Brian Tyler's Constantine (and SAM True Strike)

[dcoscina]

We've been going on and on about Media Ventures in other threads and the whole future of film scoring and how bleak it is...well, I want to digress from all that and talk about a young composer who has the propensity to be a major force in Hollywood. Brian Tyler. He's already scored several big name films and unfortunately suffered the same fate as the big boys by having much of his score for Constantine replaced by Media Ventures own Klaus Bedalt (no, I'm not going to launch into another MV bashing- although I am employing a great deal restraint to do so :rolleyes: ).

If anyone is interested in Tyler's version of Constantine, visit his website and check out 4 cues from the film. I think I can hear Project SAM True Strike percussion in some of the cues too! Very apocalyptic and eerie. Tyler employs a lot of modernist coloristic effects such as tone clusters, glissandi, portamento string effects, aleatorism, etc. And some choral forces that aren't just singing the ubiquitous big minor triads. Nice stuff. Maybe a soundtrack of his unreleased music for this film wil be available through some company like Varese one day.

[KC]

We've been going on and on about Media Ventures in other threads and the whole future of film scoring and how bleak it is...well, I want to digress from all that and talk about a young composer who has the propensity to be a major force in Hollywood. Brian Tyler. He's already scored several big name films and unfortunately suffered the same fate as the big boys by having much of his score for Constantine replaced by Media Ventures own Klaus Bedalt (no, I'm not going to launch into another MV bashing- although I am employing a great deal restraint to do so :rolleyes: ).

If anyone is interested in Tyler's version of Constantine, visit his website and check out 4 cues from the film. I think I can hear Project SAM True Strike percussion in some of the cues too! Very apocalyptic and eerie. Tyler employs a lot of modernist coloristic effects such as tone clusters, glissandi, portamento string effects, aleatorism, etc. And some choral forces that aren't just singing the ubiquitous big minor triads. Nice stuff. Maybe a soundtrack of his unreleased music for this film wil be available through some company like Varese one day.


Hello,

For those of you who are interested in hearing Brian's score, it is available on Varése Sarabande. You can view it here: http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=vsd%2D302%2D066%2D636%2D2.

Just a quick correction -- from what I understand, the majority of the score is Brian. I was present for one of the live recording sessions in Los Angeles which took place over three weeks of recording for the film. I am not sure what Klaus Badelt's involvement was in Constantine, but to reiterate, I believe the lion's share of the score to have been composed by Brian Tyler.

Best wishes,

Kaveh

[dcoscina]

What do you think of Tyler's score Kaveh? I'm told it was too dark and not thematic enough hence they got Bedalt to fill in the score.

[KC]

What do you think of Tyler's score Kaveh? I'm told it was too dark and not thematic enough hence they got Bedalt to fill in the score.

I enjoyed it. There are a lot of interesting textures and effects as well as some well written subtle moments. It is a good example of Brian's writing style which can clearly be recognized in the majority of his action and drama scores. More importantly, it is appropriate for the film. As you mentioned in another post, Frailty is also a good example of his work.

Best,

Kaveh

[dcoscina]

From what I've heard on his website it sounds pretty good. I also liked his Frailty score a lot. Very effective. And creepy too.

His Star Trek television score was also quite good. Very expansive and thematic.

[James W.G. Smith]

I really got into his work for Bubba Ho-tep and Children of Dune (sharing the same chord progression no less), but everything else that I have heard from him just wasn't...effective enough for me. Never the less, I hope to hear some great music from him in the future, we all know he can do it :D.

James W.G. Smith

EDIT: Oh yeah, and Frailty was pretty cool too.