It’s that Time(s) of the Day………

While there’s a bit of a lull on the gigging front (the calm before the storm!) I’ve been trying to help my partner Miki get more of her artwork online in video format. This has necessitated writing dedicated musical soundtracks – some of them of considerable length. The latest, for example, clocks in at just under 7 minutes, and is an accompaniment for her ‘Times of the day’ series – a huge body of work that depicts, in watercolours, exactly that, from dawn until nightfall and all points in between. I wanted to write something that, if you like, ‘followed’ the development of the day, starting understated, then building to a huge crescendo before finally falling away to single notes.  I’m quite happy with ‘A Journey through the day’ – as I’ve called it, as once again it pushes me compositionally, taking me way out of my comfort zone as a rock and pop writer, challenging me to build on a continuous theme over a long period of time while trying to (hopefully!) sustain interest in the piece.  Check out the video and soundtrack below:

Kev Moore

The art of a soundtrack, or……

I was recently asked by my partner, the French artist Miki, to put together a video of her sport-themed paintings. I usually try and come up with an original piece of music to accompany her art and this time was no exception.

There were a great many pieces to show however, and I knew that the track needed to clock in at around six and a half minutes to allow each piece sufficient on-screen time. I also didn’t particularly want to create a ‘song’ as such, rather, a piece of music, with vocalizations, that hopefully captured the spirit of the images being revealed on screen.

So here’s the video and the track, called ‘Higher, Faster, Harder, Stronger’.   It was an impulsive piece, written on the fly with no corrections to the parts I laid down, but I find it works well with Miki’s stunning images.

You can see more of her work HERE.

Kev Moore

A load of Bull….

So, as I emerge from my flu-ridden/migraine/toss-my-cookies torpor, I surprise myself by creating some original music for a video showcasing Miki’s “Toroscapes”. These are just one aspect of her portrayal of The Bullfight – these being the product of mixed techniques involving classical painting (pastel, watercolour, acrylics) and digital art.

Not being Spanish, I haven’t really anything to draw on musically except cliche, which I’m sure I’ve failed to avoid, but I wanted to at least give the track some kind of excitement, and movement, as Miki’s artworks most certainly do that. I also have a couple of half-finished Flamenco-inspired ideas, so don’t be surprised to see a Spanish themed project rear it’s head once I’ve got Blue Odyssey up and running!

Anyway, here it is, the video I made of Miki’s Toroscapes, and original music by me, entitled:

Toromania!

One More Day – A videotrailer for a Novel

Just when I thought I’d turned my hand to everything, Miki and I got all caught up in the excitement of our fellow Cafe Cremer Michael Pokocky has he prepared to unleash his novel “One More Day” across the world via the internet.  We wanted to create a trailer advertising the book, but not really like a movie trailer, so that your imagination would still work it’s magic when you read the real thing. We don’t have too much technology at our disposal, but we tried to make up for that with creativity, and I think we pulled off a decent job. The music for the piece was written pretty much on the fly, and as with Susan Cornelis’ Video , I awoke with a theme in my head. Later the same day, I had another piano theme in my head, and I linked the two to create the music here, with some big power chords for dramatic effect.  I have a range of great effects at my disposal in the studio, and all the sounds you hear on the clip are created there. Enjoy – and –

READ THE BOOK!

© Original Music and Narration by Kev Moore

Video produced by Miki and Kev Moore

Extracts from “One More Day” © Michael Pokocky

My yearly treat

Approximately one year ago, Californian artist Susan Cornelis, who also, through Cafe Crem, has become a dear friend – proposed me to create a soundtrack for her “Soul Sketching” video.

It was a challenge, and great from fun, and from it came the musical piece “Eire” which was composed specifically for her video. a year on, and Susan has created Number 2 in the Soul Sketching series, and once again was kind enough to consider me to create the music. (Guess I did something right the first time!)  I stayed with the Gaelic theme, and used a recorder as a nod to Susan’s Norwegian ancestry. The entire melody popped into my head as I awoke from a dream at 5 a.m. – and much to Miki’s amusement, I dashed into the studio to get the idea down before I forgot it. Like many Celtic pieces, it is a simple tune, the appeal, I hope, being its gentleness. The intro and outro recorder melody is reinforced with an acoustic guitar following along note for note. I hope I have captured the mood Susan wanted.  This kind of interaction – of which I’m fortunate to enjoy with many of my friends in Cafe Crem – is so energising!

© Music: “Misty Mountains” Kev Moore 2009 All Rights Reserved