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50s light orchestral music

Discussion in 'Critique & Feedback' started by Mattia Chiappa, Apr 23, 2018.

  1. #1 Mattia Chiappa, Apr 23, 2018
    Hello everybody! Recently I've been transcribing some light orchestral music from the 50s and tried to write my first piece in that style. I did some research but I couldn't find any scores to study so I'm not really sure how authentic this sounds. What do you guys think? Any advice is more than welcome!

    Thank you!

     
    Aaron Venture, John Eldridge, Dillon DeRosa and 1 other person like this.
  2. #2 Noam Levy, Apr 23, 2018
    Sounds pretty authentic to me! My only note would be the balance of the pizzicatos, you could add some gain to the violins & violas compared to the cellos and basses.
     
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  3. #3 Dillon DeRosa, Apr 23, 2018
    Great job. Reminds me of Heinz Kiessling.
     
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  4. #4 Mattia Chiappa, Apr 23, 2018
    Thanks for the heads up, well spotted!!! I agree with you, that has to be fixed. I had some performance issues when doing this and some parts could still use some tweaking, especially those pizzicato violins.
     
  5. #5 Mattia Chiappa, Apr 23, 2018
    Thank you! I don't actually know his work but I'll sure check him out ;)
     
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  6. #6 Craig Dukerschein, Apr 24, 2018
    Great job Mattia! I grew up on Light Music (supermarkets, elevators, TV, dentist office, Dad's stereo). Love it.

    The current king of Light Music analysis and reproduction is probably Alex Ball. You can check out his amusing and informative series on Light Music on YouTube (five parts now?).


    I wrote some Light Music a few months ago based on Part II of the series. Fun. Part II begins to break down the patterns in this musical style. BTW, Alex has access to scores, so you might want to contact him about that if you are interested.

    Thanks for posting this. BTW, who compose Flea Market?
     
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  7. #7 John Eldridge, Apr 24, 2018
    What a fun listen! Feeling transported to a time gone by...

    A really minor point on something I heard: there were a couple of moments that felt just a bit heavy compared to the rest at 0:17 and 0:30. It's in the background so I'm struggling to identify it exactly. Seems like it could be muted brass playing an echo pattern on-beat/off-beat, but then in the middle of the chromatic motion it holds over on F# and for some reason that I couldn't figure out that's sticking out to me. I'm not that familiar with light music so perhaps it's idiomatic of the style.

    upload_2018-4-23_19-54-13.png ​

    Like I said, a really minor point in a great piece. Thanks for sharing it.
     
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  8. #8 Mattia Chiappa, Apr 24, 2018
    Hi Craig, yeah those videos are pure gold. I did already watch them a few times but thanks for the advice anyway and for sharing this :)

    I did!
     
  9. #9 Craig Dukerschein, Apr 24, 2018
    So sorry Mattia, I misread your post. All the better then! Your chosen of name, "Flea Market," is so authentic I think it threw me off. Very old-timey. Your introduction has a Ragtime sound to it. That type of genre borrowing is not unusual in Light Music.

    I agree with Noam about the pizz mixing. Check this sound out. The brushes on the forward edge of the off-beat is also worth trying.


    You might consider adding the octave in the violins pizz at the start. I know you doubled later, which is a good evolution, but it seems this style starts and ends bright. Imagine a post-WWII world. Economic prosperity. Modernist design. The promise of flying cars, automated kitchens, and living on the moon. The future looked bright (well, except for The Bomb and Rock & Roll).

    BTW Mattia, if you keep writing Light Music you're going to have to get rid of that guitar and cut your hair. Those are the rules. ;)
     
  10. #10 Mattia Chiappa, Apr 24, 2018
    That's great advice thank you! Yes I did consider doing octaves from the beginning but I didn't want to spoil all the fun right at the start. You're right anyway, that's probably the proper way to do it, I heard it in almost all the pieces from that period.

    ahahahah yeah that's definitely not the right outfit!
     
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