Mystery Mixtape Movie Score Track: Elfman, Zimmer & Kazoos
November 26, 2007 5:00 AM Subscribe
Help me identify this mystery track from my friends' mix CD, that he can't recall either. No sample available, yet! It's more than likely a movie score track. Cross between 1941, Elfman, Zimmer, Willow, and involves kazoos in places.
In short, to me it sounds like a Pee Wee's Big Beetlejuice Great Escape, featuring periodic Kazoo backups as performed by an Elfman/Zimmer team-up. The friend suggested Chicken Run. but none of the samples on Amazon have a passage found in it. The disc was made 2004 at the latest, I wager. but seems more like around 2000 that he gave it.
Here's my description to said friend, if that helps any:
"If the next mystery track is not Elfman or Zimmerman, despite being a little too POTC-1941-ish, I'm not sure what is. It has a brief high flute intro, flowing strings and brief resounding brass, followed by some marching snare and a tooting low brass, a clarinet solo with some kind of muffled piano accompaniment, then sharply accellerates into a cross between Beetlejuice, 1941 and Willow, with Hans Zimmer looking over his shoulder. And with stacatto-ish low strings. And kazoos."
The track itself is 3:36, no overt vocals (except some Elfman-ish oohs and aahs)
Super detailed description:
00:00-00:12 - very soft strings slowly emerge, gradually adding a slackpaced flute/piccolo solo of the main theme..
00:13-00:26 - the lower strings crescendo into the fray with a smooth and delicate flowing movement and the high strings pick up where the flute left off, followed by flute again.
00:27-00:31 - after a brief pause, soft middle brass comes in with a soft trumpet solo...
00:32-00:35 - solo marching-pace snare
00:36-00:44 - baritone or trombone picks up the pace with a rising triple-it lead-in as a tooting flute/piccolo makes a little twittering song vaguely resembling LOTR's shire theme
00:45-00:46 - trombone/brass rises suddenly to cut the festivities off and stops just as quickly...
00:47-01:00 - a distinctly Elfman muffled piano (or plucked low strings), middle speed pace, down-up-down-up style, with a clarinet fluttering in the background with possibly mandolin accents...
01:01-01:17 - brief unexpected pause, resume same arrangement but faster paced, momentarily adding strings, with a young-ladies aah-aah-aah vocal (characteristic of Elfman, comparable to Edward Scissorhands), periodic swirling violins and trilling clarinets...
01:18-01:22 - brief brass fanfare-like introduction with cascading strings...
01:23-01:28 - returning up-down-up-down with piano/plucked low strings, repeat formula with periodic brass mini fanfares...
01:29-01:32 - A [Batman Animated Series]-sounding spat...
01:33-01:56 - A bold trombone loudly declares the main theme with a Zimmer-like steady-paced strum-strum-strum sound from the mid-to-lower strings. Repeat main theme again but with a trumpet-trombone teamup, with a snare jointing the two, then add (keeping the steady background) a brave violin section counter/sub-melody, with a quick fluttering of timpani toward the end, and a solid brass cap on the end before a brief pause...
01:57-02:00 - kazoos pick up a repeated tail of the main theme pattern...
02:01-02:15 - French horns break in to the renewed steady background to repeat the main theme in all their glory (I can almost detect the snares' "shhhhhh" in response)
02:16-02:46 - Tubular bells accents, flowing middle-to-high strings pick up the sub/counter melody like gliding over a still lake, with kazoos peeking in around 02:22-:26, handing the baton to a forceful solo flute who keeps the joyful pace, passes to the high strings, and into a cymbal crescendo for the win and a sudden halting of the pace in a serious "whoa" rein-tugging into a similarly paced but brief Batman section,
02:47-03:12 - a very low and soft faster-paced Jaws passage, with the Violins with Parkinsons section creeping up, a few taps to the snare and we're back into the main theme with peppy steady-handed strings and kazoos murmuring in the background...
03:13-03:16 - Kazoos simmer down, piping flute accents periodically against the familiar steady low-string background pace...
03:17-03:36 - the pace slacks up again with the last string of the theme going slo-mo, a lonesome and regretful french horn not to be outdone, adds a mournful "awww, man!" and cuts off just as the strings taper off.
I hope you have as much fun finding this track as I did doing commentary!
In short, to me it sounds like a Pee Wee's Big Beetlejuice Great Escape, featuring periodic Kazoo backups as performed by an Elfman/Zimmer team-up. The friend suggested Chicken Run. but none of the samples on Amazon have a passage found in it. The disc was made 2004 at the latest, I wager. but seems more like around 2000 that he gave it.
Here's my description to said friend, if that helps any:
"If the next mystery track is not Elfman or Zimmerman, despite being a little too POTC-1941-ish, I'm not sure what is. It has a brief high flute intro, flowing strings and brief resounding brass, followed by some marching snare and a tooting low brass, a clarinet solo with some kind of muffled piano accompaniment, then sharply accellerates into a cross between Beetlejuice, 1941 and Willow, with Hans Zimmer looking over his shoulder. And with stacatto-ish low strings. And kazoos."
The track itself is 3:36, no overt vocals (except some Elfman-ish oohs and aahs)
Super detailed description:
00:00-00:12 - very soft strings slowly emerge, gradually adding a slackpaced flute/piccolo solo of the main theme..
00:13-00:26 - the lower strings crescendo into the fray with a smooth and delicate flowing movement and the high strings pick up where the flute left off, followed by flute again.
00:27-00:31 - after a brief pause, soft middle brass comes in with a soft trumpet solo...
00:32-00:35 - solo marching-pace snare
00:36-00:44 - baritone or trombone picks up the pace with a rising triple-it lead-in as a tooting flute/piccolo makes a little twittering song vaguely resembling LOTR's shire theme
00:45-00:46 - trombone/brass rises suddenly to cut the festivities off and stops just as quickly...
00:47-01:00 - a distinctly Elfman muffled piano (or plucked low strings), middle speed pace, down-up-down-up style, with a clarinet fluttering in the background with possibly mandolin accents...
01:01-01:17 - brief unexpected pause, resume same arrangement but faster paced, momentarily adding strings, with a young-ladies aah-aah-aah vocal (characteristic of Elfman, comparable to Edward Scissorhands), periodic swirling violins and trilling clarinets...
01:18-01:22 - brief brass fanfare-like introduction with cascading strings...
01:23-01:28 - returning up-down-up-down with piano/plucked low strings, repeat formula with periodic brass mini fanfares...
01:29-01:32 - A [Batman Animated Series]-sounding spat...
01:33-01:56 - A bold trombone loudly declares the main theme with a Zimmer-like steady-paced strum-strum-strum sound from the mid-to-lower strings. Repeat main theme again but with a trumpet-trombone teamup, with a snare jointing the two, then add (keeping the steady background) a brave violin section counter/sub-melody, with a quick fluttering of timpani toward the end, and a solid brass cap on the end before a brief pause...
01:57-02:00 - kazoos pick up a repeated tail of the main theme pattern...
02:01-02:15 - French horns break in to the renewed steady background to repeat the main theme in all their glory (I can almost detect the snares' "shhhhhh" in response)
02:16-02:46 - Tubular bells accents, flowing middle-to-high strings pick up the sub/counter melody like gliding over a still lake, with kazoos peeking in around 02:22-:26, handing the baton to a forceful solo flute who keeps the joyful pace, passes to the high strings, and into a cymbal crescendo for the win and a sudden halting of the pace in a serious "whoa" rein-tugging into a similarly paced but brief Batman section,
02:47-03:12 - a very low and soft faster-paced Jaws passage, with the Violins with Parkinsons section creeping up, a few taps to the snare and we're back into the main theme with peppy steady-handed strings and kazoos murmuring in the background...
03:13-03:16 - Kazoos simmer down, piping flute accents periodically against the familiar steady low-string background pace...
03:17-03:36 - the pace slacks up again with the last string of the theme going slo-mo, a lonesome and regretful french horn not to be outdone, adds a mournful "awww, man!" and cuts off just as the strings taper off.
I hope you have as much fun finding this track as I did doing commentary!
Response by poster: Yes, but this theme sounds so solid that it must be the main theme, and isn't even hinted at on any of the Amazon tracks.
posted by vanoakenfold at 5:42 AM on November 26, 2007
posted by vanoakenfold at 5:42 AM on November 26, 2007
Good heavens. Could you not just give us an MP3 to listen to?
posted by chrismear at 6:37 AM on November 26, 2007
posted by chrismear at 6:37 AM on November 26, 2007
(Violins with Parkinsons! Wonderful!)
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:35 AM on November 26, 2007
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:35 AM on November 26, 2007
A sample would really help. Also, this sounds quite a bit like the song called Main Titles from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but that's 5 minutes or so in length.
posted by iconomy at 10:47 AM on November 26, 2007
posted by iconomy at 10:47 AM on November 26, 2007
Response by poster: Good heavens. Could you not just give us an MP3 to listen to?
How would that be fun, though?
posted by vanoakenfold at 11:16 AM on November 26, 2007
How would that be fun, though?
posted by vanoakenfold at 11:16 AM on November 26, 2007
Your idea of fun and the rest of the world's idea of fun are two totally different things ;P
posted by iconomy at 11:39 AM on November 26, 2007
posted by iconomy at 11:39 AM on November 26, 2007
Elfman and kazoo? You might get a kick out of this YouTube video: Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo on The Gong Show.
posted by bonobo at 4:24 PM on November 26, 2007
posted by bonobo at 4:24 PM on November 26, 2007
Response by poster: Not Elfman necessarily, Elfman-like in places.
Alright fine =P
posted by vanoakenfold at 10:35 AM on November 27, 2007
Alright fine =P
posted by vanoakenfold at 10:35 AM on November 27, 2007
Best answer: It's "Building the Crate" from the Chicken Run soundtrack. At least, assuming the previews on the iTunes Store are correct.
posted by chrismear at 2:08 PM on November 27, 2007
posted by chrismear at 2:08 PM on November 27, 2007
And the preview on Amazon is easily recognisable. I can't imagine how you managed to listen to it enough to write out that description and not recognise it in the Amazon preview. :facepalm:
posted by chrismear at 2:11 PM on November 27, 2007
posted by chrismear at 2:11 PM on November 27, 2007
Response by poster: wtf how did I miss that?? I must have skipped it somehow. darrrgh!
posted by vanoakenfold at 11:09 AM on November 28, 2007
posted by vanoakenfold at 11:09 AM on November 28, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by iconomy at 5:20 AM on November 26, 2007