The Shadow

The third character theme, following Silver Rick and The Scavenger.

My first attempt at a horror styled score. She is the bane of existence, the captain of the ghost ship Oblivion, stuck in the limbo of undeath and extra-creepy.

Score will be put up, yet it will be so amazingly dirty I don't think it will be visible to the naked eye.

The Shadow

I love the little parts -- a clear understanding of many possible string sounds is impressive, though the theramin-sound right before 1:00 is a bit lame.

The main theme is striking, but not overt. I feel though after 2:30, with that pedal pattern, it loses a bit of steam. You move from reinvention to repetition.

The ending was far from the start; by that I mean it didn't seem to have the same mood. That's obviously ok, but there doesnt' seem to be a logical line, it's Two-Face and Harvey Dent, as if they weren't the same person...

Very cool stuff at the beginning for sure.

Nice tension. I saw a drop of water slowly slide down my glass and it became extra creepy.

Interesting effects at 0:45.

I can see how the score for this might be a tad messy.

Is 1:10 hitting a piano with the pedal down.

Nice shot at 1:25. I wish you get the energy going after that. I guess you don't wanna give too much away.

Fun vocal effects at 2:15. I like this section. This has energy. This makes me excited and nervous.

Sounds pretty horrific, in a good way =).

Cool! Nice work Berlioz. It's smart that you're practicing the a style you're not so comfortable with. You gotta be able to do anything.

Peace,

-John

00:45 is col legno.

1:10 is col legno as well, only louder.

1:25 is a little scare, yes, just to bug you. xD

Good piece. I like the ending. It's not creepy or scary a lot. I was waiting more scary stuff when I just read "Horror" in the first message.

:)

Nice!! I really dig the creepy feel here, in particular how everything carefully builds (I could never do that and resist throwing all the instruments in)...I personally jumped at 2:30 with the first staccato, if you considered beefing that up a little then that'd really make the audience jump. :D I could so see this performed live, the intensity near the end would just spike. I only wish it got going a little earlier - it seemed to wander a little, but ahhh, have no idea.

On a side note, is this the final mixed version, or just a placeholder?

Lotsa col legno's. Sweet!

Thanks for commenting on those other pieces Berlioz; that was good of you =)

Peace,

-John

Wow. I do like this. It's almost like a bad acid trip in a way - especially with the almost 'collage' like interjections that come through every now and then. I really like this, Berlioz. Good work!

in its slow going presentation- it evokes a certain sense of dread.

very nice atmoshperic orchestral effects, the last parts with the funky melody-i really dig.

produced nicely, but to my taste it sounds influenced from some heavy cannons of the avant-garde genre, i would see this in hermann's soundtrack easily, so i guess that's pretty good!

I have no idea of what canons you're talking about. :P

This made me have shivers down my spine several times -- it's night-time, and my imagination runs wild, especially with psychotic soundtracks like this :horrified: :horrified: :horrified:

I like how the piece seems to be actually trying to be pleasant at first, but there's all this noise in the background that just doesn't really fit at all. It's like all the different rooms of "her" mind are trying to surface to the top of her brain, Alia style, and the evil, base personalities are overwhelming the better ones. (Coincidentally, the tapping, "clinketty" sounds in the background remind me of Baron Harkkonen's distinctive way of tapping his fingers! But you probably just meant it as a way of expressing this poor schizophrenic person's developed TIC due to becoming mentally unhinged :zip:)

I also like how the piece seems kind of like a random collage of experiences in this "captain's" life -- except everything's been twisted and messed up. The innocent-like violin theme at the beginning mixed with the rapid run of the pizz (?), for some reason, also reminds me of a little girl playing with a bunch of scuttling scarab beetles , and the little echo of the woman's voice coming out at times doesn't really remind me of ghosts (cuz that would be cheesy :P), but rather a vague memory she had at a dark opera she once attended, which was about the very thing she's now facing in her darkest nightmare ... and ...

BBBBOOOOOOO!!!

:)

Of course, this is all merely speculation on my part, but when I listen to music, I try to imagine, in the context of what's happening, the most interesting and poignant interpretation, since there's really so many different moods and feelings going on in the piece. And it doesn't come across like you're really trying too hard to be scary :nod:

This was a really fascinating listen, Berlioz -- thanks for sharing with us all! :D

Another thing you could do to up the "scariness" of this piece is to add techniques like sul ponticello. Or have them use some techniques like those that Penderecki uses. As a character piece for game and film, though, it works good. It is a bit haunting, but I wouldn't say downright scary. Add some tone clusters, large glissandi, and then you might get really scary.

Ok, I will reiterate some of the comments. The first section is stronger than the second though i do enjoy the layering of the motives you do in the 2 nd section. I like how you stick with an interesting motivic unit at the beginning to base your whole piece. Why the second section is a little weaker than the first - you just varied the pedal point moving from long sustained notes to a motoric ostinato. I would have thought it stronger if the motoric ostinato went somewhere. Also I agree with Morgri - sul pont would have been nice and some clusters. The theremin and electronic whooshes are unnecessary - for example you could have tried flutes to piccolo fluttertongue forte to piano and the strings slide up to a harmonic. All of these sounds overlapping would have created an interesting and scarier whoosh - also the horn slides could replace theremin. Here is one of a set of pieces I suggest you study from by Pascal Dusapin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvhs_TVPQRY

Very modern but quite approachable.

PS The J meant "canon" of avant gard, eg the established repertoire of the avant gard used in horror films (think Ligeti in The Shining)

Hehe, the "theremin" is bells with attack and release altered. It's not a concert piece (I don't intend it to be at all), especially because it uses sounds that are impossible (especially the infinitely high choir rising release effect).

What a great, moody cue!! Love that it takes the entire cue to build that tension until the crescendo at the end. Some interesting "horror"-esque ideas in there that work well for picture. Kudos!