First, Fink (http://forums.ffshrine.org/member.php?u=112417) for you:
Aye! A few weeks ago I was listening to the whole score from At World’s End, and i thought i really liked it, but it desperately needed a little trim. I talked about it with my dear partner in crime, and he was not really against the idea.
I don’t really like the movies, except for some top notch special effects and some beautiful pictures. They’re too long and tend to be boring in the end… So I’ve started editing music from the quadrilogy sessions, hoping everything could fit on two Cds. The point was to make it more adventurous, exciting , mysterious and romantic (yes!). Once again it’s just a matter of taste, and maybe my selection wouldn’t be yours. I had to make sacrifices, but not that often. It can be quite repetitive, or it was already used in previous Zimmer works (like King Arthur), or sometimes it was just bad…
I think the result is lots of fun and, of course, thanks to the big efforts from SonicAdventure, it sounds much MUCH better now 🙂 and this lad even helped me by sharping some of my edits and creating decent covers with funny track titles… What could I ask more?
And here I am myself:
If I would have released it yesterday, I would have written an awful rant. Because, compared to Fink, I didn’t enjoy working on this Pirates compilation as much as he did. I’ve always thought that the music was fun but dumb, lacking refinement, opting instead for as much masculin and ballsy force as possible. Contrary to what his fans think, that music doesn’t always work with the picture. So you might argue that he failed at his job. Music intended for tragic parts is rather trite and superficial. Not helping are the artificial instruments dear Hans tries to place everywhere possible. Don’t think for one minute that he uses them purely for artistic reasons, no, I’ve always suspected that the main reason is money. A smaller orchestra just costs less money. To fulfill his dreams of world dominance though he needs to fill it up with synthetic orchestra. And despite him using expensive stuff, it always sounds like some cheap ’80s music. Add to that his pop sensibilities and you end up with simple, cheap ’80s pop, trying to disguise itself as film music. However: this compilation is in my opinion the best representation of these – so far – 4 scores I’ve ever heard. Fink really outdid himself with his combinations… and I have to say: he’s gotten quite good at editing. Because I’m always paranoid about audible crossfades / editing I attempt to try and "perfect" his edits. In this case only 4 of them needed a bit of work. Mind you, arrogant as I am, I pride myself on having high standards so no one else would have done this as many people wouldn’t have noticed them. But here I am, being a stupid perfectionist… back to the music. My favourite theme would be the one for the mermaids, alternatively the one representing the mysteries of the sea (used in the 3rd for the green flash / the other side). And the one for Jack Sparrow. Of course, it’s not jaunty or swashbuckling… but who cares, it’s still a lot of fun!
My real problem was the sound. Not only did I want to match the sound of 4 different scores, I also wanted to improve their sound. I might have been successful regarding the first goal but I’m not so sure about the latter. I wanted to reduce the droning the first 2 scores are famous for (the 3rd has a weird and almost lacking bass). And I wanted to make those artificial instruments less obnoxious. I also wanted to improve spatiality, I thought it all was sounding rather flat and 2 dimensional, especially the 3rd (Boy, the OST sounds bad, doesn’t it?). To achieve all of this took me almost a whole week. I got pretty desperate after the 4th day and I started to hate everything. But working on Hans Zimmer is always like this, a lot of his scores simply sound bad and unnatural. Especially the ones where the orchestra gets bigger than usual. Hannibal did work because it is a mainly artificial score augmented with real orchestra. But for these? No. To make a long story short: the music for the 2nd movie lacks bass compared to the OST, the music for the 3rd has more bass. I only know these two scores so I can’t say about the others. If you know think that it sounds thin, you need not worry, there’s still plenty of bass.
You get three versions: one for CD, another one with MP3 and the third in HiRes (24/48). CD and MP3 sound slightly different, and true to RCP sound, they are brickwall limited. The HiRes version would be my preferred version. Compared to CD / MP3, two more tracks crossfade into each other (since it cannot be burned to CD anyway). Shall I say something about the cover? No, I just wanted to be done with this compilation and it shows.
So, have fun with our newest compilation. And please, reputation towards Fink only, my profile cannot accept points anymore, savy? 🙂
Tracklist:
CD 1
1. Welcome to the Caribbeans 8:32
2. Rum Locker & Cannibal Island 6:46
3. Tia Dalma & Davy Jones 7:08
4. Two Hornpipes (Tortuga) 1:15
5. Father and Son 4:53
6. The Kraken (Awesome, Dude) 5:17
7. Finding the Chest 1:41
8. Hearty Madness 5:40
9. Ship to Ship 2:06
10. Hello Beastie 4:47
11. Dead Man�s Chest (End Titles) 9:07
12. Hoist the Colours 1:30
13. Singapore 6:04
14. Commander Davy Jones & At Wit�s End 9:28
15. Lost Souls at Sea 5:30
CD 2
1. Up is Down (and Green) 4:35
2. Jack and Beckett 7:05
3. Sao Feng�s Demise 3:22
4. Goodbye, Norrington 4:12
5. Shipwreck Cove 0:52
6. Parlay 2:10
7. Calypso 4:58
8. Tia�s Whirlpool of Love 8:43
9. I don�t think now is the best Time 9:38
10. Love Boat 5:00
11. �It�s just good Business� 6:29
12. One Day 2:44
13. Drink up me Hearties 5:16
14. A Mermaid�s Call 8:03
15. The Colours are Hoisted 5:43
PLEASE NOTE: Please give your reputation to Fink (http://forums.ffshrine.org/member.php?u=112417)
Links FLAC (CD):
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/0ZUVSYDT/PicturePostcards_QuiteNormal.part1.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/1UMRENYA/PicturePostcards_QuiteNormal.part2.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/9BDYOVOJ/PicturePostcards_QuiteNormal.part3.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/FEFGRUMY/PicturePostcards_QuiteNormal.part4.rar_links
Password:
All_Gnarly_Savy?
Link MP3:
http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/0YZBJVEB/PicturePostcards_Small.part1.rar_links
http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/PM0LJHWK/PicturePostcards_Small.part2.rar_links
Password:
All_Gnarly_Savy?
Links HiRes (24/48):
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/1EKD1CMZ/PicturePostcards_TooDamnBig.part1.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/UTY4FMQE/PicturePostcards_TooDamnBig.part2.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/0GBN6X77/PicturePostcards_TooDamnBig.part3.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/0MFKUH9W/PicturePostcards_TooDamnBig.part4.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/1LTSRL0K/PicturePostcards_TooDamnBig.part5.rar_links
https://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/1ZQPZCC1/PicturePostcards_TooDamnBig.part6.rar_links
Password:
All_Gnarly_Savy?
A SUGGESTION: Use JDownloader instead of a browser to download this. That way, you can circumvent ads and potentially dangerous stuff.
A WARNING: Once the links expire, I won�t upload it again, someone else has to do that (maybe by creating mirrors?)
I know how being a perfectionist can be a pain – I’m a bit of one myself when it comes to audio editing. But if the final product is acceptable to a perfectionist, then it’s phenomenal to someone who isn’t. 🙂
Seems you guys focused for 87% on the third movie. Which had the best score.
Thanks for the share & effort, Fink & SonicAdventure!
"Music Mostly Composed by Hans Zimmer"
:roflheston: :roflspock:
Hopefully.
———- Post added at 08:02 PM ———- Previous post was at 08:01 PM ———-
Seems you guys focused for 87% on the third movie. Which had the best score.
Well, there is a bit more from the 2nd movie. And I love the action edits Fink did!
———- Post added at 08:03 PM ———- Previous post was at 08:02 PM ———-
No ‘Marry Me’ Suite? 🙁
You mean, when Barbossa marries Williams and Elizabeth? In that case, it�s there (I don�t think now is the best time).
And… Fink!
(Out of Character): You say you would’ve written an awful rant the day before, yet it still feels like I read one. I sincerely congratulate you two for another fine effort. I hear these scores are among Zimmer’s best, so to have them in a form like this is ideal. Thanks!
———- Post added at 05:37 PM ———- Previous post was at 05:33 PM ———-
And Lockdown, no "Marry Me" suite, indeed, it was one of the sacrifices i had to make. And i think it may have been redundant since most of the material from Marry me can be found in the movie… "Loveboat", "One day" and "Drink Up me Hearties" especially… But yes the suite was quite well done i admit.
———- Post added at 05:47 PM ———- Previous post was at 05:37 PM ———-
And indeed, a lot of music is from the third, because it indeed my favourite 🙂 But i wouln’t say 87% more 65% 🙂
(Out of Character): You say you would’ve written an awful rant the day before, yet it still feels like I read one. I sincerely congratulate you two for another fine effort. I hear these scores are among Zimmer’s best, so to have them in a form like this is ideal. Thanks!
Ah, how shall I do it? Oh, I know. I’ll turn you into a flea, a harmless, little flea, and then I’ll put that flea in a box, and then I’ll put that box inside of another box, and then I’ll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives… hahaha… I’ll smash it with a hammer! It’s brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say!
No, it’s not a rant. It is just my completely natural opinion of Hans, his music and his sound preferences 😀
No, it’s not a rant. It is just my completely natural opinion of Hans, his music and his sound preferences 😀
Puny human, there is scientifically no way one could simply transform a life form into another life form. Besides, even if such an inferior race could make such competently constructed machinery, our personal forces will hunt you down. The life of a Gem is not to be taken lightly. Fare. Well.
I sometimes read things and I end up getting a different tone and vibe than intended, which is pretty common for me. I agree that Hans isn’t really the most professional, but I still like his works.
Also, what exactly are you planning next? With various scores having been leaked these last two days, there is a lot of stuff one can work with, but that’s up to you.
Lastly, that Returns thread we were talking about a while ago has been made. Thought I should let you know.
Well, I can say this much: I will be working on ‘The Da Vinci Code’ soon. And I will work on another score before that… which I cannot name because it might be supposed to be a surprise. Besides, I decided to do it today, to have a break from Zimmer 😉
Lastly, that Returns thread we were talking about a while ago has been made. Thought I should let you know.
Returns thread? I can�t remember. Crap, I forgot something again. Help!
Returns thread? I can�t remember. Crap, I forgot something again. Help!
Ooh! Mystery Score!
Just look through my started threads.
Just look through my started threads.
Got it! Thanks 🙂
Thank you Fink and Sonic
I never really got into the PotC scores, but I’m sure (and hope ;)) this edition will change that.
Ok. What should I write then? I think "almost completely" would be fitting.
That Is Sad Really.
This Is Proberly One Of My Favs Of Your (And Combined Work) Compilations/Deluxe Albums.
I Have Manged To Collect A Fair Few (Although I Missed Some Unfortunatly) I Love Playing Them, Even Burned Some To Disc.
This Has/Will Have Many Plays, Not Only Because Its Disney But It’s A Fantastic Collection Of A Mixture Of The Best Tracks.
Thanks Again, I Eagerly Await Any Future Projects.
http://www.sharegif.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/tumblr_inline_mz09cuauLf1r8.gif
This Is Proberly One Of My Favs Of Your (And Combined Work) Compilations/Deluxe Albums.
I Have Manged To Collect A Fair Few (Although I Missed Some Unfortunatly) I Love Playing Them, Even Burned Some To Disc.
This Has/Will Have Many Plays, Not Only Because Its Disney But It’s A Fantastic Collection Of A Mixture Of The Best Tracks.
Thanks Again, I Eagerly Await Any Future Projects.
http://www.sharegif.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/tumblr_inline_mz09cuauLf1r8.gif
Thank you! 🙂
And don’t worry, there will be more projects. The next one is in the works 😉
And Holmes is always good 😀
I definitely can hear that in the musical ‘background’.
I definitely can hear that in the musical ‘background’.
Not that I know of! Though… I wouldn’t be surprised, after all it’s – partially – the same composer.
It’s what I’m used to call Dark Theme, it’s used plenty of times, such as "Logo", the beginning of "Move the Money", the ending of "Watch The World Burn" from the Complete Score.
It definitely sounds strange to hear that in POTC music :laugh:
———- Post added at 05:17 PM ———- Previous post was at 05:16 PM ———-
I mean… It’s not Pirates music that sounds like TDK music.
I guess that Fink put it in the Mix to give a more consistent ‘dark’ sound to the music…
Ok 🙂 So strange, I didn’t remember that, but I’ll give that a listen. 😀
Exactly. If memory serves correctly, there was one particular theme in the first POTC that sounded extremely similar to Gladiator.
———- Post added at 09:57 PM ———- Previous post was at 09:56 PM ———-
I go away for a couple of days and look what you come up with… Seriously, thanks 🙂 some of the PotC-scores tracks are good, but not all of them. Will be interesting to hear what you selected.
Life is full of chocolat… erm, surprises 😀
*bows in awe*
I admit, it was a bit of a stretch… but the Silvestri reference was intended. So it’s a perfect GIF.
———- Post added at 04:10 AM ———- Previous post was at 04:07 AM ———-
Thank you so much for this. At World’s End is, together with Return of the Jedi, my all-time favorite score, and it’s never sounded better or more symphonic to my ears than it is here. Some of the suite choices are brilliant too and it makes a much better listening experience than just playing the sessions or isolated tracks from them.
*bows in awe*
Thank you very much, Matt. The sound was indeed difficult. There was more orchestra compared to the 2nd and it sounded a bit odd on the sessions and even worse on the OST (and I still don’t understand why someone would master it like that). The 3rd took indeed a very long time to get right. And I’m still not entirely happy with it – but this is the best I was able to do.
———- Post added at 04:10 AM ———- Previous post was at 04:10 AM ———-
Thanks a lot Matt i m glad to hear you like the selection! I really like At World’s End too but sessions were just too long. And i don’t wanna brag about it but i think i made some good (and sometimes very subtle) edits that i m proud of ^^ Did someone notice the one at the end of "One Day" ? 🙂
There’s an edit? Oh well, I already told you countless times that I was unable to hear most of them.
It actually sounds more or less like an orchestra populated by real instruments, and that is not something I thought was even possible with these scores. I’m so used to hearing the ridiculous recording and loving the music through it anyway, that I never imagined how much better it could sound with improved mixing!
http://www.okmoviequotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2-Forrest-Gump-quotes-box-of-chocolates.gif
I admit, it was a bit of a stretch… but the Silvestri reference was intended. So it’s a perfect GIF.
u.u No Silvestri reference intended actually… just perfectly matched your post 😀
I guess you could streeeetch the Silvestri reference a bit further. As a follow up? 😉
Thanks to you both for the work.
High praise, thanks very much! 🙂
To make it sound like a real orchestra was indeed a goal.
———- Post added at 06:16 PM ———- Previous post was at 06:15 PM ———-
I guess you could streeeetch the Silvestri reference a bit further. As a follow up? 😉
Really? How? Bit at a loss right now… 🙂
———- Post added at 06:16 PM ———- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ———-
Like always–sounds stellar on my setup.
Thanks to you both for the work.
And a good setup it is 🙂
Silvestri? Follow up? As in one that he did to one we had some pitch issues with? I know, i know… sometimes i think two or three steps ahead in wordplay 😛 If you’re still one or two steps behind, we’ll stick to the chocolates and surprises 😀 i don’t want to spoil anything you’re working on
Slow on the uptake today. But now I get it. You are talking about bandaged men, right? But those were not by Silvestri… well, at least not the first one. Or the third one. Nor the inevitable reboot. And I haven’t even yet started with ‘The Mumm… ooops! 😀
That shouldn’t come to anyone as a surprise, I never hid that I want to redo certain scores 😉
The one I’m working on right now has nothing to do with Silvestri. A little bit with Goldsmith actually. And a lot more with Zimmer 😉
As always, thank you very much for your work. I know all of us appreciate the time and effort you put into it (and it shows).
– The selections/suites/mixes: one word fantastic. You exactly choose all my favorite moments from the first three scores and made some brilliant changes that make the listening experience much much better. Only point that I miss is the blackbeard and spanish theme from POTC. Those were epic / iconic themes as well and it’s weird nothing of them is incluced. Anyway I would instantly fire the team responsible for compiling Zimmer album releases since you seem way better at making a great album experience 🙂
– The new mix. I have listened to the orginal scores many many many times through headphones and my surround system. When I listened the first time it was a strange experience, especially since I am so used to the originals. After a few listens I must say that through my surround system the music sounds better, louder, bolder, more epic, more orchestral. When I listen through headphones though I constantly have the feeling I am listening to the score and a whole sound (bass) layer has been omitted while the other frequencies have been ultra trebled. When I listen to it my ears and are constantly batteling and comparing with the orignal version and I still don’t know which I like the most. 🙂 . The score still sounds amazing but it feels a bit that "the Zimmer layer" has been stripped out of it and made it more sound like a David Arnold album. The compositions still remain as good as ever though.
All in all you guys did great work on this one and it will get lots of replays the coming years.
Do you also have an mixed but unaltered "headphone edition" of this album?
Excellent suggestion, JDownloader is always good for Mirrorcreator.
– The selections/suites/mixes: one word fantastic. You exactly choose all my favorite moments from the first three scores and made some brilliant changes that make the listening experience much much better. Only point that I miss is the blackbeard and spanish theme from POTC. Those were epic / iconic themes as well and it’s weird nothing of them is incluced. Anyway I would instantly fire the team responsible for compiling Zimmer album releases since you seem way better at making a great album experience 🙂
I think, Fink deleted the Spanish theme because it wasn’t very good in the first place. Just a few days ago, I watched all the movies again after many, many years (except the first one). The first revelation was that I liked them more than I remembered. They are jolly good fun and decent entertainment (and the animation of Davy Jones is breathtakingly good). The second realisation was that the second and fourth movie are musically weak. Sometimes, the music is just badly suited for certain scenes or simply misplaced. And sometimes, themes or melodies are so bland that one can hardly recognize them alongside the movie. Like the Spanish music in the fourth. I really am glad that he excised this music.
– The new mix. I have listened to the orginal scores many many many times through headphones and my surround system. When I listened the first time it was a strange experience, especially since I am so used to the originals. After a few listens I must say that through my surround system the music sounds better, louder, bolder, more epic, more orchestral. When I listen through headphones though I constantly have the feeling I am listening to the score and a whole sound (bass) layer has been omitted while the other frequencies have been ultra trebled. When I listen to it my ears and are constantly batteling and comparing with the orignal version and I still don’t know which I like the most. 🙂 . The score still sounds amazing but it feels a bit that "the Zimmer layer" has been stripped out of it and made it more sound like a David Arnold album. The compositions still remain as good as ever though.
I know exactly what you mean. But: the original albums have way too much bass. Zimmer always has (one curious exception though: Interstellar) and this is what his detractors call "droning". On balanced headphones and even more so on bass heavy cans this amount of bass is very disturbing, it drowns out everything above. That’s why I diminished bass quite a bit. I actually didn’t raise treble that much; the frequencies amplified the most were the ones around 900 Hz – and those are the mids. I don’t apply some simple "Loudness Boost" or some crap, I look for flaws. And Zimmer recordings often have pretty strange and sometimes severe flaws. I attempted to flatten them out and I think that it sounds pretty good on most systems but still unlike a typical Zimmer score. A compromise that often happens in mastering. But I’m very confident that the sound I chose sounds better on more systems than the original sound – and that is what’s important in mastering: good sound on many systems.
Do you also have an mixed but unaltered "headphone edition" of this album?
I usually listen with several headphones and several loudspeakers and on none of them does this release sound thin. So I would be hesitant to offer something that has more bass when it’s already a bit on the bassy side. What headphone do you own?
Then as Sonic said, i don’t think the Spanish and Blackbeard themes are very good, they are way too agressive for me and don’t sound very POTC you know? They just sound like themes from any action RCP-scored movie. IMO the fourth is worth for the (gorgeous) Mermaids theme, the rest is almost only re-hashed music, and often incredibly misplaced (hearing the theme for Beckett really pissed me off).
Finally, the problem was i really wanted to make it fit on 2 CDS and i think the more music i kept from AWE, the best it was 🙂
One more time, thanks a lot for your answer!
Love this trilogy so much.
The OT definitely beats the Prequel-esque fiasco that is the linear story of Mermaids.
Mermaids was the best cue from the Spanish Fly story.
https://mega.nz/#!pAsiELTA!_O0iKFtEyChaKGT2nwH1BGOPMQzXhKEx20mzVEvYfko
I do have a question though — why the original version of "The Wedding" instead of the (IMO) more exciting film version?
https://mega.nz/#!pAsiELTA!_O0iKFtEyChaKGT2nwH1BGOPMQzXhKEx20mzVEvYfko
Excellent! Thank you 🙂
Thank you very much, Sonic and Fink!
I was at the zimmer concert in budapest on the first row just infront of the big man himself and a big ass speaker, and you should know that zimmer is a genious when it comes to live performance as well. The sound really transforms/takes you to another place, no album can compare to his live performance, thats just magic.
your presentation of the music not only the editing but how you have made the seem so authentic/real, I will never understand, if the albums was titled pirates live recording by zimmer, i would genuinely believe that because the sound, bass, the instruments the way the sound hits your ear it seems so real, very close to the live version, so that is what i am renaming the album to or calling it a pirates journey, that too would fit.
I think this is the closest I will get to a complete pirates concert so for that you have my thanks. and also one more thing thank you for adding hoist the colors suite/potc 3 end titels, it is a track that is often overlooked but it is one my favs so thanks for including that.
Now you have to excuse me, I have to go and stalk your profile for your other works, I just hope the links work 🙂
Could I request for future release if possible:
Black Hawk Down
Crimson Tide
The Thin Red Line
The mix is a huge improvement and some of me thinks that most was taken from the sessions due to a lot of material added especially at worlds end? i have separated DMC and AWE into their own albums.
From what I’ve been listening for years out of the two on the commercial albums both scores sounded complete different based on sound and also what is and is not organic, AWE being more organic.
DMC was a bit to steep in sound for me, it lacked bass and everything else was put up to 11 which gave it a very loud war of sound and it felt horrible listening to it. Such a fairly short listen turned into something that turned my stomach after finishing it.
You have improved every aspect of this with more bass which is warm and punchy without drowning the highs and mids. You have really balanced things out where you can hear things you could never hear before which was hiding in the commercial cd because of loudness. I really did enjoy DMC and I’ve listened to it twice already!
AWE was imo something a bit more impressive which raised my eyebrows several times during my first listen. The instrument separation is incredible, i can hear the strings, brass, woodwinds where i could never hear them before. It beautiful! the reduce bass is also welcome as the original cd was way way over the top and over shadowed everything. I had to lower the volume so much to a more acceptable level but then everything else would start to fade away. With your version it is so well done that i listen a little louder and still maintain everything that you have brought to the surface!
when the recording sessions were leaked a few years ago i jumped up in joy, i thought i could throw away my cds (not literally) and start to enjoy them more but i couldn’t take in the amount of short tracks for each score. It was too much to digest and felt bloated even when i deleted a lot of the short cues the sound was so unbalanced i couldn’t take it. A few tracks needed mixing together, some were louder and quieter and some sounds were completely different but i did managed to tweak a few myself but it still never ever felt like a great listen so i returned to the commercial albums as i didn’t have the patience anymore.
But now with your version i can enjoy DMC and AWE to the fullest with better mixes and incredible sound for both. I have still kept COTBP in my library thought which is shameful because of how bad the sound is.
Thank you once again for your time in doing all this. It is truly appreciative and can now rest hahaha
I was at the zimmer concert in budapest on the first row just infront of the big man himself and a big ass speaker, and you should know that zimmer is a genious when it comes to live performance as well. The sound really transforms/takes you to another place, no album can compare to his live performance, thats just magic.
(…)
I think this is the closest I will get to a complete pirates concert so for that you have my thanks. and also one more thing thank you for adding hoist the colors suite/potc 3 end titels, it is a track that is often overlooked but it is one my favs so thanks for including that.
Wow. Stunning review. I have the opinion that a live concert performance cannot be "canned". Seems I have been wrong. Though how I would be responsible for it, is beyond me as I just tried to improve / perfect what was already there, just hidden 🙂
Could I request for future release if possible:
Black Hawk Down
Crimson Tide
The Thin Red Line
From my side, there will only be one additional score by Zimmer. And that will be it, I’m having enough of him. All of his music is the same. The same modulations, the same tired synths, tonality combinations, muscular anthem-styled music… I actually am starting to get bored by all the Zimmer I did during the last months.
———- Post added at 03:53 AM ———- Previous post was at 03:46 AM ———-
After a thorough listen i gotta say I’m very impressed with what you have done sonic. I would have liked a bit more of the first pirates ;P but it does still contain many themes from it anyway.
The mix is a huge improvement and some of me thinks that most was taken from the sessions due to a lot of material added especially at worlds end? i have separated DMC and AWE into their own albums.
From what I’ve been listening for years out of the two on the commercial albums both scores sounded complete different based on sound and also what is and is not organic, AWE being more organic.
I think, Fink took most of it from the sessions. I remember that he only used the respective OSTs to fill up gaps.
DMC was a bit to steep in sound for me, it lacked bass and everything else was put up to 11 which gave it a very loud war of sound and it felt horrible listening to it. Such a fairly short listen turned into something that turned my stomach after finishing it.
You have improved every aspect of this with more bass which is warm and punchy without drowning the highs and mids. You have really balanced things out where you can hear things you could never hear before which was hiding in the commercial cd because of loudness. I really did enjoy DMC and I’ve listened to it twice already!
The OST for DMC misses bass? That is news to me; it has so much bass that it drowns out everything else 😀
Regarding the balance I chose… I think it might in fact a bit too treble-y. And I’ve thought replacing the upload with versions having a bit more deep bass.
AWE was imo something a bit more impressive which raised my eyebrows several times during my first listen. The instrument separation is incredible, i can hear the strings, brass, woodwinds where i could never hear them before. It beautiful! the reduce bass is also welcome as the original cd was way way over the top and over shadowed everything. I had to lower the volume so much to a more acceptable level but then everything else would start to fade away. With your version it is so well done that i listen a little louder and still maintain everything that you have brought to the surface!
when the recording sessions were leaked a few years ago i jumped up in joy, i thought i could throw away my cds (not literally) and start to enjoy them more but i couldn’t take in the amount of short tracks for each score. It was too much to digest and felt bloated even when i deleted a lot of the short cues the sound was so unbalanced i couldn’t take it. A few tracks needed mixing together, some were louder and quieter and some sounds were completely different but i did managed to tweak a few myself but it still never ever felt like a great listen so i returned to the commercial albums as i didn’t have the patience anymore.
I don’t like to listen to pure sessions either. They don’t present music at its best. All very technical stuff, good for people with a craving for fade-ins and fade-outs. The "flow" gets lost and music ends up being fragmented. Not the best thing to listen to.
I’m very glad that you like what Fink and I did 🙂
No, I wasn’t really tired of him. I just had very few scores of his I liked. And working on these compilations gave me a chance to personally sample the hype his music generates within certain circles. I wanted to know what’s behind it, if, what I and others have been saying over the years, is actually true. And I discovered… well, it sort of is, his capabilities seem – to me at least – indeed limited. I don’t say that his music is bad, listening to some parts of Dead Man’s Chest or At World’s End is pure fun and I’m enjoying it tremendously! And the Mermaid theme… a beauty.
But last weekend I watched King Arthur by chance. And the music sounded like a mixture of Last Samurai and the first Pirates. Utterly boring, regurgitated shit. And then DMC is the same: the first Pirates copied, augmented by thinly veiled 80s pop songs without a soloist. You can actually hear the part the percussion was supposed to play in a song by, don’t know, Simple Minds or Chris de Burgh.
But I will stop, because I could go on. And everything I just wrote has been written by others. And they did it much better.
Fair enough haha. There are other things I’ll miss as well of course; Beckett’s arrival at Port Royal, the monkey jump scare after Jack finishes chatting with Bootstrap in the Rum Locker, "Palm Tree Escape," "South of Heaven’s Chanting Mermaids," and most of all the Angelica suite. I get that there had to be cuts somewhere though, especially since you were shooting for a 2 CD run time.
Really, beyond those bits and bobs listed above, this set has just about everything I could want and I’m sure that going forward this will be my go to POTC album. I look forward to giving it a good round of replays in the coming weeks. 🙂
———- Post added at 08:27 PM ———- Previous post was at 08:22 PM ———-
No, I wasn’t really tired of him. I just had very few scores of his I liked. And working on these compilations gave me a chance to personally sample the hype his music generates within certain circles. I wanted to know what’s behind it, if, what I and others have been saying over the years, is actually true. And I discovered… well, it sort of is, his capabilities seem – to me at least – indeed limited.
I don’t know if it’s really about limited capabilities so much as a composer who rarely lives up to his potential. At least, that’s the way I tend to look at it.
Looking forward to your Da Vinci Code in any event! 🙂
it is true that allot of zimmer score has commonalities. In my humble opinion not fact, I think it has allot to do with the hollywood system that deprives the composers their creativity with the studios sampling the movies to other scores rather than new creativity. This is the reason the potc 4 lacks themes, the new director didnt want any new stuff and wanted the old stuff from the previous movies which is why zimmer is leaving the potc franchise as a main composer.
Zimmer music/style/sound is very copied it is something that is not just his, we hear it allot remember the brass sound from inception. Which why it looses some of his touch. Me personally am a very big zimmer fan been for 10 years +, but my favorite score from last year was from a composer called armand amar and his album Human and this year so far Uncharted 4 – A Thief’s End (2016) by Henry Jackman (even though he does big marvel movies, this score is his best work i think) and got season 6.
Simple: my favourite Zimmer score. Especially the way it’s presented on the OST. The mixture of gothic atmosphere and elegant bombast mixed with opera… stunning. Ironically though, the piece you mentioned, is the one I regard as being the weakest piece of the score.
it is true that allot of zimmer score has commonalities. In my humble opinion not fact, I think it has allot to do with the hollywood system that deprives the composers their creativity with the studios sampling the movies to other scores rather than new creativity. This is the reason the potc 4 lacks themes, the new director didnt want any new stuff and wanted the old stuff from the previous movies which is why zimmer is leaving the potc franchise as a main composer.
Zimmer music/style/sound is very copied it is something that is not just his, we hear it allot remember the brass sound from inception. Which why it looses some of his touch. Me personally am a very big zimmer fan been for 10 years +, but my favorite score from last year was from a composer called armand amar and his album Human and this year so far Uncharted 4 – A Thief’s End (2016) by Henry Jackman (even though he does big marvel movies, this score is his best work i think) and got season 6.
I think the situation is a bit more complex. Not only the director decides where what music is put, decisions are also made by producers, CEOs, music supervisors, etc. I very much assume that they have several discussions as a group and that they, in the end, decide for the least common denominator. With a movie like POTC 4, the focus is on money, money only. Not artististic creativity, not actors, not screenplay, nothing that could endanger the potential profit. That’s why they play it safe, the want to have a safe and solid return for their investment. The scores are, of course, part of this. So they need to be recognizable. And no experiments, please.
I think, the real problem now is the amount of music and that it’s written by several people. Both are working hand in hand. In theory, several composers working on just one score has many advantages. More work in less time, better quality. In practive however, this doesn’t work. Reason: see above, the least common denominator. They want ostinatos, nothing off key, nothing rhythmically diverse, nothing that could be too challenging to the average movie goer. It has worked in the past, it will work now. Very obviously the people involved in production regard the audience as a collection of dumb-as-possible people without any intelligence. I suspect, as a composer, you might have the most freedom while working on smaller projects lacking huge expectations by all sorts of people. When that all started 15-20 years ago, they added an additional composer for his distinctive voice mostly.
And there is so much music now. A few days ago, I watched ‘Dawn Of Justice’ and after an hour I was so wishing for the music to just shut up. Almost every scene was underscored, no matter how little. It ranged from bland to obnoxious underscoring, rarely did it something that was nice for scenes. And when did scoring change towards "enhance the general feeling of the scene, not the scene itself"? What today passes as sensitive underscoring is ridiculous. Harmonic layers of sound, that’s all. Regarding the amount of composers, it should be easy to come up with something that is halfway supportive AND entertaining. I mean, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are brilliant at atmospheric scoring, those two are the proof that this approach actually can work.
When it comes to Hans Zimmer… well, instead of developing his own artististry (oh yes, he has it) over the years, he simply adds the talent of others. This resulted in the situation we have right now: he doesn’t want to do the projects anymore for which he got famous. Almost some sort of a burn-out. It’s only bearable anymore if he can work with someone else on a project. He could of course just step down from composing music, exactly like he so often explained in public. But then his RCP studios would be in danger. His name is a trademark of sorts and important for marketing so it needs to be attached to a BIG project once in a while. So in order not to work too much on a score he doesn’t want to do, several others do the major work while he attaches his name to the project. Money earned, future of RCP secure. I don’t envy him, I feel sorry because of his lack of freedom. And I don’t have a solution for him, should my suspicions actually be based on fact. Because, after all, they’re just that: suspicions by someone who is at a loss to explain why the "one-composer-does-all" model is so out of fashion right now, even laughed upon.
Interstellar a reinvention? Sorry, Dak, but I disagree. For him, it might be something new… but I can hear several other composers in Interstellar. Vangelis would be the most prominent, Mike Oldfield springs to mind, Philip Glass, too, and then, of course, he goes the John-Barry-route by repeating every phrase unchanged twice (and he did that in Inception before). And it’s not like he was inspired, it’s more like he decided to copy-and-paste.
The last really good score by him that offered something new, was for me Frost/Nixon. I just love it, it’s one of my favourite Zimmer scores. Curiously his fans disregard it. My impression, at least.
The last really good score by him that offered something new, was for me Frost/Nixon. I just love it, it’s one of my favourite Zimmer scores. Curiously his fans disregard it. My impression, at least.
Couldn’t agree more about Interstellar. I remember wondering if all the people praising that one had ever heard any Philip Glass in their lives.
I’d sum up the Zimmer formula as: string ostinato + heavy brass padding + pounding synth + some sort of musical gimmick for which he is hailed a genius (electric cello, gypsy violin, massive organ, brahhhms, Edith Piaf etc) and a tendency towards D-minor to the point of tedium.
The Da Vinci Code is nice and all, but for me Hannibal is far better. So many beautiful moments in that score, so much variation in instrumentation and tonality, and of course Glenn Fucking Gould. How much of it is Hans vs other contributing composers like Patrick Cassidy, however, I don’t know.
I must check out Frost/Nixon. I enjoyed that film but don’t remember the score.
Wait until you hear our version of Da Vinci, I’m listening to it right now 🙂
(Admittedly, the OST is better and probably enough)
———- Post added at 09:19 PM ———- Previous post was at 09:19 PM ———-
Thank you guys… Just got this now, but better late than never 🙂
True! 🙂
Anyway, I love that suite! 😀
I usually listen with several headphones and several loudspeakers and on none of them does this release sound thin. So I would be hesitant to offer something that has more bass when it’s already a bit on the bassy side. What headphone do you own?
I listen at home with Sony wireless headpones and during the with the latest Bose Noise Cancellation headphones. So it’s good stuff :p
I identified the problem. I use equalizer settings to make some sound levels more vibrant and that probably clashed with your new mixes.
I am having a ‘pirates revival month’ thanks to this compliation :). After putting my own EQ off and listening at least 5 times to it I can now say I like your version more now that I have gotten used to it. There are instruments there that I never knew existed in the first place (like flutes yay 🙂 ). I think you did a tremendous job balancing everything out. Together with Fink his great selection it makes for a great listening experience. Especially AWE battle tracks. Also love the gapless transition 🙂
If there is on point of critisism it is track 9 "I don’t think now is the best time". The heavy choir outbursts that were very prominent in the album release between 1:38 until 3:10 are almost totally gone. Which is weird cause in the rest of the whole album the choir has been brought more to the front. Of course this is minor nitpicking. But since I know every note of those scores in my head this one was easy spotted since I usually hum with the choir 🙂
All in all a very solid release and this will probably be my goto album everytime I want to revisit the score. Thanks for that!
I identified the problem. I use equalizer settings to make some sound levels more vibrant and that probably clashed with your new mixes.
Well, actually I think you were right. The set is indeed a bit bass shy and I have been thinking about uploading it again with a slightly changed sound signature.
If there is on point of critisism it is track 9 "I don’t think now is the best time". The heavy choir outbursts that were very prominent in the album release between 1:38 until 3:10 are almost totally gone. Which is weird cause in the rest of the whole album the choir has been brought more to the front. Of course this is minor nitpicking. But since I know every note of those scores in my head this one was easy spotted since I usually hum with the choir 🙂
All in all a very solid release and this will probably be my goto album everytime I want to revisit the score. Thanks for that!
We used the sessions for all 4 scores. Two tracks are from OSTs. The problem with using sessions for Zimmer scores is always that he and his team remix them for the OST. So it’s very possible that the choir on the OST is louder than it was on the sessions because it was more prominently mixed. I cannot do anything about that, one cannot take a 2-channel-recording apart to re-mix it. I can only alter a final mix by nuances.
But I’m glad that you still like it 🙂
Yup. Since this compilation, I have banned the two scores I own (first and second – in a box) to the basement 😀
If you do I’ll be happy to download it again. I don’t notice the reduced bass as much when I am listening to it as an album. But when tracks appear in a random shuffled playlist with other scores it is more noticable.
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And thank you 🙂
EDIT: problem solved 🙂
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