Inside Nokia Music

Well I thought I would just voice a couple of counter-arguments to a previous post about saxophones.

Slight note, I am biased, my siblings are all somewhat musical, so I had the opportunity to play other instruments including violin, drums, guitar, piano and the saxophone. Although I got as far as playing a scale in C and that’s about it. As well as the guitar, it’s one instruments I’m tempted to learn to play if I had time (maybe if I win the Lottery).

Let’s start with Amy Dickson who is a “classical saxophone” player, which is bit of an oxymoron when you say it the first time. After all, anyone seen an orchestra playing classical music that involved a saxophone? Exactly…

Still, Amy Dickson, who started playing at 6, decided to become a classical saxophone player, even though her music teacher suggested that perhaps she should try another instrument. She probably had the condescension adults tend to give to a small child when they are ask “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” And the child in enthusiasm would talk about things like being an astronaut, fireman or secret agent, to climb Mount Everest or to reach the South Pole. The adult, although listening intently would, in the back of their mind have already pegged the child as an accountant, after-all all families need an accountant, plus maybe a doctor and lawyer.

I recall a story I read somewhere that mentioned a child who once said he wanted to be President of the United States. I’m sure that got a few laughs. The child’s name? Barack Obama.

Anyhow, back to the discussion. Part of the problem is that I think the saxophone has been typecast into one type of music and that’s jazz. It’s a bit like William Shatner. Who as Eddie Izzard says in a sketch, is so typecast that when you watch a show like ‘TJ Hooker’, then it is not William Shatner playing TJ Hooker, but Captain Kirk playing TJ Hooker.

Amy Dickson did become a sax player, creating sophisticated sounds in her playing style. Some of her more demanding pieces (such as the snippet below) required learning the continuous breathing method for playing instruments. Anyhow, I may have lost all my street cred talking about classical music, so let the brickbats fly. But here is Amy playing a piece that has been arranged for the soprano saxophone.

So, onto the second area of the saxophone defense.

Read the rest of this entry »

Muse frontman and virtual virtuoso Matt Bellamy was approached to Score the forthcoming epic Clash Of The Titans. Due in March this year already, I’m reluctant to believe there’s actually enough time left for them to do it with The Resistance tour schedule, never mind that I had the foolish notion to believe a Film Score develops during filming for mood and atmosphere instead of the after-though of post production.

It’s fair to say I’m pretty excited about this after Sam Worthington’s show stealing performance in Terminator Salvation, and if Matt and the boys have contributed… then I may just wet myself.

The Resistance and the entire Muse back-catalogue are available to download from The Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Update!

Since the news only came to light this week I made the fatal faux pas of assuming that the approach happened recently, it would now seem that the band were approached a while back regarding this and that Craig Armstrong has already scored the film. What’s still unclear is whether Muse have contributed…  here’s hoping!

I love Christmas. There, I’ve said it. Despite the fact that pretty much every year I end up getting severely stressed about something relating to this festive period, I always end up really looking forward to the end result. When you consider all the traditions that rear their heads every December, from stuffing yourself senseless with festive poultry, drinking copious amounts of under-priced beverages and fighting over the TV remote, there is always one thing that does it for me. “What is it?” I hear you whisper… Well for me it’s going to a good old carol service. (Sigh)…Actually no (gasp). If you haven’t had a chance to get to one this year then you should pencil something into your desk diary. I don’t care what anyone says, but deep down I reckon everyone enjoys singing or at least participating in a bit of festive vocal chord flexing. If they say otherwise then they’re probably lying.

I started this week by going to the annual Bristol Evening Post carol service at The Colston Hall. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t been to this particular event before and for £6 (which went to charity) it was well worth it. It was packed. The itemised list of performers was as follows: 1 brass band, 1 Wurlitzer organ, 2 pianists, 3 local choirs, 4 conductors & a partridge in a pear tree. Fantastic! All the performances were first class and the audience participation in the five or six traditional carols was hearty and enthusiastic. Two things stood out for me that evening. The first was the front row member of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary Male Voice Choir who looked suspiciously like Captain Birdseye, the second was the amazing Wurlitzer Organ which was staggeringly AMAZING and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It was a memorable night with family and friends and left me feeling pretty hyped and ready for Christmas.

So… If you’re wondering what to do one evening in the next couple of weeks then look up your local events guide to see where the next carol service is. You might be surprised. In the meantime, check out Nokia Music Store for some classic carols from King’s College Choir, Cambridge (bit of a tongue twister that). They are legendary. Oh… And Happy Christmas!