UtahRails.net Blog

Technology rules our lives, and UtahRails is no different. In mid-August, new computer hardware came into our world, including Windows 7, and time has been needed to embrace the improvements and develop alternate work flows.

It is gratifying to see the phenomenal response to the newly released Bingham Canyon Railroads book. Sales at Amazon are apparently quite brisk, at least for a railroad history book. There are a couple local book-signing events scheduled. One is on October 1st at 2 pm at the Barnes & Noble in Bountiful, and a second is at 6 pm on October 8th at the Barnes & Noble in Layton.

As for the web site, there have been numerous, but small updates and error-corrections, on several different subjects. Interested persons continue to share new information, and this has also been incorporated.

In addition to adding literally hundreds of newspaper items to the Bingham Canyon information, there has been progress in the realm of Union Pacific steam locomotives and passenger cars. Small tweaks and tidbits, to be sure, but each one adds to the overall history.

Under the heading of “Coming Soon,” is a whole new world of video. I now have the capability to add video to the web site, so work is needed to develop the best method to do so. There is a lot to learn, but learning is always fun.

So, stay tuned. Check back often (or subscribe) to keep up-to-date.

Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve liked soundtrack music. One of my first albums was the soundtrack for television’s Rawhide, a birthday present upon turning 13. When I got a job and an apartment, one of the first purchases was the soundtrack for The Hawaiians, by Mancini. Record stores were in every mall, but unlike most people who went for the hits, I always headed for the soundtracks. That lasted for over 20 years. Then about ten years ago, I’ve discovered a whole new type of music, known as “production music,” made up of short bits of orchestra music, meant to serve as background music in television programs and commercials.

It’s hard to describe how much I like production music. The most recognizable subset is separate and distinctive and has become known as “trailer music,” because of its major use during movie trailers. Trailer music usually includes choirs that climax at the end, as does the music itself. Like its bigger brother, production music, the original orchestrations can be absolutely stunning. The music is written for a purpose, to serve as background for other media, including movies, movie trailers, television shows (National Geographic, Discovery, and History channels), television commercials, and now, computer games (the Halo series has some of the best gaming music).

The composers write what sells, and right now, trailer music sells. But occasionally, the composers break the trailer music mold, and simply make good music; music that easily stands alone, simply as music that makes you close your eyes and let your imagination fly away. I have noticed that each song is usually offered full length, 1-minute length, and 30-second length, and with and without choir. I prefer full length, without choir. A current favorite is the recent Defining Moments from APM, with Brian Brasher and Veigar Margeirsson as composers.

The whole production music industry is apparently based on licensing fees, because the music is used in commercials and in television shows, and in movie trailers. But when the music is used, these original compositions are likely never seen or heard again, which makes it all the more frustrating. Way back in 2001 (or thereabout), Mitch Lijewski of X-Ray Dog wrote a little ditty called “A&E Theme,” which was likely used for a few promotions for the A&E Channel, and was promptly forgotten. It is two minutes of goodness that combines piano, percussion, and strings. I came across it in when I discovered XRD’s Gothic Power, used in the Lord of the Rings trailers. At the time, the A&E Theme and several others were offered as sample cues on XRD’s web site. I soon figured out a process to capture the music as it played, and those are some of my most prized WAV files. Over the years, I have gathered together several of XRD’s collections, and eight of those originals are not on any collection. I have them in an album called X-Ray Dog, Scraps. (Because of copyright issues, I can’t share. Don’t ask.)

This is music meant to be licensed by the performance, or to use a term from the pre-digital days, paid for by the needle drop. That’s the business plan, and that’s the way the music is marketed. The variety is truly amazing, and covers every type of music imaginable. I prefer the drama and epic style, but like I said, the variety is amazing.

Without actually knowing someone in the industry, I can only guess that once a piece is used, the license likely includes a limitation by both parties that it not be used again. If I were to produce a commercial for Ford, I suspect that they (Ford) would be a little upset if the same music were to crop up in a Chevy commercial six months later. But there really needs to be some way to preserve these pieces for people who appreciate good music; admittedly, generic music, but good original music none the less. Maybe someday someone will figure out a way to sell these pieces by the CD and song; there is some truly great music being set aside after a single performance. These pieces are usually 1-1/2 to 3 minutes in length, a possible limitation, but not for me. Music is music.

Some of the production houses are starting to make their albums available on sites such as Amazon (search on “trailer music”). There are a few on the Epic Score label, and some from APM. All are well worth the money. Sadly, companies like Immediate offer different pieces from what they offer as production music. Other names include AudioGrave, Sound Adventures, Machine Vandals, Two Steps From Hell, Position Music, and Audio Network. Most, if not all of it good stuff, except the works where the artist’s finger seems to become glued to a single key on the keyboard. Those get deleted right away. I like the full orchestra pieces, with maybe a subdued choir in the background, which are becoming more common, versus the all-keyboard pieces from 5-10 years ago.

As for my own private use, I capture what plays from the web sites, and save what plays as a WAV file. The challenge is what to do for the album art, which gets cobbled together from the company logo and some sort of album name. Then I build a separate folder with WAVs and MP3s, and album art.

I still use iTunes because it continues to help me manage my collection. The interface is the best available, and the easiest to use. The other media players seem to want to be everything to everybody. I use Windows Media Player for when I double-click a file name. It loads very quickly, and plays easily. In the Options settings, I have it set to ignore all the folders except the one I added manually where I keep all my music files, which is in /Music/Library with a separate folder for each album. All the WAV files, and purchased music is in /Music/Source Files, which neither iTunes or Media Player are allowed to monitor. Purchased MP3 files are simply copied over to the Library. WAV files are saved as MP3s, which are then loaded with applicable tags and album art, then also copied over to the Library. And everything gets backed up daily, on two separate hard drives.