Terrible Film Scores

[btriangle]

Since there are so many great movies out there with great soundtracks, its really hard to get a sense of what a bad soundtrack sounds like.

So i figured if you guys have anything to share about a bad soundtrack you heard once in a movie, leave your post here, and i'll watch the movie just to hear how bad that soundtrack is.

Heres an example of one -

The Childrens Crusade (terrible soundtrack, im not even sure how i came about watching this movie lol. The film repeated the same "Recording" 5 times within the same movie. Besides that, it wasn't even fitting for that scene, and was just bad.)

[IKONiC]

Pick random songs. Just go through any style of music and pick the first one you see. Like if you have an emotional scene, pick a rock song for no reason. Pick a bunch of random tracks that don't fit. Doesn't have to sound "bad" rather than out of place.

[Mystery-Moon-Pie-Aud]

I don't really know. I mean, a lot of older crappier movies have music that sounds like it came straight from a Casio piano and basic wave sounds just bashed together. But usually soundtracks for higher production movies seem to fit.

[Mrmilkcarton]

Top Gun had the worst soundtrack probably because it played the same two songs one too many times.

[Krank]

The soundtrack to the first mainstream porn ever. "Deepthroat"

many say it was a good soundtrack, It turned my stomach a little

[Krank]

oh yeah, the rocky horror picture show's soundtrack was some of the most stomach turning musical garbage I've ever listened to

[btriangle]

Oh i just found a new one, Lady hawk. Great movie, incorrect soundtrack, by putting in rock.

Oh and A Knights Tale at some points, again with the incorrect soundtrack at points by having rock.

[nathanallenpinard]

In the name of the King. Every bit of music in that was epic, which became out of place too many times.

[nathanallenpinard]

Oh and A Knights Tale at some points, again with the incorrect soundtrack at points by having rock.'

That isn't "incorrect" that is a change of style to keep things interesting. It works at times. Look at the BSG soundtrack, it consists of taikos and duduk with classical elements, which most people would expect a more sci-fi synth inspired score.

Or look at Firefly (Serenity), where the score is entirely based on grass roots country, in a space setting.

The style doesn't matter. Any style can fit with any genre if done right. What matters is the content, and whether it fits the scene. You don't want some epic score where two peoplel are talking in a room (In the Name of the King did this lol)

[PeterSatera]

Drive. It sounds sooo amateur. Im pretty sure I can hear edirol orchestra all the way through it.

[nathanallenpinard]

At 11/25/09 08:27 AM, PeterSatera wrote: Drive. It sounds sooo amateur. Im pretty sure I can hear edirol orchestra all the way through it.

ROFL

[Calamaistr]

movies like the rock, and many more that have the same crap theme from the same crap composer.

[nathanallenpinard]

At 11/25/09 10:46 AM, Calamaistr wrote: movies like the rock, and many more that have the same crap theme from the same crap composer.

The rock is a fairly unique theme, and probably one of the better hard hitting scores of that era. Those modern patriotic themes are excellent from zimmer and HGW.

I'm curious, which film composer are you a fan of?

[btriangle]

At 11/25/09 08:27 AM, nathanallenpinard wrote:

Oh and A Knights Tale at some points, again with the incorrect soundtrack at points by having rock.'

That isn't "incorrect" that is a change of style to keep things interesting. It works at times. Look at the BSG soundtrack, it consists of taikos and duduk with classical elements, which most people would expect a more sci-fi synth inspired score.

Or look at Firefly (Serenity), where the score is entirely based on grass roots country, in a space setting.

The style doesn't matter. Any style can fit with any genre if done right. What matters is the content, and whether it fits the scene. You don't want some epic score where two peoplel are talking in a room (In the Name of the King did this lol)

I agree in a sense, but personally, I would have never put a song as famous as Queen "We will rock you" in a film that takes place in the middle ages. If the composer created their own songs and they put in guitars to give a rock feel, sure, i dont care about that, thats totally understandable for that type of film.

The mood did fit, thats for sure, but personally i think it took away from the movie when you saw a film that took place in the middle ages, and you heard a song by Queen played in the background. Especially when they had the people in the court actually singing and performing with the song, that just made it worse.

Btw in the name of king was a hilarious movie, my favorite part was with the fucking random ninjas lol. I died at that point.

[Syntrus]

At 11/24/09 10:24 PM, Mrmilkcarton wrote: Top Gun had the worst soundtrack probably because it played the same two songs one too many times.

No Top Gun had one of the best soundtracks ever for that reason!

[nal1200]

At 11/25/09 08:34 AM, nathanallenpinard wrote:

At 11/25/09 08:27 AM, PeterSatera wrote: Drive. It sounds sooo amateur. Im pretty sure I can hear edirol orchestra all the way through it.

ROFL

I use Edirol. You just hurt ma feelings :(

Though I suppose it's alright in the sense that i'm not making money from film scores with it.

[nathanallenpinard]

Yeah, but would you use Edirol for a score of a feature film you got paid say....200k to do?

[NOTunowned]

sicko, by michael moore, inferior music for inferior cuban healthcare system

[PeterSatera]

At 11/26/09 02:04 AM, nathanallenpinard wrote: Yeah, but would you use Edirol for a score of a feature film you got paid say....200k to do?

lol! Exactly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dupBCdKLI AE&feature=related
Im telling you...i can hear it. lol From 3:10 Plus. It's the spiccato strings that are so obvious.

Plus The Rock...wtf. The Rock is a superb soundtrack!

[Khuskan]

At 11/24/09 10:48 PM, Bjra wrote: oh yeah, the rocky horror picture show's soundtrack was some of the most stomach turning musical garbage I've ever listened to

That's the point?

[Calamaistr]

At 11/25/09 11:20 AM, nathanallenpinard wrote:

At 11/25/09 10:46 AM, Calamaistr wrote: movies like the rock, and many more that have the same crap theme from the same crap composer.

The rock is a fairly unique theme, and probably one of the better hard hitting scores of that era. Those modern patriotic themes are excellent from zimmer and HGW.

I'm curious, which film composer are you a fan of?

Well i strongly disagree with that, zimmer is a complete amateur who barely has any innovation when it coms to music.
He might have some skill in effects, he's more of a 'technical' modern composer than an 'actual musician'.

I cant call myself a 'fan of any film composer, im a fan of actual composers such as fauré and bach.
i did like the soundtrack for 'the curious case of benjamin button' and half of the album from 'old boy, was very enjoyable.

[PeterSatera]

At 11/26/09 10:19 AM, Calamaistr wrote: Well i strongly disagree with that, zimmer is a complete amateur who barely has any innovation when it coms to music.
He might have some skill in effects, he's more of a 'technical' modern composer than an 'actual musician'.

I cant call myself a 'fan of any film composer, im a fan of actual composers such as fauré and bach.
i did like the soundtrack for 'the curious case of benjamin button' and half of the album from 'old boy, was very enjoyable.

Thats why there is that line difference between film scores and a more classical take on music. To say he's amateur at what he does is ridiculous though, he's one of the most famous and liked film composers ever. I dont like Bach, and I dont really like Faure. However I do appreciate what they have done. To simply turn up your nose to an obvious skilled musician is close-minded. Just because it's not your taste does not class it as bad. As someone who makes a variety of different genre's yourself, you may want to remember there's a difference in personal preference and appreciation for any artist.

[nathanallenpinard]

What people that don't particularily like film composers like zimmer need to realize, is the job isn't just writing awesome music, it's also writing the RIGHT music. Zimmer is hired for his powerful modern scores simply because it fits. Some of his later stuff after Batman Begins I don't like too much. Mainly because he's spreading the load.

Zimmer did some of the better work back in the day with Broken Arrow, Backdraft, Crimson Tide, etc. That was a definitely action score sound that everyone related to. This is when he was paired with HGW or Nick Glennie Smith.

Knowing what kind of music to write for a certain scene is key, and not everyone can do that.

Also, for those really bashing the shit out of him that I see on this an other forums. You also have to realize that the deadlines are HORRIBLY short for stuff like this. You may think you write superior music to them, but can do you write your best work for a 2 hour film in 2 weeks? It's tougher than it sounds (the deadlines vary obviously)

Also, most composers that are more traditional, and use pencil and paper write "sketches" of their themes, and maybe a chord progression, and then they get sent to an orchestrator, which really is the unsung hero of the true "sound" the composer gets. Williams and Elfman are these people as well.

Zimmer however, due to his massive DAW use, writes every note (and of course some of his team) rather than send them off to an orchestrator. Having a DAW gives you much more control over your work that way. And then you send the MIDI files to a transcriber and get it printed to manuscript.

So really, there are a lot of variables in film scoring. It's not just about how good the music is, but what kind in what time index, and how fast they need to get that out the door. it's not like simply writing an opera or a full symphony.

However, that being said. Mozart also worked for "the man" so he often had the same problems...AND GUESS WHAT FOLKS, HE WAS BASHED FOR IT TOO. I quote from Amadeus: "Too many notes."

[nal1200]

Hans Zimmer

He did the score for Modern Warfare 2. I think I agree with Nathan in saying that it was what the people were looking for/expected, but it wasn't really anything special to me.

[nathanallenpinard]

At 11/26/09 01:06 PM, nal1200 wrote: Hans Zimmer

He did the score for Modern Warfare 2. I think I agree with Nathan in saying that it was what the people were looking for/expected, but it wasn't really anything special to me.

No, and there was about 9 other people that worked on it, INCLUDING Nick Pheonix (founder of East West) and Thomas Bergensen (working on East West Hollywood Strings) and I think John Powell but I'm not sure about that.

It's adaptive though, and when you created adaptive (or interactive) music, it's hard to keep the writing interesting by itself. There's cool elements in the score, and there are a few decent tracks (that I posted) but most of them are loopy.

The other complaint by most people in the business is they SMASHED the crap out of the dynamics in that score. There's almost none at all.

[Calamaistr]

I sense that every time i critisise hans zimmer (and i dont do that out of my own 'preference' but out of his lack of musical insight, and i already said he is a good technical composer but not a good musician) some of you suddenly grow high heels, is it accurate if i call that fanboyism?

[btriangle]

However, that being said. Mozart also worked for "the man" so he often had the same problems...AND GUESS WHAT FOLKS, HE WAS BASHED FOR IT TOO. I quote from Amadeus: "Too many notes."

Sire: theres too many notes, just cut a few and it'll be perfect :D

Friggen love that line :D

[Calamaistr]

The movie Amadeus is very inaccurate on the persona of mozart.

[btriangle]

At 11/26/09 02:37 PM, Calamaistr wrote: The movie Amadeus is very inaccurate on the persona of mozart.

We all know this, who cares. Its still a really good movie.

[nal1200]

At 11/26/09 02:37 PM, Calamaistr wrote: The movie Amadeus is very inaccurate on the persona of mozart.

You mean to tell me he didn't really fart in public?