Hans Zimmer shares in his interviews the role of music and how to achieve it
Film composer Hans Zimmer shared in his interview with Juan Enriquez on TEDxBoston the responsibility of a composer is to create an opportunity for an audience to have a deeper experience through music—one that does not manipulate or force its listeners to feel a specific emotion. Zimmer continued when words aren’t enough to communicate, music becomes the only power left. In his interviews with Vanity Fair and TED, Zimmer shared his creative process and philosophy in creating award-winning movie soundtracks are rooted in innovation and collaboration.
The great tune
“I’m still hunting down the great tune. It’s somewhere out there, and that’s what makes me get up in the morning,” said Zimmer in a Vanity Fair interview on his career after composing music for more than 100 films. Zimmer’s challenge-driven motto, which he passes on to his musicians, is to “go crazy” and do something they have never done before in the industry, according to another interview with Vanity Fair on how he wrote the soundtrack for Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning movie “Dune: Part Two.”
Zimmer said in the interview as they composed the music they also invented new instruments to achieve the sound and vibe they were going for, calling Home Depot as their “secret instrument building site” because of the pipes they would often buy from the store to modify instruments like the flute.
In the same interview with Juan Enriquez, Zimmer said innovation can be found in what was then-called the “stupidest” idea. “But as we sort of kick it around, it forms into something and becomes the answer to a question that we didn’t even know we needed to ask,” he shared.
The art of listening
What defines a great musician is not how well they play but how well they listen, Zimmer said in his interview with Vanity Fair on the soundtrack of “Dune: Part Two.” He said when he composes music, he does not write immediately but instead tries to learn what the filmmakers think and feel about the movie they are making.
Zimmer said he would watch the film while it was being color-graded, look at the costumes on the set and talk to the writers and directors about the story. “We have this process whereby I don’t really read the script. I ask them to tell me the story because then I know what’s in their head,” he shared.
The community of music
In the interview with Juan Enriquez, Zimmer said beautiful music can only be created when musicians learn how to work as a team. He said in a musical performance, unity starts when the conductor breathes and all the musicians breathe with them. “Now you’re united in this endeavor of creating something [...] and you’re hoping that this will go across into the audience,” Zimmer shared. He said when this is achieved, musicians create a community that succeeds in using music to get messages across.
In an interview with Vanity Fair on Zimmer’s Oscar-winning soundtrack for “Dune,” he said, “You asked me how the score was made and I said we were all colleagues and we did it all together.” He said the music he composes would not be what it is if he did not consider the musicians as his teammates.
Zimmer said in the interview for the soundtrack for “Dune: Part Two” that because he knows the musicians he is working with, he writes his music with them specifically in mind.