For Orchestra #20: Jonathan Coulton ‘Code Monkey’
“Code Monkey have every reason to get out this place ”
One of my biggest inspirations is Jonathan Coulton. His songs are licensed Creative Commons, which allows you to remix them, send them to friends, and more. So when I started seeing people arrange his work, I thought “I wonder if I can do that For Orchestra!” And so there you have it – that perhaps JoCo is the reason of how I even came up with this idea in the first place. But after I arranged it, I kept doing other songs every few months, and it wasn’t until a few months ago, when I decided to tackle this head on.
Preview!
Buy It!The brass take the ending chorus in this piece, which is a remix of the one I made years ago. I also added a monstrous percussion section: Xylaphone, Anvil, Drums, Harp, Orchestra Chimes, Triangle, and Timpani. Looking back at how I was years ago is something that makes me appreciate all the hours I work on my craft. But improvement as a musician isn’t simply about better production, arranging, or writing. Its about being a better person all around. Life is about improvement, and change.
This song means alot to me, not only because it was the first of all the pieces I had done, but because Coulton’s songs (while covering everything from IKEA, to Zombies) are also about “breaking away from the mold.” He broke away from his job to pursue his dream, and the lyrics of Code Monkey represent that. It could be relationships, friends, your car, or even your career – If you don’t like something you change it. You do this until all the chips fall on your lap, and everything in your life makes you smile. Everything.
It’s the only way to live.
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Walt this is the greatest For Orchestra by far. Keep up the incredible work.
First off, I have to say that I love your orchestral arrangements; they’re really cool. I particularly love this arrangement of “Code Monkey”. I’ve been working on a Jonathan Coulton-themed jukebox musical for a while now, just for fun, and I was wondering if I could use your “Code Monkey” arrangement as some nice montage music. Naturally, I would credit you for your work. Please and thank you. ^_^
No one should comment on artistic creations when there are in an extremely bad mood, but the fact that I am in such a mood, means that I am drawn to this song (to get me out of the mood). I want to way that you’ve done a really good job with this. It gets better and better as it goes along. Since I broke the advice of the first sentence, and for that I apologize, I’ll say I was initially distracted at the staccato nature of the opening measures. I see what you were going for. The simplicity of the it is quite nice. Once the horns came in to balance things out, it fit together quite well. I guess I was just worried at the opening but you proved your skill and vision by the end.
You’ve done honor to the song, and drive behind it.
Lovely.