YEah one caveat about Mike, Bruce, Julius and myself is that our straight up personal styles won't necessarily match the "Faulconer Productions Music" DBZ style. We've all progressed since then and when working on the show there was an effort to keep the style somewhat consistent, inline with Funimation's wishes, and of couse appropriate. I know there was some friction between Julius and Mike over the consistency part. Julius being the new guy with his own sound and not having contributed to anything until much later.
Here's my attempt at summing up each of us in relationship to the show:
Me: Heavier, much more aggressive sounding than the show. I usually was holding back (except with obvious arrangements like Destruction and Droids vs Bikers) My top goal is usually to get a "wow" from the listener, whether its huge orchestral sounds, pounding metal, surreal ambient sounds, etc. My entire "Z Music" CD isn't really representative of me...it's a return to the "Faulconer Productions" mindset to prove a point to the fans. "Shrubbery of Darkness" and "Have Some Epic" probably represent my style a lot better. But I know what I think works for the show...and my personal style is *definitely* too heavy. I didn't like putting in "Destruction".
Mike: Lighter and more peaceful than the show, Mike likes to keep things quirky and interesting as a top priority. He would keep something when he thought it had character. He also talks about preferring to write music that's singable. Honestly I haven't heard a lot of Mike outside of the studio...I wish he would frickin release some more material like he promised to do. oh Gohan and Icarus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bAofAOUAo0 is a good example of Mike in his preferred element (well except the heavy bits) Mike arranged a lot of the heavier synth tracks some say are "superficial" (him being the dominant arranger in the series), but it's really not who he is. It's Funimation. Just shows Mike's versatility (I think all 4 of us were versatile) Also a big point about Mike is he was there from the start with Bruce. So they together laid down the "Faulconer Productions" sound initially.
Julius: More uplifting and pop influenced I think. Julius seems to me to be about going for a really glorious kinda wonderment feel. I think he didn't like working with the DBZ synths either (I had my own issues with it as well, since I think we both have an affinity for the Hollywood sound...which Mike despises)
Bruce: More traditional, based in "art" music. The man has a Phd in music. His orchestral stuff is actually very rich and sophisticated. I have a lot of respect for his skills actually...but like any of us, he's very diverse. I think his strong suite is orchestral work, especially given budget for a real orchestra. He gravitates toward stuff that is a bit cheesy for me rock wise, but he has a super good ear and can pick up new sounds pretty fast. His education gives him a lot of control, but Mike says he rips on classical artists too much and has no originality (which remember is Mike's top priority)
