Intrada Soundtrack Forum

9/1/06

Early Arrival. No, not track two of the OUTLAND soundtrack but our newest Special Collection release. The boxes are here now so we're ready to roll after the holiday. I just figured if I snuck in a Goldsmith track title it'd grab your attention. Like writing the word "sex" first - but I know how most soundtrack collectors think.

Check back here Monday evening for a proper announcement. It'll be like having a labor day special. Then again, we'll be closed on Monday so it'll really be laborless. Or something like that.

Anyway, we'll begin shipping on Tuesday. It's a two-CD set but value-priced like one disc so we're talking a pretty good deal. It's also a great score so copies may not be around too long.

More good news for the ears, albeit probably not the wallet! We have another Special Collection title coming up in just a couple of weeks. This one should satisfy numerous requests we've gotten over the years. It's from masters previously thought missing so it certainly qualifies as being pretty special!

9/6/06

Thank you for the slam! We're already down to less than 200 copies of INCHON! We assumed many people already owned the 1988 issue and wouldn't jump on a new one, even with sizeable improvements. We were wrong!

I can hear them monkeying with a one-to-a-customer mentality back in the mail room so if you're thinking about picking this one up, you'd better act soon.

By the way, this one was really a joy to make. We had all of the 24-track session masters, the rehearsal takes, print takes, original mixes, new digital mixes, engineering paperwork, all that good stuff. Imagine what it's like to chase down one of your favorites and find everything survives, in great shape, no less. Now, if only we could turn that clock back even further...

Anyway, with INCHON just about gone over night, it's probably fortuitous - or painful, depending on your pocketbook - that we've got our next Special Collection title due within a couple of weeks. We'll post a proper date as soon as some of the dust settles back here.

9/6/06

It's pretty official. INCHON is sold out. Now if we can just catch up on shipping these puppies out to all of you who supported it before our next album arrives, we'll keep on smiling.

But do be patient for a few days while do the order processing. We've got our hands full. And, no, I'm not complaining. I'm thanking you all!

9/7/06

Okay. I'm asking.

If you saw TOWERING INFERNO, you'll recall this line (or something similar) was architect Paul Newman's farewell to firechief Steve McQueen.

So... okay, I'm asking. Please read my thoughts here, all the way through, then pop over to our forum and share your feedback.

Predicting quantities isn't rocket science. Everyone in the music industry is aware that trying to sell expensive-to-produce music (like a movie soundtrack) is challenging. It's a very small audience with some number between 1 and 3000, or thereabouts. And even with this small audience it's a tough number to pin down. It's a finicky audience that may or may not support your efforts. Some people will balance a copy of INCHON on one hand and season two of LOST in the other hand and go for the TV show now, hoping the Goldsmith album would still be around later. My guess here - of course - would've been that LOST would be around for awhile and INCHON would not. Guess I was right.

But back to predictions. It took us ten years to sell 1500 copies of the original CD to INCHON. We've still got a copy or two lying around, in fact! It's no guarantee that we'd easily sell 1500 copies of a new edition just because "it's a Goldsmith". Like I said, you guys can be finicky. I can be. We all can be. Money doesn't grow on trees. But decisions have to be made using these best guess scenarios.

Our experience with Goldsmith on CD isn't entirely naive. We gave world CD premieres to FIRST BLOOD, PLANET OF THE APES (with "The Hunt"), WIND AND THE LION, QB VII, ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, RAMBO III, RIO CONCHOS, HOUR OF THE GUN, NIGHT CROSSING, CAPRICORN ONE, INCHON and many others, to say nothing of introducing POLTERGEIST II, EXTREME PREJUDICE, WARLOCK, NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER and several others. We have some notions of the guy's popularity.

But we were way off on this new version of INCHON.

So we're considering a one-time re-pressing of a single batch, mostly to help out other dealers that couldn't get everything they needed. It could be a good idea, it could be a bad idea. We really don't know.

All of this stuff is aimed at you people. You're the market. The powers that be know this. The suits at 20th Century Fox and Universal and Sony and Disney and MGM and the musician's union and everyone else. They know you make up a very small audience. They know it's expensive to produce this music and if there isn't some air of loyalty and dependability that can be counted on the results won't justify the costs. Some of you may think they don't otherwise care about all this stuff but I think they do. The people I negotiate with seem to care.

Anyway, I assure you we care. So do Varese and FSM and SAE and Perseverance and all the other fine labels you support. So we'll keep on targeting you people since you're making the costs of preserving and producing this music worthwhile. I can't imagine how I'd give proper thanks to you folks for keeping this music alive but I promise you my gratitude is in here, somewhere.

So even though your mom told you never to talk back, please do. Tell me whether you'd be happy to see us get a few more copies of INCHON out there and maybe spread the music a little father, or if you'd feel betrayed in having prioritized your spending and sacrificed season two of LOST for a new CD by Jerry Goldsmith.

Please talk away. The forum's open. If it takes a while for any of us to respond, trust us. We're busy back here in the mail room but we're reading what you have to say and deeply appreciating it!

9/12/06

Well, we kicked up some dust. If it settles soon I'll try to post more "one-of-a-kind" titles for customers whom like chasing down that sort of stuff. We've got plenty to list. On the other hand, we'll also be posting our next Special Collection title in just a few days, too! Hopefully it'll be as appealing as INCHON was. I wouldn't mind kicking up some more dust!

9/13/06

Clock watchers take note. We'll be posting our newest Special Collection limited edition CD for sale on Monday the 18th, at about 5:00 pm our time. We're excited to offer it! We've had a lot of requests for this score over the years but couldn't make it happen due to unavailable master elements. Happily, first generation two-track stereo mixes finally surfaced not too long ago. We then proceeded with licensing and got down to business. Next week we bring you the results.

Golden age fans AND silver age fans take note. We like to think it's your kind of stuff!

9/17/06

A reminder. We're posting the official new release announcement for our next Special Collection CD tomorrow, which is Monday the 18th, at around 5:00 pm our time (Pacific).

The CD is in stock and will begin shipping on Tuesday morning, assuming there are orders. After INCHON I figure poeple will either be very excited about this release - or so tired of collecting soundtracks that they're off on other hobbies.

If it's the former, I'm very grateful. If it's the latter, I'll understand!

9/19/06

Speculation's over. Our latest title's up for grabs. SATURN 3's been asked for a lot over the years, some people predicted it might be happening. Anyway, now you can put it on your CD player and enjoy it.

Though elements have been missing for some time, people kept searching. Bad sounding cassette copies have been going around for years, thieves have pirated them and made equally bad-sounding CDs, but proper tapes remained elusive. It was through the work of Bernstein's estate and his son Peter, in tandem with FSM's Lukas Kendall, engaged on another project, that the precious reels were uncovered. Elmer Bernstein had retained two-track stereo masters, albeit he archived his music at the slower tape speed of 7 1/2 i.p.s. instead of the customary speed of 15 i.p.s. So there are a few anomalies, notably a few seconds during the initial cue where tape wrinkling caused the right channel to dip in and out momentarily, like a mild drop out. Fortunately the effect is minimal, all things considered. There was also tape hiss evident, a product of slower tape speeds, but since the tapes were still first generation mixes from the session masters, the level was certainly acceptable. We toyed with applying noise reduction in mastering but - as is our general policy - opted for the sonic integrity of the elements without it. No matter how good the noise reduction programs that are available, they all still alter the timbre of the music as a tradeoff for decreasing the hiss. You can get rid of the noise but are left with a thin, electronic-ish feel to the strings. Given the level of intricate harp figures, complex high violin passages and whatnot, we felt the pure original sound proved best.

Even with the imperfections, Bernstein's personal copy appears to be the only surviving master element suitable for production. One wonders - and hopes - those also long-missing tapes for BRIDGE AT REMAGEN and KINGS OF THE SUN will appear. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Hope springs eternal. It certainly did with SATURN 3!

9/22/06

I'm no expert. When it comes to directing movies, I'm not only no expert I'm no anything. Quite simply, I'm nothing. I've never made a movie, so what do I know?

Well, at least this. I know lots of movies pretty well. Ones worth knowing that I don't know, I'm catching up with.

Certainly, if just for film history rationale, knowing movies that won Academy Awards for "Best Picture" and "Best Actor" qualify.

So what's on my mind? Something that'll get me honked at by any film maker who just happens to be reading this weenie little corner, no doubt. (Which means I'm probably safe.) Anyway, I'm reading todays review in the San Francisco Chronicle about ALL THE KING'S MEN. Steve Zaillian directs, James Horner scores. In this review by Ruthe Stein, I read that Zaillian has "made a point of saying he hasn't seen the 1949 adaptation".

He says what? Okay, I'm curious. How can someone be in a field like film directing and pull off making such a big movie and brag about not having seen such a famous Oscar winner as that which they are remaking?

I'd assume (incorrectly it appears) that any film director would at least be willing to keep up with the great stuff that others in his field made before him. Just for the knowledge, at least. In this age of movies at our fingertips it's easy to do. At least with Oscar winners.

I've written a lot of music for symphonic band but my only foray into real movie scoring was for HOLLY VS. HOLLYWOOD. None-the-less, I happily say I'm familiar with most of the famous stuff other composers did before I came along and dabbled with it. Maybe some guys worry that becoming familiar with someone else's efforts will cause unwanted interference with the creative process. I just call it being prepared.

Directing a remake of the 1949 "Best Picture" Oscar winner and not being familiar with it strikes me as being a little indifferent to what's at hand. Perhaps this is common in the movie directing business and I'm just naively reading my first example of it. I already admitted I know nothing about directing. I do recall John Williams saying he'd somehow missed all those old vampire movies when he came on board to score John Badham's DRACULA. But that seems forgiveable, for some reason. Maybe I'm just being forgiving because he writes music. Or just making my useless rant for the day.

Related tidbit. Possibly a whole new can of worms, too. The review also mentions James Horner's score. I haven't heard it yet and I like the man's music a lot.

This Chronicle reviewer obviously does not. She considers Horner the "least subtle of film composers." He's just imitating "the ROCKY theme".

But what does she know?

9/27/06

People will want to know. So says Gena Davis to Jeff Goldblum in THE FLY. So says I to you. Given the busy - sometimes volatile - climate of limited editions, especially when the quantities get low, consider this just a marker to take note of. We're now down to our last 200 copies of Michael Small's twin-score album THE DRIVER/THE STAR CHAMBER. Given the methodical albeit steady pace of sales this should last a little while longer. But take note: our crystal ball just isn't delivering the goods these days. So bump this CD up a notch or two on your priority list if it's of interest to you.

In contrast. If you've been mulling over Raksin's HILDA CRANE (which comes with Friedhofer's REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER), you've got lots of time to mull. The 400 or so copies left in stock don't exactly have wings. Or, as people in this business are prone to say: They've got no legs.

Which is ironic since the cover art tells us Jane Russell has quite a pair of 'em!

9/29/06

As if there weren't enough things to do back here in the mail room, hopefully we'll be adding more to our plates. Our next Special Collection release arrives on October 10. If you're not worn down from an onslaught of choices on the market lately, tune in for our official announcement on Monday, October 9, around 5:15 PM our time.

We've paired two scores on one CD. World premieres, of course. One's by one of the most popular and represented Academy Award winning composers of all time. (Sorry, no Goldsmith for a change!) The other's by a highly talented but far less represented composer. 1200 copies.

We hope you'll support the release, even if it isn't Goldsmith!