Film music happens to be one of my greatest passions in life, so it's always nice to see that there are others who take an interest in it as well :)
I must say I also like Potter's comments as well although I have absolutely no idea who she is either!
Vangelis's score for Bladerunner is easily his lifetime masterpiece; I'm normally not a great fan of electronic instruments in film music, but this score really helped me to hear how electronica can be used appropriately within certain contexts. Sadly his later music becomes extremely dependent on the synthesizer which tends to date his 80's sound pretty badly, and you can really tell that he doesn't actually know how to read music at all! Sadly I haven't seen Talk to Her yet, but I've been meaning to see it for some time.
I must say that my biggest gripes about modern soundtracks is the prevalence of popular songs to appeal to a mass audience that displace instrumental cues that actually make the film memorable. Then there's a tendency for film music to either veer into the "electronic wall of sound" approach which usually involves a synthesizer, a "screaming" electric guitar/bass, and a couple of drum loops to come up with some sort of techno mishmash. The other is a phenomenon which I dub sappy strings syndrome in which a composer mostly relies on strings and occasionaly a piano to overexaggerate the emotion of the scene. There are usually some very dull melody lines with lots of simple thirds and fifths for harmony that tend to resolve quite nicely with the strings overly relying on vibrato to "heighten" the emotion.
But I'm getting off topic here. If you want any soundtrack recommendations I'd be happy to make them.
You're welcome :D
I must say I also like Potter's comments as well although I have absolutely no idea who she is either!
Vangelis's score for Bladerunner is easily his lifetime masterpiece; I'm normally not a great fan of electronic instruments in film music, but this score really helped me to hear how electronica can be used appropriately within certain contexts. Sadly his later music becomes extremely dependent on the synthesizer which tends to date his 80's sound pretty badly, and you can really tell that he doesn't actually know how to read music at all! Sadly I haven't seen Talk to Her yet, but I've been meaning to see it for some time.
I must say that my biggest gripes about modern soundtracks is the prevalence of popular songs to appeal to a mass audience that displace instrumental cues that actually make the film memorable. Then there's a tendency for film music to either veer into the "electronic wall of sound" approach which usually involves a synthesizer, a "screaming" electric guitar/bass, and a couple of drum loops to come up with some sort of techno mishmash. The other is a phenomenon which I dub sappy strings syndrome in which a composer mostly relies on strings and occasionaly a piano to overexaggerate the emotion of the scene. There are usually some very dull melody lines with lots of simple thirds and fifths for harmony that tend to resolve quite nicely with the strings overly relying on vibrato to "heighten" the emotion.
But I'm getting off topic here. If you want any soundtrack recommendations I'd be happy to make them.