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Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

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Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#41

Post by vanderZwan »

crazygringo wrote: post #20

Wow, this is one of the cleverest ideas I've seen in a long time. As far as I can tell, they've put together a wide-ranging set of fairly generic-sounding movie music (generic = good, so it doesn't call attention to itself)... but composed it in a way that the three parameters (momentum, depth, power) simply map to different volume levels of the underlying instrumental tracks -- but all perfectly tuned to always prod…

> After all, most films don't need recognizable motifs, they just need music to tell us how to feel

Not trying to pick a fight with you - I agree with your comment overall, but this is a culturally learned thing, very specific to Western movies and TV-series, and it is actually mildly infuriating to me. It is one thing to complement the emotions present in a scene, but being told what to feel is basically a cheap way to try to patch up bad storytelling.

Worse, it can totally backfire: for the dub of Castle in the Sky, the original composer had to fill in a ton of quiet scenes with music because (IIRC) Disney was worried about the audience feeling awkward about not being told what to feel. They also added background chatter, and worst of all: filled in scenes that were quiet on purpose with all of these things. While the orchestral score sounds great in and of itself, in most scenes all that added audio ruined the mood of the original.

However, I can't deny that what you state is what the audience expects, and that it "works", so sadly you're still right.

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#42

Post by tefles »

brudgers wrote: post #36

Looking around the site, I was not able to find clear license terms that related to copyright of the actual music tracks produced. I am not a lawyer, but to me it is critical that copyright (and not royalties) is clearly spelled out. The product lives in an uncanny valley between clear copyright interests in musical compositions and software generated derivative works modified by end user input. The only legal inform…

Yeah, it is something that is actively being looked at and worked on.

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#44

Post by Sileni »

ben174 wrote: post #37
crazygringo wrote: post #20

Wow, this is one of the cleverest ideas I've seen in a long time. As far as I can tell, they've put together a wide-ranging set of fairly generic-sounding movie music (generic = good, so it doesn't call attention to itself)... but composed it in a way that the three parameters (momentum, depth, power) simply map to different volume levels of the underlying instrumental tracks -- but all perfectly tuned to always prod…

This reminds me of how blown away I was when I first played Super Mario 64 (1996), and the music dynamically changed based on whether you were underwater (adding in some strings and a few other details). Actually, now that I mention it, Nintendo did the same thing in Super Mario World (1990), just simply adding in some congas to the currently playing track when you jump on Yoshi.

Makes sense that Nintendo would nail a similar effect. If there's one thing they're masters of, it's distilling an experience down to it's essential elements.

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#45

Post by brudgers »

tefles wrote: post #42
brudgers wrote: post #36

Looking around the site, I was not able to find clear license terms that related to copyright of the actual music tracks produced. I am not a lawyer, but to me it is critical that copyright (and not royalties) is clearly spelled out. The product lives in an uncanny valley between clear copyright interests in musical compositions and software generated derivative works modified by end user input. The only legal inform…

Yeah, it is something that is actively being looked at and worked on.

For what it's worth, I think the license is much more critical than being royalty free in terms of value creation. While royalty free is "cool" for generic Youtubers. Professionals and corporations with real budgets have money for royalties and it can be rounding error for the money they spend on lawyers to keep them away from copyright problems. To put it another way, clear and central copyright licensing has the potential to allow the project to move well upmarket. Without it, even free wouldn't look like a bargain to someone serious enough to have a lawyer.

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#46

Post by itsmenotyou »

ben174 wrote: post #37
crazygringo wrote: post #20

Wow, this is one of the cleverest ideas I've seen in a long time. As far as I can tell, they've put together a wide-ranging set of fairly generic-sounding movie music (generic = good, so it doesn't call attention to itself)... but composed it in a way that the three parameters (momentum, depth, power) simply map to different volume levels of the underlying instrumental tracks -- but all perfectly tuned to always prod…

This reminds me of how blown away I was when I first played Super Mario 64 (1996), and the music dynamically changed based on whether you were underwater (adding in some strings and a few other details). Actually, now that I mention it, Nintendo did the same thing in Super Mario World (1990), just simply adding in some congas to the currently playing track when you jump on Yoshi.

They've taken it to a whole new level in their more recent games, harmonizing the sound effects to the background music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5-YDxH6It8

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#47

Post by crazygringo »

vanderZwan wrote: post #41
crazygringo wrote: post #20

Wow, this is one of the cleverest ideas I've seen in a long time. As far as I can tell, they've put together a wide-ranging set of fairly generic-sounding movie music (generic = good, so it doesn't call attention to itself)... but composed it in a way that the three parameters (momentum, depth, power) simply map to different volume levels of the underlying instrumental tracks -- but all perfectly tuned to always prod…

> After all, most films don't need recognizable motifs, they just need music to tell us how to feel Not trying to pick a fight with you - I agree with your comment overall, but this is a culturally learned thing, very specific to Western movies and TV-series, and it is actually mildly infuriating to me. It is one thing to complement the emotions present in a scene, but being told what to feel is basically a cheap way…

I think music is just a tool -- it can be used badly or it can be used well.

Different media are able to show different things -- novels show interior thoughts, plays need to focus mainly on dialog, and movies/TV are largely driven by images.

Particularly, movies and TV have a huge challenge in communicating the interior thoughts of characters -- this is one of the first things you learn in screenwriting, when a particular story might be more appropriate as a novel instead.

But one of the tools which can communicate a character's state of mind is through music. At best, I think it's what you mean when you say complementary -- e.g. a character has to act confident but you need to know that inside they're nervous. But of course it can be a crutch for bad acting too -- if the actor is supposed to be communicating nervousness but isn't, so the music does it for them.

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#48

Post by lentil_soup »

vanderZwan wrote: post #41
crazygringo wrote: post #20

Wow, this is one of the cleverest ideas I've seen in a long time. As far as I can tell, they've put together a wide-ranging set of fairly generic-sounding movie music (generic = good, so it doesn't call attention to itself)... but composed it in a way that the three parameters (momentum, depth, power) simply map to different volume levels of the underlying instrumental tracks -- but all perfectly tuned to always prod…

> After all, most films don't need recognizable motifs, they just need music to tell us how to feel Not trying to pick a fight with you - I agree with your comment overall, but this is a culturally learned thing, very specific to Western movies and TV-series, and it is actually mildly infuriating to me. It is one thing to complement the emotions present in a scene, but being told what to feel is basically a cheap way…

In that vein, I recommend this video about the Marvel Universe music and the general use of "temp music". It touches a lot of the points you mention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#49

Post by chrisbuc »

chrisbuc wrote: post #43

Sad music -> Turin What film have I watched with that in?!!!! It's going to be on my mind all night now... (aargh!)

Ok - found it... but now I'm confused.

This music Gnossienne No. 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUAF3abGY2M

is the same as the royalty free one called 'Turin'.

So is it that the Turin version is a royalty free 'recording' (dynamically created), rather than one by a specific performer?

Re: Filmstro: Royalty-Free Music

#50

Post by smacktoward »

ben174 wrote: post #37
crazygringo wrote: post #20

Wow, this is one of the cleverest ideas I've seen in a long time. As far as I can tell, they've put together a wide-ranging set of fairly generic-sounding movie music (generic = good, so it doesn't call attention to itself)... but composed it in a way that the three parameters (momentum, depth, power) simply map to different volume levels of the underlying instrumental tracks -- but all perfectly tuned to always prod…

This reminds me of how blown away I was when I first played Super Mario 64 (1996), and the music dynamically changed based on whether you were underwater (adding in some strings and a few other details). Actually, now that I mention it, Nintendo did the same thing in Super Mario World (1990), just simply adding in some congas to the currently playing track when you jump on Yoshi.

For me a similar moment of revelation came when I first heard LucasArts’ iMUSE dynamic music engine in action: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMUSE
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