I like film (and TV) scores. Music from studio films is often released in CD or download formats. Many of the great scores of the past were French: Tirez sure le Pianiste (music by Georges Delerue); Cleo de 5 a 7 (Michel Legrand); Jules et Jim (Delerue); Parapluies de Cherbourg (Legrand). In the 1930s and 40s, many composers influenced by Mahler fled to the U.S. and found jobs in Hollywood; a major improvement in Hollywood film music was one result. (If you think that Mahler ‘sounds like movie music’ you’re right, in a way; but it’s the other way ’round.) Recent American (or mostly American) films with superlative music include Kill Bill 1, Collateral, Paycheck, and of course The Mission.

I also like Radio IO (www.radioio.com). If you pay an annual subscription, you get music, and only  music, streamed to your computer; you avoid the really annoying ads their no-pay audio channels run. So I’m happy to pay to hear music that no station in this area (Washington, D.C.) would touch — including serious classical music (rather than ‘safe’ classical music), — and an all-soundtracks channel.

What I don’t like are soundtracks presented one cut at a time, five minutes of Star Wars and then three minutes of Dexter and four minutes of Titanic, and so on. I want to hear the composer’s presentation of his music straight through, just as I want to see a film straight through, see a play straight through, and hear a symphony straight through.

I sent this message to Michael Matheny at RadioIO: “Excellent choices. But it’s disconcerting to hear the music jumping from album to album, rather than playing complete scores. Music for a film should be heard as a whole, just as films should be seen as a whole, not jumbled up with scenes from other films.”

I received a response, making the point that some cuts in a soundtrack album are weaker than others. That’s true. But some symphonic movements (the classical third movement in many cases) can be weaker than the other three movements. We don’t skip them just because they’re pretty much a change of pace, a breather before the heavy stuff begins again. There’s a reason the composer wrote these movements, and we need to recognize that. And soundtrack albums aren’t literally what you heard in a theatre; the composer has room to ‘revise and extend his remarks’ as they say in the Senate; to shape an album from the music he composed for a film (some of which may not have made it into the theatrical release); to create an artistic whole. This, also, should be recognized; and respected.

Also, it isn’t the case that RadioIO just skips an inferior cut here and there — their soundtracks channel plays one cut from film ‘A’ and then switches to film ‘B’, and then on to ‘C’. If you wait long enough, you’ll hear the ‘A’ cut you should have heard where it belonged.

<END>

Electric Sheep Film Club: The Lodger – a story of the London fog (1927)

For the eighth meeting of the Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re showing the classic London-set thriller about paranoia in the days of Jack the Ripper:

The Lodger – a story of the London fog (1927)

15 frames from the opening of The Lodger by Alfred Hitchcock

Considered by Hitchcock as his first real film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a silent sexual psychodrama set in a foggy, gloomy London terrorised by a killer loosely modelled on Jack the Ripper. As blonde women are murdered around the city, a sinister gentleman takes up lodgings at the house of an elderly couple and is soon showing an interest in their pretty blonde daughter. A real sense of menace pervades the story and the visual inventiveness makes the film a fantastic treat.

Do not miss this very special, one-off event: we are very proud to present the acclaimed musicians Minima who will be performing a live, improvised rescore of the film. Minima will be doing a Q & A after the film with ESM assistant editor Alex Fitch.
Please note the later than usual starting time.

Price: £6.50/£5.00 Prince Charles members
Certificate PG
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock, UK 1927

Wednesday 2nd November, 9pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com

FILM WRITING COMPETITION:
Film students and aspiring film writers are invited to enter our film writing competition: write a 200-word review of the screening of The Lodger with rescore by Minima and send it to ladyvengeance[at]electricsheepmagazine.com, marked ‘Film writing competition’ in the subject line. A film professional will select the best review, in this instance Ian Francis, co-director of 7 Inch Cinema and Flatpack Festival, which returns in March 2010. Deadline: December 16.
The selected review will be published on the Electric Sheep website. This is a regular feature of the Electric Sheep Film Club. You can read last month’s winning review of Repulsion here.

IMDb page for The Lodger
View 1000 frames of The Lodger at the ‘Hitchcock wiki’
Listen to Electric Sheep assistant editor Alex Fitch talk to BBC sound engineer Robin Warren about Hitchcock’s Notorious, to Alex Hogg from Minima about scoring silent movies and to Oscar winning director Joseph Strick in our most recent podcast

In association with

Recommended events:

Woodrow Phoenix at Brighton Library
Woodrow Phoenix, esteemed author of the astonishing graphic road-rage-busting RUMBLE STRIP, and so much else, will be doing his thing at the Jubilee Library this coming Thursday 3rd December at 6pm. His publishers Myriad Editions would be delighted if you could join them for a pre-Christmas drink and to hear Woodrow talk about art, words, life, and his experience of comic workshopping with 150 kids at a go, during his recent British Council tour of India.

Jubilee Library, Jubilee St, Brighton, BN1 1GE

Thursday 3rd December at 6pm…

Bad Santa screening

Sasquatch Cinema is a monthly film night held at the new Shortwave cinema in 10 Bermondsey Square, London, SE1 3UN (Tel: 0207 357 6845). / nearest tube Borough (Northern line).

We will be showing an eclectic range of films including cult classics and rarities you may not have seen before.

The next film we will be showing is a late night screening of Bad Santa – staring Billy Bob Thornton on Friday, 11th December at 22:30.
The traditional Christmas tale will never be the same with the cleverly twisted, merrily irreverent story of a Santa so bad he’s wickedly funny. This is one of the best Christmas movie’s of all times.
The cinema has a bar, and you can even bring your drinks in and watch the film!

The entry fee is £5.00. Tickets are sold on the night on a first come – first served basis. Email: gabzucc[at]yahoo.com for more info.

Please view Sasquatch Cineama’s facebook / myspace pages for more details about the film

At last, some buzz is going around about how artists and composers get ripped off by so-called music submission services. Other than music publishers who get their publisher’s share of royalties once they have placed a song (and the song generates money) such submission services charge fees right before they even take action. Annual membership fees (from ‘Basic’ to ‘Platinum’), per-submission-fees (anytime an artist wants them to submit a song to a potential client) or even a combination of both – these ‘companies’ still seem to be successful using a make-believe tactic, trying to tell all those often unexperienced artists that this is how the business really works.

Now anybody in a healthy state of mind can do the math:

If a music publisher places a song and the song generates 20,000.00 in royalties, his publisher’s share of 50% / 40% (depending on type and country) will still be a lot more than the submission fee of, say, 100 bucks. So why settle for less? There are two possible answers:

1. Those submission services count on the money (submission and membership fees) they still get from the large number of ‘failures’
2. Those submission services know damn well that they won’t be able to place a song due to their lack of contacts and thus won’t be able to make any money in back end royalties
Option 3 would be a combination of both, which is probably the only truth.

Now I have personally talked to a few people who are very successful in the music business and I read Jim Peterik’s (of Survivor) statement in “Songwriting For Dummies” (real fun) and they all shared the same experience:

You don’t pay song pluggers and publishers up front. Never. Everybody gets a piece of the cake at the end and that’s how they want it. Because they know there’s far more money to make than by collecting some up front service fee.

I am not sure about how music supervisors, ad agencies and record labels see such submission services, but I’m making a plea for professional music users (and artists too) to avoid dealing with “services”, “pluggers” and “libraries” who charge their artists regardless of any success. Since such submission services need to take on (and charge for) every piece of music in order to secure their income, the greater part of quality music will probably be found in serious places.

Think about it – and act !!!

Julian Angel
www.soundsofaction.com
The Loudest Music Library

Happy Holidays 2009! Tis the season of giving and in that spirit we would like to give you a gift. From December 1st to the 31st we want you to have unlimited downloads of our book, Session Singing in Hollywood. With each purchase of Session Singing in Hollywood you will be provided a link for you to send to your talented singer friends! With this link each recipient will get a copy of our book AND the free 15-minute consultation with us. Now is the time to get YOUR copy of Session Singing in Hollywood as well as give this limited time gift to your friends!

CLICK HERE: Buy the Book!

Have a Merry Christmas, Kewl Kwanza and Happy Hanukkah!

Elin and John

“Melodious Fast” song is almost like an oxymoron because generally fast songs are not expected to be very melodious but they will be foot tapping and dance-worthy. Indian music especially Tamil music has many fast songs but 90% of them are very noisy and they don’t last long in the minds of the listeners.

Thankfully amidst all this din, there are are many songs which are very peppy and also melodious. Such songs show the true class of the composers because they are not easy to compose because you have to keep the beat pretty fast and yet make it pleasing to listen. Here I am listing some beautiful such songs across languages in random order, read it as Song-Movie-Composer.

1. Ooru Vittu Ooru Vandhu—Karakaattukkaaran—Ilaiyaraja—A kuthu-like folk in Shanmukhapriya raaga, the charanams are sheer joy with amazing variations by Malaysia Vasudevan, the singer.
2. Meherbaan—Perummazhakaalam—M.Jayachandran—A Malayalam marriage song, extremely catchy with fantastic harmonium interludes.
3. Kajraare—Bunty Aur Babli—Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy—A super-hit song, spanning multiple genres.
4. O Ranga Srilanka—Singaaravelan—Ilaiyaraja—One song to show the modulation abilities of SPB, fabulous stuff.
5. Kay Sera Sera—Pukar—A.R.Rahman—Begins like a disco song but becomes a mellifluous Hamsadhwani in the charanams.
6. Prayam Nammil—Niram—Vidyasagar—A song I discovered quite recently, set in Madhyamavathy raaga, sung with gusto by P.Jayachandran & Sujatha especially at the end of the charanams.
7. Varaaga Nadhikkarai Oram—Sangamam—A.R.Rahman—One of best-sung songs of Shankar Mahadevan.
8. Peigala Nambaadhey—Mahanadhi—Ilaiyaraja—Set in Jog raaga with awesome ghatam beats and sung well by Kamalahaasan.
9. Thanni Thotti—Sindhu Bhairavi—Ilaiyaraja—You can’t believe that Yesudas sang this number!
10. Jogi Mahi—Bachna Ae Haseeno—Vishal & Shekhar—A catchy Punjabi-flavoured number which becomes very melodious in the charanams, Shekhar is indeed a very good singer.
11. Soona Soona—Classically Mild (album)—Deepak Pandit—This Hindustani-meets-rock song is sung amazingly by Sonu Nigam, who does every possible vocal gymnastics.
12. Unakkum Enakkum—Sri Raghavendra—Ilaiyaraja—Can a song sound sensual and catchy and melodious too, maybe it can when the Maestro composes! Credit also to Malaysia Vasudevan & S.Janaki, who have sung it brilliantly.

There are many more such songs, have just listed a few of them. These songs are what we call today “fusion music” and many of these have been composed many decades back, only that they were not called as such.

I recently finished scoring a short film by Josiah Signor – Homecoming. I attempted to illustrate the emotions of this intimate and moving film with the simple instrumentation of clarinet, viola, cello, piano, harp, and percussion.

Win the new 16GB exclusive RED iPOD (it shoots VIDEO!) by simply visiting the ALM Talkies Newsletter and SUBSCRIBING NO LATER THAN DEC. 2 . . . THAT’S IT! You could be the winner. Already subscribed to the ALM Talkies newsletter? No worries, you’ll automatically be entered.

The first week of Girl In The Reds Dress Giveaway starts Nov. 26, and is sponsored by THE REDS. The first winner’s iPOD Nano will be loaded with three songs by The Reds, SIDEBUSTER, DIGGIN’ IT and BIG TOWN, PLUS a brand new film short by British director, Peter McAdam, of The Reds song SO LONG, and the first winner gets two Reds pins.

Also loaded on the iPOD, for every winner, will be Girl In The Red Dress: EP, single “Who’s That Girl,” and artwork, Dirty Step Upstage: Trailer, featurettes, unseen stills, and exclusive music video preview, a personalized video to the winner using the iPod nano video recorder, and Dirty Up Stage promotional pins, and DSU movie poster!

Hey, before you click over to the ALM Talkies web site, SUBSCRIBE to THE REDS BLOG, to get The Reds news and promotion info first.

-Posted by Tarock Music

As promised, here’re pictures of our cute little student orchestra that features in the film ‘FOREVER’!

The kids have been practicing hard and I must say they’re a really impressive lot of ’students’!

It would’ve been a dream to have a larger and more balanced orchestra, but nonetheless, I’m proud of what our ‘dream team’ has achieved within such a short time and with so few rehearsals! Well done guys!

I know you ladies are itching to see more pictures of the male lead of the show, Mo Zi-Yi. I shall snag a pic or two for more behind-the-scenes to the film

Some of you may be wondering why the music scoring and rehearsals with this student orchestra is taking place before the shooting of the film. Well, in most films, my job only begins in post-production, where the draft/rough cut of the film is given for me to score and record before going for its final preparations for the big screen.

However, in some special movies, like this one, music is a central theme/feature of the film itself. Almost like filming a musical, wouldn’t be possible to write what the singers and actors sing after the filming’s all done, eh? You get the idea. heh.

Have also done a major overhaul to the layout of this webpage of mine. Neater and easier to navigate, I think. Any feedback? :p

Don’t get distracted by Kate Moss – listen. It’s one sexual piece of music. It couldn’t fit any better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlVwjzyCvZM.

Yours truly

Julian Angel
www.soundsofaction.com

“So Long,” a garage rock noir film short by British director, Peter McAdam (mcdada.com), was released today by Tarock Music.

“So Long” is track 9 on THE REDS album, Early Nothing (Tarock Music © 2009).

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY OF “SO LONG” FROM YouTUBE

The album EARLY NOTHING can be purchased from CD BABY, DIGSTATION, AMAZON, iTUNES, and other popular download sites.

- Posted by Tarock Music

i was very, very lucky to win tickets to a preview screening of the take that circus live dvd, at the hammersmith apollo (where a film was shown in the former cinema for the first time in 25 years!) which was introduced to us by the lovely boys themselves. i had also been lucky enough to be at the front of the crowd for the wembley tour date where the dvd was shot, and it was so much fun trying to spot myself and my friends in the crowd. the screening reminded me of how amazing that concert had been, the fantastic feat of the giant mechanical elephant which brought the boys the stage, the hot air balloon suspended above wembley stadium, the circus performers and the sheer size of the 86,000-strong crowd.

my blog is all about the people and the things that inspire me, and my childhood heroes are four of the most inspirational guys in the music industry today. on that horrible day back in february 1996 when gary announced that the rumours were true and they were splitting up, i had no inkling that one day they would be back, bigger and better then ever before. their comeback could not have been better scripted if it were a hollywood movie, and my heart swells with pride and my face breaks out in a grin from ear-to-ear when i consider the feat of what they have achieved since 2006. they are four of the nicest, most genuine guys, who are obviously enjoying every minute of their fame, and appreciating it, whilst also taking the time to thank all those who have offered their support.

gary, mark, jason, howard, i love thee.

It’s been a loooong time since I last posted – I’ve been so swarmed, truth be told!

The past few weeks have been crazy just writing non-stop for the film <FOREVER>, which begins shooting this week!

As such apart from my no-life writing, writing and re-writing day and night, there’s hardly been any other ongoings.

Well, rehearsals for the film started today, with me running through parts with the ’student orchestra’ as well as giving pointers to Mo Zi-Yi,

the male lead in the show. Strangely enough, his character in the show is a direct mapping of my real life job as music teacher, composer and guitarist! Hmm…

Here’re some pictures of him!

He played a rocker in a previous Taiwanese film, apparently…

Here he is again, far right:

Looks like a Korean heart-throb, eh, ladies?

Anyway, away from the eye candy and glitz, a picture from our rehearsal earlier this afternoon!

TENG also appeared in the Nov 09 issue of Expat Magazine! Gotta thank Duff Hughes for the great pics…

More behind-the-scenes pics as we plough through shooting and rehearsals, promise! Meantime, keep well and travel smart, my friends!

Starting to put together my list of favorite/least favorite movies, music and tv for 2009 for the show.

What would be on your list for favorite/least favorite?

Let us know and we will read some of the lists when we do the year end wrap up in a couple weeks!!

cand avem timp, poate vorbim si despre rasaritul de soare in berceni.

Christopher John Curcio is currently composing and arranging 2 orchestral pieces for a PBS documentary, scheduled to air in early 2010. It will part of the 3rd Season of the highly acclaimed and award winning PBS Television Series, “Wyoming Portraits.”

Back in 2oo2 Beau McClellan, producer of the theatre art performance show Fulgor, asked me to co-write and produce music for the show which was staged in Almancil, Algarve for Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, The show involved 75 performers and four stages at the famous golf course location Pinheiros Altos. A studio was designed by Beau and I for the event. Recently some new footage has been added into a short promo video I put together for the event which i have now re-edited and out on you tube… and here it is!!

There are literally thousands of possibilities to underscore romantic scenes with music in film.
As for instrumental music a grand piano comes to mind; just think of the scores in legendary super-romantic “Pretty Woman”. When romance gets one step further a saxophone has established itself as an ideal instrument.
If music with vocals comes in, though, options are definitely overwhelming:

A music supervisor will not just have to pick any romantic, balladesque piece of music, she will also have to make a decision about

- genre (yes, something slow; but should it be pop, rock, r&b, AC, country…?)
- vocal type (male, female or both)
- lyrical message (which lyrics fit the scene best)

Only then will it come down to picking the best piece available, but choice will still be overwhelming: Since most movies are about love and relationships, many songwriters seem to target such scenes and come up with loads of love songs. So here’s to the music supervisors working on ‘romantic projects’…

Yours truly

Julian Angel
www.soundsofaction.com

How many times have you been pleasantly surprised by an unexpected act of service? Maybe when you went to the grocery store and asked the produce guy how a new kind of apple tastes, and instead of getting a description, you get a free sample. Maybe you expected an annual bonus from work and the check was 20% more than last year. Maybe you asked your kids to clean up their rooms and you came home to your kitchen being cleaned up as well. Perhaps a problematic credit card company reversed a late charge even when they did not have to. You know how that feels, and you remember who made you feel that way. This is the impact you leave when you give more than what is asked of you.

Coupled along with the concept of versatility is the effort of doing more than expected. Without a doubt a significant part of anyone’s success is because they do more than I am asked for.

For John, that might take the form of needing to add one of his other talents – conducting, playing keyboard, and writing/arranging – when in a session.

Here’s John:
“In some situations it’s a matter of being available to be the conductor of a group when no additional conductor is brought in. Perhaps I just need to get the singers through a tough passage, but I might be responsible for the entire session. My background for conducting instrumental as well as vocal ensembles comes into play at these times.

“On other occasions my keyboard skills have been required to get the group through a piece of music. Whether on the session or prior to it where we are figuring out the parts, I never charge extra for these times, and always am available to help.

“Simply knowing music and harmony can drastically affect the positive outcome. I have sometimes noticed mistakes made in the score, especially when there is a repeated pattern, and a note seems out of place in comparison to the previous presentation of the similar material.”

If you have a sharp eye and good musical ear you can catch these potential errors and point them out, too. In situations like this it is best to study the pattern and listen closely, because sometimes a difference IS what is wanted. However, when all the other elements of the music are identical as I a previous passage and one thing is distinctly different, you should ask if the difference is correct. It’s a fair and beneficial question that will help the session as a whole and up your value as a contributor and a team player as well.

Outside the studio but just as significant is the fact that both Elin and John serve on the Screen Actors Guild Singers’ Committee. They often give very significant amounts of time, whether it is in rectifying a situation in the work place, helping in the organization of an event for the community, or even engaging multiple ideas to create new structures for our complicated union rules.

Giving more than asked for is always beneficial. You can never lose by being available to assist. To the contrary, you can really gain traction on your upward climb. This concept is certainly not specific to session singing. This is a concept that can help in every area of your life.

What skills can you bring to the table? Start today, and when someone asks you for anything, go a step further and add a little something extra to it. You will be glad you did.

Listen to, “Strange Water,” and other tracks by composer Christopher John Curcio: http://www.myspace.com/composercjcurcio

There aren’t many folks as “real” and “down to earth” as Harley riding ‘rockers’. They like their hogs to be loud, their beer and whiskey to be strong and their women to have all those attributes a man could ask for. Not much of a chance of fooling them. For a biker things have to be real. Genuine. Authentic.

Bands who perform at Biker festivals from local to Sturgis reflect that authenticity in their music: Hand-made, powerful and driving rock music, often blues-induced, definitely without synthesizers, samples, loops or sequences.

Such music, contrary to prejudice, comes in many varieties: Fast and driving for the rambling gang, cool and groovy for the swaggering rider, bluesy for the local hangout and soft and slow for the biker in love.

What kind of music do you pick once a street-wise dude shows up in your movie with his Harley?

Yours truly – and authentically

Julian Angel
www.soundsofaction.com
…and for the biker music: www.soundsofaction.com/motorcycle.html

Amber Moelter was awarded the Best Actress prize at NYC’s 2009 Chashama Film Festival for her work in the ALM Talkies production “Dirty Step Upstage.”

Recipients of the festival’s Victor Awards were selected by a jury made up of five film industry professionals, and the winners were announced at an awards ceremony held in New York, NY, on October 25th 2009.
“It’s fantastic to have been recognized by the Chashama Film Festival,” said Moelter. “My journey here has involved many different people and some crazy events. Without those events, both good and bad, it would have been impossible for me to perform as Girl In The Red Dress in this film.”

The soundtrack to “Dirty Step Upstage” features two songs performed by Girl In The Red Dress, who also performed in person as part of the festival’s Opening Night event.

“Disguise,” an EP of three songs by Girl In The Red Dress, has just been released and is available through iTunes, Soundclick, and other suppliers.

Inspired by real events, “Dirty Step Upstage” is a reality thriller about the price an aspiring young singer is prepared to pay for fame. As well as appearing in the film, Moelter also wrote and directed it.

Festival director Rick Kariolic said he was proud to have shown “Dirty Step Upstage” at the festival. “Amber Moelter put on an exceptional display of all-around talent, as singer, song writer and film maker,” he said. “It drew me in.”

As mentioned here before, THE REDS contributed two songs to the film’s soundtrack and will also be included on the “Dirty Step Upstage” CD.

Tarock Music and The Reds congratulate Amber on her Best Actress award.

- Posted by Tarock Music