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Could they Turn Down the Music?

I watched the finale with my parents, who aren't regular Who watchers, and they were the first ones to bring up the issue of music volume. It certainly isn't just me this time :)
 
Well, I can understand it, but when the music is so loud and you can't hear it, than that's where it get's a bit difficult.
I bet it is, but I never thought the music was too loud in Doctor Who. The thought never entered my mind. I had no trouble understanding anyone, and I honestly don't think the music is louder than in your average movie.
 
What did you SAY?!?! I can't hear you over the 80 MEMBER CHORUS and TRUMPETS!!!!


I would love to list the moments where the Murray Gold music overshadowed the actors

I've come to expect a certain pattern from RTD finales. I'll fucking love it until the last 20 minutes, I'm sure.

In those 20 minutes the doctor will be bombarded by "MURRAY GOLD!!!! MURRAY GOLD!" music and the massive CGI army descends on the planet



In those 20 minutes the doctor will be bombarded by "MURRAY GOLD!!!! MURRAY GOLD!" music

Oh, Christ, I hadn't thought of that until now. I fully expect him to throw subtlety and restraint out the window in exchange for "DAAAAA DAAAAA DAAAAAAA CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS MOTHERFUCKERS DAAAA DAAAAA DAAA DAAAAAAAA THIS IS MOTHERFUCKING DOCTOR WHO DAAAAA DAAAA DAAAAAAAAAAAAA DAAAA DAAAAAAAA DAAAAA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AND I AM MOTHERFUCKING MURRAY GOLD!"

Where's that comic strip parodying Murray gold
 
The more I rewatch that final episode, the more it feels like a full blown opera. But without the singing.

So in this case, the loud, epic music really does fit.
 
The scene where the Doctor is piloting the ship with the music and the sound effects drowned out what they were saying to the point that I just about gave up trying to understand what they were saying.

Glad to see I wasn't the only one with that problem. I used to think the problem was with my TV settings, or with how the show is transmitted or something. I just couldn't imagine that someone would PURPOSELY mix a show this badly.

But apparently... that's the case.
 
Where's that comic strip parodying Murray gold

It was actually a parody of Tennant's Doctor. It only has a single dig at the music of Doctor Who: A panel parodying the Jesus!Doctor sequence in "Last of the Time Lord" has the Tenth Doctor levitating from the ground in a Christ-like pose, surrounded by squiggly sound lines with the words "MURRAY GOLD!" written next to music notes emanating from him.

Re: Accents.

I only ever had some occasional problems with the accent when I first began watching Doctor Who, and then usually only with the non-R.P. accents. (American TV is littered with British characters with R.P. accents, some fake and some real, so I don't have a problem with that one.) I haven't had any problems understanding any of the accents on Doctor Who since I was midway through Series Two in the fall of 2006. I've just gotten used to them all.
 
I dunno about this complaining about the music. I never even noticed its volume before I read people complaining about it and that's the only reason it ever stands out to me now (rarely). Same with the whole lens-flare on the Star Trek movie.

It's massively unlikely you'll ever find me complaining about either.
 
Maybe it just sounds that way through tv speakers? I watch on my computer (through speakers and more recently headphones) and the audio is just fine.
 
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Could it be the BBC America feed? That's where I watched it on and it just seemed really loud. Any other Americans experience the same problem?
 
I've never had a problem with the sound but, like Cutter John, I watch on my computer with either speakers or headphones.
 
Could it be the BBC America feed? That's where I watched it on and it just seemed really loud. Any other Americans experience the same problem?

It can be loud in the UK as well. Enough people have mentioned it over the years to suggest those of us slightly annoyed sometimes with the volume of the soundtrack, aren't just making it up to be petty.
 
I noticed this in Rose and the following eps in season 1. Its just there, all the time. Its called incedental, but there are no damn incedents there, so why is it there.

There are a few instances where its quieter, but a majority of the time, its constant alkmost all the way through an episode.

It bugged me a little. Then they turned it down for Tennants seasons, but it did creep back up here and there. but after a while, i managed to ignore and dont even notice it anymore, even when i re-watch seasons 1 and 2.
 
In my opinion the music is as much a "character" in Doctor Who as the TARDIS. I don't have a problem with it as long as the music is good and as I've stated before, Gold is one of the only TV composers to ever produce work that, to me, stands on its own as opposed to being just tinkling on a keyboard or nondescript strings or synths in the background. (Of course that's generalizing as there are some great composers for TV who do great work, but ask someone to hum a melody from an episode of CSI or NCIS or Ugly Betty and they won't be able to. But some of Gold's motifs for the new series are as recognizable now as the theme itself, and this is not a bad thing.)

As for the music being overpowering, I think it sometimes has to do with the way the feed is channelled. I've never noticed a problem with Doctor Who, but I remember having to turn off a showing of the new V a few months ago because someone at CTV flipped a switch and shut off the dialogue track so all we heard WAS the music and SFX. Which was actually pretty cool at first until you realized you were supposed to be able to hear the characters talk. Same thing used to happen almost weekly back in 90-91 with Twin Peaks because my local station was still working the kinks out of stereo TV broadcasts and often got the mix wrong; in that case we were treated to lots of eerie Angelo Bandalamenti music without the distraction of dialogue, and remembering how Twin Peaks was it never really affected our understanding of the show! ;)

Alex
 
Well, we'll see how things go next season. Wonder if Moffatt will be replacing the sound team as well?

Some of the production crew might change, but he's keeping Murray Gold as the composer. He still might tone the music down a bit.
 
I found the music overly loud much of the time, but then I've noticed that about the soundtrack since the start. Gold's theme is great, but his music cues can be grating and I won't miss him in the new series (I believe he is leaving?).

I still can't get that bouncing kettle drum during the Doctor hiding from Donna scene in Part 1 out of my head. His "comic" cues are awful.
 
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