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Vangelis has died

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Re: Vangelis has died

#121
post #11

He was a very unique, visionary talent. To back that up, beyond his scores, take a look at the following video to get a glimpse of how he worked. https://youtu.be/GWggDMDhwIA There used to be some forum posts detailing the custom MIDI controllers and setup more, but it looks like a lot of it has been deleted or removed. I found this though: https://www.synthevolution.net/blog/2017/5/22/the-devils-wor...

Thank you for sharing those links! If Vangelis were a coder, he would have taken a Space Cadet Keyboard and extended it. 17 pedals...and on top of that, what appears to be a very broad custom notation / shorthand system. I can't tell if that notation acted more like keyboard macros or even more modifier keys.

Re: Vangelis has died

#122
post #2

That's a shame. His work on blade runner just has this timeless magic to it. The sequel ends on his motif (tears in rain) for a reason too. I also forgot to mention that chariots of fire is truly great too. Some parts of his music haven't aged too well, but the stuff that hasn't is sorely missed in today's film scores. Even if Zimmer is brilliant he's not a poet.

Seriously, I can always tell a Hans Zimmer score without even having preknowledge that a film had hired him. Big, orchestral, boring score that repeats the same motifs he's been using for the last 50 years? Dude has one act.

Try his soundtrack to The Thin Red Line.

Re: Vangelis has died

#123

Imo, Vangelis brought the synthesizer from an experimental novelty to an instrument for composition. The two sounds I associate with him are the long brassy triangle with a steep envelope that we know from both Blade Runner and the accompaniment to the piano in the Chariots of Fire theme, and his effective use of chimes. I have tickets for Olafur Arnalds next week, and there is a younger generation of composers like…

How would you compare Vangelis and Isao Tomita? Tomita was marrying synth with classical at about the same time or even a little earlier, to widespread acclaim and success.

A couple other names I think of when I think early serious synth work are Jean-Michel Jarre and Larry Fast. Where would you put them in synth history?

Re: Vangelis has died

#126
post #66

Just sharing one of my favorite pieces of him: "Memories of Green" (from the album "See You Later") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW9D6agp794 I think this piece shows the range of his musical expressiveness, apart from his virtuosity or synth programming skills. Just a piano passed through a flanger effect with some ambient sounds. The electronic bleeps in that track are recorded from a handheld electronic game (Ba…

>"Memories of Green"

Memories of Green and his work on Blade Runner in general are on my list of best music. Beautiful work.

Re: Vangelis has died

#127

Imo, Vangelis brought the synthesizer from an experimental novelty to an instrument for composition. The two sounds I associate with him are the long brassy triangle with a steep envelope that we know from both Blade Runner and the accompaniment to the piano in the Chariots of Fire theme, and his effective use of chimes. I have tickets for Olafur Arnalds next week, and there is a younger generation of composers like…

For me, it's the theme and much of the music in Carl Sagan's original Cosmos Series. RIP!

Re: Vangelis has died

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, I can always tell a Hans Zimmer score without even having preknowledge that a film had hired him. Big, orchestral, boring score that repeats the same motifs he's been using for the last 50 years? Dude has one act.

What other Zimmer track sounds like Time [1] (from his work on Inception )? [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxabLA7UQ9k

I wonder if Hans Zimmer was part of thinking of the musical inception in that movie. That said, isn't this a "Big, orchestral, [boring] score"?

Edit: It is one of my favorite pieces of music so not boring to me. I'm sure others have different opinion.

Re: Vangelis has died

#129

Imo, Vangelis brought the synthesizer from an experimental novelty to an instrument for composition. The two sounds I associate with him are the long brassy triangle with a steep envelope that we know from both Blade Runner and the accompaniment to the piano in the Chariots of Fire theme, and his effective use of chimes. I have tickets for Olafur Arnalds next week, and there is a younger generation of composers like…

Who is the James in Aphex/James? I’m not sure if you mean to imply Richard D. James or a separate person (see Reznor/Ross).

Re: Vangelis has died

#130
post #123

Imo, Vangelis brought the synthesizer from an experimental novelty to an instrument for composition. The two sounds I associate with him are the long brassy triangle with a steep envelope that we know from both Blade Runner and the accompaniment to the piano in the Chariots of Fire theme, and his effective use of chimes. I have tickets for Olafur Arnalds next week, and there is a younger generation of composers like…

How would you compare Vangelis and Isao Tomita? Tomita was marrying synth with classical at about the same time or even a little earlier, to widespread acclaim and success. A couple other names I think of when I think early serious synth work are Jean-Michel Jarre and Larry Fast. Where would you put them in synth history?

Although I have not heard (or even thought of) it in… well, decades, Tomita's Pictures at an Exhibition was something I really loved, especially "Ballet of Unhatched Chicks." I need to try and listen to it again.
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