Ostinatos used by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

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Ostinatos are used extensively in Film/TV and Video Game music to help add excitement and energy to a piece. In this video I go through various Ostinatos used by two of Hollywood’s biggest composers - Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, from films such as The Dark Knight, The Da Vinci Code and The Bourne Legacy. I take a look at how the Ostinatos are constructed and developed to bring excitement and motion to their scores.
► Get your FREE Beginner's Guide To Composing Music in 5 Easy Steps here:
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:19 - What is an Ostinato?
00:37 - The Dark Knight - 'A Dark Knight' - Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard
02:26 - The Da Vinci Code - 'Chevaliers De Sangreal' - Hans Zimmer
05:01 - Interstellar - 'No Time For Caution' - Hans Zimmer
07:00 - The Dark Knight - 'Trip to Hong Kong' - Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard
08:01 - The Bourne Legacy - 'Flight 167' - James Newton Howard
08:51 - Defiance - 'Soundtrack Suite' - James Newton Howard
09:40 - Salt - 'I'm Going Home' - James Newton Howard
10:56 - Outro
See below for links to each piece:
'A Dark Knight' (From The Dark Knight)
• Hans Zimmer - The Dark...
'Chevaliers de Sangreal' (From The Da Vinci Code)
• Chevaliers De Sangreal...
'No Time For Caution' (From Interstellar)
• Interstellar Official ...
'Trip to Hong Kong' (From The Dark Knight)
• 13. Trip to Hong Kong ...
'Flight 167' (From The Bourne Legacy)
• The Bourne Legacy (201...
'Soundtrack Suite' (From Defiance)
• James Newton Howard - ...
'I'm Going Home' (From Salt)
• I'm Going Home
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Composing Academy is the place to learn how to begin composing your own music. Here you will find easy to follow videos explaining core Music Theory concepts along with various tips and tricks to help you craft that perfect song of cinematic piece of music.

[@predatorx8081]

I've been waiting for new uploads for some time now. Thank you 👍🏿

[@composingacademy8270]

Apologies for the wait! Thanks for watching!

[@mikemeier5004]

Great video, as always. I really enjoy to watch how you dissect these great pieces, making the "magic" behind them understandable for us.

[@composingacademy8270]

Apologies for the delay but thank you so much for the comment, I am so pleased you have found the video useful!

[@tereseabannister4176]

Love! Just when I thought I couldn’t learn anymore about ostinatos! Thank you, Simon! Great video!♥️

[@composingacademy8270]

You're welcome, thank you for watching!

[@BennyHarry]

Another great video! Thank you so much for making these. So helpful!!❤

[@vanceoliver7940]

So glad you are still making videos! Good timing too! Just got back at it and you pop up in my feed in the same week!

[@composingacademy8270]

Ha, will try and get better at uploading quicker! Appreciate the comment, thank you for watching!

[@mapsmakestudios]

These videos are an amazing help to kick start the learning of music to all i love your channel keep up the good work!!

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you, I really appreciate the comment. Glad you liked it!

[@SoraiaLMotta]

they look so simple, but yet are so powerfull

[@composingacademy8270]

They really are and ones you can associate with the film almost immediately. Thank you for watching!

[@harrymavro7332]

Hey @composing Academy, love your work. Hope you can be more consistent in your posting - your the only youtuber that is extremely beneficial in score theory. You are amazing and so helpful

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, thank you for the comment! I try and upload a couple of videos a month but sometimes get waylaid with other commitments. Am trying to get better at this! Appreciate you watching, thank you!

[@harrymavro7332]

@@composingacademy8270 Love you

[@mikesoundmaster2357]

Happy to see you again, Simon 😊 Welcome back! ❤💐 Thank you for the Video

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you, must be quicker at uploading videos to my channel!

[@neogrammofon]

Thanks for the video! You made me realize again how crucial a part ostinatos play in the music I love :)

[@composingacademy8270]

I am so pleased you have found it useful, thank you for watching :-)

[@gabosmendez]

Your channel is awesome, my friend! Keep it up! I'm addicted to all of your videos.

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, wow thank you so much, I really appreciate the positive feedback!

[@magdielrodriguez6437]

Excellent video, always full of knowledge and help to better understand orchestral compositions. Thanks!

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you for watching and the comment, I really appreciate it!

[@RangerX___]

Incredible quality. I hope your channel blasts off to the moon. Thank you!

[@composingacademy8270]

I really appreciate that, thank you!

[@peacevalleyaudio5496]

This is excellent. Oh the things you can do with an ostinato. Thank you Simon.

[@composingacademy8270]

You're welcome, thank you for watching!

[@jon_do]

This video was fun to watch. Both informative and quick. Thanks!

[@composingacademy8270]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching!

[@massimosammi]

Thanks for this fantastic video! May I ask which brass library are you using? It sounds really great! Are the strings CSS?

[@BeatMax2023]

Thanks for sharing. Nice presentation of music theory. :)

[@EdgyNumber1]

Very useful. I can transpose these ideas onto much more modern sounds into some of the melodies I'm creating. Great vid.

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you, appreciate it!

[@cheesesavage3353]

Thanks for bringing me the video I wanted! Thank you!

[@composingacademy8270]

No problem! You are very welcome & I am so pleased you liked it!

[@charliemcgrain]

In simple terms the ostinato is the drum and bass of an orchestra composition: melody and rhythm, pedals and routes.

[@danpaq3164]

Awesome! Great video! Thank you! Makes me want to write music! Keep up the good work !!

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you, really appreciate the comment!

[@Faltermeyer123]

awesome breakdown as always!

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you so much!

[@storiesreadaloud5635]

Here's an idea for your next product -- incorporating diagrams of the MIDI , or the actual files of these types of orchestrations and techniques. I don't read music so well, so this visuals in your videos are incredible useful.

[@composingacademy8270]

Great suggestion - many thanks. Great to hear that the visuals in the video were useful - they took quite a bit of time to put together!

[@storiesreadaloud5635]

@@composingacademy8270 definitely

[@pjdahmen]

Great tutorial and well done.

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you! Really appreciate it.

[@ChristianSandviknes]

What string library did you use for the Dark Knight and Defiance ostinatos? They sounded very good, and the Dark Knight one was spot on as well

[@cassidytoysnhk]

The ostinato at the beginning of One Day from Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End is the best I've ever heard. Also the ostinato in the background during the love theme in the transition from Victory to One Day is perfect, re mi mi fa re mi mi mi fa re mi mi mi fa re mi mi mi fa re mi mi mi fa do re re mi do re re mi do re re mi do re re mi do re re mi...:) Another one is Chevaliers de Sangreal. Also excellent use of the French Horn after 2:18.

[@StsFiveOneLima]

Jesus Christ, yes. Zimmer is a master of this kind of thing. I was thinking of POTC when I first started watching this video. And for the record I'm a musical idiot.

[@abdelrahmansalah5765]

I am new subs to your channel and it was a very useful and entertaining video thanks very much

[@FreakieFan]

The Salt ostinato really isnt chromatic at all. It’s a basic octatonic scale ostinato (diminished scale)

[@AudioknapAcademy]

Thanks! Interesting lesson

[@composingacademy8270]

Glad you liked it, thank you for watching!

[@JakePurches-Base2music]

Very helpful thank you.

[@composingacademy8270]

You're welcome, thank you for watching!

[@maplefoxx6285]

I love your videos, they are some of the best lessons online, I will be memorizing all these soon hahah, thanks! You know what is crazy, me and Hanz kind of write the same way. I am just not so great at putting it all into full orchestra yet. You really should check out the music of the video game Hollow Knight, it is next level ostinatos in a few themes like Hornet theme is epic.

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you for your kind words! Yes I should really take a deep dive into the soundtrack for Hollow Knight. I've heard a few tracks from it but I think it definitely needs some further exploring!

[@ricardohernandez2771]

¡Muchas Gracias!

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you for watching!

[@IHBable]

Very informative, thanks very much :)

[@composingacademy8270]

You are very welcome, thank you for watching!

[@Anthony-th7tr]

YAY THESE VIDEOS ARE BACK

[@composingacademy8270]

Ha, thank you! I will try and be more prompt with my uploading going forward!

[@handwoundpickups6555]

Brilliant thanks ever so much.👍

[@composingacademy8270]

You are welcome, thank you for watching!

[@dpsoulofmusic]

very useful, hope you make more videos about cinematic music

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, I will have another video coming out soon!

[@Zaz_Prod]

Thank you so much !

[@composingacademy8270]

You're welcome!

[@johnh14159]

Good video as always. I've seen many videos on ostinato writing, but they didn't explain it this clearly. Thanks! By the way, I've always wondered how to make a longer ostinato. I've found some good ostinatos (ostinati?) inside two of Thomas Bergersen's pieces, Wings and Humanity, both spanning for 4 beats (compared to the 1-2 beats in most of these ones). They also don't self-repeat, which most of these ostinatos do. Humanity in 8:27 Wings in 0:57

[@jenstornell]

Nice video! What plugin do you use for the ostinato?

[@crouge]

Great video, thank you! How do you deal with delays when working with Ostinatos? Just shift them to a bit left or there is another way? this is challenging, to perfectly sync with the tempo.

[@marcgw496]

Some daws come with delay compensation. For example I use FL studio and in the mixer interface you can set delay times in milliseconds for specified tracks, although if you don’t know the exact delay time that is going to be tricky.

[@StraightLOL]

excellent vid simon

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you!

[@xoundsbythimo4614]

Yea! Your back😀

[@composingacademy8270]

Yep! Thanks for watching 😀

[@jayprakashmishra6471]

you are best thankyou so much

[@ShureShot15]

Great video! Just a point to clarify, the last example is still diatonic but to C 1/2, whole diminished. So all still diatonic. Greatly informative video.

[@golafs]

nice! what library are you using for the strings?

[@ikaray1775]

Thanks so much man ❤❤❤

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you for watching!

[@emreteselli6020]

Thank you!

[@composingacademy8270]

You're welcome, thank you for watching!

[@KaiWenFranklin]

I love that desk you have. Was it custom built?

[@rolanddurr8274]

Thanks for this detailed analysis, but... how do these simple ostinato patterns create a certain mood or emotion? Or which kind of ostinato do I need to create emotions like tension, fear or relief?

[@sonicsatsuma1256]

Welcome back my favourite tutor 😊

[@composingacademy8270]

Haha thank you!

[@sonicsatsuma1256]

Seriously, your Xmas tutorial was a game changer for me. From arrangement, to layering then mix. You have a clean and calm delivery but, most importantly, a way of being succinct with enough detail to pull the concepts together. Nothing is hidden, no “trade secrets” or “shortcuts”. Just the foundations, well explained and enough for the audience to experiment and work out the gaps for themselves. Your teaching is genius! I follow a lot of people and learn loads but you are the only one I can replay a 10 min demo through a few times, make notes, apply to the DAW, and finish a piece. Hard to put into words. The only Patreon channel I pay for is Cue Tube, just for the scoring content but I’d actually pay to follow you mate!! You don’t even ask for anything back for sharing your knowledge. The most underrated person I follow on KZbin.

[@dicktempelaar]

@@sonicsatsuma1256 Totally agree !!

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you both, I am so pleased it was useful & really appreciate your feedback!

[@petertremblay3725]

Graham Plowman is one of the best composer currently, his style and originality is unmatched!

[@cheribarkman1784]

Thank you

[@composingacademy8270]

You are welcome, thank you for watching!

[@grobinson9352]

Thank you so much! I don't know why I feel so intimidated by Ostinatos---but seeing how simple the patterns are I am floored! Thank you

[@composingacademy8270]

You are very welcome, I am pleased you have found the video useful!

[@jerronimo13]

Simple minds are easily fooled

[@patzumbrunn]

Thats great Thanx a lot. Wich librarie did you use for the strings ?

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you - it was a mixture of Cinematic Studio strings and Pacific Strings

[@patzumbrunn]

@@composingacademy8270 thanx a lot .CSS , i tought it. Greetings Pat

[@flavioishimaru5399]

Well done, sunreal 😮super👍(Hans Zimmer is my favorite composer)Interstellar❤❤❤

[@composingacademy8270]

Really pleased you enjoyed it, thank you for watching!

[@moabl2020]

what sample orchestra do you use ? Thanks

[@vargshagrath]

Thanks!!, One question, while making a composition and accidentally using an ostinato with those shapes, am I infringing on copyright?

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, I would try and avoid copying these as they are fairly well known but it is easy to do something similar by changing a few notes. Hope that helps!

[@jeffgarrison7056]

I love cinematic scores. I even had the Star Wars soundtrack by John Williams on record as a child....

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you!

[@SashaBitbroyt]

Nice tricks. Please make video about Ramin Djawadi styles and one about Mamoru Fujisawa ( Joe Hisaishi ) styles.

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, will definitely look into these, thank you!

[@uja1096]

Just discovered you channel. Would love your breakdown after 5:30 of Detach track from interstellar and 0:50-1:22 of John Williams Planet Krypton from Superman. That would be epic.

[@composingacademy8270]

Great suggestions! Will add this to my list of future videos, thank you!

[@curioso....]

Nice lesson! What key is the Salt piece in? Seems to be ambiguous, almost C minor/ or Db minor?

[@JanCarlComposer]

I personally do not really need the lower part of your video but good content. Thank you.

[@composingacademy8270]

Thanks for watching!

[@halivudestevez2]

what's the difference between arpeggio vs ostinato?

[@namanshah8354]

great video

[@composingacademy8270]

Thank you so much!

[@arturaravidi]

Nice ❤

[@composingacademy8270]

Glad you liked it, thank you for watching!

[@xisotopex]

I come up with stuff like this all the time, I just find myself unable to expand it.

[@muso346]

The Salt ost is fantastic. Is it essentially in Cm here? Or just chromatic/no real key?

[@jeffb1886]

Helpful as always!! Could you do a video on exactly HOW you program one in?? Fast piano playing? Writing them in a midi editor? A dedicated arpeggiator plug in? Some other technique??

[@xuxuang8574]

The best way is to punch in the midi.

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, apologies for the delay. Depending on how fast the tempo is, I either play the ostinatos in on my midi controller or draw them in with a mouse. If I am doing the latter, I always make sure I am tweaking the velocities so there is variation. Hope that helps!

[@suga4all]

Nice! Didn't know that. What is the difference between an ostinato and an arpeggio?

[@composingacademy8270]

Where an arpeggio sticks to notes of a chord, an ostinato is a repeating sequence of notes, which could use additional notes not found in any particular chord.

[@suga4all]

@@composingacademy8270 I see, very interesting. Thank you!

[@simplyfootball7]

Please make a video on Music Theory

[@composingacademy8270]

Great suggestion - thank you, I will make sure to to make a video on theory!

[@vivekjadhav2210]

What is your Mac studio ram storage and number of cpu and GPU cores please reply me

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, the Mac Studio is 24core CPU, 64GB of RAM and 1TB internal storage. Hope that helps!

[@FelixHoutman]

What libraries are used for the string sections?

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, it is Pacific Strings by Performance Samples with a little bit of Cinematic Studio Strings. Hope that helps!

[@FelixHoutman]

@@composingacademy8270 Thanks! That really helps ;)

[@xisotopex]

whats the difference between an ostinato and an arpeggio? they seem like the same thing, same purpose...

[@composingacademy8270]

Where an arpeggio sticks to notes of a chord, an ostinato is a repeating sequence of notes, which could use additional notes not found in any particular chord. Hope that helps!

[@michaelturnerrr]

Interesting video, I always thought the repeated notes in the ostinato was arpeggiation.

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, they are slightly different, where an arpeggio sticks to notes of a chord, an ostinato is a repeating sequence of notes, which could use additional notes not found in any particular chord. Hope that makes sense!

[@michaelturnerrr]

@@composingacademy8270 Makes perfect sense. Thank you very much.

[@bigfefu]

thank you so much for this video, i really love ostinatos!!

[@composingacademy8270]

You're welcome! Thank you for watching!

[@MrMikomi]

Hi, where did you get that desk?

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, it was actually custom made by a local carpenter out of scaffold boards to my requirements. I love it, one of my favourite pieces of furniture!

[@boarofwar84]

Great content, Cowboy. I love this shit.

[@composingacademy8270]

Ha, thank you so much!

[@eli-shulga]

Very helpful thank you!

[@composingacademy8270]

You are welcome, thank you for watching!

[@FreakieFan]

Writing the Da Vinci Code ostinato as a sextuplet is very confusing. The piece is written in 6/8.

[@PabloSaavedra84]

And the only difference is it’s that little 6 at the top of every figure…

[@jackdennis9286]

@@PabloSaavedra84no, 6/8 is 6x 8th notes per measure the sextuplet notation has 12. It would make more sense if written as 16th notes with no need for any tuplets. Writing it as sextuplets would imply there’s a need for them, such as the piece being in common or cut time. If written in 6/8 there’s no need for any tuplet

[@PabloSaavedra84]

@@jackdennis9286 but in the video there is no time signature

[@sousaphone1968]

​@jackdennis9286 yes 2 sextuplets is the same thing as 1 measure of all 8th notes in 6/8 and another measure of all 8th notes in 6/8

[@sousaphone1968]

@FreakieFan - After listening to the soundtrack I respectfully disagree about the piece being in 6/8. I believe it is in a slow 2/4. The way the slow melody moves does not make sense if counted out and conducted to show in 6/8. The stronger felt pulse really feels like 123456 123456 (2 sextuplets in 2/4) as opposed to 123 456 123 456 (2 measures of 6/8 with the strong pulse on 1 and 4)

[@PedraamJam]

Whats the difference with arpeggios?

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, an arpeggio sticks to notes of a chord. An ostinato is a repeating sequence of notes, which could use additional notes not found in any particular chord. Hope that makes sense!

[@markpeam8549]

Is there a reason why we don't simply call these an arpeggio? Especially when they hit every quarter note.

[@zaqareemalcolm]

an ostinato can be thought of/made with an arpeggiated chord, but a piece of music can have a sequence of arpeggios that aren't one pattern repeated over and over another thing that can happen is that someone can write an ostinato to remain on the same set of notes even when the underlying harmony changes

[@jayantjrathod]

Very Informative Thank You 😊

[@composingacademy8270]

You are very welcome, thank you for watching!

[@jerronimo13]

You make something very basic seem like a brilliant idea from a brilliant mind, this basic arrangement was made centuries ago.

[@ikaray1775]

Can you do a video about howard shore please?❤

[@composingacademy8270]

You are not the first person to ask me this so it has definitely been added to the list of future videos!

[@ikaray1775]

@@composingacademy8270 splendid

[@saxtra97]

How much do i need to pay you to get private classes?

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, send me an email (email is in info) & I will come back to you on availability and prices.

[@alleyway3215]

Hans Zimmer proves you do not need raw skill to be a successful film composer today.

[@FreakieFan]

Because Zimmer has neither skill nor talent.

[@allwaizeright9705]

Let's hope that FLAME doesn't think they are stealing his Joyful Noise Ostinato..

[@debarjo]

Very nice tutorial and topic, but I felt showing or playing the sound from time to time as opposed to describing them would have been a little better experience, as it's difficult to see the point if someone merely describes a musical piece.

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, thank you for the feedback. I really appreciate it and one to think about for future videos.

[@N-JKoordt]

Ostinati

[@raffa9783]

Why are these not called arpeggios?

[@xuxuang8574]

Ostinatos pretty much define the superhero sound...

[@composingacademy8270]

Absolutely! Thank you for watching!

[@pennywise5095]

And great white sharks

[@tonycowin]

It's been a stole motif for action and thrillers since the 30s. You're correct in saying it's now almost a cliche of superhero flicks.

[@xuxuang8574]

@@tonycowin I think they are all copying the Elfman score on the Burton batman...

[@tonycowin]

@@xuxuang8574 Yeah good shout. That seems to have set a trend.

[@blasterxt9]

Sir how to make chines music

[@BoxerEngineSounds]

so all movie music is one big ostinato, quite obstinate indeed

[@akshayg3363]

Fun fact: James Newton Howard composed The Dark Knight and Defiance in the same year

[@composingacademy8270]

Yes, a very talented composer who can effortlessly switch styles. I have known him to write 4 contrasting scores simultaneously! :-)

[@commodoor6549]

Don't over think it.

[@mass-1128]

Sounds like an arpeggio.

[@composingacademy8270]

Hi, they are very similar. Where an arpeggio sticks to notes of a chord, an ostinato is a repeating sequence of notes, which could use additional notes not found in any particular chord. Hope that helps clarify?

[@mass-1128]

@@composingacademy8270 Almost like wave sequencing in synthesis.

[@johngeorgio5908]

Dear Sir , Those are just solutions , in order to get nearer to a pop-sense of music , which is not what and how a true musician should impair his or her own sense to the Great Composers sense of music B R

[@jerronimo13]

Another word for arpeggio Nothing new to see here.

[@tonycowin]

Technically not the same.

[@twilightfilms9436]

Sorry, but I need to say something else. The only reason why Mr Zimmer can get away with this is only be here in the US, specially in our industry, there’s a working figure called “work for hire”. This doesn’t exists in Europe. This means that if you work for me, all the intellectual property belongs to me. Another thing. Have you notice why all the recordings are done in Europe and not here in LA? Because the unions require that you have to pay for life here, while in the UK you just pay per session and that’s it. The same happens with dubbing voices. We do everything in Barcelona, where you pay only once, versus doing it in Paris, where the unions force you to pay royalties for life……this industry has a lot of shady stuff man……I love it though, but some things have to change for the sake of the unknown artists……

[@twilightfilms9436]

What else can you expect from a man who never study music and plays the piano within fingers?? I remember that my first piano lesson was a pretty basic Mozart sonata with the ostinato base…..you can ask magic from uneducated musicians. However, the lack of education doesn’t stop him from being a genius. He’s truly a genius, not because of his virtuosism as a composer but to use gosht writers and convince them to give up their rights, contributing to bulge the legend of a mediocre musician. But not all ostinatos have to be so based. If you look at Chopin Ballads or even his etudes, you have very complex and beautiful ostinatos, not to mention Liszt or in a small level Mozart and Beethoven…..in fact, Hans stole from Mozart the ostinato used in Crimson Ride main theme, which I have to say is a great composition, but again, Zimmer is listed as the composer, but the real one is Nick Glennie-Smith. He was soaring as the new genius until Jerry Bruckheimer heard the score of the movie The Rock and fired him, and asked Hans Zimmer to step in and write the opening credits piece. Them he became the composer of the soundtrack of the film, even though he wrote only one piece…….I can go on forever about this shady man……oh, and when he was invited to conduct the Oscars, he couldn’t direct the orchestra and stayed seated in a chair playing guitar…..that was a disgrace for a top Hollywood composer and I know pretty well how all his peers were very upset about this…….anyways, great video man!