Georges Méliés video project

[KRosser]

This is part of a suite of new 'scores' to some classic silent films by Georges Méliés to feature the great L.A. trombonist Alex Iles, composed by Frank Macchia.


Frank has used a variety of chamber ensembles for some of the films, but when it came to this one he asked me if I would be interested in having him write something for my electric guitar quartet accompanying the trombone (I have an E-Guit quartet that does modern chamber music written for that instrumentation). There was a very short lead time on this - I got the score about a week before the recording session - and I didn't have time to get my guys together so I did all four parts myself.


Nothing was improvised; it was 100% scored for both me and the trombone. MIDI percussion was added afterwards


Since this is The Gear Page:


PRS McCarty & Jerry Jones Baritone electric guitars
Keeley Compressor, Lovepedal Eternity overdrive, PTD Minibone fuzz, Maxon AF-9 Envelope Filter
All modulation effects were done with the Eventide Modfactor
All harmonizer effects were done with the Line6 M9
VHT Pittbull 45 1x12 amp

[A-Bone]

That is killer, Ken! Great playing, and a wonderful accompaniment to the first great magician of cinema, Georges Méliés.

[The bear]

Very cool and creative, love the vibe of the music and the movie.
I wish you would post more often!

[Carl_Tone]

Funny...I was hoping you would post some of your stuff but wasn't expecting something this intense...lol


Amazing....really....what does it take to get such perfect sync with the video?

[KRosser]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

That is killer, Ken! Great playing, and a wonderful accompaniment to the first great magician of cinema, Georges Méliés.

Thanks so much - yeah, I was thrilled when he asked me. I loved everything about the idea

[KRosser]

Originally Posted by Carl_Tone

Funny...I was hoping you would post some of your stuff but wasn't expecting something this intense...lol

Thanks!

Amazing....really....what does it take to get such perfect sync with the video?

It's quite simple really - the film is imported into Quicktime and given a 'time code'. Frank then composed the piece using MIDI samples in Digital Performer synced up to that same time code. Even though there's a number of tempo changes the MIDI track has the click that corresponds to the time code, and then when he's done he prints parts and scores from the MIDI track. So, when I went into the studio to record, all the MIDI tracks were muted so only the click was playing and I just read the parts down to the changing click. With Quicktime running simultaneously you can see how it all lines up.

[KRosser]

Originally Posted by The bear

Very cool and creative, love the vibe of the music and the movie.
I wish you would post more often!

Thanks so much, yeah I'm really proud of it.

I've posted a few clips before but I didn't want to wear out my welcome