Brad Fiedel - traditional or electronic
Brad Fiedel to many people is associated with the electronic music of the Terminator films - metallic, ruthless, impersonal and relentless. He seems so at home and accomplished in this medium that it is easy to assume that this style of music is typical of his output. However, Fiedel has been around for a considerable time and has certainly served his apprenticeship on "human" movies with more traditional orchestration requirements as a quick look through his CV will demonstrate.
His soundtrack for Terminator 2 (or T2) took ideas and the main theme from the original film and updated them in a similar way to the on-screen action and special effects. The soundtrack is "industrial" in many sense of the word. In terms of sound construction, we have lots of "heavy metal" sounds like an anvil being struck with a hammer, and a particular sound, similar to a reverse cymbal effect, which sounds like a knife being sharpened. Then we have the percussion driven rhythms, mechanical and relentless like the robots in their determined pursuit. Finally we have pattern changes in the music which seem to suggest "changing gear", e.g. the T1000 in "search mode" spots a something suggesting his prey is nearby and so moves into "follow mode", then in sight of his quarry he breaks from a walk into a run. But the soundtrack isn't all like this. There is the main theme itself, heroic with a touch of sadness. There is the brief moment of relaxation backed by an acoustic guitar. Then there is the nightmare scene, where the music takes a back seat to the visuals, content to suggest the wind of slow-motion explosions and the screams as the flames roar through a playground.
Films by Brad Fiedel:
- Terminator 1 and 2 - metallic sounds and an emotionless theme to match the central character, Marco Beltrami scored the third film in the series and Danny Elfman did Terminator Salvation
- The Big Easy
- The Accused
- Let's Get Harry
- Fright Night, part 2
- Mystic Pizza
- The Serpent and the Rainbow
- True Lies - also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger before he went into politics
TV music by Brad Fiedel:
- Midnight Caller - theme
- From the Earth to the Moon - part 8 of this documentary mini-series about the Apollo missions with Michael Kamen providing the main title theme
Recommendations:
You will find some of Fiedel's other work is hard to find, but the Terminator soundtracks are deservedly popular.
- The Terminator- including a number of tracks from the 80s, from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
- Terminator 2 - from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com (currently unavailable)
- True Lies - from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
