Fionordequester wrote:You know, when I think back on Kenji now, it gives me a whole new appreciation for all the composers who worked on all the different versions of this show, whether it was Shunsuke, Team Faulconer, Nathan Johnson, Shuki Levin, heck, even Mark Menza, all of these guys look better than they did previously. Say what you want about all of those guys, but at least they didn't blatantly plagiarize the pieces they stole (maybe some borrowed from other songs they heard more than others, but there's a big difference between that and flat out stealing).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzJJ4UkPIz8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABGHGLvkPcY
Fionordequester wrote:
I just wonder though, how do musicians and composers deal with this temptation? Surely there are times where their bosses want a whole bunch of music from them, but they've run into a brick wall. And what about times where you think you thought of a really awesome tune, only to realize that you actually heard it before from somewhere else? Or maybe they just feel flat out inadequate compared to others and feel ashamed? I'm sort of interested to hear this. I also sort of wonder what the fine line is between taking inspiration from another song and altering it to your own tastes, and then just copying.
Honestly I've only felt the need to hard core rip off stuff a few times. ONce there was a particular character that sounded and acted just like a famous musician..so naturally I bought CDs by that particular guy and ripped on the style. Another time I was scoring a video game and they wanted the SAME SOUND OVER AND OVER FOR THE WHOLE SOUNDTRACK....ugh....I started to lose inspiration...which usually isn't an issue for me. I can usually come up with *something* passable but man I was against a brick wall at the end of the Empires project. I ended up listening to Raiders of the Lost Ark and Saving Private Ryan and analyzing the elements used in those scores. I tried hard not to be blatant though, just copy the stylistic elements.
Hell, listen to my Z Music album. That's a lot of walking that line you are talking about. I wanted to evoke certain sounds from the show..but still be original. Way of the Mystic was probably the hardest one to do. Would have been wayyyy easier to just cover Gohan Angers. It was pretty tough to alter it and keep the same mood.
Years after I wrote "Empire of Sand" I went back and played Final Fantasy 9. Heard a creepy piano theme that...errr....sounded really familiar...doh!!
Some people rip on purpose though. I did a paper on John Williams in college and how he takes things directly from other score. I had some quote about how he claimed it brought on nostalgia. Dunno if you've seen the King's Row comparison to Star Wars, pretty shocking
I dug up a bunch of other examples in the paper.
There's a saying, "good artists borrow, great artists steal!". It's actually kinda true. I think people who know large amounts of material do a good job of bringing the best all into one place. John Williams has been a conductor for eons. He knows everything. If he wants a sound he probably can think of a specific piece he's conducted instantly and pull from it, parts and all.
JRR Tolkien is another example. The man knew sooo much mythology and lore from lots of different cultures. He knew how many languages? Answers vary but I've seen as many as 35 reported. He had a distinct advantage on learning lots of material. My fav Tolkien rip of is in the Hobbit, straight out of Beowulf:
The Hobbit summary wrote:
Bilbo first encounters Smaug when he creeps down the tiny side passage into the Lonely Mountain and steals a golden cup from Smaug's stack while the dragon is sleeping. Even though Smaug isn't doing anything with this treasure, he jealously guards every tiny bit of it, and he immediately realizes that the cup has been stolen. In retaliation, Smaug tears up the side of the mountain and blocks off the tiny side door (even though he can't see quite where it is). So, this Smaug creature likes to overreact. And his overreaction gets even worse after his second visit from Bilbo
Beowulf summary wrote:
The dragon discovered the treasure sometime later, and guarded it in peace for the three hundred years. But when the dragon wakes and notices the slave’s footprints and the missing cup, it is filled with fury and bursts into the air to hunt for the man who stole the cup. Though the dragon fails to find the thief, it takes vengeance by ravaging the countryside at night. The dragon burns the land and buildings, including Beowulf’s own mead-hall.
But some people know so much music it makes it so they can't write. I had a friend in high school like that. He was a blues freak (Hamilton Loomis actually
http://hamiltonloomis.com/ ) He knew like every blues and classic rock song in existence... My cousin and I would go over to his place to jam and sometime try to write stuff. But Hamilton almost always was like "nah that sounds too much like x or y" I guess he finally loosened up. He's got a number of original albums out now-a-days. (Some really good stuff btw...and yeah I credit Hamilton with a portion of my blues chops)
