Hoy, hoy! Who is the composer who worked with one of Hollywood's leading trailer music libraries for several years, has his own company and cannot stand Lady Gaga?  Although, this last one is not a great help, because this can be true of at least half of Earth's population... Ah and by the way, we will do an interiew with him.

Hoy, hoy! As everything on the word, the trailers have history and a process that makes them as they are nowdays. The muisc was not always epic choral, there was not always a deep voice that narrating the story and of course the computer animations are the brood of modern times aswell.

I always interested in the histroy of trailers and I recently found this book: Coming Attractions: Reading American Moive Trailers. The book is a dissertation written by Lisa Kernan who got PhD in film and television critical studies from UCLA in 2000. The book seems to offer a great overview of trailers' history and development. It's worth checking it here and here,

Hoy, hoy! There are many lists all around the net so why would be trailer music an exception. Let's start with five things we like about Thomas Bergersen's music. Credit goes to TMN's crew, friends and family.

• Unpredictable: You never know what will you hear in the next moment. When you think a song has reached its climax, nitro, and it reaches a new level. For example "Merchant Prince" @1.44, "Army of Justice" @0.44, or "Promise" @1.58.
• Innovative: In most trailer music the same old fashioned 'O Fortuna' style of choir can be heard. Thomas, on the other hand, has used Bulgarian folk choir, which is very different not only in language, but also in style from the typical choir. It fits into the structure of trailer music very well. For example: "Starvation".
• Uses Epic Lead Vocals. His songs featuring leading vocals are outstanding pieces as well, and offer some relaxing tune for our ears after 24hr of listening to epic choir music. For example: "Friendship to Last", and "Enigmatic Soul".
• Wide-ranging. Even if we depart from epic/action style Thomas excels. Just think of the horror compositions of Ashes or the song "Professor Pumplestickle" which is a great comedy track.
• Publicity. "Do you know what Nemesis [2] means?"

Hoy, hoy! I recently read this article about the differences between design and art. I've done some work as a webdesigner so occasionally I read articles about this topic to train myself. This article analyzes this question universally so it made me think: could it be true for trailer music as well?

Well I won't and I can't write a thorough study about this, but I will highlight the main aspects of the article and try to explain if these can also be true to trailer music in my opinion.  I recommend that you read the article first.

"Good Art Inspires. Good Design Motivates": The purpose of trailer music is to promote movies. Good trailer music motivates and lures people to the cinemas. It's true that most trailer music is composed before it gets licensed, but there are custom cues written for specific trailers, and in this case the statement can hold true.  However, even the tracks that are already made are chosen by a music supervisor for the purpose of motivating an audience to see a film.

"Good Art Is a Taste. Good Design Is an Opinion": Okey, we like trailer music for its cultural value. We think it's awesome, but I doubt businessmen at Warner Bros care about how much a music supervisor likes a track unless it does its purpose. So that's why percussive tracks often work well for trailers, but they are not always listenable on their own. So from the point of view of a producer, whether a trailer music piece is good or bad, depends on the success of the trailer.  Bad marketing, and promotion can hurt a movie at the box office.

"Good Art Is a Talent. Good Design Is a Skill": Of course, music is an art, and we each listen to different styles of music based on what we like.  Every musician and composer must have some level of talent to suceed at their art.  However, when an composer writes, or designs, music for promotional purposes (an advertisment for example), that artist must also have certain skills.  You have to know how certain instruments affect people, and how the melody will impact the audience.  I think this psychological aspect of trailer music is a skill that has to be learned.

"Good Art Sends a Different Message to Everyone. Good Design Sends the Same Message to Everyone": Well I can say essentially the same as I mentioned above. Trailers have to sell the movie, and music plays a huge part in that.

What is your opinion?

Hoy, hoy! Usually we are not interested in the financial side of music industry, but sometimes, if it’s related to trailer music somehow, we make an exception. So I would like to draw your attention to an article by Gael MacGregor at Film Music Magazine. Gael is a music supervisor and wrote some details about the business models between music libraries and the composers. It’s worth reading it because it's a good insight how music libraries works from the other side.

Hoy, hoy! My favourite song from Epicon. I tired to gather all the historical facts from the lyrics.

From Agincourt to Waterloo
Poitiers and then Anjou
The Roses War, the Hundred Years
  Through battlefields of blood and teaysy

From Bosworth Field to Pointe Du Hoc
Stalingard and the siege of York
The bloody turf of Gallipoli
Had no effect on the killing spree

Bannockburn to Austerlitz
The fall of France and the German blitz
The cruelest of atrocities
  Europa's blood is born of these

Heaven help in all our battles
Heaven see love, heaven help us

Bolshevisks and feudal lords
Chivalry to civil wars
Fascist rule and genocide
Now we face the rising tide

Of new crusades, religious wars
Insurgents imported to our shores
The western world, gripped in fear
The mother of all battles here

Heaven help in all our battles
Heaven see love, heaven help us
Avant hier, avons être
Déja demain, (nous) sommes éclairée

All glory, all honor
Victory is upon us
Our savior, fight evil
Send armies to defend us

Empires built, and nations burned
Mass graves remain unturned
Decendants of the dispossessed
Return with bombs strapped to their chests

There's hate for life, and death in hate
Emerging from the new caliphate
The victors of this war on fear
Will rule for the next thousand years

All glory, all honor
Victory is upon us
Our savior, fight evil
Send armies to defend us
Europa, Europa
Find better days before us
In kindness, in spirit
Lead us to a greater calling

Europa, Europa
Find better days before us
In kindness, in spirit
Lead us to a greater calling

Lenigrad, Berlin wall
March on Rome, Byzantium's fall
Lightning war, Dresden nights
Drop the bomb, end this fight!

Never again!

I count 31.

Hoy, hoy! As 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' or 'You-Know-Who' pointed to a question of Yoav Goren's interview and asked who is the guy Yoav referring to I got a mail from Alex Dimitrijevic. He said he likes the site, because it "is the only place where you can really get the trailer music NEWS" and mentioned the following:

[..] Yoav is refering to me in that interview as that guy from Norway...so you guessed right, you know your stuff..
And no, Dimitrijevic is not Norwegian name, neither its Russian..thehe..

Hoy, hoy! I found this article on Hollywood Reporter. It's old (2005), but I think the world of trailer music didn't changed that much. So it's till topical. It's a great overview of this music genre from its origin through its evolution till its fanbase. It's worth reading it, because the writer built in his article a lot of quotation by professionals whoes work connected with trailer music.

First blood! (i mean this year) So, the best trailers ever created was already discussed. Editor's work on the PotC's trailer was really amazing. Now the question is: what was the worst trailer ever created in consideration of trailer music it featured? I think a good trailer contains music which genre fits the genre of movie. There is an other category called delusive trailers. There is nothing more nerve-racking than going to the movie theater expecting an awesome movie after seeing its trailer then being dished. My candidate for the worst trailer music usage was in the trailer of Jumper. I believe drama track Moving Mountains was a dumb choice for a science fiction. What is your nominee ?

Hoy, hoy! X-ray Dog has its own unique style and there are some little tiny eastereggs on cover arts and in the name of the albums. I try the collect them. Let's see some good-for-nothing trivias!

• I don't know what thought the founders of the company when they figured out this name, but it's clearly the best. Maybe dog refers to the old and famous record label 'His Master's Voice' withon its logo is a dog listens to a gramophone.
• Have you ever wonder why the bones of dogs can be seen on many X-ray Dog's album? X-ray...
• Alpha Dog is the bellwether, the leader of the flock.
• Anubis is one of the ancient Egyptian's god. He usually portraied with jackal-head on human body. He is the god of mumification and afetrlife.
• Canis Maximus means Great Dog.
• Canis Rex means King Dog.
• Argos was Odysseus' dog.
• Cerberus is Hades' three headed dog.
• 'Dog eat dog' is phrase that originate from this one: 'Dog doesn't eat Dog'. The original one means that people of the same type do not destroy one another. 'Dog eat dog' means "The struggle for survival in life or business turns man into an animal."
• Double Live Doggy Style always remaind me of the famous song: "what mammals do on discovery channel?". Anyway it sounds like a phrase with deep meanings.
• The big monuments on Dog Rock's cover art refers to the Easter Island's famous rock statues.
• The dog in the costume on Mighty Dog's cover refers to Superman, also you can find Doggywood text in the background.
• K-9 is originated in the military, where designations such as G-2 are common, making K-9 a rare official pun. The term referencing war dogs, has since carried over to police, and sentry and assistance dogs as well.
• K-9 pronaunced as CANINE which is the synonym of dog. (Thx to Truthseeker)

Tnx to greg for his help and ideas. If you know more feel free to post it.