MUSIC - The Rescue

Why a poster from The Rocketeer? That's right... this piece is another one which draws from the style of a film composer that I admire- in this case, James Horner (it also weaves in elements from a certain unfortunately-named but excellent trailer scoring group).

I'm interested in hearing all y'all's thoughts in the comments. There's one thing in particular that I'm not sure that I like about the piece- but I'm not sure that it's necessarily a bad thing either. One of my previewers mentioned it, and my sisters agreed- it's not very consistent in tone. Is that a good thing? Bad thing? Well, I look forward to hearing your answer to that question.

Oh, and I did use a few modes in here- there are touches of Phrygian, and some sweeping passages in Lydian which actually kinda just happened that way. It's really neat being able to recognize it, though- praise God, I'm learning!

Also, I think this piece contains my most sweeping, romantic, Hollywood style big strings theme yet.

So. Here it is.

The Rescue

MUSIC - Lydia

My piece for this week continues my exploration of the modal scales.

This one was written in the Lydian mode- hence the title- and, while being included with Phrygia in what I would like to complete as the "Modal Suite", this one is much lighter and less imposing- emphasizing, perhaps, the exhilaration of discovery and the sadness of having to leave what was just discovered, rather than the horror of finding oneself stuck in a hostile otherworld.

The story I'm envisioning: you have just discovered a new world- whether you've fallen down the proverbial hole-into-wonderland or have landed on another planet- and you excitedly begin to explore this new world. Then, as the piece climaxes, you realize you must return home, and while the solo piano ends the piece you think back on what you have seen.

Do you have a better one? Tell me about it!

Lydia - from the Modal Suite

MUSIC - Phrygia

I've recently been learning about modes- scales that are different than the normal major and minor scales that we're used to. (Well, actually, they include the major and minor scales but have 5 others as well.)

So I enjoyed putting the theory into practice. Since some of the modes have a rather otherworldly sound, I think of these pieces as musical journeys into fantastical realms. :-D

The first piece (and only one, so far) is entitled Phrygia.

Composing this piece (in the Phrygian mode), I noticed that this mode seems to remove the bitter-sweetness that occurs in natural minor, leaving only an eerie and dark scale remaining.

See if you can hear the difference.

Phrygia - from the Modal Suite

(Want to read more? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygian_mode )