Both the studio day and the orchestra concert were fabulous!
Yesterday was our concert. Here'a link to a video of excerpts from 3 selections - Jurassic Park, Hoedown from Rodeo, and the 1812 Overture:
I'm sitting in chair #2, so you can see me playing! I was amazed that the celli look really coordinated (also I was amazed that I look really synchronized with our principal, who is an excellent cellist)
We played:
Jurassic Park
Grondahl Trombone concerto (has the distinction of being 1 of 2 Romantic trombone concerti; think pirates and battles and love songs and you've got it)
American Salute (was an arrangement of "when Johnny comes marching home" written for radio broadcast)
Rodeo (Buckaroo Holiday, Saturday Night Waltz, Corral Nocturne, and Hoedown)
1812 Overture
Stars and Stripes Forever
I think our concert last week, on Monday, was better (with the exception of Hoedown), but the venue, outdoors at the Ballard Locks, is fabulous and we love playing there.
Saturday, the day I spent in the studio recording music written by students of the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. The films are created by students, who get orchestral music composed for their film, a win for both the filmmaker and the composers.
It was a long and tiring day. We started at 10am, finished at 5:15pm, with a 10 minute break every hour and a 1 hour break for lunch. By the last hour it was really hard to play well. We rehearsed less and recorded right away. The day is run like it would be if we were professionals (although Hummie said that the food, provided by the students, was an exception). We didn't see the music until we showed up. We all had headphones so that we could hear the click track (a smart metronome, synchronized to the film so that we would play the required tempo perfectly, even when it varied during a piece). We rehearsed whatever it was that we were playing a few times (sometimes just once) and then recorded 2 good cuts. Then we moved on to the next section. Hummie could see the film while he was conducting, but we couldn't see anything. He did tell us what each film was about, so that we would play with the right sound. One movie had an exploding monster in it, so he asked the winds and brass to make an exploding sound at the end of one piece. I think we recorded music for 3 films on Saturday. Hummie said that students in the program have now scored 93 films, and that 34 students from the program have gone on to score feature films. Pretty impressive.
Showing posts with label recording. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recording. Show all posts
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Into the Studio!
Tomorrow I'll spend the day in the recording studio, playing film scores written by students of the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. I wonder what music we'll get. Two years ago we recorded the music to this charming animated short, 2 Old Chicks.
The video was created by students in the animation program at the University of Washington. The original orchestral music for the video was composed by Steve Brush, Doris Bartha and JR Rhodes as part of the requirements to complete the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. Hummie Mann, composer and the founder of the program, conducted.
The video was created by students in the animation program at the University of Washington. The original orchestral music for the video was composed by Steve Brush, Doris Bartha and JR Rhodes as part of the requirements to complete the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. Hummie Mann, composer and the founder of the program, conducted.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Recording, Track 2
It was really fun today to be part of the studio orchestra recording music for 4 films. The film scores were composed by students from the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. The founder and director of the program, Hummie Mann, conducted. The music was the culmination of a 2-year program for the students. We were allowed to give feedback; for most of the students it was the first time they had written something for an orchestra. A friend of mine from orchestra composed one of the pieces we played and right before we played it she said she was terrified to hear it for the first time.
We were in a full studio - during one of the breaks I wandered into the soundroom to watch and hear one of the pieces we had just recorded, and it was amazing how good the orchestra sounded! With a headset over one ear to hear the click track and sitting in the middle of a section, and playing, it was impossible to really hear the music. Getting to hear and see what we had recorded along with the film was pretty cool.
It was an exhausting day. We started at 10am and finished at 6pm with 10-minute breaks each hour and an hour break for lunch. By the last 2 hours it was really hard to concentrate and play with the same energy as in the morning. We would run through and rehearse a piece a few times, then we recorded it twice. The first film had a jazz soundtrack, and the other 3 were animated films, one with more of a cartoony feel to the music, and others much more dreamy/sweet music. I loved the first animated film we recorded - it was a story set in New York's Central Park about 2 old women. They competed with each other to feed the birds that had gathered around them. There was one scene where they were feeding the birds so much that the birds were visibly getting fatter (I was sitting where I could see the monitor that Hummie was using to watch while conducting) and you could hear the birds getting heavier in the music - it was hilarious. I would love to see that film when it is finished.
At the end of the day, I was brain dead. Needless to say practicing is going to wait until tomorrow.
We were in a full studio - during one of the breaks I wandered into the soundroom to watch and hear one of the pieces we had just recorded, and it was amazing how good the orchestra sounded! With a headset over one ear to hear the click track and sitting in the middle of a section, and playing, it was impossible to really hear the music. Getting to hear and see what we had recorded along with the film was pretty cool.
It was an exhausting day. We started at 10am and finished at 6pm with 10-minute breaks each hour and an hour break for lunch. By the last 2 hours it was really hard to concentrate and play with the same energy as in the morning. We would run through and rehearse a piece a few times, then we recorded it twice. The first film had a jazz soundtrack, and the other 3 were animated films, one with more of a cartoony feel to the music, and others much more dreamy/sweet music. I loved the first animated film we recorded - it was a story set in New York's Central Park about 2 old women. They competed with each other to feed the birds that had gathered around them. There was one scene where they were feeding the birds so much that the birds were visibly getting fatter (I was sitting where I could see the monitor that Hummie was using to watch while conducting) and you could hear the birds getting heavier in the music - it was hilarious. I would love to see that film when it is finished.
At the end of the day, I was brain dead. Needless to say practicing is going to wait until tomorrow.
Recording, Track 1
At first my teacher wasn't going to record me - I'm still sick with that sore throat - cold thing that is going around (exacerbated by my flying ordeal this week) and he thought I wouldn't be at my best. True enough, but he did end up recording me anyway.
We went through my rhythm exercises. This time he had a drum track where the drum pattern would shift by an eighth of a beat every two measures, so that the pulse of the beat would be on the beat for 2 measures, then on the off beat. I played exercise No. 6 of the Sevcik bowing exercises (just straight eighth notes) while the audio track shifted while I was playing. The purpose was to see if I could hold steady while the pulse was shifting. The first time I couldn't do it, but by the next time and subsequent times I was able to lock into a steady rhythm even as pulse was shifting. One time my teacher recorded me playing without anything else, to see how steady I was - it was actually pretty good!
Then since we were already set up, he asked me to play something "more lyrical" to get recorded. I chose to play Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, mostly because we had recorded it previously. I was really pleased to listen to the recording - especially after we listened to the last recording I did from June of last year. I could definitely hear the difference in the amount of control I have now vs. 1 year ago. What I could hear that needs to improve is shaping the overall volume and feel of phrases - taking more time for the crescendos and decrescendos.
Today will be a fun day, and I'll write about it later today. I've volunteered to be part of the studio orchestra for the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program and we will be recording the soundtracks for about 5 student films today.
We went through my rhythm exercises. This time he had a drum track where the drum pattern would shift by an eighth of a beat every two measures, so that the pulse of the beat would be on the beat for 2 measures, then on the off beat. I played exercise No. 6 of the Sevcik bowing exercises (just straight eighth notes) while the audio track shifted while I was playing. The purpose was to see if I could hold steady while the pulse was shifting. The first time I couldn't do it, but by the next time and subsequent times I was able to lock into a steady rhythm even as pulse was shifting. One time my teacher recorded me playing without anything else, to see how steady I was - it was actually pretty good!
Then since we were already set up, he asked me to play something "more lyrical" to get recorded. I chose to play Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, mostly because we had recorded it previously. I was really pleased to listen to the recording - especially after we listened to the last recording I did from June of last year. I could definitely hear the difference in the amount of control I have now vs. 1 year ago. What I could hear that needs to improve is shaping the overall volume and feel of phrases - taking more time for the crescendos and decrescendos.
Today will be a fun day, and I'll write about it later today. I've volunteered to be part of the studio orchestra for the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program and we will be recording the soundtracks for about 5 student films today.
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