alainmayrand

Thanks for the input!

Hi. Now up to 11 in the Star Wars score studies. Here is #11: There is also a playlist for the Star Wars videos. And, at people's request, I have started to post some videos about my own scores, the first being from "The Legend of SilkBoy" Thanks! Alain

Posted number 9. Enjoy!

Thanks for the comment. You are very welcome!

Video #8 is up!

In this case the woodwinds are really meant as decoration that will not be a foreground element. In this passage they are quite hard to hear for sure. It's not just you. As for hearing winds in a tutti, keep listening, you'll hear them. Alain Thank you! I was aiming for exactly that. So thank you! -Alain

Star Wars Score Study Video #7 is up -Alain

Star Wars score study #6.

Hi, fourth one a bit overdue. Been busy writing, which is always a good thing! I took time to record a bunch of Star Wars Score Studies this morning, so they'll be coming steady for a bit. Thanks! Alain

Hi, thanks for that. A few thoughts: In film scores the de facto is divisi. So if not written it could still be implied to be divisi. Doing a double stop louré would be tough as you state, and so is intonation on a double stopped 5th. The number of parts sold is not necessarily what would be used in concert, but we can generally assume a couple more players for violin 1 than violin 2. Still, the strings are organized in a way to create balance, but my experience with live orchestras (I was four years as composer-in-residence with an orchestra) is that violin 1 stands out more than violin 2. I don't think Williams was trying to be clever either. He is way beyond that stage. At some point, especially with string voicings with divisi, it could go a number of ways and you make a decision. This particular format is a good formula to go to. Thanks! Alain

Oh wow. Thanks! That is indeed what I aim for when I teach! Direct, to the point, well-paced, clear and useful.

Thank you!

Third video is up..with improved sound! Thanks! Alain

Absolument! Je suis allé voir ton site FB sur John Williams. Thanks KK. Will do! ScoreClub has taken off really well, so thanks for taking a look. Lots more to come! Good questions! I think I'll address that and transposition in the next video! But I can say that interlocking is more important when writing for winds. Interlocking violin I and II has in theory no big effect on timbre since they are all the same instrument. However, having stood in front of an orchestra many times, I can tell you that violin II is softer than violin I. They have fewer players, yes, but usually by only 2, so that's not the reason. I think it could have something to do with the angle of the F holes, or even a matter of attitude. Take that for what it's worth, I certainly consider that reality when orchestrating for live vs. studio. Studio you have the tree angled differently than the conductor's ears, and you have spot mics. But the actual answer is: it doesn't matter. Alain

The reason for all those transpositions has to do with the history of the trumpet and French Horn. Before the inclusion of valves, natural horns could only play in one key and required to either have extra pieces of tubing added or complete other instruments in order to play in various keys. John Williams here is using the standard orchestral brass. Trumpet in C is more common than Bb however, but otherwise, it's not a specific choice for this music.

Yes, horns are French Horns. A valid question because, after all, you speak to a trombone player he calls his trombone a "horn" and a trumpet player does the same. The score is a transposed score, so the horn is in F and the trumpet in Bb. As for the reason why they do so, which I think is your question, it is because these instruments have various transpositions that they have to play. There are trumpets in C, Bb, Eb, F, A etc... so the performer always reads the same notation and "thinks" the same fingering, but will end up with different pitches. So one player can now play a variety of different trumpets without having to learn different fingerings and/or transpositions for each. -A Thank you!

Here's video #2!

Thanks guys! I won't put any audio in the actual video because it will likely get flagged for copyright and then the whole audio track will get silent, including the voice, but I can put a link to a video with timestamp in the description perhaps? Next one coming out tomorrow morning, just finished it. Thanks again! Alain

Hi guys, I haven't been on this forum for a long time! Looks like it is a healthy and positive as ever. I am trying something out here and thought I would share. I'm getting pretty excited about the upcoming Star Wars score! So I though of doing a series of very short and very informal videos looking at different elements from everyone's favourite film score! They'll be about 2-3 minutes long (that's the plan), looking at one small usable element at a time. Will come out twice a week and, yeah, that's it. Here's the first one! Like I said, simple stuff but perhaps it will be useful, certainly will be fun and I hope to see you there! Alain

Hi again, a short video of scoring session footage from "Comforting Skin". This is definitely not in the John Williams style here, but I do hope the ladies and gents on this forum might appreciate this... All the best, Alain

Happy birthday John Williams! My short tribute to him here: http://alainmayrand.com/?page_id=553 I am feeling kind of emotional. I wish he could live for another 80 years. One day we will not have JW scores to look forward to, but for now, let's celebrate!

I had not seen this picture before, very happy to see that. Oh, and what Kamen picture? Did I miss something?

Thank you very much, and very good observations! You are very right about the sense of melancholy and optimism and warmth. This is music that functions on many levels.