# This weeks piece,Sharmy "City Scene"



## Craig Sharmat (Jan 22, 2005)

Apparently some think I have been negligent in my duties to keep posting new pieces. For your punishment i have chosen a piece I recently completed.

I wanted to depict a busy city scene like N.Y. with a friendly atmosphere like you might find in a romantic comedy.

This piece is based on Spud's "Courting Montage" in book 11A lesson 5. Much of the piece is diatonic. It does though incorporate Equal interval runs from book 7. Some chord progressions and Voice Leading from Book2 and certain parts trade voices where the happy flute stuff occurs at about 42 seconds.

http://www.scoredog.tv/City%20Scene.mp3


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## FilmComposerZ (Jan 22, 2005)

Charming....Very well executed piece. Sounds very "musical" type cue. And it does portray waht you are saying. Reminds me of movies like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Excellent

Pablo


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## ComposerDude (Jan 22, 2005)

Very, very nice orchestration and arrangement.

-Peter


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## lux (Jan 23, 2005)

one of your nicest and realistic orchestrations. You looks most confortable with orchestral comedy feels, and this one sounds really performable by a real orchestra. 

Nice indeed.

btw. while we are here, some mention about sounds used? Thanks

Luca


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## Caleb (Jan 23, 2005)

What a gorgeous piece!
I hate you! :lol: 

Caleb


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## rJames (Jan 23, 2005)

Excellent! Light comedy starring Jack Lemmon as the nutty bigamist taxi driver with a wife in the city and one in the burbs. Set in 1960.


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## wes37 (Jan 23, 2005)

This is a really great piece! I agree that it would be perfect for an opening scene of an urban comedy.


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## handz (Jan 24, 2005)

Really cool! You are great in those "50?s like" piecs
What lib?


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## Craig Duke (Jan 24, 2005)

Craig,

I personally like this genre of film music and the late 50's/early 60's movies that came with them. A simpler time (or at least I would like to believe it was). I can see Doris Day, Rock Hudson, and Tony Randall in this big city romantic comedy.


Of course, you don't need EIS to compose a piece like this so I am wondering what qualities you believe the EIS method gave to this composition and your workflow to create it? Did EIS make it quicker to write? I would imagine, for example, that it gave you many techniques to handle your voice leading rather than doing all by ear (trial by permutation) or following a few of the "rules" one remembers from music school (my inefficient approach anyway). Did EIS lead you to more harmonic possibilities at various points in the composition, etc.? 

BTW, I'm just starting EIS mentoring with David. Thanks for putting me in touch with him.


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## Herman Witkam (Jan 24, 2005)

A great piece! Wonderful expression, and great atmosphere.
Now, which Sax are you using? A custom library, or played live?


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## Craig Sharmat (Jan 24, 2005)

handz said:


> Really cool! You are great in those "50?s like" piecs
> What lib?



Thanks Handz and everyone who took the time to post...

let me break it down,

Vi's...VSL, and some custom lib using Czeck musicians
Cello's custom
CB's QLSO
Bones QLSO
Tuba QLSO
FH's Epic
Trumps...SAM's Custom
VSL winds, SI clarinet and bassoon stacc, custom flute stacc and gliss 
perc, mostly True Strike,QLSO cymbals,SI snare

oh and Herman...VSL Sax

alot of this stuff is just up from another template so I grab it. If it works I just keep going. I think many sounds could have worked as nicely.

Craig, I'll get to your question a little later


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## IvanP (Jan 24, 2005)

Wow, this is one of your best demos by far, Craig! As luca pointed, It's set to be played by an orchestra... in fact I don't know if it could sound any better


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## handz (Jan 25, 2005)

Thanks for answer Sharmy. May I have some questions? Why do you using SI snares and QLSO cymbals instead Truestrike? " some custom lib using Czeck musicians" - With wich orchestra do you recorded? again, really nice piece, Do you have any tips how to learn those 50?s style?(any scores to stude....midis somewhere? )


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## Craig Sharmat (Jan 25, 2005)

Craig Duke said:


> Craig,
> 
> Of course, you don't need EIS to compose a piece like this so I am wondering what qualities you believe the EIS method gave to this composition and your workflow to create it? Did EIS make it quicker to write? I would imagine, for example, that it gave you many techniques to handle your voice leading rather than doing all by ear (trial by permutation) or following a few of the "rules" one remembers from music school (my inefficient approach anyway). Did EIS lead you to more harmonic possibilities at various points in the composition, etc.?
> 
> BTW, I'm just starting EIS mentoring with David. Thanks for putting me in touch with him.



well as I use EIS to write this piece, it is my foundation for writing. Would have it been quicker if I used some other method,....I don't know, but the writing was relatively painless, not a lot of trial and error. That said certain sections I believe could have only come from EIS

4 secs...there are neat cello pizz's that are really too low in the mix and are more subliminal. these were purely EIS, same at 11,29,36

At 21 the large chords were formed with EIS overtone thinking though many systems would have it another way.

The run at 39 is an equal interval run, an extremely handy way to create runs either totally original or otherwise.

The flute section at 42 is a technique where all the parts trade places to create movement, I am sure other methods get there but I learned that from EIS.

hope this helps


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## Craig Sharmat (Jan 25, 2005)

handz said:


> Thanks for answer Sharmy. May I have some questions? Why do you using SI snares and QLSO cymbals instead Truestrike? " some custom lib using Czeck musicians" - With wich orchestra do you recorded? again, really nice piece, Do you have any tips how to learn those 50?s style?(any scores to stude....midis somewhere? )



I used the SI snares because they were still up on a pallete that i did an SI demo for. True Strike would have been just as good. I made a comment in an earlier post that some sounds could have come from many other libs, this is a case in point. I like the timing on a specific QLSO cymbal swell, and know it well so it was quick grab . SI cymbals are mostly pre alpha so I don't know yet how good their cymbals actually are. Right now if i had to pick a percussion library and could only choose one, it would be True Stike.

the Czeck musicain comment was directed soley to you 
when we recorded in Prague last year we used a number of musicians, though I have no idea if they were part of a particular orchestra . They happen to be the ones who showed up. They did a nice job.

Learning 50's style orchestration...hmmm, there is a lot of jazz roots to pieces like this so that may help. I studied from a guy who did a lot of 50's, 60's orchestration, and that would be Spud Murphy (the reason for this forum). He teaches lots of lush and interesting harmonies.


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## griels (Jan 25, 2005)

Stunning work... This is the kind of stuff I hear in my 'minds ear' occasionally but wouldn't even imagine sitting at a keyboard, let alone have an idea about how to put it down in a sequencer :D


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## Frederick Russ (Jan 25, 2005)

Ah - music to my ears Lord Sharmy. This is going into my favorites folder - great job!


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## Craig Duke (Jan 26, 2005)

> "Craig Sharmat"
> The flute section at 42 is a technique where all the parts trade places to create movement, I am sure other methods get there but I learned that from EIS.
> 
> hope this helps


Sharmy,
I'm having a lot of fun listening to 00:42. The klangfarben melody (excuse my German) bridging section - or whatever you want to call it - is that the "trading places" part you were talking about? Its nicely done. The fact that the instruments overlap on the rising line and that the overlaps don't come at multiples of 4 eighth note points really helps give that "suspended time"/"break from the previous motion"/"going someplace else" effect. Then, the following harp/flute interplay with the harp notes that accent on 2 and the flute on the & of two is very nice and really starts the forward motion again. The chord that follow are like, well, butter - expensive butter at that. 

So, per your comment, EIS does teach orchestration concepts? Where abouts does that come into the course?

One thing that your piece has that I always enjoy in this kind of music when instruments are used to imitate sounds of the city (like the car horn). Great fun.

Thanks for the explanation.


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## Craig Sharmat (Jan 26, 2005)

thanks again Craig,

the trading places is actually the harp flute interplay. the run you refer to is an Equal interval run. 

Orchestration is actually taught in books 9 and 10. when the course was devised, there was no midi and orchestration aspects were not as easily applied, you needed an orchestra to pull this stuff off. Now days, i think it is up to the instructor to show where and how one can use EIS techniques with our virtual orchestras. i have been using midi orchestration with EIS since I started the course almost 10 years ago so I kind of grew up with it as a serious (well media) composer.


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## Frederick Russ (Feb 21, 2005)

Craig Sharmat said:


> Apparently some think I have been negligent in my duties to keep posting new pieces. For your punishment i have chosen a piece I recently completed.
> 
> I wanted to depict a busy city scene like N.Y. with a friendly atmosphere like you might find in a romantic comedy.
> 
> ...



This one deserved resurrecting - great piece for anyone who hasn't heard it.


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## Evan Gamble (Feb 21, 2005)

I'm glad you ressurected it Frederick because I would have missed out on this piece otherwise...SUPERB composition Craig..I listen to it and it gets me all excited about compsong again!


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## TheoKrueger (Feb 21, 2005)

Nice work Craig! 

I'm sure we'll be seeing you in a video next to Zimmer one day having coffee in his studio together because you deserve the recognition ( Or maybe seeing Zimmer in YOUR studio :D ) 

Keep it up man !


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## Craig Sharmat (Feb 22, 2005)

Theo, 

Thank you, btw you wouldn't have Han's number handy would you?..

thanks Evan,Pete and Frederick, really nice compliments...


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