Ennio Morricone's coolness knows no bounds. The beloved soundtrack composer has a seriously deep legacy and his life's work will soon be explored in a new documentary. If anyone's earned their right to comment on the state of things, it's Morricone. The 88-year-old composer did just that when he recently blasted contemporary film soundtracks.
Speaking with the Guardian, Morricone called out modern composers who are soundtracking today's films. "The standard of composition for film has deteriorated," he said. "I have suffered a lot in watching many films because of that."
More than just the composers, Morricone put directors on blast. "There are some directors who actually fear the possible success of music," he said. "They fear that the audience or the critics will think the film has worked because there was a very good music score.
"The respect for a musical score must come from the director…. If the director has no power and has to surrender to budgetary constraints, this is where we have the problem."
Further, despite the rise in interesting electronic musical scores, Morricone is not feeling the use of non-organic instruments, despite also dabbling in keyboard-geared sounds in the past himself.
"Electronic instruments flatten everything. Maybe you can do everything with [them], but the result is quite similar — a kind of standardized music.... The fact that people today tend to use too many electronic instruments or amateur composers is because they want to spend less money."
Speaking with the Guardian, Morricone called out modern composers who are soundtracking today's films. "The standard of composition for film has deteriorated," he said. "I have suffered a lot in watching many films because of that."
More than just the composers, Morricone put directors on blast. "There are some directors who actually fear the possible success of music," he said. "They fear that the audience or the critics will think the film has worked because there was a very good music score.
"The respect for a musical score must come from the director…. If the director has no power and has to surrender to budgetary constraints, this is where we have the problem."
Further, despite the rise in interesting electronic musical scores, Morricone is not feeling the use of non-organic instruments, despite also dabbling in keyboard-geared sounds in the past himself.
"Electronic instruments flatten everything. Maybe you can do everything with [them], but the result is quite similar — a kind of standardized music.... The fact that people today tend to use too many electronic instruments or amateur composers is because they want to spend less money."