For Orchestra!

“I hope it’s gonna make you notice / Someone like me”

I first heard about Kings of Leon about a year ago, but it wasn’t until recently that my friend Katie introduced me to them more in depth, and Jeff Pulver mentioned them to me, too. I heard this composition, the lyrics, the drum beat, and was hooked. So I’m thrilled to have arranged it this week:

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[Songs Archive]

We’re all looking for something. We’re looking for our friends, people who understand us, a career we’re crazy about, and somebody to love us back. Sometimes it can feel like a lonely world, and we’ve all been there. We could use somebody to help us along the way, listen to us, hold our hand, and be a part of who we are and our lives.

Life is a learning process. It is something that brings us joy, understanding, desperation, growth, passion, and thought. I feel these lyrics capture our cries to be wanted. This piece speaks volumes, and each musician has a key role that I love in this piece:

1.) Keeping the drums out in the first verse. It builds tension, and allows the piece to grow rather than hitting it’s climactic moment too soon.

2.) The bass line in the second verse. It s perfect syncopated passage that compliments the drum pattern. Breaking away from simple ‘whole notes’ created a sense of movement, and freshness.

3.) The lyrics “Someone like you and all you know and how you speak” leading into the second half of the first verse. It hints at the lyric that enters the chorus, and creates uniformity throughout the piece.

4.) The guitar part underneath the last chorus.

This carefully crafted composition allowed the flutes to introduce the verse perfectly while the trumpets performed the chorus. Last week when I arranged the Foo Fighters, I was told I didn’t bring out Dave Grohl’s drums enough – so I was happy to bring them out more here.

Congrats to KOL on their role at the 2010 Grammy Awards. I hope I was able to capture the beauty of this piece within the orchestra.

“And I wonder… if anything could ever be this good again”

Often times a song is powerful to the point that it makes you think, it makes you move, all while leaving you still. The Foo Fighters ‘Everlong’ is one of those compositions, and I was excited to give it it’s due:

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[Songs Archive]

Released in August of 1997, this song was the product of Dave Grohl – the drummer from Nirvana and frontman of Foo Fighters.

I remember when I was younger I had 2 friends that I saw every day. Every single day I went over, built things, created drawings, imaginary videogames, and just relaxed in my own reality of enjoying every minute of it. We created worlds with our minds, and everything was new. Then we went off to high school, and I always missed those days, looking back thinking ‘will things ever be the same again?’. Will I ever grow like that again, meet new people that understand me and support me, and continue to be interested in the interesting.

The lyrics and composition as a whole made for an enjoyable orchestral arrangement. The lyrics particularly spoke volumes to me, because as a musician, I get my inspiration from wondering. I think all day. I dream a lot, I hope a lot, I learn alot. This orchestration has the softness in the winds that introduce those words. I wanted the winds to be the spotlight presence in this arrangement because their beauty was the perfect fit for the aggression behind Dave Grohl’s voice and meaning.

As a musician, it isn’t enough to write music, or arrange it – because then I fell I’m missing the purpose of what makes us who we are. As a musician, at the core, you’re an artist, a thinker, and a creator. But most of all, a communicator. And that’s what intrigues me about this piece. It means something to me because it communicates something to us all.

It’s not until we lose things do we recognize their importance and fortune in our lives, and think “will things ever be this good again”. But I’ve grown to realize that all things come full circle. And that’s worth wondering.