Soundtrack

Related Topics:
Soundtracks :: Soundtrack

For the digital music creation software of the same name, see Soundtrack Pro.

Soundtrack refers to the recorded sound accompanying a visual medium such as a motion picture, television show, or video game.

Physical portion of film

In film formats, the soundtrack is the physical area of the film which records the synchronized sound. For the early history of the soundtrack, see the article sound film.

Movie and television soundtracks

The term soundtrack most commonly refers to the music used in a movie (or television show), and/or to an album sold containing that music. Sometimes, the music has been recorded just for the film or album (e.g. Saturday Night Fever). Often, but not always, and depending on the type of movie, the soundtrack album will contain portions of the score, non-diegetic music composed for thematic effect as the movie's plot occurs. In 1916, Victor Schertzinger recorded the first music specifically for use in a motion picture, and releasing soundtracks of songs used in films became standard in the 1930s. Henry Mancini, who won an Emmy Award and two Grammys for his soundtrack to Peter Gunn, was the first composer to have a widespread hit with a song from a soundtrack.

The soundtrack on a record can contain all kinds of music (including "inspired by"; see the Harry Potter soundtracks), contained in a movie; the score contains only music by the original film's composer(s).

The best-selling soundtrack to date is The Bodyguard, the lead single of which, "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, is one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Orchestral Soundtrack

These are soundtracks to movies that feature no songs, only music. This is usually orchestral and sometimes other non-traditional instruments are used. These soundtracks rely on composers such as John Williams, Howard Shore, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman. Most movies, even those with songs, feature written and orchestral music.

Some well-known orchestral soundtracks include:

Movies that Have Outstanding Musical Soundtracks but only songs on the official soundtrack.

Classical Music often used in Movies.

Video game soundtracks

Soundtrack may also refer to the music used in video games. While sound effects were nearly universally used for action happening in the game, music to accompany the gameplay was a later development. Rob Hubbard and Martin Galway were early composers of music specifically for video games for the 1980s Commodore 64 computer. Koji Kondo was an early and important composer for Nintendo games. As the technology improved, polyphonic and often-times orchestral soundtracks replaced simple monophonic melodies starting in the late 1980s and the soundtracks to popular games such as the Final Fantasy series began to be released separately. In addition to compositions written specifically for video games, the advent of CD technology allowed developers to incorporate licensed songs into their soundtrack. (The Tony Hawk series is a good example of this.) Furthermore, when Microsoft released the Xbox in 2001, it featured an option allowing users to customize the soundtrack for certain games by ripping a CD to the hard-drive.

Book soundtracks

To this date, only twice has a soundtrack been written specifically for a book.

The foremost was written for Tolkien's The Hobbit and his trilogy The Lord of the Rings. It was composed by Craig Russell for the San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony. Commissioned in 1995, it was finally put on disk in 2000 by the San Lois Obispo Symphony.

A far more advanced soundtrack was introduced for the 1996 Star Wars novel Shadows of the Empire#Novel (written by author Steve Perry). Lucasfilm chose Joel McNeeley to write a score. This was an eccentric, experimental project, in contrast to all other soundtracks, as the composer was allowed to convey general moods and themes, rather than having to write music to flow for specific scenes. A project called "Sine Fiction" has made some soundtracks to novels by science-fiction writers like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke, and have this far released 14 soundtracks to science-fiction novels or short stories. All of which is available for free download.

External links

In alphabetical order:

Bo-Films Retail sales (in French).
Filmsound.org Film Music & Sound Track Analyses.
Filmtracks Reviews.
CLUAS List of 10 Movie Soundtracks with commentary.
Movie soundtracks @ moviemusic.com. Retail sales, reviews, forums, release dates.
Royalty Free Film Music Music available for film projects. Sample works immediately.
scorereviews.com Reviews, forums.
Soundtrack Collector News, forums, collecting resources.
the SoundtrackINFO project Soundtrack questions, answers, trivia.
SoundtrackNet News, interviews, reviews, trailer music guide.
Imagine Ave Radio - 24/7 streaming soundtracks.

Soundtracks