Classical Performance Arrangement

This week, I will be performing Beethoven's Bagatelle No.25 in A minor, also known as Fur Elise. Since I do not know how to play any instrument, I will be using a music software called Mixcraft for my new genre of Fur Elise. Before I begin my composition, I first need to find out the original genre of Fur Elise and mention how will I transform this into the new genre.

Original Genre of Fur Elise (Piano):

Texture of the piece is thin. There is a melody line with little accompaniment. In the script below, the C section, a repetitive bass line in the left hand along with a melody on the right hand. There are two dynamic marking in the original script or piece which are pp. There are some dramatic parts located in the piece. The notes in the piece are mostly in semi-quavers. In addition, there are some quavers, demi-semi quavers, dotted rhythm and crotchets. The semi-quavers give a moving mood throughout the piece of music. This piece is in a time signature of 3/8 (simple triple). The tempo in this piece is less.

It has a wide range of approximately 6 octaves. Therefore, extensive use of a piano since many instruments do not have that type of range. The pitch of the piece travels in a slow motion when moving in steps and in a fast motion when using octaves and other intervals. It has a rondo form (ABACA). The theme of the piece has a repetitive tune. The “B” alphabet gives a more joyful touch. The “C” alphabet consists of drama and dynamic variation especially a large pitch range.

The left hand makes a simple fundamental-third arpeggio. The beginning melodic indecision between the note and turning note signifies that Beethoven creates an essential, clarifying melody with the next chordal arpeggios. In the central variation, he includes evidence F-E-D-C top notes. The time signature, 3/8, establishes a rhythmic fluency to the piece and a flowing feeling with the alternation of hands. 

New Genre of Fur Elise (Mixcraft):

• Piece is still in a 3/8 (simple/triple) time signature. 
• Used a virtual instrument (classical guitar)
• Fast pace
• In the middle section, the C section (in the Sound tab of Mixcraft), I play the repeated note lines after commencing the right hand melody lines. E.g. After I play the following notes: E, Eb5, E, Eb5, E, A D C A on the right hand, I start playing these note lines on the left hand: A E A and for the next set: Ab2 E Ab5
• Free flow of rhythm and engaging. 
• High Pitch: In Part C of Fur Elise (E, G Minor, B, C), after the repetitive bass line: Ab5 E Ab4 sharp, It reaches the top most point C6.  

Reflection: (1st week)

In this week, I used a software known as Mixcraft for composing my genre of Fur Elise. I have only learned the first part of this piece. This piece consists of three parts. In the part A, the following notes are played: E, Eb5, E, Eb5, E, A, D, C, A. Then, a repetitive bass line: A E A.





In part B, C E A B and a repetitive bass line: Ab5, E, Ab4. In part C, E Ab5, B, C and the 1st repetitive bass line, A E A. Then, ABC parts are repeated again with the 2 repetitive bass lines. Here is my composition below:

For composing this new genre, I watched YouTube videos to see how they were playing original genre of Fur Elise on a piano. After recognizing different chords, notes, etc., I implemented them in Mixcraft. But I changed the chords and notes. E.g. D# on piano, Eb5 on Mixcraft. I also used a different virtual instrument, classical guitar. Then, I altered the tempo, dynamics, Sound intensity (decibels), classical compressor effect, etc. 

Film Music Composition

Week 1: (5th May, Thursday) 


This week, I composed the Man of Steel Theme (An Ideal Hope) on Mixcraft. However, I altered some features of the composition. I used virtual instruments like Electric Grand and and an Orchestra Pad till now. I implemented the same notes, chords, etc. in the first part. I changed velocity from 120 bpm to 80 bpm.

Week 2: (8th May, Thursday)

I changed some virtual instruments:

• Electric Grand to Electric Sadness: Gives a rhythmic feeling. Feeling of sadness and echoes are prevalent in the first part of the song. This gives a sensation of hope. 
• Orchestra Pad to Hell's Bass Drum: When played, creates a loud sound in which lots of reverberations take place. It signifies that hope will prevail and the people will fight for it (weakness turns to strength). 

I turned the velocity down from 80 bpm to 70 bpm. I felt that this was the ideal pace for the song. I lowered the decibel range from 0.0 db to -1.4 db for the Hell's bass drum because it would create a distorted sound when major chords were played. Hence, I lowered it to eliminate the effect of the distorted sound.  

Here are the parts of the song in the virtual instruments, Electric Sadness, Hell's Bass Drum and Orchestra Pad: 

Electric Sadness:

Hell's Bass Drum: 

Orchestra Pad: 

Week 3 (15th May, Sunday): 

Added two more virtual instruments: Full Orchestra and Chorus Guitar. The third part of the song in the Full Orchestra virtual instrument, I extended the lengths of the notes so it could play at a slow pace. I also used the Quantize function for the G1 note. When G1 note is played, it gives a dull sound. Hence, I lessen the strength from 100% to 25%. In addition, I used the swing function (delays the start time of every other note) to increase the delay time from 1% to 10%. I used the Chorus Guitar virtual instrument as it comes into sync with every other note. Here are rest of the parts: 

Full Orchestra: 

Chorus Guitar: 

  

Music Performance (Man of Steel - An Ideal of Hope)

Film Composer Research

Film Composer Research

Bernard Herrmann: Born on 29^th June, 1911, in New York City. He was one of the original and distinctive composers to work in the film field. He was a voracious who enjoyed the works of individualist writers’ like D.H. Lawrence, Eugene O’Neill and James McNeill Whistler. In addition, he studied the scores of some great symphonists, played recordings of his father’s gramophone and attended Carnegie Hall concerts. He began his formal music education in 1927 at DeWitt Clinton High School in 1927. He won a composition prize in at the age of 13 and founded his own orchestra at the age of 20. He produced some of his works and wrote nine scores for Alfred Hitchcock. He was also an experimenter in the application of sounds in film scores, The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) which scored for two theremins, pianos and a horn section. Also a consultant on electronic sounds on the mixtrautonium for The Birds (1963). He wrote an opera, Wuthering Heights, and a cantata, Moby Dick. He died on December 24^th, 1975, (due to a heart attack), after recording his last score for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976).

John Towner Williams: Born in Long Island, New York on February 8^th, 1932. Found and discovered music to be easy. After moving to Los Angeles, as a young pianist and leader of his jazz band, he experimented with arranging tunes at the age of 15. Premiered his first original composition, a piano sonata, at the age of 19. Found work with Hollywood Studios as a piano player, accompanying such fare like the TV series Peter Gunn (1958), South Pacific (1958), The Apartment (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), etc. Formed a friendship with Bernard Herrmann. Best known, financially successful composers in U.S history. He has a massive awards list which consists of 41 Oscar Nominations (5wins), twenty-odd Gold and Platinum Records, slew of Emmy (two wins), Golden Globe (three wins), Grammy (18wins), National Board of Review (and a Career Achievement Award), Saturn (6 wins) and BAFTA (7 wins) as well as an honorary doctorate degree. He is one of the most respected composers for Cinema.  During the 70’s, he was known as the King of Disaster Scores with Poseidon Adventures (1972), Earthquake (1974) and the Towering Inferno (1974).

Ennio Morricone: Born on 10^th November, 1928, in Rome, Italy. Classmate of Sergio Leone which would form the greatest director/composer relationships. Studied at Rome’s Santa Cecilia Conservatory where he specialized in the trumpet. His first film score for A Fistful of Dollars when he was hired by Sergio Leone. His score for that film were unorthodox instrumentations such as bells, electric guitar, harmonicas, Jew’s harp as well as memorable tunes. This changed the Western music. He also contributed to other film genres such as comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror films, romances, art movies, etc. making him the world’s most versatile artists. He has written 400 film scores such as Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966), Roland Joffé's The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) and Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988).

Elmer Bernstein: Born on April 4th, 1922, in New York City. Served in the US Army Air Corps in WW2. Worked in various artistic endeavors as well as painting and the theatre. Also performed as an actor and dancer. His composition work scored for United Nations radio programs, television and industrial documentaries. His original scores range over a variety of styles like his groundbreaking ground score of for The Man with The Golden Arm (1955), light musical comedies like Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and his familiar score, The Magnificent Seven (1960). He acquired a sort of status among American Football fans when his main theme The Great Escape (1963) was hummed and played during matches.

Hans Zimmer: Born on 12^th September, 1957, in Hesse, Germany. Known as one of the Hollywood’s most innovative musical talents. Featured for the music video for The Buggles’ single “Video Killed the Radio Star”, became a worldwide hit and signified a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to be aired on MTV (August 1, 1981). Introduced to the world of film music in London where he met famed composer and mentor, Stanley Myers, which included the film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). Scored two Best Picture Winners, in the early 1990’s, as well as his award winning score, The Lion King (1994).

Thomas Newman: Born on October 20^th, 1955, in Los Angeles, California. Known for his work on Wall-E (2008), Skyfall (2012) and A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). Tuned percussion plays a part in his scores, e.g. American Beauty (1999). Plays a piano on his own scores, during slow, moody passages. Graduated from Yale University with a masters in music composition Keyboard player for “The Innocents” rock band. During the 2000 Summer Olympics, he played part of his scores in movies such as Erin Brockovich (2000), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), etc. on NBC during short biographies of certain athletes.

James Horner: Born on 14^th August, 1953, in California, USA. Began studying piano at the age of 5 and was trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England. Received a bachelor’s degree in music at USC and completed his Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory at UCLA. He composed music for certain, famous movies such as Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982). This lead to film offers and opportunities to work with world class performers. He made over 75 projects and worked with people such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Oliver Stone and Ron Howard. Established as a strong voice in the world of film scoring.

Danny Elfman: Born on 29^th May, 1953, in California, USA. His elder brother, Richard Elfman and Danny started a musical troupe together in Paris, “Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo” was created for his brother’s directorial debut, Forbidden Zone (1980). Formed a relationship with director, Tim Burton. Did his first orchestral film score for Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985). Referred to as “Hollywood’s hottest film composer”. Combines orchestral sounds with digital sounds in his works, e.g. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Also uses a lot of brass and percussion in his film scores. Wrote a score for Black Beauty (1994) and released a solo album in 1984, So-Lo, which features most of the band members from Oingo-Boingo.

Howard Shore: Born on 18^th October, 1946, in Ontario, Canada. Known for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), etc. Member of the horn section in the Canadian Band Lighthouse in the early 1970’s. Scored two out of three sequels. First was the Silence of the Lambs (1991), the sequel to Manhunter (1986). The second was Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Worked with Hollywood Bowl conductor, John Mauceri, for the national performances of “The Lord of the Rings Symphony” in six movements.

Chosen Composer (Hans Zimmer):

Born on 12th September, 1957, in Hesse, Germany. Known as one of the Hollywood’s most innovative musical talents. Featured for the music video for The Buggles’ single “Video Killed the Radio Star”, became a worldwide hit and signified a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to be aired on MTV (August 1, 1981). Introduced to the world of film music in London where he met famed composer and mentor, Stanley Myers, which included the film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). Scored two Best Picture Winners, in the early 1990’s, as well as his award winning score, The Lion King (1994).

Overall, his work was nominated for 7 Golden Globes, 7 Grammys and 7 Oscars for Rain Man (1988), The Gladiator (2000), The Lion King (1994), As Good as it Gets (1987), the Preacher’s Wife (1996), The Thin Red Line (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998) and The Last Samurai (2003). He used state-of-the-art technology and a creative environment to offer scoring opportunities to young composers at his Santa Monica-based musical “think tank”. This method launched careers of notable composers like Mark Mancina, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, Nick Glennie-Smith and Klaus Badelt. Additional awards and honors include Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Composition from the National Board of Review and the Frederick Loewe Award in 2003 at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Also received ASCAP’s Henry Macini Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Analysis of Zimmer’s work (Man of Steel):

This film is optimistic in tone, lighthearted and includes touches of humor. This movie deals more with the questions of being an outsider. Superman, an alien from the planet, Krypton (which was destroyed), tries to fit in with the rest of the human society. He is faced with a dilemma that if he reveals his power to the world, he will no longer be considered as one of them. Hans Zimmer’s score signifies a loose coordination between certain themes and situations involving certain characters. Due to this, it is difficult to put a label on his themes and require a more descriptive title than the name of a character or place in the film. In addition, many of its themes are given dual meanings which are either opposite or complement of one another.

The first theme we hear at the start of the film is the ostinato. This theme shows a duality meaning that we see either Jor-El (the father of Superman from Krypton) and Kal-El (Superman). Near the start of the film, Jor-El escapes on a dragon-like creature with the codex (object containing the genetic code for the entire population of Krypton). We hear this theme in the brass (from 1:18). This particular theme also occurs in scenes, where focus of Jor-El is on Kal-El, when the baby (Kal-El) raised into the escape pod near the film’s start (1:42). It also occurs when Jonathan Kent (foster father of Superman on Earth) shows him the escape pod in which he arrived on Earth (from 1:49).

Therefore, there is a loose connection between the theme and the characters. It doesn’t signify any one specific emotion or situation with these characters. The main theme for the film is used flexibly in relation to Jor-El/Kal-El. This connection is strengthened by the fact that this theme is closely related to the Superman “heroic” theme in its triplet-based rhythms, rising motifs and relatively large intervals.