# Who is Your Favorite Soundtrack Composer?



## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

*As an addition to the classical composer thread started by* @Thrifty Walrus: http://personalitycafe.com/member-polls/40955-who-youre-favorite-composer.html



Thrifty Walrus said:


> Lol, I specifically didn't put on John Williams because once I started including modern composers it would have been too hard to narrow it down.


I'm a soundtrack enthusiast myself and tried to pick all the biggest names I could think of for this, but there really are soo many good composers it was hard to narrow it down even to these. I know I missed some good ones, so sorry if yours isn't here. Please post if you have other votes! And as in the other thread, tell us what you appreciate about the composer you chose!


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## Orchidion (Jan 3, 2013)

Howard Shores music to "Lord of the Rings" is definitely the best soundtrack I have ever heard. Thus I would nominate him. 2nd best is Danny Elfman for me. His OST for Spiderman 1,2 was great. He has plenty of other good compositions as well.


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## EdBogie (Aug 15, 2011)

Wonderful thread! As an aspiring film score composer myself, I'm a _massive_ soundtrack nerd.

So hard to choose just one, but James Newton Howard would have to be my pick. The Village was the score that originally got me into soundtracks in the first place, and remains to be my favorite of all time. It's so beautifully haunting, and with Hilary Hahn as the featured soloist? Ah, it's pierces my soul. Signs, Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender, The Happening, Waterhorse, King Kong, Defiance, Blood Diamond, Hidalgo, I Am Legend, The Hunger Games, Dinosaur, Snow White and the Huntsman, Snow Falling on Cedars, and the Sixth Sense are all simply brilliant too. So much wonderful material from this amazing composer, he never ceases to amaze and inspire me.

The Grave Road from The Village.





The Great Eatlon from Lady in the Water.





Flow Like Water from The Last Airbender.





Exodus from Defiance.






Just to name a few....


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## ancientone (Apr 7, 2013)

FTW...


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## smolio (Mar 7, 2013)

Hans Zimmer because his work for _The Prince of Egypt_ awes me everytime


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## Archetype (Mar 17, 2011)

Is this thread exclusively talking about movie soundtrack composers?
My favorite composer is this guy










*Nobuo Uematsu*
Known as the composer of the soundtrack of final fantasy 1 thru 10
Here are some of his works:

* *


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## Jennywocky (Aug 7, 2009)

James Newton Howard does a fine job to capture the movie's soul. Yes, he's done a lot of work with Shyamalan, and I really like his score for The Sixth Sense and how he tried to envision the power as a kind of animal roving throughout the room. One of my favorite moments is the very end of the movie just when you think the music won't swell any further and then there's a further full orchestra swell that leaves me feeling as if my heart will burst in joy... and then a last gossimer kiss. Another gem by him is the orchestral/choir pieces that accompanies the closing credits of Flatliners and the way the last note just purely hangs in the air. But he's done a LOT of work over the years of various sorts...

Zimmer is solid and done quite a variety of work. Just because he is a professional doesn't degrade his artistic contributions; he also doesn't let fear of failure prevent him from taking risks. One of my favorite things by him is the opening battle waltz in Gladiator, although I think his music to the ending of Inception is just incredible in how it builds and builds and builds but in a very regulated way, so that you can feel the same tension building in Cobb -- and then just breaks at the penultimate moment.

I really like Silvestri's score to Contact. It's sweet and captures the essence of the movie. What a great tribute to Carl Sagan.

Don Davis did some pretty wonderful stuff with non-standard melodies in The Matrix Trilogy. The theme is completely unsingable, yet the sound is unique and totally identifiable as soon as you hear about three beats of it -- he totally branded that movie. Great blend of synth and orchestral work throughout; the end credits to Revolutions is just incredible, as well as the whole fight sequence there with Neo and Smith. There's even a small flourish to Tristan & Isolde when the Deus Ex Machina makes an appearance. And he can do more standard orchestra work (blended with asymmetric melody/rhythm) such as the flight of The Hammer back to Zion.

I like James Horner but he got too much exposure too fast and became kind of cliche in the process, unfortunately. Pretty lush and passionate but sometimes feels like he hits things too much on the nose -- yet that's why he's popular in the mainstream.

Howard Shore isn't bad either, but I think the gush over LotR really soured me on him... which probably isn't his fault. I got so sick of hearing people gush over it, it was solid but not anything new for him or others. Great opening/closing credits to The Silence of the Lambs.

John Williams is actually very versatile as well, for an old-schooler. He built a lot of his mainstream career scoring big trilogy pics in the 70's and 80's and I found that music somewhat predictable even if solid... and then suddenly I noticed his work in the last 15 years or so as just going to another new level. (For example, his score to A.I.) He continues to reinvent himself.

A guy you missed in the list was Michael Giacchino. I like him because he can handle a variety of styles based on the needs of the movie. his score for Incredibles was inspired and really did a lot to set the tone for that movie, as well as brand it as part of the superhero/spy genre. And his particular sound when he can just pen for himself (at least, that's my guess) became a trademark sound on LOST, which you can also hear in Super 8, Mission Impossible III, and Star Trek. he just has this great way of penning happy moments in ways that also have underlying depth and pathos, even a twinge of bittersweetness.

Two great scores unrepresented here also would be Gattaca and Cloud Atlas.

EDIT: Well, if we're going to bring "game" scores into it, I have to give a nod to Nathan McCree who did the first few Tomb Raiders games and audibly branded the game. That opening oboe melody, and then variations on the theme from different cultural styles in the next few movies, was pretty groundbreaking for game music at that time; it actually branded the feeling i experience when playing those games and why I enjoyed them so much.,

Of course, things have gotten more extensive since then, especially with bigger budgets and more electronic toys to play with. the Rift MMO music is actually pretty decent, although their main theme reminds me faintly of the intro to "In the Line of Fire."


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## Proteus (Mar 5, 2010)

Goblin





Clint Mansell





Wojciech Kilar


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## Aquamarine (Jul 24, 2011)

Archetype said:


> Is this thread exclusively talking about movie soundtrack composers?
> My favorite composer is this guy
> 
> 
> ...


The music and songs are simply beautiful! :,)


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## Wolfrahm (Feb 25, 2013)

No Jeremy Soule, Frank Klepacki, Inon Zur, Clint Mansell or Jack Wall?
Then again they compose, mostly, game soundtracks, so it's understandable.


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## TheProcrastinatingMaster (Jun 4, 2012)

Hans Zimmer, only because he did the soundtrack for Gladiator, which is my favourite movie score so far.


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## Cosmic Hobo (Feb 7, 2013)

Assuming that I can post decomposing composers:

John Barry:





 (really dramatic)











So very, very stylish. The height of 60s cool.

Bernard Hermann:









(Superb: atmospheric & imaginative)


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## Swordsman of Mana (Jan 7, 2011)

James Horner (Braveheart, The Mask of Zorro, Balto, Troy, Casper)


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## Obscure (May 20, 2013)

Viva Joe Hisaishi!!
Enjoy <3


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## OrdinarinessIsAFWTD (Jun 28, 2011)

Can't forget _il maestro_ himself:


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## thestrangewarrior (May 5, 2010)

I would say either Jerry Goldsmith or John Carpenter. Goldsmith made good use of mixing traditional orchestra with synthesizers. The score for Total Recall is a good example of this. The Rambo scores he did even utilize drum machines at points. The more recent composers like Zimmer definitely take after Goldsmith. Carpenter is the king of low-key synth scores. He didn't do all of his films, but his presence is even felt on films he directed, but didn't do music for. The music Carpenter did also serve to fit the atmosphere very well.


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## josephkonrad (Sep 30, 2012)

thestrangewarrior said:


> I would say either Jerry Goldsmith or John Carpenter. Goldsmith made good use of mixing traditional orchestra with synthesizers. The score for Total Recall is a good example of this. The Rambo scores he did even utilize drum machines at points. The more recent composers like Zimmer definitely take after Goldsmith. Carpenter is the king of low-key synth scores. He didn't do all of his films, but his presence is even felt on films he directed, but didn't do music for. The music Carpenter did also serve to fit the atmosphere very well.


Halloween is an incredible score.


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## Toru Okada (May 10, 2011)

Hans Zimmer of the composers listed (I'm a plebeian). Morricone is also up there.
@Wolfrahm Soule is one of my favorites, as is Akira Yamaoka and Inon Zur.


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## PrimroseMind (Jan 28, 2013)

Too much to choose from. O.O Can't I like them all?


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## Saira (Feb 2, 2012)

Ennio Morricone should be on that list, he's the best.
@Wolfrahm, we have the same taste!  I love game soundtracks.

Jeremy Soule is amazing.






Jack Wall and other Mass Effect composers as well. I'd put all 3 Mass Effect soundtracks here.






Speaking of Mass Effect... You can be Zimmer but you'll never be better than Cmdr. Shepard!


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

The Lion King soundtrack for life. lm gonna go shove my face in my toilet since it wasn't listed. l looked up the composer ;_;


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## Nordom (Oct 12, 2011)

Gonna go with Brian Eno for a lifetime achievement award since he's done all sorts of different stuff.


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## zerocrossing (Jul 6, 2011)

I am a fan of so many of these composers that it was really tough to make a choice - And you forgot Michael Giacchino. He should definitely be on the list.

Here are my favorites on the list: Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Howard Shore, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, and Ramin Djawadi. 

Going old school (i.e., guys doing mature work in the 70s and 80s), I'll take Goldsmith over Williams. I think Goldsmith is more versatile with far more unpredictable orchestrations. But Williams' music is iconic, and I am a big fan of a number of movies he did. (And yes, I'm using iconic loosely. I know the literal meaning of icon  ).

Ultimately, though, I voted for Elfman, because there's something hilariously perverse about those big ueber-quirky Wagnerian scores. _Mars Attacks!_, actually, is probably my favorite Elfman score.


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

OMG WTF BRO said:


> The Lion King soundtrack for life. lm gonna go shove my face in my toilet since it wasn't listed. l looked up the composer ;_;


The Lion King is one of my favorites! The score is by Hans Zimmer - I didn't forget him

Here's my favorite track from that, which is like... in my top 10 favorite tracks of all time ever actually 








zerocrossing said:


> I am a fan of so many of these composers that it was really tough to make a choice - And you forgot Michael Giacchino. He should definitely be on the list.


I certainly can't choose just one myself, and yeah... Michael Giaccino was on my orriginal list. 20 choices just isn't enough, I felt bad cutting it down to that.


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## yoopea (May 1, 2013)

The Lion King was the first soundtrack I fell for; I think it was rare among Disney musicals in its allowance for sad moments to sit and settle before giving way to comic relief. I think I was 5 when the movie came out, and I played the record until the ruts were worn.

Then came Titanic. The combination of Celtic and harmonic magic set my 9-year-old soul alight. I think I still carry it inside me somewhere. 

In high school, Michael Andrews, Donnie Darko, another first love of mine. After that, The Village (Howard) and Mansell's The Fountain.

The epics (Shore, Gregson-Williams) are moving, but don't do for my soul what those do. Power packed into seemingly small packages. 

Also dig on Jon Brion (Eternal Sunshine...), Yves Chamberland (apjiw), Doyle (Great Expectations...another childhood romance) and game composer Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Cross--another Celtic wonderland).


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## yoopea (May 1, 2013)

Damn. Forgot to mention Yann Tiersen.


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## Choice (May 19, 2012)

-Mark Mancina




list of works:




-Clint Mansell (who DOESN't know Lux Aeterna?! It goes with EVERYTHING!!!!)
also 



 <3

- David Holmes


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## zerocrossing (Jul 6, 2011)

Oh yeah... Clint Mansell. I love his _Requiem for a Dream _score. Of course, having the Kronos Quartet play your music doesn't hurt.


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## VertigoH (Mar 21, 2012)

I'm going to have to say Joe Hisaishi. He is truly a huge part of what makes Studio Ghibli films so magical. I love all of his work so much.







I'm also a fan of Taro Iwashiro, Carter Burwell, Howard Shore, Alan Menken, John Powell, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and several others.

...I really love soundtracks.


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## angeleyes (Feb 20, 2013)

Though he only did one film, I give Curtis Mayfield an honorable mention.
(Super Fly)


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## Toru Okada (May 10, 2011)

angeleyes said:


> View attachment 72742
> Though he only did one film, I give Curtis Mayfield an honorable mention.
> (Super Fly)


 Thought for sure you'd say Morricone.


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## Ashen (May 10, 2013)

Off of this list I picked Hans Zimmer. 

However, anyone fond of video game soundtracks should give Nobuo Uematsu a listen. Pretty much everything for Final Fantasy IX is a good diddy, if not a masterpiece.


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

Aelthwyn said:


> The Lion King is one of my favorites! The score is by Hans Zimmer - I didn't forget him
> 
> Here's my favorite track from that, which is like... in my top 10 favorite tracks of all time ever actually
> 
> ...


This song was the reason l became so obsessed with the entire soundtrack. You're killing me ri nao ;_;


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## angeleyes (Feb 20, 2013)

Wallmaster said:


> Thought for sure you'd say Morricone.


You, sir, are very astute. Thumbs up to Morricone as well!


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