Andrea Bocelli - Nessun Dorma

Ennio Morricone - Western Movie Themes From Clint Eastwood Movies - Hang' Em High

For A Few Dollars More (Tribute to Ennio Morricone) - Dramaturgic

Ennio Morricone - Ecstasy Of Gold (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly)

Musics composed by the Greek composer Vangelis from movie "Alexander" directed by Oliver Stone

Vangelis - Titans (Alexander Soundtrack)

New Idea 256

Hi there and welcome to my latest track, 'Gladiator - The Battle - A Tribute to Hans Zimmer'

Gladiator is the original soundtrack of the 2000 film of the same name. The original score and songs were composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard and were released in 2000, titled Gladiator: Music From the Motion Picture. The Lyndhurst Orchestra performing the score was conducted by Gavin Greenaway.

The album won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and was also nominated for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Score ("Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music").

Background:
I remember the first time I watched this movie I was in absolute awe of the amazing soundtrack music composed by Hans Zimmer. 
Although I love every single piece from the soundtrack, I have to admit that 'The Battle' is my most favourite. 

This scene in the movie is visually incredible and illustrates the true grittiness and gore of Ancient Warfare, without any of the glitz and glamour of earlier films about the Roman Empire. The opening scene had the same impact on me as 'Saving Private Ryan', pulling you straight into the midst of a terrifying battle.

Although the visual quality of the costumes, props and scenery are amazing, for me this scene is brought to life by this amazing piece of music. It is so powerful and evocative and like a battle once its started, there is no turning back. 

I have often enjoyed playing around with small parts of this soundtrack, and always thought it would be an awesome challenge to try and cover just a small part of this awesome theme, as a tribute to Hans Zimmer.

So about a year ago, I set about a little project to do exactly that; and after about 2-3 months of work, gave up as it was simply to hard LOL!

My method, had been to load an MP3 of the original motion picture soundtrack into my DAW. I then proceeded to pick instruments that were as close to the originals so I could play along, instrument by instrument, track by track. I continued to do this bar by bar, sometimes note by note,  until I had enough to switch off the original MP3 and get the basic structure and feel. I then set about picking even more instruments so I could fill in the gaps with additional layers and sounds in an attempt to get that same rich sound quality. 

The first 1.5 minutes took me about 2 months and during the 3rd month I only managed another minute or so, largely due to the complexity of how the waltz movement emerges from the end of the bridge that follows the introduction section. It was awful giving up, but then I did reflect that trying this in the first place was a rather tall order and a lot harder than I imagined.

A few months ago I came back to this and listened to my intro section. Listening with fresh ears got me instantly hooked again, as I realised I had done well; and that it would be a great shame not to try and finish it. So I started the whole process again from the start of the waltz. But only tried to do a small section at a time, taking breaks in between to work on my other compositions. This worked well, as it gave me that fresh ear each time I came back to it. and boosted my confidence as I knew if I was patient that I would get it finished.

I personally feel this tribute track is a real achievement for me and now I have painstakingly picked my way through it, am looking forward to using some of the lessons learnt on some more original compositions.

I hope you enjoy my creation and welcome any comments and feedback.

Composer: Hans Zimmer
All instruments: Matt Baker
Arrangement: Hans Zimmer & Matt Baker
Producer: Matt Baker

Thanks for listening, strength and Honour

All the best for now, cheers Matt :)

Matt Baker - Gladiator - The Battle - A tribute to Hans Zimmer

Enio Morricone - For A Few Dollars More (Final Duel) (Mp3goo.com)

No infringement or anything similar intended. I could not find the original anywhere on soundcloud, so here we go!

Ennio Morricone - The good the bad and the ugly original theme

Celebrating Ennio Morricone - The Masterpiece Collection

Once Upon a Time in the West (feat. Edda Dell'Orso)

Vangelis   Chariots of Fire

SHIELD Home Studio is the HeadQuarter for colombian professional musician, composer and producer Joan Baez. At this place many recordings have been done, from works for companies, artist and labels to his own music for Joanma.