Audio

Wednesday 30 July 2014

The Music of the Ainur - A clip and exposition.

I've been working the last couple days on the first piece of the symphony. I guess I'm sort of going through every piece in order of their appearance. The last couple weeks have been tough since my vacation and getting a concussion.

I have a new clip linked to this post, from the very first piece of the symphony. This piece covers the very beginning of the book, where Tolkien describes how his universe is made. It also covers the first beings made in his universe, the Ainur. These beings included the Valar (the great and powerful beings of Middle-Earth) and the Maiar (think of Sauron, the Balrog, Gandalf and Saruman from The Lord of the Rings).

In The Music of the Ainur, the book discusses how the Ainur (Valar and Maiar) sang at the beginning of all things about how the universe would shape up. It talks about how the Ainur sang about the Children of Iluvatar (Iluvatar created all these beings, he's the highest deity of the lot), the Elves and Men. In the Music, one of the Valar named Melkor (click here for my synopsis of his part) created great discord. Desiring to have his own beings and things, he disrupted the music, confusing some of the Ainur and corrupting others (like Sauron and the Balrogs) to his allegiance against Iluvatar. The rest of the Valar (Manwe, Varda etc.) remain faithful to Iluvatar and go about the creative work of shaping Arda.

The piece I've composed will illustrate these things and indeed the struggle between Melkor and the Valar. I hope this serves as an interpretive framework for the piece (click here to listen) and indeed your enjoyment of the coming symphonic work.

Cheers,
Aaron


Thursday 24 July 2014

Project Update and Kickstarter Brainstorm

Just wanted to give you all an update on the symphony.

The editing process is humming along. I've started distributing parts out to musicians and recording will start soon. Hopefully we'll have a video of that when it happens.

I'm still working on the kickstarter campaign. I know the amount I need to come up with ($7000) but I'd like some feedback from you, my readers - what kind of rewards would you like for donating to the project? I've only come up with a couple and would love to know what YOU would like.

You can comment below, via Facebook or whatever media you prefer to use.

I would really appreciate if you'd share this post around. You never know with these things who in your personal circle of friends may have an interest in backing a project like mine.

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Characters: Sauron had a boss

This is part of a series that describes some of the characters in The Silmarillion. It may contain plot spoilers from the book. It is only written as a guide to the book for those who wish to understand it better. 

As you can see from the title, the main villain from The Lord Of The Rings did at one point serve a master. His master was named Melkor (later named Morgoth by Feanor) and he was one of the Valar. The Valar were beings who cared for the universe and Melkor was coeval with another named Manwe in regard to power. The only being more powerful was Eru/Iluvatar who created everything. Melkor always was pushing his own agenda in the cosmos. He wanted beings of his own to create and possess however he had no powers of creation. 

In the beginning when all the Valar and Maiar (spirits less mighty than Valar) were singing the universe into existence, Melkor used all his gifts to bring other spirits to his allegiance. He created great chaos and many joined him in his rebellion. Among these were the Balrogs and Sauron. 

When the Valar were going about and working in the world, whatever constructive work they did Melkor would undo. He would twist things that were made good into darkness. When the Elves were born, those who were lost would be ensnared by Melkor. They were tortured and mutilated until they became a hideous race. These emaciated Elves became the Orcs. These were a mockery of Iluvatar's Elves.  

The rest of the Valar eventually get fed up with this and they wage a short and victorious war on Melkor and they take him back to Valinor. He served a prison sentence, but he did not change and thus he serves to beguile more of the Noldorin Elves and eventually destroyed the Two Trees and stole the Silmarils. 

This is about as far as the symphony will get. I have endeavoured to compose Melkor/Morgoth as extensively as I can. 

Thank you for reading, and please subscribe and share!

Saturday 12 July 2014

World Cup Final Prognostications

Hey all,

This is a total divergence from my usual subject matter, but humour me. (Part of me wonders if the blog will receive an obscene number of hits simply because the phrase "world cup final" is included.)

I'm a huge soccer/football fan, as many of you who know me personally would attest to this. I watched my favourites England stuff it up...with that being a such a regular feat I'm used to the process of picking another team to cheer for. This year it was Germany, and I'm elated they're in the final after thumping Brazil (I really don't fancy Brazil much, especially this year's rendition).

Straight up, I think Germany v. Argentina should be a stellar match. I see Germany winning in regular time with some stout defense from the white and blue. Do I think Argentina have a chance this? Certainly. But Messi will have to play out of his mind and keep Germany on the back foot all game. A few key points:

1. Messi v. German midfield - Whether it's Khedira or Schweinsteiger, whoever gets the best of this matchup should win the day. I can't imagine Germany leaving their fullbacks alone with Messi, so I expect one of Khedira or Schweini to help out Lahm and co. at the back.

2. Mascherano v. Kroos - Masch was amazing against the Dutch, playing with a concussion and then literally busting his butt saving a goal late against Robben. He'll have to do the same against Kroos particularly, as he's been in some serious form the last couple matches. I'd say Masch might the get the better of Kroos, but he's not the only German attacker to worry about...

3. Mueller/Ozil v. Zabaleta/Rojo - I imagine Rojo should take care of Ozil defensively, but the matchup between Zabaleta and Mueller is a tasty one, and I think Mueller shades it. That could be Argentina's undoing because Mueller has been fantastic at yet another World Cup. It's astounding I haven't heard of any Premier League teams cueing up for him (namely my Liverpool who just sold their "biter"). You'll see him back defensively a bit as well, perhaps assisting with Messi.

4. The first goal - Argentina haven't played from behind this tournament and while that is impressive, they may have to this time around. If Germany go ahead early, you'll see the lethal German counter attack consistently. That is really bad news for the Argentines because a) Demichelis isn't very quick and b) Germany's counter is. If the reverse happens and Argentina get the first goal, I think it goes better for them but I think the Germans still win. They're pragmatic enough to avoid getting smacked on the counter while chasing a goal.

Prediction: Germany 3, Argentina 1. Mueller (2) and Klose, Messi

Golden Boot: Mueller
Golden Ball: Mueller

Friday 11 July 2014

Stage Two begins

"One stage of your journey is over, another begins." - Gandalf, from the Two Towers film

That's precisely how I'm feeling at the moment...


I've just completed the first stage of principal composing for the Silmarillion Symphony. 


Just this week I realized two of the themes I had for Feanor (if you don't know who or what Feanor is, read the previous blog here) were just not up to snuff. Cue two new themes in the past four days. 


Now onto editing and some live tracking. As exhausted as I am from all this, I wouldn't have it any other way. I find creating to be the best kind of work. I'll be hitting up the beach for a few days, then I plan on getting the kickstarter campaign under way. 


To give an idea of what that is - it's basically a pre-order campaign to raise money for mixing, mastering and duplication costs. I'll be doing the kickstarter as well as putting a little Paypal pre-order button on the blog. 


If you would like to sample some of the work, click here and bear in mind that after mixing is finished, the sound will be greatly improved.


Cheers!


Aaron




Wednesday 9 July 2014

Characters: Feanor

This is the second of my character profiles for important characters in Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Be advised, there are plot spoilers from the book in this article.

Feanor was a Noldorin elf of the House of Finwe, and was the half brother of Fingolfin and Finarfin, with whom he had a fractous relationship. Feanor's mother died giving birth to him. He was most famous among the Elves for his fiery spirit and for the three jewels he made - the Silmarils. They contained the light of the Two Trees of the Valar (this light was the light of the universe). He was a genius craftsman, and made many other gems and weapons.

When the Two Trees were destroyed by Melkor, the Silmarils contained the last of the light of the Trees. Unfortunately for all concerned, after the Trees were destroyed, Melkor stole the Silmarils from Feanor's home, killing his father Finwe. When the rest of the Valar refused to chase after Melkor to take the Silmarils back, Feanor revolted against them and left Valinor for Middle-Earth to pursue Melkor and the Silmarils. He took many of the Noldor with him, as they were persuaded by his powerful words. He, along with his seven sons swore an oath to pursue and if necessary, kill anyone who got in the way of them regaining the Silmarils. This oath was a source of great sorrow for the Noldor, as it betrayed them over and over.

On his way to Middle-Earth, Feanor and the Noldor (some unwittingly) killed many of the Teleri (another group of Elves) in order to use their ships to cross a body of water. After this, the Valar sent a messenger (possibly even the Vala Mandos himself) who spoke what is called "The Prophecy of the North," which is utterly chilling and promised great sorrow to the Noldor. Sadly, Feanor did not even repent of his arrogance there, yet pressed on. He used the stolen ships to cross the water, then burned them, betraying his half brother Fingolfin and the greater part of the Noldor to cross a treacherous strait - the Grinding Ice.

Upon his return to Middle-Earth, Melkor (whom Feanor named Morgoth) sent forth an army of Orcs. Feanor's forces broke through their lines. In a furious rage, Feanor pressed too far ahead of his host. He was eventually surrounded by Balrogs (yes there were many of the Balrogs) who wounded him mortally. His sons caught up to him before he died. However, before he perished he realized that no might of the Elves would overcome Morgoth. He bid his sons to fulfill their oath to reclaim the Silmarils, and his body turned to ash. Such was the fire of his spirit.

If this post inspires more questions about the book, please ask. 

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Tuesday 1 July 2014

Characters: Turgon

Last week I posted some audio from "The House of Fingolfin" which was focussed on Turgon. But if you haven't read through the book, you'd be lost as to who the fellow actually was. To my recollection, he was not mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, though the great city he built, Gondolin, was. Elrond mentions Turgon obliquely in the Hobbit "This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore. Keep them well!'" (The Hobbit, Chapter 3).

So how does Elrond know Turgon? And what is Gondolin?

Turgon was an elf from the House of Fingolfin. The House of Fingolfin was the House from which the High Kings of the Noldor (the Noldor are one of three groups of Elves) came. The first king of the Noldor was Finwe, Fingolfin's father, and Turgon's grandfather. Both Fingolfin and Turgon played a pivotal part in the events of the First Age of Middle Earth. Fingolfin was the first High King of the Noldor in Middle Earth, and had three children, Fingon, Turgon and Aredhel (there's also, apparently a son named Argon, but he doesn't figure into The Silmarillion).

At the beginning of the First Age, Turgon lived a bit to the west of his father, and would often hunt with a friend named Finrod (who I will talk about in another post). While on this hunting trip, both Elves had dreams about hidden kingdoms, but spoke none of it to each other. Turgon went on to find the Hidden Vale amidst a place known as "the Encircling Mountains" and began to construct the city of Gondolin. Gondolin survived longest of all the Elven kingdoms of the First Age before its tragic sack. Had Gondolin not been made, or survived as long as it did, much of the hope of the First Age would have been lost.

Turgon is in fact Elrond's forefather. Elrond mentions that "Eärendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Lúthien of Doriath." (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Council of Elrond). Earendil, was the son of Turgon's daughter Idril, who married a man named Tuor. To sum up, the genealogy goes like this:

Fingolfin---Turgon---Idril (and Tuor)---Earendil (and Elwing)---Elrond etc. I hope this helps place a few of the many relationships in the book. As you can see, Turgon is vital to much of the mythology of Middle Earth and certainly to the events of the First Age.

The Silmarillion (for the non-Tolkien enthusiast)

This week I'll be doing something a little different. It struck me in a conversation last night that  the book itself is a difficult read, possibly so dense that one could pick it up three or four times and still have no idea what's going on. This is obviously a problem for me regarding the music, as I'd love people who aren't Tolkien nuts to enjoy the music and know what parts of the literature are being portrayed through the music. With that in mind, I will be endeavouring to summarize some of the plot and characters so that you will be able to get the most out of the music.

There are two helpful links posted below that are a good place to start. I'll be starting another segment of the blog which will function as a companion for reading the book for those who find the book too dense.

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/reference/silmsummaries/home.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXxU01IgoxU