I heard this years ago on an old cassette tape that someone gave me as a birthday present, and it just blew me away. It is so silly, and so unusual, but still has an incredibly clever musicological streak running through it. Perhaps some of it is lost on me due to my lack of… Continue reading Sunday Silliness: Musical Appreciation
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Around the Web: Arranging, Editing, and Rehearsal
A few links gathered from around the web. This week we have a couple of useful tutorials in sound mixing and MIDI orchestration. Although written with games, films or album release, these techniques are equally applicable for theatrical work. I’ve also linked to an excellent post by composer John Adams on taking your compositions into the… Continue reading Around the Web: Arranging, Editing, and Rehearsal
Norman O’Neill – Music to Stage Plays
This is a wonderful old article (it was published in the proceedings of the Royal Musical Association in 1910) which lays out the land for the traditional method of presenting music to a stage play. Norman O’Neill was a composer who wrote prolifically for the theatre, and these musings are the product of an expert… Continue reading Norman O’Neill – Music to Stage Plays
In the Orchestra Pit
This week’s video isn’t strictly about straight theatre, but it gives a good insight into the lives of those who play music in theatrical settings. via the Really Useful Website backstage blogs
Vamp, Safety, & Repeat
For a theatrical musician this technique (or bundle of techniques) is the bread and butter of live theatre. These are the buffers that bridge the gap between the prewritten and preplanned score and technology and the unpredictable excitement of the performers and the audience. There are two types of buffer, the Vamp and the Safety… Continue reading Vamp, Safety, & Repeat
The Purposes of Theatrical Music
Music in a play (or to a lesser extent a musical) serves a very different purpose to music in a film or at a concert. In fact, it has a variety of purposes depending on the play that it is part of. I have based these purposes on the great book Sound and Music for the Theatre: The… Continue reading The Purposes of Theatrical Music
An Agnus Dei in a Dei or Two
Well, I’m a couple of days later than promised, which isn’t very good, but I have been beavering away on a second choral composition, and have got it to a state where I can share my thoughts about it. This week’s work has been a setting of the Agnus Dei, the text of which can… Continue reading An Agnus Dei in a Dei or Two