Composer Threads The Bear McCreary Thread

[Taikomochi 1,249]

If you watched Battlestar Galactica or The Sarah Connor Chronicles, you might recognize this guy. I think he does a great job. Anyone else buy his albums for Battlestar Galactica?


He also does an admirable theme for Sarah Connor Chronicles but that's unreleased.

[pete 990]

I love Bear's Battlestar music and the fact he keeps fans so updated via his blog and website" www.bearmccreay.com

But regarding your post, I think posting links to files like that is a big no no.

Anyway, how's the Terminator music?

[ChuckM 1]

I've tried multiple times to listen to his Battlestar Galactica soundtracks, but just get bogged down with nothing but percussion. Any particularly good tracks to look for in there?

[Taikomochi 1,249]

I've tried multiple times to listen to his Battlestar Galactica soundtracks, but just get bogged down with nothing but percussion. Any particularly good tracks to look for in there?

season 3(the only one I have) has a few good'n's with little or no percussion - Violence and Variations, Battlestar Sonatica, Dirty Hands, Gentle Execution

[John Crichton 4]

He does a good job with the critera he's given. I've never gotten a Galactica CD because I don't care to listen to it outside the show, but it works just fine. His string pieces in particular are very nice. I'd like to hear what he'd do with a full orchestral score, he has a nice sound.

And if I may recommend, if you're looking for top notch sci-fi TV scoring, Guy Gross' work for Farscape was outstanding. There are 2 CDs available with complete scores for 4 episodes from Lalaland, the same label that releases Galactica.

[Taikomochi 1,249]

Still, I'm pretty surprised a Sci-Fi show has an orchestra. They didn't even give Tin Man a full orchestra(i think)

[Mr. Breathmask 566]

The Star Trek series were some of the few series to use orchestra for many years.

Sci-fi lends itself excellently for an orchestral score.

[Taikomochi 1,249]

The Star Trek series were some of the few series to use orchestra for many years.

Sci-fi lends itself excellently for an orchestral score.

Err--hmm-- Sorry, I meant Sci-Fi channel.

[Mr. Breathmask 566]

Oh, I see. Sci-Fi. Not sci-fi.

Never mind.

[Taikomochi 1,249]

Oh, I see. Sci-Fi. Not sci-fi.

Never mind.

There's... a... difference?

[Mr. Breathmask 566]

"Sci-Fi" = network

"sci-fi" = genre

[John Crichton 4]

Farscape, also a Sci-Fi Channel show, always had a full orchestra (though, like many current shows, it was synthed).

[Trent Hoyt 13]

I think Bear does a great job considering hes working on a cable science fiction show. I'm a huge fan of the show and the music actually makes an impression on you. The use of percussion really adds to the drama. The scores are also a lot more than that though. For a good range of his work check out "A Promise to Return," "Prelude to War," and "Reuniting the Fleet," all from Season Two.

[ST-321 4]

Next month, on April 13th, at 8:00PM at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California, Bear will be conducting a one-night only concert performance of his music from BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

This is truly one of those special events keeping the mantra behind this site’s namesake alive. If you’re a fan of the show and its indelible music and you live anywhere remotely near Los Angeles, you’ll want to mark your calendars and attend this extraordinary event.

Film music isn’t performed live nearly as often as it should and television music performances are virtually non-existent. Here is a great opportunity to hear one of film and television’s rising stars conduct his own music to one of television’s biggest hits performed by the same musicians who perform the scores week in and week out.

Anybody going?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

Are mediocre TV Composers getting their own threads now?

[Trent Hoyt 13]

He deserves his own thread.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

If Dennis McCarthy, Ron Jones and Jay Chattaway don't have one!

[Trent Hoyt 13]

He does a fantastic job on Battlestar Galactica.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

I just did a fantastic job on the toilet, which amounts to the same.

Still there's no official thread in my name!

[Trent Hoyt 13]

Sir, I tip my hat to you.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

Naturally!

[John Crichton 4]

John Williams was a TV composer too, you know.

That's great for MCreary but I honestly think it says more about the popularity of the show rather than the quality of the music.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

John Williams was a TV composer too, you know.

And when he was just a TV composer, were there any threads dedicated to him?

Your logic is extremely flawed, Texan!

[SF1_freeze 136]

Bear Mccreary does a really good job with battlestar galactica. Of course some of his pieces are just percussion or background music but some others are great to listen with their own developed themes and motives.

What is special about this television composer is his use of a lot different types of music. He uses irish folk, heavy guitar reefs , classic orchestral music, songs and even some sort of blues.

I can recommend the tracks Pegasus, Lords of Kobol, Roslin and Adama (With overwhelming last 30 seconds), One Year later and Black Market on Album 2

and Storming New Caprica, Violence and Variations, The Dance and Admiral and Commander on Album 3

Finally there is also a covered Bob Dillan song on the 3. Album with the title "All along the watchtower" which sounds great.

If you dont know that composer just give him a chance. Of course he is no John Williams but he is good nevertheless.

[John Crichton 4]

John Williams was a TV composer too, you know.

And when he was just a TV composer, were there any threads dedicated to him?

Your logic is extremely flawed, Texan!

I'd love to investigate if you could point me toward an internet message board from the 50s.

[pete 990]

Here's a short promo for Battlestar season 4, but be warned.

It shows a hot cylon chick jumping on some poor guy's nuts....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jceFQa5HV0

[Ollie 1,140]

John Williams was a TV composer too, you know.

And when he was just a TV composer, were there any threads dedicated to him?

Your logic is extremely flawed, Texan!

I'd love to investigate if you could point me toward an internet message board from the 50s.

Don't tell me you've never visited www.jwfan60'stv.com.

[The Train Station 8,767]

There's music in The Sarah Connor Chronicles? I was too busy looking at Summer Glau.

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

I like how he utilized the Terminator theme for the show (not that theme... the one for the Terminator that was used a lot in the first film).

[Bryant Burnette 692]

I'm tempted to say that the music is one of the highlights of Battlestar Galactica . . . but, really, what isn't a highlight on that show? The music is merely on par with everything else (meaning that it's awesome).

This is far and away the best music I've ever heard that was written for a series. Obviously, it's a bit percussive, and I can see where that might turn some off. But I've always found the percussion to be exceptionally well-utilized and beautifully performed.

Hopefully, McCreary will get to migrate to features. I think he's definitely someone to keep an eye on.

[AI 0]

Never heard his music, but isn't Bear a slightly questionable choice of name for a child?

Did he come out of his momma's womb all hairy?

[Jay 39,596]

Quote

BEAR MCCREARY HELPS THE NERD STEAL CHRISTMAS

ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD’S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL FEATURES ORIGINAL MUSIC BY BEAR MCCREARY

(Los Angeles, CA – December 16, 2010) Hot off the airing of the season finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead, film, television and video game composer Bear McCreary’s latest project is a gift to the fans. Angry Video Game Nerd’s Christmas episode, How the Nerd Stole Christmas is viewable at http://www.cinemassacre.com/2010/12/08/avgn-episode-97-christmas-special-2010/

“Because I’m such a huge fan of the Angry Video Game Nerd,” described McCreary, “I thought that the least I could do was pitch in some music and help him out on one of his videos. However, I never really thought we would end up with something as cinematic, narrative and funny as we would end up with.”

“I needed a score for this one that was very different than the others,” said James Rolfe aka The Angry Video Game Nerd. Rolfe reviews really old, not-so-classic video games on his popular site. The idea for the Christmas episode was to create a take on Chuck Jones’ classic animated version of the Dr. Seuss story How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In How The Nerd Stole Christmas, the nerd steals all of the new video games and replaces with them with the, well, crappier video games from his childhood.

“This whole thing sounded like a lot of fun, so I dove in,” said McCreary. “I had a blast with the classic video game sounds in this score. I’ve had projects with 8-bit music, but few opportunities to mix these sounds together with live, orchestral music. The results were often surprisingly effective.”

In addition to mixing in the sounds of classic video games, McCreary incorporated a new arrangement of the classic song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” with lyrics written by the Angry Video Game Nerd. Doug Lacy. He also incorporated other holiday references, as Bear describes:

I even tucked several musical quotations into the score itself, including a Christmas classic, ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies’ by Tchaikovsky. I used this quote while The Nerd snuck into the village of Gameville to steal games. However, when he descends down the chimney, James added a well-known sound effect from Super Mario Bros. Taking that reference to its next logical level, I scored the following scene with a quotation of the underground music from Super Mario Bros, combining it with ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies!’

Bear McCreary was among a handful of select protégés of late film music legend Elmer Bernstein and is a classically trained composer with degrees in Composition and Recording Arts from the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music. At the age of 24, Bear McCreary was launched into pop culture with his score to Battlestar Galactica, "the most innovative music on TV today" (Variety). Io9.com declared Bear McCreary one of the Ten Best Science Fiction Composers of all time, the only composer under 50 on the list, (he is now 30), and the only one recognized for work in television.

McCreary earned his first Emmy© nomination for his original theme music for Human Target. The series featured the largest group of musicians to play on a television series, according to Variety. McCreary’s latest project is The Walking Dead -- the runaway hit of the 2010-2011 television season -- airing on AMC.

Next up for McCreary is The Cape, which begins airing January 9, 2011 on NBC. In addition to his work for television, McCreary’s credits include the video games SOCOM 4, Dark Void and Dark Void Zero, and the films Step Up 3D and Wrong Turn 2.

# # #

To read Bear’s in-depth blog entry about the creation of the music, and for a free download of the music, visit http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5863

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

Why do mildly interesting TV composers get their own threads on a John Williams forum?

Stefancos- who started the original Gia thread!

[Jay 39,596]

Would you prefer if each project he worked on got its own thread?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

Are you threatening me?

[Jay 39,596]

Well seriously - a composer getting his own thread is a sign of a lesser composer, not a bigger one.

Any new James Horner or Giacchino score gets its own thread... but anything Bear McCreary or John Powell or Christopher Lennertz does all gets crammed into their own thread

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,424]

Please don't insult John Powell!

[Jay 39,596]

I'm not at all. But the fact is that no one ever created a dedicated thread for How To Train Your Dragon, which is regarded as one of the best scores of the year! (well other than this one, but shortly after people starting using the Official John Powell thread to talk about HTTYD instead)

[King Mark 3,729]

I only know Human Target

New York City Arrival is my favorite track and Stephanie's Ring is beautiful

[John Crichton 4]

Ah, neat. I had wondered if Bear was actually involved with the AVGN Christmas ep or if older music of his was just tracked in. I'll have to watch it again.

This is a good opportunity for me to issue some...redactions on previous comments. I rewatched all of Galactica a couple of months ago, and I was just floored by how good the scoring is once Bear took over at the start of the series proper. I've always loved his work in season 4, but the whole series is chock full of greatness. I humbly take back anything negative I've said previously. The Opera House theme in particular, introduced in the season 1 finale, is just gorgeous. Seasons 1-3 of Galactica are on my "to get" CD list, and I can't wait.

[Jay 39,596]

The music definitely gets better as the seasons go on. I haven't listened to the season 1 or 2 soundtracks nearly as much as seasons 3 and 4

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

I love the Sarah Connor Chronicles soundtrack, and would very much like a followup album.

[Taikomochi 1,249]

He said it was highly unlikely There were some excellent bits such as when the UFO descended on Sarah Connor in that weird ass UFO episode. The score alone gave me shivers.

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

Bummer. I had read he intended to, but that was pre-cancellation, I believe.

[Koray Savas 2,254]

I'd say he's definitely the best up-and-coming composer right now. Really wish he'd get more film projects.

[SF1_freeze 136]

In my opinion he could be at the top in 10-20 years. I absolutely agree with Koray on his post...

[Charlie Brigden 7]

What of his do you recommend to someone who finds BSG incredibly boring?

[Taikomochi 1,249]

Probably Human Target. It's much more dramatic than BSG.

[Koray Savas 2,254]

Dark Void and Human Target are good starters.

[Taikomochi 1,249]

The Caprica pilot is different from BSG in style, but also pretty low key. I'm not sure if you would like it more or less.