Production Glossary
Soundtrack
A soundtrack is a record containing music used by or composed for video games, television, or film. Originally the term was a technical reference in the film industry to any sound recording made during filming or in post-production. The advent of ‘soundtrack albums’ in the 1950s transitioned the term into its common use today, separating it from the industry term by only referring to the music track, not all of the sounds in a production (i.e. sound effects and dialogue).There are three different kinds of recordings within the genre of soundtracks. Some soundtracks are comprised of the film score only. These albums are meant to highlight the music heard in the background of the production and do not include musicals. Another type of soundtrack is one that compiles any songs written by other artists that are played in the film. A good example of this type of album is the soundtrack for When Harry Met Sally... This film contained songs from a variety of artist, including Harry Connick, Jr. The third type of soundtrack is one that records the songs from movie or stage musicals. These songs are original in content and sometimes contain transition dialogue that serve as key elements in the show.
Important Events and People
- The first composers of music for video games were Martin Galway and Rob Hubbard. These two composers wrote music specifically for the Commodore 64 computer in the 1980s. As new innovations in video game sound were made, soundtracks of video games were able to be sold separately from the game for the true enthusiast.
- Till the Clouds Roll By was the first musical film soundtrack to be released. The album was a biography of Jerome Kern, composer of Show Boat, and featured the soundtrack of the popular musical.
- In a rare instance, an original score inspired by The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was composed by Craig Russell and recorded in 2000.
- The soundtracks from A Streetcar Named Desire (Alex North) and Gone With the Wind (Max Steiner) were very popular at the time of their release (1940s and 1967, respectively). The best-selling film score in soundtrack history belongs to the movie Star Wars, composed by John Williams.
