Orchestration
It's quite a well-known fact that major film composers generally whistle a tune whilst a minion notates it, and then gets another bunch of minions to orchestrate it in the composer's style. Danny Elfman used to do his own orchestrations of course, and always attributed his "unique" sound to using three trombones.

The exception to the rule is Hans Zimmer: he doesn't even have the talent to think up his own tunes, he just rips them off dead composers who can't object (Faure Pavane in The Rock, Holst The Planets in Gladiator etc).
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 14:47, 3 replies)

Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer did the music to this doctor who charity single in the 80s. cant think why it never made top 40
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1yW8FrrXAA
(discowho?, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 14:50, closed)

Fair...
...enough, minion-use is rife in the film-score industry, though less so with the advent of better software. I think the majority of my point stands though, and I think that he's always used Steve "I also used to be in Oingo Boingo but mysteriously have a hell of a lot less money" Bartek to orchestrate and, y'know, do the hard bits.

I would maybe offer an alternate source for his "unique" sound as well :-)

I think my central point is that most recent film music sucks butt, and people offer up Danny as the saviour of film music or something.
(nordelius, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 15:03, closed)

Oh aye.
I'm not disagreeing with your original post! I like listening to Elfman music as background 'muzak', but if one tries to concentrate on listening to it for music's sake, one realises it's always ethereal choir sounds slapped on top of some 'menacing' percussion, and some unoriginal cunt slaps it with the label 'alternative'.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 15:43, closed)

^^this
* several million. Completely

However, I can't turn my "music ears" off at night - so even as background to an actually very good film it just grates and grates and grates...
(nordelius, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 15:50, closed)

Have you heard the soundtrack to There Will be Blood
by Johnny Greenwood? I think it's fantastic
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 15:53, closed)

Yes -
... and love it. Ditto Nick Cave/Warren Ellis on "the Proposition", A.R Rahman's "Slumdog Millionaire" stuff (perfect for the film!)...

There's a few really, really good soundtracks still happening. Not many. But a few.
(nordelius, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 17:21, closed)

"Unique" sound?
Do you mean "unique" in the sense of "everything he's ever written sounds exactly the same"?
( .Yeti., Thu 4 Feb 2010, 15:36, closed)

Yep.
that's exactly what I mean - hence the inverted commas.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 4 Feb 2010, 15:43, closed)