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Yeah, the music was totally the reason people went to see this film
Quick, what do Super Mario Brothers, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Halo, The Legend of Zelda, Pirates of the Caribbean, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, Tetris and Beethoven's 5th Symphony all have in common? You probably started humming the music to them as soon as I mentioned them (and they’re all in my iTunes library which shows how much of a geek I am). Now I’m going to tell you why.
There are hundreds of movies, TV shows, and video games that have “great music”. But, what sets the music I’ve mentioned apart is what makes sure you keep humming the music long after you’re done watching/playing; they have a very prominent theme. A theme, or motive, in music is usually the smallest identifiable part of the music. It is the cornerstone to the rest of the music, and the rest of the piece develops around it. When done right, the music will have a certain connection to itself, and will feel like it all fits perfectly.
Now, this is all well and good in a strictly music arena, but when moving to a medium where music is secondary to a story, a theme becomes more of a tell for a character. This goes back to an old concept called Leitmotif, or a theme used to associate with a certain character, place or concept. Many composers use this compositional technique to make the music more closely connect to a character, and feel more ingrained in the story. Whenever Indiana Jones cracks his whip, you can hear his theme play; when Captain Jack Sparrow saunters onscreen, you hear his theme. This becomes a calling card of the character; you expect to hear it, and you gain the necessary emotion when you do.
The games/movies I mentioned at the beginning are some of the best at this (in my not-so-humble opinion). The music is so important to them that they tie the work together. What would Link be without his signature tune playing? Would Lord of the Rings have the same impact without Howard Shore’s music? John Williams is one of the best at this. Many of his soundtracks have such catchy themes that you simply expect whenever you think of the movie. This keeps the audience (or player) thinking about the experience long after its over. This is the power of having a good composer onboard your movie/video game/TV show. Its another level of caring about the experience.
There are hundreds of movies, TV shows, and video games that have “great music”. But, what sets the music I’ve mentioned apart is what makes sure you keep humming the music long after you’re done watching/playing; they have a very prominent theme. A theme, or motive, in music is usually the smallest identifiable part of the music. It is the cornerstone to the rest of the music, and the rest of the piece develops around it. When done right, the music will have a certain connection to itself, and will feel like it all fits perfectly.
Now, this is all well and good in a strictly music arena, but when moving to a medium where music is secondary to a story, a theme becomes more of a tell for a character. This goes back to an old concept called Leitmotif, or a theme used to associate with a certain character, place or concept. Many composers use this compositional technique to make the music more closely connect to a character, and feel more ingrained in the story. Whenever Indiana Jones cracks his whip, you can hear his theme play; when Captain Jack Sparrow saunters onscreen, you hear his theme. This becomes a calling card of the character; you expect to hear it, and you gain the necessary emotion when you do.
The games/movies I mentioned at the beginning are some of the best at this (in my not-so-humble opinion). The music is so important to them that they tie the work together. What would Link be without his signature tune playing? Would Lord of the Rings have the same impact without Howard Shore’s music? John Williams is one of the best at this. Many of his soundtracks have such catchy themes that you simply expect whenever you think of the movie. This keeps the audience (or player) thinking about the experience long after its over. This is the power of having a good composer onboard your movie/video game/TV show. Its another level of caring about the experience.
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You're humming the music right now aren't you?
The soundtracks to the Star Wars saga serve as an especially great model on this; there are a few overarching themes to each trilogy that connect the three, and a few themes that connect all six movies. However, each movie also has its own character and tone that the music brings it. I guarantee any self respecting Star Wars fan would be able to hum the theme to their favorite scene from each movie. And would any Star Wars video game be taken seriously without John Williams accompanying soundtrack?
Mario (and his music) deserves special mention for not only developing a theme that is recognizable the world over, but being able to translate that into a variety of different scenarios. Mario goes karting, plays sports, has epic RPG adventures, rescues the princess, and with each there is an abundance of music that builds on the established themes we first heard in Super Mario Brothers over twenty years ago. This broadens the established game into a part of an empire. The music becomes a piece of nostalgia, an integral part of Mario himself. This goes beyond just plain music scoring, almost into the realm of brand recognition.
Mario (and his music) deserves special mention for not only developing a theme that is recognizable the world over, but being able to translate that into a variety of different scenarios. Mario goes karting, plays sports, has epic RPG adventures, rescues the princess, and with each there is an abundance of music that builds on the established themes we first heard in Super Mario Brothers over twenty years ago. This broadens the established game into a part of an empire. The music becomes a piece of nostalgia, an integral part of Mario himself. This goes beyond just plain music scoring, almost into the realm of brand recognition.
I may be heaping praise on this method of composing, but I do not feel it is the only way. There are many games and movies with great music that does a great job of establishing an atmosphere, but with no one theme that sticks out. Many of my favorite games fall in this category (Shadow of the Colossus, Mass Effect, the Elder Scrolls series). The Final Fantasy series is known for having amazing music and as for movies, so does the Matrix trilogy (actually I never saw the third one so I cant comment on that one) but can you remember how the music went? Can you hum the melody right now?
There is something to be said for music that augments a film/game without distracting the audience from the rest of the experience. It all depends on what the director is going for; whether they want the music to stick out or exist as background noise. I would argue that music with a great prominent theme (and subsequently the movie or game its contained in) tend to be more theatrical, more colorful, perhaps a bit melodramatic. They stand out more, they catch the player/viewers ear, and they focus their attention. I promise to go into this more at a later time, but you get the idea for now.
With all of that being said, let me show you a bit of what I mean when I talk about establishing a them for a given piece of music. Being unemployed has left me with an overabundance of free time. Currently, I’m finding places to volunteer while working on small scale projects, but nothing long term. A friend of mine pointed out that since I spend a lot of my time writing music others want (or at least, I will be), now would be a great time to write something for me.
So, here is what happens when I have a week of free time. I took two of the themes from an old string quartet I wrote years ago, and added several more. The process of taking something old and making it new was a great one, and it was nice to be working on a large scale project again. I did run into one major problem, I can’t stop editing! Every hour or so, I’ll decide its done, then want to do just one more pass through on the percussion line to make sure everything is in its place. Then, on a second play through I think of a new section I want to add, and before you know it I’m another day into the project.
My remedy is to include the sections I cant seem to fit into this piece (written for full orchestra with piano) into arrangements for other ensembles. This in turn has made me begin to revitalize the original quartet, which I hope to bring up to the standards I’ve set sometime soon.
There is something to be said for music that augments a film/game without distracting the audience from the rest of the experience. It all depends on what the director is going for; whether they want the music to stick out or exist as background noise. I would argue that music with a great prominent theme (and subsequently the movie or game its contained in) tend to be more theatrical, more colorful, perhaps a bit melodramatic. They stand out more, they catch the player/viewers ear, and they focus their attention. I promise to go into this more at a later time, but you get the idea for now.
With all of that being said, let me show you a bit of what I mean when I talk about establishing a them for a given piece of music. Being unemployed has left me with an overabundance of free time. Currently, I’m finding places to volunteer while working on small scale projects, but nothing long term. A friend of mine pointed out that since I spend a lot of my time writing music others want (or at least, I will be), now would be a great time to write something for me.
So, here is what happens when I have a week of free time. I took two of the themes from an old string quartet I wrote years ago, and added several more. The process of taking something old and making it new was a great one, and it was nice to be working on a large scale project again. I did run into one major problem, I can’t stop editing! Every hour or so, I’ll decide its done, then want to do just one more pass through on the percussion line to make sure everything is in its place. Then, on a second play through I think of a new section I want to add, and before you know it I’m another day into the project.
My remedy is to include the sections I cant seem to fit into this piece (written for full orchestra with piano) into arrangements for other ensembles. This in turn has made me begin to revitalize the original quartet, which I hope to bring up to the standards I’ve set sometime soon.
The piece is very theatrical, (perhaps a bit too much?), but I like it. I intend this to be part of a larger suite, and that eventually there will be a story to tell. For now, picture a man in a boat traversing an immense ocean. He is both on a journey but lost on his way, hence the title, Adrift. Listen to the main theme, which is stated first at around 0:36, then comes back at 3:11, 6:09 and 7:06. Pay attention to how subtle (or drastic) changes in the same melody can make you feel very different things.