Movement 1: Telamon (Demo)

[whizbangdelux]

Not being too impressed with the semi-official soundtrack for the books, I thought I'd take a crack at my own Wheel of Time interpretation.  

I'm in the process of scoring a track that is comprimised of three movements:

 

1.  Telamon (Demo enclosed)

2.  The Skies of Falme

3.  Dumai's Wells

 

Now then, here is the link:  (EDIT:  Removed until the song gets finished).

 

Hope to hear some feedback.

 

Warmly,

 

Andrew

[Samuel]

My internet is running awfully slow at the moment, so I cannot yet comment on the Telamon demo...when it loads, I assuredly will however :) Congratulations for undertaking such a task though. I plan to do something similar in the (distant) future myself. It's good to see (or rather, hear :D ) music inspired by WOT :)

 

EDIT: Listened to the track.

 

Wow. I really liked that. Not what I would have expected at all, but very good nonetheless. I pictured it as the soundtrack to Lews Therin earning the title Kinslayer, talking to Ishamael shortly after and his epic, Dragonmount-creating suicide.

 

Did you intend it to be Lews Therin-themed or did you just name it after him? If the former, I'm very excited to hear the Falme and Dumai's Wells Tracks! Hell, I'm excited to hear them no matter what.

 

Great work man, keep it up. Why doesn't Harriet or someone hire you to make a superior, "semi-official" soundtrack ;) :D !

 

Be sure to keep us updated on you're WOT-themed musical endevours

[whizbangdelux]

I'm eager to hear initial thoughts from my first sounding board!   Thanks for your ear.   :)

 

EDIT:  Yes!!  Your envisioning is exactly what I was pushing for!  The events leading up to the creation of Dragonmount.

 

Thank you for the compliments.  Really, it's appreciated.

 

I'll be working on this piece throughout the year and possibly adding additional movements upon the closure of AMOL.

 

am

[Talmanes]

That was pretty good. What did you make it with?

[Samuel]

Hehe, good work then Andrew, because you succeeded ;)

 

:) And thankyou for creating WOT music, it's just as appreciated :P

 

Cool. I'm sure AMOL will have some scenes epic enough to warrant it!

[Ashaman DeRouge]

just a little thing called the last battle.

[Zidel333]

Very cool, although I would expect the 1st movement/LTT to be more allegro then this. It feels more largo and as such should be the 2nd movement, imho. Good job! I very much want to hear and download the rest of your composition when it's done. :)

 

P.S. You should consider downloading the Wheel of Time Videogame soundtrack -- there are some awesome songs on it that are not on the WoT Soundtrack as far as I know.

[whizbangdelux]

@ Talmanes:  The composition is being done with Apple Logic Pro, although the instruments themselves are from a wide variety of sources.   For this first movement, since it takes place during the Age of Legends, I wanted the music to convey a higher state of mind.   I decided to use a synthesizer called Omnisphere by Spectrasonics, which contains several "fairy dust" type instruments, if that makes any sense.  

To give a sense of Lews' insanity, I wanted a primal rhythm.  Not being much of a percussionist, I decided to use a loop from Ethno World 4 Pro by Best Service, though I haven't found any other reason to use EW4 on this track.  It just doesn't seem to possess the timbre I'm looking for.

For the next movements, I'm going to move into more organic territory, but Omnisphere is definitely my weapon of choice for this project.  

 

@ Zidel333:  I'm a relatively inexperienced composer, so I REALLY appreciate your constructive criticisms.   At the end of the day though, I'm lucky if it ends up sounding like music at all, much less if it fits it's namesake.  

 

@ Samuel: A few months ago, I was listening to Steve Jablonsky's Transformers score and I thought that the track "Arrival to Earth" would have been a perfect match for the Ashaman arrival at Dumai's Wells, and the banner bearing BOTH sides of the Source was raised.   I nearly wept.  That was when I became inspired to give something back to Robert Jordan.

 

@ All musicians on Dragonmount:   Let's put something majestic together!

 

am

[Samuel]

Just gave that "Arrival To Earth" a listen. Interesting! I wouldn't have ever connected it to that scene in my mind but it fits in an unusual way. Would make a fascinating contrast, that playing while the Ashaman were making the Shaido explode...an eerie contrast...the music could almost be taken to even have a somewhat tragic and ironic feel to it, was one listening to it in the right mindset! Yes unusual, but poignant. Would fit very naturally with Rand escaping from the box and seeing the battle, all those who had come.

 

You know what Andrew, you've inspired me :P Sometime these holidays, after Christmas, I'm going to give writing some songs based on Wheel Of Time a crack. I'll post some demos up here when they're ready ;) Hehe, maybe sometime in future we (and other musicians of the site!?) could indeed give a collaboration a try-that could come out sounding amazing!

[Ashaman DeRouge]

I do music stuff. Digitally.

 

If this happens I would totally dig it.

[whizbangdelux]

I wonder, does anyone do any live recording?  I plan on taking the plunge into that in the near future, but I have little reason aside from an extremely mediocre singing voice and extremely mediocre rhythm guitar skills. 

If an alliance is formed, I'd love to send out some applicable cues in need of a live accompaniment.  In fact, I'd die of delight.  If someone among us is willing to blow a little horn or pluck a few strings into my track, I'd be happy to add some decoration to their piece in exchange. 

 

What are your guys' strengths? 

 

[Samuel]

I'm a compotent guitarist :) Been playing for nearly four years now :D I have the equipment to record with pretty good quality too, not professional quality but definitely nowhere near crappy either. I can lay down some basic stuff digitally, but I'm much better at actually playing!

 

[Talmanes]

I play the saxophone.

[ed2funy]

Listened to it...

It was really cool!

 

 

EDIT: lol...i put "Zit" instead of "It".....

[whizbangdelux]

@ ed2funy:  Thanks for listening!

 

@ Samuel:  I'm really excited about what we could accomplish if we work together.  Do you have a demo online by any chance?  Electric guitar playing is seldom used to compliment an orchestra...  Off the top of my head, I can only think of it being used that way in a couple of video games:  Grandia, Halo 2, and FF:  Advent Children (not a video game, but based off one).  Even so, the potential exists for some really blood-rushing music here.  Accoustic guitar is also a skill I'd love to capitalize on.  I took lessons for about three years, but in the winter time my fingers always get too dry and sensitive to play.  I decided that guitar was just not in the cards for me.

Let me know if there's a particular movement you'd like to add a riff to, or if you'd like to explore something beyond my current layout. 

 

 

@ Talmanes:  I'm not sure where a sax would fit in, which is unfortunate, because I was desperate for a live sax player in my tertiary project (a Terminator-themed arrangement).  Even so, we should discuss what moments of the series are worthy of a saxophone exposition.  Perhap's "Mat's Theme".  :)  My goal was always an opus that chronicled Rand's transition from Shepherd to King.  For me, the other characters are fun but merely commentary.  As much I might get flamed for this, for me, Rand is all that matters. 

 

That being said, the highlight of my personal album is going to be this Rand-centric pursuit, but I am of course willing to provide it toward an entire fan album should there be enough drive to create one.

It can be difficult to find passionate people to make something like this come together.  Still, it is interesting to speculate.

 

At the moment we are very few.  I'm a little underwhelmed at the dozen responses that this thread has had since the day it started.  But, I can only imagine who will take note if things continue to evolve.

 

Andrew

 

 

[Samuel]

Andrew,

 

No, but I can upload something this week. Any requests ;) :P ?

That site you linked to in your first post, where you host your Telemon demo, is that free to upload demos and such to?

 

I'm excited about this myself :D

Yeah, guitar is not exactly common in an orchestral setting, but I'm sure we could come up with something :) Hehe, I play acoustic too by the way, though I'm a bit more proficient in electric.

Sure thing! Now Christmas is over, I'll really start playing around with this whole idea.

 

I agree that Rand really is the central part of the story and though everyone may not agree, I believe he is all that matters too ;) Your goal is very noble! That would be a real joy to listen to at the end, Rand's evolution. Hmm, descent into madness is certainly a critical part of Rand's journey...perhaps guitar would be well suited to covering that stage in Rand's life...

 

We are few indeed. Maybe starting a new thread with a more catching title to the musicians on the site-"Wheel Of Time Music Project"-or something would attract more. In any case, it's a very exciting project already :)

 

Thanks for being consistent and resolute with this idea/project of yours Andrew, you're certainly driven and that's fantastic! By the end, I'm sure there really will be some very special WOT music :)

[whizbangdelux]

Samuel,

 

I don't have any requests.  If you like, I can put a beat together and let you jam to it and we can see how well we gel. 

 

I wholeheartedly recommend box.net.  There is a free version, which is what I have.  Upgrading is helpful if you'd like to offer direct links to your files, but isn't necessary for our purposes. 

 

Do you ever listen to the band Tool?  While their song Parabola is the music personification of BAMF, they have a few other songs that are Rand to a T.  The guitar in Vicarious first and foremost.

 

Of course, I don't want to give you the idea that I'm obsessed with Rand's dark side.  The fall from grace is what makes redemption so wondrous. 

 

Hmmm...    I actually thought about migrating this thread into the Tanchico charter house forum, which is oriented toward the creative minded, but I'm not a member.  Besides which, there doesn't seem to be much traffic going on around there.  Still, a recruiting notice should definitely go up soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Samuel]

That would be fun, if you had the time. In any case, I'll use this box.net to upload some stuff in the next few days.

 

Sure do, I have a few albums :) Very interesting band, love their work. Hehe, I'd never looked at Vicarious that way but it does connect quite well! The big climax at the end of Lateralus (spiral out, keep going) I've often seen as a fitting soundtrack to the cleansing of the taint. Come to think of it, quite a bit of Tool's work matches Wheel of Time quite well. The primal rhythms fit great with Rand and the Asha'man. "Jambi" seems to scream of saidin.

 

I understand completely, I agree with you! Wheel of Time is all about balance and opposites and Rand's fall and redemption certainly exemplify that. Rand's story is really my favourite part of the series, how far he falls and how beautiful his redemption is.

 

Yeah, a slow board.

Go for it :)

[whizbangdelux]

Okay, Sam.  I've got an extra day off this weekend due to New Year's, so let me have that time to continue embellishing and fleshing out.  Progress or not, I'll send you an extended cut with enough wriggle room to let you find your way in with the electric guitar.

 

I must say though, the other night things took an interesting twist.  You'll have to let me know what you think of certain new elements when the time comes. 

 

Meantime, I'm still looking forward to hearing your solo work. 

 

Andrew

[Samuel]

Hey, sorry for the length in between posts, last few days have been busy :)

 

That sounds fantastic.

 

Oh, intruiging :D Can't wait to hear.

 

I'm working on a piece now actually that you might well enjoy, a clean sort of "ballad-y" guitar track. I'll have that finished within the week, so I might send you that when it's done if you'd want to hear it?

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the new year :)

[whizbangdelux]

Sam, the holidays weren't exactly as liberating as I expected either.  Had some car trouble, had a friend in need on Saturday night, and then of course there's the old ball and chain. 

 

In the meantime, I will PM you with a link to Movement 1 in it's current form.  I want to give you evidence that progress, small as it may be, is being made.  My plan is to devote two solid evenings a week on this project.  You can expect things to move along slowly but surely.

 

You may also note that I took down the public link.  Thought it'd be best to keep a lid on this so we don't wear out our prime audience with unfinished material.

 

 

[Samuel]

Good progress too! Lot of improvement on Telamon. The whole piece seems a lot more...ambient. The intro is a lot better and sharper. The percussion sounds better too.

 

There's a few spots I think guitar could be relevant, for building suspense. I'll have a look at seeing what will work.

 

Good idea with the link.

[Ashaman DeRouge]

*comes running* I cant beleive this thread is going on without me.

 

Ever heard of a band Mahavishnnu Orchestra?

 

It is -just- what you are after. If you have some trouble tracking it down, let me know. I recomend starting with The Inner Mounting Flame album, just perfect. The opening track sets the scene for the whole album.

 

Secondly TOOL are the best band ever. Very inspirational music, but first and foremost just awesome rockout progressive metal poetry. I have not enough words to describe the awesomeness. I love 10,000 days, the double track. Most quintisential tool track ever.

 

Thirdly I play good bass and terrible guitar and can do some drum stuff on the computer. Not sure about working on a WOT project but I'd love to collaborate!

 

 

[whizbangdelux]

@  Ashaman DR,

 

I gave The Inner Mounting Flame a whirl.  I really enjoyed it for having such a lush and dense sound, but the melody didn't evoke a lot of emotion in me the way that The Wheel of Time does.  Perhaps I've been brainwashed by Hans Zimmer.

 

Yeah, that second part of 10,000 Days - "Wings for Marie", I think it is? - is really something.  But what Tool song isn't? 

 

Lastly, I will get in touch with you once some lead guitar has been set down on Telamon.  I'm glad you're a good bassist because good bass is like a good woman.  Supportive and complementary to the lead.

 

 

@ Sam,

 

Thanks for the feedback.  I'm glad you've noticed the better syncronization and cleaner opening.  Lately I've been sampling different instruments that I think fit well, and I've also attempted to lay down a few new measures, but the new material has all felt a bit too mediocre. 

A close friend recommends that I continue with the chimes, but I'm considering our older plan (letting the guitar jump in at the current stage).