Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Rant time.

Making soundtracks for people to enjoy is becoming something of a bore. I used to love locating masters and making albums for other people. But thanks to a handful of noisy whiners who contribute little but rain to an otherwise sunny endeavor, I'm having second thoughts.

In the days of old (remember LPs?) it was a thrill to go to a store and find records to various movies I saw and hear the music all over again. I'd get goosebumps when I played albums of THE SAND PEBBLES, HAWAII, CAST A GIANT SHADOW, PATTON, CHINATOWN, HEAVY METAL, MOBY DICK, PEYTON PLACE, KINGS GO FORTH, ZULU, GOLDFINGER, JAWS, TOWERING INFERNO, COOL HAND LUKE, TARAS BULBA, CONAN, SPARTACUS, EL CID, PLANET OF THE APES, you name it. Titles all over the map, all of them incomplete, with cues re-edited to make musical sense, some with tracks re-recorded entirely, vinyl clicks and pops galore and whatever. They were never perfect but, man, what pleasures they offered!

My passion increased when I started buying licenses to scores not yet released and making albums for other people to enjoy. This really was thrilling!

But now some people are literally just sucking the joy out of it, expecting every project be fine-tuned to their specific and often impossible demands: include every single note assembled exactly the way it is in the movie whether musical or not, locate and remove every single random noise no matter how old the master elements are, turn mono into stereo even if nothing in stereo exists, ignore composer interests and meet instead the all-over-the-map whims of certain collectors... and spend whatever it takes to license and acquire, rescue and restore, mix and edit, master and manufacture, package and present virtually letter-perfect copies into the market for as low a price is possible - whether realistic or not - all for the joy of hearing those few noisy whiners shout out how much we screwed up somewhere.

In order to preserve my sanity and my passion for this music I am seriously thinking about doing what my composer friends have suggested for years now: simply make the albums I (and they) would enjoy listening to and present them to my own hand-picked audience of customers - the ones who actually enjoy these efforts. To the others who've become a pain in the rumpus, I can simply exercise my rights to leave them off my exclusive mailing list.

Rant over. Passion continues.
--Doug

Doug

Thank you...

I am grateful for anything and everything that you and the Intrada family have released. Though I have not gotten everything the label has released, I do have a pretty large portion of those releases... dating back to 1985 when it all started.

Intrada has always shocked and amazed me with their releases. Decades had passed and I had all but given up on a couple of things being released... "INTRADA ANNOUNCES..." THE ENTITY. THE MEAN SEASON. And, of course, the list goes on and on and on. Tears have come to my eyes several Monday evenings when the new release makes it to the home page. The WOW factor kicks in and before you know it... I am at the "submit" area of the order form.

Some out there are just not happy with anything. They could get anything/everything they ask for and they still would not be happy. Miserable. Just miserable people.

Intrada is a label that I know when I do have a question, it is answered in a timely manner. When I have sent something in about how much I have loved a release, I get a warm response. A couple of times, thank you Doug... you have even responded. I thought it was extremely cool when you had been forwarded my email about how much I loved the release of Lee Holdridge's magnificent IN SEARCH OF PEACE and responded. You all are so busy, but you take the time out and "speak" to the fans.

Yes, the passion is there... Please keep doing what you have been doing for the last 26 (now) years... I, for one will always be there (some day, dentures and all-scary as that might be) purchasing and HAPPY for what you and the Intrada family do.

Thanks again


Richard

_________________
Another awesome year with Intrada... 2012

You have many more people who truly enjoy your work than those who persistently oppose it. Personally, I would be thrilled if I were in that position.

I just recently registered here, but I have seen the nitpicking that you are referring to. It does boggle my mind that some people like to make a big deal over what I see are total non-issues. That being said, I think the sales and general tone of what people say about Intrada's efforts prove that what you do is much appreciated. I know that I greatly appreciate your presentations.

I don't post here that often but I'll tell you the same thing I tell Lukas, M.V., etc. whenever they need to vent:

Just keep doing what you're doing.

On a slightly more personal note, at the end of 2009, I was in the hospital for two months. I wasn't sick; I was actually a volunteer test subject but I was still in a bit of pain. To this day, my friend tells me that after you guys announced Back to the Future, I sounded much better on the phone and the pain slowly went away. (And six weeks later when I got home, I finally got to listen to it.)

True story!

Hi Doug,

I will always be behind your back in support of what you do. Intrada can do no wrong in my eyes. The reputation you have built over the years speaks volumes, and no naysayer is about to change that.

I know it's the same old advice, but just keep on doing what you have been doing. No need to listen to complaints if they're unreasonable or if it's too late to go back and change anything.

I know you have far more supporters than you do whiners. Stay strong... and if you ever fall down, you just have to pick yourself up again, that's all there is to it.

I wholeheartedly agree - I was just going through a similar thing on the FSM board with some wiseacres complaining about liner notes and covers - it's just all so silly sometimes and enervating. Most of us who do this do it for love of the music - and the ones who do it well do it to the best of THEIR abilities - as I said in that thread, it is folly to do it any other way. So, like Doug, I do it the way I like it and hope everyone comes along for the ride. And most do - most learn to trust that we offer the best we can. But it gets so thick sometimes you want to just throw up your hands (no mean feat).

The nice comments are appreciated. They really are. It wasn't my intent to solicit compliments and I'm touched.

I don't know who or where it started but some fan at some point demanded all of these great soundtrack releases be turned away from genuine works of art - and there are some truly classic albums back there - into just mere archival presentations of every note in a film no matter how short, with little regard for musical experiences. Recordings that recreate every film edit be it an awkward one made during post-production or an unintended repeat simply looped for adding seconds to match visuals. Stuff that literally turns a musical experience into a mediocre one at best. We've got oodles of recordings coming out these days but we're not seeing very many "classic" albums as of late.

And now we can get albums with 99.99% of the score represented and someone will still find cause to complain. It can be 100% all there but a single crossfade becomes the stuff of misery. Or it becomes a matter of noise, of tape hiss, of a click. I recall one person posting audio spectrum waveforms comparing noise levels on PREDATOR a while back. Insanity! Yes, I grew up when you could only enjoy TARAS BULBA by putting on a big flat platter of plastic on a turntable and dropping a needle that scratched into tiny grooves, clicks, pops and all. And after some twenty minutes you had to flip it over just to finish it.

I don't want to go back to yesterday's technology but even with today's superb gear, it should still be all about the music. Finding it, discovering it, making it, playing it... celebrating it. Even if some musically enterprising composer sees fit to open an album with the end title (think John Williams) or drop a twenty-second phrase from a seventy-minute score (think any composer) and... well, you get my drift.

Now I want to go back and finish playing Kritzerland's fun CD to GENGHIS KHAN. Like I said, it's all about the music.
--Doug

As Roger infers above, take two listeners diametrically opposed to each other and you'll struggle to find an album producer that can cater to them both. So, as Bruce Kimmel suggests above, making the best album a producer feels he or she can really ends up being the best way to go.
--Doug

I too hate the people who nitpick. I get disgusted every time I see those types of posts on the message boards. Not every score is for everyone. If it's not for me, I don't bash or post anything negative. I don't even post anything like "I'll pass" because I don't want the labels to get discouraged. I just don't buy it and let all those that do like it, enjoy the release to the fullest. When I get something I love, I purchase it instantly and am very appreciative of the label who went to the trouble to get me the film music I love.

Doug, most of us hear you. Please try to ignore those negative people. There are plenty of us out here who truly value your efforts and what you provide. Negative usually stands out more than positive but you will find tons of positive posts with each release you provide. Read those and ignore the negatives.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR TIME AND EFFORT!!!

Doug Fake is what makes Intrada interesting (with nods to Roger and Jeff): It's his taste, the way HE does things that make the releases Intrada releases. Same for me - Kritzerland is me and I am Kritzerland - so you're going to get my taste, which is different - and that's what makes each label interesting (or not).

As Doug suggests, it IS all about the music. Some scores that have many repetitious cues are not served well by including them all. I turn those CDs off, I cannot listen to them. I want a perfect listening experience where I go on a little journey with the score. If that means film order because that's what works best, grand. If it means we occasionally have to flip some stuff around to make it a better listening experience, then that's what we do. Of course, it's all subjective and we all do it differently. But at the heart of what the best producers do, the ones who really have the right to call themselves producers rather than assemblers, is a want and need to make a good album and not just stick on every note of music, no matter how weird or counterproductive, just because some guy wants that. There are labels who do just that and the more power to them, but it's not what I'm about and I don't think it's what Doug is about. I don't mind a thirty minute album if it's a great thirty minutes. I don't mind a seventy-eight minute album if it's a great seventy-eight minutes (but those are few and far between, let me tell you).

Some LPs were not good albums, which is why labels occasionally switch them up - they were sequenced frequently because of how much could fit on one side, or where a side break would be good. Sometimes they wanted a song closer to the front because they thought that played well. And some LPs, like Carrie, were downright odd - only containing music from the second half of the film (other than the main title). To be able to finally put that right was an incredible experience.

All we can do is be true to what and who we are as producers. When you begin to try and please everyone you are doomed to failure, which is why 98% of the movies today are crap. Long live Doug. Long live Intrada. And never let them pander.

_________________
Don't ruin your life searching for success. Simply do what you feel like doing. Time is not money. Time is life and life has no price.

I've often wondered about the nitpickers. Don't they have real problems to worry about rather than getting worked up over non-issues on CD presentations? Doug, your hard work in getting these wonderful scores released is greatly appreciated by the vast majority of soundtrack fans. Not only is the music well presented (and in great sound) but the overall packaging is top notch with great cover art and liner notes. Thank you for doing what you do.