Zimmer Fans

[HornMeister]

I just listened to the Da VInci code and I must say Im impressed

Any one out there care to share their first impressions?

[Neilfactory]

I saw Crimson Tide yesterday (8 times!) and i must say that INCREDIBLE movie>Actor [Love Gene Hackman Denzel Washington, Vigo Mortensen...ANd one of my favorit director= Tony Scott (!)] and WHAT A AMAZING SCORE!Hans Zimmer explode!Every time i saw this movie, every time i 'm "shocked".Action is wonderful, cameras are impressive...

ANd

Incredible.


http://lionel.bansept.club.fr/divers/crimsontide.gif


>Neil.

[chocothrax]

You watched Crimson Tide for almost 16 hours yesterday?

[Neilfactory]

I watched it 8 times, yes, i have many DVDs (400) and i take a train every days for going to work and every time i watched movies, i bought small DVD player so i watched my DVDs collection=)

My record is AMADEUS>16 times.No words could say how i feel when i watched it.

>Neil.

[HornMeister]

wow thats insane

i take it someone likes movies

[dcoscina]

It's a good film IMO although borrows from the much superior John McTiernen film Hunt for Red October with a great Russian flavored score by Basil Poledouris. Highly recommended.

[james hansson]

I saw Crimson Tide yesterday (8 times!) and i must say that INCREDIBLE movie>Actor [Love Gene Hackman Denzel Washington, Vigo Mortensen...ANd one of my favorit director= Tony Scott (!)] and WHAT A AMAZING SCORE!Hans Zimmer explode!Every time i saw this movie, every time i 'm "shocked".Action is wonderful, cameras are impressive...

ANd

Incredible.




THE BEST SCORE & THE GREAT MOVIE

[XGener8or]

I don't think he watched it 8 times in a row :) But that it was the 8th time he watched it, right Neil?

[doug hazelrigg]

Speaking of Hans

On Sunday I watched Gladiator on DVD. On the "Bonus" disc there's a lengthy interview with Hans -- anyone seen this? Hans is very liekable on this disc

As for the music... I know people rave about it. For me, it's a bit uneven... the parts that utilize the fermale singer are exquisite... in fact, according to hans, many of those cues were improvised while watching the rough cut. For me, some of the action cues are a bit derivative, almost cariacatures of such cues.

What's cool about the interview is his DAW is clearly visible on teh screens in the background. Looks like Cubase and maybe Creamware? Also, there's a long shot of what looks like one of thjose Arturia synth plugs

[doug hazelrigg]

BTW, I could swear those are some of the same dramatic sequence cues in Gladiator and Crimson Tide

[chocothrax]

In all the interviews i've seen of Hans he seems like a very nice guy. In contrast every time I see Danny Elfman he looks strung out and is often swearing. :)

[pappagheno]

thought we was talking about da vinci code ;)

have the cd but..before to go to any conclusion I would prefer t osee the film..

anybody has information about the production ?
how long it takes to do the score etc ?

btw..

someone was saying is scary .. red an article that was saying they censored teh music ..

hey are they for real ?

I mean is it just a commercial thing to ppump up the film ?

for me was should be "scary " would be something similar to Wozzeck or Elektra ..or even the Bluebeard's Castle ( I am talking about hte operas of course ) here we are quite far from that ..even if is very well done..


any clue ?

[Harpya]

What's cool about the interview is his DAW is clearly visible on teh screens in the background. Looks like Cubase and maybe Creamware? Also, there's a long shot of what looks like one of thjose Arturia synth plugs

Regarding the DAW: He uses Cubase SX 3 on a quad Xeon machine running Windows with 4 GB of Ram. The samples come from his own library that runs on Gigastudio on several servers (in fact they fill a seperate room). The audio is recorded into a MAC running ProTools.


anybody has information about the production ?
how long it takes to do the score etc ?

Hans wrote almost all the cues for Da Vinci Code without having seen the movie while they were in middle of filming. Instead, he based it mostly on his conversations with the director and - to a lesser degree - on the book. One of the goals was to help establish "the thinking" that is what mostly defines the main character Robert Langdon as "action". As always, the production was finished on the very last minute on a wednesday morning at 4 o'clock. :D The scoring itself took place in a church in London (Air studios) .

[WoodIsGood]

Hans wrote almost all the cues for Da Vinci Code without having seen the movie while they were in middle of filming. Instead, he based it mostly on his conversations with the director and - to a lesser degree - on the book. One of the goals was to help establish "the thinking" that is what mostly defines the main character Robert Langdon as "action".

One of the most difficult things I've run into in my very tiny, little scoring experience is establishing what is not apparent visually. Getting a character's thoughts across to an audience via music can be a daunting task. I can imagine it's even more challenging when you don't have the images to assist you as it seems Zimmer did not for much of his writing. I don't know, maybe it actually helped keep his mind clear! Can't wait to hear the music with the film.

[LAcomposer]

I've listened to Da Vinci Code now twice. Ive got to say that its a very good score. Its moody and atmospheric, and doesnt seem to call too much attention to itself (of course ill have to see the movie to determine that). But I'm more excited to see the movie now that I've heard the music. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked Hans's Last Samurai score.

[pappagheno]

I've listened to Da Vinci Code now twice. Ive got to say that its a very good score. Its moody and atmospheric, and doesnt seem to call too much attention to itself (of course ill have to see the movie to determine that). But I'm more excited to see the movie now that I've heard the music. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked Hans's Last Samurai score.

well was waiting to see the film to say my opinion..

I think that the film is .. not good as the book ..adn not really well directed .. the music is great .. was not sure when I heard the cd what to expect.. unfortunally the music doesnt look like is been used properly ..if u listen the cd u expect more dramatic moment ..and the film ..is not enought dramatic at all.. too bright ..most of the time.. even London .. hey ..this is not LA.. here we have the rain in august...

it start very well also if the pictures are always too big without too many close up too avoid probably too much suspance that would mayeb rate the film 16 ? dont know.. but in the end teh camera is showing the sets without discovering the space.. like a documetary for some point of view.. so the music is going to fill this gap ..but cannto do it completely..

fructus gravis and beneath alrisha are the best track IMHO
Beneath alrisha in particular use great use of samples ( think I heard some of that samples on Kontakt as well..)

the bad side is that the music seem sligtly different on the film.. there is a point where the music is getting lower and a weird sound get in letting look like submerging sound..(when they are running away from the church in Holborn..) on the film u cannot hear that fine detail that is been changed with another electronic sound :(

when they get into wesminister the chorus of the last track is used and faded with another track.. look like as someone said the music was not written looking at the film..
It works most of the time ..well every music can work .. if well put.. but .. I think iwould give the score 9/10
the film 6/10

the film is worth to see at least for IanMckellen (great performance) or Bettany talking latin at a mobile phone :)

but the cd is better..

[WoodIsGood]

well was waiting to see the film to say my opinion..

I think that the film is .. not good as the book ..adn not really well directed .. the music is great .. was not sure when I heard the cd what to expect.. unfortunally the music doesnt look like is been used properly ..if u listen the cd u expect more dramatic moment ..and the film ..is not enought dramatic at all.. too bright ..most of the time.. even London .. hey ..this is not LA.. here we have the rain in august...

OK, I just saw the Da Vinci Code and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I disagree with the comments above that it was "not well directed". I felt quite to the contrary. Won't go into detail about the film because this is a film MUSIC board, but I thought the score was very powerful, dark and thoughtful. Several people I saw it with made comments about the music and they are not musicians, they just thought it was a good soundtrack. Zimmer seemed to capture the thoughts of the characters quite nicely and did a good job setting up the drama. The orchestra is rich, not at all synthy, completely unlike Gladiator (which I liked for different reasons). I'll go out on a limb and say it's his best score to date. :)

[PaulR]

OK, I just saw the Da Vinci Code and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.

You enjoyed it? Did you think it was a good film also?

[pappagheno]

You enjoyed it? Did you think it was a good film also?

well..

I noticed that who didnt red the book like the film..that's probalby the difference..

even if the music is etxcellent ( adn use a lot of sinthesizer effects..) i think the director ( listening to the CD) didnt make the best out of it..

and I ma saying this without being a fanatic about Zimmer..

but .. try to think what the film could be directed from Scott ...

think about Hannibal..

I disagree about splitting a discussion between score and film directing..
if you write for film u should be able to read the cinematography as well the orchestra score..

[CHORD]

Good movie, great soundtrack...I am going to buy it after work today.

[Sequent]

As I've mentioned in another thread, they had to "mess with" the way the music was used in the film in order to tone it down in order to avoid an "R" (I guess) rating in the U.K. because the music was considered much too intense.

That probably "killed" it. Not only in terms of the music itself, but probably in the way in which it affected the movie. Such a shame.

I look forward to the dvd release where I hope that they restore things to their proper balance. I don't know that they will make that effort for the dvd, but it sure would be nice.




well was waiting to see the film to say my opinion..

I think that the film is .. not good as the book ..adn not really well directed .. the music is great .. was not sure when I heard the cd what to expect.. unfortunally the music doesnt look like is been used properly ..if u listen the cd u expect more dramatic moment ..and the film ..is not enought dramatic at all.. too bright ..most of the time.. even London .. hey ..this is not LA.. here we have the rain in august...

it start very well also if the pictures are always too big without too many close up too avoid probably too much suspance that would mayeb rate the film 16 ? dont know.. but in the end teh camera is showing the sets without discovering the space.. like a documetary for some point of view.. so the music is going to fill this gap ..but cannto do it completely..

fructus gravis and beneath alrisha are the best track IMHO
Beneath alrisha in particular use great use of samples ( think I heard some of that samples on Kontakt as well..)

the bad side is that the music seem sligtly different on the film.. there is a point where the music is getting lower and a weird sound get in letting look like submerging sound..(when they are running away from the church in Holborn..) on the film u cannot hear that fine detail that is been changed with another electronic sound :(

when they get into wesminister the chorus of the last track is used and faded with another track.. look like as someone said the music was not written looking at the film..
It works most of the time ..well every music can work .. if well put.. but .. I think iwould give the score 9/10
the film 6/10

the film is worth to see at least for IanMckellen (great performance) or Bettany talking latin at a mobile phone :)

but the cd is better..

[Sequent]

Doug, which version of the DVD are you referring to? I was looking at the 2 disk version but didn't see any reference to a music discussion. There is also a super-duper 4-disc version.

I might pick this up - not having ever seen it, but I don't think I want to go as far as getting the super-duper everything-but-the-kitchen-sink version. Not having ever seen the movie, I'm kind of interested and the regular dvd isn't too bad of an investment.

Being familiar with the music now, it will also be interesting to hear how it's used.



Speaking of Hans

On Sunday I watched Gladiator on DVD. On the "Bonus" disc there's a lengthy interview with Hans -- anyone seen this? Hans is very liekable on this disc

As for the music... I know people rave about it. For me, it's a bit uneven... the parts that utilize the fermale singer are exquisite... in fact, according to hans, many of those cues were improvised while watching the rough cut. For me, some of the action cues are a bit derivative, almost cariacatures of such cues.

What's cool about the interview is his DAW is clearly visible on teh screens in the background. Looks like Cubase and maybe Creamware? Also, there's a long shot of what looks like one of thjose Arturia synth plugs

[Sequent]

Also wanted to add that I REALLY like The Last Samurai soundtrack. Another case where I never really saw the movie... not a big TC fan. But recently received a copy from a friend, who urged me to watch it, and I must say... I loved the movie overall.

The soundtrack is great and what I also like about it is the tender moments. The loud moments are great too, and it's nice that there is a balance between both. But the tender moments are in places exquisite. Very melancholy in places, like something broken/something lost is being invoked... which, of course, suits the movie quite well.

:cool:

[Sequent]

I've seen several older of those dvd interviews with Hans. On The Lion King and on Spirit. At that time he was still using the older version of Cubase 5.x. (yuck!!! - SX3 is much nicer to say the least).

But... at that time the Arturia stuff did not yet exist and on the screen he had the Native Instruments Pro-x and FM7 if I remember correctly.

He also had a nice collection of hardware synthesizers, including a Q rack (rock on, Hans!), an NL3, and a Virus. As well as his modular system. There were other synths too, but I only name the ones I knew from sight.



Regarding the DAW: He uses Cubase SX 3 on a quad Xeon machine running Windows with 4 GB of Ram. The samples come from his own library that runs on Gigastudio on several servers (in fact they fill a seperate room). The audio is recorded into a MAC running ProTools.



Hans wrote almost all the cues for Da Vinci Code without having seen the movie while they were in middle of filming. Instead, he based it mostly on his conversations with the director and - to a lesser degree - on the book. One of the goals was to help establish "the thinking" that is what mostly defines the main character Robert Langdon as "action". As always, the production was finished on the very last minute on a wednesday morning at 4 o'clock. :D The scoring itself took place in a church in London (Air studios) .

[Harpya]

The whole back wall of his new composing room (see the clip in the other thread) consists of his old synthesizers, including huge modulars. They all work, lights flashing all the time, but he mostly consideres it "the most expensice wallpaper in the world". :D

[Sequent]

Yeah, you have to have a few lights around in order to impress the clients. Firing up a vsti just doesn't seem to work as well.

My own modular is a virtual one... the NordModKey first gen. Not nearly as impressive as Hans' wallpaper, but it IS a lot of fun. On my end I go for colors: reds, orange, yellow, and blue.



The whole back wall of his new composing room (see the clip in the other thread) consists of his old synthesizers, including huge modulars. They all work, lights flashing all the time, but he mostly consideres it "the most expensice wallpaper in the world". :D

[Harpya]

This is how the back wall looks:

http://www.analogindustries.com/blog/entry.jsp?msgid=1128063962771

Just for the record: This is not my site, and I did not take these pictures.

These pictures are from last year, apparently. The room still looks like this, except for the drumkit. In its place now stands a Boesendorfer grand piano.

[Beermaster]

I do like Zimmer's stuff but there really are some VERY similar cues in a number of his films.

The famous Crimson Tide cue existed in his score to Backdraft before that. - Which isn't a million miles from the battle scene in Gladiator ( except with more of Holst's 'Mars' in it - Maybe Mar's was the temp track on that scene ? )

BEER.

[Sequent]

Omigosh, those pictures are incredible!

I just realized what it is about that room that was catching my eye... it's that almost Art Nouveau feeling of it that makes me think of Captain Nemo's music room on the Nautilus in 20,000 Under the Sea (original Disney version). And that is a very very cool thing in my book. :D



This is how the back wall looks:

http://www.analogindustries.com/blog/entry.jsp?msgid=1128063962771

Just for the record: This is not my site, and I did not take these pictures.

These pictures are from last year, apparently. The room still looks like this, except for the drumkit. In its place now stands a Bechstein grand piano.

[Sequent]

Agreed. However, when speaking of film music, I wonder whether any of that might be due to the director stipulating that that is the kind of sound they were looking for. So, perhaps to a degree you get stuck playing the same song over and over because that's what the client wanted.

So you get stuck doing Holst's 'Mars' for example, and then just have to make the best of it.

I guess maybe that's where the 'art' lies too... how far can you stretch that envelope and still make things original.



I do like Zimmer's stuff but there really are some VERY similar cues in a number of his films.

The famous Crimson Tide cue existed in his score to Backdraft before that. - Which isn't a million miles from the battle scene in Gladiator ( except with more of Holst's 'Mars' in it - Maybe Mar's was the temp track on that scene ? )

BEER.

[HornMeister]

I guess maybe that's where the 'art' lies too... how far can you stretch that envelope and still make things original.


Ya I feel u on that

It also brings back the idea of "if it aint broke.....dont fix it" sort to say

But the guys in Hollywood are great at what they do and they will keepp us talking for years to come

[HornMeister]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5421359

[gravehill]

Guess who's doing the music for the upcoming Simpsons film!

Hint: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462538/fullcredits

[Edx]

Guess who's doing the music for the upcoming Simpsons film!

Hint: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462538/fullcredits


Why dont they get the guy who did the episode musc Alf whats his name? Zimmer isnt Simpsons to me... :confused: ...idiots.

[chocothrax]

So Zimmer is back on the Simpsons? Last I heard he was taken off or in either case you can never trust IMDB. :)

[Phantom]

Well Elfman is credited as having the main theme - so I doubt Zimmer will be re-creating that

But I am surprised that Zimmer has been chosen for such a film

[mixolydian]

Regarding the DAW: He uses Cubase SX 3 on a quad Xeon machine running Windows with 4 GB of Ram. The samples come from his own library that runs on Gigastudio on several servers (in fact they fill a seperate room). The audio is recorded into a MAC running ProTools.


Seems you're having first class informations. Maybe you can answer that one too or having any news: is the new private Hans Zimmer orchestra library ready and did Hans used it in any of the recent projects? (I read an article in an german magazine about that orchestra project, I think the interview was also available on the Wizoo homepage.)

Regards

[Harpya]

Seems you're having first class informations. Maybe you can answer that one too or having any news: is the new private Hans Zimmer orchestra library ready and did Hans used it in any of the recent projects? (I read an article in an german magazine about that orchestra project, I think the interview was also available on the Wizoo homepage.)

Regards

That I don't know. I know that it is his own custom library that he (already) uses and that they are currently working hard on (improving/expanding) it. But I don't know how far they are. When I told him that Steinberg in a few weeks is going to release an orchestra library that is going to be 27 GB in size, he said with a boyisch smile that his library already has a size of 27 terabytes. :eek: But I don't know if this is the actual size or if it was more a symbolic joke. The Xeon servers containing his library do fill several racks in a separate room, though.

[Edx]

Well Elfman is credited as having the main theme - so I doubt Zimmer will be re-creating that

Well yes I knew that. But Alf Clausen did the TV series music, and thats almost as recognizable as the theme tune.

[Nathan Allen Pinard]

Zimmer did the main theme to "The Critic". I don't think he was ever involved in the simpsons, and frankly his style wouldn't make sense with that movie.

[Harpya]

Zimmer did the main theme to "The Critic". I don't think he was ever involved in the simpsons, and frankly his style wouldn't make sense with that movie.

Just you wait... :D

[HornMeister]

Just you wait... :D


yeha Zimmer is a beast im sure he will come up with something interesting

[Nathan Allen Pinard]

If you check out the 2nd gladiator CD, it contains the demo version of the battle scene with just samples. I'm pretty sure his intention was to emulate Mars, but not rip it off.

EDIT: That was referring to the Planets reference.

As far as the Simpson's Zimmer is capable no doubt. It would be a change as he doesn't have his own style. But as I said he did The Critic so he's capable of doing the simpson.

I really would prefer they just hire Elfman though.

[chocothrax]

No I prefer Elfman get back to more dramatic movies and stop scoring goofy crap.