One of the main reasons I want to use my Apple isn’t simply as a media workstation, or to compose music - but to compose trailer music for film and advertising.
Film trailer music is some of the most exciting and invigorating music around - sharp orchestral and choral pieces, that I absolutely love.
I’ve always chased down film soundtrack music with good choral pieces, and love those dramatic orchestral pieces.
However, while film soundtracks of the classical score are often readily available, it is remarkably difficult to get hold of recordings of trailer music itself.
Over the past few days I’ve been looking more closely at this very niche part of the industry and found that there are a small number of names who seem to dominate.
NOTE: If you ever want to find credits on a particular film trailer, I’ve found Soundtrack.net’s trailer section to be invaluable - for example, here are the tracks used in the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring trailer.
X-Ray Dog
This company has an extensive collection of music - none of which is available for sale to the general public.
However, exploring YouTube shows that X-Ray Dog has a very powerful portfolio of credits to its name: YouTube: X-Ray Dog.
For example, here’s a fan-made short covering trailers X-Ray Dog have provided music for:
For sheer power, a section of music from the Fellowshop of the Ring trailer is possibly one of X-Ray Dog’s most powerful: Gothic Power.
Truly it’s a tragedy that Gothic Power isn’t available to the public directly.
More on X-Ray Dog music:
Website: http://www.x-raydogmusic.com/
Last FM: http://www.last.fm/music/X-Ray+Dog
Pfeifer Broz. Music
Another well-credit film trailer music outfit is Pfeifer Broz. Music, which follows the same pattern of short dramatic pieces - there’s a sample trailer reel of credits below:
More on Pfeifer Broz. Music:
Website:
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Pfeifer+Broz&search_type=
Last FM: http://www.last.fm/music/Pfeifer+Broz.+Music
Immediate Music
This company is more enigmatic - on the one hand, You Tube is filled with music labelled as Immediate Music and Sountrack.net lists them as a composer credit..
However, much of the music is available on the album “Epicon” under the band name “Globus” - the suggestion being that Immediate Music positions itself more as a label, even though Yoav Goren is credited with most of the Globus music.
Either way, this is in the public domain, and while some tracks are a bit hit and miss (as though appealing to a pop structure), some of it is truly great - especially the absolutely stunning Preliator.
See how Preliator shows below as a fan-made trailer for the mediocre Final Fantasy XII film:
Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer comes up a lot as a composer credit for film trailer music - he’s also the genius behind the excellent Lord of the Rings soundtracks.
It’s hard to find truly great examples of trailer music with a Hans Zimmer credit, possibly because I haven’t searched long enough - however, the haunting piece of music used over the Pearl Harbour trailer and from the Thin Red Line film I find very powerful.
The moment the Japanese planes fly over the washing lines raises the hairs on my spine and makes my eyes water - a beautiful minimal, but powerful, piece:
Requiem for a Tower
Of course, while we’re talking about film trailer music, remixed versions of Requiem for a Tower are very popular - based on Clint Mansell’s Lux Aeterna from Requiem for a Dream.
According to a number of videos on YouTube “Requiem For A Tower Makes Anything Epic“.
Film Trailer Music - conclusion
Listening to different film trailer music helps gives an idea of the sort of arrangements and punctuation used in existing popular scores - but unfortunately, much is not available for the public to buy.
However, many of the inspirations and sources remain similar - Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna Velut Luna” from “Carmina Burana” remains an obvious template - and modern film music often provides great inspiration in itself.
Of all my collection of movie soundtracks, Conan The Barbarian by Basil Poledouris remains my clear favourite, and talking to other people, is a popular underground favourite.
In the meantime, I just have to get my X5D set up properly with my Apple and Logic Pro, and then I can really get started. 