"When I hear this music I automatically start slo mo punching crap"
September 7, 2015 3:48 PM   Subscribe

In a world where marketing for films can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, movie studios count on one musical genre to make its trailers stand out: TRAILER MUSIC.

Get ready for the ride of your life as artists like Audiomachine reinvent tracks for a blockbuster movie, a car commercial, an album release and a remix.

Follow along as their works give courage, and inspire you to chase your dreams or seek your glory.

Trailer Music: Coming to a workout playlist near you.
posted by jet_pack_in_a_can (22 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite
 
I clicked the link in all caps because it looked like it might be the interesting one but it just goes to a little paragraph on wikipedia.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:59 PM on September 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


That's all well and good for your epic scifi-fantasy-thriller, but what if...

*record scratch*

*Tone Loc*
posted by Sys Rq at 4:00 PM on September 7, 2015 [8 favorites]


I clicked the link in all caps because it looked like it might be the interesting one but it just goes to a little paragraph on wikipedia.

Try humming the Carmina Burana as you read it.
posted by thelonius at 4:08 PM on September 7, 2015 [6 favorites]


Frank Booth: What kind of trailer music do you like?
Jeffrey Beaumont: Audiomachine.
Frank Booth: Audiomachine?! Fuck that shit! KPM 1000!

[A nice playlist of '60s and '70s KPM library/trailer music here.]
posted by eschatfische at 4:09 PM on September 7, 2015 [7 favorites]


Just give it the lux
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:14 PM on September 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I love this stuff. LOVE IT. The best/worst is when you start recognizing specific tracks in other things. "Ah, somebody at ESPN is a Must Save Jane fan, I see."
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:17 PM on September 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


In emergencies press the red button
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:22 PM on September 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


I suspect this has nothing to do with Airstreams.
posted by HuronBob at 4:30 PM on September 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


You and me both, Sticherbeast; I own a ton of it.

For those interested in hearing more of the genre, you can also find it by searching for Epic Music; Youtube has tons of it. There are a lot of us fans out here in the aether.

I was very disappointed when I couldn't see Two Steps From Hell live. :(
posted by skye.dancer at 4:52 PM on September 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


I own three Two Steps From Hell albums and I'm not ashamed.
posted by kmz at 4:52 PM on September 7, 2015 [5 favorites]


that is, for those keeping track, a total of six steps from hell
posted by Wolfdog at 4:53 PM on September 7, 2015 [21 favorites]


Tangent, I know, but oh, god, that car commercial; cue the flashbacks to that horrifying triumph-of-neoliberal-capitalism London luxury apartment ad of previous discussion.
posted by Kat Allison at 4:59 PM on September 7, 2015




Wasn't there a time where Lux Aeternae from Requiem for a Dream was basically on every trailer?
posted by Sebmojo at 7:35 PM on September 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Just give it the lux

God there was that period of 2-3 years where every other trailer used a highly-compressed rerecorded version of Lux Aeterna and every time I heard it I just wanted to give Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet a big sympathy hug.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:25 PM on September 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I love this stuff for writing because it does its job of evoking a mood really well, not to mention that it's usually instrumental. I'm fond of E. S. Posthumus, X-Ray Dog, Immediate Music, and Two Steps from Hell. (OK, and I also have a playlist, subtly titled EPIC EPICS OF EPICNESS, which is completely awesome for winding drives through redwoods and along the Pacific Ocean.)
posted by wintersweet at 9:31 PM on September 7, 2015


I am finally comfortable admitting that there isn't all that much distance between why this music exists and why I once stood in a parking lot on the outskirts of Reykjavík looking at the aurora like a walking cliche and being quietly happy that somebody in a van with large speakers was blasting Sigur Rós.
posted by brennen at 10:13 PM on September 7, 2015 [5 favorites]


brennen, that is a terrific mental image.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:54 PM on September 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


It's become cliche, but Mind Heist By Zack Hemsey (NOT Hans Zimmer) really is the ultimate trailer song. Listen to the way it perfectly balances the quiet and loud sections. A brief pause before the drop. Sweeping orchestra (although I think it's all electronic). Then the BRAAAAAAM that has been incorporated in every trailer since, why? Because it WORKS, dammit! I love that song.
posted by fungible at 7:27 AM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


John Murphy's Adagio in D Minor from the movie "Sunshine" is another one that gets used a lot.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 10:24 AM on September 8, 2015


I love some E.S. Poshumus (specifically Unearthed), and all of Two Steps From Hell. I've been surprised to find it makes excellent background for almost anything I'm doing. Somehow, unending epic-ness doesn't get in the way. I do not understand, but I am not displeased.
posted by lhauser at 8:01 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


OK, true, there is something fabulous about doing paperwork or driving to the post office or whatever to the tune of saving the world.
posted by wintersweet at 10:18 PM on September 8, 2015


« Older The Democracy of Difficult Fiction   |   Potential applicant for the Amina Arraf Fellowship... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments