For Orchestra!

I’m here at the Boston Symphony orchestra as they rehearse ForOrchestra.

I’m so excited. More on this when it happens. You guys rock. We’re making this happen

I was recently invited to the Perez Hilton and Blogads event a few days ago along with Jon Accarrino of MethodShop to meet up with some other people.

Met Perez Hilton

He blogged about my work on his website and also on his Twitter Feed.

So I was excited to go, and had a great time seeing Kid Sister open up, and a few others. As I was on my way out I bumped into Questlove from The Roots. I mentioned to him about ‘For Orchestra’ and as we all decided – Seed 2.0 was the song we should do for him.

Questlove from The Roots

The whole night was fun, and I’m glad I got to connect with Perez, and thank him for the support of my work. Thanks to Jon, BlogAds, Questo, and all of you too!

Merry Christmas everyone. I’m pulling into my first year in Manhattan, and am already a little sick of the snow haha

I have a little present for you all – here’s a picture of my Christmas Tree that looks like it’s something Charlie Brown would have.

I’ve also been working hard on a Christmas CD which will come out next year, more on that later!

Anyway, thanks for the support! Be safe, enjoy the holiday, and have fun!

Every year during Christmas I always see these light shows, in which the most famous one is the “Winter of the Wizards” Video by the Trans Siberian Orchestra. I used to study lighting, but will refrain from getting technical (for those who care its referred to as DMX 512).

I always compare these light shows to orchestrating my music. In the video below you’ll notice there are 5 or so “sections”. Similarly, there are 5 or so sections in an orchestra (winds, brass, strings, percussion, chorus, etc.). So assign each light section as an instrument section. When either section is playing you have them ‘perform’. Its much more complicated than that, but the arrangement is the same idea. It also helps to have dynamics and to start with a song that is arranged well.

I like the idea of how something like this can be uploaded onto Youtube, and then find its way into a Suberbowl commercial. This helped explode the idea of arranging lights to music – and everyone knows I’m a big fan of inter arts (combining more than one art form together).

The reason I say that dynamics are important are because the power is in the peaks and valleys. Good art tells a story, and every good story takes you on a journey of highs and lows. Notice how there are times when only one light is ‘playing’ to create the sense of one instrument playing, etc.

The lightshow ‘arranger’ creates a perfect visual interpretation of a piece of music – saving the climactic moment for the very end. You can’t have all the lights on at once – you need build up – just like a piece of music. So there you have it – Arranging is like dancing Christmas lights.

“Caught in a Bad Romance”

I said it before: Gaga’s music makes the perfect orchestration when I use my style of arranging. Everything fits, and I love the lyrical content and direction of this piece. Even the video is beautiful. My good friend Andy Jordan put it best by saying it was “visually stunning”. I wanted to capture that atmosphere with this piece:

Hear It!     Buy It!

[Songs Archive]

This composition meant a lot to me. I felt Bad Romance, similar to how I felt about “Simply Being Loved” could be about anything that leaves us in a place we aren’t comfortable in. It doesn’t have to be about another person, it could be about your career, or your choices. “I don’t wanna be friends” echos to me the idea that we want relationships – relationships show commitment, and we should always be committed and passionate in everything we do. In the words of Derek Sivers: “It’s Hell Yea or No“. I’ve worked at places where I was a “bad romance” between my heart and the career I was in. These are all things we all go through, and help us in the long run.

Eclipsing near the 5 minute mark, this epic arrangement starts with the violins whispering the melody, just as the harp and winds stay underneath before the drums kick in. In the second verse, the blank measure on ‘Love, Love, Love’ within the 4 octaves was put there because that’s how I kept singing it in the shower, haha. It’s no secret that this piece gave me trouble – it was supposed to come out last month, but I wanted it to be perfect. There were times when the trumpets sounded better in some parts than others. The one thing I was excited for were the dynamics – I throw in soft pizzicatos, orchestra chimes, drop out the drums, have JUST the flutes play, and even create a monstrous roar leading into the final Chorus. The length of this piece allowed me to tell a story, and so I did.

If you like this, I arranged Lady Gaga’s Love Game and also Poker Face! Check them out!