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Magpie
Elvenhome
Jul 13 2008, 3:56pm
Post #1 of 2
(2748 views)
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New site offers the Annotated Scores of the LOTR films in interactive form
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If you've purchased the Complete Recordings you might know about the Annotated Scores. Or they might have slipped your attention. Perhaps you heard of them but didn't have the Complete Recordings so you didn't think they'd be useful for you.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's some info.
The Annotated Scores contain four sections:
- Analysis: A discussion of the music on a track by track basis, including corresponding action on screen. Interspersed amongst the music analysis are indications of how the music on the CR differs from the movie and why.
- Lyrics: The full source texts of the lyrics for that movie including the language, translated English (when appropriate), and attribution. This is not a 'sing along' version of the lyrics.
- Instruments: a brief description of the different instruments and an example of where they can be heard in the recording. This section is broken down by culture: Hobbiton, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Mordor for example
- Peformers: brief info on the vocal and instrumental performers: solo and group. An example of where each can be heard in given.
The Annotated Scores were written by Doug Adams and beautifully done. They are available for free download at the soundtrack's official site. Even if you don't have the CRs, I'm convinced you would find parts interesting. But perhaps the pdf form feels unwieldy to you. Or, since you don't have the CR, you can't listen to those 'first heard at' examples or you don't know what the themes are (as discussed in the liner notes for the CRs).
Well, now you can access the information in an interactive, html format. John Jennette had reformatted all this information on web pages on his new site, The Music of the Lord of the Rings, and has included sound samples for almost everything. Just the formatting is impressive. The sound samples, well.. they open up the soundtrack to a much wider group of people than can afford the CRs. I have considered resuming discussions of the movie's musical themes but I was struggling with how to include people who didn't have the CRs and couldn't quickly cue up some passages to listen to. This site could provide the solution to that.
Doug Adams was the one who pointed this site out to us, so if you check it out and want to give John feedback, you can do so at Doug's blog entry.
magpie avatar gallery ~ soundtrack website ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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Magpie
Elvenhome
Jul 13 2008, 4:15pm
Post #2 of 2
(1732 views)
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I thought this would be a good opportunity to provide links to other soundtrack sites. They are all different in broad or slight ways and all add to the discussion as a whole.
- House of Eorl - Earl, a TORn forum member (busy at the moment and seldom seen), offers lots of general discussion, the source text for lyrics and sound samples of themes. He's also tried to collate Doug Adams' forum and blog comments into one spot, making it easier to reference them.
- Lord of the Rings Score Analysis Project - Melson Zwerver's site. This is a wiki site that provides time ranges for themes heard on the Complete Recordings. The information can be sorted by track number or theme.
- Doug Adams' blog - a good place for news and, I would hazard to say, the first place you'll hear it if it's soundtrack related. It's also the best place to ask that niggly soundtrack question.
- The Music of the Lord of the Rings - the site from the post above. I thought it was worth placing in this list again. The text is all Doug Adams. The formatting and the time ranges and sound samples are the work of John Jennette
- A Magpie's Nest - I have the least pretty site. I taught myself webdesign and it shows. But this is the place for figuring out what's sung. Whereas other sites give you time ranges for the themes heard in the Complete Recordings, I describe the scene in the movie. There's lots of other goodies for those who prowl around (commentary and interview transcripts, similarities to other music, etc). And it pays to remember: some easter eggs are green.
There are lots of other sites out there but none are, to my knowledge, have been updated in the last few years.
magpie avatar gallery ~ soundtrack website ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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