For Orchestra!

“The microphone explodes, shattering the molds”

When met with a challenge, I usually accept it head on. Bulls on Parade was no different, and I’m thrilled with the result:

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[Songs Archive]

This piece was released in 1996 by Rage Against the Machine (RATM), a Los Angeles band, and part of their 2nd studio album “Evil Empire”

RATM even beat out America Idol for the UK’s Christmas Song. This shows two things – the power of the internet community, and the lasting effects of RATM.

This piece was very difficult to arrange for orchestra – perhaps the most difficult one I’ve done. The reason for this is because of Zack De La Rocha’s rapping. When a vocalist raps, then it’s difficult to determine the exact pitch and translate it to orchestra. Another problem I was up against was the power chords that were used throughout the piece. Generally, power chords don’t always translate easily for orchestra, but I tended to do well with this, while still adding some harmonies.

‘Bulls on Parade’ is one of my favorite songs ever, by a band that heavily influenced my music. This piece is aggressive, and I wanted to capture that emotion, so I added the snare drum to give it the ‘military’ feel. The lyrics are powerful, so I made sure to have the instruments scream the words, while still maintaining the beauty and structure of the orchestra. In addition, I added lots of brass – trumpets, horns, and gave the famous Tom Morello guitar solo to the xylophone.

Arts Journal reported yesterday about the LA Times reaction to the monumental merger yesterday.

This ruling, which can be read here will shake things up in the music industry, and the classical world as a whole.

What will this do for classical music?
LiveNation does a great job of having people discover new music. But so do a handful of others like The Sixty One and Eventful.

The problem with this is that is creates a huge Monopoly, one that even Bruce Springsteen stood up against. It creates a nother big barrier for small ticket businesses to work with other indie musicians. Orchestras rarely fill amphitheaters and stadiums, and so this merger either will greatly effect their position, or not at all. Only time will tell.

Earlier this year I arranged Lady Gaga’s Poker Face for orchestra. Well, on New Year’s Day Amanda Palmer performed it with the Boston Pops.

It was a monumental moment – a true look into bringing the orchestra back, and integrating the arts. We had 120 musicians on stage, 20 Lady Gaga burlesque dancers from The SlutCracker, a lightshow in the background, and a full house at the Boston Symphony Hall

Then the time hit Midnight and everyone celebrated with hugs, kisses, wine, dancing, whistles, and more as the music began to play again. I was there with Stephanie Stetson who works with Maestro Benjamin Zander and we had a great time.

It was an amazing performance, with more to come!

Looking back, and realizing I’ve seen a lot of growth – from my year at The Independent Music Awards, to working with David Weiss of Mix Magazine, and helping with his new launch SonicScoop.

Someone told me I turn “Twenty Sexy” today – and I thought that sounded awesome. This year I’ve sought out my dream of arranging songs for orchestra here at http://www.fororchestra.com – which the support has been overwhelming.

After a cool night, I come home to find a present titled “For Dubbs” on my desk (which was from my awesome brother). So I decided to unwrap it and record it below:

Life’s pleasure comes from its ‘circle’ – good friends, family, health, passion, career, and more. I’m thrilled to say I have all of these things.

I want to thank to everyone for your support, friendship, and guidance. Because in looking back, there’s nothing more exciting to me then looking forward.

“She had the sightless eyes / Telling me no lies”

This is one of my favorite songs for a number of reasons – the lyrics, the simplicity, and the adversity the band went up against. The simplicity of AC/DC’s music proves their gift for songwriting. I wanted to arrange this piece for months, and so here it is:

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[Songs Archive]

I tried to capture the beauty of the above lyrics in this arrangement. I even wrote a song titled “Those Eyes” 2 years ago.

This song is from AC/DC’s album ‘Back in Black‘ released in 1980. The one thing I always think of when I hear their music is their simple, yet effective riffs. I always remember Kid Rock saying “It’s good to hear a drummer that doesn’t have to play a crash symbol on every eighth measure.” This simplicity keeps the song interesting, and in turn makes for a perfect orchestration.

To begin, I had the flutes play the intro, while the violins slowly entered. The simplicity allows me to use bells, chimes, fill ins, and more – all while the drums laid down the groove.

I wanted the dynamics for the verses to be ‘soft’, while the chorus should be ‘loud’. As a result, the xylophone takes the 2nd verse, which created a great transition just before the Guitar Solo.

For the guitar solo, I wanted the violins to play in their high range right away, rather than build up to it. The problem arised that as the solo continued, the melody also gets higher. Since the violins were already in their high state, I simply had the Trumpets play the last few measures as to create a sense of ‘building up’. This worked out perfect, because in the final chorus I have the violins re-enter after the trumpets play, which created a fresh, and unexpected surprise.

“Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky”

I’ve always wanted to do a ballad song. I’ve always wanted to do a Guns and Roses song. Sweet Child of Mine made for an amazing arrangement, and won the total of your votes – so here it is:

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[Songs Archive]

Appetite for Destruction, in my opinion, is one of the best recorded albums of all time (another is Pearl Jam‘s ‘Ten’). The sound of the drums, basses, lyrics, and more are perfect. The arrangement and overall production are flawless, and of course the songs and timing of the album release were perfect.

I hope to do more GNR songs this week, because their songs are beautifully crafted. The one thing I kept getting with this piece was the difficult translation of the power chords used on Slash‘s guitar. Here’s why: a chord has 3 notes in it, whereas power chords have 2 – so I was undecided on whether to orchestrate the third note, or keep it as the original ’2 note power chord’. So I decided to instead use both – the 3 note chords sound ‘thicker’ when orchestrated, so I used them to build tension in the final chorus. The xylophone takes the guitar solo, the horns take the interlude at the 3 minute mark, and I chose to have the flutes play a ‘lesser’ role than in some of my other pieces. This is a power song, and that called for brass!

Similar to when I arranged Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, I feel that the lyrics are deeper to me than just about relationships or a physical attraction. Axl Rose’s chant for “Where do we go now” I feel speaks for all relationships. These relationship could be about your career, your family, friends, a memory, or anything. As we grow older we look back, but redigesting past regrets stop us from growing strong into the future. So to me, ‘Where do we go now’ is about the future, not the past.

Where do we go with the orchestra, our lives, and our decisions? What is the next step? Sweet Child is our passion, our dream, and who we are. So where do we go now, sweet child? What’s the future for our passion? Life is a journey, and along that journey we begin to circle back where we started – where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky.

“It’s a wonderful surprise / To see your shoes and your spirits rise”

This song always makes my spirit rise – Love, Love, Love this song. The arrangement in the original was screaming to be orchestrated. I heard trumpets, violins, flutes, xylophone, timpani, chimes, triangle, and more. This was my #1 song I’ve wanted to do since the first week of ‘For Orchestra’ – and well, here it is:

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[Songs Archive]

The Cure is a band from England who emerged on the scene in the 1980′s (I’m told they’re big in Russia, too. True?). ‘Friday I’m in Love’ was released in 1992 as the single on their album Wish. When a song is fun, well written, and meaningful, then it shines in my orchestrations. When I heard this is my crazy head I imagined wanting it to sound like “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid. I’ve been told that my previous orchestrations were too complex, and that I should simplify them a bit. I agree – there’s power in simplicity, and it shows in this piece.

I love how you can actually ‘pick out’ the instruments part by part. I had the xylophone play a strong role in this piece. Rather than simply playing chords in the background, I have the performer play a verse, sustain notes, create tension through tremolos, arpeggiate entire sections, and more. The flutes and horns play a more dominant role in this piece too – which I thought turned out perfectly. The ‘upbeat’ and ‘rejoice’ vibe was a perfect fit for a bright trumpet section. Brass sections, when written correctly, have the most powerful uplifting feel of any section.

The lyrics “to see your shoes and your spirits rise” mean a lot to me. I think this is what we are all here for. We’re here for each other, to laugh, to help, to make a change in those around us. It’s something we forget about – even when it’s about changing ourselves and making ourselves happy. I was once told to “leave people better than you found them”. As an artist, I am amazed music can make people enjoy and feel, without a single word being spoken. And I hope, that this arrangement leaves you happy. I hope it makes you smile. I hope it makes you dance. What a wonderful surprise that would be for me.

Stay human and surprise someone. Make someone’s spirit rise today. It’s Friday.

I broke 10,000 Youtube subscribers today. Not sure what that means really, but I know that I have an amazing community of supporters and people who are interested.

I remember when this all started from just one subscriber. Some of the videos are tutorials from my music lessons but alot are also my orchestra music.

Just want to say thanks for all the support. You’re all amazing, and I’m very fortunate, and excited.

“I would name her Rock-N-Roll”

I love hip hop, and always wanted to arrange a song from that genre for a while now. I met Questlove outside of a party I was asked to attended a few weeks ago. As we were talking, he seemed interested in ‘For Orchestra’ and replied “Do any song, I’ll leave it up to you”. So I asked all of you, in which Seed 2.0 was the winner – so here it is:

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[Songs Archive]

As you all may know, I grew up in Philadelphia – and similar to my Bon Jovi arrangement, doing another local group, like The Roots, is always fun! I really enjoy this song’s melody and simplicity – yet wanted to grow upon that when done for orchestra. The Roots have grown a lot, and there were a ton of other songs I would like to do. I saw them a few weeks ago with David Chaitt as the house band for The Jimmy Fallon Show, and was amazed as always. The show was cool too!

The beginning chord progression was the perfect setup for the flutes, and the staccato trumpets were used for the punctured and sharp attacks by Black Thought’s style. This song also has an appearance by Cody ChesnuTT for the prechorus – in which his style is more relaxed, so I felt the violins would be great for that. I added a lot of counter melodies underneath the piece, which created a sense of crescendo and tension throughout.

My favorite part is at 2:40 – I drop everything out and only leave the flutes exposed. Having sections play alone are the most powerful part of music – because there is power in silence, and the chorus was a great place to achieve that. To finish the piece, I made a loud crescendo with everything playing in order to contrast the ‘light’ introduction that started. I hope I made it Rock and Roll.