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Welcome to the FAQ - your answer...to everything else the rest of the site doesn't. I'll continually update this with new questions and answers and I'll add in anything that I get asked a lot or that I think might be be relevant, so check back regularly! If there's anything that isn't answered here or on any other part of the site then ask me! |
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Was "Kung Fu Panda" performed by the China National Symphony? |
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What "weird" instruments were used in "Horton Hears A Who!" in the end? |
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Did Powell compose the music used at the end of the "X-Men: The Last Stand" trailer? |
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Does Powell have any plans for what to do after he finishes writing film music? |
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I've heard some of Powell's music in another film, TV show, or advertisement. Is this allowed? |
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On the "Chicken Run" soundtrack, did I hear someone say something? |
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Where can I get the Goa chase music from "The Bourne Supremacy"? |
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I've bought all the score CDs available. Is there any music I may have missed? |
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Was "Kung Fu Panda" performed by the China National Symphony? I can't say I know for sure. In the original press release regarding the score, it looked like it was going to be, however in the end the orchestra was contacted by Isobel Griffiths (who works in London) and we heard nothing more about it. Nothing in the movie or linear notes of the CD suggests it was performed by the CNS either. Unless they flew an entire orchestra out, I'm going to say no. |
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Are there any specific sample libraries Powell uses? As stated in another answer, Powell has a large library of his own. A lot of composers however (including Powell) usually start off with a pre-made library, and the best ones are made by a company called Spectrasonics. If you're familiar with drum machines, the original Spectrasonics libraries were developed by Eric Persing, who was also lead sound designer for Roland! |
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What "weird" instruments were used in "Horton Hears A Who!" in the end? Well...cat and dog toys, dulcimers, a euphonifaffamelophone (u-fon-e-faf-a-mel-o-phone!), trombugles, twang boxes, hairy violins...and a 30 ft water system...all played by John Powell! More info about some of these contraptions (including where you can hear them) is included in the Euphonifaffamelophone feature. |
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What are these "virtual Powell scores"? As it's often cheaper to record scores abroad (Australia in this case), "P.S., I Love You" and "Jumper" were recorded "remotely" at the Trackdown Scoring Stage in Sydney (where Powell also went to record "Happy Feet"). For these two scores, Powell stayed in LA while they were recorded and monitored the production process via an internet link to the scoring stage. |
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Yes. While this is not a regular occurrence, in this case the movie's budget (and the orchestra!) were small, so it just worked out this way. |
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Does Powell have his own studio somewhere? Yup, he's got a small one in his home. |
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Is it possible for me to get some actual sheet music? I'm not too sure what exactly happens to the sheet music when a composer finishes their work. The music obviously switches hands and is then owned by the studio, but I'm not sure if the same happens with sheet music. I'd have thought the composer would have kept it. I guess the "easiest" way to find some is to look on eBay, but even then I'd be very surprised if I saw anything. |
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Can you give me contact details for Powell? Sorry. This is why representatives and agents exist. Rather than being a complete downer - check the contact section for more info. Just so I said so, please don't bombard them with fan mail or questions as it's not their job to deal with that. |
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Did Powell compose the music used at the end of the "X-Men: The Last Stand" trailer? No. It's called "Rising Empire" and was composed by the guys over at Immediate Music. |
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Which of Powell's score CDs are the rarest? Well, if you're after a gem and you come across any of the following cheap, I suggest you pick them up quick! Copies of "Face/Off" are readily available but drying up quickly. "Antz" and "Chicken Run" are also disappearing into thin air, and if you find a copy of "Endurance" or "Rat Race" then it's the equivalent of finding Aladdin's Cave, so buy them immediately! Also, there's a common belief that copies of "Just Visiting" and "I Am Sam" are worth a lot of cash, but in reality they're still in print from Varèse Sarabande, so don't go spending too much on them just yet! |
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Did Powell score "The In Laws"? Not to my knowledge! Seriously, I'm not too sure what happened here as musical duties for that film were with Lalo Schifrin. His score vanished into thin air and apparently Klaus Badelt and James S. Levine were left to it. I've never seen the film, but I've heard that eventually no score was used! |
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Can you send me "inset promo/bootleg name here"? Nope, sorry. Please do not request music. |
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Where can I get the film version of "Bathroom Titles"? Sorry, it's unreleased! More info as to why can be found here. |
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What is the "Adelie Bridge/Adelie Rap"? It's this. It's a little original bit of music used during the song "Boogie Wonderland" in "Happy Feet". It was co-written by Powell, Germaine Franco and Dan Lerner. |
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How big was the choir on "Happy Feet"? A mere 600 people. Wait, 600 people?! That's huge! This covered people from 26 (yes, 26!) choirs in the Sydney area (where most of the score was recorded). The choir was so big that they couldn't find anywhere to record them and ended up using the sound stage "Superman Returns" was filmed on! |
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Does Powell have any plans for what to do after he finishes writing film music? He has said he hopes on writing some more operas or concert pieces. |
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Does Powell work with specific directors? It's fairly mixed, however more recently he has formed bonds with Paul Greengrass, Doug Liman and Blue Sky Studios, so keep looking at what they're doing next as Powell may end up scoring it! He's also scored a couple of films for F. Gary Gray, but it's unknown whether their partnership will continue. |
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Carter Burwell originally scored the film. His score was never released, but it was apparently a lot more symphonic! |
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Will Powell ever team up with Harry Gregson-Williams again? While I'm sure many people would welcome this idea, and I'm not ruling it out, both have said that they prefer to go their own separate ways rather than being pigeon-holed as the "animation duo". |
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Did Powell score "The Bourne Conspiracy" video game? No. While some of his music is featured in the game, it also features original score by Paul Oakenfold. |
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I've heard some of Powell's music in another film, TV show or advertisement. Is this allowed? In short, yes. So don't get concerned and "report" it to me! |
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Is any Powell sheet music available? Yes, a fair amount actually. Check the Sheet Music feature. |
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It's a simple misprint on the cover. Newer copies of the CD apparently have this corrected. Other misprints include track 8 on "The Italian Job" soundtrack. It's under the name "Cable Chick" on the cover, but "Cable Check" in the CD data. "Horton Hears A Who!" also contains a track name misprint with "Horton Tells Of The Kangaroo's Duplicity" when it should actually be "Morton". This has also been corrected on newer copies of the CD. |
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Which Powell scores contain Kazoos? Only "Chicken Run" and "Agent Cody Banks" I'm afraid! Check out "Horton Hears A Who!" however for more weird instrumentation! |
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How did Powell get into music? Powell has stated that he always wanted to get into Hollywood, but after realising being a stuntman would be too dangerous, he decided the only way he was going to get there was to write music. |
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Very, very rarely. He prefers to be in the "control room" in order to manage and direct the orchestra better. He has said that main reason for this is so he can have more control over electronics and synth elements as well as the orchestra. He however did conduct his score to "Stop Loss", but only due to budgetary reasons and the fact the orchestra was small. He also conducted the kazoo "ensemble" on "Agent Cody Banks" - footage of which can be seen on the DVD! |
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Does Powell perform on any of his scores? Yes, he quite often plays on keyboards/pianos, guitars and percussion. His assistant, Germaine Franco also usually participates on percussion. |
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Are all score releases been planned in advance? No! Score releases of "Shrek", "United 93" and "P.S., I Love You" were never originally intended, hence why they were released several months after the films. |
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On the "Chicken Run" soundtrack, did I hear someone say something? Probably - conductors Gavin Greenaway, Nick Ingham and Harry Gregson-Williams can be heard at the end of cues in various quiet parts of the score. The most obvious is at the 1:00 mark exactly in the track "Up On The Roof". |
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What have Powell's favourite projects been? While his opinion seems to regularly change, Powell said on numerous occasions "Endurance" and "Happy Feet" have been his favorites. |
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Has Powell given any concerts? Powell's concert debut was at the World Soundtrack Awards 2006 held in Ghent, Belgium where the orchestra played cues from several of his scores. He and Germaine Franco (his assistant) also performed on percussion! Powell also had some pieces played at The International Film Music Conference 2007, held in Úbeda, Spain. A cue from "P.S., I Love You" called "The Meeting" was played, being a first listen! The same was to be for "Faces Without Names" from "The Bourne Ultimatum", however this eventually did not go ahead. As part of the Ghent Film Festival in 2008, a free concert featuring music from many composers contained some performances of Powell's music that were also performed at the World Soundtrack Awards in 2006 ("Assassin's Tango" from "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "The Meltdown" from "Ice Age: The Meltdown". |
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Are there any little Easter Eggs in any track titles? "Hans' Loft" from "Face/Off" refers to Hans Zimmer's loft in the Media Ventures/Remote Control Productions building for starters! |
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What is Powell's longest score? It's "Face/Off", clocking in at 1 hour, 45 minutes and 13 seconds. |
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Who provided the vocals in "United 93"? Powell used his young son, Oliver. As he was too young to fully understand sheet music, Powell simply played a tune and got Oliver to sing it back. |
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Does Powell have his own sample library? Yes. Powell uses widely available sample libraries as well as his own, hence why you hear similar effects in several of his scores. For example, the opening synth effect in "Ignition" from "Agent Cody Banks" is the same as used in the opening of "Escape From Embassy" from "The Bourne Identity". |
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Was the score to "D-Tox" really rejected? No! The film went under heavy re-shoots and re-edits in order to make it "better", delaying its release by about 2 years. Powell wrote the score at the beginning of these 2 years, so by the end of it, much of the score was re-edited, re-arranged or chopped out. Powell has said he's never seen the final cut of the film! |
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It's John James Powell! |
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What computer software and hardware does Powell use? That's a secret! Seriously though, while nothing here is definite, it's going to be something similar to Cuebase, Pro Tools, Roland Drum Machines, and lots of Apple Macs among other things! |
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Where does Powell record his music? In Los Angeles it's usually at Paramount Scoring Stage M or the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Brothers. In London it's at Abbey Road Studios or Air Lyndhurst Studios, and in Sydney it's the Trackdown Scoring Stage. Lots of scores were also recorded at the Todd-AO Scoring Stage in Los Angeles, however it has now closed down. |
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Where can I get the Goa chase music from "The Bourne Supremacy"? You can't! All hope is lost! Just kidding! If you've got a copy of the DVD, simply download software such as the free "DVD Audio Extractor" and rip the end credits to an MP3 file. If you've got some more advanced software, you could chop "Extreme Ways" off the beginning of that too! Simple as that! You also might want to check out the end credits of "The Bourne Identity" for the film version of "Escape From Embassy", and "The Bourne Ultimatum" for a remix of "To The Roof" from "The Bourne Supremacy". Just do this in the same way! |
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I've bought all the score CDs available. Is there any music I may have missed? Yes! Ignoring any promos, bootlegs and end credits music on DVDs, you may have missed the following: -"Robot City" on the "Robots" compilation - something which sounds like a demo suite. -"Cool Chill" on the "Be Cool" compilation - a little score suite. -Tracks 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 on the "Alfie" compilation - these tracks were co-written and/or contain arrangements by Powell. -"Wonders Of The New World" on "The Road To El Dorado" compilation - a little suite consisting of several of Powell's cues from the film. -"Beam" on "The Thin Red Line" soundtrack - Powell wrote additional music remember? - This is one of his cues! -Covers of the "Main Titles" from "Chicken Run" on CDs such as "Movie Brass" and "The Halifax Concert Band". Complete your collection today and check out the Discography for listings of everything! |
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One very dedicated fan! I'm called Anthony and live in Merry (Old) England. I originally built the site as a Summer project. To my surprise, more people liked it than I thought, and so I've continued to add more and more to it this day! The very first Powell cue I heard on CD was "Boat Chase" from "The Italian Job" and since then I've gathered the entire collection of Powell CDs! Some of my other favourite composers include Michael Giacchino, David Arnold, Edward Shearmur, James Newton Howard, Chris Lennertz, Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman and Marc Shaiman. |
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