I was just cleaning my flat and while hoovering the floor I started wondering, hm, where´s William by the way? But it needed hoovering behind the washing machine to finally understand what LTI means. Man, William, sorry, I forgot completely that you´re on a MODEM!
To post a 10mb file is really nasty then. So I made this 128kbit file, still 4mb, but it´s quite a difference. Unfortunatly also in sound. But.... anyway.
Here it is:
www.audionomio.de/mp3/WalzerOrch_mix13_LTI.mp3
(B.t.w., I silently changed the link above to a new mix with some tiny mix corrections, nothing fancy. Just spreading the strings a bit more, I felt they´re too narrow.)

Paul, both films I haven´t seen, but you make quite curious. And indeed it´s that kind of edge which interests me. To hear that it seems to work feels great.
Thanks again,
- Mathis

(next one is already in progress, so stay tuned [:)] But my girlfriend comes over the weekend so it will take some more time...
I´m doing these pieces for a Demo-CD. What I´m missing is a really beautiful adagio. I hope I can take that seriously [[;)]] I´m not really a romanticist...
Then I will do again more electronic things again and finish some tango-esque works. So this mp3-posting era will stop naturally)

Mathis,

I downloaded the big file (while busy with other stuff) and listened - this is really good! I thought it was imaginative, and even a little bizarre - kind of a macabre, Elfman-like tone to it. Were you trying for that? I was trying to figure out that middle section. It is oddly interesting. As if some people are stopped in their festivities and looking up anxiously at the sky, waiting. Just an impression. Congratulations on some fine work here! I definitely want to hear more of what you do.

Sincerely,
William

@William said:

- kind of a macabre, Elfman-like tone to it. Were you trying for that?

Hi William,

Thanks for listening and glad that you liked it. While, yes I was going for a kind of obscure, macabre thing, I can´t answer if I intended it Elfman-like, since I know almost nothing by him. I have to admit that I was pretty ignorant up to now about filmmusic. It changed very recently.
But it makes me very curious. What Elfman scores do you recommend listening to?

Your picture of the people looking in the sky, waiting, I like it very much. Actually the state of waiting was always part and topic of my artistic work.
I´m also an (art) filmmaker (yes,... I´ve got my fingers in every pie... [8-)] ) and waiting is my favourite thing. Nothing is happening. That´s life, isn´t it! [:D]

Of course I gladly comply to your wish! Maybe it´s interesting what I do besides these orchestral things.
I have two strong influences, backgrounds: Tango and "avantgarde" electronic music. Strange combination, isn´t it?

I´m currently finishing the recording of a tango-esque Suite for Bandoneon, Violin, Guitar and string orchestra. It´s called "Waiting for the Tango" (does it ring a bell [[[;)]]] )
Here´s the 2nd part of three, "Lento". Well, basically, like the title suggests, the slow part. The state of waiting.
www.audionomio.de/mp3/Lento_mix7.mp3 (6mb)
Bandoneon, Violin and Guitar is real (I´m the guitar player), and strings are unfortunatly my old HSE. I did the string track before I had Opus1.

And then I have a strange obsession with timestretching. I made a series of pieces for which I recorded impovisation sessions with musicians and used this material to create a collage (Ethik B [[[;)]]] ). And I really love the sound of enormous timestretching (I´m talking about 3200 percent and such). (It´s in part3)
Here are the first and third part of my last timestretching work, with vibraphon. So everything you hear, is pure Vibraphon, no synth or such added. I skipped the second part because I´m not really happy with that anymore and so I save some bandwidth. The third part mp3 begins with the last two notes of part 2.
www.audionomio.de/mp3/TT_Vibraphon_part1.mp3 (5mb)
www.audionomio.de/mp3/TT_Vibraphon_part3.mp3 (6mb)

This is quite different stuff, I guess. So I´m very curious to your reactions.
Bests,
- Mathis

Mathis,

Fascinating piece with the vibraphone - at first I didn't know what to think but then I began to notice the intricate rhythmic embellishments in the first part, reminiscent of your use of the snare drum part on the drama. It becomes hypnotic, like a strange little dance of some odd-looking robots. (Sorry to always picture things - it should probably just remain abstract, though I also am a filmmaker and can't help it. In fact this could be the soundtrack for a computer animated short.) Anyway, the last part is very atonal with some unique textures. I can see how you would get obsessed with the time stretching. It creates a new world of sound. I think you should go ahead with this full steam, because it is some very original and interesting work.

Thank you very much for listening and your encouragement, William.
I like your picturing. What kind of films are you doing?

This third Vibraphon part is actually my first experiment with microtonality. First I had a chromatic version but was disappointed by the non-exciting and very harmless dissonances. Then I started to tune my samples in quarter- and eighthtones which I find very exciting now! I hope to make some orchestral microtonal experiments soon. Most microtonal music I know is just badly tuned tonal music. But in this application as increased dissonance inside chords I really like it.
(While speaking of pictures: I have the imagination of a melting vibraphon in this piece...)

Thanks again,
- Mathis

Microtonalities are extremely interesting to me also. I realized a while ago one of my problems with atonal music is not dissonance, but chromatic dissonance. It is too limited in its effect. Most of it merely contradicts tonality. But microtonality is completely different and creates a new kind of harmony.

completely agreed! [:D]

I just wanted to complete the posting of this Tango Suite. (Finally I got a grip on my Bandoneon player!)
Last time I just posted the Lento which is the second part of this trilogy. All three pieces are somehow related to Tango, but you won´t find some "real" argentinian Tango here. Even the "Tango" is not really a Tango, it´s actually more Bach arranged to some kind of Tango idiom.

Please, whoever listens to it, do comment. I see in my web servers statistics that these pieces are quite often downloaded, so please share your thoughts.
(On northernsounds forum it´s crazy. I posted once the oboe piece there and it was downloaded more than 450 times...)
All pieces are encoded to 192kps and altogether about 13MB. Lento has a new and much much better mix.

Tango Suite 2004
www.audionomio.de/mp3/Waiting_for_the_Tango_mix2.mp3
www.audionomio.de/mp3/Lento_mix2.mp3
www.audionomio.de/mp3/Tango_mix2.mp3

Have fun!
Bests,
- Mathis

@mathis said:

(On northernsounds forum it´s crazy. I posted once the oboe piece there and it was downloaded more than 450 times...)- Mathis

Thats beacause your'e a star Mathis. [[;)]]

Just listened to all three parts. Highly unusual to hear this type of music from my point of view anyway. Great fun stuff and very skilled writing too. I particularly liked Tango mix2. I see what you mean with the reference to Bach.
When the Lento part started, I thought Good Lord, whats all this? But after a short while, I found it to be quite hypnotic and I enjoyed that too.
Waiting for the Tango I listened to last, and I liked this best of all personally. Who's playing the Spanish Guitar? I love all the noises in the background and the end of this piece is a triumph.

Your'e a weird person alright Mathis, but you have a great skill in writing interesting and thought provoking musical pieces. No one could accuse you of being commercial.

Very enjoyable stuff! [:D]

Bests

PR

Mathis, I just can't download this now, though I want to. Do you have a CD out? I'll trade you for mine! You are doing some very sophisticated and original work. I think your approach of using traditional elements in a completely non-traditional way is fascinating.

Thank you Paul!

(It´s me playing guitar.)

William, I would enjoy trading CD´s! Also videos. I have a DVD to send you.
I PM you my adress.

I made a pop-style remix of Lento which at the same time resulted in a crossover with flamenco.
Cold anybody give it a listen and tell me if I ran into the trap of banality?

www.audionomio.de/mp3/LentoRemix_Mix3.mp3 (6mb)

Anyone who asks if he fell into the "trap of banality" probably didn't. The ones who do NEVER ask.

But this piece is wild! You are insane, Mathis - in a good way. It is like the others. Makes me react "Where did THIS come from?" Very original, bizarre. I especially like the way you are combining these radically different elements.

At the entrance of the more normal acoustic instruments it made me wish you would do a mix that had all normal instruments playing those same rhythms at the beginning. Just to see what it would sound like as if played with a normal orchestra. Though obviously you're using the contrast between the electronic sounds and acoustic deliberately.

(By the way it sounded like you were able to hire that same hobo. Man, that guy is great! Is he still playing for just whiskey rations?)

Hey, Bill, very much appreciated! Maybe I´ll add this question now to every piece I post, just to be on the safe side... [:D]

The oboe is in fact GPO, amazing, isn´t it? I didn´t use VSL because I wanted to have a vibrato oboe. But there´s a reason why it is mixed so much to the background....
And, b.t.w, the guitar playing in this piece isn´t me. I´d love to be able to play flamenco though.

The idea with the acoustic instruments playing the rhythms, I like it. Probably I won´t change this piece, but it sounds as a great idea for the next piece in that style. Thanks!

Your Cds are almost on their way.