Reviews for Rock music essentials

The average rating for Rock music essentials based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-03-04 00:00:00 Anne Coyne This monstrous tome was surprisingly chalk-full of useful insights and interesting perspectives. There were quotes from dozens and dozens of huge names in the industry: John Williams, Hanz Zimmer, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Christopher Young, Leonard Rosenman, etc. There was even a wonderfully contemplative forward by John Williams, arguably the greatest film composer who ever lived. While this book is primarily a manifesto of "painfully acquired knowledge," it also manages to present several divergent methodologies that all of these greats used to produce the same thing: a good score, on time and on budget. Perhaps the best thing about this book is the copious amounts of sketches and even fully-orchestrated cues you can find in here, complete with the time-code of the start of the cue for the DVD release. You can't find a better resource for self-study unless you happen to be on the USC campus or something. The scope of the book was impressive. TV, Movies, recording, dubbing, spotting, the writing process, sketching, orchestration, conducting, songwriting, budgets, complementing the drama...the one thing it left out was video games, which isn't surprising given that the book is a decade or so old. Still, it feels like a complete guide for those interested in partaking in this fast-paced field, and it does very well. It just might take you a couple months to get through it, like it did me.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-02-11 00:00:00 Stanley Pidima I find myself returning to this book constantly for advice and inspiration. On The Track is a Swiss Army Knife of knowledge in the world of film score. I recommend this not only to aspiring composers but anyone fascinated with the marrying of music to picture. From quotes and anecdotes taken from some of the most accomplished members of the scoring world to sheet music from major cues throughout the industry, this book is worth the amount of shelf space takes up