How composers use computer technology, and their opinions on the improvements or detractions of new technology.
We asked several composers what was on their equipment wish list. Here’s what they had to say.
Ron Grant
Credits Include: Digital Pictures multimedia project “What’s My Story”, “Tiny Toon Adventures”, “Knots Landing”, “Sledge Hammer!”
Tune toys: Mackie mixing con sole 32-8, Proteus 2, Roland D50, Korg M1, Kurzweil 2000, EMAX 2 and vintage DX7 synthesizer
When it comes to new technology, composer Ron Grant says he has given up on finding the perfect “box” and instead wants tones to “get a life.” “There is no machine that will get what I want (tonewise),” he says. “I think everything just got cheaper, not better since the invention of the Synclavier. Instead of looking for that one box, I now look for any number of different timbres or performance words. I then do the orchestration and put them all together so that the resulting one-second tone is a compilation.” Grant hopes to add a CD- ROM with a music library to his home studio. His most recent purchase is the update to the Kurzweil sampling unit, which he calls “user friendly, with a few nice DSP digital processing things on it.”
Hans Zimmer
Credits Include: “The Lion King”, “The Drop Zone”
Tune Toys: Euphonix C2000 and Yamaha DMC 1000 mixing con soles, Macintosh Quadra 900 and Roland SDE/SRV 330 space reverbs
While most work in their homes alone, a group of cutting-edge composers have leased individual studio space in Media Ventures, a Santa Monica production company co-owned by Hans Zimmer and Jay Rifkin. It houses John Van Tongeren, Mark Mancina, Roy Hay and Jeff Rona. Each is provided with a composing suite to design as he chooses, but they all use the same composing software (Cubase Audio) so that more than one composer can work on the same project in the same room, according to Media Ventures’ spokesman Mark Levy. “We also have a tie line system that connects the writers’ suites with both control rooms,” Levy explains. “[This saves] time on recording, because then we don’t have to break down the MIDI rigs and set them back up in the control rooms.”
This arrangement allowed the producer and director of “The Lion King” to watch the progress of the music process in a time- efficient way, says Levy. “They could stop by to hear Zimmer’s score, then walk down the hall to hear the latest version of the songs or listen to any editing changes in a room with a Protools software setup. Then they could visit another suite where Mancina and Rifkin were producing and arranging Elton John’s songs.”
All are working on a follow-up album to “The Lion King” titled “Rhythm of the Prideland,” which is due in stores in March.
Peter Davison
Credits Include: “seaQuest DSV”, “Batman: The Animated Series”
Tune Toys: MIDI interface, Unisyn and Performer software and Yamaha WX7 wind controller
Peter Davison has seen a lot of changes since he bought his first Buchla synthesizer back in 1969. “I replaced it with a Serge modular music system, which I had until just a few years ago because it made an incredible stereo wind,” explains the interactive media pioneer composer, who traded his Serge for a brand- new Proteus II when a collector of old synthesizers made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. “Once they got the MIDI interface working right, there was no need for a giant rack of keyboards. This has made it possible for me to have one Korg Ml keyboard that controls everything else. I love working with a live orchestra, but working with MIDI scoring has some pluses. MIDI scoring is great for producers because they can instantly hear how a cue works with the picture, and changes can be made either to orchestral mock-ups before scoring or to the actual MIDI score. You can also do things with computers that you can’t with an orchestra, such as moving things forward a third of a beat.”
Davison is currently writing the main title and incidental music for the American Movie Channel’s documentary “The Hollywood Soundtrack Story,” and he is composing for 26 episodes of the PBS series “Crossroads Cafe.” He says he would love to own a Roland 760 and JD990 samplers, along with the Mac Quadra 650, a Session 8 hard disc recorder and Digital Performer software.
Dominic Frontiere
Credits Include: “The Stuntman”, “Outer Limits”, “Matt Houston”, “That Girl”, “The Flying Nun”, and the feature “Color of Night”
Tune Toys: numerous Rolands, Yamahas, and Kurzweils
Emmy-winning composer Dominic Frontiere bought his first synthesizer, a Yamaha DX7, six years ago and replaced it weeks ago with four new Kurzweil 2000s. “I bought my first synthesizer because I thought, as a film composer, I probably should know something about the electronic craziness that was going on around me. Six years later, I find myself sitting in a studio with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment with names I can’t pronounce, and I do a lot of work at MIT trying to emulate real orchestras electronically.”
For “Color of Night,” Frontiere was asked to create the theme song and additional music electronically and using London Symphony Orchestra’s 92 musicians. Parts of each version were blended to make a final score. “Ultimately, the success of a piece of music depends on the audience,” says the Santa Fe, N.M.-based composer. “Nobody cares very much what a composer uses, but they do care about the quality of the music. The options that are now available to composers, such as direct-to-hard- disc recording, are only tools. Even though I do a lot of my work now with computers instead of pencils, the music page still starts out blank.”
Frontiere’s wish list includes new computers to replace the three interlocked ones he currently uses. “I want the hot new Macintosh 6100, 7100 and 8100 AV models once they are compatible with the software and tools I use,” he says. “In the meantime, it looks like I’m going to have to find a few new 950s, which cost $5,000 to $6,000 a piece, and use them for a few years because the latest versions of the software are not compatible with my four- year-old computers.”
Jeremy Lubbock
Credits Include: production and arrangement of songs on “Miracle on 34th Street”, arrangement on “Sleepless in Seattle”
Tune Toys: 16 synthesizers and eight effects modules and mixing boards
Most of Grammy-winning producer-arranger Jeremy Lubbock’s work is done with live orchestras, but he is currently collaborating on a new film score using his state-of-the-art equipment. “Today, you need the Mac technology to collaborate,” he says. “A-DAT is also wonderful. It allows us to exchange tapes, which is not only very convenient, but enables an enormous amount of cooperation to go on.” The British-born Lubbock believes that manufacturers are engaging in planned obsolescence. “I have a theory about all this. I think that about 50% of all technology is complete nonsense, and there’s a lot of self- gratification going on with equipment purchases and use. It’s amazing to see the tap dance people go through to make a record, and yet the average consumer buying the CD doesn’t know or care how that CD is made.”
Lubbock’s wish list includes the latest version of the Protools digital recording system and the Roland JV 1080. “There’s almost nothing you cannot do with Protools,” he says. “And unlike most units that take one extra memory card, the new Roland will take four internal expansion boards that are easily accessible.”
Steve Edwards:
Credits Include: “Shadowchaser 3”, music production on “Forrest Gump”
Tune Toys: Roland Super Jupiter, Akai S-1000 synthesizers
Composer Steve Edwards believes that great synthetic sound hinges on knowing how to fully use the software and hardware. “Understanding how to use the software is where the rubber meets the road,” he says. “You can have the most expensive electronic equipment in the world, but if you don’t have somebody who knows how to use it, it will still sound like a bad organ. I think of synths as boxes that each create distinctive noises. For example, if I need something that has a bottom and a lot of guts to it, I’ll use my Roland Jupiter. And if I want something that sounds like 20 violin players playing harmonicas, I’ll use the S- 1000. You really have to think like an orchestrator when you’re using all these gizmos.”
Edwards played a synthesizer demo of the music for his most recent project, an episode of Showtime’s “Love Street,” over the phone to the producer. “This project really required a ‘30s sound. So we used real musicians for the final score. But the electronic demo gave the producer an idea of what it was going to sound like, so there wouldn’t be any surprises,” he says. Edwards’ most recent purchases include a Mackie 32-8 console, a Fostex A-DAT and a Power User 4X CD ROM. Atop his wish list: a Macintosh Power PC.
Marc Parmet and Alex Shapiro
Credits Include: “Tombstone”, “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (Parmet), “The Last Job” and the television pilot “The Medicine Show” (Shapiro)
None of the products on the market work the way a composer works,” claims composer- conductor Marc Parmet, who studied with Leonard Bernstein. He and his romantic partner, Alex Shapiro, who often work on each other’s musical projects, have an imaginary product on their wish list. “The product would magically turn your freehand-drawn scores into perfect-looking scores,” Shapiro says.
“Not only would it be able to recognize your handwriting,” Parmet adds, “but it would actually have MIDI info behind it. So when you hit the play button, you could also hear your work realized.” Their imaginary product would also show timing information on-screen and be able to interlock everything from the computer. “Now, programs offer so many tools. Yet the ones you really need are still not right at your fingertips,” Parmet says.
Shapiro says the current software hype reminds her of early ads for washing machines that promised loads of free time for housewives. “We were so occupied with all the technical quirks that one of the last things we had time to think about was the musical process itself,” Parmet agrees. “There is still a big gap between what the package says and what we really have in our hands.”
Parmet’s wish list includes a Lexicon PCM80 effects processor, a Genelec 1030A studio monitor and a DA-88 multitrack digital recorder. Shapiro wants a laptop Power PC Macintosh color DuoDock to take to sessions and a hard drive “the size of a house” to store everything the duo has ever composed.