The future, in short

Now that the Film scoring program that I was going to attend has been cancelled, I've found something to do in the meantime.
I'm going to work on the railroad a bit longer (to save up some more dinero for future endeavours), but I'm also going to write a freaking novel. I know, I know. I'm not really a writer, but I'll have help.
My friend Ben and I are going to get busy writing a small epic, based in a steampunk world. I know, right? Steampunk is awesome!
Anyways, Ben recently brought to my attention NaNoWriMo, more specifically, National Novel Writing Month. The premise is that during the month of November, the challenge is to write (minimum) 50,000 words.
I know what you're thinking, and the answer is "of course I'll have time to do both the writing challenge, and compose a film score for Mike Stromenger's Curtain Call, and work as a manager for a railroad office full time.
Anyways, more than any of these things, I am super excited to get back home to my wife, which is only less than a week from now.

A dark day in Gotham

Actually, this has nothing to do with Gotham, what it does have to do with is the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program and it's existence in my life.
It has been cancelled due to lack of participants. Apparently a few of e students who were enrolled were not able to follow through with the commitment (for whatever reason), and the program couldn't exist with so few participants.
Needless to say, i was pretty bummed out. I was ready for the adventure and the work/experience.
So what do i do now? Well, i think it may be time to start looking for the elusive "job in the industry", not that i lack for things to do, but... you know, a brothas gots to get paid!
Now i can put my efforts into existing projects, like Michael's Curtain Call, while searching for other jobs. The dream... partnering with Ben Larson and taking the music by storm.
In other, more redeeming news, today is my seventh wedding anniversary. Good job Ruth, and i miss you.
In other fun news, i was just at Sturgis riding around on a motorcycle, that was fun!

1 month left...

...until I return to the PNW. I'm very excited for this, because it's been a while. The downside is that I'll only have a few days before I move.
"Where am I moving," you ask, to which I would respond, "haven't you been reading my blog religiously?"
And then you would say sheepishly, "sorry, but I've got better things to do."
With a look of flabergasted surprise, I exclaim, "wow, and here I thought we were friends!"
To which you reply, "those who assume..."
Yes, yes. Well, I'm enrolled in a year long film scoring certification program, which is located in Seattle... well, more specifically on Mercer Island. And if everything works out, Matthew (my future roomate/current friend) found us an apartment right on the island. w00t!
So because I've never been east of I5 in Seattle, I've been doing some research, and here are a couple pictures:

Apple fail. MOTU wins

...at least in the race to come out with the first iPod/Phone/Pad DAW control.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, this is a convenience thing in order to control your Digital Audio Workstation.
After reading this article from Create Digital Music, it left me feeling a little sad inside. I figured that Apple would definitely be the first to come out with a native application for controlling it's own DAW. It's one of the things that I've wanted for a while in my studio, so that when I'm laying down a track on my digital drumset I don't have to get up and walk over to my keyboard to stop recording.
Not only was MOTU first to release this, but they're giving it away to users of DP 7.2. If I didn't love Logic (Apple's DAW) so much, this would be just one more thing... but I do love Logic. So I will continue to wait... but not too long Apple.
I want it. NOW!!!! (Dammit, I'm an American) I want it yesterday!

A slow day

Not much going on right now (besides my current day job).
Waiting for Mike S. to finish filming Curtain Call so that we can start chatting about the score.
Just got the score for Iron Man 2 (Amazon.com, iTunes). It's okay, but I'm still really obsessed with the score for Inception(Amazon.com (cheaper than iTunes for this one!)). I'm also excited about the score for Predators, which doesn't get released until next month, or this next week at ComicCon (if you're one of the lucky few), oh yeah, and the Batman Special Edition 2-disk set (La La Land Records).
Also, Matthew has begun the hunt for an apartment for us in Seattle. Exciting stuff!
Not too much else, so I'll leave you with this picture:

It was brought to my attention by my wife on Facebook, and is from The Telegraph.
Also, I'd like to see some new blog posts (I'm looking at Herr, Mikey, Stromenger, Matthew), because I'm sick of twitter feeds and I want some actual meat to the information I'm taking in.

Inception by Zimmer

I have to say, upon first listen to this score I wasn't surprised, and for some reason, it didn't overly impress me.
I don't know why, but the brass sound that is a Zimmer standard really irritated me. I kept going back to thinking the brass sounded exactly like that of Pirates (which the timbre of it does) and my ear rejected the sound.
Another reason for the possible distaste... could be the overall ambient sound of the score. I get it, a lot of the movie centers around people going into dreams and doing stuff, and ambience is very dreamlike, but can be boring. These bits actually reminds me a little bit of another Zimmer score: Frost/Nixon.
So I left the score alone for a couple days and read a couple reviews (1, 2) of the movie and score, and I'm glad to say that I did, because sweet baby Jesus, this is one frakkin' awesome score!
It's big, beefy, and really quite epic! It's crazy and seems very logical for the subject matter. It has everything (but woodwinds... I keed, I keed) from sweet mind blowing action cues, to very open ambient/atmospheric chords (not as cool as Debussy's Nuages, but still damn cool).
If you're a fan of the action cues, then you need to listen to "Dream is Collapsing". It ends with huge brass stings and an octave motif in the strings. Its so huge that I have to turn down the volume a bit so my coworkers don't get mad at me.
Another great, quick-feeling cue is "Mombassa". This cue is very reminiscent of some of the Dark Knight music because of the loop-like synthy percussion. But its so cool! The way Zimmer weaves the synths with guitar strings and the percussion. This definitely gets the blood pumping!
I'm not sure how much Zimmer used the trailer music for reference, or if he had any input on the trailer music when he was composing, but there are a couple spots where the familiar brass sting is quoted, and it's so awesome to hear that. Zack Hemsey did such a great job (coloring between the lines) with his music for the third inception trailer, that many people confused him with Zimmer, but that's a good thing. Having written that I must say that one of my favorite parts is the score is when the stings happen in a very strange and wonderfully orchestrated manner, at about 2:30 in the beautiful cue "Paradox".
I'm very excited to see this movie, especially after having let the score marinate and then blow my mind.

Three Movies

This weekend I was able to see three movies with various members of my family.

The first was Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. I went in thinking it would be a fun, popcorn film with a score by one of my favorite film composers. And that's exactly what I got. Despite all the deaths in the movie, it is very lighthearted and fun, and Powell's score plays this really well. One of the main themes was similar to what he did for the Assassin's Tango in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It was a fun movie to see and listen to.

The next film I saw was The Last Airbender, which seems to be mostly rejected by critics... 8% on rottentomatoes.com is really not good.
However, I have a softspot in my heart for Shyamalan, and I definitely liked the story behind the movie. I was very disappointed in the writing though. I didn't do a ton of research about this film before I saw it, so I didn't know that Shyamalan wrote it. I only thought he was the director, so I thought this would be his chance to redeem himself. In the writing, he failed. There were quite a few lines that were very unnecessary, following in the direction of The Happening. The redemption for me of anything bad though, is James Newton Howard's score. It definitely exemplifies and encompasses the world. It is very warm and rich. I love it a lot.

And finally, a film you should see if you loved Predator, Predators!
Holy shit this movie is awesome! It stays right in the vein of Predator in almost every respect. The effects were great, especially since the predators were not CGI but practical.
And the score completely stood up. It was a great homage to Silvestri's score to Predator, which was awesome. Debney's score to predator had some great quotes, and some great new features, like some wicked synth. It was like listening to a new recording of the old score, because this style is far removed from the Zimmerish action scores of this era. It was wonderful and quite nostalgic. I loved it and wished that more were like this (but if more were like it, it probably wouldn't be so special).
The one thing I didn't like in this score though, was an electronic percussion loop that Debney used for about 15 seconds in the last fight scene.
Overall, however, loved it!

A great 4th

I hope that you all had a great fourth of July. Mine had an unexpected surprise... The wife was able to fly out to minnesota to hang out over the weekend. So, not only was that awesome, but she also informed me that my Varese Sarabande recording of Star Trek had came, so now I get to enjoy that too!
Anyways, I'll continue the hard work in preparation for my next adventure.

Summertime, and the living's...

busy.
I forgot to mention it on here before I shipped off to the land of sugar-beets and soy, I'm going to be pretty busy working the next couple months, so posts here my be a little more sporadic than they are usually.
I've gots ta work, so I can afford to go to the PNW film scoring program.
So for this week, I hope you are doing well.

I'm on the Podcast

The Chronicles of the Nerds invited me onto their podcast this week.
So i told a short anecdote about the inception of their intro song, and contributed overall to their stream of consciousness conversation.
Go check it out, and if you haven't yet, you should subscribe!

A graduation gift?

I don't know how you all feel about this, but it makes me very, very happy.
I just read that there is going to be a Star Trek Deluxe Edition score release that includes:
...over an hour of additional, unreleased music and sequences it into a chronological presentation of nearly 100 minutes of music from the film, including the final film version of the Main Title.
The elaborate and beautiful, 2-CD packaging includes a 28-page, full-color booklet (in the dimensions of a Blue-Ray disc case), with new liner notes by Starlog Magazine founder Kerry O'Quinn.
This is being (edit: the offering is from Varese Sarabande, but can be ordered from SAE) offered by SAE, and will be released on June 17th. This may just become a graduation gift to myself. Thank you 8 lb. 6 oz., newborn infant Jesus.
While I'm here, don't forget to contribute to the Curtain Call Kickstarter Fund. Help support this effort, and feel good that you're helping me gain experience.

The Climax of 4 years

The last couple weeks have been hellah busy. Lots of rehearsal for my senior recital. The Ruth and I went to San Francisco for our friends' wedding (congrats Greens!).

Then we got back from San Fran and had to clean the house in order to create a clean space for my parents impending visit.
Next is more practice for my recital, and rehearsals for the Bloch Sacred Service choral concert.
Then on Thursday, my Senior Recital, which was pretty awesome... more on that later. Then on Friday, my friend Stella had her recital, in which she played one of my compositions. Then on Saturday, my friend Matthew had his recital. Sunday, the last concert I will be involved in as a student at PSU.
Whew. That was a lot of stuff.
But now I'm done (for all intents and purposes), and ready to let my brain rest for a second.
Next up: go to North Dakota and build some railroads to earn money to pay for the PNW Film Scoring program.
But now for the recital. I loved it. And why shouldn't I? I wrote the music. But seriously, I was really happy with it, and my professors seemed pleased as well. Even better though, I think my friends who performed enjoyed it as well.

Curtain Call to Arms

Alright. Not really to arms. But, Curtain Call (17 episode murder-mystery web series) does need your help. Michael Stromenger (director, writer) has started a "kickstarter" project to try and get some financial backing for the project.
Kickstarter is an online program for people to make donations (small through large). The goal in this case is $2500. If you could help out, that would be spectacular. There aren't many days left to reach the goal, and we aren't that far away from it. If the goal isn't reached, you won't be charged your donation. If it is reached, you won't be charged until June 11th.
here is Mike's video on facebook
and here is the kickstarter page.
In other news, I got an email from PSU telling me that I will be graduating summa cum laude. Is that good?

They like me, they really really like me (my money)

Nah, but seriously, I am so excited. I've been accepted into the Certificate Program at the PNW Film Scoring Program. It seems like a logical next step for someone getting their Bachelor's in music composition, and who wants to score films, videogames, and TV shows.
The program lasts from September through the beginning of July. Location: Seattle. This means huge life changes coming up. Stay tuned.

Another week closer

Here is the cover for my finished Senior Recital Music book. It's thick (about 3/4 of an inch) and heavy... and honestly, pretty cool.
Now that that step is done, I'm working on the program notes and the program.
Also, working on the logistics for rehearsals, which is kind of stressing me out. Anyways, back to it. Have a good week everyone!

About a month to go

In a little over four weeks, the time of my senior recital will be upon us.
Am I scared... no. Am I nervous... maybe a little.
I've finished the first draft of my last piece for the concert, so I don't have to compose any "new music" per se. Overall it turned into about 9 pieces, with a couple sets. Here's the list in tentative order:
1. The Wooden Sonata (for clarinet and marimba)

• I.     Come i denti dentellati (like serrated teeth (the piece is mainly in 5/8))
• II.   Adagio
• III. Allegro con gusto

2. No More, America (for men's choir)
3. Silence (Vocal pieces for mezzo voice and piano)

• I.   EA Poe
• II.  JW Riley

4. Seduction of a Spanish Supervillan (Trio for piano, violin, and cello)
5. Hero's Humble Home (fiddle and santur)
6. The Shanty Set

• I.     Katy on the Shore (mandolin, fiddle, two baritone voices)
• II.   The Fiddler's Hook (2 fiddles)
• III. The Assassin's Flight (2 guitars, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bass, and voice)

In other news, I've put links for the maelstrom soundtrack on the right... so send your friends there, the rich ones.
Did you guess the model we based our recital poster on? Well, here it is:

The Schumanns

Maelstrom on iTunes!!!!

Does this mean that we've made it?
Maelstrom - The Zombie Opera is now on iTunes. Go here to check it out.
It is also available on Amazon.com here.
And the best deal can be had by purchasing it from CDBaby.com here.
Help support the next opera by getting a copy of this soundtrack.

Maelstrom... back from the dead

Although the title of this post would make for a great title for a sequel to Maelstrom - The Zombie Opera, I'm actually referring to Maelstrom's soundtrack, which is now available for purchase on CDBaby.
Check it out HERE. Each purchase goes toward the next opera. It's so good...er, it will be.
It has take a long time and countless hours of laziness, but finally, with the help of my friend Dan (of Chronicles of the Nerds fame, and an employee at CDBaby) we finally have an offering for people to purchase and listen to the music from Maelstrom.
Also, if you haven't bought a DVD yet, they are still available HERE.
Also, in honor of this occasion, we've put up a couple videos from the show on YouTube for your enjoyment.

Not much school left

7 1/2 weeks left of school. That's a little scary.
Things are starting to fall in place, however, so that's a good thing. Although, my composition professor suggested I write two more songs than what I had originally planned for.
So what do I have left? 2 songs, and I have to find a men's choir to sing one of my pieces.
Here is the playlist in no particular order:

• Clarinet and Marimba Sonata -- 15'
• Piano Trio -- 10'
• Men's Choral Piece -- 3'
• Vocal piece for Mezzo and Piano -- 5'
• Violin and Santur Folksong -- 5'
• Shanty for Bluegrass band and baritone-- 5'
• Shanty for Mandolin, Fiddle, and 2 Baritones -- 5'

• 2nd Vocal Piece -- 5' ??
• Shanty Intelude -- 3' ??

So there you have it. An hour's worth of music. The trickiest thing will be rehearsing the bluegrass band (I think). I heard the first rehearsal of the piano trio, and was really impressed. They're going to rock it for sure.
What will I be doing? You mean, besides having written all of this? Well, I'll be playing rhythm guitar and singing for the Bluegrass Shanty, and I'll be playing Mandolin for the 2nd shanty.
Also, a poster is in the works, so watch out for that. June 3rd at the Old Church. Get your plane tickets now...

A big Easter

It began last night with the witnessing of some of the best Rock and Roll I've ever seen. MUSE! (turn down the volume before you play the video. It's loud.)

The show was so good. Those guys definitely know how to rock!
Then, I received from the easter bunny (in the form of a greeting card my mom sent) 20 iTunes dollars. I've been eyeing Garry Schyman's score for Dante's Inferno, and I know that the score for Fringe is being released on April 20th. Assuming that I will get those 2 anyway, do you have any suggestions for an iTunes score/soundtrack that I should get? And Why?
Oh yeah... Happy Easter everyone.