhero film has since changed. The starry-eyed vision of hope was laced with a grittier, more cynical demeanor. This dark shift is perfectly captured by Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. In their own ways, these films reached for the stars.

Hans Zimmer received a lot of negative press over many of his recent works. His Dark Knight scores have been lambasted as “predictable,” “painful,” and “shapeless”. Inception was considered as Zimmer writing from his “comfort zone”; that it lacked originality. This is a sad turn of events for a composer who once was acknowledged for his stellar work such as Driving Miss Daisy, Backdraft, The Lion King and Crimson Tide. Man of Steel offered Zimmer a chance to shake off this criticism. All he needed to do was reach for the stars.

He reached within his bag of tricks, and pulled out a lot of mud instead. It is hard to accept that where Williams succeeded, Zimmer failed. Man of Steel has a simple, percussive theme that is more headache-inducing than heroically uplifting. The rest of the score varies in volume from loud to ear-splitting. It drifts aimlessly from one scene to another. It lacks the cohesion that Williams worked into his Superman: The Movie. It is bogged down by its own heavy-handed approach, its insistence on synthetic-sounding instrumentation. It is mud.

 There is a small sliver of hope that Zimmer will once again reach for the stars and produce work that truly befits the tag-line, “Music composed by Hans Zimmer.” Man of Steel is not that score, though it truly should have been.

Reviews Coming Soon

One of my resolutions for 2013 is to provide reviews of recent film scores. I should have the first review up in a week. Stay tuned for more information.

UNT Main Auditorium

Please visit http://untmainauditorium.blogspot.com/ for information and photographs of the most interesting building on the campus of the University of North Texas.

Feel free to leave feedback. Thanks.

A James Horner Poem

The Danger Motif

Heaven help us!

The world is in danger; the four-note motif

is playing somewhere, out there.

I can hear it clearly; da-da-da-dum.

In Solfège: Do, Di, Re, Di.

This motif resonates as a testament,

a titanic call that goes beyond borders.

It travels like radio, up from the depths,

it heralds that something wicked

this way comes.

Do, Di, Re, Di.

From the land before time; a far off place,

to the new world, this enemy at the gates

we recognize as a deadly blessing,

is far from the devil's own.

For when we hear its four-note call,

we know a clear and present danger,

lurks in the next scene,

in the next few frames,

to test our hero's courage under fire.

If the meaning of these four notes escapes you,

take 48 hours, watch a few films,

then take another 48 hours

to soak in the glory

of James Horner's Do, Di, Re, Di.

A Filmtracks Tribute

There was a time when I thought I was alone in the universe. A freak of nature. Someone to be avoided at all costs. That was around the late 1990s, after I had discovered the realm of film music.

Then shortly after my depressing self-imaging, I found a website dedicated to my new found passion. Chrisitan Clemmensen's Filmtracks.com showed me that I wasn't a freak of nature after all, or at least, not the only one.

There were others who shared the same interest. I visited the site once or twice a week. I loved to read about new works. I wanted to know more about those few composers I had just gotten to appreciate; Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, James Horner and James Newton Howard were some of the first. It was through this site that I learned of other composers; Joel McNeely, John Debney, Bruce Broughton. I continued to learn with each visit.

I would tell my parent of the scores I wanted to try, based solely on the reviews of "that Filmtracks guy". They must have gotten sick of me telling them all the time. I eventually compiled my wish list, which eventually evolved into ReelMusic Magazine.

Years passed. I grew up. I visited other sites, started writing for some of them. Still, I kept coming back to Filmtracks. I met new people, such as Craig Richard Lysy, Jonathan Broxton and Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, among others. Though I have never met these men in person, I feel indebted to them for their words of wisdom and friendship (and KK's composer competitions). 

Years ago, the places I visited for information on film music began to die off. The market seemed doomed, especially when Film Score Monthly ceased publication. I hoped that my first love would never cease to be. Not long ago, Christian Clemmensen acknowledged that his site needed funds in order to survive. This was terrible news. I could hear the words of Isildur, "Our list of allies grows thin."

It is true that Clemmensen can be a bit snarky, especially when dealing with religion or politics. He can offend with a snide phrase or two in his reviews or occasional scoreboard post. He may allow too much "adult" material to slip through to the forum (those pesky profile pictures). These minor quibbles should not spell the end to what has been a bulwark for the film music industry.

So if you haven't been to the site before, and you have any interest in film music, I suggest you take a look at Filmtracks.com. Tell them I sent you. 

Joel Goldsmith (1957-2012)

First, the father. Now, the son. May they rest in peace.

Joel Goldsmith was more than just a footnote in Jerry Goldsmith's life. Joel was born November 19, 1957. He was the elder of Jerry Goldsmith's six children. It was early in his career that he helped his father program the synthesizers that made those years so distinctive. Joel was a composer in his own right. He provided Stargate's many series with top grade episodic music. He scored several films, including Diamonds, Kull the Conqueror, Moon 44 and co-scoring Star Trek: First Contact with his father.

I visited his website, freeclyde.com, today. His death is not mentioned there yet. On his site, Joel is still alive. He still embraces Sophia, who is adorned with a Jaffa insignia on her forehead. His site shows off his many works, his impressive workstations and custom studio.

It is a depressing thought to know his projects page will never be updated again. There will be no more new works, new stories or snapshots of the man who was still in his prime.

If you never heard any of his works before now, please do so. He may be gone, but I pray he will never be forgotten. 

Jane Eyre: Bernard Herrmann

"Dear readers, I married him" (Jane Eyre, Chapter 38)

Charlotte Bronte's renowned story, Jane Eyre, has been remade many times for the silver screen. Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine appeared in the 1943 film version of the novel. Bernard Herrmann scored the film with a dark and brooding work with an occasional lightness. This was written in his early days of film scoring, written only three years after Citizen Kane.

The original recordings are available in various guises. One such option was released by a company called Trumpets of Jericho. This release came as a two CD set, which threw in David Raksin's "Laura" and Charles Chaplin's "Modern Times". The sound quality is terrible for all three scores presented in this release. Even with the archival sound, it is hard not to appreciate what Herrmann brought to the film.

Another option that is readily available is a rerecording from the Naxos label. It is attributed to Adriano and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.The Naxos presentation offers more music than any of the versions of the original recordings.

The main theme for the film is in minor key. It is first heard in the opening track, "Main Title" or "Prelude" on the Naxos rerecording. The second track contains a pleasant ditty in the major key. This piece, along with the main theme, are the two ideas Herrmann uses throughout the score.

Both the original recording and the Naxos rerecording are worth looking into. The archival sound of the original is oddly satisfying. The newer recording is clearer, and therefore better for really analyzing Herrmann's compositions.

Limited Editions: Good Or Bad?

Film music will never be considered a mainstream market. Score fans are on the outer rim of the music business, where only a few companies care to release these seemingly unprofitable works. Many fine film scores with little hope of attaining mass appeal or profitability are either not released, or released in limited quantities.

When an older score is finally released as a limited run, people often go crazy for them. These customers can be divided into groups; those who buy the CD to enjoy the music and those who buy to sell later on at a profit. Some of the latter people will buy multiple copies, and then sell them online at a later time for a profit. There are CDs that can cost up to three, even four digits on the second hand market.

It must be said that it is a good thing indeed to have any particular score available in the first place. There are many excellent works that would never have seen the light of day otherwise. "The Omega Man", "Predator" and "The Poseidon Adventure" are three scores that come to mind.

In recent memory, both these scores have been re released by either the same company or a different label. Those who bought earlier editions hoping to make a buck are left with obsolete, often unsellable items. They have lost money.

One could rightfully wonder if the limited edition CD is really so limited after all, if someone else makes a second printing, or releases it with some new feature (better sound, more music, etc). Why should they pay an arm and a leg on a rare score, such as Predator or Dragonslayer, if these CDs will most likely be re released in the next year or so? It is a game of Roulette, with the collector's wallet at stake.

Limited editions, if viewed from the standpoint of musical enjoyment, are not an evil. It is what people do that makes the molehill a raging mountain.One could say this; that those who buy film music CDs solely for profit are foolish. A CDs rarity is an unwise determining factor in a purchase. In the end, the music itself should be the primary reason for investing money into one's collection.

Buy a CD. Enjoy the music, not the promise of money.

Doctor Who: Series 5

I decided to give the Doctor another try. This time, I chose the two-disc set from season five. The eleventh doctor's first season received the first 2-CD set for the show. The music seems far different in tone from the first disc I purchased ( which I also reviewed here). There is a more unified sound, with a touch of remote control in the music. Particular episodes are highlighted, rather than compiled into suites.

Murray Gold does a superb job at capturing the essence of Matt Smith's Doctor. The new Doctor's theme starts simply, then develops into a full-blown, orchestral blast. The core of the new theme is a figure which ascends with four notes, descends with four and repeats. It often appears in a minor key, though with major and minor harmonics. A secondary figure is layered on top, and is used as a leavening of what could be an otherwise moody action theme.

Gold has also re-orchestrated Ron Grainer's theme for the third time. The introductory segment is the most notable difference between this and the previous two incarnations. Its faster and more frenetic than the earlier renditions. The two CD set features only one full performance of the theme, unlike the first CD I reviewed earlier, which had the opening credits and the full version book ending the presentation. It would have been a nice way to finish the second disc, which seems to end abruptly.

There are many highlight tracks throughout the set, notably the new theme for the Doctor, which can be heard in "I am the Doctor" and "Onwards!", and "Amy's Theme". The set is a warmly recommended addition to any CD collection. ****

A Poem

Here is a poem, written on the fly, about nothing in particular. It may or may not contain references to film music. It is stream of consciousness. So here goes my attempt at poetry (if you're still reading after this point, I salute you).

A Short Poem
The sweetest voice speaks music to my ears,
and sings to my heart, which joins in the chorus
with its own quickening, rhythmic phrases. 

Another Poem
The sky bleeds blue onto the floor,
the clouds burst open in atmospheric gore,
the sun has fallen, and we too will descend,
into the depths of everlasting darkness. 

Yet Another Poem
Rose are red, unless they are white,
or pink, which is a possibility.
Violets are violet, which could be considered a bluish hue.
Sugar is sweet, but too much can cause negative reactions.
So you also can cause negative situations within the finely tuned system,
whichever system in which you inhabit.
But this is not to say that you can not be sweet...

And Still Another Poem
Songs of innocence
abound in the spring and
bear witness to the dawn of the new day
in every corner of the world,
new and renewed lives and loves
affirm the season's sweetest songs.

The Last Poem in the Cycle
With twenty four frames a second,
and a picture worth a thousand words,
there are thousands upon thousands of words worth of images,
summarized with a few well-placed notes,
by hands more skilled than my own.

The Art of Collecting; The Pains of Choice

There are those who listen to film scores, then there are those who devour film scores. I would consider myself as somewhere between these two categories. I love to listen to film music, though I have not bankrupted myself to purchase every score I have ever wanted.

Not long ago, I was glancing through my score collection of roughly 500 discs. I wanted something of a certain sound, a vintage if you will. I found at least three possible candidates for the job, with an oddball thrown in for fun. I had time only for one score. I had to decide; would I listen to Bernard Herrmann's Jane Erye, Charles Chaplin's Modern Times, Max Steiner's Treasure of the Sierra Madre or Murray Gold's Doctor Who (Fifth season). I settled on the first option. I then realized I had two options for Jane Eyre. I could either listen to the original recording or the rerecording from the Naxos label. I chose the rerecording, as the sound quality is much better.

That was an easy day. There are days which I take much longer to decide. There are times where I choose nothing at all. It is like having a thousand channels on television but not being able to stick to one program. Either there are too many things to watch or nothing that immediately jumps out and screams "pay attention to me". Maybe I should invest in an MP3 player one of these days. This would mean setting up a playlist and transferring music from disc to hard drive. I am too lazy to do this.

 Let us try an experiment. You are a film score collector with a collection of more than a thousand discs. You must travel somewhere. Your trip will give you enough time to listen to one or two entire scores while on the road. You must choose from your thousand CDs only two discs to bring with you. Will you decide by genre, composer or by emotive quality? If you choose genre, go to choice A. If you choose by composer, turn to choice B. If you choose by emotive quality, turn to choice C. If you decide not to take anything, hang up and dial again (or just turn to choice D).

CHOICE A --By Genre
You decide to choose two CDs by their genre. You have broken your collection into five categories; action/adventure, comedy, drama, Sci-fi/fantasy and other. You must decide on a genre. If you want action/adventure, turn to section 1. Choose section 2 for comedy. Section 3 is drama. Section 4 is for Sci-fi/fantasy and section 5 is for other. Choose one and pay.

 CHOICE A: SECTION 1 -- Action/adventure
You have chosen action and adventure. You feel like something bold, brassy; something propulsive and explosive for your otherwise mundane driving experience. Three scores pop out at you from your collection; Cutthroat Island by John Debney, Mission Impossible 3 by Michael Giacchino, and The Rock by Someone who may or may not be Nick Glennie-Smith, in addition to an untold number of other composers and musicians.

ALL CHOICES IN THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

CHOICE A: SECTION 2 -- Comedy
You have chosen comedy as your main source of jollies for your long road. You find a few items in this genre which are sure to please. You Can choose either John Debney's Inspector Gadget (Subsection 1) or Ernest Gold's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Subsection 2).

ALL CHOICES IN THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

CHOICE B -- By Composer
You decide to select two CDs by composer. You nominate at random four composers for the task of keeping you entertained on your long journey ahead of you. They are Georges Delerue, James Horner, Hans Zimmer (and company) or Bernard Herrmann. To choose Delerue, turn to section 1. To choose Horner, turn to section 2. For Zimmer (et al), turn to section 3. For Herrmann, go to section 4. If you wish to make a call, please hang up and dial the operator.

ALL CHOICES IN THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

CHOICE B: SECTION 1 -- Delerue
You have graced Delerue with the honor of entertaining you. You narrow your choices down to two options: Joe Vs the Volcano and Our Mother's House. For Joe, turn to section 1. For Our Mother's House, turn right at the light and continue 30 feet. Your destination is on your left (section 2).

ALL CHOICES IN THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

CHOICE C --By Emotion
You want to have a welling of emotions on your long drive. You narrow down to three emotional responses; for happiness, go to section 1, for depression, take some medication and go to section 2, for anger and rage, tear your way to section 3.

ALL CHOICES IN THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

CHOICE D --Nothing
You decide not to take anything. You hang your head in shame. A real film score fan would have chosen something, anything, but you have chosen the way of pain. Christopher Lee will surely hunt you down and toss you from the highest of the Two Towers. You know of what I speak. THE END

ALL OTHER CHOICES IN THIS STORY CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE...I said this was an experiment, not a full fledged story. If you want more, leave a comment to let me know if this experiment has either succeeded or failed. Your thoughts are very much appreciated.

What a test! This is how it feels sometimes to pick a single score for the long drive each day. It is the pains of choice we face in our art of collecting film music.

Story Time

Dear Readers,

It has been too long since I have posted an original story on any of my blogs.
This story will be about film music. It will be entitled “The First Listen”. It is, like most of the other stories I put on blogs, a stream of consciousness, first draft. Enjoy...
---
The windowless media room was darkened in silent anticipation for the ceremony of the first listen. Every time Paul purchased a CD, he would retreat to his man-cave, a specially designed audio chamber which cost the equivalent of a small mansion in France. He would carefully release the disc from its shrink wrap, scalpel away the security label (if present) and with gloved hands remove the CD from the jewel case. The next part of the ritual is most critical, when the disc is at its most vulnerable. Any slight jostling could end up marring the disc and terminating the whole ceremony in an agonizing instant.
He removed the Logitech universal remote control from its place of honor and switched on the audio mecca. “One remote to rule them all”, as Paul was fond of saying. He had thrown out all the remotes for his many devices, for he hated clutter as much as he hated scratching his discs.
Portly Paul gingerly placed the disc into the high end stereo system. He removed the gloves and placed them back into their dust-free, anti-static container. His throne awaited. It was custom made for a neutral acoustic qualities. Food and drink were strictly prohibited from the score cave, with the notable exception of Paul's favorite snack food, Milk Duds.
With the Duds and universal remote control in hand, Paul eased into his leathery throne. The ceremonial first listen was mere seconds away.
Paul collected film scores for nearly the entirety of his four decades on earth. The collection contained mostly compact discs, but also had room for records, cassette tapes, eight tracks, reel-to-reels and even some optical prints. The current purchase and focus of the ceremonial first listen could find a place among the greatest film scores ever written, or end up in “the pile”, a purgatory of a plastic bin for film music not worthy of the shelves. Thus far, only three scores had ever ended up in the black bin, along with the extra remote controls.
Paul cracked open the Milk Duds and sampled some before pressing the play button on the remote control. Nothing happened. He set the snack aside and trudged on over to the receiver. He turned up the volume and heard nothing from the large speakers or the woofers. Paul checked the speaker selection switch. He realized he had accidentally switched the “A” set of speakers to off; a simple fix and short delay to the ceremony.
He pressed the button to turn on the set of “A” speakers. The speakers' diaphragms convulsed at the bursts of hideous sound. The surrounds shredded away from the frames. The voice coils exploded, shooting shrapnel throughout the room. Poor Paul had forgotten to turn the volume down on his receiver before pressing the “A” button.
Paul stopped the disc, took it out of his ruined player, and tossed the score into the dreaded black bin.
Paul cursed under his breath, “Yet another damned Remote Control.”

Writers, Composers, Artists: How to Write, Read and Listen

One piece of advice which seems to be offered many times to many an aspiring author is this: read a lot. This is a good piece of advice, but it can be expanded to this: read, write and listen.

Some of the best writers who ever lived read the works of other writers. The library, whether at home or in a public setting, offer the modern writer a vast array of ideas. To study great works is to understand them better. This type of study can fortify the aspiring wordsmith's own creations, by the examples set by others in the field.

Authors, artists and musicians used to learn how to draw, paint or write stories or music through the study and copying of the works of the great masters. J.S. Bach learned many a musical theory by copying manuscripts by hand. Many of his personal copies of manuscripts survive today, and have been used by students throughout the centuries for study.

If using the hand was good enough for Bach, then it should be acceptable for the current student to do the same. Sadly, it seems that the concept of copying by hand has gone out of favor. Thinks are often done solely on the computer. There is no interaction of hand and paper with a keyboard and mouse.

Writing and reading are two clear ways to strengthen the creative output. Listening is the third in this little trinity of good art. The concert hall is still the ideal method of enjoying music. There are some things that a disc or audio file can never recreate; the live, human element. To see people come together and make music as a unified group is an amazing thing to see and hear. This applies to all groups, small or large, or even soloists.

Bernard Herrmann listened to the works of Charles Ives in concert, and was inspired by Ives use of modern musical techniques; polytonality, microtones, tone clusters and more. (Chaerles Ives is a very interesting fellow. He made money at composing and at the insurance industry. Ives would be an interesting topic for later posts.)

In order to write a good story, compose a great piece or paint a masterpiece, by all means read, write and listen. Don't forget to enjoy it all along the way.

Listening to the Doctor

I saw the doctor the other day, and was rather pleased with what I found.

I decided to see the doctor again. And again.

Who is this Doctor of which I write?

Who indeed.

The British science fiction show Doctor Who has always been somewhat of a mystery. It was never embraced in the house of my youth. It was written off as some bizarre concoction of those crazy limeys across the pond.

What captured a spark of interest in the program recently can be attributed somewhat to Murray Gold's work on the new series. His episodic music seemed to capture every right nuance of the show's smart and quirky dialogue. Gold's arrangement of the Doctor Who Theme, written by Ron Grainer, was well worth purchasing the compilation disc released by Silva.

There is an ample amount of music on the album. The disc covers portions of season one and two of the reformed show. Also included are two source songs sung by Divine Comedy front man Neil Hannon. The music itself is a mixture of styles, performed by a combination of acoustic and synthetic instruments.

The listening experience is varied, since this is a compilation album. There are some genuinely interesting tracks scattered throughout. "Cassandra's Waltz" is an off-kilter number for piano and synthesizers. "Madame de Pompadour" evokes a more somber atmosphere, with its simple, music box like melody over strings.

A solo, wordless voice (Melanie Pappenheim) sings over electronic bass accompaniment and strings in "Doomsday", the longest track of the album. This opening section leads into a restatement of the theme with greater accompaniment; drum kit and guitar kick up the piece rhythmically speaking. The whole piece is dominated by the harmony for the theme, such as when the cello (electrically modified?) takes over briefly as the soloist.

Like the show, the album is worth looking into. Murray Gold's soundscape for the show has enhanced the entertainment value of the Doctor's exploits for the entirety of the relaunch, and this disc exemplifies well why and how.

Score One for Randomness

It is sometimes difficult to pick a score or two to take for the road. I still use CDs as MP3 players lack a certain personal aesthetic value.

I gaze at my meager collection of 500 and wonder "what shall I listen to today?"

Things were much simpler back in the early days of my hobby. I can recall owning only a handful of scores, playing them over and over. Those were the days when the public library had more film music in their catalogs than I owned. I would occasionally borrow a disc or two, though their copies were soiled and scratched beyond belief.

Today, I look at composers first, then type of film score. There are times I end up not choosing anything. This seems to be the case more and more. Paralysis by analysis as they say...

So I decided a score at random the other day. I ended up with Shirley Walker's "Memoirs of and Invisible Man".

I had not listened to "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" for years; I could not even remember it's sound. Regardless, I hoped it would be a suitable distraction from the daily commute.

As I listened to this score in the car, I began to wonder about the composer, her life and works. The score, in part, recalled Walker's work with "Batman", which I chose for the next day's ride. These two scores have sparked a certain level of interest in Shirley Walker, to uncover some more of her works.

Sometimes, I pick a good listening experience with careful consideration. This random selection, though, afforded me a good, reflective listening experience.

Ten Minute Thoughts

These are ten minute thoughts, written and published in ten (or so) minutes.

There are many film score options on the market. There are limited releases, commercial releases, online and in-store releases. There are rereleases of older releases. Disc upon disc and byte upon byte of releases. New ones come in, older ones are phased out. They are bought, traded and sometimes discarded. One day, they are rare, priceless items. The next day, they are dime a dozen. Collections are built or destroyed around these releases.

With all this talk of what, how, when and where, one thing is easily overlooked...why.

Does one copy of any item differ so greatly from another? Does a fan need to continually update a collection based on what a producer decides to release with new material? When does a fondness of film music turn into an obsession?

This side of the peanut gallery will remain silent but for the sounds gently wafting through the air from my little stereo.

Ah, the joys of soundtracking.

Film Score Frenzy

It was a muggy day in Los Angeles. A film score fan was not the one to step outside in such dreadful weather. Instead, he decided to listen to some tunes. He ventured into his large soundtrack vault and stood dead center of the darkened, windowless vault. On each wall were shelves up to the ceiling, each filled with hundreds of titles. He stared at the shelves for hours, hoping one title would pop out and demand a personal audience. Not a single disc called out to him; the silence pounded like a timpani in his skull.

Or perhaps it was timpani he heard after all? He rushed over to the nearest score featuring the instrument, John Barry's Zulu. He picked it off the shelf and examined the case. The disc was still there. The drums has stopped. Moments passed like a Lion in Winter, with nary a timpani to be heard. Zulu was the Wrong Box. The man slid the jewel case back into its slot on the wall as the drumming began again. With the sound of drums in The Deep and the Mercury Rising, the fan continued his search. He would solve this Enigma, he told himself, even if it took him Until September to do so. He continued to Walkabout the L-Shaped Room, destined to Never Let Go of The Chase.

The percussive Vibes traveled up, down and Once Around the poor fan's spine, making a Deep Impact on his psyche. Suddenly, the fan had a Brainstorm. The drums must be from James Horner's Jumanji. He purchased that score while on vacation in A Far Off Place with fellow Volunteers. He rushed to the Horner aisle in the vault to pull The Forgotten score Up From the Depths of his collection. Unfortunately, Jumanji was not the source of the heavy pounding. “Heaven Help Us” the poor fan shouted as Testament to his despair.

Seconds later, the Runaway drums appeared, like Magic. Once again The Lonely Guy's mind was Under Fire. The pounding Leviathan from the recesses of his score collection drove him to The Edge of insanity. He continued The Pursuit of The Shadow of The Vanishing drums. The sonic Poltergeist led him to his Jerry Goldsmith collection, where once again The Haunting sounds ceased.

He Wanted to find the source of the drums. Instinct and Pure Luck led the poor fan to the Forbidden Zone of his collection, Danny Elfman. “Anywhere but Here”, he told himself as he strolled down the Notorious aisle. How could A Simple Plan as listening to a CD over a glass of warm Milk turn into a Mission: Impossible? He would need to take Extreme Measures to stop the drums from driving him Psycho.

“Catch Me If You Can!” thundered the drums to the fan. Like Heartbeeps, the drums murmured on, leading the crazed fan, like a fish on a Hook, through the CD vault. He stopped Midway between the Rosewood door and the Movie Images wall when the drums knocked him off his feet. What once seemed Far and Away was now beating him into the ground, an Earthquake-sized force. He knew that his calls for help would go unanswered; he was Home Alone. The beast of a noise had him in its Jaws. He would have to be as strong as Superman to get out of the John Williams section alive.

Although he was between The Rock and a hard place, he knew all he needed was The Power of One to set him free. Something's Gotta Give, and it was not going to be him. The Fan dashed to the only section he knew would drown out the drumming, the section where Angels and Demons dwell. He would break The Pledge to never enter The Ring, if only to stop the Black Rain of noise. “I'll Do Anything”, he convinced himself as he entered the dark circle. It had been more than Nine Months since he stepped foot in cold Zimmer country. The Chill Factor in that corner of the vault was incredibly high.

Nevertheless, he grabbed the first CD within reach and threw it into the nearby surround system. He punched it to the highest volume and waited for sonic salvation. Moments passed and nothing happened to quell the onslaught of percussion. He looked at the stereo, which had shut down and refused to turn on again. The poor sap had tried to draw too much power from the circuits and has thus blown all the Transformers.

This is the Website...

Red Barber was right. Just ask Vin Scully.

Long-time Dodger announcer Scully learned from Barber, his mentor from their days in Brooklyn, that the announcer should never be a “homer”, that is, openly root for the team which pays the salary. Be neutral, keep opinions out of the game.

As Joe Friday would say, “All we want are the facts...”.

Dodgers and Dragnet aside, this idea is very important to the renewal of ReelMusicOnline. The articles featured here must be as neutral as possible, sticking to facts whenever possible. This site has no place for rumor mongering or reputation destruction. The stories that you will read here will be true.

Truth and neutrality are wonderful assets, but they don't cover all the bases. RMO will strive for literary excellence. Police reports are full of nonpartisan facts, but they don't hit the best-seller lists. This site's main goals are to entertain, educate and enlighten its readers. Boring articles are still boring whether they are true or not.

A good piece of literature should engage the reader in a number of ways: emotionally, intellectually and literally. Journalism, whether in print or online, is nothing more than good, instant literature. Whereas a book may take its time to get to the point, journalism must make a strong case immediately or lose out to more appealing fare.

RMO also appreciates other voices and will not object to publishing the works of other film music fans. The only catch is that articles must follow the same basic RMO rules of truth and respect.

With that, ReelMusicOnline is back. Play Ball!

Breaking the Silence

Life is full of distractions. The trick is to properly sort them into priorities.

This site has slipped into silence for far too long, for reasons far too long to list.

My goal is to write here once a week. They may not be long posts, but what I strive for in writing is quality, not quantity.

Do not fret. This site will return. Eventually...