Saturday, June 29, 2013

Internet Fail


Back in 1990, Tom Selleck and Alan Rickman starred on a western, set in Australia in the mid-1800s, The movie was Quigley Down Under. It was memorable for two things: Quigley's Sharps rifle and the music.

The score was by Basil Poledouris, who did a slew of other movie scores, and had that Magnificent Seven, Big Country tone and twang. I thought it would sound good on a guitar, but I couldn't find the music anywhere, so I filed it away.

Fast forward a few years; I happened to catch the movie on TV, and I still liked the music. Might be fun to do on the uke ...

According to the Internet, it still isn't available, that music. Poledouris passed away, and it doesn't look like he ever put the sheet music on the market.

I have the CD of the soundtrack, but, according to Goggle and Bing and several dedicated music search engines, there is no score to be had, for love nor money.

Some guy did a short version on a guitar on YouTube, but didn't show his fretting hand, nor post a tab. A pianist worked out a different section, but not the main theme.

So, if I want to learn how to play this, I have to do it the old-fashioned way: I need to listen to it, then  pick out the melody, then figure out where to embellish with chords and double-stops and fingerpicking. Which includes melding a clarinet, guitar, tuba, banjo, and a full orchestra together, on a tenor uke.

Well, a man's reach should exceed his grasp, right?

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I also have the CD of the soundtrack. Yes but according to Goggle and Bing and some dedicated melodies seek motors, there is no score to be had, for love neither money.

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Mike Byers said...

Was the main theme based on "The Ballad of Morton Bay" or am I thinking of another movie set in Australia?

Steve Perry said...

I'm not sure what Poledouris's influences were -- he scored movies from The Blue Lagoon, to Conan, to Robocop, along with Lonesome Dove. Quigley is, according to music snobs, something of an homage to Bernstein, and the Sons of Katie Elder, by Henry Hathaway. If you sit and listen to western movie scores, you will notice that they often have that lush, heroic and baroque feel to them, ala Star Wars, which is an Eastern-Western itself.

Poledouris gets taken to task in Quigly for mixing genres -- there's a Ragtime-feel to sections of it.

Of course, the music snobs mostly seem to know what they don't like. I'm a fan of contrapuntal stuff, Bach, Pachobel, like that, so I have plebeian tastes.

Steve Perry said...

Pachelbel ...

Mike Byers said...

I think maybe it was "The Man From Snowy River" I had in mind. BTW, you ever hear the Los Angles Guitar Quartet play "Pachelbel's Loose Cannon?" Good one.

Anonymous said...

If you listen to the Poledouris score from Conan, the lyrics sung by his choir are Poledorius' name repeated over and over. Guy must have loved himself something fierce.
Scott.

heina said...

Took a listen to the Main Title track. I reckon a man would have to be mighty fond of tuba to love somethin' like that. :P

Jokes aside, here is the keys to the kingdom. Drag the track in here, and you can hilight sections, loop them and slow them down.

http://ktulhusolutions.com/gassistant.htm

Shouldn't take you too long to finger pick out each part.

Steve Perry said...

Cool app.

The melody isn't hard, I pretty much can do that, and vary it okay, it's just how much oomph can I add to it.

(And not much the way of oom-pah is going to happen, given the lowest note I can hit on the uke. Even with the low-G tuning, we aren't talking about bass runs that will speak to the Mothership ...)

Still, it'll be fun to see what I can manage.

Steve Perry said...

Yep, I have a copy of "Loose Cannon," in my CD mix for the car. I bought the album just to get that cut ...