"Composer" versus "Original Music By..."

[MusicFan]

Ok...forgive me if this topic has already been covered somewhere - I couldn't find it. In the credits for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", Harry Gregson-Williams is listed as the Composer and Amy Lee III is credited for "Original Music". I also read somewhere once that the "composer's" contribution could be as little as coming up with the main theme for a movie - not even the arrangement of it has to be his/hers.

Where does the "composer" leave off and the "original music" writer take over in a typical movie production that involves these two players?

Thanks in advance for your insights! :)

...MusicFan...

[MusicFan]

Soooo....no takers on this topic? Am I so confused (or confusing!) that no one knows what to say?

Can I possibly have left this entire community SPEECHLESS?!! :D

...MusicFan...

[Counterpoint]

I hope I'm not rehashing all this... but here we go:

I think you're correct about the composer's role in a film. Frequently I think they are the person who comes up with the themes, melodies and possibly basic harmonies (probably in the form of a piano score) and then it's up to an arranger/orchestrator to put the final score together. In other cases, the composer does it all (John Williams, to my understanding..).

"Original Music by" can mean a few things... it could mean that another composer has contributed some themes. In the case of "Chronicles of Narnia" I think that Harry Gregson-Williams pretty much did all the work for the symphonic parts, but some of the vocal music was contributed by the others that were credited. Please correct me if I'm wrong here. :)

I think this credit is also used if the composer needs to quote a traditional/classical/popular theme, probably at the request of the director. I've seen it in other films where the composer works a recognizable theme like Beethoven's 5th symphony into the score.

It does get a bit confusing though, since different films don't seem to always use the same terminology... I could swear I've even seen the composer listed as "Music conducted by ..." before, with no mention of composing and yet it was an original score and obviously they did more than just "conduct" it.

I know some other members on this forum are quite experienced with how this all works, so maybe one of them will be kind enough to elaborate on this or point us to an earlier discussion that we can read. :)

Cheers,

- Matt

[DrDr]

Hi!
I don't know your problem. The composer does the score (theme, underscore ...).
The "Original Music" is a song performed and written for a special scene.
So Amy Lee is just a famous rock singer of "Evanescene".
Hope I was a little help. :rolleyes:

Cheers
Dietmar

[Daryl]

The thought of most film music being considered to be "original" just makes me laugh....!

D

[White Noise]

The idea of any music being considered original makes me laugh - there are a finite set of notes, chords, melodic and harmonic, motivic and rythmic options available to any composer, however infinite these may appear to be. Particularly within Western music where the popular ear is very much attuned to finding particular things attractive or pleasing. One must also remember that, as regards film music, it has been evolving over the last hundred years or so and the things that work have become very well defined, even expected.

[rJames]

The idea of any music being considered original makes me laugh - there are a finite set of notes, chords, melodic and harmonic, motivic and rythmic options available to any composer, however infinite these may appear to be. Particularly within Western music where the popular ear is very much attuned to finding particular things attractive or pleasing. One must also remember that, as regards film music, it has been evolving over the last hundred years or so and the things that work have become very well defined, even expected.

You have got to be kidding me!

There are more than 2 million ways to arrange just 8 notes. Add in the variation available with the length of the 8 notes and you have many possiblities (many).

I think we can be assured of original music for a long time to come.

[chocothrax]

You have got to be kidding me!

There are more than 2 million ways to arrange just 8 notes. Add in the variation available with the length of the 8 notes and you have many possiblities (many).

I think we can be assured of original music for a long time to come.

Take into consideration that there's millions of people making music everyday...and that's been going on for a while now. :) It's all been done before.

[rJames]

I forgot to add that many songs have more than 8 notes!! :D

But seriously folks...you can't really believe that.

I agree that we are very influenced by what we hear. Stop listening to music for a while, maybe it will help you with some fresh ideas.

You believe that music has stopped evolving? What about music in 1000 years. Will it be the same?

What about 1,000,000 years. (If the human race can survive)

[josejherring]

Ok...forgive me if this topic has already been covered somewhere - I couldn't find it. In the credits for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", Harry Gregson-Williams is listed as the Composer and Amy Lee III is credited for "Original Music". I also read somewhere once that the "composer's" contribution could be as little as coming up with the main theme for a movie - not even the arrangement of it has to be his/hers.

Where does the "composer" leave off and the "original music" writer take over in a typical movie production that involves these two players?

Thanks in advance for your insights! :)

...MusicFan...

Originality is very over rated. Mozart didn't consider himself an original composer.

As far as the credits are concerned "Composer" vs. "original music". Makes no difference. A composer can take any title he wishes. John Williams preferes "Music by" credits. Jerry Goldsmith prefered " Original music composed and conducted by" credits. Makes no difference.

Jose

[MusicFan]

Thanks to all on your feedback on this question. Special thanks to Counterpoint and DrDr whose answers specifically addressed the issue of BOTH credits appearing in the same movie.

...MusicFan...

[doug hazelrigg]

Wow, I'm surpised by the almost nihlistic attitude some of you have about creativity!

It has NOT all been done before. Just because a work has precursors doesn't delegitimize it. Even iconoclastic art has its precursors, it the sense that it is often even consciously trying to be different from them

If it HAS all been done before, I might as well just hang it up and pursue something that HASN'T been done before... like 756 Home Runs