Greetings! ScoreKeeper here feeling rather studious in the wake of absorbing pages upon pages of information from a trio of new books released earlier this year that might percolate the fancy of many film music enthusiasts.
Film music is not a subject that publishers clamor and claw to compete for the latest and greatest new titles. I remember the day when you could count the entire catalog of film music related books still in publication on one hand. With interests in film music booming over the last two decades so too has film music related publications.
During the past year, I've had in my possession three new books on film music that I have found to be quite exceptional. With Christmas and other gift-giving holidays rapidly approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to write a trio of book reports just like I used to do in school…(except this time I won't bullshit my way through them).
JOHN BARRY: THE MAN WITH THE MIDAS TOUCH by Geoff Leonard, Pete Walker, and Gareth Bramely
Are you a fan of John Barry? Ok, stupid question. Well, if there is one thing the film music community sorely lacks are in-depth biographies of popular and admired film composers. There are a few titles at large and they're all riveting reads. Perhaps one of the most comprehensive and interesting composer biography to hit the shelves in recent memory is JOHN BARRY: THE MAN WITH THE MIDAS TOUCH written by Geoff Leonard, Pete Walker, and Gareth Bramley (you know with three authors it has to be good!).
Leonard, Walker, and Bramley escort you on an amazing journey through the life of John Barry. It covers in great detail Barry's early years in music where he focused his musical energies on his own jazz group, The John Barry Seven, and takes you through each decade as he transforms not only film music but musical theater, jazz, and pop arranging as well. It even chronicles the most comprehensive account of who really composed the James Bond theme that I've ever encountered. It's chock full of photographs, reprints of performance programs, post production scripts, movie posters and other artifacts galore that guide you on your journey.
It's written more like a textbook than a traditional biography which allows you to easily skip around targeting what interests you most.
Not every film composer out there, even the very best, deserve to have such a tome written on their behalf. John Barry, however, is just such a person who has led a life interesting enough to reward those who dare take a peek.
THE REEL WORLD: SCORING FOR PICTURES by Jeff Rona
This is the second edition of Rona's popular book targeting those interested in tackling the industry for themselves. THE REEL WORLD: SCORING FOR PICTURES has been considerably revised and expanded since the coveted first edition.
Rona breaks up the book into several sections: The Creative Process, Technology, and Career. Within each section are multiple chapters outlining a variety of topics including how to set up your studio, developing your own style, tricks to optimize workflow, and how to make money, just to name a few. While there have been several attempts by other authors to crack the mysteries of the film music industry and revel them in layman terms for novices to understand, few have succeeded. Rona's book is second only to Fred Karlin's ON THE TRACK (which is my favorite book on film scoring ever written). While ON THE TRACK is very technical and can be a bit cumbersome and intimidating for those new to the field, Rona's book is very approachable and easily understood.
What's doubly great about Rona's achievements is that you don't have to be a novice to gain ground with his book. Even seasoned veterans can learn from his stories, advice, and methods and employ them in their own practice. I particularly found his sequencing tips and workflow methodology to be of most benefit.
This book is a must own for anybody currently working in the business regardless of their experience or level of professional education.
KEEPING SCORE by Tom Hoover
I love interviews. It's the surest and most accessible way to gain insight into a particular film score. I've devoted a large portion of my writing for AICN to conducting interviews because I feel it's leagues better to hear it straight from the horse's mouth whenever possible.
With KEEPING SCORE, Tom Hoover (founder and producer of ScoreNotes.com) has assembled one of the largest collections of film, television, and video game composer interviews I've ever come across. They're succinct yet informative and insightful. Tom asks the expected questions but also delves into some off-beat inquisitions just to keep it interesting.
In this book you'll get interviews from:
Film Composers
Brian Tyler
David Newman
Andrew Lockington
Marco Beltrami
Geoff Zanelli
Tyler Bates
Alex Heffes
Theodore Shapiro
John Murphy
Nicholas Hooper
Mark Kilian
Ramin Djawadi
Bruce Broughton
Craig Safan
Television Composers
Murray Gold
James Dooley
Christopher Lennertz
Michael Levine
John Ottman
Nathan Barr
Bear McCreary
Stu Phillips
Video Game Composers
Marty O'Donnell
Winifred Phillips
Inon Zur
Cris Velasco
Jesper Kyd
Jason Graves
Kyle Eastwood
Richard Wells
Abel Korzeniowski
Scott Glasgow
Simon J. Hunter
Assaf Rinde
Boris Elkis
Clinton Shorter
Whew!...That's a lot of interviews. The book is real straight forward. Questions are asked. Questions are answers…and there are many of both.
I'll be honest. I'm not as voracious of a reader as I want to be. When I read, the book better be damn good. Lucky for me and the film music community, these three most definitely are!
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