Film Music: My Story

I’m a huge film score fan, and since my mid teens I have been continually seeking out the composers who have written the music for my favourite films and TV shows.

My interest in film music started back when I was doing my GCSE in music, and we had to write an essay on the music from a film we enjoyed. This was back in the early 2000’s and at the time one film that not only caught my eye but my ear as well was Gladiator directed by Ridley Scott and staring Russell Crowe. The music was of course written by Hans Zimmer, who I didn’t really know at the time and wasn’t, to my knowledge aware of any of his other scores.

What caught my attention with Gladiator was the power of the music and especially the “The Battle” cue, with it’s slow build up and eventual massive pay off of both power and grandeur which really helped to emphasise the visuals on screen. So I wrote my essay and I received (for me) a very rare A, I must admit here that my mum helped me form my ideas as she is also a big film score fan, so thanks ma.

So that was it, I was hooked. I started to learn about other film composers and as mentioned find out who it was who scored my favourite films and TV shows. I knew of course the Maestro John Williams because of Star Wars but as I was digging deeper I discovered greats such as James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, Patrick Doyle, the great Ennio Morricone and many more.

There was one composer though who came to be the one who I would consider my favourite of all time. This persons music got me through my uni years, when I would have three of his scores (the complete versions) on repeat whilst hunched over my laptop cursing Fletcher, Munson and their damn curve! The composer I am talking about is of course Howard Shore, and the music I’m talking about is Lord Of The Rings; quite simply my most loved scores of all time and in my opinion three of the best ever written.

I’m not going to go into massive detail here on the scores themselves as that is for another blog post or three. But suffice to say if I was stuck on a desert island and could only take three albums The Lord Of The Rings the Complete Recordings would be the ones I would choose with out hesitation.

Through the years then as I have expanded my knowledge of film music and, though I am by no means anywhere near being an expert, I have tried to turn this passion into something a bit more tangible, by writing my own pieces that I think would fit with film or TV. All the music I write comes from the experience of listening and absorbing others compositions, it comes from melodies and ideas I hear in my head and images I see; and rather than writing them down I play them in to the computer.

I’m not out to set the world on fire, I want to write music that people can engage with and music that creates images and feelings. One of the great things about the modern age we live in is that with all the technology available I am able to sit and make music on the computer and hone my skills in the privacy of my own home, which with out wanting to get to over the top is an actual blessing.

So, thanks to an essay written way back when I’m still here learning and listening and I will carry on recording my own music, it’s cathartic and it keeps me sane while I’m busy doing my day job and living life.

I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire – By The Ink Spots

Written by: Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus, Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham

Released in 1941 – Labels Victor, Decca

Website – http://inkspots.ca