SPEAK EASY 2
Bass line added.
SPEAK EASY 2
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Song Building - Speak Easy
SPEAK EASY 1
So, this is the song where Stealthman meets Sam and talks him into being his sidekick. This part is the melody of the chorus that will be sung by the city folk. The scene will be a fantasy set from Stealhtman's perspective and so will be in the late 20's early 30's with prohibition in effect. This is the melody only.
SPEAK EASY 1
So, this is the song where Stealthman meets Sam and talks him into being his sidekick. This part is the melody of the chorus that will be sung by the city folk. The scene will be a fantasy set from Stealhtman's perspective and so will be in the late 20's early 30's with prohibition in effect. This is the melody only.
SPEAK EASY 1
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Off Topic Post - Demos
So I've been putting together some demos for another potential project and so I haven't gotten a ton done with STEALTHMAN the last few days. But I thought I'd go ahead and post the demos I developed here.
The first is from a video game I did the music for a while back called Monkey Brains. This piece was written for the opening cinematic sequence that told the back story.
MONKEY BRAINS
This one was written for a different project that hasn't been published yet. It's written as a demo theme for a race of giants who are kept as slaves.
SLAVE GIANTS
Unlike the other songs posted here, these are full songs. They were already written for other projects but I've been converting them to newer sounds with higher quality, etc... Enjoy.
The first is from a video game I did the music for a while back called Monkey Brains. This piece was written for the opening cinematic sequence that told the back story.
MONKEY BRAINS
This one was written for a different project that hasn't been published yet. It's written as a demo theme for a race of giants who are kept as slaves.
SLAVE GIANTS
Unlike the other songs posted here, these are full songs. They were already written for other projects but I've been converting them to newer sounds with higher quality, etc... Enjoy.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Bad musical ideas
So I was reading today online about the development of a Spiderman musical.
What?!
Are they serious? Does that not just scream "bad idea" to everyone?
I seriously cannot understand how some creators minds work. It has to be that they're only considering the intellectual property and basing the decision on an assumption that anything that's popular in a different form makes for a good marketing decision without any regard whatsoever for whether or not it actually works.
Superhero stories are, generally speaking about the action. Sure there could be some solid dramatic stuff behind the story (as we saw in Spiderman 2 done so well) but, ultimately, Spiderman is about a guy swinging from a web and kicking bad guys...
...while...uh...singing.... ???? COME ON!!!
What's next? The Incredible Hulk the musical?
It's ideas like this that give musical theater a bad rap. It reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Mel Gibson is doing a remake of Mister Smith Goes to Washington and they turn it into an action movie. Certain stories lend themselves to certain mediums. Others? Not so much.
Really, I wouldn't stage Spiderman as a play at all. It lends itself to a movie so very well. Why bother with a stage play? Save the space in the theater for something that lends itself to the medium. Something that's enhanced by live acting and audiences.
Musicals should be written based on subjects and ideas that are enhanced by setting them to music!
I would therefore like to take just a moment to reiterate that STEALTHMAN is not about a superhero. It is not a superhero musical. It is a musical about a guy who thinks he's a superhero, yes, but there will be no web swinging or flying. Especially not while singing!
What?!
Are they serious? Does that not just scream "bad idea" to everyone?
I seriously cannot understand how some creators minds work. It has to be that they're only considering the intellectual property and basing the decision on an assumption that anything that's popular in a different form makes for a good marketing decision without any regard whatsoever for whether or not it actually works.
Superhero stories are, generally speaking about the action. Sure there could be some solid dramatic stuff behind the story (as we saw in Spiderman 2 done so well) but, ultimately, Spiderman is about a guy swinging from a web and kicking bad guys...
...while...uh...singing.... ???? COME ON!!!
What's next? The Incredible Hulk the musical?
It's ideas like this that give musical theater a bad rap. It reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Mel Gibson is doing a remake of Mister Smith Goes to Washington and they turn it into an action movie. Certain stories lend themselves to certain mediums. Others? Not so much.
Really, I wouldn't stage Spiderman as a play at all. It lends itself to a movie so very well. Why bother with a stage play? Save the space in the theater for something that lends itself to the medium. Something that's enhanced by live acting and audiences.
Musicals should be written based on subjects and ideas that are enhanced by setting them to music!
I would therefore like to take just a moment to reiterate that STEALTHMAN is not about a superhero. It is not a superhero musical. It is a musical about a guy who thinks he's a superhero, yes, but there will be no web swinging or flying. Especially not while singing!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Leitmotif 3 - Sam
SAM
Okay, so Stealthman, being a superhero and an incarnation of Don Quixote, needs a sidekick, yes?
Enter Sam (placeholder name...who knows, maybe it'll stick). Sam is a homeless drug addict who Stealthman convinces to join him in his adventures. Sam sees it as an opportunity to take advantage of someone and so joins the old man, hoping to get something (drugs or money or whatever) out of it. Through the story, of course, Sam will grow, learn, change and, eventually actually care.
Here's the leitmotif I have for him.
SAM
Okay, so Stealthman, being a superhero and an incarnation of Don Quixote, needs a sidekick, yes?
Enter Sam (placeholder name...who knows, maybe it'll stick). Sam is a homeless drug addict who Stealthman convinces to join him in his adventures. Sam sees it as an opportunity to take advantage of someone and so joins the old man, hoping to get something (drugs or money or whatever) out of it. Through the story, of course, Sam will grow, learn, change and, eventually actually care.
Here's the leitmotif I have for him.
SAM
Sunday, December 7, 2008
'Til The End with Vocals
TIL THE END
Kinda just made up some of the lyrics as I sang for this one, but I wanted to show at least an idea of what it was supposed to sound like. First line is meant for female voice (I'm tired...so tired...let me rest...etc...) I'm thinking of reworking the chorus melody just a hair so it's less repetative...but I'm not sure. I kind of like it as is...so I'll let it stew for a while and come back to it.
TIL THE END
Kinda just made up some of the lyrics as I sang for this one, but I wanted to show at least an idea of what it was supposed to sound like. First line is meant for female voice (I'm tired...so tired...let me rest...etc...) I'm thinking of reworking the chorus melody just a hair so it's less repetative...but I'm not sure. I kind of like it as is...so I'll let it stew for a while and come back to it.
TIL THE END
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Leitmotif 2 - Doctor Nemesis
DOCTOR NEMESIS
Bad guy (at least in our hero's delusion) theme. (Meaning...he's bad in the delusion. The theme is no delusion.)
DOCTOR NEMESIS
Bad guy (at least in our hero's delusion) theme. (Meaning...he's bad in the delusion. The theme is no delusion.)
DOCTOR NEMESIS
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Leitmotif 1 - Stealthman
LEITMOTIF - STEALTHMAN
Okay, here's the first character theme. This one is probably the longest (we'll see) but does include 3 separate melodic ideas. This is intentional. The main idea is major and represents the wannabe hero. The second is minor and represents the crazy old man. The third is transitional, to build excitement, and represents the conflict of the character, etc...
LEITMOTIF - STEALTHMAN
Okay, here's the first character theme. This one is probably the longest (we'll see) but does include 3 separate melodic ideas. This is intentional. The main idea is major and represents the wannabe hero. The second is minor and represents the crazy old man. The third is transitional, to build excitement, and represents the conflict of the character, etc...
LEITMOTIF - STEALTHMAN
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Leitmotif and Reprise
So I'm a big fan of leitmotif and reprise. My ideas about how leitmotif should work are fairly simplistic though - more akin to John Williams than Richard Wagner. In particular, I want my leitmotif's to be easilly recognizable, eminantly singable and familiar - in a word - catchy. I don't want people to need PhDs in music theory to be able to recognize every moment of leitmotif I use.
In STEALTHMAN, I intend on assigning themes to each of the characters and maybe to situations or places. These will be orchestral themes, vs. sung themes (but may be the main part sung on certain songs (the chorus or verse) though more likely will be the instrumental core of certain songs.) By doing this I hope to create a familiarity of emotion that I can use to strengthen ideas and scenes.
I intend to use reprise the same way. I don't view reprise in the same manner as some musicals - which would be just a restatement of the most dominant song, resung at the end of the musical. Yes, I might do just that in some places, if appropriate. But I feel reprise is one of the most powerful tools in a musical composer's arsenal, and consequently should be used extensively. I expect the last several scenes will be mostly developed using reprise. But not just reprise for reprise's sake. The intent is to use it as a powerful means of bringing home points or driving home thoughts and emotions. Reprise, when used correctly, can really bring a sense of warmth and familiarity and can carry a huge amount of emotional impact. Of course, if used incorrectly it can feel very cheap too.
Emotion is what it's all about. A strong musical conveys strong emotion. That's not to say it's always dramatic emotion. It can be comedy or light-heartedness as well. But I want my musical's emotion to be strong. The obvious prime difference in a musical as compared to a play is music (duh). And music is a medium for conveying emotion. It is capable of strengthening emotional moments. I find it interesting that a lot of people talk about hating musicals...the predominant reason given being that it's unrealistic and dumb to have people just randomly break into song. And yet, they love movies. I can't help but wonder if they would love the movies as much without the musical score. But is it realistic to have dramatic music underscore an intense situation? Of course not. I agree that some musicals and musical moments are cheesy and dumb. But so are some movie scores. A well done musical is strengthened by the music just like a good movie score strengthens the movie and helps to bring greater emotion to it.
Anyhow, I think it will work really well for me to present character themes for the blog because at this early stage of the musical's development, I'm mostly limited to orchestral work (unless I record myself singing in the living room - something I'm not hugely inclined to do too much because it's a lot of work without a lot of purpose behind it.) So over the next several posts I will introduce some ideas for character themes - which may or may not end up being what I actually use.
In STEALTHMAN, I intend on assigning themes to each of the characters and maybe to situations or places. These will be orchestral themes, vs. sung themes (but may be the main part sung on certain songs (the chorus or verse) though more likely will be the instrumental core of certain songs.) By doing this I hope to create a familiarity of emotion that I can use to strengthen ideas and scenes.
I intend to use reprise the same way. I don't view reprise in the same manner as some musicals - which would be just a restatement of the most dominant song, resung at the end of the musical. Yes, I might do just that in some places, if appropriate. But I feel reprise is one of the most powerful tools in a musical composer's arsenal, and consequently should be used extensively. I expect the last several scenes will be mostly developed using reprise. But not just reprise for reprise's sake. The intent is to use it as a powerful means of bringing home points or driving home thoughts and emotions. Reprise, when used correctly, can really bring a sense of warmth and familiarity and can carry a huge amount of emotional impact. Of course, if used incorrectly it can feel very cheap too.
Emotion is what it's all about. A strong musical conveys strong emotion. That's not to say it's always dramatic emotion. It can be comedy or light-heartedness as well. But I want my musical's emotion to be strong. The obvious prime difference in a musical as compared to a play is music (duh). And music is a medium for conveying emotion. It is capable of strengthening emotional moments. I find it interesting that a lot of people talk about hating musicals...the predominant reason given being that it's unrealistic and dumb to have people just randomly break into song. And yet, they love movies. I can't help but wonder if they would love the movies as much without the musical score. But is it realistic to have dramatic music underscore an intense situation? Of course not. I agree that some musicals and musical moments are cheesy and dumb. But so are some movie scores. A well done musical is strengthened by the music just like a good movie score strengthens the movie and helps to bring greater emotion to it.
Anyhow, I think it will work really well for me to present character themes for the blog because at this early stage of the musical's development, I'm mostly limited to orchestral work (unless I record myself singing in the living room - something I'm not hugely inclined to do too much because it's a lot of work without a lot of purpose behind it.) So over the next several posts I will introduce some ideas for character themes - which may or may not end up being what I actually use.
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