PianoBeast10489

Thanks for the kind words, guys! I'm glad you enjoyed the piece :) Marius- Interesting that you heard some Gregson-Williams Persia in there... I gave the score a listen once it was released and couldn't decide how I felt about it... it was very much a trick out of the Remote Control book, but at the same time he used some pretty nice orchestrations. I know what you mean about the legatos and maybe a little more depth under the beginning (I'm thinking a nice, mellow synth pad would do it wonders). As for orchestration: I was trying to keep it relatively simple (strings/percussion - there actually is one little doubling by the flute/piccolo at one point, but it is mixed into the background)... I suppose a little more material for the other choirs wouldn't be TOO much to ask :D Bergman- I really wanted to not use loud, blasting brass in this piece, just for the particular sound I was going for. I loved the suggestion regarding Jablonsky's little electroni-percussive-atmospheres that he often creates... I'll look into that!

Hey all, Some of you may remember me from WAY back in the day... I feel like I haven't been here in maddd long, so I thought I'd kick off my return with a short cue I just finished! Basically I was just going for a big-epic-orchestra sound... and the piece just took shape from there. Hope to have more time to keep posting here in the future... I forgot how cool this place was! Confronting the Hostiles

Well it's been a hell of a long time since I've been around here, but I figured I'd stop in and see whats up. Came across this great little track, Marius... wonderful work, as usual!

I agree with everyone in saying this is getting to be a stupid discussion

You're so cool, Fredrik.

You're not interpreting my words (or maybe even reading them) correctly, so allow me to correct you: I used the word Romantic to indicate a period (one of the major periods in the history of western music) in which a certain style (or styles) of music was written. Not all compositions falling into the Romantic Period have a romantic mood; there is no requirement for a piece to have a romantic mood to be labeled as a Romantic work. Hell, if you use the word romantic in a descriptive sense rather than as the categorization of the music, any genre of music can be romantic. Bach Preludes, Mozart Adagios, Scriabin etudes, Hindemith sonatas... pop-boy-band love ballades *shivers in disgust* - you get the point. So, please, if you're going to use my own words as ammunition against myself, please use them correctly. Wagner's music is inherently romantic. Not necessarily (but of course, sometimes) in mood, but most always in cultural influence and compositional technique. In response to your examples: it is (however impossible as it may sound to you) probable that these composers just so happened to use a similar progression... Not to downplay Wagner's importance or influence, but it just seems to me like you're going a bit overboard with this; linking Wagner's chord to the development of all these other composer's works, and (subsequently) all works thereafter. And next time you try to make a point, please proof-read it and make sure it is coherent to others... 1. Don't be a smartass, Robin is one of the most knowledgeable people on this forum, especially when it comes to Jazz.

What you're talking about, Fredrik, is the Tristan Chord; often analyzed as an augmented sixth. Of course it was extremely innovative when Wagner wrote it, but it isn't reminiscent of jazz (at least to me)... so to say that Wagner went so far as to set the harmonic pallet for future jazz musicians is (at least in my eyes) a serious over-statement. I agree that he aided in pushing harmonic treatment in a new direction, but Wagner's music is still inherently romantic. If any direct relation should be made between the tristan chord and the advancement of western tonality, I would say that it's chromatic qualities lend itself to be more a pioneer of atonality than Jazz... Anyway, I agree with you on everything else - this is truly a beautiful work, and a definitely a landmark masterpiece! :)

I'm currently working on some new music for college this fall. It's a nice mix of stuff, but I'm still looking for a Bach prelude and fugue... I'm thinking maybe the F minor, WTC I... Mozart - Sonata No.18 in D Major, K.576 Chopin - Nocturne No.1 in Bb minor, Op.9 Ravel - Miroirs No.2, Oiseaux Tristes Prokofiev - Piano Sonata No.7 in Bb Major Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.1 in C Major Scriabin - Etude in D# minor

What the hell? For real, every post I've seen you make has some wack-donkey theory in it and a picture of rhythms that you can pick and choose from. Why not post some of your own compositions instead of these weird, formulaic theories you come up with for music. You're going about this in an a + b = c way and it just looks ridiculous...

Enigmus, I tried setting up the percussion staves like you said, and while it worked with my library, it would only play one note from the patch, requiring me to sharp or flatten the note a countless amount of times to get the desired sound! I think I'm just going to continue doing the crazy notation of perc. when using libraries, and (as I have done in the past) just put them all on the line when a piece is getting performed - much easier for me! But I do thank you for the help! :P Kal, Thanks man! the goal of the piece is to do just that, make you smile! So that's good that I got the right message out through the piece! I agree with you in it's being cheesy, but I love this type of stuff either way! :D Aqua, I've seen Honey I Blew Up the Kid many many times, yet sadly I can't remember the score. :( I'll take your word though, in saying that it's a similar style - that is the sort of tone I tried to create the piece with. I also think it's cool that you said it could be used for a theme park attraction - while I have no idea what sort of ride it'd be used for, that's a really cool idea. I go to Busch Gardens a lot (I live like 45 minutes away from Williamsburg) and I always love the music they have playing on Apollo's Chariot and Alpengiest - it's of a pretty good caliber... I wonder how they go about doing stuff like that? :)

Man, there's truly so much great popular music out there outside of the "formulaic" stuff that everyone gets so pissy about. I mean, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Jack Johnson... then you've got the classics: The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Boston, YES, Steely Dan, The Doors. So much great stuff. Nickel Creek, Bela Fleck - the list goes on and on... :)

Hey man, I know! Don't shoot the messenger :) But yea, I don't think My Fricken Life would carry the same zest/strength of the actual title, but it would solve the profanity issue - however lame it may sound :P

Nikolas, I personally don't mind the title as it is your piece, and you've got the right to title it however you please... however, with publishing, performance (not all performances, of course, but some), etc. I definitely think there would be an issue. For Last year during the Virginia Syphony's season, JoAnn Falletta got a little crap for programming a piece titled "Conga Line from Hell." - or something of the like. Basically it had the word hell in it, and people were concerned... In the program it appeared as "Conga" and in the program notes as "Conga Line from Heck." Basically my point is this: keep the title as it is, but if whomever you present it to has an issue, give them the option of using My Fricken Life or something similar. Good luck! :P

For John Adams check out The Dharma at Big Sur. It's a phenominal piece, that really shows the subtleties of the orchestra, not to mention to amazingness that is the electric violin - when you hear it drop below the register of the traditional violin, I dare you not to get chills. As for Glass, the fourth symphony is really great. It's a hefty listen, but well worth it. For some "lighter" stuff from him, the Glassworks and Glasspieces are nice too. Minimalism is really a cool genre, and definitely one that I've grown more interested in over the last couple years. Looks like you've gotten some good suggestions already, though :)

Does this belong in the "suggest a work" forum? But I also agree, the dude has got talent. :) His mixing impresses me more than the music, though.