The Tolkien Coming of Age Club 2

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Ibrin - I've been listening to your music, and it makes me wish I still had my old viola - I would love to hear these melodies played on a real instrument by a living musician! Very beautiful.

Thank you! Oh, if there is a dream in my heart, it would be to hear some of the things I've written played by a real orchestra. But if people think it's hard to get a break in the rock world, they should try it with classical music! *sigh*

Estelyn, you're right, I've made a variety of things (objects and skins and meshes and such) for the Sims based on Tolkien's work. And I've done my own illustrations, written some fanfic, written papers, designed costumes... it's been a tremendous source of inspiration for me for more than 40 years. And greetings to another musician!

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Well, as a pianist I don't play a Middle-earth compatible instrument - though it does come in handy when playing through the Swann/Tolkien songs in The Road Goes Ever On.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Y'know, that's one of the things I always found odd about the mention of organs in the Ainulindale. It's the only keyboard instrument I can recall being mentioned anywhere in Tolkien's work, and it seems quite strangely anachronistic. Myself, I began with organ and piano, then voice, guitar, harp, flute... oh, a lot of instruments. It was encouraged for anyone going into conducting or composition. Most I have only dabbled with, the understand how they are played and how they make their individual sounds, but I've managed proficiency with a fair number. A while back, someone asked me why I never used saxophone in my Tolkien-inspired orchestral works, and I couldn't quite get them to understand that I found it much too "modern" sounding to fit what I heard in my head. Wasn't even invented until the mid-1800s, if I recall correctly, so no matter what, I just couldn't hear a sax being played in, say, Rivendell, or Gondolin, or Valinor. Maybe someone might be wailing on a sax in Mordor...

[mark12_30]

Esty, sounds like a link to your paper-development thread would be a good idea. Hint.

[Nogrod]

I do agree with Rikae and yourself that being able to listen to your compositions played with real instruments would be great. That MIDI-sound is just plain awful at worst and being just a lot less than the real thing at best (the harp wasn't so bad).

The pics you had there reminded me of the old Deutsche Grammophone records... especially those with the yellow lines around the picture.

This is surely a matter of taste and I listened to only a small sample of your works - and this might even be a matter of principle to you - but I'll say it still. Don't be afraid of dissonance! Try it and you'll like it!

Think of some of the great modern composers like Pärt or Rautavaara who make the most astonishingly beautiful music where the beauty is enhanced or heightened to a new level with a creative use of dissonance.

But hats off to you. I really liked what I heard.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Actually, the "instruments" are all wav samples of actual instruments, and I am not terribly pleased with some, because whoever did the recording had a different notion of what constituted a good basic sound. With certain very expensive programs, studio equipment, and a lot of patience, I could potentially make them sound better, but I'm primarily a composer, not a studio tech. Spending weeks tweaking the sound of one or two particular instruments for a piece when I have ideas wanting to be expressed and put down isn't currently worth that kind of effort. What I need to do is hook up with someone who does enjoy that kind of work, has the equipment, and collaborate. Perhaps someday. (And perhaps someday, I'll find a willing orchestra, too. ) But I do have to say, imperfect though what I have available may sound when compared to a live orchestra, it's immensely better than what I had available when I first started writing these pieces. I just recently started working with yet a new set of instrument samples, which is much more extensive and varied than anything I've had before, but so far, I haven't had a chance to rescore any of my symphonic works using them. So much to do, so much time required, and so little time. *sigh*

And you're right about taste, Nogrod. As a musician, I have certainly been exposed to just about every kind of music there is, and naturally not all have been my cup of tea, but when I sit down to compose, I must be true to my own artistic vision, however much or little others might like it. Art is an expression of self, and this is a part of what I am. My own tastes tend to run toward the Impressionist and Romantic periods, and I'm sure that's reflected in my music. I'm not afraid of dissonance; I have written some quite dissonant pieces in the past, but since I write what I hear in my head, dissonance just wasn't what I heard, here, nor what felt was right for what I was attempting to achieve. I have a feeling that if I was ever to sit down and compose something about the Children of Hurin, I would find a lot of dissonance creeping in...

But in the end, as in all things, to each their own, and to thine own self be true.

[Snowdog]

Good Day everyone!

Its been ages since I've been by here. Good to see some old names as well as some new ones!

News here is life has changed drasticly over the last few years. Shortly after the time I helped start the 'Lingering Darkness' RP, I had to basicly retire from it due to a deteriorating domestic situation. Since then, the kids are grown, with my youngest graduating from high school this June, and I've seperated, tried reconciling, then gotten divorced. Now I'm together with an old friend who used to post here as Elora. This year I've moved from the Pacific Northwest to Brisbane, Australia and am currently jumping through immigration hoops. Everything is looking good, and life is good! I have a lot of back-reading to do I guess , but maybe everyone could post a summary of how they're doing?

Cheers Barrow Folk!