Zimmer is very accomplished at his technique; he uses it to great effect. I was hoping that his Last Samurai soundtrack didn't sound as similar, though. It is a similar movie to Gladiator so maybe he was told to provide a lot of these elements again (solo vox over pedal tone, ethnic perc, etc.). Then again, he uses these techniques a lot anyways.

Whenever I sit down to write something towards this end of the spectrum I usually end up listening to JW's Seven Years in Tibet after Zimmer, Eric Serra, even David Arnold, etc.

I find it very difficult to write with electronic timbres mixed in to something that is supposed to sound symphonic, so I have to hand it to Zimmer and his team for successfully blending the two. Years ago after hearing Broken Arrow I went and did some work that sounded like that for some industrials; that was fun and in the end quite appropriate, but nowadays that stuff just comes off sounding cheap to my ears. Especially Point of No Return (ugh), or Serra's La Femme Nakita. So I suppose that I'm biased because this 80's sound has been done to death. Granted the newer stuff sounds better because there's more real orchestra in these soundtracks (like Serra's Fifth Element, which I really like) but when someone requests instrumentation beyond extra ethnic flutes or percussion (rock guitars, rock drums or electronics mostly) it is tough for me to sell my own ears on it.

Clark

clarkcontrol

I felt as if I was under some outside control, yes, for a moment.

This business of being requested to do something "like" - I also find disturbing. Probably why I cannot function as a normal film composer. My response is - "I do things like me. If you don't like that, hire the other guy."

Another job gone...

William,

I look at it as a fun challenge (or I try to). I do lots of different kinds of music stuff to fill my week: during the day I'm a mild mannered (ha) jazz, modern, and ballet accompanist and at night I put on my cape (tux or whatever) and play jazz, rock, and country gigs.

Part of what keeps me going is the opportunity to try different things all the time. While I have to push outside of my comfort zone more than I'd like to sometimes, I can always find a little bit of myself in whatever I do.

Ideally, someone will hand me a project and say,"We need music" and leave everything to me. Naturally, that's the best. Usually, they'll have a temp score that I will need to draw certain elements from.

Clark

@Omega said:

I was listening to the Gladiator Soundtrack the other day, and I noticed Hans used some kind of Celtic drums (not totally sure if thats what they are). Does anyone know where I can purchase them? Thanks.

If you're looking for a medieval sounding drum sound, I think the Celts were using Frame drums. I've recorded and programmed a frame drum and you can download it for free in GS3, GS2 or Kontakt format. There's also a Peruvian Tarka available for free. Kontakt programming was done by Alan Lastufka.
http://www.herman-witkam.com/raw/

Wow, these samples sound pretty good. Nice work, I really like the sound of the Frame Drums. Nice FX as well, sounds good for a horror flick [;)].

I've just uploaded a demo using the Tarka flute:
http://www.herman-witkam.com/audio/submitting_to_the_mountain.mp3

Very interesting piece Herman. [:)]

Thanks.
Just when you think there's an end coming to it:

Tin Whistle v1.0 GS2.5
------------------------
- Fully chromatic Sustains (/w vibrato modelling)
- Sustains EXP patch
- Staccatos
- Fluttertongue & Trills

http://www.herman-witkam.com/raw/

Herman, how did you record those instruments?

a Rode NT1a condenser mic, an attic with some acoustic treatment, and straight into the Tascam FW1884 interface (Pre-amps & AD converters).

heh, you make it sound easy.

Well, if it was really easy everyone would be recording right now [:D] It takes some planning, getting a musician, watching those levels coming in. The last you need is clipping on your recordings. You want to record around -3 dB (digital), minimise all kinds of possible noise. Lots of takes got messed up by motorcycles, or the noise of a fluorescent lamp, so record everything you need multiple times. Especially short notes that you might want to create round robin patches for.