Attn JMS: Crusade's Music
PPascal
I heve been lurking on the group for years, but seldom posted.
I had read lots of contradictory things about Crusade, and my wife and I
have just completed ep 3 (Wells of Forever), from a british video (as
for B5, we buy them directly to an english mail order shop. Crusade has
not been shown yet in France).
I love the show, and I think that the music is a key element to that.
Chen's score for A Call to Arms was good, but Crusade is even better and
I can't understand why there was so much criticism. Especially on the so
called "musical" level. Chen manages to mix languages with a
powerful expressivity, without comparisons with the tons of commercial
world music we get these days; samples are beautiful and imaginative,
and harmonic treatment is really interesting. I hope that you will
bring him back when (if) Crusade gets revived.
I remember when you wrote that Franke himself got criticised too in the
beginnings of B5 season 1. I was among those who preferred Copeland's
version, but learned to love Franke's electronic symphonism. Chen brings
something more, that deals with dream and discovery.
Thanks for having choosed him. Too bad TNT killed the show...
Pierre
Jms at B5
viscerally expressed. That was certainly the case here.
It's a sound unlike what most people were used to hearing, and Evan had never
previously done a soundtrack, so you had a different sound mixed with the
process of finding the moments in a drama, and for some folks, that was
difficult. I think Evan went from strength to strength as he worked out what
the process was.
Some liked it, some didn't, and I'm okay with that. I wanted to experiment.
Too often, people say they want something different, then when you give it to
them, they say they want what they had before. Nothing wrong with that, just
pointing it out.
Personally, I liked the majority of what he did for the show, and I would make
the same decision again. You *have* to experiment and try different things,
and risk failing, or you stultify and dry up and die creatively.
jms
(jms...@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
(all message content (c) 2000 by
synthetic worlds, ltd., permission
to reprint specifically denied to
SFX Magazine)
Mac Breck
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----- Original Message -----
From: "PPascal" <ppa...@cybercable.tm.fr>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 10:11 AM
Subject: Attn JMS: Crusade's Music
> Dear JMS,
>
> I heve been lurking on the group for years, but seldom posted.
>
> I had read lots of contradictory things about Crusade, and my wife and I
> have just completed ep 3 (Wells of Forever), from a british video (as
> for B5, we buy them directly to an english mail order shop. Crusade has
> not been shown yet in France).
>
> I love the show, and I think that the music is a key element to that.
> Chen's score for A Call to Arms was good, but Crusade is even better and
> I can't understand why there was so much criticism. Especially on the so
> called "musical" level. Chen manages to mix languages with a
> powerful expressivity, without comparisons with the tons of commercial
> world music we get these days; samples are beautiful and imaginative,
> and harmonic treatment is really interesting. I hope that you will
> bring him back when (if) Crusade gets revived.
WHEN Crusade gets revived. :-)
I second that. The music grew on me, and after a while I liked it. It's
just "different" from B5's music. Just ordered the Crusade CD (and "The
Dead Zone" DVD) from Amazon. Should be here any day now.
Mac
JBONETATI
stultify and dry up and die creatively. >>
So, what would constitute failing artistically?
Don't get me wrong, I liked Evan Chens soundtrack, especially the Crusade
theme. The subject of failing has come up a couple of times lately, though,
and I'm not quite sure what that would entail.
Jan
Dwight Williams
Can I have HMV or MusicWorld special-order the Crusade CD for me?
--
Dwight Williams(ad...@freenet.carleton.ca) -- Orleans, Ontario, Canada
Maintainer/Founder - DEOList for _Chase_ Fandom
Personal Web Site: http://www.ncf.ca/~ad696/
*I* own my postings on Usenet, *not* any dot-com site!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pål Are Nordal
>
> It's a sound unlike what most people were used to hearing,
Tell me about it. I went into "aural shock" after viewing ACtA for the
first time.
I was expecting different... But not *that* different.
It did however grow on me.
> and Evan had never
> previously done a soundtrack, so you had a different sound mixed with the
> process of finding the moments in a drama, and for some folks, that was
> difficult.
I think people would be surprised if they listened to "The Needs of
Earth" (the first produced episode) and then one of the last - say "The
Rules of the Game". In the former, IMHO, the music is quite a bit
disrupting, screwing up several scenes. In the latter, it compliments
the onscreen action well.
--
Donate free food with a simple click: http://www.thehungersite.com/
Pål Are Nordal
a_b...@bigfoot.com
Chris Schumacher
Williams) wrote:
>Down to Brass Tacks, if I may...
>
>Can I have HMV or MusicWorld special-order the Crusade CD for me?
>
Maybe, maybe not. However, you CAN order it from the Sonic Image
webpage, and apparently through Amazon.com
-==Kensu==-
Rob Perkins
Britney Spears.
And, for those of us who remember,
Rick Astley.
Rob
Rob Perkins
> just "different" from B5's music. Just ordered the Crusade CD (and "The
> Dead Zone" DVD) from Amazon. Should be here any day now.
Likewise. When seeing B5 characters, I expected to hear B5 themes,
especially in a B5 movie, which is what ACtA was billed as.
It not only grew on me, I got to really, really like Evan Chen's stuff.
Especially the main title music to Crusade. It rocks.
JMS, thanks for trusting him.
Rob
Asbjörn Nejman
saw the show the first time, but I must say that I was
really positively surprised.
I like it a lot!
Asbjorn
Mac Breck
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Perkins" <rob_p...@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2000 6:26 AM
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Crusade's Music
> It not only grew on me, I got to really, really like Evan Chen's stuff.
> Especially the main title music to Crusade. It rocks.
After watching Crusade, the main title music plays in my head for a long
while afterward, especially the ending (violins?) with Galen's words.
Mac
Mena Ryan
I did too. I found it more bold and in-your-face than anything
soundtrack-wise out there right now. Then again, my personality is
somewhat bold and in-your-face so perhaps there's a connection... ;)
Itaï Perez
I didn't like Crusade's music.
There, it is said. But as JMS said you can't have anything artistic
(especially something new and experimental) that will please everyone.
So, please JMS do not worry about me or anybody else, and continue to try
new things, new ideas, new people.
Sincerely,
Itai Perez.
Simo Aaltonen
"Rob Perkins" <rob_p...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > So, what would constitute failing artistically?
>
> Britney Spears.
No, I think that's failing MISERABLY.
-simo aaltonen
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Mena Ryan
>
> Ok, as nobody expressed this opinion yet, I feel compelled to write it :
> I didn't like Crusade's music.
Were you around here during Crusade's run? That opinion was expressed
here a lot actually. :O
> There, it is said. But as JMS said you can't have anything artistic
> (especially something new and experimental) that will please everyone.
> So, please JMS do not worry about me or anybody else, and continue to try
> new things, new ideas, new people.
I think that this was a classic example of how something new was done
and it took some people a little time to get used to. There of course
will always be people who will never like it, but it seems like
sometimes it's just getting used to something. Remember how CGI looked
"fake" to a lot of people, probably primarily because people were used
to looking at models? How many people can look at some of those old
Trek episodes (even TNG) and still get a sense of depth to them? I
think that *those* look bad, even though I was in the iffy-about-CGI
camp at first. Then again, the technology *has* gotten better...
Pål Are Nordal
>
> Remember how CGI looked
> "fake" to a lot of people, probably primarily because people were used
> to looking at models? How many people can look at some of those old
> Trek episodes (even TNG) and still get a sense of depth to them?
Heheh... I'm actually in the unusual position of having B5 being the
first live-action "space" SF series I saw. I find models... dull. The
shots are usually static and slow, and they look like, well, models.
Itaï Perez
"Mena Ryan" <mena...@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message news:
39D62EC4...@yahoo.com...
"Itaï Perez" wrote:
>
> Ok, as nobody expressed this opinion yet, I feel compelled to write it :
> I didn't like Crusade's music.
Were you around here during Crusade's run? That opinion was expressed
here a lot actually. :O
Sorry, I wasn't around at the time. And I was able to watch the first
Crusade episodes only recently, by buying the videotapes. That's the problem
of living in France...
Friendly,
Itaï Perez.
ArsenicMan
[ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ]
I admit that I haven't seen TOS, so I don't know what the modelwork was
like. I *have* seen TNG, and I think that the modelwork is superior to B5's
CGI, circa seasons 1-3. In season 4, the quality seems (to me at least) to
take a huge step up; the explosions are much more realistic, and the
texturing is much more detailed.
Both models and CGI have their places. Budgets and applications dictate
their uses, and both B5 and Trek have used them appropriately.
ArsenicMan
==================================================
It's our last best hope for peace? We're *so* screwed.
"Mena Ryan" <mena...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:39D62EC4...@yahoo.com...
"Itaï Perez" wrote:
>
> Ok, as nobody expressed this opinion yet, I feel compelled to write it :
> I didn't like Crusade's music.
Were you around here during Crusade's run? That opinion was expressed
here a lot actually. :O
> There, it is said. But as JMS said you can't have anything artistic
> (especially something new and experimental) that will please everyone.
> So, please JMS do not worry about me or anybody else, and continue to try
> new things, new ideas, new people.
I think that this was a classic example of how something new was done
and it took some people a little time to get used to. There of course
will always be people who will never like it, but it seems like
sometimes it's just getting used to something. Remember how CGI looked
"fake" to a lot of people, probably primarily because people were used
to looking at models? How many people can look at some of those old