#the composer needs to limit their use of notes/harmonies/instruments when making a complete composition

[ferociouslycreativemystery]

Excellent video on the effects of colour grading and on storytelling

[isthisjazz]

Lionel Loueke

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with guitarist Lionel Loueke prior to his performance with the Chick Corea and Steve Gadd Band at the VETs. I wasn’t able to get out the interview before their gig but the conversation we had still reveals a lot about the group and his individual process, which makes it invaluable reading for jazz and guitar fans alike. Below is the full transcribed interview.

How long have you been playing with Chick Corea and Steve Gadd?

Not too long, we did the recording in January and the first gig was in Tokyo in August at the Blue Note. The tour really started that week. We got together about a week for the recording but that’s about it.

So this group dynamic has really formed just from the studio sessions and playing on stage together?

Yeah, well Chick knew that we would be touring so he put the band together with Gadd so right after the recording we could plan for touring and that started end of August. But you know we’ve been hitting it hard and will be going until the end of November.

In terms of tunes for this band, did you all come with them as individuals and all bring in different charts or write them as a group? Or did Steve and Chick walk in with tunes ready to go?

Basically Chick comes in with his tunes, and we play his tunes. There’s one song on the CD that came out from a jam I had with him so we kind of co-wrote that one, but otherwise they are all his compositions.

I wasn’t sure since I know that all of you are fantastic composers and arrangers on your own. I like the idea of coming up with the tune off the jam with Chick, especially with how adept both of you are as improvisors I’m sure you can lock onto an ostinato and find something from that vamp.

Yeah it just happened naturally. We workshopped together for two days just jamming and we recorded everything as we played. He basically used the melody we had and came up with nice harmonies.

With this band having a sax player in Steve Wilson and the right hand Chick Corea has and his melodic virtuosity, how is it to balance the melodic playing you’re doing with the harmonic?

It works fine because there’s no restriction with the harmony or how far one wants to go in or out of the structure as long as the form stays the same for everyone. Everyone is listening so carefully, and in my opinion that’s the sign of any great musician. We give room to each other to stretch out and do our thing so there are no boundaries which is a good thing.

Especially with the players, you guys can really stretch and go into some unique areas, but then I’m sure that with everyone having such big ears the listening that’s going on is next level. Besides just that particular dynamic, even though I know this has been a limited run, is there anything that you’ve learned so far that surprised you and has given you a new perspective on the music as it develops?

It’s not like I’m hearing something completely different than I’ve been hearing before in other bands, it just sounds like a band that has been around for a long time. Chick and Gadd have been playing since the seventies so there is a foundation based on that. Then Carlitos (Del Puerto, bass) has been playing with Chick the last four years and Steve Wilson has been with him for a long time too so I’m pretty much the only one who is new. I’m not working in the territory where everything is new since there’s a history here and everyone is listening for the interaction. One thing that is important here is that Chick is an excellent composer, player, and arranger. So when he arranges a tune he knows exactly what he wanted from day one so it’s just about getting it better and better. We come to these different arrangements or dynamics based but it all works because he knows what he’s hearing. Again, in terms of interaction there’s lots of room for everyone to play around and connect so everyone is just listening carefully to make the music right and find what the music needs.

I can only imagine coming into that foundation. To hear you all lock in is going to be really great.

Yeah, its good! (laughs)

Everyone has such unique voices in that ensemble that just listening to how you all evolve within the interactions is what I’m particularly interested in. I have one more question for you which is sort of a bit “inside baseball”. What sort of new concept are you working on? Is it some sort of new discovery you’ve made with the language of jazz, maybe a new lick you heard, or even a new guitar specific technique. What has been the focus of your practice right now?

I have a few things that I go to from period to period. Right now my focus is on my right hand technique. I don’t choose to play with a pick because what I’ve been hearing off that has been coming better and better, but it requires a much different technique. Mine is different from classical technique since I’m not holding the guitar like them or angled like them. Plus I’m always switching between acoustic and electric which is a different mechanic but I want to play both the same way and sound right. Right now I’m touring on electric so I’m working on that but when I move back to acoustic I focus on that, but that’s just technique. Then you have to go with what you’re hearing, because right now I’m not able to play what I’m hearing so it means I have to go back in on that and the technique together.

In terms of concepts, I’m always looking for new territory either melodically or harmonically. I listen a lot to classical music, contemporary classical music, Bartok, Stravinsky. I listen to the development of movements, how I can apply it in my playing. Instead of throwing many ideas in, just focus on one and try to make sense out of it. Then when it comes to harmony I go to back to the scores and look at the voicing, what chord is that, and apply it to the guitar. I’m always trying to go far from guitar technique to tell you the truth because it’ll always come back to me in a way and my thing is to not sound like guitar even if i’m holding a guitar.

Have you listened to Scriabin at all? Some of his piano stuff is *WHOA*. It’s hard, tough, but great. That whole Russian school with him, Shostakovich, like you said Stravinsky…

Yeah, absolutely, I check them all out. Music today, especially for me, is to look outside of the box. To learn something new and bring it to what I do. When it comes to jazz I very rarely listen to guitar, I focus on piano or saxophone, any instrument that has different type of phrasing that I can incorporate. That’s just one side, then I have the whole African side of traditional instruments that I listen a lot to and try to get the sound close on guitar, all the mutes technique, all that. I have a lot that I switch to from period to period.

Yeah man, it keeps it all fresh. There’s so much to hear and discover. It’s thrilling to hear that you just keep listening to new things and the diverse nature of those sources.

Yeah, it is very important to me.

Well, thanks so much for your time, I’m really looking forward to hearing you all play! You guys are going to play some burning stuff.

Yeah, we’re doing great man. I’m learning from everybody, stealing from everyone in the best way! Listening to Chick’s right hand as you mentioned, his phrasing; all things I’ve thought about but it is best to get from the source. I’m in school. (laughs)

Happening Around Town:

The John Allmark Jazz Orchestra; first Monday monthly @ The Met (Pawtucket) Is This Jazz?; first Friday bimonthly @ AS220 (Providence) isthisjazz.tumblr.com Allary At Arias; Sundays @ Arias Lounge (Providence) Groove Merchants; Mondays @ Fifth Element (Newport) Jazz Jam;Tuesdays @ Ten Rocks (Pawtucket) Groove E Tuesday;Tuesdays @ Murphy’s Law (Pawtucket) Parlour Jazz Jam; third Sunday monthly @ The Parlour (Providence) Jeff Platz Quartet’s Modern Sound Series; last Sunday monthly @ Tea In Sahara (Providence)

To add your listing email isthisjazzri@gmail.com.

Ben Shaw is a local composer and performer. Find him at ahueofshaw.tumblr.com or on Twitter @ahueofshaw.

[wereikonics]

Love Scenario - iKON analysis

@/bianxstan on Twitter - 7:51 PM - 29 Jan 2019

PS: Comment, RT or even re-post but I would appreciate it if you guys credit where credit is due. Thank you! 

PSS: I don't claim to be an expert. I just share what I know and my interpretation of things.

Please find @/bianxstan on Twitter. This Tumblr is an archive and @/bianxstan is only reachable via Twitter.

Before you go on, I want you to focus on these lyrics as you read through: "...a pretty decent ending. That's enough for me."

~

When composers, imho, create music as simple as this one, the intention becomes clearer: the composer intended it to be SIMPLE. It is either because the musician wants to bring light into the lyrics or the musician wants the instrumentals to be focused on.

~

In Love Scenario, #Hanbin did both. And so, you have to find the beauty in that simplicity because the intention of the composer lies in it.

~

Take note that not all simple things are created with beauty in mind. Like the idea of minimalism, the purpose of it is to maintain a lifestyle centered on necessity with minimal regard for aesthetics. However, not all minimalist approaches are created without complexity.

~

#Hanbin created a complex minimalist approach to this song without compromising the beauty of it. I knew the song will be a sleeper hit. Why? Because the first thought that will come to mind is that it is SIMPLE.

~

However, it sounds weird from a musically inclined person's perspective. I won't get into the whys but to me that weirdness became the charm of the song. It was a hit because we didn't realize that a simple song like this can leave us feeling relieved until we hear it.

~

#Hanbin's usage of staccato (when notes are played as if each note is detached to one another i.e. Metronome and piano melody) and sustain (when notes are prolonged i.e. bass and synths) were executed with such sophistication. It NEVER got too much, just ENOUGH.

~

Staccatos tend to make compositions bare and empty. It usually creates discord between notes. But as I've said before, #Hanbin have always had his own way of creating fluidity in music so effortlessly like it's child's play.

~

#Hanbin compensated that feeling of emptiness with three main different things: another staccato melody from the piano, a syncopated but sustained bass, and the usage of vocal harmony to fill the void.

~

Sidenote 1.0: When I say staccato melody from the piano, the keys played from the left hand are not played in sync with the R. hand. So the piano melody is played like this: RLRL for the most part. Although notes are not sustained, no sec/beat was left empty in the piano melody.

~

Sidenote 2.0: I'm not sure if I'm using the right technical term here but from what I remember, syncopation is when the drop of the beat falls awkwardly than expected. It's like a delay of drop. It makes melodies really groovy. This is why the bass of this song is GOLD.

~

Sidenote 3.0: That metronome has a weird beat structure. It's as if it's confused b/w two different time signatures. This is why it's so hard to copy its beat. Even to this day, I can't figure it out. However, I love it because it actually makes the song into something else. LOL

~

Now, notice how even if the only predominant sound is the metronome (the tapping sound), you don't feel as if the bg is empty. For example (timestamp on vid), there's only 3 main things at play here: DK's vocal, vocal harmony at the bg, & the metronome.

~

But as you listen to it, you'll never think that the production is lacking. This is because the vocal harmony in the background grabs your attention away from the singularity of the instrumentation. The vocal harmony was used as the main instrumentation instead.

~

When #June's part enters, a whole different vibe is executed by the mere addition of claps, bass and the piano melody. The re-introduction of the metronome at the latter part of June's part was a perfect transition to #Jinhwan's part. It made the two sections cohesive.

~

But as you listen to Jinhwan's part, the vibe changes. Which may be surprising since it has the same accompaniments w/ June's part. However, listen to the electric piano (synth) that seems to sing along. That ALONE changes the ENTIRE feel of the section.

~

This is why I've always said that #Hanbin knows when to give & when to take. He knows the balance of things being too much and too less. Even their transitions per music section is done so effortlessly without breaking flow. The entire song just screams, "ENOUGH is ENOUGH."

~

#Hanbin created simple lines of bass, piano, & metronome. The musical composition was simple & 1+1=2. You would think that simple+simple=simple. But Hanbin managed to create a musical bg that is so charming that it rings in your ears once you hear it and that is no simple feat.

~

I don't know if you guys have noticed this but there are a lot of KPOP music out there that seems to be three different songs stitched together with a similarly over-layered MV. Imho, this is done to overstimulate the listener to keep them listening and watching.

~

However, what #iKON did with this song was that they took influences from different genres, crushed it, and blended it all together with such class and sophistication. This is why although the song have different musical influences, it still sounds cohesive and STIMULATING.

~

This is why the song sounds so familiar yet some can't exactly determine why it is so. In a saturated industry dominated by fast-paced & over-produced songs, Love Scenario came at the right time to give the industry a much needed breather. Love Scenario is refreshing.

~

#Hanbin's insistence to make the vocals the driving force of this song was ingenious. This is bec Hanbin didn't do it to show off their vocal capabilities. He made the vocals at the forefront to 1) bring focus to the lyrics and 2) to balance out the simple background.

~

Since the bg is simple, he tried to compensate it as well through vocal tones and the style of singing. Remember when #Hanbin said that he wants the members to sing as if they were just throwing words? That's one of the reasons why this song became a hit.

~

Singing is different from talking because you sustain notes & pitches. Sometimes, that idea becomes intimidating to those who don't know how to sing. Hanbin's persistent urge to the members to sing in a way of emulating the idea of speaking made song even more approachable.

~

The vocals are the main attraction but they’re not executed to show-off vocal prowess. It’s made to complete the simple background and express lyrics of contentment. The song was never sang in a way that it wasn't meant to be. There were no belting. There were no runs.

~

It was just sang as simple as all the other components in the song. However, the execution really is impressive. The song never tried to be anything it's not. It didn't try to be overly hip hop, ballad, or pop. It's just LOVE SCENARIO. That simplicity became it's identity.

~

"...a pretty decent ending. That's enough for me."

*Please manually search for Love Scenario on YT to help with streaming views.

~

Simplicity in music compositions can be the fruit of the most complex process of creation. In order to create a simple sound that works, you almost have to try to break the limit of the process of elimination. Or just be a musical genius like Hanbin. You guys decide.

~

That's it guys! Sorry it took so long. I know it's quite long but I felt like if I didn't include everything I wanted to say, I would've given it injustice. Thank you for reading!

Also, I would love it if you guys provide me some feedback. What do you want me to do better? Should I add anything? I would really appreciate it. Thank you again!

*Please reach Paula on Twitter to provide feedback.

[musescore-com]

MuseScorer of the month: timweaving

Welcome to July’s edition of “MuseScorer of the month.” This is your chance to get to know one of MuseScore.com’s many brilliant members each month of the year. We’re featuring a wide variety of composers and types of music in this series, as well as some members who use MuseScore to transcribe and share public domain sheet music. When we started this series six months ago, in January, our first MuseScorer of the month was Timothy K Hamilton. Now, at 2017’s halfway point, it’s time for another Tim—so meet Tim Weaving!

How did you discover MuseScore?

I first started to dabble with classical composition in 2010, around the age of thirteen. Whilst at secondary school I was introduced to Noteflight, an online music notation application which I used for several years, though never felt that it provided enough freedom and flexibility. In 2013, I progressed into sixth form college where I was approached by a peer who had been working on a dramatic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island; he asked if I would write the score. I started to notate my ideas in Noteflight but soon became fed-up whilst battling with its limitations. As a student, unable to afford a software solution such as Sibelius or Finale, I searched for free music notation programs and immediately came across MuseScore. MuseScore saw me through the Treasure Island project and I even opted to use it over Sibelius (available on the college computers) when writing my final A-level music compositions. To this date, I use MuseScore exclusively and haven’t found myself needing anything more!

What motivates you to compose?

There are many composers' works I currently enjoy listening to and take inspiration from, such as those of Sibelius, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky; most notable, however, is the music of Shostakovich. Shostakovich’s fluid dynamic transitions and inventive use of chromaticism and chromatic alteration, whilst still being grounded in tonality, is very appealing to me—my piece Marche Macabre is probably most evocative of Shostakovich’s style. The satisfaction in having a piece of music that is yours and yours alone is one of the biggest motivations for me and MuseScore provides a brilliant platform for composers to reach an audience they would not otherwise have access to. Any feedback I receive on my pieces (good or bad!) is also a great motivation and encourages me to develop as a composer. I find musical composition to be very therapeutic and as a mathematics student, it provides a creative outlet that I would not necessarily get otherwise.

What is your typical composing workflow like?

Any new piece generally begins its life at the piano, where I take note of any harmonic progressions, melodies and motifs that catch my ear. Once my initial ideas are formed I play around a little with the orchestration, deciding on which timbres suit certain melodies. With the main theme established, I allow the composition to develop as far as possible before my inspiration starts to falter, at which point I return to the piano. Once the composition reaches a stage where it makes sense musically and all the various components are in place, I listen to it in its entirety a few times over. At this point, I will perhaps move some parts to different instruments, fill out harmony in places, add embellishments and generally refine the piece. Finally, I go through and adjust any articulation or ornamentation that is misplaced or missing completely and improve the overall aesthetic of the score.

What have you shared on MuseScore.com that you’re most proud of?

There are two pieces of mine which I consider most musically “mature”—my Serenade No. 3 in A minor and Marche Macabre in C minor. Of the two, however, I would say that I am most proud of the latter.

Marche Macabre by timweaving

Watch for our next MuseScorer of the month in August!

[andillmissyourlaughyoursmile]

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Compositional Process - Post 7 - Transformation 2.0; ‘Top-Down Irrationality in Design’

Strange sessions of work characterized the process in this post.

In the last post I began by saying;

“This post is very much like post 3 where I stopped at a very rough and unfinished point in the piece. But unlike post 3, this post is not a “tough” point to stop at, but is at a state that is ready to rocket forward to another Transformation in the following post!”

Well “not a tough point to stop at” turned out to be a more complicated matter.

I did complete the ‘decisive transition’.

But considerations of instrumental technique slowed down the work for quite a while as I tried different strategies for voicing and texture in this part.

This was the first rough draft of the transition at m. 124;

ex. 7a

I found while working this line out in several different variations I was thinking in 12 to 15 second chunks, allowing these to simmer in my brain to find the right pace. Eventually, I settled on a 3-part structure that roughly frames a 6″ phrase followed by two 10″ phrases, the last of which winds down to silence.

I decided straightaway that I would like to have this top line as legato as possible, so playing it all on the 1st string was the best option. This also allows the character of the line to be more easily shaped by timbre.

The problem now was having an accompanying line that would have to be modular enough to not be broken be the shifts in position in the top line.

In my first idea for the middle line I focused on harmonic combination on the 5th and 6th strings;

ex. 7b

But I soon abandoned the 3-note motive for the more inconspicuous pedaling of a 2-note motive. A bass was added and more space was utilized at the beginning of the phrase;

ex.7c

As this phrase developed, two important structural elements added to its definition.

The first was the duration of sustain of the held notes in the middle line. I tried to have these held notes on the pitch A, but a few times they naturally fell on B in the pattern.

In the first set of the phrase, mm. 124-129,  the duration of the held note was 3 eighth notes (with one exception). In the next set, roughly mm. 130-136, the held note is 2 eighth notes in duration (again with one exception). In the third set the bass and the middle line merge, making this structure ambiguous. 

The second structural element that emerged in this phrase, and working in tangent with the above, was the offset pattern of the bass note with the treble line’s rhythmic profile.

Starting with the anticipation of the second set in m. 129 the bass comes in earlier to the treble note, and then lines up to its resolution the following time. This happens a total of 4 times before the ritard at m. 136.

These two occurrences were worked out in tandem, shaping the intervals in the treble and bass, and controlled the flow in the cadence of the middle line - sometimes giving a slight hesitation and lending the relative tension before the fade out in m. 136.

The middle line of this phrase will take some finesse and problem solving to render in all harmonics - but honestly, after a while of trying to generate material purely on instrumental terms, the process got unnecessarily tedious.

The solution was ultimately found on purely musical terms, through ‘my ear’, and when it is time to go back and edit the completed score for fingering it will be better to make any changes accommodating fingering - rather than having to settle with changes to something technically accessible but musically inadequate. That is the recipe for dissatisfaction and frustration.

This is a good thing to find out...

And I have been through it before, that if something that is musically perfect is technically difficult, an adaption is very easily reconciled.

Sometimes composers forget that the possibilities of the instrument are nearly limitless within its range. But that is only practical if the range to adhere to is not limiting to the correct vision of the expression of the piece. The music will always trump the physical means to produce the sound. In this case it is a ‘top-down’ venture. Designed by a creator, and awesomely so it is, to work with the raw elements of music.

The strangeness of these sessions were in large part my giving in to this principle, and that as I set out to work on this material I was initially energized, then increasingly daunted - and now as I look back at the product of the work, it seems perfectly simple and straightforward. It’s almost like fast-forwarding to the end of some crazily complex sci fi movie about time travel, to find out the ending is so plainly basic that everyone breathing can understand it.

Other things that changed were the two beats that were added to m. 118, and a low E to enter m. 119. This helps balance m. 120.

I also modified m. 117, increasing the space by 6 beats - playing with that pause - and adding some lower voice-leading that bring out the last held note.

An interesting circumstance was brought out early in the working out of the decisive transition. 

In what was the bridge to that upper range, the sweeping arpeggio in m.121, was found to be too abrupt to set off the following material. I think mainly it was the implied harmony in m. 121 that was not enough to prepare the pivot to the new harmony. It may be that the move to that range also called for more preparation, but more space was needed in any case.

So I simply tripled that measure;

ex. 7d

These three measures will be used as a template to bring a little more interest and arrival at m. 124.

- Things to Change, Things to Develop - The Direction Forward -

Again like m. 121, I have a feeling that the ending at the transition in m. 136, I think I might experiment with a measure or a slight few notes preparing m. 138. But I’m really not sure about this just yet. I also think it would be a good chance to let the violin breath with a soft solo pedal tone into the shift.

On my thoughts about the texture and pacing in the return of the material after m. 136 from Post 6;

“So now I am all set to complete the ‘decisive transition’ from post 5 - the higher range music that completes the middle section. And after filling out this new part, I will simply carry out the model that was set up in the opening material, with necessary surprises and the faster pace.”

...I’m not so sure about anymore...

I kind of like the reset that is achieved after m. 136. The return of quarter note beats has a peace and repose to it.

I do have plans at modifying the basic form of mm. 138-153, elongating the last measure of it perhaps... creating a stutter that brings back the reprise of the material at m. 17.

The coda is still ultimately beyond me at this point. I think I have 2-3 more big pushes to finish this piece. I am hoping by March - holding my fist up with a single shake of faith.

[aion-rsa]

How Ghost of Tsushima’s Music Combines Japanese Tradition with the Cinematic

https://ift.tt/3g97UTM

Ilan Eshkeri is something of a musical adventurer. He’s an award-winning composer who has scored a wide variety of films including Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass, Shaun the Sheep Movie, has composed a modern ballet based on Echo & Narcissus, has conducted an orchestra at the Louvre, and has even worked with the European Space Agency (who sent him on a zero-G, parabolic flight). As an artist, he’s always looking to be challenged and inspired in new ways. And his latest project is unlike anything he’s ever done before.

“I’ve been saying, ‘Let me do a video game’ for like fifteen years,” Eshkeri tells Den of Geek over a Zoom call, explaining why he chose Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima as the next evolution in his career. He’d composed music for just one other game, The Sims 4 back in 2014, and when Sucker Punch approached him to compose music for the studio’s upcoming samurai epic, he felt it would be the perfect opportunity to jump back into the video game fold.

“When I pick projects, what I’m looking for is a good, emotional story that I can emotionally connect with. That, and do I connect with the other creative people on the project? If those two things work, then I want to do it,” explains Eshkeri of his decision to work with Sucker Punch. “The music team said, ‘We love this score that you did for this movie Coriolanus,’ which is an arthouse Shakespeare film that Ralph Fiennes directed. And I was like, ‘Okay, so you’re making this blockbuster video game, and you’re interested in this arthouse bit of work that I did.'”

Eshkeri worked closely with Sucker Punch on the score, which also features five suites by Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi, who is best known for his work with famed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai and his scores for wuxia films such as House of Flying Daggers.

“We sat down in a boardroom and they gave me this big talk through,” Eshkeri said. “It’s like this 45-minute long talk through visual bits of art and little bits of motion capture of some of the bits of the game that were in play. They told me the whole story [of Ghost of Tsushima] from beginning to end, and I was blown away. I was like, ‘This is better than most movies that I have read in a long time.’”

While Eshkeri had little experience composing for video games, he was quite comfortable telling emotional stories with his music, which is exactly what Sucker Punch needed him to do. Protagonist Jin Sakai’s journey centers on his inner struggle with the samurai’s idea of honor, which he was raised to uphold, and the deceptive “Ghost” war tactics he knows are necessary to protect his people from the invading Mongols. Eshkeri found ample inspiration in Jin’s story and found it artistically freeing.

“What really got me is that Jin is in crisis the whole time. He’s emotional. He’s having to go against everything he’s been taught, everything in his whole moral code, in order to save the people that he loves. That is a very intense and rich place to come into to explore any kind of emotion at all whatsoever. I thought, ‘I can write something really powerful from that place.’”

To prepare himself for the project, Eshkeri immersed himself in Japanese music, instruments, and culture, though he made sure to avoid one point of reference that might surprise those who have played through Ghost of Tsushima. The game features an optional “Kurosawa Mode,” which presents the visuals in black and white with added film grain effects as an homage to the incomparable Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa. But Eshkeri’s musical contributions actually bear little resemblance to the music that accompanied Kurosawa’s films.

“I deliberately did not go down that road,” Eshkeri says of his approach to Ghost of Tsushima’s soundtrack. “I don’t really like film music references because what happens with these references is that you end up pastiching the sound of it because they’re so appropriate and they work so well. So I’d rather…if somebody says, ‘Well, I like the work of this person,’ I go, ‘Okay. Who was that person inspired by?’ That’s where I like to go. And so typically, if I’m writing a big Hollywood symphonic score, I’m looking up at [Gustav] Holst or at [Richard] Wagner, the great classical composers — the later ones — who started developing the sort of language and the sort of harmony that we hone film scores. I try to go back to that source.”

So, Eshkeri went way back, beyond Kurosawa, to find Japanese musical influence. Sucker Punch was looking for authenticity in the game’s music, and he was willing to go all the way, digging up the most authentic sounds and instruments he could find, no matter how obscure. He was unsure the team would be onboard with this level of “nerdiness,” as he calls it, despite their request for true authenticity.

“Sometimes people say that and then you get into it and they go, ‘No. No. Actually, we just want the thing that we were expecting, that everyone was expecting’” explains Eshkeri of his typical collaboration process. “But these guys, whatever crazy idea I threw at them, they were like, ‘That’s great. Let’s explore that. Let’s go down that road.’ And they were right there with me on the journey. So it was creatively very, very satisfying.”

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Eshkeri was given license to go as deep as he wanted in his research, and indeed, he dove just about as deep as one could dive, looking into Japanese Shomyo Buddhist music, whose roots can be traced back as far back as 752AD.

“I got in touch with this professor of Japanese music, Professor David Hughes, who’s a great master of all of this stuff. He guided me towards great musicians. He guided me to what books to read. We talked at length so that I really developed an understanding of the pentatonic scales that are used in Japanese music or how they use them and why.”

Eshkeri continues, almost apologetically, “So this is incredibly nerdy. But just to give you one example. The pentatonic scale has got five notes in it, but [the monks] embellished the notes. So you get on the shakuhachi [type of Japanese flute] and you can go from just beneath the note or just above the note, depending on how you wrote it. So you have those variants. On the koto [Japanese string instrument], you can only bend upwards. So you could go just above the note, but you can never go below the notes, right? And so I started to learn all this stuff. And now I know just enough, the tip of the iceberg, just to know that I don’t know very much at all.”

This level of research and immersion paid off. Ghost of Tsushima’s soundtrack is ravishing, replete with arrangements of ancient instruments that sound true to the time period but move and undulate in a way that’s dynamic and distinctly modern. Shomyo music is restrictive in certain respects, mostly due to the fact that the instruments traditionally used to play it are limited to one key, so Eshkeri wasn’t able to use evocative key changes and swells in his compositions as frequently as he would in, say, a traditional movie score. “That was a challenge in itself,” Eshkeri explains. “Because key changes, that’s what we often use as this sort of ear candy, right?” But when the game calls for it, Eshkeri’s score does occasionally transcend the traditional Shomyo sound.

“In places, of course, I broke the rules,” Eshkeri says. “I needed to write harmonies, right? And there isn’t really much harmony in Shomyo music. It’s more just [melody] lines. And so I created chords out of the notes scale, and I created a whole sort of way of writing music for the game that was completely based on the main two or three Japanese pentatonic scales, using the instruments, learning to write appropriately for the instruments as much as possible…and then I broke the rules. I researched and then  I just created my own world.”

For Eshkeri, the most difficult piece of music to write for the game accompanies [spoiler alert] the final duel between Jin and his uncle, Lord Shimura. “I needed to write something that has all the action beats to it,” Eshkeri explains. “But at the same time, I want the player to have tears in their eyes while having this fight. How do you do those two things at the same time? That was the hardest piece to write. There is a huge key change at one particular moment that hopefully has great effect. I haven’t played that bit in the game myself, so I have to play to see. But I think it’s about finding your own path and becoming the kind of person that you need to be.”

The generational conflict between Jin and Lord Shimura — between progress and tradition – -is timeless and rings true even in today’s sociopolitical climate. Eshkeri composed the game’s music to reflect the generational theme throughout.

“That’s why I was trying to be so traditional in my approach to the music and then break the rules where I could,” Eshkeri explains. “I think it’s a timeless thing. It’s Shakespearean in the way that it connects to your heart because what’s great about Shakespeare and the great writers that we keep going back to is that they’re always relevant. Whatever’s happening in the world, there’s something relevant and something the way the story informs things in ways that they couldn’t have imagined when they were writing it, but it’s because we’re just repeating stuff. And every generation has their own revolution, right? And I guess that’s what this game is looking at. Yeah, that’s just powerful stuff really. For me, it’s sort of about the future and the past.”

Ghost of Tsushima is out now for the PlayStation 4.

The post How Ghost of Tsushima’s Music Combines Japanese Tradition with the Cinematic appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[stormyrecords-blog]

march 29th new arrivals

in on thursday restock on these lps - HEXADIC III $24.99ben chasney currated lp of current amazing guitar players on drag city CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER Hormone Lemonade $28.99still the clear vinyl version!!! JAY DANIEL - Audire Vol 1 Watusi High cassette $9.99beats tape by local dj/electronic magician who has been running with the Wild Oats crowd for years. Debut release from Detroit super-duo 'Audire', comprised of Jay Daniel & Ajamu Yakini. Raw work of art combining World, Jazz, Hip-Hop & everything in between. Limited to only 100 cassettes.Running Time 28 mins. JAY DANIEL - School Dance ep on Watusi $8.99it's wonderful to be in a place where we get to meet young people with the dream of making music. and to watch them work hard and grow and realize their dream of putting out records and performing all over the world. it can also be hard as they age to see them and see they are older, and know that means we are older too. we're proud to be able to play some small part in the lives of musicians like jay, who so truly loves what he does. Following releases on Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature imprint and Kyle Hall’s Wild Oats label, ascending house DJ and producer Jay Daniel has decided to step out on his own, unveiling the first release on his new Watusi High imprint. The two-track School Dance EP collects a pair of muddy, slow-chugging house tracks from the man himself. Funkadelic: Free Your Mind LP $31.99"Funkadelic's second LP, originally released in 1970, is another straight up masterpiece from the stoniest, strangest funk and R&B group of all-time. Opening with the 10 minute title track complete with a shredding keyboard solo from Bernie Worrell and, of course, the six-stringed insanity of Eddie Hazel. One of George Clinton's finest sets of songs and another essential part of the Parliament-Funkadelic catalog reissued on blue starburst vinyl in a deluxe gatefold jacket." Atobe, Shinichi: Butterfly Effect 2LP $29.992018 limited repress. Shinichi Atobe has managed to stay off the grid since he made an appearance on Basic Channel's Chain Reaction imprint back in 2001. He delivered the second-to-last 12" on the label and then disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a solitary record that's been selling for crazy money and a trail of speculation that has led some people to wonder whether the project was in fact the work of someone on the Basic Channel payroll. That killer Chain Reaction 12" has also been a longtime favorite of Demdike Stare, who have been trying to follow the trail and make contact with Atobe for some time, whoever he turned out to be. A lead from the Basic Channel office turned up an address in Japan and -- unbelievably -- an album full of archival and new material. Demdike painstakingly assembled and compiled the material for this debut album. And what a weird and brilliant album it is -- deploying a slow-churn opener that sounds like a syrupy Actress track, before working through a brilliantly sharp and tactile nine-minute piano house roller that sounds like DJ Sprinkles, then diving headlong into a heady, Vainqueur-inspired drone-world. It's a confounding album, full of odd little signatures that give the whole thing a timeless feeling completely detached from the zeitgeist, like a sound bubble from another era. This is only the second album release on Demdike Stare's DDS imprint, following the release of Nate Young's Regression Vol. 3 (Other Days) (DDS 007LP) in 2013. Who knows what they might turn up next? Mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy. Messthetics: S/T LP $18.99cd also available $12.99"The Messthetics are an instrumental trio featuring Brendan Canty (drums), Joe Lally (bass), and Anthony Pirog (guitar). Brendan Canty and Joe Lally were the rhythm section of the band Fugazi from its inception in 1987 to its period of hiatus in 2002. This is the first band they've had together since then. Anthony Pirog is a jazz and experimental guitarist based in Washington, D.C. One half of the duo Janel & Anthony, he has emerged as a primary figure in the city's out-music community. The trio's debut includes nine songs recorded at Canty's practice space throughout 2017, live and mostly without overdubs. It's a snapshot of a band dedicated to the live ideal, where structure begets improvisation." Perry, Jordan: S/T LP $17.99"Much needed reissue of the extremely limited 2017 debut LP by Virginia guitarist, Jordan Perry. We were turned on to it when Chris Guttmacher at Blue Bag Records in Cambridge told Kassie Richardson of Good Cry (who did the initial 100 pressing) to send us a copy. He thought we might be into it, and halfway into one spin we knew he was right. There have been several fat boatloads of acoustic guitar players floating across our turntable the past few years. And to be honest, we've dug the majority of them. Seems like there must be a lot of good stuff in the water, or something. Despite this, a preponderance of the players we've enjoyed have definitely been in the American Primitive mode. Lots of swift modal aktion with a folk/blues base, invaded by various foreign agents. Jordan Perry's approach to his guitar is quite different. Although there are some basic völk sonorities in his playing, Mr. Perry's brunt combines these with more avant garde note selections and compositional gambits, as well as a string attack with classical qualities. While there's a gentleness to the melodies at which he eventually arrives, Perry's journey crosses prickly patches of tone clusters, and has a circular logic that defies pop logic. A few passages recall moments on All Is Ablaze, our recent album with experimental player Julia Reidy (FTR 338LP), while some of the open strumming has a beautifully languid quality verging on mid period William Ackerman. All of which makes this a record very deserving of much personal headspace. Give Jordan Perry some room and you'll be very glad you did. We promise." --Byron Coley, 2018 Edition of 300. Plastic Cloud:S/T LP   $27.992018 repress. "Plastic Cloud recorded, quite simply, one of the greatest psychedelic albums ever made. This is a record with few equals, full of foreboding melodies and lovely hippie harmonies, as well as some of the most superb and trippiest, Eastern sounding fuzz guitar ever recorded. There is no point singling out a specific track, they are all excellent -- one is equally as good as the next. Take for example the album centerpiece, the ten-and-a-half-minute 'You Don't Care,' an insane piece of social commentary that features terrific back-of-the-mix fuzz guitar as an elusive focal point to its extended pounding-drum laden instrumental breaks; with a great chorus and a plaintive melody in the verse, it doesn't overstay its welcome, winding its way to a final freak out. Essential psychedelia!" 180 gram vinyl; Edition of 400/ Comes with lyric insert and replica vintage press release. Phew: Voice Hardcore LP $26.99"Living legend Phew follows up her brilliant Light Sleep album with another masterwork -- Voice Hardcore -- comprised entirely of her iconic, instantly recognizable voice, twisted, folded and layered over six mesmerizing tracks. Recorded at home in summer 2017, this release finds Phew exploring an idea she first hatched while recording her debut single 'Finale' in 1980 -- to, in her words, ' make new reverberations that I have never heard before, using only my body.' 37 years later, Phew proves herself again to be the exception to the rule -- a veteran artist with an estimable catalog spanning decades who, rather than repeating herself or playing it safe, charges headfirst into uncharted territory. Phew's self -- released tour CD of Voice Hardcore was voted # 23 Best Album of 2017 by The Wire Magazine. This Mesh-Key vinyl edition features a silver foil stamped cover and a double-sided, full color insert, and comes with an mp3 download card." Morrow, Charlie: Toot! Too LP $26.99Recital present the first vinyl LP by composer/event-maker Charlie Morrow. Toot! Too culls performance recordings from 1970 to 2014. It focuses on his "Wave Music" series, which are compositions based around swarms of like-instruments; i.e. sixty clarinets, conch choruses, and army of drums and bugle horns, etc. The 1978 piece, "100 Musicians With Lights", was performed at dusk in Central Park. One hundred players (brass, reeds, percussion) congregate and march in spiral formations, playing their instrument with penlights attached to them. The piece dissipates and ends as each player marches through the park to their respective homes. The sound is fascinating; a tape recording made by an audience member swirling and dancing through the performance. Charlie is an organizer: one of instruments, with the pieces that landed on this LP and dozens more; one of events, through decades of public solstice celebrations across the world; one of publications, including New Wilderness Audiographics and EAR Magazine; and, one of friendships as Charlie has kindly introduced me to many fascinating players in this quirky game of ours. He views networking as an art form, always connecting friends with other friends, building a larger web for everyone to dance throughout. Label owner Sean McCann on the release: "In working on this LP over the past years, Charlie Morrow and I have become close. It has been a joy to have him in my life. At the age of 73, he is determined and creative and as positive as ever. Each time we speak, new projects arise -- like a mysterious soup boiling up fresh aromas. One of my favorite memories with Charlie was us staying up 'til the wee small hours of the morning drinking a bottle of sweet potato shochu, me listening to him tell funny and poignant remembrances. I am happy to share these lovely recordings, just a pinky toe in his artistic footprint, but wow, such a gorgeous toe!" Includes 20-page, 8.5x11" color booklet with scores, writings, and photographs; Includes download coupon; Edition of 500. Spacemen 3: Dreamweapon 2LP $39.99"August 1988, Spacemen 3 embark on one of the strangest events in the band's already strange history. Billed as 'An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music' (although consciously omitting the sitar), the group would play in the foyer of Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, Middlesex to a largely unsuspecting and unsympathetic audience waiting to take their seats for Wim Wenders' film Wings Of Desire. Spacemen 3's proceeding set, forty-five minutes of repetitive drone-like guitar riffs, could be seen as the 'Sweet Sister Ray' of '80s Britain. Their signature sound is at once recognizable and disorienting -- pointing as much to the hypnotic minimalism of La Monte Young as to a future shoegaze constituency. On this double LP reissue, Dreamweapon is augmented by studio sessions and rehearsal tapes from 1987 that would lead up to the recording of Spacemen 3's classic Playing With Fire album. 'Spacemen Jam,' featuring Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce on dual guitar, is a side-long mediation on delicate textures and psychedelic effects. Includes download card and new insert with liner notes by Will Carruthers."