Film Noir Music

Hello,

Last year when I went to the IMS Teen Meditation Retreat in Massachusetts I was surprised at how much music there was.  In every chunk of free time people would pull out guitars, drums, violins, harmonicas, and jam.  This year I brought my keyboard and had an awesome time improvising.  There was some pretty neat jam sessions with saxophone and even a french horn.

One of the highlights of the retreat was meeting David Corenswet, an actor and now film maker who was looking for and has now found a film score composer!  It was difficult to be in the moment during meditation when my mind was filled with excitement and inspiration, eager to get home so I could watch David's films and begin composing the melodies whirling about my head.  After meeting, David and I began jamming a bit, him on the drums, sometimes asking me to play certain styles to get a feel for my ability.

The real highlight of the retreat and probably one of the greatest musical experiences of my life was when David came over while I was at the piano.  He listened to me for a moment, thoughtfully, then began describing a scene: a detective walking down a dark, dingy street on his way to a crime scene....  I played along to his narrative, requesting more details about the mood and back story until I knew the feeling he was looking for.  A crowd began to gather as we went on to other narratives, other people adding in pieces of the story (some times unhelpfully) and we got really into it.  It helped having David's frequent exclamations of joy whenever I hit a melody that perfectly portrayed the mood of the story being told.  I was having the time of my life.  True improvisation.  True film scoring even in the absence of a film.  We went on until the bell rang for our afternoon yoga class and we were forced to stop.

Now that I am home I have been hard at work trying to absorb the Film Noir genre of music (mellow jazz, melodic saxophone, distant trumpets) for scoring a detective film he is working on.

Best,
Clayton

Alien Jungle

Hey,
 I have been messing with Absynth which came with the Komplete instrument library package. I don't tend to compose techno pieces but I had a good couple hours of musical inspiration and came up with this interesting piece of music.



Not super fond of the name "Alien Jungle".  It sure sounds like it is music from another planet but the name doesn't quite fit. I have some neat project ideas using this style of music!

Clayton

Fiddle Camp

I just got back from a solid week of music at Fiddle Camp.  I have taken piano there in past years on and off, learning accompaniment styles for playing with fiddle tunes, but this is the first year I began implementing that knowledge.  Throughout the week I played for contra dances and jam sessions and really enjoyed it.  I am capable of playing upbeat piano (as opposed to my usual relaxing new-age style)! I have decided on pursuing fiddle accompaniment out side of Fiddle Camp and have already gone to a jam with the Belfast Bay Fiddlers.  I learned so much awesome Cape Breton tricks from Neal Pearlman last year to spruce up boring chord progressions but most of them I have forgotten both because I never used them after Fiddle Camp and because I wasn't at a level where I could comfortably slip them in.  I haven't gotten bored enough of the normal chords yet but I'm working on it.

I also did a bunch of improvisation and composition stuff on my own and with other musicians.  Unfortunately I forgot my recording device in the pocket of a pair of pants I changed out of right before leaving for Fiddle Camp so I didn't get any recordings.

Here are a couple recordings from last year:



Best,
Clayton

I spent over 3 hours last night playing the piano, not getting to bed until 1:00.  I have wanted to buy Native Instruments' library of virtual instruments for a couple years now and finally decided to go for it.  And it is amazing!  The virtual grand pianos are incredible, so much better then my decent Yamaha keyboard and even the other virtual grand, Pianissimo, seems childish after the depth of sound coming from the Vienna, Berlin or New York Concert Grands.
A whole new world of improvisation opened up with these new instruments. The lower ranges are much more rich and less muffled then Pianissimo and my Yamaha. I found that I didn't have to ride the sustain peddle nearly as much because it sounded good with out it. My whole style of playing expanded with these discoveries, chords, melodies and harmonies emerging in my music that I had never heard myself play before.
Thoughts of Tomorrow
 
 New Piano (not really named)
 

Here are a couple new piano improvisations.

 

 

New Recording Setup

I just got my patchwork microphone setup working and have been experimenting with live instrumentation. I still have to work on my violin playing but I am excited for the possibilities this opens up for composing. I can finally improvise with myself with non virtual instruments! This song is just a rough improvisation but I plan on developing some of the melodic ideas and spiffing it up into an actual composition...or it may end up gathering dust in my "works in progress" folder like the hundreds (literally) of other ideas I have yet to develop.

Sunrise in the Andes

Here is a song I composed for a girl I loved who I met on an incredible journey through Ecuador. This is the first piano composition I have composed (not just improvised) since I was 12. It was quite a learning experience.

I also just improvised a newage piece with multiple instruments.
Sound Sample info
Decent quality virtual guitar, strings and flute from the sfz and Sample Tank2 free instrument libraries.  There is also an ambient background from the free Reaktor5 player.