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ilamont | on: The title cards in Blade Runner are amazing
Well, besides the language and the typeface, the other element of this sequence at the beginning of Blade Runner that makes it so special is the accompanying score by Vangelis, and the sound effects that start with twinkling computer notes and gradually build in volume to explosions and the whoosh of futuristic vehicles. It effectively immerses viewers into this incredible world and story.
ColdStream | parent | next
It was only a few months back that I found out that Vangelis couldn't read or write music notation. He would just improv play and record on a tape, recording additional parts and mixing as needed. If he needed to have other musicians involved, then he would hire someone to listen back and write down the notation.

Considering he recorded something like 35 albums, he was doing something right.

emmelaich | root | parent | next
Vangelis is a bit funny and odd! Have a listen of Jon Anderson's (formerly of Yes) account of meeting and collaborating with Vangelis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItV5h3Arl5M

clan | root | parent | next
"Don't worry. I'm greek".

What an absolute gem. Thank you for sharing this.

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jacquesm | root | parent
Priceless video, thank you so much.
rdiddly | root | parent | next
You might be surprised at how many famous professional musicians don't read music notation. Outside of the classical world, session work, and jazz fake-books, it's far from de rigueur.
ilamont | root | parent | next
This is true. I read an interview with Hans Zimmer who has scored dozens of Hollywood films (including Blade Runner 2049) and when he first arrived in London in the 1980s he couldn’t read music. Not sure about now.

ETA: he did eventually learn how to read music:

“I learnt to read music after I bought the Roland MC8 Microcomposer, because it then became essential for me. … I learnt music by ear and have picked up most of my technical knowledge through the sessions and gigs.”

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/ronnys-electro-music-caba...

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bombcar | root | parent | next
It's one of those "lies programmers believe" kind of things - we like to think that there is one definitive "notation" of a piece of music - but even when there IS accurate sheet music, it only tells part of the story.

Music before recordings was much closer to jam-band style than people realize; and in the Middle Ages you could hear substantial differences in the same song just by traveling a few tens of miles.

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Fluorescence | root | parent | next
I have never been able to follow a score despite music lessons and playing in an orchestra (I faked it).

I find such a striking difference between notation that just swims in front of my eyes:

https://musescore.com/user/14835636/scores/6186772

And a bar graph which I can hear when muted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o

I have a similar issue with algebraic notation, the signifier and signified never connects. So much misery spending hours with a mass of punctuated greek in a cs paper to discover it describes a triangle. The decryption is not even sticky, I look away for a second and it immediately re-encrypts back to soup.

I don't understand why since programming languages having always felt natural and something I learned as a pre-teen just by being left alone with a BBC micro and a "type in a game" book.

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larrywright | root | parent
Dave Grohl is another one that comes to mind.
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WorldMaker | root | parent
I still love the parody of contemporaries Vangelis, Wendy Carlos, and Moroder in the Adult Swim "Infomercial" called "Live from the Necropolis: Lords of Synth": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXgNo5Smino
WalterBright | parent | next
I rarely read about the contribution a good music score has to a movie's popularity. A great score makes the movie. For example,

The Blue Max, Ben Hur, the first Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Dr Zhivago, Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and, of course, Blade Runner!

beloch | root | parent | next
The original teaser for Star Wars was made before they had John Williams' score:

https://youtu.be/XHk5kCIiGoM?si=VxAJcCATzwn6gZPw

Watching it may help you appreciate just how important the Williams' score was to Star Wars' success. It's one of the all-time greats!

I'd also add that some movies are worth watching purely because of their score. e.g. "Conan the Barbarian" is a pretty shlocky flick. However, the director and composer took a collaborative approach to the score that was closer to opera than film. Unlike most movies, work on the score began before filming and there was continual collaboration during filming. The result remains one of the best scores in the history of film, and a film that makes the music its backbone.

throw0101d | root | parent | next
> si=VxAJcCATzwn6gZPw

PSA: the si, as well as the pp, parameter is a form of tracking. If possible, consider trimming them after a copy-paste.

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ArekDymalski | root | parent | next
I guess the good examples where music could be an important driver to the movies popularity (or revival of popularity) might be: "Requiem for a dream" and "Das Boot". Also for me personally - "The Mission" as incredible score by Ennio Morricone has brought me tia film I'd rather ignore. Other (also personal) example is " The Spawn" with it's mind-blowing OST.
10729287 | root | parent | next
I always remember a quote I read when I was way younger about Halloween or The Exorcist : "the film's score is a character in its own right".
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ndsipa_pomu | root | parent
I'll add Donnie Darko and The Blues Brothers (that may be cheating, though).
account42 | root | parent | next
Donnie Darko is interesting because the director's cut has significant changes to the music compared to the theatrical release, including the one played in the opening sequence.
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mikeaskew4 | root | parent
The Blues Brothers IS the soundtrack. Nobody remembers Twiggy was in it.
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abrookewood | parent | next
That soundtrack is absolutely perfect.
psyclobe | parent
As good as that track is its literally his only good stuff. Try as I might, and as eager as I was to like him his library of music just falls flat.
manytimesaway | root | parent | next
As we say in another language, "you should probably get your ears cleaned".

Besides the Blade Runner & Chariots of Fire soundtracks (two masterpieces of albums, which is two more than 90% of the world), his repertoire is filled with instant electronic classics, such as Earth, Albedo 0.39, Spiral, and l'Apocalypse des Animaux.

I'm not even mentioning Aphrodite's Child.

JetSetIlly | root | parent | next
The albums he did with Jon Anderson are worth a listen too I think.
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TiredOfLife | root | parent
For me first experience of Aphrodite's Child was even better for I knew of Demis Roussos only by his later work
acomjean | root | parent | next
Chariots of fire soundtrack was good too.
jacquesm | root | parent
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