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Forum - General Questions |
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Question
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Advice about making my first soundtrack
Hi- I'm a composer who just finished my first feature-length score, for a local independent
comedy called At Best Derivative. I was thinking of producing a short run of a soundtrack
album, just to sell at the premiere and to friends, but I haven't bought a lot of soundtracks,
so I wondered if you could help me figure out what people expect:
- Do people prefer cues exactly as they are in the movie, or alternate album arrangements?
For example, I have a scene which starts with source music (radio in a restaurant), and then
goes into orchestral (as the drama builds). Would people rather hear a full version of the radio
track, and then the orchestral alone, as two separate tracks, or would they rather hear the
scene as it is? Or, for another example, if I have 5 small cues that are all variations on the
same musical material, should I string them together (smoothly, I guess) into one long cue,
or should I just include the one or two longest ones as they are and leave out the others?
- If I wrote a longer version of a theme, and then the scene was cut down, shall I include the
full-lenth cue, or will people be confused to hear music that wasn't in the film?
- Also, should I include really short unrelated cues- like a 30 sec. TV show theme, etc.?
- And- do most people only want to hear the melodic bits (credits, themes, montage music,
action music, etc.), or is it worthwhile to include more ambient underscorey selections too?
Thanks so much for your thoughts! I would go to a local indie record store to ask these
questions, but first, I don't know if there are any local stores that are knowledgable about
soundtracks, and second, I have to finish the last few scenes for the movie...
benjiemesser, January 22, 2009; 12:05 PM
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Answers
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IMHO, I'd suggest the following:
- Include full lenght cues. Even if they were cut down in the movie - that's not your fault.
- I wouldn't include unrelated cues or source music.
- If you have a bunch of short variations, it's up to you to decide, if they are interesting
enough (or important to you) to edit them to a more or less "normal" length. Lots of short
repetitions are very often tiresome.
- Alternate tracks are a nice addition if they are featured as "bonus" tracks.
- The original order of the cues, as they appear in the movie, is preferable. But very often, a
shift in the order makes a more consistent and convenient listening experience.
Just my two Cents. Good luck!
David
coma, January 22, 2009; 4:50 PM
Sorry, not to get off topic, and I certainly don't want to seem hateful, argumentative or just
generally rude (it's not my thing really), but I have to ask:
Shouldn't someone (particularly a composer) with even a faint interest in scoring films have
at least a small treasure trove of film score CD's at his/her disposal already? If for no other
reason than they are the ideal reference material from the leaders in the industry - honestly,
as an aspiring film composer myself...I don't know what I'd do without my collection.
Anyway, I know I hate it when cues are truncated or multiple cues are oddly edited into a
single track (newer John Williams CD's are horrible about that). I'm also a bit of a complete-
ist so I love it when I get the entire score on a CD (or two).
In the end it's all about personal taste - yours, and your (potential) listeners. Some people
enjoy the complete score in chronological order, others are perfectly happy with arranged
CD's. In the end...it's just up to you.
shehan23, January 23, 2009; 2:07 PM
I agree with Coma. What I would do tho with the short cues is to make a suite out of them.
symetrisg, January 23, 2009; 4:45 PM
Thanks
Thanks for your thoughts, you who responded! I'm glad I found this forum, and I'll be putting them to use shortly-
And sheehan, you're right, I probably am unusual to be a composer interested in film music and not own many soundtracks. They are quite a resource, it's true.
And if anyone on this board is in the Phoenix area, we're screening the movie here on March 6- or is that spamming? If so, sorry---- I'm just so excited about it-
benjiemesser, January 24, 2009; 4:38 AM
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