The Descent

[PaulR]

http://vsl.co.at/english/demos/User_demos/Michael_Vickerage/The_Descent.htm#

Here's a very good example of a sort of Holstian genre from friend and colleague Michael.

This has a wonderful sound to me and very good with plenty of interest when listening. Enjoy.

Falling.....Falllllliiinnngg .......Fallllllllliiiiiiinnng ... Goiiiiing doooowwwwnnn.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...........

Excellent work Michael.

[:D]

[strawinsky]

A fan! Thanks,Paul:you're too kind.

[JBacal]

Yes very well crafted! I especially liked the appearance of the solo strings. Did you use pitch bend on these?


Best,
Jay

[strawinsky]

Thanks,Jay.Yes,pitch bend to acheive a slow portamento,which I prefer executing that way,to give an element of human randomness (that's my euphemism for bad playing,haha!).You have good ears!

BTW,the other pieces have been remastered/remixed using an Avalon vacuum tube/transistor processor.It revealed so much detail that I went back and remixed and,in some cases, revised the whole album.That was a real learning process.

[JBacal]

Yes, I liked the pitch bend effect. Very "alive."

[strawinsky]

Appreciated.I love this library...

[William]

Stra - W - insky strikes again. A little more V in this one, eh Igor?

Very interesting, skillfully done piece. It is obviously about a large reptilian beast, which was awakened by nuclear testing and has been successfully fought off, and is now sinking slowly to the bottom of the ocean. But what will happen down there no one knows for sure, and the end title will change into a question mark.

That was what you were going wasn't it?

[strawinsky]

Ha,William,you have a very vivid imagination! At my age one tends to repeat oneself:that is my rite [[;)]] If you want to hear daylight robbery,though,take a listen to Henze's Undine.He should have been sued for the astonishing cribbing of the Symphony in Three Movements.

On my library track descripton this is down as either a " a dark and dangerous descent,either to a strange planet,or nocturnal forest." You may favour the latter(?)

Anyway,many thanks for the comments,and I may amend the description to accommodate yours,which is very fitting too.

Listened to Mickael's very interesting and musical piece last night.Very good,I thought.

[mikhail]

For me it's more like it's happening in that old abandoned lonely house - broken windows of course. Walking in what was previously a bedroom and see old snapshots on a small table: me on my grand'ma's knees when I was 2 years old. I haven't been there for 25 years at least. And my childhood starts rolling back in my mind. How much time since she died ? Maybe 15 years... I've been living so far from here all that time...
The trouble is: 2 days ago I got a phone call from her, or at least an old woman who claimed to be my grandmother, and crying someone was about to kill her. Then those very strange small writings on front door I hadn't seen at a first glance. What am I supposed to do now ?

Seriously, listening to this piece was a real pleasure for me. It's very beautiful and I had a strong emotional experience. I'd say it reminds me some Shostakovitch symphonies (I love Shostakovitch) especially when the first bass pizz comes in.

Michaël

[strawinsky]

I'm flattered Mikhail.Thank you very much for the (over)generous comparison.You also have a great imagination! You should be directing movies. That's what's great about music:the subjective experience.

I'm a fan of your work too;the very little I've heard of it,anyway,and look forward to hearing more.I loved the most recent piece,with its capricious changes of mood.

William:have you got anything on the go at the moment? Can't wait to hear something new....

[mikhail]

Strawinsky, I've been thinking about writing scenarios in addition to music these last times. I guess my 6-month old daughter stimulates my imagination from that point of view (I've also been thinking about extravagant cartoon scenarios) [:D]
I got some music in the works currently but for some (not so funny) reasons I can't possibly work quickly for the moment. I'm looking forward to propose other pieces in a near future. I'd also like

Hey, the VSL team should work on a library and a performance tool dedicated to writing scenarios: a 14-pencil section specifically designed to write down the scene where the murderer raise his knife in the back of the poor victim;
a repetition tool designed in case the hero is looking for brocolis in each and every grocery: he would ask "do you have brocolis ?" dozens of times, which will look much more natural with the repetition tool;
a legato tool for "IloveyousomuchbabybutIcan'tstayIhavetofighttheSuperEvilRobotinthedark"
and so on [H]

ouch, i guess I needed some delirium!


Michaël

[strawinsky]

Haha! Good stuff! Great idea... [H]

[William]

"That is my rite" - these British cats are so subtle.

One other thing that occurred to me on this particular piece, as well as those of Old Sir Robbie of Devon, is that they cause people to start seeing things. The ultimate goal of film music, I would say.

[strawinsky]

Too much Noel Coward,I'm afraid,William,haha!Terribly,terribly English.As far as the hallucinatory quality of music[:O]ne can't ask for more than that;that's as good as it gets.I almost always "see" something when I hear music.Synaesthesia:tastes good to my ears.What are you working on at the moment?

[PaulR]

@strawinsky said:

What are you working on at the moment?

Hahahahaha! Ahahahaha1 ha ..hahaha. hahahaha! Ahaha! HAAAH!

Sorry - couldn't resist when I saw that! Just gonna test his sense of humour to the absolute limit now!
Of course I know what he's working on now - but I couldn't possibly say.

Anyway back to very large horn sections and an absolute mass of Hitchcock DVDs on Ebay!

[:D]

[weslldeckers]

Indeed a very atmospheric cue... Nice hommage to The Rite...
Sounds probably stupid for someone working in the visual field: but I do not always get images when hearing music... Feelings yes.

This piece feels sad, alone, whispers that are seducing a tormented soul...
the images are comi--- damn, now the music has ended!

[PaulR]

@weslldeckers said:

This piece feels sad, alone, whispers that are seducing a tormented soul...

Well, that's not Michael, I can assure you!!!

[:D]

[strawinsky]

Thanks for the poetic character profile and favourable critique,weslldeckers.Much appreciated.Have you anything on the forum of yours I could listen to? See,Paul,you don't know me that well:I am a tortured soul,and I'm always getting told that my music is either restless or lonely. But it's good for the commercial persona,that stuff. Roy Orbison rules. [H]

[weslldeckers]

Aren't we all restless and tormented? ... [:'(]
[[;)]]

In this same forum department, a few post down, is the thread "Opinions on this demo for short film "The Bet"", in which I ask for opinions on a demo. Feel free to take a look.

[PaulR]

@weslldeckers said:

In this same forum department, a few post down, is the thread "Opinions on this demo for short film "The Bet"", in which I ask for opinions on a demo. Feel free to take a look.

Yes - I took a look - the squiggly-piggly noise I like.
I like the squiggly-piggly noise.
Ive got nothing against the squiggly-piggly noise.
Unfortunately, neither have you. [[;)]]


Anyway Michael, I just listened to the other remixed versions from the album and gotta say you were spot on about the Avalon. Really very good sounding to me and they should do well in commercial terms too. I will wait for 007 to get finished and then I'll see you straight after. Keep a copy for me to check out when I get there.