Writing For Me - Part 1
Most of the composing work I’ve done has been for big team projects. Today, that is music for film. For the prior 20 years, that was music for scholastic and university instrumental ensembles. While the latter got to a point of steady work before I pivoted to film, the nature of the work I love the most is always reliant on phone calls coming in.
That inevitably leads to periods of the phone ringing off the hook (usually all at one time), and times where the phone is not ringing at all. When the phone is not ringing, and nothing is booked…what do now? (That’s an Always Sunny reference for you fans out there).
Since my work is usually tied to a larger artistic medium, I have two choices…keep working on getting those phone calls (that’s going to happen anyways), and/or start creating something else. I’ve never been much of a “lone wolf” type of composer, so creating things for myself is not usually something I do. However, there have been times where I decided to just “do what I want”, without an expected outcome.
Those times have led to some unique and varied projects that I like. Here are two of them. You may like them too, maybe not. The point is: I did it for me, which is rare! It’s liberating to share something I’ve created, without a specific goal or agenda in mind. If you see something you like, please consider leaving a comment with that video, or just hit me up!
Reflections of Home
While stuck in the pandemic lockdown, we were all grinding to find a way to keep the music coming. Just about all work came to a halt, so I wanted to write something I’ve been sitting on. I had two main influences that I wanted to bring to a piece of music:
1. The memories of homesick feelings I had on tour with Echo Movement. I especially remember driving across the midwest, looking out the window at all the green fields, and listening to Aaron Copland (for a reggae band, we had some diversified listens on the bus!).
2. The melodic stylings of Celtic music, which I grew up playing. I was born into bagpipes, drums and fiddles.
Luckily, I had 4 talented musician friends who could record remotely, and send me their tracks. Together, we made the music happen.
Gabe Valle- Violin
A great musician and friend I’ve made through the pit orchestra scene in NJ. Owns and runs Big and Tall Recording Studio.
Alex Grimes - Viola
Alex is a very talented musician and composer. We met in our classes at Berklee when we were getting our MM in Film Scoring. He is the Principal Viola of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra in Seattle.
Ansel Cohen - Cello
Another awesome musician who I’ve become friends with through the NJ pit orchestra scene. His musical talents extend well beyond playing cello.
Anthony Bianco - Bass
Would you be surprised to learn that Anthony and I met….through the NJ pit orchestra scene? I’ve made a lot of talented friends there over the years. Anthony is no exception, and slays the double bass, as well as electric bass.
On the Wire
My good friend and partner in reggae Dave Fowler got restless after we stopped touring and recording with Echo Movement. We were not interested in starting another band. However, Dave had a cool idea. He observed birds sitting on a set of power lines near his place in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. They were in different formations every day, and they resembled notes on a staff.. We decided to let nature take the lead. He took numerous pictures, and we looked them over. I took the birds' positions on the wire, translated them to notes on the staff, and let their position to each other dictate the rhythm.
Following that, I wrote and recorded a marimba melody. Then I laid down a drumset groove and addded some percussion loops. Dave wrote the chords and keyboard hook. The next step was to bring the visual part of the project to life. We enlisted my friend Alexander Pudov to be our videographer, who always has a creative eye for telling stories. We set up in my music studio, and had the music video show how we turned the bird pics into music notation. I notated each phrase of the music in the video. I hope I made my undergrad professor proud with my penmanship (not likely).
This was a fun and artistic project with no expectations beyond our own enjoyment. It was a satisfying experience, and a great lesson in sparking musical motivation from unexpected places.
I have a 2nd part to this blog topic that I will share next time. Years of gigging, teaching and collaborating have given me a rich circle of friends who I am lucky to have in my life. Value everyone in your network, and give them a chance to shine with your own creations! See you soon…