I see the whale, and the waves keep coming. DAMN THIS PEG-LEG!

Thursday, July 28, 2005

to move or not to move

well, getting closer to the day i move. losing more sleep every night worrying about what won't fit into the trailer...hopefully everything that i want (my Mac G5, my guitar, my bed, my tv, lord of the rings (cast, crew, special features...in DVD format) and my books.) if not i will probably drive with so much rage that...naw, those things will fit...so hopefully i can fit in everything my wife wants!!! this will make my existance and our relationship just a little more lubricated. in the next few days i will be recieving some much craved software a 15 GB program of orchestral samples, and Reason 3. so hopefully that will fit in the trailer as well, so that when i arrive in Portland, OR i will have something to do besides finding a place to live, and working.

Recently Herr Vogler, Mike, and i (is this one too much?) have been having discussions on music and life (our lives with music.) i have just recieved a couple questions from Herr Vogler in response to similar questions i asked him.

"1) who's your favorite film composer and 2) what have you written so far?"

My favorite film composer right this second is Howard Shore thanks in no small part to his LOTR composition (which inspired me to go back to music...more on that to follow.) i also love John Williams, John Powell, Thomas Newman. and for bonus, i absolutely detest Randy Newman (i think i spelled his name wrong...i don't want to wast time fact checking on him.)

and so far i have written a 30 page piece for string quartet. i have written nothing for film as of yet. i also have written quite a few pop tunes.

when i quit the music program in 2001...i QUIT music. i have always been very selfish with my time...so when i was going to school for music as a freshman and sophomore you might imagine how much time i spent actually studying the material. i was a very poor student then. because of my composition professor i became quite jaded and despondent. i threw myself into my next major (Urban planning and human geography...which i still love.) i didn't even leave time for myself to make music my hobby. after a few years i began to realize the mistake i made by not staying in music. i was also way to chicken shit to commit myself to going back (for fear of disappointing my father to whom i had committed to in taking over the family business...railroad contracting.)

there were certain things that i couldn't do because it would cause my insides to begin the battle. i couldn't go to musicals or see choirs perform, and there were even movies that i wouldn't watch because i would become depressed and regretful of the decision that i had made. i couldn't watch LOTR because i knew that the music was inspirational to me. (listen and watch the scene in fellowship where Gandalf falls from the bridge of Khazad Dum, you may identify with me...it's beautiful!)

i really owe more than i know to my wife (not only for all of the "normal" things) because if not for her and her insatiable lust for not living in North Dakota i probably never would have thought to leave my job and pursue other means of living. thusly have i decided to go back to school. also, it was a friend of mine (Luke) who brought to the light the fact that you can write music anywhere...so if there was a place you wanted to live you could...and still write music.

so anyway, the reason my composition portfolio is not bursting at the seams may be attributed to my hard (or thick) headedness. i wouldn't touch anything music or music related. now however when i reattend school for music 100% of my time will be spent with music whether for study, or for filling my free time. if i can find a contact to make achievements of composing for film i will, if not i wouldalso like being a professor of music. (so if Media Ventures II makes it, Herr Vogler, i would definately be willing to be your bitch (2nd to my wife's bitch.))

much love my peeps!

11 Days.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay, now I'm excited. Your favorite film composer is a man I picture stepping out of an Egyptian sepulcher (painted gold, I believe) playing a saxophone, backing up Steve Martin's "King Tut". He and his All-Nurse Band also played with Lily Tomlin.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75fstjames.phtml

P.S. There's no shame in being Ruth's bitch.

Herr Vogler said...

Ah yes, Howard Shore. His music for LOTR makes me feel that there is, in fact, still hope for big, sweeping orchestral music in Hollywood. After LOTR I have been able to return to some of his older scores with "fresher" and better comprehend his approach.

His scores for The Aviator, The Score and Panic Room are all fantastic, too. I was a little disappointed by some of Martin Scorsese's use of his music for The Aviator. This is especially true for the scene where Hughes crashes his plane where Shore had written a really great piece in the style of Bach and Scorsese chose to track it instead with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. I think that was a poor choice on the part of Scorese because Shore's piece enhanced the drama of the scene a little better (yes, I did sync them, too).

Mikey the Pikey said...

Have to say I agree with your (and Vogler's) sentiments on Howard Shore (though I'll be honest and say that The Aviator did nothing for me). Funny part is, until three years ago, I mostly despised Howard Shore (save The Fly). And why the 'hatin' of Randy (you spelled it correctly btw)? As a hardcore neoromanticist (shut-up Vogler), I find many of his scores very touching. Now if you want to discuss why David Newman is such a tool, then by all means (although Galaxy Quest is brilliant, and Vogler seems to have a thing for The Phantom too). By the way, congrats on your purchase, I was looking it over and, well...DAMN!!! *turns on jealous face*