$2.75 Cello (Cellar Door)

Hey guys,

This piece is an arranged and expanded version of a piece I wrote for my friend's short film, $2.75. I needed to write something for comp class, so in the spirit of saving time, I augmented something I was already working on.

I was inspired by a Ravel Piano Trio when I wrote the piano part. It has a bittersweetness to it. The cello compliments the piano with a bit more of a rhapsodic feel.

One more thing to note: this is a live recording of the piece. It's my first foray into recording live performers so I'm pretty excited! I used two mics, one for the piano (a Yamaha Pocket Trak CX) and one for the cello (a mic accessory attached to my iPod). At times, the iPod mic picks up too much of the piano and appears to explode. Don't worry, it's only temporary.

Enjoy and happy spring!

Ask me for external link!

Cellar Door Music Score

Peace on Earth,

-John

I like the feel of this one, it almost feels like the piano and the cello are dancing with each other. =P

Though, I think the notes from 1:30 - 1:50 are held for a little bit too long, but it does pick right back up afterwards. And the building up at the very end is wonderful.

Keep it up. I'm looking forward to hear the rest of this soundtrack. =)

PoW

i like it man, sounds like jim jarmusch's first films.

i thought i was going to hear a version of donnie darko, cellar door was the mystery word in that movie.

the recording equipment gives it kinda vintage old movie soundtrack, if that was your intention.

there are distortion in 2:28-32 at the pianos, always check those most powerful hits on both instruments before recording to lower the mix level recording properly!

I love this, nice harmonies! love the melancholy.

It could maybe even stand as concert piece, or be in chamber music section. Any change you can provide a score?

Lightning quick responses! Thanks, guys!

I like the feel of this one, it almost feels like the piano and the cello are dancing with each other. =P

Dancing is ideal. My father always says that you want people to be able to dance to your music. If the rhythms solid and engaging, then they will dance.

Though, I think the notes from 1:30 - 1:50 are held for a little bit too long

You're talking about the cello notes, right? Trusay. My teacher recommended I put them in. I think it was so the cello phrase sounded a bit more complete. I think they could have been phrased a little bit better by the cellist, but it's not terrible writing-wise. Good call.

@The J: Thanks, man! I don't know Jim Jarmusch but I'll look into him.

DD: Cellar Door IS a Donnie Darko reference :D I remembered that it's supposed to be the most beautiful phrase in the english language. Maybe I'm exaggerated the quality of my when I use that title, but I thought it kinda clicked.

Old Movie Feel: ...That was totally my intention...:shiftyninja: That's what I had to work so I had to make do. Glad it makes sense in some strange way.

Distortions: Indeed. I could have rerecorded, the cellist only for that part so that the piano wasn't overpowering her mic and thus distorting the track. Alas, I noticed it too late. You're totally right though, I should've checked those loudest parts first to see if it would distort in either mic. Great insight, The J!

I love this, nice harmonies! love the melancholy. It could maybe even stand as concert piece, or be in chamber music section. Any change you can provide a score?

True! I totally forgot. I had to write out the score for this piece anyways so it makes sense that I include that here.

Thanks a lot guys! Excellent comments!

Peace on Earth,

-John

I should've checked those loudest parts first to see if it would distort in either mic.

you won't believe how many awesome jazz improvisation tapes were destroyed because of that.. :facepalm:

you won't believe how many awesome jazz improvisation tapes were destroyed because of that..

Were they yours? That sucks! I guess you gotta learn the hard way sometimes.

Here's the Cellar Door Music Score © 2010 It was lovingly created for 12 hours straight in the middle of night the before a jazz band gig the night after. After that, I was completely wrecked. Yup, I love writing things out by hand. :)

Peace on Earth,

-John

It was lovingly created for 12 hours straight in the middle of night the before a jazz band gig the night after. After that, I was completely wrecked. Yup, I love writing things out by hand. :)

Spoken like a true jazzer. I love that you posted the hand-written score, although you had me scrambling to find the right pages while following the music! Anyway, awesome work. The piano solo for the movie is wonderful and this is a nice adaptation. A couple of small things: why the brief cello line in mm. 10-11? I like the idea of introducing the cello before m. 17, but 10-11 seems too brief to be effective. Maybe you could use a larger and slightly longer volume swell there. I also felt like there should have been a piano solo at 33 instead of continuing with the cello right away. Either way this is a really enjoyable piece!

This came out really nicely in live form. I've already told you all about my thoughts on the score segment this comes from, so about the recording I will only say this: the cello = awesome addition. The recording? Meh.

I like the vintage feel, but the instruments lack presence and frequency range, most likely because of the weak frequency response of the mics you used. Especially the piano would have benefited SO much from a more resonant sound. A nice Bøsendorfer sample or something would have been ideal. But anyway, great writing here, very moody, and nothing beats the feeling of getting a live recording so congrats! :D

Thanks for the comments guys! I really respect your input.

Black Orpheus

Man, I AM an irresponsible jazzer. That performance, the director took a moment to hand me a Certificate of Appreciation for sleeping in "well past the starting of a gig."

It's a nice memento.

Yo, my bad for disorganizing the pages. I had just discovered how to merge pdf files together but I forgot to check that their order was ok. The correct order has been reuploaded; thanks Black Orpheus.

Why the brief cello line at 10-11? I wanted to shake up the 2 bar piano phrases that I had originally written for that section. The cellist two note phrase was cut off a little in the recording; I wrote it to sound the whole next bar. I'm not sure if I could write an extra beat or two of volume swell for the cello without disrupting the motion of the piano. Did you have some other suggestions for simple cello lines that might fit there?

I could have made mm. 33 a piano solo but to me, those 8 bars still felt like the cello's section. It could have worked either way. I could have kept the cello doing the regular melody but have the piano play something more interesting and louder overtop. Neat ideas for the future :).

Marius

Thanks, Marius! The cello is a much more awesome addition than the recording. I still wanted to test out the capabilities of my pocket recorders and I thought what better way than with my experienced cello friend and I!

Listening to the recording again, I agree that the piano sound should have been more resonant. When I had first mixed it together, I was so excited that I had actually made a live recording of my piece that I forgot about the lower frequencies of the piano :(.

Nice to hear from the both of you! Thanks for the advice!

-John

The cellist two note phrase was cut off a little in the recording; I wrote it to sound the whole next bar. I'm not sure if I could write an extra beat or two of volume swell for the cello without disrupting the motion of the piano. Did you have some other suggestions for simple cello lines that might fit there?

You could put a fermata over the cello D in 10, swell to the C, tie the cello C over one additional bar, and decrescendo from 11 to the end of 12. This way the cello line has a tiny bit more emphasis and there's little chance that it will be cut too short :)

Amazing award, btw!

Sounds like a good idea Black Orpheus. Like I said, I don't want that cello D in 10 to be held too long, so I might either indicate that the fermata be held just for a bit or just add a rit at the end of bar 10 and an a tempo at bar 11. I like the idea of carrying over the cello C one more bar before decresendoing. Good thinking!

And yes, it truly is an amazing award! :happy:

Thanks again, Black Orpheus!

-John

I dont know how i missed this one. Great writing as usual John. Nice harmonies, nice melody. The mix could be somewhat better. I know, I shouldnt say a word about mix's :lol:

but overall, great job my friend.

Thanks, Jon!

I know my mix isn't quite there yet. But hey, I'd comment on your mix any day so don't apologize.

Thanks a lot, Adamich!

-John

So my understanding is that Edgar Allen Poe wrote that he considered Cellar Door the most beautiful sounding words in the English language.

I used to have a band with that same name.

Cheers!

Wow, the cello version of this is phenomenal. Great work on this, John. I love how the two versions work. This one is definitely more expansive than the other. I hope you continue with this sort of piece - you are quite good at this.

I used to have a band with that same name.

Sounds pretty kick-donkey! My favourite band name that I came up with was called The Instrumentality Project. If you've ever watched an anime called Evangelion, you'll get the reference. In short, it's this secret mission to bring the entire world together. I shouldn't say more lest I spoil it for you.

Wow, the cello version of this is phenomenal. Great work on this, John. I love how the two versions work. This one is definitely more expansive than the other. I hope you continue with this sort of piece - you are quite good at this.

That's very kind of you to say, Jason. Thanks a lot! I was definitely trying to make this one a bit more developed than the piano version so that it could stand on its own without the need for video.

I totally will continue with this sort of piece! Of course, I'm gonna be pushing in new directions, but there will always be a place in my heart for impressionism :)

-John