The Struggle Behind the Soundtrack

Do you want to pick up a light saber whenever you hear John Williams’ Star Wars theme? Get the urge to ride into the desert and face down steely-eyed desperados to the refrain of Ennio Morricone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? Does Hans Zimmer’s Pirates of the Caribbean score have you talking like Jack Sparrow?
From the Westerns of the 1960s to current blockbusters, composers for both film and television have faced new challenges—evermore elaborate sound design, temp tracks, test audiences and working with companies that invest in film score recordings all have led to creative sparks, as well as frustrations.
Drawing on interviews with more than 40 notable composers, this book gives an in-depth analysis of the industry and reveals the creative process behind such artists as Klaus Badelt, Mychael Danna, Abel Korzeniowski, Walter Murch, Rachel Portman, Alan Silvestri, Randy Thom and others.

Stephan Eicke was editor-in-chief of the only European film music magazine, Cinema Musica. He co-founded the CD label Caldera Records, and has taught classes in Germany, the Netherlands, Kenya, Ghana, and Belgium. He lives in Germany.

Stephan Eicke
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 227
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7631-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3700-6
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction 1
The Sound of Change 3
Sir, You Are Standing on My Toe, Sir 22
Lieutenant Gadget 50
Something Familiar, Something Similar 78
Turn Down the Sound, I Can’t Hear the Music 105
Let’s Do It Together! 130
The Hans Method 153
Instead of a Fireman 178
Summary 202
Chapter Notes 205
Bibliography 209
Index 211

“Perspectives are informed and well-intended…Eicke’s book is a very interesting one by investigating a topic not elsewhere covered in film music books and daring to point a spotlight at struggles that lie within the film music workplace.”—Musique Fantastique