Some say that James Horner’s score for Avatar does not stand well on it’s own apart from the film. I felt the same way about the music while listening to the soundtrack before going to see the movie. After watching Avatar however, I had an entirely different opinion. It is not that the music does not stand well on it’s own, it is simply that it is PERFECT for the Avatar experience. Once you see this film the music really starts to make sense.

Now even when listening to the soundtrack apart from the film, I thoroughly enjoy the experience. As a matter of fact that is the perfect word to describe the soundtrack; “an experience”. That is exactly what Avatar is. It is not merely a film, but an in-depth almost interactive experience and the music is inexplicably tied to it, a lot like the alien world in the movie is connected to it’s inhabitants.

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I am not sure how many musicians know about Google books, but it is a very useful tool for musicians and composers alike. I started using it almost two years ago to aid in my musical studies. To put it simply you can search through countless books on composition technique and music theory just like you would a typical Google search. However the results are not always accessible for free. Most books that are still in print have a link that takes you to a purchase page. But here is the secret sauce, part of the Google Books project’s initiative was to scan older books from University libraries in an effort to preserve them and make them digitally available via online search.  Books that are outside the copyright window are available for full download in .pdf format. Read more