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| How do you feel about long tracks? |
| Mostly love 'em! |
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21% |
[ 7 ] |
| Mostly hate 'em! |
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9% |
[ 3 ] |
| It really depends |
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69% |
[ 23 ] |
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| Total Votes : 33 |
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| Author |
Message |
 LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
    
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 Posted:
Thu Sep 25, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject: Long Tracks: Love 'em or hate 'em? |
 
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For the purpose of this poll, I'm defining "long" as longer than 8 minutes. I'm curious to see what other people say, but myself personally, it is the very rare long track that manages to hold my interest. Most recently, Hans Zimmer has been testing my patience with the suites included on many of his albums. Maybe that's because they often are suites, and not really the music as heard in the movie, so some context is lost, and context is very important to me. On the other hand, sometimes the music in the film is not the best for plain listening. One example would be "Lighting the Beacons" from Return of the King. It clocks in at about 9 minutes. It's okay, but honestly, I think I prefer "The White Tree" from the original soundtrack release, which is 3 minutes and change.
Some people really seem to like long tracks when they're requesting. Maybe because you can get a lot of music for your request. Not me, though. Maybe that means I'm not hard core enough. |
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BuyerQueen
Rear Admiral (Ambassador)
Joined: May 13, 2002
Member#: 89
Posts: 647
Location: Richmond, VA
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Posted:
Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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I voted "It really depends". Because I actually love most of the long Zimmer queues, but I don't request really long songs usually. I hover around the 3-4 minute mark. But....Journey To The Line is over 9 minutes and it's in my favorites. So....it really does depend.
BQ
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"I have *many* skills." -Xena |
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weaponlordzero
Captain
Joined: Sep 15, 2006
Member#: 15677
Posts: 1639
Location: Louisville, KY USA
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Posted:
Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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I say it depends too. I love the long Mario Bros. tracks and most others that I'm interested in. I'm not much for the 20 min Kilar/Glass pieces though. Waaaaaaaaaay too long and waaaaaaaaay to repetitive sometimes IMHO.
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I do not wake up with thoughts of control and rebellion, but thoughts of purpose and righteousness and the empowerment to fulfill those convictions that define me. |
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 SiriusCreations 
Admiral (Administrator)
Joined: Aug 26, 2007
Member#: 18704
Posts: 4419
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Posted:
Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:14 am Post subject: |
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Voted also It really depends.
I like long tacks when there is some 'development' in it and not when you hear a long track that you can stop half way and say this track is complete, because of the repetition.
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NUTs & RATs |
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 GalFin
Captain
Joined: Nov 20, 2006
Member#: 16241
Posts: 1724
Location: Oulu, Finland
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Posted:
Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:53 am Post subject: |
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Yes, voted also It really depends.
Some of them are really good, some... just a bit boring. I'm of two minds about Hans Zimmer anyway... I love some of his music and some is quite not so exciting for me.
I still love Howard Shore's Lighting the Beacons (gives me goose bumps every time I hear it!) but I can see it getting tiring for some people. 
I think that many people request long tracks just because they're not VIPs, so when they get a chance to request they want it to count, so to speak... |
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workervr
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Jul 19, 2005
Member#: 10921
Posts: 261
Location: NW Arkansas
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Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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I find that the longer tracks really develop the music for me.. the snippets sometimes are not able to do that.. a bit of something amazing leaves me wanting more.. so generally i like the longer the better.. hence many apologies in the que regarding my long selection im good for it though lol
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"Well behaved women seldom make history"-Laurel Ulrich 1976 |
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:44 pm Post subject: |
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LadyI feels a rant coming on. She can't…hold it back…any…longer…
Okay, first of all, this thing about long tracks "counting," well, I think it just goes hand in hand with the idea that longer is better. Let me tell you, as a professor of a writing-intensive course, that is not always the case. Request a track you like, but why does it matter that your request is a certain percentage of the queue length? Do you really enjoy the piece, or are you just trying to make some kind of statement? In the folk group thread I started, I said I didn't see any rituals on SST. In short, rituals are customary actions that serve some (nearly preternatural) purpose. Maybe requesting the longest track on the album so it can "count" is a ritual. Is it just because the VIPs are requesting a lot? I don't know. I think this is the only reason a track like "An Unpleasant Incident Involving a Train," from Lemony Snicket gets requested so often (compared to other tracks on the album). I find it boring, pointless, uninteresting outside the context of the film (and no great shakes there, either.) But it is nearly 5 minutes long. Meanwhile, "The Marvelous Marriage," which is an adorable doozy of virtuoso accordion, isn't played nearly enough, because it's less than a minute.
I think I see this trend on the producing end of soundtracks, too. I think some of these 10 minute-plus tracks are just strung together, and don't necessarily give real development of the themes. They're just one thing after another.
I also think there may be a mindset that producing these long tracks is somehow better. As for the listener, well, you're already proving your sophistication by listening to the score. Aren't you going to be even MORE sophisticated by sitting through a solid fifteen minutes of music? You must be! And if you zone out, that's your problem. I know, we could do a beautiful statement of this theme in five minutes and leave you satisfied, but why stop there? Why not ten, fifteen minutes?
Sometimes I feel like a long track is like eating mixed vegetables. They're good for me, and more must be better. And I do like some of the veg, but man, do we need all those lima beans? Was there a volume discount at the plant?
Most guilty of this are end credit suites. There's a practical reason for that; the music must cover up to twenty minutes of text. But that doesn't mean they're the most musically interesting pieces. Some are plain old patchworks, by necessity. Granted, there are some I like.
For the record, I used to like Zimmer. I really did.
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FabMartha
Cadet 4
Joined: Feb 12, 2008
Member#: 20265
Posts: 18
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Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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Well... not that I, a bear of very little brain, can follow up a well-written rant like that... However, just having sat through a long Zimmer track, and having enjoyed it, I felt that I needed to say at least a little something in defense of the longer tracks.
In my opinion, there is a time and place for the longer tracks. I think I would positively tear my hair out at a queue full of 'em, but now and again I do find them a nice change-of-pace. It presents both a challenge and opportunity for the composer to explore/exploit a theme more fully than could be done in a 4-minute snippet. Assuming that the track was developed to synchronize with film activity, this could at least in theory make for an exciting or thought-provoking scene (the grueling and captivating opening bit from There Will Be Blood comes to mind, although looking at the ST, the tracks are presented in smaller snippets and there is liberal use of silence during that part, so maybe not a great example after all).
I don't disagree with you, LadyI, that many of the long tracks are just boring space-filler either. That's why I voted "it depends." Still, you never know when something might tickle your fancy. There are something like a gazillon tracks on SST, I still haven't heard 'em all.
As far as why selecting the longer tracks seems to be popular, well, who can explain human behavior?  As a weekday listener, I'm just glad that the majority follow the rules and relegate the longer tracks to only occasional selection, keeping the queue down to manageable length.
Well, I'm off to put honey on my lima beans now. Yum? |
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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Well replied, FabMartha! Though I don't think 4 minutes is a "snippet."
It truly does depend on the track. But more often than not, I just don't like the long ones. Takes all kinds.
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 Sir_Rideout
Ensign
Joined: Oct 28, 2007
Member#: 19233
Posts: 29
Location: Halifax
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Posted:
Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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In general, I like long tracks. I'm the kind of person who enjoys reading long books; I like having a theme or idea explored in some depth rather than a collection of shorter, less well developed stories. Having said that, I understand that long tracks here tend not to get played very frequently.
I guess my bottom line is that I'd rather have a really good 3 minute cue than a drawn out 20 minute track.
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workervr
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Jul 19, 2005
Member#: 10921
Posts: 261
Location: NW Arkansas
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Posted:
Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:23 am Post subject: |
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exactly! takes all kinds..
love the avatar Sir_Rideout!
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Greykitty
Ensign
Joined: Jan 23, 2006
Member#: 13167
Posts: 31
Location: My own little world.
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Posted:
Sat Nov 01, 2008 5:10 am Post subject: |
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I don't like incredibly short tracks that only last a min or two, but I don't like them to drag on for 15+ minutes either. Anything between 5-10 mintues is usually my fav.
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AdamR
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined: Jul 22, 2009
Member#: 26242
Posts: 60
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Posted:
Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:47 am Post subject: |
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I'll say it really depends on the suite that I have to listen to when they come up in queue. If I'm familiar with the movie, playing a suite of cues actually reminds me of many of the scenes of the film, and I really like that feeling. However, if a suite or long track comes from something I've never seen before, its awfully long and while it may be interesting, I'd be even more interested in the music if I knew what was playing on screen at the time.
Just my two pennies. |
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 NanM
Lieutenant
Joined: Nov 20, 2006
Member#: 16245
Posts: 121
Location: Portugal
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Posted:
Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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There's no such thing as long or short tracks.
A specific track should be valued by the quality of the music on itself, whether it is 30 seconds or 18 minutes long. |
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