A few folks below have added their own favorite 'spooky' scores ... I'd love to read more of those!! What are your favorite horror / creepy etc scores??
I find a lot of the scariest scores are those that aren't horror: Howard Shore's "Se7en." Hildur Gu∂nadottir's "Chernobyl." And, pursant to your "Vivian" cue, Tim Nelson (scores a lot of Quay Brothers shorts) did a track called "A Cannonade of Babies" that is so harrowing it's almost unlistenable...far less subtle than your approach. :-)
I'm really fond of what Douglas Pipes came up with Trick 'r Treat, it perfectly sets the mood. Also, I can't stop humming the incredibly unsettling "Hannah and Volmer" tune from A Cure for Wellness by Ben Wallfisch by that time of the year... In fact, IMO, this is one of the best horror themes in recent years.
“Every time I walk away going, ‘I don’t know shit about music. But I do know a little bit more than when we first started.’” Us too, Troy. Us too. (I learned what a song is/isn’t today)
"Here's the clarinets and the babies." - Steven Wintory I imagine that if a composer was having a nightmare and that nightmare had a soundtrack, it would sound exactly like the Dead Space score.
I've always enjoyed Ennio Morricone's score for "The Thing." Hearing those ominous notes simply over the titles "Antartica, Winter 1982" was such a chilling experience I will never forget.
When you were talking about certain intervals and chord progressions being culturally learned or inherent, it reminded me of when I was driving my 3 year old and I put Liszt's Totentanz on. He immediately said, "This is scary music." I don't think he ever heard it in context of a scary scene or had even heard its like, since he doesn't watch any scary shows/movies.
As a side note, I also have to give credit and say thanks for actually reading comments. Far too many don’t. And I generally see likes on all the comments, and that is a noteworthy gesture to the community.
Watch The Changeling, Austin. It's a little known gem, I promise. It's not flashy, it's not bombastic. it's just perfectly baked atmospheric terror, the way a good haunting movie should be. Also, they had to nail that melancholy piano theme because the protagonist is literally a composer. It would have been so weird if they had messed this up.
"And then a single violin... and that's me on the recorder... and then here's the clarinets and the babies!" - Well, that's something you don't hear every day. Out of context it sounds like Dewey Cox in studio in Walk Hard.
I'm actually _really_ excited you guys brought up Christopher Young in relation to Danny Elfman in this episode, as I think there's an interesting discussion to be had in how those two composers _relate_ to one another. You mentioned Spider-Man 3 for a second, but let me set this up. The original Spider-Man movie trilogy had a profound impact on my life, and I've studied them and their respective scores _obsessively._ The first two movies were scored by Danny Elfman, but due to disagreements during post production, he actually walked out in the middle of the second picture, stating that Raimi wouldn't let go of the temp. They needed to bring somebody else on to help finish the score, so they brought on Christopher Young and had him back for the third film. Now, it'd be one thing if this was one of those inoffensive background type scores that you'll never remember, but this was all front and center, attention grabbing, thematic material, and the _crazy_ part was, nobody even _noticed_ the composer juggling act on display, including myself. It's still to this day one of the most seamless shifts in hands between composers I've ever seen, and I'd like to think some of that runs a bit deeper beyond just Christopher Young being a good mimic. Whatever their backgrounds are, there's _gotta_ be some amount of overlap between those two. While they most certainly have their own unique offerings to bring to the table, I'm convinced Danny Elfman and Christopher Young _must've_ been cut from similar cloth.
Great discussion as always. One of my favourite underrated gaming soundtracks that could be tied to Halloween horror theme has got to be Oliver Deriviere's soundtrack for Alone in the Dark. The way it combines eeriness and blockbuster-type motives with that special special Bulgarian choir sauce on top is truly... music to my ears.
He is consistently magnificent, even back then at the start of his career. We have a long chat together elsewhere on the channel if you've not seen it!
@@awintory I'll be sure to check it out! Also when talking about horror movie soundtracks, I have to give a lot of love to OSTs for both original Fright Night and its remake. Love me some Brad Fiedel with his ultraseductive "Come to Me" track as well as Ramin Djawadi who did his own thing with "Fright Night" theme, which I've used as a background soundtrack for every vampire boss fight in DnD games I've DMd.
There are scores like Jerry Goldsmith's score for Alien that have an elegance to them that add to the horror. There are scores that can take you by surprise at times like John Williams score for Jaws. And scores for horror films that don't even seem like horror films scores like Rosemarys Baby. But for me the number one horror film score is The Exorcist. Which is interesting since William Peter Blatty never thought of it as a horror film. Ray Bradbury actually called it one of the best love stories he had seen. And the main score of the film was using pieces from Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki who is not a film composer and in fact none of his stuff had ever been used in films before Fredkin made the choice to use his music in The Exorcist. But Penderecki is an absolute master at creating long periods of uncomfortable sounds that still have a kind of harmony. His works Utrenja,used in The Shining,and Thenody for the Victims of Hiroshima,are some of the most disturbing yet uplifting compositions ever made in modern classical music. If you can get thru the entire album of Hiroshima you really feel that you came out on the other side of a long, horrible tunnel. The Exorcist is my number one horror film of all time because of its ideas and themes and amazing writing but that score was so good,and influenced so much it's hard to picture another score having been used.
Insightful and fun as always, gents. Another fun (if lacking in scale compared to The Omen) score by Jerry Goldsmith is for Warlock. It shares some of those same impish Carl Orff qualities. I wonder when the "tick-tock"/metronome" rhythmic device became synonymous with the dealings of the underworld. The devil digs (infernal) machines, and Warlock is inventive? Elfman is a saint, but everyone is influenced by something. Pee-Wee's main title is very similar to Rota's Carlotta's Galop from 8 1/2.
Hearing about everything you did on the track Vivian was super insightful, it makes me want to go and watch the movie and listen to the rest of the soundtrack!
Omen is easily one of my fave horror flicks of all time, and the score is a huge reason for that. So great. Edit: oh, and Hellraiser is another one, haha. I need to learn not to comment before I've seen the whole thing.
The first 25 mins of this especially was absolute gold - the missing PWL episode I needed this week 👍. The definition of great art is so true, there's been many books that have meant more to me as my life experiences have grown. Ray Bradbury's "Something wicked this way comes" springs to mind. I read it twice a decade apart and it resonated much more the second time. I've a feeling if I'd ever become a father it would have been even more meaningful. For eerie vibes you can't go wrong with Saint Saens 'danse Macabre' and in a similar vein the theme from the 70's British TV show 'Tales of the unexpected' - certainly put the wind up me as a kid. Not exactly spooky, but I'm just finishing "Last of Us pt.2" and that game's score does an excellent job of telling you when "Something bad about to happen" and raising some hairs on your neck (apologies for digressing 😂)
I was thinking about this whole "horror" topic and was considering the idea that maybe when we start listening soundtracks we let us - actually - scary from some music. But with the time goes by I always considered that even in the darkest score, there's just beauty, and that I can just listen to the beauty inside them. There's no horror in an horror soundtrack. I remember as a baby (I was around 5/6) that my oldest brother got the soundtrack of Kilar for the Coppola's DRACULA. The opening of that score scared my sister as hell. Literally, she couldn't listen to that music that she run to turn off the stereo. But that music if pure gold. Is pure beauty, even if scares you. My mum decided to hide the CD for around 25 years, I just found it some year ago...
I loved this! Throughout the weeks I repeatedly find myself thinking "Man, I wonder when the next 'You Gotta Hear This!' episode is coming out…" so it's a real treat whenever one of these pops up in my feed. Thanks to the both of you for taking the time to make this series (and PWL as well)!
Finally finished the video and one more thing I wanted to add as I do not want to spam, because I know Austin you read all the comments ;-) That frequency you used for the Grace movie on the "baby-spectrum" for crying is really interesting. I cannot remember where I read that recently but composers might try to play with frequences to induce feelings like discomfort, fear etc. and that fits pretty well with horror movies. Always a pleasure, take care all and have a Happy Halloween! Till next time!
Did you know Jerry Goldsmith was originally meant to score Superman but due to scheduling conflicts in 1978 I think he was scoring quite a few films that year, Coma, Damien: Omen II, The Swarm, The Boys from Brazil, Magic, The Great Train Robbery
For the interested: While Omen is obviously from 1976, it got nominated for best song in 1977 (as you would expect ;) ). Barbra Streisand won the best song category for Evergreen from her take on A star is born. also; - If you want to see a Barbra Streisand Movie, maybe instead watch What's Up, Doc? (1972) - If you want to watch A Star is born, why not try the (1954) version with Judy Garland (the original is from the 30s by the way)?
Wait...was Nobuo Uematsu inspired by the Omen Soundtrack for One Winged Angel in FFVII? Just hearing it standing alone and not part of the movie really made it stand out as being very similar
The baby was such a great idea. I wonder how you'd score something so deliberately phobias-in-your-face fantasy action-horror as Path of Exile, for example. Janowski has done a pretty damn good job, and his vocabulary has become a staple of the game at this point. I find that that's the kind of game that blends in with the composer, with the amount of material it demands and the tropes it explores, and it the experience could be quite different had someone else done it.
I loved this as always, I have the same conversations with a music theory and pianist friend that you have with Troy, I know what it is that the music makes me feel and it's great to gain the insight as to why it feels that way. I really hope that you talk about Hans Zimmer's music for Dune at some point and how sound design can interact with music and they can work together to create a complete soundscape for a movie. I couldn't believe how much of the story was told by the music in the film and that you discover more cues each time you see it.
Strange that the first time I hear the Hellraiser 2 piece I heard Batman. And the second time it was played I heard the Harry Potter theme. Interesting how you can hear something similar and the brain will fill in the gaps.
Great video as usual, but only a few examples in a such rich genere on 85 minut video? Guys! ;) Anyway, nice that Dead Space and Grace gets recognition ;) My favorite horror movie scores are, Omen Trilogy and Poltergeist (Goldsmith), Dracula (Kilar), Frankenstein (Doyle), Hellraiser 2 (Young), Hellraiser III (Miller), Interview with the Vampire (Goldenthal), Thing (Morricone), Candyman (Glass), and from recent years Evil Dead (Banos) and Let Me In (Giacchino).
Candyman’s score is just. Like. I can’t put into words how exemplary it is. The grandiose nature of the score mixed with Todd’s regal stature and poise gave the film a truly epic quality. It’s just chills.
The technology discussion is basically how you end up with the Adeptus Mechanicus in the far future, following ritual without understanding in order to make things because it's so far beyond their actual understanding
absolutely love the show hope you follow through on the benard herman episode my favorite scores of his are citizen kane vertigo taxi driver psycho and north by northwest
The Michael Abels cut has a bit of Morricone (The Mission) in it. Because it’s kids singing, it has the sound of an ear training exercise - like a solfège class. I haven’t seen the film but it feels like indoctrination.
Also sorry for spamming according to what I've read from the Film Music Forums, John Williams was meant to score the Omen but due to scheduling conflicts again, Jerry was brought on.
Funnily enough the Young piece from Hellraiser 2 can also be heard (or at least something VERY similar) in Spider-Man 2 in the track 'The Reveal' which plays when Doc Ock is showcasing his science project, which Christopher Young is also credited as having worked on. I do enjoy it when composers re-use their previous work like that.
Excellent show chaps! 👏 After this went off to indulge in some horror soundtracks…stumbled upon the classic Alien by Jerry Goldsmith and about 40 secs in to the main title (the brass motif) I was like woah that sounds familiar yeah it’s very close to The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives basically when the solo brass instrument comes in after 1 min or so…anyway pretty cool…and much respect to you both 😎
The soundtrack and overall sound design of Dead Space cemented that game as hands down one of the most, if not the most sonically unique games ever made. I adore that franchise.
@@anthonynelson1699 It's actually one of the best horror games I've played along with The Last of Us, and I hate getting scared lol Which says a lot. I've been wanting to go back and finish the first game so I'll be listening in more on the sounds, and soundtrack of the game.
I know this is impossible due to copyright and the platforms/media's to which these recordings exist and belong but, having a published playlist of the full cues used in these episodes would be amazing!
slight bias cuz its my favourite horror film of all time but Zimmer's score for the ring (2002) is stunning imo. the score itself is almost as impressive as the amount of people who have no idea that he even scored that film to begin with :p not even all that terrifying more so just kinda eerie and mystical, I love it
My mum is doing a musicology masters at the moment, and was set an assignment about where our musical associations come from, and I thought you made some great points on this Austin so I sent this to her - YGHT's first academic citation?
Every time I hear the "Us" choir I always think of the "NieR" choir stuff that Keiichi Okabe wrote (made up language and all). They always sounded very similar to me
The "Anthem" track reminds me of the Nier and Nier Automata soundtracks. The eerie voices singing made up languages. Have you played those games or listened to the soundtracks?
Hi Austin. If you’re reading this, I’d like to know more about the early brainstorm stages of score writing. What’s your process to go from learning the details of the project you’re scoring to actually writing music notes?
I'm wondering what your thoughts are on Marco Beltrami's Omen Soundtrack, I personally didn't like it as much as Jerry's but his more brooding score fit the tone of the remake better in my opinion, however I loved his re-recording of Ave Satani 'Omen 76/06' even if it was only a few verses which then went into Jerry Goldsmith's crazy frenetic orchestral writing which has never sounded better because of the modern sound engineering.
Anthem of Us at 1:05:00 reminded me of the intro of the Ghost in the Shell movie (anime of course) which where the vocals were in Ancient Japanese. Check it out Austin ;-)
Of all the excerpts from this episode, I think I came away from Austin's the most unsettled. My hands started sweating and I had to resist the urge to pause the episode just to make the noise stop. All that to say, well done, Austin!
Curious if either of you gents listen to / watch the Fall of civilizations podcast? I feel like it would be really aligned with your interests. Fell into it at the start of the pandemic and recently made a second listen through them all, and they're absolutely wonderful. Just like this episode!
@@awintory To whatever extent I've come to understand the tastes of the Play Watch Listen crew , I'd be shocked if you didn't find them moving and worthwhile.
OK, I'm three weeks late to this, but I've scrolled through the comments and I haven't seen anybody else suggest this very clear, definitely-not-coincidental inspiration for Batman, which is the cue "Sunrise" from Bernard Herrmann's Journey to the Center of the Earth. It's really just 30 seconds of obvious similarity before Elfman takes it in a different direction, but it's an unmistakable starting point: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QIm2zTh1Xec.html
@@awintory Oh yeah, and to be clear I definitely don't mean it in a "look at this ripoff" kind of way. Elfman very much makes his own thing out of it. I just get a kick out of spotting inspirations like this (which is one of the many reasons this series is so fun, getting so much insight into the music that's meant a lot to you).
On the subject of coincidences in horror scores, I'm still waiting for some enterprising conductor or classical record producer to put an album together pairing selections from Jerry's score for The Omen with Alfred Schnittke's Requiem, which contains some very similar passages, even though both works were written the same year on opposite sides of the world and neither could have been an influence on the other: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4RtRo1hpd_o.html
Maybe part of the "creepy" factor of chromatic medians is the slight off-ness about it. Like an audio uncanny valley. It's almost right, but just a little off. Doesn't explain whether that sense of wrongness is because of a cultural or biological sense of what's right.
Oh yes, the "Oh, Fortuna" from Orff's Carmina Burana, bane of my school music classes - who the heck would think it a good idea good idea to have a class of 20+ seventh grade kids play that on glockenspiel a good idea ^^'? And why the heck didn't y'all get another word for that dang instrument? Already sounds stupid in German, even more so in English 🤣
The Latin lyrics in The Omen are, while not technically incorrect, pretty bad. I don't know if that's intentional, but I think it really fits the movie, given that most of the 'historical' quotes from scripture are pretty much made up. Again, not quite incorrect, but the whole Satan-makes-a-son-myth was pretty invented for that movie, though many elements are taken from medieval Christian lore.
@@7Link7 The perception of multitasking and the reality of it are two different things. It would seem that the preponderance of current neuroscientists are holding to this: www.thoughtco.com/can-people-really-multitask-1206398#:~:text=The%20short%20answer%20to%20whether,level%20brain%20function%20at%20once.&text=What%20actually%20happens%20when%20you,are%20rapidly%20switching%20between%20tasks. health.clevelandclinic.org/science-clear-multitasking-doesnt-work/ www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794 Obviously some individuals will be better than others at it...
