Batman (1989): Danny Elfman's Darkest Chords

[@dollofshadows1703]

god, this was my favorite movie to watch as a kid. I never thought I'd get into music, nor that I'd be so infatuated with the work of film composers like Elfman. But seeing it examined now, I love how dark & sad the mood of it is. This is a profound video!

[@Maestro86-sd8zy]

Fun Fact: When the Joker radios for the Helicopter to arrive in 5 minutes and then looks up at the Cathedral and decides it will take about 10 minutes. The helicopter actually arrives at exactly 10 minutes from the runtime of the film.

[@samuelmackenzie5267]

The Batman 1989 score is my favourite film soundtrack. I love how it complements Burtons gothic tone but also has many memorable tracks that are seperate from the main Batman leitmotif but also add to world of Gotham. Stand outs to me include: First confrontation, waltz to the death and the main theme. I’ll also admit that I’m biased because I got to hear this soundtrack a lot when playing Lego Batman. But it’s still great.

[@Wampert]

i just discovered your channel but i see that it has so few uploads i love your way of explaining hope you do more in the future

[@Tauramehtar]

I came here from the augmented scale video. Another gem, I am going to go binge all your content now. This knowledge is criminally exquisite.

[@DavidMcCaulley]

A brilliant analyzation of my favorite cue from the score!

[@kingskid1985]

My favorite cue from this score is definitely Descent Into Mystery. It never ceases to give me goosebumps whenever I hear it! But I think he made a good call to analyze this cue since it's one of the longest with more harmonic analysis.

[@omnimusicpublishing974]

@@kingskid1985 Spot-on, that's exactly why I chose this cue.

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

Excellent video!

[@zakfoster1]

I cannot put into words how helpful and inspiring your analysis videos are! I really resonate with the way you put them together and the theory/chord analysis that goes into them, please make more 👍

[@Oldmangamess]

Than right after this it had my favorite piece from the movie Waltz to the death

[@muzikmystro]

It’s almost 6 years since I did my dissertation on this film with The Dark Knight. So sad I’m too old to have used the sheet music as a resource.

[@iceomistar4302]

This reminds me of why I stopped taking music way too complicated for my simple mind

[@aaronshows]

Excellent analysis, Tim! I'm sure editing this video was a lot of work, but it's incredibly helpful to us composers. Also, as an organist, I always wondered why Elfman's organ parts sounded digital rather than acoustic. He did use real pipe organ on the Grinch film a couple years ago, but using a digital organ in past projects saves a lot on time and budget. Perhaps one day I'll record real pipe organ for him! Thanks for this video -- cheers!

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

Please do the Batman pipe organ!

[@dollofshadows1703]

What I love about this particular piece is the mood, it almost sounds like the music is dying. There's just something so mournful about it. I hear the organ now after being so immersed in rock & roll, especially my favorite era of 1967 with bands like Procol Harum that used the Hammond organ, and I think that was a stroke of pure genius! It's mind-blowing, too! Because Danny Elfman was not a formally taught musician when it came to composing, I believe it was something Tim Burton really pushed him to do. But he really saw something amazing in him, I mean he's one of the best film composers around.

[@whatchrisdoinmusic]

dude! new subscriber. I love this breakdown. thank you for the info!

[@MalkuthEmperor]

Just what i was looking for. This is just the sound i love, so you have given me the tools to use it. Subscribing for sure. Have a great day

[@arminsoundandmusic]

Man, these videos you made are gold.

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

Brilliant ! As always :-) Thanks Tim !

[@OM-md6ki]

Keep making videos. The augmented video was the best! I been getting so deep into these sounds the past months

[@brettchassen2888]

SUCH a great video !!! A bit confused though , what its the harmonic pattern i need to ‘go to bed with’ lol ? I minor to the II major ?

[@scottglasgowmusic]

Then comes that crazy waltz! Yeah great score from an unexpected guy at the time... and great analysis Tim!

[@LarryLeeMoniz]

Simply brilliant. Fantastic analysis of one of my favorite movie compositions.

[@vincenycooki]

Brilliant ! Just subscribed.

[@ilkayboraoder]

An amazing breakdown! Thank you Timothy. Elfman is absolutely one of my favourite movie music composers together Don Davis. Both have amazing compositive capability. I'd say Steve Bartek has done an amazing job also for the orchestration of this score. Beside, "The Batman Returns" score is still bolder than his "Batman" Score. where one can get their beatifully engraved versions from Omni Music Publishing. I'd suggest to watch Elfman's Masterclass who wants to dive in depth with his personal music journey.

[@JohnDoe-tm9wz]

Don Davis is amazing as well, his score for 'The Matrix" movies are brilliant 🙌🏻

[@soundtreks]

Great stuff Tim.

[@nowhereman1402]

Excellent videos, I'll buy the scores!

[@nivio_sound8576]

Great analysis

[@zacvee7255]

Wow! Absolutely awesome analysis. This movie and it’s score have always been all time favorites of mine, and this is extremely helpful in studying film techniques. Elfman is a genius. I’m trying to research the wood blocks/log drums in the beginning, but I can’t find anything with that specific timbre anywhere else. Could you point me in the right direction? I love it! It’s so effective.

[@prestonmelton4157]

Great job on the analysis and presentation. Very insightful and informative.

[@GeorgeStreicherMusic]

This is awesome!

[@omarirm]

Gracias. Tus videos son sencillamente extraordinarios!

[@pookibear89]

Hello everyone, I would like to ask a question on the cord progression at 2:57. I understand: Gmin=1, Adim=2, Bb=3, Eb=6. However, how can Gmin be the first and the fifth accord, and how does Amajor fit into this progression? He has to switch keys, right? Thanks in advance.

[@monoverantus]

The numbers refer to the scale degrees of the melody, not the chords. G=1st degree, A=2nd, Bb=b3rd, Eb=b6th, D=5th, C#=#4th. And the A major is indeed from outside the key.

[@mosstet]

he's writing the chords using something called Riemannian theory - it's worth looking into, but essentially it's just chord progressions in major 3rds but you can deviate by raising or lowering a note from each chord.

[@edbuller4435]

Wonderfull. Thank you

[@eoincten]

Speaking of Herrmann, could the opening of the cue where Vicki runs to the cathedral, be heard as an homage to the “travelling” motif from North By Northwest?

[@jalenjohnson1662]

Awesome breakdown! Can you also analyze the Reprise from this film?

[@MH-il1lk]

Who orchestrated Elfmans music?

[@DWScores]

Steve Bartek, genious

[@MH-il1lk]

@DWScores Thanks for letting me know. I wouldn't say he is a genius, but he definitely made an impact in film scoring.