Hey everyone!
Since I’ve been back from Ireland, I decided to take some time before I jump into new projects to assemble something from earlier in the year. I participated in an orchestral recording session dedicated to showcasing good orchestration among young composers in the Guild of Canadian Film Composers (now the Screen Composers Guild of Canada) and I was fortunate enough to have my piece recorded.
The performance was not up to my expectations, and so, discouraged, I left it on my hard drive and moved on. The original mock-up, exported straight from Sibelius and using only its default sounds (none of my advanced samples or mock-up skills in use here, as you’ll be able to tell) sounds like this:
Rum and Gold (Original Sibelius Mockup) by Mathazzar
Having had some time pass now though, I wanted to take it up again and try my hand at salvaging it. And so, from the 165 various audio stems (spot mics, hall mics, etc etc.) I have assembled the following version of the recording, which manages to omit most of the worst intonation issues. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good representation of the piece:
Rum & Gold (Audio Only) by Mathazzar
With this version done, I’ll be going over it again with samples to add the missing Trumpet 2 and tubular bells part, to beef up the low end, and to assist any other sections that could use a virtual boost. But for now, have a listen and see what you make of it! Live recording! Woo!
Also, here’s a score if you want to read while you listen:
Hey everyone,
It’s been an exciting and productive spring and I look forward to being able to share more of what I’ve been working on when it becomes possible. To start things out though, I wanted to talk a bit about MinoMonsters.
MinoMonsters proves that good things happen when you combine collecting and battling monsters with social networking. It’s Pokémon for the current generation and it’s shaping up to be a really great Facebook game. I obviously had the privilege of working on the music, and really enjoyed myself. I think it comes across in the energy and cheerfulness of the music.
If you haven’t gotten sick of hearing it in-game at www.minomonsters.com, then I encourage you to have a listen below!
Hi guys!
I know it’s seemed quiet around here lately, but I promise it’s only because it’s actually been very loud and busy around the studio. I’ve been privileged with a lot of work these past few weeks ranging from game stuff to short films to advertising and a web series, so I apologize for the break in updates but I haven’t come up to breathe much.
That said, I wanted to share with you a link to an iPhone game I recently provided music and SFX for because it’s wonderfully addictive and has found a permanent place on my iPhone. It’s called Supastar and was developed by the fine folks over at eBattalion. It’s actually 7 full games in one, so there’s a lot of value in this little package.
Check it out if you need a good distraction, I promise you’ll enjoy it!
Recently I was asked to give an introductory workshop on the world of film music for a class of young directors. My specific aim was to introduce them to the process and advantages of working with a composer on their films in the future.
It covers a lot of ground and so is necessarily quite superficial on each point, and there are also areas where I’ve left nothing but a basic concept on the screen which I expanded upon significantly out loud…but since some folks asked me to make my presentation available, I’m putting up the slideshow (there was no audio/video recording, sorry) and I welcome anyone to send me feedback or other speaking opportunities — there’s something very satisfying about sharing the craft with others!
For those who don’t know this, I first got into writing music by arranging game tunes, so I’ve always had a soft spot for the world of video game arrangements.
Since it’s been a long time since I did one (way back when I did this Halo theme medley), I decided to use some of my time over the holidays to put together a new arrangement. The game in question is a wonderful old RPG called Golden Sun that has just recently had a new sequel released for the DS — which I am playing through.
The arrangement is more of a tribute than a radical departure from the original material, but fans of the game will probably enjoy hearing an orchestral rendition. For those in the know, the two themes you’ll hear are the Main Theme and the Venus Lighthouse theme.
Enjoy and stay tuned for some pretty incredible updates…it’s shaping up to be an amazing new year already!
This weekend, I finished work on a particularly special short film. The film in question which you can watch above, Connection, is the first major film project created by my girlfriend, the up-and-coming director, Shannon Litt.
Obviously a labour of love, the film was nevertheless legitimately rewarding to score, with many emotional peaks and valleys over the course of its 6 minute length. I’m very proud of the score and I hope that you will also enjoy it.
In a break from tradition, this project also had me in the role of video and audio post-production guy, so I got to practice colour grading, filters, foley, and all manner of other interesting aspects of the filmmaking process that are normally handled by others. I could get used to it…
Without further ado, please venture over to Shannon’s site where you’ll find the film and plenty more information about it — http://www.film.outlittstudios.com/
The time has come.
It’s been a busy and exciting couple of months of work, but I’m proud to announce that Deep is finally finished!
The album clocks in at just under 40 minutes. You can grab the tracks individually, and folks who buy the full album will be in for a surprise gift from me to you. Plus, I’ve made the first track free for everyone to download so feel free to grab it.
This is a great way to support my ongoing work, so while there’s a minimum price for the tracks and the album, there’s also a pay-what-you-like scheme going on that’ll let you pay a little extra as a friendly donation.
The music wanders fairly far from what you may be used to hearing from me, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out.
Please head over to my BandCamp page and check it out!
(Source: deep.mathazzar.com)
Hey all!
Soooo it’s been a while since I’ve shared something, right?
Well my apologies for that. I’ve been working a lot and haven’t really had time to share things here, but today I have an important track to show you. It’s the first track from an upcoming concept album I’m doing as a personal project called ‘Deep’. Deep is a concept album exploring the sounds and imagery associated with the deep sea.
This first track, Nereus, is a good opener to give a taste of what’s to come not only because it combines many of the stylistic elements present throughout the rest of the album, but also because it’s an opportunity to begin on the surface of the ocean and work my way down, which feels like an appropriate progression considering my overarching theme.
The title comes from the figure in Greek mythology known as the ‘Old Man of the Sea’, an overlord of the ocean predating the rule of Poseidon.
I hope you enjoy, and if you’d like to keep abreast of developments related to the ‘Deep’ project then I encourage you to visit its website at deep.mathazzar.com
Here’s something a little eclectic.
Several weeks ago I delivered one of the most interesting scoring projects I’ve had to date. Written for the moving and funny short film written and directed by Michael L. Schmidt, ‘American Wife’ represents a departure from my usual styles and therefore a great creative challenge. I was thrilled to work on the film and thoroughly enjoyed developing the indie, acoustic style that captured the spirit of the footage.
If you want to hear something more light-hearted and comedic from me then this is your chance!
I recently had fun participating in a Creative Media Challenge organized by Ryerson wherein participants were given 80 hours to completely produce a media project. I worked with the same team that brought you ‘Interception’ on a film called ‘Dual/Duel’.
The score — which I had about 3 hours to write and deliver thanks to the crazy timeline of the competition — is a bad-ass action offering with some orchestral flavour and a sweet piano tossed in. I had a lot of fun with it and it flowed out very freely.
You can check out the film itself in its entirety here (a quick 5 minutes), and you’re welcome to listen to the full score on its own right here:
