View Single Post
  #9 (permalink)  
Old Jun 30 2008, 4:18 PM
Omri Lahav Omri Lahav is offline

Omri Lahav's Avatar

Composer for Media
Group: Members
Joined: 19-May 08
Posts: 42
Member Number: 4797
I didn't have time to read all previous replies, so I hope I won't repeat too much

Anyway when I want to analyze a score the first thing I do is look for contexts,
what theme is associated with which character/place/event/notion etc...
And then look for recurrences and variations,
for instance in the "Lord of the Rings" score by Howard Shore (just an example),
the motiff for the "Ring seduction" (basically a low-end rhythmic pattern) can be heard often throughout the score, elegantly entwined with the Shire theme (when Bilbo, Frodo or Sam are being seduced), with the Fellowship and Gondor themes (when Boromir is seduced) etc...
Try to figure out "why" (not "how") the composer wrote things as he/she did.

Listen for anything distinct, be it instrumentation, rhythm, sound, etc,
sometimes even a thing as overlooked as panning can have a meaning in a certain context.

And the best advice I can give you is don't bother with bad scores.
Only study good scores from good composers and orchestrators.
A few simple and yet good scores to start with would be Cinema Paradiso (E. Moriconne), Conan the Barbarian (B. Poldouries), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (M. Kamen), or Harry Potter I (J. Williams).

Good luck,
Omri.
__________________
Omri Lahav - Composer for digital and stage media.
OmriMusic@hotmail.com
www.OmriLahav.com

Last edited by Omri Lahav : Jun 30 2008 at 4:20 PM. Reason: typo(s).
Reply With Quote