Rabin has proven himself COMPOSER TREVOR RABIN MAKES SUCCESS LOOK SIMPLE. three times over. Before leav - ing his native South Africa, he played with the band Rabbit, whose regional popularity rivaled that of the Beatles. Soon after he started working in America and the U.K., his songwriting, pro - “Nowadays directors expect duction, and guitar virtuosity helped spur the veteran progressive-rock group Yes to its greatest commercial successes. And shortly after amicably exiting Yes, he established himself as one of you to mock up the score Hollywood’s most in-demand film composers. to an incredible “Y ES AnD I hAD A phEnOMEnAL RELATIOnShIp , AnD I’ M STILL itwillsoundlikewithorchestra.Infact,therehavebeen friendswiththeband,”insistsRabin.“Butafter15years timeswhendirectorshavebecomesousedtohearing degree via MIDI.” itstartedtofeelalittlelikethesameoldsameold. thedemothattheyoptedtouseitevenafterhaving Itwasgreat,butIwasreadyforanothersortofchal - spentsixtygrandonanorchestralsession.” lenge.”hesubsequentlyscoredsuchbig-screen ThecenterpieceofRabin’sstudioisasetofYamaha blockbustersas Con Air , The Deep Blue Sea , The One , digitalrecordingconsoles.“Ihavefour02RsbecauseI and Gone in 60 Seconds . needsomanychannels,andtheylinkupsophenom - Rabinfindsitironicthatsomeill-informedobservers enallywell,”explainsTrevor.“IalsohaveaYamaha01V seehimasarockinterloperfakingitinfilmscoring. mixerIuseasamonitorsystem.Everythingruns “It’sfunny,”hemuses.“WhenIwasinYesandRabbit, throughtheYamahas’24-bitA/Dconverters.The peoplewouldaccusemeofbeingaclassicalmusician soundqualityisphenomenallytransparent,andtheEQ pretendingtobearockstar.AndthenwhenIstarted isalotmoreforgivingthanonalotofvintageconsoles. doingmovies,theysaid,‘he’sarockstartryingtobea Infact,the02Rsarejustabouttheonlypartofthe composer!’” chainthatnevercausesproblems.” Infact,Rabinhasalwaysstraddledthetwoworlds. Rabinmakesfulluseoftheconsoles’abilitytostore hecreditspartofhiseclecticismtohisfather,aviolin - andrecallmixes.“ThatfeatureissoessentialtowhatI istwholedtheJohannesburgSymphonyformany do,”hesays.“Everycuehasadifferentpatch,withits years,whoalsohadasympatheticearforrock.“he ownEQ,compression,andreverbs,andtherearetyp - wasaphenomenallywell-educatedmusician,”says ically40to50cuespermovie.Ijustwritetheprogram Trevor.“ButI’dsometimescomehomeafteraRabbit changesintothesequencer,andittellsthe02Rtogo gigandfindhimlisteningtoJimihendrix’s Electric tothespecificprogramforthatcue.” Ladyland withheadphones.”Trevorhimselfstudied Trevor’slatestscoreshavebeencreatedin5.1 TR E V O R R A B I N: theory,composition,andconductingwithnoted surroundmode.“I’vealwaysenvisionedmusicinthose teacherWalterMony. terms,”hesays,“soit’sgreattobeabletoactually writethatway.It’sgoodfor keepingmusicfromclashing withsoundeffects,andwhen from big rock to big screen youhaveanessentialmelody thatoccursoverdialog,there’s now,Rabincreatesmuchofhismusicona theoptionofplacingitfarinthebacksoitgetsout computerinhisstudio,thoughblazingguitarsstillfigure oftheway.” stronglyinsomeofhisscores.“Idoallthewritinghere Rabinestablishedhimselfwithbrash,guitar-driven andrecordalmosteverythingexceptorchestras,”he actionscores,buthe’smadeapointtoexpand explains.“ButI’musuallygoingforanorchestralsound hisrepertoirewithsuchdeparturesastheall-orchestral longbeforewerecordtheorchestra,becausenowa - Remember the Titans ,theRoots-flavored Home daysdirectorsexpectyoutomockupthescoretoan Grown ,andtheAfrican-influenced Whispers .Trevor incredibledegreeviaMIDI.Ithastobefullyarranged revelsinthedisplayinghisrange.“Aslongasthere’s andrealizedsothatitsoundsalmostidenticaltowhat diversity,”hesays,“I’mhappy.”

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