Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Soundtrack by Klaus Badelt
Released	July 22, 2003
Recorded	2003
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	43:50
Label	Walt Disney Records
Professional reviews
SoundtrackNet Movie Music UK
Pirates of the Caribbean chronology
– Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Pirates Remixed (2006)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl soundtrack is the official soundtrack album from the film of the same name. The album was released on July 22, 2003, by Walt Disney Records and contains selections of music from the movie's score. The music of the film and this album are both credited to composer Klaus Badelt.^[1] The score is mostly famous for its quick and mysterious production, as well as its considerable departure from the genre's traditional musical style.

Track listing

1. "Fog Bound" (2:17)
2. "The Medallion Calls" (1:53)
3. "The Black Pearl "(2:17)
4. "Will and Elizabeth" (2:08)
5. "Swords Crossed" (3:16)
6. "Walk the Plank" (1:59)
7. "Barbossa is Hungry" (4:06)
8. "Blood Ritual" (3:33)
9. "Moonlight Serenade" (2:09)
10. "To the Pirates' Cave!" (3:31)
11. "Skull and Crossbones" (3:24)
12. "Bootstrap's Bootstraps" (2:39)
13. "Underwater March" (4:13)
14. "One Last Shot" (4:46)
15. "He's a Pirate" (1:31)

Production

Composer Alan Silvestri was originally hired to write the score for The Curse of the Black Pearl. However due to creative differences between him and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Silvestri left the project and Gore Verbinski asked Hans Zimmer whom he had worked with on The Ring to step in. Zimmer declined to do the bulk of the composing as he was busy scoring The Last Samurai, a project during which he claimed he had promised not to take any other assignments. As a result he referred Verbinski to Klaus Badelt^[2], a relatively new composer who'd been a part of Remote Control Productions (known as Media Ventures at the time) for three years.

Zimmer however ended up collaborating with Badelt to write most of the score's primary themes, many of which are featured in an all-synthesized demo credited to him (available to listen to from a link about halfway down[1] this page. A slightly shorter version of this cue is also included in Pirates of the Caribbean: Soundtrack Treasures Collection.) This demo presents three of the score's themes and motifs, concluding with an early version of "He's A Pirate" which contains departures from the final cue, including development of a melody Zimmer wrote for the score to Drop Zone.) Since the schedule was very tight and the music was needed for the film in three weeks time, seven other composers — Ramin Djawadi, James Dooley, Nick Glennie-Smith, Steve Jablonsky, Blake Neely, James McKee Smith, and Geoff Zanelli — were also called upon to help orchestrate the music and write additional cues. The resulting score was recorded with a group of musicians, credited as the Hollywood Studio Symphony, over the course of four days. The short time frame demanded the use of a different recording studio for each session. A male choir, the Metro Voices, was recorded in London and added to the finished recordings.

For the soundtrack album 43 minutes of the music was released with Klaus Badelt credited as the composer (and conductor on the early batches of the CD. The correct credit for conducting was given to Blake Neely inside the booklet of all batches however). The cues were edited for length, and minor changes to the mix were also made. For unknown reasons the mixing of several cues are executed with gain levels so high that it causes distortion. This is noticeable particularly during the action cues and the reprise of the love theme in track 14, "One Last Shot". It is also noted that besides the first two cues, the tracks' generic names were unrelated to their contents. This, according to composer Geoff Zanelli official website, was because the production "schedule was so short that [they] had to decide on the track names for the album packaging before the score was even written!"^[3].

Themes and Motifs

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Badelt and Zimmer wrote a number of themes and motifs for the score. These are almost always played in the key signature of D minor. Most of these can be heard in the score to the film's sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which was credited solely to Hans Zimmer. While some of these are loosely associated with specific characters, most are not leitmotivic. These include:

• A melody that often acts as a love theme for Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. This is the first theme heard in "He's a Pirate," the short suite written for the end credits. It is also used as generic action music.
• A theme that accompanies Jack Sparrow's humorous entrance and seems to act as a leitmotif for his character. It is also heard when he makes his similarly unconventional appearance in Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, which adds weight to that theory. This theme has a B section which is used to score several mournful scenes in the films.
• A playful jig, typically doubled on electric cello and acoustic cello, viola, or violin. This melody is not played in D minor as much of the score is, but in D Dorian.
• A synthesizer-heavy theme that represents the cursed pirates of the Black Pearl. This makes use of parallel tritones and can be heard in "To the Pirates' Cave!" and "Swords Crossed."
• A short descending motif, typically played either by a high synthesizer or by the trombones. Sometimes seems to represent Captain Barbossa.
• A generic action melody that is strikingly similar to one presented in Zimmer's score to Drop Zone, in the track "Too Many Notes — Not Enough Rests." (Incidentally, this track was used in one of the trailers for The Curse of the Black Pearl.) Several permutations are heard in the soundtrack and film, including a statement in "He's a Pirate."
• Another generic action theme which constitutes the last section of "He's a Pirate."
• A plodding, suspenseful theme that is heard in "Fog Bound" and other tracks.
• A somber theme that can be heard in the quieter sections of "Swords Crossed." This melody, one of those that can be heard in the original demo, is given a more complete treatment in the cue heard during the first shot of Isla de Muerta. (This cue wasn't included on the soundtrack.) A similar motif to this theme was also used for the opening of Dead Man's Chest.

Several other melodies make repeated appearances as well, though not frequently enough to be considered motifs in their own right.

Orchestration

For the most part, The Curse of the Black Pearl features simple orchestration. Counterpoint is rare; most of the louder music consists of melody, simple harmony, and rhythmic figures in the low brass and low strings. Sampled drum beats including tom-toms and various cymbals are used ubiquitously in such sections. A very low, rumbling bass line was also introduced into the mix to reinforce the cello and double basses. Quieter sections tend to rely either on the string section or on sound effects. Pan flute, possibly synthesized or sampled, and claves can be heard repeatedly in the eerier cues.

One of the defining characteristics of this score's sound is the use of horn for melody. Nearly all of the score's louder sections feature the horns on the melody, frequently doubled by various string instruments.

Kingdom Hearts II

For the video game Kingdom Hearts II, which features a number of scenes based on the movie, composer Yōko Shimomura arranged a synthesized "He's a Pirate" to serve as the musical theme for all combat in the Port Royal world. This arrangement is identical in structure to the original cue, though a number of changes were made to the melody and chords.

References