Hans Zimmer Scoring The Man of Steel - Part 1

[TheDailyPigMan]

Is whatever you're all listening to on YouTube yet?

I just uploaded

[YT]Wrnvb74yZ4I[/YT]

 

[titansupes]

I just uploaded

[YT]Wrnvb74yZ4I[/YT]

Thank you! Listening now...

 

[Cassandra Cain]

Interesting.

 

[Jim-El]

It's growing on me.

 

[LeXcalibur]

towards the end of the trailer, there is a hint of what the actual theme will be. this teased at his score.

 

[Brother Jack]

That definitely sounds like Zimmer. I'm kind of into it, moreso than I was the trailer music.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I'd rate the trailer music a 6 and this new music a 3.

 

[LeXcalibur]

i would rate john williams from 1978 film a 10. i would rate its use for a modern film as a -4. time to move on. glad for zimmer

 

[ThePhantasm]

I'm rating the music based on how it sounds not its use in the film, as I haven't seen the film yet.

 

[BatLobster]

I still need to hear it in HQ to get a better sense of how that pedal steel guitar meshes with the rest of the orchestra. That alone seems to give it a very unique sound that sets it apart from most action movie music (that I've heard anyway) and the usual MV/RC sound.

Besides, not every cue has to sound like purely heroic "Superman" music. This sounds like suspense/action music with an alien touch. It honestly sounds nothing like I expected the score to sound like, but I like that. It doesn't really make me feel anything listening to it out of context, but I'm curious to see how it plays in the film.

 

[ThePhantasm]

It very much has the usual MC/RV sound. I don't see how one instrument would change that.

 

[BatLobster]

It changes it quite a bit, because it's an unconventional use of the instrument, therefore the starkness of it is what caught my ear more than anything else.

If Zimmer has a signature strength, it's thinking outside the box. Especially in recent years.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I'm rating the music based on how it sounds not its use in the film, as I haven't seen the film yet.

Ditto. And it sounds pretty awesome imo

 

[ThePhantasm]

If Zimmer has a signature strength, it's thinking outside the box. Especially in recent years.

I know people say this about Zimmer, but I'm not quite sure what constitutes "the box" in that comparison.

Zimmer has taken quite a veering into soundscapes and dissonance. It makes the sounds of the score tie into the sound-effects of the film more organically, but the result is... again... a bit generic because the soundscapes can be matched to a wide variety of scenes or movies. Its generic enough that it gets mimicked in other films. Transformers, for example, had instances of the two-note theme from the Batman films here and there. Oblivion had elements of the Inception score in it, particularly the foghorn, but also some of the soundscape stuff.

Zimmer used to be much better when he was in what you call "the box." Maybe there was a reason for the box to begin with.

 

[BatLobster]

Well look, I know you're not too big on Zimmer's Batman scores so we're not going to agree on this. But to me even something like taking a diegetic sound from the movie (the prison chant), and incorporating that into the score is the type of outside the box thinking that worked well for that film, and it's not the type of thing that can't just be copied and pasted into other films as easily as a two-note underscore motif or soundscape stuff. And personally I thought the use of the chant in the film, as well as all the percussion based around that 5/4 tempo was really quite invigorating.

So to me, taking a pedal steel guitar, traditionally associated with country twang, and then using it as an orchestral accompaniment...okay, well that's something different. And it seems very specifically tailored to this character, given the midwestern upbringing and such. Same idea goes for the unique drum circle he put together for this movie, which from what we can tell sounds more like a marching band than the type of percussion you usually hear in action movies...especially ones scored by Zimmer. Time will tell if this "Americana on steroids" approach will actually work beyond being a neat intellectual exercise and everyone will have their own feelings on the results. But I do appreciate the effort of trying something new and injecting a bit of experimentation, even if it's something as small and subtle as having Johnny Marr play the guitar bits on the Inception score. There seems to be a method to his madness, and I think whatever his shortcomings may be as a composer, he excels at zeroing in on the right sound/texture for certain projects.

I don't think Zimmer is better off in "the box", because the more he stays in the box the more he sounds like all the music out there that emulates him. And I do believe that the MC/RV sound has indeed become mind-numbingly pervasive.

And also please know that I'm not saying all experimentation is good. I hate the Trent Reznor/Fincher model of scoring. That's the sound design approach taken to its appalling extreme and if that's where scores are heading over the next decade then I'm not a happy camper. But I think a few doses of experimentation in an otherwise "normal" score can go a long way in keeping things fresh.

 

[Gianakin_]

That was heroic as f**k.

 

[Sharkboy]

Yep still loving it, nice to hear the drums, seems to be a recurring element in the score a motif if you will.

Still going to say it, if you are expecting an equivalent of Williams score, then stop right now. This one will be absolutely different for a film that will look and feel completely different. Williams theme likely wouldn't work.

 

[Sharkboy]

I dislike it. Sounds like Zimmer's typical action music mode instead of anything uniquely Superman. Honestly it reminds me so much of some of Two Steps From Hell's recent tracks that I'm getting massive deja vu.

But then again...what would sound like Superman? How do you determine something like that without seeing what this iteration of Superman is like?

 

[redhawk23]

I know people say this about Zimmer, but I'm not quite sure what constitutes "the box" in that comparison.

Zimmer has taken quite a veering into soundscapes and dissonance. It makes the sounds of the score tie into the sound-effects of the film more organically, but the result is... again... a bit generic because the soundscapes can be matched to a wide variety of scenes or movies. Its generic enough that it gets mimicked in other films. Transformers, for example, had instances of the two-note theme from the Batman films here and there. Oblivion had elements of the Inception score in it, particularly the foghorn, but also some of the soundscape stuff.

Zimmer used to be much better when he was in what you call "the box." Maybe there was a reason for the box to begin with.

You're begrudging him for his influence?

 

[747]

Digging that app snippet of the score! Zimmer keeps delivering.

 

[craigdbfan]

Yeah I'm in love with this. There's truly an ethereal otherworldly vibe to it and it's perfect for Superman.

 

[ConnorKon-El]

Yeah I'm in love with this. There's truly an ethereal otherworldly vibe to it and it's perfect for Superman.

Agreed ! t:
I am actually really excited for the music in this film.

 

[Glassjaw]

Need better/louder version of this new track.... NOOOW. Ahem.

 

[~.:/|T-MaN|\:.~]

Upon first listen I would also rate the track a 3. I don't know why but i find myself comparing the music of this film to the Nolan Bat trilogy in terms of expectations. I'm hoping for a really original theme like Molossus off the begins soundtrack. I don't know if that new superman theme was in An Ideal of Hope or if it was just a piece they wanted to use for the trailer. Either way this one sounds like Zimmer but it also sounds generic. Like something he did for Call of Duty or something.

Really hoping they're saving the good stuff

 

[Project862006]

Upon first listen I would also rate the track a 3. I don't know why but i find myself comparing the music of this film to the Nolan Bat trilogy in terms of expectations. I'm hoping for a really original theme like Molossus off the begins soundtrack. I don't know if that new superman theme was in An Ideal of Hope or if it was just a piece they wanted to use for the trailer. Either way this one sounds like Zimmer but it also sounds generic. Like something he did for Call of Duty or something.

Really hoping they're saving the good stuff

1:15

so original he used it in 1989
[YT]A_M-B92luM0[/YT]