FSM # 15: Film music “down” periods?
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Some periods, I just can’t stand the thought of listening to soundtracks. I ONLY want to listen to OTHER music, whether classical or rock or pop or electronic or what-have-you. These can last for a day, but sometimes as much as a week and more. I’ve had one for a few days now….only listened to my non-film music stuff. I know that film music is really a wide category that includes many genres, but sometimes you just want to listen to music that was composed for its own sake. REAL rock instead of film music faux-rock; REAL classical instead of film music faux-classical on so on.
Anyone else feel the same? I know that Timmer does.
Yes, I know that, too. And I mentioned already elsewhere that I frequently have days I don’t listen to music at all.
By the way, I DID ask the aforementioned Timmer (a regular at various boards for many years) to join this board in April of last year, but his interest in discussions has waned, alas. He’s living in Nepal now, with spotty internet connection and what-have-you.
Same here. Sometimes I am just hungry for lyrics or a certain rough Rock Sound that I don’t get from Film scores. Past week I was frequently listening to the recent releases of the Pixies and got a little hyped again.
But I didn’t give up soundtracks completely as I was exploring my new 16 disc Lalo Schifrin box a little.Listening to songs or even a complete album of songs is for me a very different experience than listening to film scores. The score is always related to another medium. Sometimes it feels like listening to an instrumental version of a song where the voive and the lyrics are missing. Songs as an artform can sound more complete in a way. If they are good.
Another difference is, songs often stand rather for memories that I shared with other people. Film music mostly repeesents memories I had on my own. Which is a good thing. Still its a different feel that requires its own mood.
There are definitely “periods of interest” where I am more drawn to one type of music than another, but it usually doesn’t have anything to do whether it’s film music. Since film music can be anything — classical, jazz, pop, rock, electronic… it can be dramatic or ambient, atmospheric or specific — I don’t recall if I ever specifically avoided film music.
Also, I’d say that when I have certain “periods of interest”, I am more drawn towards a particular style of music, rather than being averse to any other type of music. I had phases where I was particularly drawn, let’s say, to Baroque Music, or to chamber works, or to solo piano music, so since few film scores are in that style, that meant I was listening to fewer film scores in those “phases”. For example, a few years ago I had a period where I was very much drawn to piano sonatas (or piano works), and, starting with Beethoven, I listened to sonatas by Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, Boulez, Rachmaninoff, etc.
You’re right – film music can be everything, all styles and genres. But even if the album and tracks are completely re-recorded and independent, sometimes even the THOUGHT of this being film music becomes irritating to me. I need to go somewhere where the music was composed for its own sake. So there’s a rational element to it too.
The thought of it being composed for a movie becomes irritating, regardless of what the actual music is? I don’t have that, I admit. Sounds irrrational rather than rational to me. 🙂
He, he….you’re right, it DOES sound quite irrational. But the point was that it comes from a THOUGHT, not a feeling. If I KNOW that I’m listening to film music, in whatever shape or form, that will colour the experience. And when I am in those “fuck film music!” periods, it will be detrimental. That is just as true today as it was in 2010. Impressed you don’t have it, I thought maybe it was quite common.
Wait a second… I thought you were the one who views film scores as “concept albums” and listens to them without any connection to a movie in the first place. 😉
I am sitting on the couch, listening to Samuel Barber’s 1st Symphony right now, and think it’s quite filmic, though it’s not written for a film. And some time ago, I have listened to Morricone’s “Un Uomo da Rispettare” and thought this doesn’t really sound like it was written for a film.
As I said, I have certainly “periods of interest”, but I don’t recall I ever had a period where I was averse to film music, though I certainly had periods where I listened to non-film scores more.
Wait a second… I thought you were the one who views film scores as “concept albums” and listens to them without any connection to a movie in the first place.
True. That’s the irrational part of it, I suppose.
I rarely play full film music albums anymore. As you see in the “now playing” thread, I mostly play other stuff.
It was interesting to hear Dr. Jacoby speak about his “down period” in another thread, and a reason being having reached a saturation point in one’s own collection.
It’s something I can definitely understand. But the fact remains that I’ve listened to my non-film music albums more than most of my film music albums, simply because I’ve owned them longer and there are fewer of them. So I still feel this urge to familiarize myself with the film music, first and foremost.
My occasional down periods mostly stem from other things, as I’ve talked about above.
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