Recent Project for the Justice Conference

I recently had the opportunity to work with my good friend and studio partner, Ben Larson, writing music for an original video that was shown at the US Justice Conference in Bend, OR.

Here is the music we wrote for the video:

And here is the video:

Ben and I had a great time creating the music for this, even though we wrote it pretty much in its entirety in one day (15 hours in a row).

For more photos from the set go here.

Aguilera and the National Anthem

I missed the performance of the national anthem prior to the super bowl today, but when I started seeing facebook posts about how Christina messed up the words, it didn’t take long before I was all caught up. In case you missed it:

First of all I should preface the following by writing that this is my opinion. Also, I do appreciate popular music and certain trends in the genre.

Upon watching the video it wasn’t too hard to figure out that she had messed up some of the lyrics. You know what? That kind of stuff happens a lot, and I didn’t care that much because she was professional enough to maintain and continue.

However, I felt the performance was not very good. I understand that many people really like Aguilera’s work and her performance style, and that’s okay. But I feel that they way she applied it to the national anthem was pretty indulgent.

I don’t know how you feel, but when I’m at a sporting event, I like to sing along with our national anthem. I feel like it bonds the people in the community (bleachers/stands) and it makes me feel just a little patriotic. And when compared with some other countries, sometimes I feel like we don’t sing it together enough.

When Aguilera sang it, there would have been no way I could sing along because of all the runs, and trills and pop techniques she applied. It felt like a disservice to the meaning of the song, and more of a testament to how many more notes she could sing in one breath.

It’s my humble opinion that when it comes to the national anthem, simpler is better.

Golden Globes: Trent Reznor and film music

Now that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have won the Golden Globe for Best Original Film Score, I thought I should try to explore my thoughts about Trent Reznor and Film music.

I read the other day that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been asked to score the US remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

SIDEBAR – This is not a post about whether or not a remake should be made at all, only a couple years after the original foreign film was released (2009). Nor is this a review about Jacob Groth’s effort on that film.

The first thought I had about the news of Reznor and Atticus was that I wouldn’t like their score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and that maybe Trent should stick with writing his Nine Inch Nails music in his electronica/pop genre, because, in my opinion… he has created a lot of music that I love and have listened to for years!

After, thinking about it, I’m wondering to myself why I have contempt prior to investigation.

I’m still deep in consideration, but here’s what I know right now…
Out of all the scores that I’ve purchased this year, The Social Network is the only one that is almost entirely electronic.

When I first heard who was scoring The Social Network, I was looking forward to hearing it! I knew that Reznor could do many things musical. Combine that with the guy who wrote the very cool score for The Book of Eli, and I don’t really see how it could be bad.

Finally I heard it.

The Social Network was a great underscore for the on screen manifestation of Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay. I write underscore because, to be honest with you, aside from the electronic version of “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, it isn’t really all that memorable to me besides being Reznor’s first foray into film scoring. And while it was different sounding compared to film scores released around the same time, it isn’t a stretch from what I was hoping Reznor could do. And in thinking of things that he’s already done like The Downward Spiral, The Social Network just seems like B-side Reznor noodleing. Harsh, but that’s how I feel.

If I had to guess, it sounds like Atticus deferred to Reznor. I can hear elements of him buried at sporadic intervals throughout the score, but overall… it feels like Reznor to me.

With all that said, I should also write that their first joint effort does not a voice make. (God that sounds pretentious). I guess I hope that when they do team up again for their next effort, I want them to flex their musical muscles, and blow me away like I know they can.

Forgotten Music, Rediscovered

If you read this blog, you know that I’m a film score fanatic.

What I don’t write about very often is my love for other styles of music. Well, today I’m going through my library and recreating a playlist containing music that isn’t film music, or classical.

In creating this new playlist, the greatest thing about it is rediscovering music that has been sitting in iTunes for a long while gathering digital dust.

Today, I rediscovered some old albums that are really great, but I haven’t listened to in a long while.

Lagwagon – Let’s Talk About Feelings

(iTunes) (Amazon)

So many great songs on this album. I love the “muzak” section in the first song separating the punk with something a little softer.

cKy – Infiltrate.Destroy.Rebuild

(iTunes) (Amazon)

For my money, this is cKy’s strongest album. Every song is tight, and seems well worked out with all the other songs on the album.

Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come

(iTunes) (Amazon)

An album intended to be a through experience from beginning to end.  I was sad when punk didn’t go in this direction… and when the band split.

Reverend Horton Heat – Holy Roller

(Amazon)

Shame on me for losing touch with my rockabilly soul. This album is full of everything one could ever want of this genre. From satire, to same sex cowboys.

Incubus – S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

(iTunes) (Amazon)

The heaviest and different than what came before. My second favorite next to Make Yourself. But how can you not love an album that begins with the sound of a didgeridoo?

And the awesome rediscovered single…

The Avalanches – “Frontier Psychiatrist”

Enjoy!

A great Halloween treat (that I won)

For Halloween I got a really great treat!

I was one of the winners for Film Score Monthly‘s Halloween giveaway of Michael Giacchino’s score for the horror remake Let Me In.

I’m stoked because not only do I love Michael Giacchino’s music, but I also love to win things!

I’ve heard a couple cues from this score already and I thought that it was a really good, creepy version of music similar to Lost.

I’m super excited to be getting this in the mail and getting some good listening time.

So happy halloween to you!

The Imperial March for piano

I found this on syfy’s site blastr.

“What if Beethoven had composed Darth Vader’s theme” is the question their site asks.

My answer… it would probably have more scalar movement within the transitions.

Anyways… for your viewing pleasure:

3 things that excite me (right now)

I’m still over here in Chi Town, bankrolling my future, and trying to make my dad a pantload of money. When I’m not working, I’m usually surfing the net, or just vegging out (it’s a lot harder managing a railroad company than I imagined).

I  try to read, and I try listening to music, but I usually just end up reading about music. A couple things I’ve heard about but finally have actually gathered some information on is some upcoming releases that have me absolutely drooling!

Human Target by Bear McCreary

This is being released by La La Land Records on Oct. 19th for $24.95.

I’m excited about this score for a couple of reasons… Bear McCreary scored the lion’s share of the remake of Battlestar Galactica. Secondly, the score was performed by a live (and at times, HUGE) orchestra, and anytime that happens in the current entertainment market, I feel obliged to support that!

I never really got into the show, but I’m sure I won’t be disappointed by the score.

Elfman/Burton Boxset

I think the title pretty much says it all. This is the culmination of their work together, which is weird, because neither of them are dead yet ( …I kindof assume that they are going to do more together). It also has other goodies that help justify the price… a little.

You can pre-order the december release at burtonelfman.com, and be forewarned, they’re asking for $500 for this! Holy shit. $500?! And they are only making 1000 of these. So the question is, are there 1000 fanboy’s with $500 dollars burning a hole in their batman shaped money clip? And the even greater question, does my mom know that I want this for my birthday?

Even if she does, that is a lot to ask… however, if it were to be a combination birthday/christmas gift? Maybe then? I keed… Christmas is about ‘8 pound 6 ounce baby Jesus’ (I’m quoting Ricky Bobby).

But seriously… I’m not above begging.

Avatar

This rare artifact will be released on November 16th with a suggested retail price of $54.99, but can be pre-ordered from amazon for $35.99.

This version will have tons of extras, including more footage in the film itself (even more than the recent version that was released, er… re-released, er… showed recently in theaters. Anyways, they have lots of things on here like documentaries and deleted scenes and other cool goodies.

I’m just really excited to watch some Blu-Ray Avatar in my living room. I initially thought I might wait for the 3D version… but I don’t think I want to buy a 3D TV yet.

So there you go. Three things that I’m excited about. Am I missing anything?

Some new sounds

Every once in a while I like to listen to some new stuff to keep my creative juices at least from being stagnant. Every once in a while I go through an “electronic music” phase. Right now is one of those times.

So here is what is going through my ears now:

What cool toys. I want one.

Halo Reach: The score

Recently, Bungie and Microsoft released their newest addition to the Halo franchise called Halo Reach. So far, I haven’t had the opportunity to play the game, but from what I’ve heard, read, and seen, it definitely looks like it could be the most epic of all those that came before it.

Up until now, the scores previously released haven’t been high on my playlists, with the exception of Stephen Rippy’s score for Halo Wars. Recently, I have spun the score for Halo ODST but it didn’t have the effect on me that Reach does.

The scale of this score is a lot bigger than the previous efforts from O’Donnel and Salvatori. Not only is the sound grander, but the soundtrack is much longer as well… two discs with well over an hour and a half worth of music.

The first track is well titled: “Overture”. As soon as it begins, its not hard to tell that the quality of O’Donnel and Salvatori’s orchestral samples have definitely improved since their first Halo score. Musically, they’re using a very middle eastern flavor, slightly reminiscent of Jarre’s Lawrence of Arabia. I don’t know if it’s the orchestration, or the samples, but the overall sound is much fuller on this album. The choir or vocal sounds are also produced better and have a much more “real” sound than the earlier scores.

Through listening to this, I notice something that I hadn’t in listening to any of the other scores; at 2:46 of “Overture” they have a variation of their Halo theme, and the orchestration they chose reminds me of the opening half of the melody from Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.

A lot of the score is very string heavy with percussion, and at times they include brass as well. But they also include some very cool electronic sounds and distorted guitar and bass.

One thing I noticed in a cue called “The package,” was a melody (0:16) that was so very similar to the first half of the “Fairy Tale Theme” from Shrek (0:12). This theme returns at different points around the score.

There are a lot of massive (length) cues on this score. Fitting for a game; many of them have parts that shift into semi-unrelated material. This makes sense, I presume, as one travels through the different parts of the accompanying video game. Sometimes, the electronic elements are well blended with the orchestral parts.

One great cue that shows development over all the franchise’s scores is “Tip of the Spear.” It includes the entire original melody, and throughout the first half of the piece it develops that into a complete idea. At about 3:04 the idea completes itself and the track continues on with an electronic idea that is unrelated.

Throughout, the team throw in snippets and slight variations of their original Halo theme, helping to tie this score in with all those that came before it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this score and look forward to playing the game. (I think my brother already got it for me for my birthday. If that’s true, thanks bro! w00t w00t!!)

Holy Crap – LOTR music book?!!

Figured I should put this (ain’t it cool article) and this (amazon link) on the blog before I closed my eyes.

Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll be my birthday (or Oct. 5th (which isn’t my birthday, but the joy from this would be near that))!

Oh happy day!