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JW Fan.net composers- what are you working on presently?


David Coscina

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Just a shout out to fellow composers/musicians as to what you're working on. I have resumed writing some more of my ballet for Musashi- I'm just trying to find a martial artist choreographer to work on staging it. It's for chamber orchestra so the forces aren't too big. 1 flute, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 4 horns, 2 trombones, 1 tuba, 3 percussionists, small string group-not totally sure as to the size. There will be some sections featuring "duals" between instruments as well. Cello is what I have assigned to Musashi.

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Dave,

Did you ever start on that Kaiju themed peice you mentioned to me last year?

Yeah, I began one using NOTION for their composer contest but then ended up doing a Bartok-inspired piece instead. Corigliano is one of the judges this year so perhaps I'll just re-work that one.

I've always got a few pieces I'm simultaneously working on. I guess I have creative ADD.

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Dave,

Did you ever start on that Kaiju themed peice you mentioned to me last year?

Yeah, I began one using NOTION for their composer contest but then ended up doing a Bartok-inspired piece instead. Corigliano is one of the judges this year so perhaps I'll just re-work that one.

I've always got a few pieces I'm simultaneously working on. I guess I have creative ADD.

what contest?

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Dave,

Did you ever start on that Kaiju themed peice you mentioned to me last year?

Yeah, I began one using NOTION for their composer contest but then ended up doing a Bartok-inspired piece instead. Corigliano is one of the judges this year so perhaps I'll just re-work that one.

I've always got a few pieces I'm simultaneously working on. I guess I have creative ADD.

what contest?

Not that I need competition with you guys (you fellows have some solid chops on this forum) but NOTION is a software product that has integrated London Symphony samples built into the notation program. You simply plot the notes on the screen with the articulations and dynamics you want, even phrasing, and it selects the correct sample automatically. No need for searching through ones sample libraries and and assigning MIDI channels. Just compose!

Anyhow, it looks like they have annual Realize Music composers' competitions ever since last year. Go to NotionMusic.com and check it out. The only thing is that you HAVE to use their software to enter. They usually offer demos of the program for these contests.

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My composing is extremely amateurish at best, but I give it a try every now and then.

This is something I did for a contest on another forum. The scenario was to write the opening theme for a new Star Trek series.

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Figured this was as good a topic as any to introduce myself. Marcus here, hi everyone. I'm a composer, mostly concert music. Working on some new wind ensemble music currently.

And as Moosebutter so aptly put it..."John Williams is the man!"

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Anyone know what Wael is working on now?

I've totally forgotten about Wael

Looking him up on IMDB I see that he scored a film last year. If he still visits or not I wish him all the best

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I recently composed this superhero genre score for a 4 minute cartoon for a candy company.

http://www.boomer.es/capitulo1/

boomerstrip.jpg

I composed a 30 minute Americana type score for Democracy 2

Clip: http://www.composerarts.com/democracy_theme.mp3

Democracy22.jpg

I am working on a few games in addition to the ones listed at the top of my site that I have NDA's signed for, so I can't tell you about those. The cellphone score I'm doing is a Mario type game called Being a Duck 2, and is very retro gamey. I'll also supply the theme soon for Heart Forth Alicia.

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Just a shout out to fellow composers/musicians as to what you're working on. I have resumed writing some more of my ballet for Musashi- I'm just trying to find a martial artist choreographer to work on staging it. It's for chamber orchestra so the forces aren't too big. 1 flute, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 4 horns, 2 trombones, 1 tuba, 3 percussionists, small string group-not totally sure as to the size. There will be some sections featuring "duals" between instruments as well. Cello is what I have assigned to Musashi.

I had the idea of taking the Musashi story and turning it into an opera. It couldn't be in one part though. Maybe three. A lot of work.

I'm currently rehearsing a Missa Brevis I wrote for the choir that I conduct. Also conducting the "New World" Symphony for the orchestra i conduct, and as an encore (since the Missa Brevis and the New World Symphony are on the same concert) I'm going to conduct "Call of the Champions".

I have also started sketching an orchestral piece that i hope to premier in June. I have a bit o'work to do.

Frosty

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Greetings, everyone, and congratulations, and good luck, to your respective projects.

I am just finishing my "Missa Concertante", a concerto for saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrom (one of the leading contemporary music sax players in the world today!) and the Oslo Chamber Choir (one of Norway's leading choirs).

The work premieres on March 3rd, so as always, it's crunch time.

The piece was commissioned by the Oslo International Church Music Festival, and I am really blessed to be working with truly world-class musicians and singers, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll post a recording later in March.

As soon as the mass is done, I will finish orchestrations for my opera "The Witches", which premieres on May 9th this year at the Hardanger Music Festival (also in Norway, also a commission).

So I've been reduced to a very infrequent poster as of late...

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Dave,

Did you ever start on that Kaiju themed peice you mentioned to me last year?

Yeah, I began one using NOTION for their composer contest but then ended up doing a Bartok-inspired piece instead. Corigliano is one of the judges this year so perhaps I'll just re-work that one.

I've always got a few pieces I'm simultaneously working on. I guess I have creative ADD.

what contest?

Not that I need competition with you guys (you fellows have some solid chops on this forum) but NOTION is a software product that has integrated London Symphony samples built into the notation program. You simply plot the notes on the screen with the articulations and dynamics you want, even phrasing, and it selects the correct sample automatically. No need for searching through ones sample libraries and and assigning MIDI channels. Just compose!

That's amazing, I knwe that the LSO had samples, but this sounds exactly like what I need. I know how to put notes on staves in MIDI programs but I have never mastered how to use samples. Therefore I always have a very unreliable and unrealistic sound from which I have to get my audio 'feedback' of what I write.

Can you link to a site for technical and pricing details?

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Dave,

Did you ever start on that Kaiju themed peice you mentioned to me last year?

Yeah, I began one using NOTION for their composer contest but then ended up doing a Bartok-inspired piece instead. Corigliano is one of the judges this year so perhaps I'll just re-work that one.

I've always got a few pieces I'm simultaneously working on. I guess I have creative ADD.

what contest?

Not that I need competition with you guys (you fellows have some solid chops on this forum) but NOTION is a software product that has integrated London Symphony samples built into the notation program. You simply plot the notes on the screen with the articulations and dynamics you want, even phrasing, and it selects the correct sample automatically. No need for searching through ones sample libraries and and assigning MIDI channels. Just compose!

That's amazing, I knwe that the LSO had samples, but this sounds exactly like what I need. I know how to put notes on staves in MIDI programs but I have never mastered how to use samples. Therefore I always have a very unreliable and unrealistic sound from which I have to get my audio 'feedback' of what I write.

Can you link to a site for technical and pricing details?

I don't use NOTION, so I cannot say how good it is. But, if you are willing to sink some money into your work, than I would HIGHLY recommend the Vienna Symphonic Library. And now, if you are not willing to go through the work of the sequencer, I believe Sibelious can host it, and possibly Finale (not sure about that). Even if they couldn't, it really is worth the work to use the sequencer. I think you can even just import the midi info from a notation software into your sequencer (Logic Pro 7, in my case), and then tweak performances all you want.

Anyway, VSL offers there Special Edition, which starts at around $445, and is what I have. Really, the sound is incredibly realistic. Check out there page and demos http://vsl.co.at/en/67/394/253.vsl and right here http://vsl.co.at/en/67/4587/5001.vsl# click on 'Catch Me If You Can'. It really is amazing, and while I cannot get quite the sound out of them that these demo makers can, it still is just great, and I am sure that with enough practice I could.

Colin Thomson

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Garritan Personal Orchestra works really well for me, except for trumpets and trombones. I use stuff from Garritan Jazz & Big Band and Garritan Concert & Marching band sometimes to augment the orchestra. For notation/sequencing I use Finale 2008. It's good, but getting the right sound out of Human Playback can be tough. It does a little too much for you.

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VSL is super stuff. I mostly use Vienna SE and EWQLSO Platinum for my realistic mock-ups with a touch of HAlion Symphonic Orchestra.

For composing that will end up being played by real musicians, I don't bother with the fancy samples though as I do think it can distract me from the music portion of things so I use NOTION. While their samples sound okay, they ain't gonna fool anyone like VSL does.

go to www.notionmusic.com if you're interested in the program.

They have affordable expansion packs too $50-$70 max.

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Greetings, everyone, and congratulations, and good luck, to your respective projects.

I am just finishing my "Missa Concertante", a concerto for saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrom (one of the leading contemporary music sax players in the world today!) and the Oslo Chamber Choir (one of Norway's leading choirs).

The work premieres on March 3rd, so as always, it's crunch time.

The piece was commissioned by the Oslo International Church Music Festival, and I am really blessed to be working with truly world-class musicians and singers, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll post a recording later in March.

!!!

Can't wait to hear this. A saxophone concerto with choir/orchestra? Description sounds incredibly interesting. Good luck!

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Just a shout out to fellow composers/musicians as to what you're working on. I have resumed writing some more of my ballet for Musashi- I'm just trying to find a martial artist choreographer to work on staging it. It's for chamber orchestra so the forces aren't too big. 1 flute, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 4 horns, 2 trombones, 1 tuba, 3 percussionists, small string group-not totally sure as to the size. There will be some sections featuring "duals" between instruments as well. Cello is what I have assigned to Musashi.

I had the idea of taking the Musashi story and turning it into an opera. It couldn't be in one part though. Maybe three. A lot of work.

I'm currently rehearsing a Missa Brevis I wrote for the choir that I conduct. Also conducting the "New World" Symphony for the orchestra i conduct, and as an encore (since the Missa Brevis and the New World Symphony are on the same concert) I'm going to conduct "Call of the Champions".

I have also started sketching an orchestral piece that i hope to premier in June. I have a bit o'work to do.

Frosty

Actually it's a ballet. An opera on the life of Miyamoto Musashi would be as long as Die Walkure if not the entire Ring Cycle if done correctly. The ballet I'm doing is going to encompass Japanese No Theatre as well as a cross-section of traditional ballet and kendo/martial arts choreography. I've studied various forms of martial arts since I was 13 so I'm pretty well versed in a plethora of forms.

I had thought of doing an opera on the Seven Samurai but I would need to get the rights to do so....

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Just a shout out to fellow composers/musicians as to what you're working on. I have resumed writing some more of my ballet for Musashi- I'm just trying to find a martial artist choreographer to work on staging it. It's for chamber orchestra so the forces aren't too big. 1 flute, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 4 horns, 2 trombones, 1 tuba, 3 percussionists, small string group-not totally sure as to the size. There will be some sections featuring "duals" between instruments as well. Cello is what I have assigned to Musashi.

I had the idea of taking the Musashi story and turning it into an opera. It couldn't be in one part though. Maybe three. A lot of work.

I'm currently rehearsing a Missa Brevis I wrote for the choir that I conduct. Also conducting the "New World" Symphony for the orchestra i conduct, and as an encore (since the Missa Brevis and the New World Symphony are on the same concert) I'm going to conduct "Call of the Champions".

I have also started sketching an orchestral piece that i hope to premier in June. I have a bit o'work to do.

Frosty

Actually it's a ballet. An opera on the life of Miyamoto Musashi would be as long as Die Walkure if not the entire Ring Cycle if done correctly. The ballet I'm doing is going to encompass Japanese No Theatre as well as a cross-section of traditional ballet and kendo/martial arts choreography. I've studied various forms of martial arts since I was 13 so I'm pretty well versed in a plethora of forms.

I had thought of doing an opera on the Seven Samurai but I would need to get the rights to do so....

You are completely correct, it would be a huge undertaking to create an opera around the Musashi. The other ideas I had for operas are based on "47 Samurai", or "Hoichi the Earless".

Good luck with your endeavors!!!

Frosty

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Great work by everyone, I really mean it!

There is truly some great talent exhibited on these boards (unlike the other boards I frequent on the internet).

Hmmm, I wonder what common factor could draw so many different talented people from all over the world altogether in one place, huh? :P

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Greetings, everyone, and congratulations, and good luck, to your respective projects.

I am just finishing my "Missa Concertante", a concerto for saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrom (one of the leading contemporary music sax players in the world today!) and the Oslo Chamber Choir (one of Norway's leading choirs).

The work premieres on March 3rd, so as always, it's crunch time.

The piece was commissioned by the Oslo International Church Music Festival, and I am really blessed to be working with truly world-class musicians and singers, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll post a recording later in March.

!!!

Can't wait to hear this. A saxophone concerto with choir/orchestra? Description sounds incredibly interesting. Good luck!

Seconded!

This is making me want to get my saxophone out again

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Working on a new filmscore right now, adapting some "volkslieder". As usual, time is running short so...busy, busy, busy! ;-)

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I just did this last night after downloading a demo of a new VI called Pianoteq which is a modeled virtual piano rather than a massive sample playback of a piano. It's neat and only takes up 15 megabytes on my local drive. I added some VSL saxes and trombones along with Spectrasonics Atmosphere for a slightly different take on a jazz piece.

http://www.macjams.com/song/39344

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Wow, there's so many cool things going on in this thread!

Right now, I'm busy preparing for my Junior Composition Recital. It's a 30 minute recital.

The program will be:

Psalm 117 for SATB choir and organ - a short anthem for a very short Psalm.

Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone and Piano - a piece from my freshman year that's kind of Catch Me If You Can inspired.

String Quintet (movements I. and II.) - this piece was butchered by lousy performers last year, so this is a second chance.

Rondo for Flute and Piano - what better way to fill up the required 30 minute time slot than to recycle the A theme three times? :blink:

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Recently I composed a piece for a festive occasion.

It's for wind orchestra and it's not played perfectly but the players aren't professionals. But it was pure fun!

I have to admitt that it is written in John Williams style and sometimes I couldn't resist to borrow a little....

Hope you still like it, just click on "Fanfare Celebration" and then on "play song":

Listen

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Recently I composed a piece for a festive occasion.

It's for wind orchestra and it's not played perfectly but the players aren't professionals. But it was pure fun!

I have to admitt that it is written in John Williams style and sometimes I couldn't resist to borrow a little....

Hope you still like it:

Listen

Nice writing Nemesis. The intonation of the wind players was a tad....er, off but I still enjoyed it. Very good recording mind you! nice balance of sound. I like the opening with the trumpet lines. Was this for high school concert band perhaps? Or maybe college level?

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I just scored the incidental music for the premiere of a drama - Silvertop Ash - that opened professionally at Parramatta Riverside Theatres on Valentine's day. The play deals with the investigation into a teenage suicide.

I'd like to hear the Musashi ballet - it's something I thought could work as a musical.

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I just wrote the theme for a game called Dead Frontier, a zombie MMO by Jagged Blade Software. We had it recorded in Los Angeles, and film composer Evan Evans conducted it for me. It will be replacing the title screen/story scroll for all the episodes of "Dead Frontier".

Here's the link to the mp3. It's a preliminary mix:

Theme from Dead Frontier

sshot8.jpg

I liked everyone's music. Bowie, the organ piece. The AI birthday piece, and also Firey Angel's jazz piece. Keep up the good work everyone!

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I'm working on a set of three nocturnes for tuba and piano at the moment. The middle movement is a fast piece called "Fireflies", which makes an interesting challenge for tuba writing! :P

My latest piece, "Symphonies of String Instruments", was commissioned by the Euclid String Quartet as part of their outreach program to young performers. It's written for professional quartet and three combined youth string orchestras of varying levels of ability. The first performance is happening in Michigan on April 15th and I'm very excited. The Euclids just sent me a demo they made of them playing all the parts (they overdubbed themselves against a click-track), and I'm very proud of the piece.

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