Why are some soundtracks of movies so powerful?

Soundtracks are designed to be thrilling, uplifting, suspenseful, etc and they're an underrated source of programming focus. My muscle memory is to press they keyboard play button the moment I open VS Code. I don't even realize I'm doing it: programming = soundtrack listening.

The keyboard play button always works, btw, only because I've installed BeardedSpice to force it:

    brew install --cask beardedspice

I made a Spotify playlist with 32 hours of Soundtracks that help me stay in the zone. It's all sort of epic & uplifting, or suspenseful and building up to something... none of that 8-bit video game beep boop nonsense.

Lots of Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Danny Elfman, David Newman, John Williams of course...

Here's a link if you'd like to see the list: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/31buZEaVGW9f5Y4cEcKtbt?si=...

Read about the concept of Leitmotif [1], that some claim was introduced by Wagner but seems to have already been present in the early 17th century. Leitmotif represents the idea that you can imply dramatic progression through music. The idea is that by using short melodies and simple chord progressions you can bind together elements of a story.

Also see [2] for a birds eye view on soundtrack design by major movie makers.

[1] https://wikiless.org/wiki/Leitmotif?lang=en [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs

I've never seen Empire of the Sun (1987), and yet the original soundtrack (OST)[1] composed by John Williams is special to me. But you are right, yes, soundtracks intensify feelings for particular scenes (or even for the entire film at large), i.e., for me: The Cider House Rules (1999) OST[2] composed by Rachel Portman exemplifies that.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_3_skKeGCc&list=PLSO9Kihiwr...

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zTbB0L3dqM&list=OLAK5uy_l28...

Theory: Sound qualities (texture, pacing, pitch, etc.) map to archetype, which map to general stories running through our minds.

(I guess you could map this to the theory of shared unconscious symbolic awareness, the patterns of stories that emerge from every culture)

To the degree that those stories REALLY run through our individual, subjective pasts/minds, the corresponding soundtrack will feel REALLY powerful.

This can also explain why you can play a soundtrack for someone else and they give you a flat "that's nice" rather than a "whoaaaa" every time you want them to give you a "whoaaaa". Which can be really frustrating. But the composer has your back.

Any soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network, Book of Eli, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, etc) is pretty powerful for me.

Half of them, I’ve played the soundtrack numerous times before ever watching it’s movie, which gives a strange sense of familiarity.

You could get into a whole paychoanalysis here, but it is sufficient to say you associate this music hyper relatable characters and emotional narratives. It's like Pavlov's dog for creatures with neocortices: C, E flat, G when the dog dies, cue the tears. This is horribly reductive but the extra media you experienced along with the music gives it power beyond the immediate experience of the music itself.

Interstallar movie is on its own pretty stupid. Seriously, just your regular sci fi bs.

Hans summer OTOH, makes it a masterpiece. Docking scene or the cornfield chase are made awesome with its soundtrack. If you watch it without the music, it won't have that punch to it.

The YouTube channel Every Frame a Painting has an excellent video about music in films. Why are some scores so memorable while others are easily forgotten?

The Marvel Symphonic Universe (2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs

You don't have to have seen any Marvel movies, the insights are universal.

(Also worth watching the follow-up video: Hollywood Scores & Soundtracks: What Do They Sound Like? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEfQ_9DIItI)

Many musicians and composers will tell you they are passionate about music because that's how they can communicate their emotions.

For example, Yo-Yo Ma in this interview sort of says that: https://youtu.be/e0E0U-9XOt8?t=1256

So yes, they'll provoke the emotions without seeing the movie, but not necessarily the same ones or intensity due to the context of the movie vs. the kind of person you are.

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Larry Wall was asked if he listens to music when coding and he gave an interesting answer: https://youtu.be/SKqBmAHwSkg?t=230

I really enjoy James Horner's soundtrack for "Apollo 13". I think this is partially because I got an edition that includes actual audio from the movie itself as part of the soundtrack, which helps to place the music in the context of the movie scene.

So, during the Saturn V lift-off, I get to hear the dramatic music, the dialogue from Mission Control and astronauts, and the roar of the rocket itself.

I still get goosebumps every time I play that piece of music on the soundtrack.

Star wars https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_D0ZQPqeJkk

Saw a documentary about it, that can't find now, the behind scenes of the recording, where you see the composer John Williams telling the orchestra to start stop change... Amazing how they know exactly what they want to achieve, it appears, goosebumps

In terms of powerful soundtracks, Hans Zimmer's score of The Lion King is usually the first to come to mind.

As a kid, it was the first soundtrack that moved me to near tears. I was less interested in the vocal songs (to be fair, I still love them) and found myself drawn to the orchestrations.

When I got older I learned that Hans' father died when he was a kid and that he was able to bring a personal touch into the score, and it showed.

To answer your question, the most powerful soundtracks that I can think of paint a clear picture or emotion (or at least a few interpretations of them). For instance, the song "The Illusive Man" from the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack gives me feelings of power with a sinister undercurrent.

Illusive Man Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBLOvSb56Vc

This Land (The Lion King): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGDXTZFleHQ

Sound/music creates/evokes mood or emotion. Words/visual needs processing by brain but sound is something effortless. That is why you can listen to a song and still work.

One of my fav: (Charge of the Rohirrim, LOTR = https://youtu.be/EmTz7EAYLrs?t=315). The violin beautifully captures the mood and ride to inevitable death.

Tarantino said once that if you put the right music with the right visual, that is the most cinematic thing there is. If you really get it right, then you cannot listen to the music again without seeing the visual. He was talking about matching popular songs to movie scenes which is what he often does; music specifically written for the scene has even more of an advantage.

I've never even seen the movie The Last Temptation of Christ but the soundtrack is always the first thing I think of whenever this topic comes up... https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqnnuEVGcRQy6dzmNbXJpU5mf...

Ennio Morricone is amazing, I haven't seen any of his movies but I want to only in order to see what they're the soundtrack to. Also Rocky series, I never saw it but the music (well also Chuck Mangione) was so so good like how could the movie be worse than the soundtrack.

It’s pretty simple, humans are actually more sensitive to sound than visuals. You can watch a fuzzy image no problem. If that same movie had a clean image but extremely static noise you’d instantly switch it off. Probably because sound is one of the first senses developed in the womb.

Music like words is a form of communication. You like what is being said, much like how you like a story being told or A text being read. It agrees with you. Like taste of specific food.

I love when sound design and soundtrack meet, like in Annihilation and Archive 81. It was Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow in both cases, I believe.