(Cinema Musica interview continued)

The IMAX-movies are set in all kinds of places like Africa or Egypt. How important is it for you to use ethnic music in those situations?

I think, it’s very important. It doesn’t have to be entirely ethnic music, but I love to combine ethnic influences from all over the world with orchestral music. If special traditional instruments of a country enrich the orchestra, it creates a unique sound. But if you composed a score just using percussion and panpipes, the music would be very limited and would begin to sound boring rather quickly. Therefore you should combine those elements with the orchestra to gain a better dramatic effect.
I remember Jerry Goldsmith once said: “If a movie is set in Russia, it doesn’t mean that you need to write Russian music. And if a movie is set in Mexico, it doesn’t mean, that you need to compose Mexican music. But you have to include influences from those regions into your music, because it aids communication.” Does that make sense?

Absolutely! How flexible do you have to be for an IMAX-movie?

You have to be very flexible and versatile. It is not easy to write music for nature films or documentaries. When you are doing a film for cinema or TV that is centered round human conflict, you have for instance two people sitting in a room, discussing their problems, and you underscore that scene musically by highlighting the dramatic turns of their conversation. What kind of music do you compose for two monkeys jumping from tree to tree? Here it's considerably more difficult to find the right music. Sometimes the movie-makers have an idea and sometimes not.

I’m surprised that for an IMAX-movie there is always enough money for an orchestra. Other composers have to record abroad, where it is cheaper, and some scores for nature films have to rely on only a few instruments and synthesizers.

Not with the IMAX-movies! They always have enough money for an orchestra and expect orchestral music. I record my music with the same orchestra that other IMAX-composers use as well.

But I have also written music for documentaries and nature films that weren’t IMAX, which had less money and just a small budget for a certain number of musicians. It all depends on what the directors expects. IMAX has a certain image and the movies they put on the big screen are really good. If you go to the cinema and watch an IMAX-presentation, even the seats are moving and that’s great, it's a fantastic feeling. You don’t get this on television.

You have also written the music for the animated film “The Princess and the Pea”. Can you tell us something about this work? Where is the difference between composing for an animated film and a live action movie?

It takes a lot more time to develop an animated film. It’s a very slow process, especially if songs are used, because those have to be written before the film is completed, in the best case even before the actual shooting starts. David Pomerance and I had composed a few songs, and then I composed the soundtrack, for which I had about two years time. But I fulfill the assignment to write music for an animated film in the same way as I fulfill the assignment to write for a live action picture; there is no difference for me.

But you have written pure synthesizer music for movies like “Asylum” or “Soul Assassins” as well. How did that come about? Did you choose that concept?

Well, in the case of “Soul Assassins”, even if we had enough money for an orchestra, it wouldn't have fitted the film. To create an electronic score is good, if that's what the movie needs. Sadly, today synthesizers are too often used to imitate an orchestra because there isn’t enough money for a real orchestra, and that’s frustrating. If it's up to me, I would choose an orchestra for every kind of music, no question about that. An orchestra can do things that only an orchestra can do, and I prefer that. Synthesizers can create great effects and provide the right rhythm, but it’s not the same.

What do you think, how important is the synthesizer in today’s music business?

If they are used for percussion or to create a certain sound design, they fulfill the purpose they were designed for. They are best used to create musical colors that an orchestra simply cannot provide. Sadly, this kind of use is very seldom nowadays and synths are mainly used if you can’t afford an orchestra. The budgets for music are decreasing more and more and that’s a big problem. Today’s technique is really good and samples sound great as long as you don’t compare them to an orchestra – than they simply can’t keep up.

To name a few examples, Jerry Goldsmith used synthesizer for “Logan’s Run” and Hans Zimmer for “The Rock” – back then it sounded fresh and innovative, but today everything sounds a bit dated and old fashioned. I think that's a big problem with synthesizers.

That’s exactly where we have to be careful! An orchestra can never sound old fashioned! I am a great fan of Jerry Goldsmith and the main theme for “Hoosiers” is great – but the percussion sounds dated…

... it sounded modern back in the 80ies.

Yes, but it still sounds good today. And if you listen to some of Hans Zimmer’s scores from the 90s, the synthesizers do still sound very contemporary.

You have your own label "Silverscreen Music.“ Why do you publish your music yourself?

Originally, I just wanted to publish promo CDs, which I wanted to hand out to directors and friends. I didn’t mean to earn any money with it, I just wanted to get my music circulated, most of all among directors and people from the press.

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