This is my first post here, and I don't really expect to be a regular poster, but do hear me out. Basically I was just hoping people here could offer me some insight into something, mostly regarding the late Michael Kamen.
Kamen has always been one of my favourite composers. His bombastic scoring work on gritty action classics like Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout for me really helped to give those films the suspenseful and dramatic edge they needed. However, there is one composition method that's been on my mind for some time now. In some films he scored, I noticed the use of some kind of harsh guitar (or probably synth) cues during a moment of tension or unease. Kamen did often use guitar in his scoring (notably latin guitars in Licence to Kill), but even then this style had stood out to me.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll be more than happy to demonstrate. The most excessive use of this method as far as I can recall was in the bonkers Carl Weathers vehicle Action Jackson, notably in the pre-title sequence in which a office attendant (played by Ed O' Ross) gets blasted out a window.
The cues I'm referring to occur at 1:53, 2:46, 3:08, 3:16 and 3:53 respectively (each time Ed O' Ross's character is attacked). Here's another clip with excessive use of the style.
Now Action Jackson was also credited as being scored by Herbie Hancock, so I initially suspected these cues to be his work rather than Kamen's. However, that changed when I heard the same style of scoring (though much more brief) in his scores to Road House and Licence to Kill.
Music track from the scene when Dalton (Patrick Swayze) discovers Wade (Sam Elliott) dead, "it was tails" indeed. The cue is at 0:15 though heard more clearly at 0:53.
Music track from the scene when Bond (Timothy Dalton) wants the truth out of Pam (Carey Lowell) regarding Sanchez (Robert Davi). Cue is at 0:42.
Another note I'd like to add is that this doesn't seem to have been a scoring method exclusive to Kamen. I quickly noticed the use of a similar cue in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, which takes place during an attempted rape scene at the hands of two sleazy punks (at 8:05 and 8:11 in the clip below). Friday VIII was scored by Fred Mollin, whose work seemed more synth-based than what series-regular Harry Manfredini had done up to that point.
Basically I'm just curious to know exactly what type of guitars (or synth maybe) were used for this, or if it's been done in any other films (by Kamen or anyone else). I know this post seems very excessive for such a minor style of composing (blame my OCD for that), but if you can help me out, I'd be more than welcome.
The Kurzweil featured in many of Kamen's scores. I was never a particular fan of samples, but Kamen used them in an arresting and unique way.
The cue "Pam" in Licence to Kill was initially just an improvisation to picture with Kamen playing the Kurzweil guitar sample -- but he felt it worked so well, he decided to keep it, and scored and recorded the orchestra accompaniment around it.
Highlander makes extensive use of the Kurzweil K250, and a number of cues in that score were realized exclusively on that keyboard.
The Kurzweil featured in many of Kamen's scores. I was never a particular fan of samples, but Kamen used them in an arresting and unique way.
The cue "Pam" in Licence to Kill was initially just an improvisation to picture with Kamen playing the Kurzweil guitar sample -- but he felt it worked so well, he decided to keep it, and scored and recorded the orchestra accompaniment around it.
Highlander makes extensive use of the Kurzweil K250, and a number of cues in that score were realized exclusively on that keyboard.
Funny, listening to the score to Highlander, I'm quite surprised I've not heard that before. Easily has to be some of Kamen's best orchestral works. And I always loved that "Pam" cue from LTK, it's just so brilliantly memorising to me, especially the reprisal version here.
And it's a keyboard huh? It shouldn't really surprise me much (the "guitar" did have a somewhat synthesized feel to it), though I never assumed Kamen to be the one to use electronic gear to compose. I'm also guessing that the ominous "bell" sounds in Die Hard (and Lethal Weapon to a lesser extent) were created with a Kurzweil, though I could be wrong. A pretty nice bit of kit for composing though. It won't make you into John Williams, but at least you can go wild with all the different sounds at your disposal.
And on an added note after looking it up, Friday VIII composer Fred Mollin (not Karlin, as I incorrectly said in my original post) also seemed to use a Kurzweil K250 for scoring, most notably on his work for Friday the 13th: The Series (which had nothing to do with the film series plot-wise). So in the end, I guess it does make sense why he and Kamen had both used that harsh guitar sample at some point.
Again, thanks for clearing that up Paul. I'm just wondering if I should be aware of any other composers or films that employed the use of this sample, or anything else from a Kurzweil keyboard. Any further input or discussion regarding this is more than welcome.
And it's a keyboard huh? It shouldn't really surprise me much (the "guitar" did have a somewhat synthesized feel to it), though I never assumed Kamen to be the one to use electronic gear to compose.
Actually, I should have been more specific. The guitar which opens the track "Pam" on the CD is an acoustic guitar (performed I believe by Vic Flick). The guitar sound we here in the "love scene" segment of that cue is the Kurzweil.
According to a Keyboard Magazine interview with Kamen, the "Pam" cue "was one of those cases where I improvised to the picture, and it worked so well -- it sort of hit every glint of light in the scene -- I could have spent another week in the studio trying to redo the cue with a real orchestra and real guitar. I did use a real guitar extensively on the score, but on that one cue I decided, if it isn't broke, don't fix it."
It sounds a bit like Kamen is also saying the strings were also samples, but I tend to doubt it -- I would be very surprised if those accompanying strings were electronically sampled. It's unlikely the intonation and technique you hear in those strings could be produced by a keyboard sample (certainly in the 1980s).
I'm also guessing that the ominous "bell" sounds in Die Hard (and Lethal Weapon to a lesser extent) were created with a Kurzweil, though I could be wrong.
Very probably. As far as I know, Kamen relied almost exclusively on the Kurzweil for his synthetic and sampling needs (making him somewhat unique in the 80s, when most others were using the Synclavier or Yamahas, Oberheims, etc.)
Again, thanks for clearing that up Paul. I'm just wondering if I should be aware of any other composers or films that employed the use of this sample, or anything else from a Kurzweil keyboard. Any further input or discussion regarding this is more than welcome.
The guitar which opens the track "Pam" on the CD is an acoustic guitar (performed I believe by Vic Flick). The guitar sound we here in the "love scene" segment of that cue is the Kurzweil.