Nu Epiq: Interview with Immediate Music’s President Yoav Goren

Author: Clothilde Lebrun

Nu Epiq 是著名的Trailerhead 系列的第四部作品，于 2008 年成功推出，致力于史诗管弦乐的力量和情感。由 Immediate Music 的联合创始人兼总裁 Yoav Goren 制作的 Nu Epiq 是一张重新定义史诗音乐流派并将其带向新的音乐方向的专辑，带来令人惊叹的音乐之旅。

预告片音乐新闻：Nu Epiq将史诗音乐类型带向了新的方向。您如何定义当今的史诗音乐？

约夫戈伦：我认为这一流派虽然相对年轻，但正在迅速发展和扩张。几十年前，几位伟大的古典作曲家奠定了基础，他们为该流派确立了管弦乐/合唱色彩。虽然 Immediate 在我们制作用于预告片的史诗音乐的早期采用了这种风格，但我们也冒险将管弦乐队与重摇滚和合成元素混合。我认为我们今天正处于能够忽略实际乐器阵容而专注于作品及其伴随录音的强烈情感内容的地步。对我来说，新的史诗音乐必须描绘出深刻的、情感丰富的电影画面，并具有构建和绽放出包罗万象的、比生活更伟大的体验的内在能力。一切都在三四分钟内……

TMN：Nu Epiq基于最初属于 Immediate Music 目录的曲目。你是如何选择这些曲目的？这张定义流派的专辑背后的创作过程是什么？

YG：实际上，Nu Epiq包含几首不属于 Immediate Music 目录的曲目——因此在某种意义上与之前的Trailerhead有所不同专辑。选择过程的一部分确实是创作尚未被听到的新曲目。对我来说，选择过程的另一部分是确定现有曲目，我可以通过新的写作和制作创造性地修改和增强这些曲目。除了专辑中的一首曲目外，所有歌曲都经过了对原创作品的有趣“重新想象”。我剖析了曲目，进行了一些创造性的编辑，添加了新的和声和节奏部分、人声和其他颜色。我挑战自己以一种新的方式聆听我非常熟悉的曲目，并根据我的创作直觉采取不同的方式为那些已经熟悉其中一些曲目的人提供它们。

我还特意想混合各种史诗音乐“子流派”，以定义我对Nu Epiq的看法。因此，选择过程是在知道这将是一张需要将激进的动作、史诗般的情感、强烈的美感和其他风味混合搭配成完整的专辑聆听体验的专辑的情况下启动的。

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3531777130/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=de270f/tracklist=false/transparent=true/

TMN： Trailerhead：Nu Epiq和之前版本之间的显着区别是什么？

YG：我认为Trailerhead：Nu Epiq超越了前三张Trailerhead 专辑中“预告片音乐”的更安全定义。虽然前几张专辑的方法更像是预告片音乐的汇编，但Nu Epiq试图超越这一限制的界限，真正尝试将其呈现为一种真正的音乐类型，不需要被其与运动的联系所束缚图片广告。我想通过此版本从狭义的预告片音乐定义转变为更广泛的史诗音乐声明。

TMN：这种专辑的制作过程是怎样的？

YG：为了实现录音和专辑的最终结果，许多有才华的人进行了大量的工作。显然，我们从一些伟大的知名作曲家和新兴作曲家的作品开始。除了我自己的作品之外，我确实与作曲家密切合作，共同塑造、指导和提供作曲建议——以弥合我们对最终作品的共同愿景。然后，当我们对材料进行管弦乐和合唱录音时，乐曲就会经过管弦乐的过程。我做了一些这样的工作，但主要是与非常了解自己手艺的才华横溢的好莱坞管弦乐队合作。将样本和合成器部分与管弦乐声音结合时，也必须注意细节。

现场录音必须由伟大的管弦乐队在伟大的录音厅中进行。该组件有几个移动部分——管弦乐队承包商、工程师、音乐准备和复制、在正确的时间喝上一杯咖啡……这确实需要一个团队才能取得成功。然后，当然是混合过程，在这个过程中，所有东西要么聚集在一起，要么分崩离析。我的意思是，有时候当您坐在混音室里聆听录制的内容（以及之前所有流程所经历的内容）时，您会意识到您没有得到预期的结果。如果是这种情况，则需要对新录音的组成、安排、安排等进行更改。但大多数时候，最初的创意愿景与原始录音所代表的内容非常吻合。由于创意选择的广度，混音过程非常令人满意。很多时候，尤其是在Nu Epiq，我会做一个完成的混音，分解主干，切碎它们，反转它们，处理它们，将它们与来自不同位置的轨道的其他部分混合，等等。对我来说这几乎是另一种形式的组合，增加了实现在专辑中呈现最终录音的目标的创造力的另一个维度。史诗音乐的 DJ！

最后，母带制作过程采用所有最终混音，并使它们听起来或多或少彼此一致，就像在一个有凝聚力的集合上剪辑的个人专辑一样。这也是这个过程中一个有趣的部分，因为在专辑制作的最后一章中，混音通常会大大提高音质。

此外，还有与艺术家合作制作专辑封面和包装，以及为封面注释设计主题和 CD 布局的总体氛围（是的，仍然有很多人希望购买这些）。然后，重要的是确定专辑发行日期，以便制定和实施营销计划。

TMN：Triumph应该是最后一张Trailerhead专辑，也是最近随着Nu Epiq的发行变成四部曲的三部曲的第三部。是什么让你改变了主意？我们可以期待未来的第五张专辑吗？

YG：哇，我今天学到了一个新词……四联症。谢谢！

我开始意识到，这些专辑在很大程度上被称为Trailerhead，甚至比艺人名称 Immediate 更广为人知，而且系列名称在我们的粉丝群中享有强大的品牌效应。我还认为Nu Epiq需要一个锚来建立它的基础，并且将Trailerhead的火炬分享到该类型的新方法上，同时仍然将它与艺术家联系起来（通过系列标题），这是有道理的。Imperativa Records 的新经销商 eOne 也希望一起推出整个 Immediate-the-artist 系列，并认为将新专辑命名为Trailerhead也有助于推广Trailerhead后备目录。

归根结底，我有点喜欢Trailerhead这个绰号，还没有准备好放弃它 J。这个名字很可能会在未来的版本中继续使用。

TMN：有没有关于欧洲音乐会的最新消息？

YG：目前没有关于欧洲演出的最新消息。各种发起人和制作人的作品似乎总是有一些东西，但我们一直无法按照自己的喜好制定演出时间表。敬请关注。

TMN：最近还宣布了一张新的 Globus 专辑。你能告诉我们更多吗？

YG：新的Globus录音室专辑目前正在制作中。我花更多时间在 Globus 上，因为它对我来说是一个非常个人化的项目。它还有额外的歌词层，我非常努力地工作，为了让它恰到好处——对我来说。因此，这不仅与音乐创作有关，还与正在投射的故事和信息有关。目前所写的歌曲比专辑中的歌曲还要多。与之前的专辑一样，大部分歌曲都是从现有的 Immediate 录音中跳出来的，但是当乐队开始使用这些材料时，它们就会焕然一新。关于下一张专辑，我要说的一件事是我通常不喜欢重复自己——所以期待 Globus 的作曲和声音方法，但也期待一些惊喜。

TMN：你还有什么想和我们分享的吗？

YG：我刚刚为Immediate录制了一个新的商业发行项目，与Immediate Music目录无关。您很快就会开始通过社交媒体获得有关此项目的提示。它会让你大吃一惊。预计发布时间为 2014 年第 4^季度。这将是史诗般的……

Nu Epiq 可供公众通过iTunes、亚马逊和Bandcamp以数字格式购买，并通过亚马逊和Imperativa Records 网站购买实体 CD 。如需更多信息，请访问 immediatemusic.com。

Nu Epiq is the fourth opus from the famous Trailerhead series, successfully launched in 2008 and devoted to the power and emotion of epic orchestral music. Produced by Yoav Goren, co-founder and President of Immediate Music, Nu Epiq is an album that redefines the epic music genre and takes it in new musical directions, resulting in a breathtaking musical journey.

Trailer Music News: Nu Epiq takes the epic music genre in new directions. How would you define epic music nowadays?

Yoav Goren: I think the genre, while being relatively young, is evolving – and expanding – rapidly. The foundation was laid decades ago by several great classical composers who established the orchestral/choral color for the genre. While Immediate embraced this style in our early days of producing epic music for use in trailers, we’ve also ventured into the hybridization of the orchestra with elements of heavy rock and synthesis. I think we’re at a point today of being able to disregard the actual instrument lineup and focus instead on the strong emotional content of a composition and its accompanying sound recording. New Epic music for me must paint a profound, emotional and cinematic picture with an inherent ability to build and blossom into an all-encompassing, bigger-than-life experience. All in a matter of three or four minutes…

TMN: Nu Epiq is based on tracks that were originally part of the Immediate Music catalog. How did you select these tracks? What was the creative process behind this genre defining album?

YG: Actually, Nu Epiq contains several tracks that are not part of the Immediate Music catalog – so there is a departure there in a sense from previous Trailerhead albums. Part of the selection process was indeed to compose new tracks that have not yet been heard. The other part of the selection process for me was to identify existing tracks which I could creatively amend and enhance with new writing and production. Except for one track on the album, all the songs went through a fun “re-imagining” of the original compositions. I dissected the tracks, did some creative editing, added new harmonic and rhythmic parts, vocals and other colors. I challenged myself to hear tracks I was very familiar with in a new way, and act upon my creative instincts to offer them up differently for those already familiar with some of these tracks.

I also purposefully wanted to blend a wide variety of epic music “subgenres”, in order to define my vision of Nu Epiq. So the selection process was initiated with the knowledge that this will be an album with a need to mix and match aggressive action, epic emotional, intense beauty and other flavors into a complete album listening experience.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3531777130/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=de270f/tracklist=false/transparent=true/

TMN: What is the significant difference between Trailerhead: Nu Epiq and previous releases?

YG: I think that Trailerhead: Nu Epiq takes the genre beyond the safer definitions of how “trailer music” was presented in the previous three Trailerhead albums. While the approach on the previous albums was more of a compilation of trailer music hits, Nu Epiq seeks to go past the borders of that limitation and really try to present this as a bona fide music genre that need not be shackled to its association with motion picture advertising. I wanted to go from a narrow Trailer Music definition to a broader Epic Music statement with this release.

TMN: What goes into the production of this kind of album?

YG: There is a massive amount of work that is performed by many talented people in order to realize the final results of the recordings and the album. Obviously we start with the compositions by some great established and also up and coming composers. Besides my own works, I do work very closely with the composers in shaping, guiding, offering compositional suggestions – in order to bridge our collective visions for what we wish the final piece to be. The composition then goes through the process of orchestration for when we do our orchestral and choral recordings of the material. I do some of that work, but mostly collaborate with talented Hollywood orchestrators who know their craft so well. Attention to detail must also be paid when combining samples and synths parts with the orchestral sounds. There is a lot of experimentation happening during this phase of the production in order to find the most cohesive marriage of live and electronic instrumentation.

The live recording must be performed by a great orchestra in a great recording hall. That component has several moving parts – orchestra contractors, engineer, music prep and copying, good coffee at the right time… It really does take a team to effect success. Then, of course, comes the mixing process, which is where everything either comes together or falls apart. What I mean is, sometimes you realize you did not get the intended results when you sit in the mix room and listen to what’s been recorded (and what went through all the previous processes). If such is the case, changes to the composition, arrangements, scheduling of new recordings, etc. need to happen. But most times, the original creative vision closely matches what is represented by the raw recordings. The mixing process is extremely gratifying because of the breadth of creative options. Oftentimes, especially on Nu Epiq, I will take a finished mix, break out the stems, chop them up, reverse them, process them, mix them with other parts of the track from different locations, etc. This to me is almost another form of composition that adds another dimension of creativity in realizing the goal of presenting a final recording on an album. The DJ’ing of epic music!

Finally, the mastering process takes all the final mixes and makes them sound more or less consistent with each other as individual album cuts on a cohesive collection. This is also a fun part of the process, as the mixes often greatly improve sonically in this final chapter of the album production.

Additionally, there is working with the artist on the album cover and packaging, as well as devising a theme for the liner notes and general vibe of the CD layout (yes, there are still plenty of folks who wish to buy these). Then, importantly, comes the establishment of the album release date in order for a marketing plan to be devised and implemented.

TMN: Triumph was supposed to be the last Trailerhead album, and the third opus of a trilogy that recently turned into a tetralogy with the release of Nu Epiq. What made you change your mind? Can we expect a fifth album in the future?

YG: Wow, I learned a new word today… tetralogy. Thanks!

I came to realize that these albums were largely known as Trailerhead even more than the artist name Immediate, and that the series title enjoyed a strong branding with our fan base. I also thought that Nu Epiq needed an anchor to base its foundation upon, and sharing the torch from Trailerhead onto a new approach for the genre, while still connecting it to the artist (via the series title), made sense. Imperativa Records’ new distributor eOne also wished to roll out the entire Immediate-the-artist collection together, and thought that titling the new album with Trailerhead also made sense in being able to promote the Trailerhead back catalog.

At the end of the day, I kinda like the Trailerhead moniker and wasn’t ready to abandon it just yet J. And it is likely that the name will carry on for future releases.

TMN: Are there any updates regarding concerts in Europe?

YG: No updates at this time about performances in Europe. There always seems to be something in the works from various promoters and producers, but we have not been able to put together a show schedule to our liking. Stay tuned.

TMN: A new Globus album was also recently announced. Can you tell us more about it?

YG: The new Globus studio album is currently in the process of production. I take more time with Globus because it is a deeply personal project for me. It also has the additional layer of lyrics, and I work very hard and long to get it just right – for me. So it’s not just about the music composition, but also about the stories and messages that are being projected. There are currently more songs written than what will be on the album. As with previous albums, most of the songs springboard from existing Immediate recordings, but take on a whole new life when the band starts working with the material. One thing I will say about the next album is that I usually don’t like to repeat myself – so expect the Globus approach to composition and sound, but also expect a few surprises.

TMN: Anything else you would like to share with us?

YG: I just finished recording a new commercial release project for Immediate that has nothing to do with the Immediate Music catalog. You will start getting hints about this project very soon through social media. It will surprise you. The expected release is 4^th quarter 2014. It’s gonna be epic….

Nu Epiq is available to the public for purchase in digital format through iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp, and as physical CD through Amazon and the Imperativa Records website. For further information, visit immediatemusic.com.