From Beethoven to Bleeps

From Beethoven to Bleeps

Games scores differ from film soundtracks “in that they’re less linear and defined, and more responsive and reactive to the player’s moves. The music has to match emotions, conveying whether the character is happy or sad, being chased or scared, rather than the setting.” So says game composer Tommy Tallarico​, profiled in the Sydney Morning Herald to […]

Taking it on the Road

Taking it on the Road

Credibility — the final frontier. Video game music is now attracting respectable crowds of attentive concert-goers to live performances throughout North America and the world. Composer Tommy Tallarico, a veteran of 25 years, is currently cranking trax in Cologne, Germany, with the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra. As part of his Video Games Live endeavor, which has dates […]

Color Me Shocked!

Color Me Shocked!

Although they were making a movie about video games, when it came to Pixels, composer Henry Jackman and director Chris Columbus wanted to steer away from the 8-bit sound one associates with Super Mario style boing-boing, opting instead for a symphonic score.  What were they thinking? As revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “we discovered early on […]

Morris to ‘London’

Trevor Morris has signed to compose music for Babak Najafi’s political thriller London Has Fallen, a due in January 2016 from Focus Features. Morris’ previous work includes Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, The Immortals and Olympus Has Fallen.  He is represented by Chris Gutch at the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency. 

‘Ludomusicology’ Explored

‘Ludomusicology’ Explored

Ludomusicology – the study of music as it applies in videogames. I’ll bet you didn’t know it exists! Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) host Emily Reese is crazy about classical music and video game scores, and her fascinating interview with ludomusicologist Ryan Thompson explores the music of “Final Fantasy 6.” “The opera sequence itself kind of sums up, […]

This Kid is Super Talented!

This Kid is Super Talented!

Jeremy Leidhecker, of Williamsport, PA, has earned CINE’s prestigious Marvin Hamlisch Award for emerging composers. Leidhecker bested a field of more than 500 entrants.  In all,  50 countries and 40 U.S. states were represented in the contest to set a winning score to Jill Hackett’s short film, Flip, a CINE Golden Eagle-winning short film. Hamlish winners and runners-up were identified by […]

‘Fantastic 4’ Score on Spotify

‘Fantastic 4’ Score on Spotify

The Phillip Glass-Marco Beltrami score for Josh Trank’s The Fantastic Four is available for streaming on Spotify. The film hits theaters this weekend from 20th Century Fox. “What we were trying to achieve musically was the spirit of curiosity and innocence,” Beltrami told TheFilmStage.com. “We were inspired by the film’s scientific exploration from the point of […]

Trent Reznor’s ‘Strange’ New Project?

Trent Reznor’s ‘Strange’ New Project?

Will Trent Reznor’s next project be David Fincher’s Strangers, a remake of the Hitchcock classic Strangers on a Train? That was the provocative question posed by consequencesofsound.net back in January. Six months later, the Magic 8 Ball is tilting toward yes!  Although Reznor’s name hasn’t been formally attached to the project, given his history of successful […]

James Horner’s ‘Magnificent’ Legacy

James Horner’s ‘Magnificent’ Legacy

Following James Horner’s tragic and untimely death in a plane crash on June 22, it was believed his last contributions onscreen would be Antoine Fuqua’s boxing drama Southpaw, released in July, and Patricia Riggen’s Chilean miner drama The 33, due in November.  But recently, it came to light that Horner had also been working on Fuqua’s […]