I guess we know we are not in Kansas any more when musical controller data travel over a wireless connection. Clearly the progression has gone from DIN to USB to nothing but air.
When I look at Alchemy Mobile I can see a lot of Native Instruments Kore. I always liked the idea of Kore but thought the dedicated controller was overkill. But building a direct wireless connection between a mirror image performance controller on a mobile device and the computer based VST is brilliant. I can only hope that other synth makers follow suit.
The "Performance" aspect of Alchemy Mobile is critical. One of the reasons I own a Moog Voyager is that in many ways it was one of the first performance controller. In interviews with Bob Moog he expressed how he saw the Mini Moog's knobs as part of the performance aspects of the instrument. This sounds a lot like a performance controller to me.
I think there has been a progression in synths (hard and soft) towards greater complexity at least in workstations. There is a bit of reversal of this with the small mini-synths but most general and multi purpose synths are complex. This sometimes means layered menus that make learning curves steeper and separate controls from the performance aspects of the synth.
There has been an effort in the soft synth market to simplify with more cleaver design (such as Absynth and Alchemy) but also, as is the case with these two synths, by providing performance controls incl. XY controls in both synths.
With the new Alchemy Mobile this is extended via a wireless connection to a mobile device. Suffice it to say that using an IPad as an XY controller is easier than the small pad on my MacBook pro and has mirror graphics to boot.
What I find interesting about this evolution and paradigm shift (and it is) is that performance and sound design are now separated. With so many parameters the thought of changing them during a performance is daunting. With Alchemy Mobile, part of programming is to actually create a performance instrument.
I personally love this paradigm. It fits with how I now compose music. I am hoping that more synth will have mobile /performance versions of their synths and I very much look forward to this paradigm shift.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Fire Giver Notes 7/9/12
Frankenstein Notes
MUSIC
Prelude - The Persistence of Time
LETTERS FROM THE ARTIC OCEAN
http://jenmitlas.wordpress.com/ - An Arctic Passage
We find a common technique of the romantic period here called framing. We meet the captain of a ship, Robert Warren who is seeking a way to get from the Arctic Ocean to the North Pacific via the North Pole. Warren is aware of the challenges and warns his wife that if he fails he may return soon but perhaps not return at all. We also find Warren's letters at the end of the book after he has met both Victor and his monster.
2- The Lonely Journey
Warren is lonely on the ship and looking for companionship.
We find for the 1st time an allusion to "The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner" in 3 very Romantic ideas (seafaring, the mysterious, the quest for knowledge)
3 - A Letter to Home
Warren continues to express a heartfelt confidence that he will find his passage but not really backed up by knowledge which is a very romantic notion. He has the good fortune of passing a ship returning to England called "The Merchantman who will be able to get his letter to his sister before his return.
4 - Victor is Saved
Warren's ship 1st encounters a gigantic man (I.e. the monster, driving a dog sled) and then Victor trailing him on a block of ice. Warren is delighted to have someone to talk to. Here Victor begins as narrator in a sense and then fully in chapter 1
VICTOR'S STORY
1 - The Early Years
Victor tells us of the early years of his family, both hard times & good - the gift of Elizabeth - themes of hearth/home
2 - The Alchemists
Victor speaks of his interest in the alchemists Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus (not really an alchemist but more a natural scientist)
Victor witnesses a lightening storm that blows apart a tree
Idea for sound
A lightening strike morphing into a nuclear explosion, morphing into a vocal cluster (Symphony of Voices) morphing into ice effect or ice like sound)
MUSIC
Lightening Strikes 2
Reaktor Prism - SlowMotion
Kontakt
Cello -Solo
Novachord - 1939 - Pad - Unseen
3 clips - assigned to lowest notes on keyboard
Thunder
Tesla Coil
Nuclear Blast
Buttons
Absynth
Live Reverb
Slider 1 - Volume Reaktor (Prism)
Slider 2 - Volume Kontakt (Cello and Novachord
Slider 3 - Clip Volume
Slider 4 - Clip Transpose
Slider 5 - Prism - Feedback
Slider 6 - Prism
3 - Ingolatadt
Victor's mother Carolyn dies
Victor meets his teaches Krempe and Waldman
Waldmen encourages victor to learn every branch of natural science
4 - Grace Robber
Victor excels at Ingolstadt especially in chemistry but Victor would become reclusive seeking body parts in graveyards. Victor's withdrawal from the world gets worse. He let's letters go unanswered and his health is effected.
Shelley is intimating the romantic ideal that man must control technology not technology which controls man.
MUSIC
The Graveyard
Clips
Metal gate (of graveyard)
Human remains (grapefruit squish) + Live Grain Delay
Orchestration
Chromaphone
Bowed Gamelan (Live Instrument) - thru Absynth Resonator
Cylindrum (Kontakt)
MIDI
Slider 1 - Chromophone Volume
Slider 2 - Bowed Ugal Volume
Slider 3 - Cylindrum Volume
Slider 4 - Effects Volume
Slider 1 - Noise Frequency
Slider 2 - Mallet Color
5 - The Creation of the Monster
Henry Clerval - Romantic - Poet - Friend - Knight of the Round Table
Ingolstadt - The Iluminati - Science - The Enlightenment
The re-animation of a dead body - Galvanism - Ventalators
The monster is created. Victor is horrified and runs from his creation. He is found by Clerval who slowly brings him back to health.
The monster is created - need music to represent Victors horror
Perhaps sounds of footsteps running, heavy breathing, heartbeat, synthetic sound as the sound of Victors fears chasing him through the streets.
The dream of victors mother - worms from her head
Rhime of the ancient mariner quoted. Influential in the novel.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
Orchestration - Live Instrument rack
1. Blade - with Guitar Rig (Roland Space Echo) - Key mapped to lower register
2. Kontakt
String Ensemble (Factory)
Timpani (Factory)
Contra Bassoon (Factory)
Bazantar (8Dio's sampled instrument made by Mark Deustch)
Flute (Factory)
3. Alchemy
Performance Controls
Blade Volume
Orchestra Volume
Alchemy Volume
Choir (Alchemy morph setting)
Alchemy Cutoff
Alchemy Resonance
Second Thoughts
Clips
Lungs
Deep Breathing (Slot 1)
Hospital Ventilator (Slot 2)
Heart
Heartbeat
Orchestration
Blade (controlled by Live envelope follower)
Kontakt 4 - Strings
Cello (ensemble)
Viola (solo)
ElectraX
MIDI
Slider 1 - Blade Volume
Slider 2 - Strings volume
Slider 3 - ElectraX volume
6 - Visit with an Old Friend
Letters from home, family matters, Victor's recovery, language studies
7 - The Death of William
William (youngest brother) is strangled by the monster
Victor glimpses the monster in flashes of lightening
Victor suspects the monster is guilty but does not want to reveal it.
8 - The Trial and Hanging of Justine
Justine is accused of William's murder (the monster places a locket in her pocket)
Justine is hung unjustly for the crimes of Victor's monster. Victor looks on helplessly knowing the true guilty party.
9 - A Time for Healing
Victor's 2nd depression - Refuge at Lake Geneva - Suicide considered
The Chamounix valley - depression a theme of Romantic writers - Why?
The healing powers of nature - Mont Blanc - Percy Shelly
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist256/alps/mont_blanc.htm
10 - The Monster Confronts His Maker
Connection with Milton's "Paradise Lost" - name for the song of Frankenstein meeting his monster? - the creature as Victor's Adam before and after the fall - banished from paradise
The romantic view that people are born good but society corrupts them - much like the monster
The glaciers - snow, ice, rock - connection to the scene at the north pole
The storm signals the monitors approach - weather as signal
11 - The Monster and The De Lacey Family
the monster relates his early life experiences to victor - romantic vision of home and hearth - the monster does not dare approach.
12 - The Monster Learns to Speak
The monster learns French from the De Lacey family, he begins to gather wood from them, he sees his reflection
13 - Reflection on Good and Evil
A Turkish woman comes to the cottage and learns French, the monster learns more from this, Shelley goes more into the good and evil nature of man, language is seen as good, themes of Paradise Lost - is Shelley here wrestling with issues of science as good or evil?
14 - De Lacey family history
Felix, Safie's father is defended by the De Lacey family but in their battle to free her father from the Gallows their wealth is confiscated. The family was well to do but is brought to ruin.
15 - The Monster Learns to Read
Plutarch's "Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Roman's", Milton's "Paradise Lost", Goethe's "Sorrows of Werter", and Victor's notes found in his jacket
The monster questions his place in the world, he sees his reflection
The monster decides that in spite of his looks the family might accept him. He waits till only the blind father remains who warmly welcomes him but on seeing him, Felix beats him severely and the monster leaves without any resistance.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
16 - The Monster Requests a Companion
As the monster tells his story, he catches up with Victor's in time
The De Lacey family leaves the cottage and it's burned down by the monster.
William (Victors brother) is murdered by the monster when he realizes who it is
The locket is placed in Justine's pocket sealing her fate
The monster requests that Victor create a mate for him
17 - The Ultimatum
The monster gives victor an ultimatum. Either make him a mate or he will destroy all that is good in Victor's life and make his heart desolate. In exchange, the monster tells him he will leave Europe for the wilderness of South America.
Victor has many doubts and goes into another depression.
18 - A Trip Down The Rhine and Return to Geneva
Victor returns to Geneva to fulfill his promise and make a mate for his monster
Victor recovers and tells his father he want's to catch up on science
Victor tells his father he will marry Elizabeth on his return and travel through Europe and eventually to London. He joins his friend Clerval.
They travel the Rhine - much Romantic imagery here
19 - A New Creation
Victor leaves Clerval who continues his tour of the Rhine
Victor reads the latest philosophers and wrestles with the implications of the plans for a new creation.
He goes to the Ornkey Islands so he can be isolates - his mental condition deteriorates
20 - The Refusal
Victor refuses to go any further fearing that his new creation might be a threat to the world. He destroys the new creation and the monster tells him he will be with him on his wedding night.
The monster disappears into the night.
Victor removes everything from the laboratory and cleans the remains planning to return to Clerval for a trip to India.
On his return from the Island Victor finds he is wanted for murder and is taken into custody.
21 - Clerval is Murdered and Victor Arested
The sight of his friends dead body causes Victor to become extremely I'll for 2 months. A nurse is provided who nurses him back to health in the prison.
His legal council is able to prove his innocence and presence on the island lab at the time of Clerval's murder.
Alphonse takes Victor home but he remains very ill. A brief visit is made to Paris.
22 - Victor marries Elizabeth
They go on their honeymoon and Victor plans on telling Elizabeth about the monster. He fears the threat of the monster expecting the monster to attack.
23 - The Death of Elizabeth
There is a storm (gothic symbol that something will happen). Victor wanders the halls looking for signs of the monster who finds his way to Elizabeth's room and kills her. Victor reaches her and the monster and even gets a shot off but the monster escapes unharmed.
Victor's father, Alphonse, overcome by shock over Elizabeth's death, dies
Victor goes to the local magistrate and tells him the story of his monster from it's creation and that it was the monster who killed his wife.
A few gothic elements here. 1st, there is communication of sorts between Victor and his creature who seems to always know where he is.
Victor vows to spend whatever time it takes to destroy the monster.
24 - The Final Chase
Victor is goaded by the monster's laugh as he visits the graves of his family. The monster's knowledge that Victor would be there is another gothic element. He pursues the monster and chases him out of Geneva and after boarding a ship on the Black Sea and then to Russia and the Arctic Circle
The monster finds a dog sled and Victor continues to pursue but the ice begins to crack.
The two are separated on two different pieces of ice which is where the letters at the beginning of the novel start. The monster want Victor to chase him. He keeps leaving notes. Without them Victor would not be able to pursue him. The arctic is a gothic element.
THE FINAL LETTERS
The end of the book is told from the perspective of Walton's letters. Victor also shows him letters of Felix and Safie to lend credence to his cautionary tale. The two enjoy much time together talking about literature and other things.
Victor is on the verge of death but Walton is also on his own quest to find a Northwest passage and that is failing.
Victor's health gets even worse and now the crew are almost ready to mutiny. Walton agrees to turn the ship around and return to England. Despite his condition, victor wants to continue to pursue the monster.
Victor dies but the monster makes his way on board looking for Victor. He tells Walton his side of the story but then leaves the ship continuing his now fruitless journey and disappears into the mist.
The monster in speaking to Walton alludes to Paradise lost and compares himself to a fallen angel.
MUSIC
Into The Mist
Orchestration
Ableton Operator (with Absynth 5 Aetherizer and Guitar Rig Effects)
Guitar Rig (Roland Space Echo, EH Flange, EH phaser and reflector using "Sprit Canyon Audio" impulse response
MIDI
Slider 1 - Oscillator C (Frequency)
Slider 2 - Oscillator C (Level)
Slider 3 - Pitch Envelope (Level)
Slider 4 - Spread
Slider 5 - Tape Feedback
Slider 6 - Tape Speed
The Ascent
MUSIC
Prelude - The Persistence of Time
LETTERS FROM THE ARTIC OCEAN
http://jenmitlas.wordpress.com/ - An Arctic Passage
We find a common technique of the romantic period here called framing. We meet the captain of a ship, Robert Warren who is seeking a way to get from the Arctic Ocean to the North Pacific via the North Pole. Warren is aware of the challenges and warns his wife that if he fails he may return soon but perhaps not return at all. We also find Warren's letters at the end of the book after he has met both Victor and his monster.
2- The Lonely Journey
Warren is lonely on the ship and looking for companionship.
We find for the 1st time an allusion to "The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner" in 3 very Romantic ideas (seafaring, the mysterious, the quest for knowledge)
3 - A Letter to Home
Warren continues to express a heartfelt confidence that he will find his passage but not really backed up by knowledge which is a very romantic notion. He has the good fortune of passing a ship returning to England called "The Merchantman who will be able to get his letter to his sister before his return.
4 - Victor is Saved
Warren's ship 1st encounters a gigantic man (I.e. the monster, driving a dog sled) and then Victor trailing him on a block of ice. Warren is delighted to have someone to talk to. Here Victor begins as narrator in a sense and then fully in chapter 1
VICTOR'S STORY
1 - The Early Years
Victor tells us of the early years of his family, both hard times & good - the gift of Elizabeth - themes of hearth/home
2 - The Alchemists
Victor speaks of his interest in the alchemists Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus (not really an alchemist but more a natural scientist)
Victor witnesses a lightening storm that blows apart a tree
Idea for sound
A lightening strike morphing into a nuclear explosion, morphing into a vocal cluster (Symphony of Voices) morphing into ice effect or ice like sound)
MUSIC
Lightening Strikes 2
Reaktor Prism - SlowMotion
Kontakt
Cello -Solo
Novachord - 1939 - Pad - Unseen
3 clips - assigned to lowest notes on keyboard
Thunder
Tesla Coil
Nuclear Blast
Buttons
Absynth
Live Reverb
Slider 1 - Volume Reaktor (Prism)
Slider 2 - Volume Kontakt (Cello and Novachord
Slider 3 - Clip Volume
Slider 4 - Clip Transpose
Slider 5 - Prism - Feedback
Slider 6 - Prism
3 - Ingolatadt
Victor's mother Carolyn dies
Victor meets his teaches Krempe and Waldman
Waldmen encourages victor to learn every branch of natural science
4 - Grace Robber
Victor excels at Ingolstadt especially in chemistry but Victor would become reclusive seeking body parts in graveyards. Victor's withdrawal from the world gets worse. He let's letters go unanswered and his health is effected.
Shelley is intimating the romantic ideal that man must control technology not technology which controls man.
MUSIC
The Graveyard
Clips
Metal gate (of graveyard)
Human remains (grapefruit squish) + Live Grain Delay
Orchestration
Chromaphone
Bowed Gamelan (Live Instrument) - thru Absynth Resonator
Cylindrum (Kontakt)
MIDI
Slider 1 - Chromophone Volume
Slider 2 - Bowed Ugal Volume
Slider 3 - Cylindrum Volume
Slider 4 - Effects Volume
Slider 1 - Noise Frequency
Slider 2 - Mallet Color
5 - The Creation of the Monster
Henry Clerval - Romantic - Poet - Friend - Knight of the Round Table
Ingolstadt - The Iluminati - Science - The Enlightenment
The re-animation of a dead body - Galvanism - Ventalators
The monster is created. Victor is horrified and runs from his creation. He is found by Clerval who slowly brings him back to health.
The monster is created - need music to represent Victors horror
Perhaps sounds of footsteps running, heavy breathing, heartbeat, synthetic sound as the sound of Victors fears chasing him through the streets.
The dream of victors mother - worms from her head
Rhime of the ancient mariner quoted. Influential in the novel.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
Orchestration - Live Instrument rack
1. Blade - with Guitar Rig (Roland Space Echo) - Key mapped to lower register
2. Kontakt
String Ensemble (Factory)
Timpani (Factory)
Contra Bassoon (Factory)
Bazantar (8Dio's sampled instrument made by Mark Deustch)
Flute (Factory)
3. Alchemy
Performance Controls
Blade Volume
Orchestra Volume
Alchemy Volume
Choir (Alchemy morph setting)
Alchemy Cutoff
Alchemy Resonance
Second Thoughts
Clips
Lungs
Deep Breathing (Slot 1)
Hospital Ventilator (Slot 2)
Heart
Heartbeat
Orchestration
Blade (controlled by Live envelope follower)
Kontakt 4 - Strings
Cello (ensemble)
Viola (solo)
ElectraX
MIDI
Slider 1 - Blade Volume
Slider 2 - Strings volume
Slider 3 - ElectraX volume
6 - Visit with an Old Friend
Letters from home, family matters, Victor's recovery, language studies
7 - The Death of William
William (youngest brother) is strangled by the monster
Victor glimpses the monster in flashes of lightening
Victor suspects the monster is guilty but does not want to reveal it.
8 - The Trial and Hanging of Justine
Justine is accused of William's murder (the monster places a locket in her pocket)
Justine is hung unjustly for the crimes of Victor's monster. Victor looks on helplessly knowing the true guilty party.
9 - A Time for Healing
Victor's 2nd depression - Refuge at Lake Geneva - Suicide considered
The Chamounix valley - depression a theme of Romantic writers - Why?
The healing powers of nature - Mont Blanc - Percy Shelly
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist256/alps/mont_blanc.htm
10 - The Monster Confronts His Maker
Connection with Milton's "Paradise Lost" - name for the song of Frankenstein meeting his monster? - the creature as Victor's Adam before and after the fall - banished from paradise
The romantic view that people are born good but society corrupts them - much like the monster
The glaciers - snow, ice, rock - connection to the scene at the north pole
The storm signals the monitors approach - weather as signal
11 - The Monster and The De Lacey Family
the monster relates his early life experiences to victor - romantic vision of home and hearth - the monster does not dare approach.
12 - The Monster Learns to Speak
The monster learns French from the De Lacey family, he begins to gather wood from them, he sees his reflection
13 - Reflection on Good and Evil
A Turkish woman comes to the cottage and learns French, the monster learns more from this, Shelley goes more into the good and evil nature of man, language is seen as good, themes of Paradise Lost - is Shelley here wrestling with issues of science as good or evil?
14 - De Lacey family history
Felix, Safie's father is defended by the De Lacey family but in their battle to free her father from the Gallows their wealth is confiscated. The family was well to do but is brought to ruin.
15 - The Monster Learns to Read
Plutarch's "Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Roman's", Milton's "Paradise Lost", Goethe's "Sorrows of Werter", and Victor's notes found in his jacket
The monster questions his place in the world, he sees his reflection
The monster decides that in spite of his looks the family might accept him. He waits till only the blind father remains who warmly welcomes him but on seeing him, Felix beats him severely and the monster leaves without any resistance.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
16 - The Monster Requests a Companion
As the monster tells his story, he catches up with Victor's in time
The De Lacey family leaves the cottage and it's burned down by the monster.
William (Victors brother) is murdered by the monster when he realizes who it is
The locket is placed in Justine's pocket sealing her fate
The monster requests that Victor create a mate for him
17 - The Ultimatum
The monster gives victor an ultimatum. Either make him a mate or he will destroy all that is good in Victor's life and make his heart desolate. In exchange, the monster tells him he will leave Europe for the wilderness of South America.
Victor has many doubts and goes into another depression.
18 - A Trip Down The Rhine and Return to Geneva
Victor returns to Geneva to fulfill his promise and make a mate for his monster
Victor recovers and tells his father he want's to catch up on science
Victor tells his father he will marry Elizabeth on his return and travel through Europe and eventually to London. He joins his friend Clerval.
They travel the Rhine - much Romantic imagery here
19 - A New Creation
Victor leaves Clerval who continues his tour of the Rhine
Victor reads the latest philosophers and wrestles with the implications of the plans for a new creation.
He goes to the Ornkey Islands so he can be isolates - his mental condition deteriorates
20 - The Refusal
Victor refuses to go any further fearing that his new creation might be a threat to the world. He destroys the new creation and the monster tells him he will be with him on his wedding night.
The monster disappears into the night.
Victor removes everything from the laboratory and cleans the remains planning to return to Clerval for a trip to India.
On his return from the Island Victor finds he is wanted for murder and is taken into custody.
21 - Clerval is Murdered and Victor Arested
The sight of his friends dead body causes Victor to become extremely I'll for 2 months. A nurse is provided who nurses him back to health in the prison.
His legal council is able to prove his innocence and presence on the island lab at the time of Clerval's murder.
Alphonse takes Victor home but he remains very ill. A brief visit is made to Paris.
22 - Victor marries Elizabeth
They go on their honeymoon and Victor plans on telling Elizabeth about the monster. He fears the threat of the monster expecting the monster to attack.
23 - The Death of Elizabeth
There is a storm (gothic symbol that something will happen). Victor wanders the halls looking for signs of the monster who finds his way to Elizabeth's room and kills her. Victor reaches her and the monster and even gets a shot off but the monster escapes unharmed.
Victor's father, Alphonse, overcome by shock over Elizabeth's death, dies
Victor goes to the local magistrate and tells him the story of his monster from it's creation and that it was the monster who killed his wife.
A few gothic elements here. 1st, there is communication of sorts between Victor and his creature who seems to always know where he is.
Victor vows to spend whatever time it takes to destroy the monster.
24 - The Final Chase
Victor is goaded by the monster's laugh as he visits the graves of his family. The monster's knowledge that Victor would be there is another gothic element. He pursues the monster and chases him out of Geneva and after boarding a ship on the Black Sea and then to Russia and the Arctic Circle
The monster finds a dog sled and Victor continues to pursue but the ice begins to crack.
The two are separated on two different pieces of ice which is where the letters at the beginning of the novel start. The monster want Victor to chase him. He keeps leaving notes. Without them Victor would not be able to pursue him. The arctic is a gothic element.
THE FINAL LETTERS
The end of the book is told from the perspective of Walton's letters. Victor also shows him letters of Felix and Safie to lend credence to his cautionary tale. The two enjoy much time together talking about literature and other things.
Victor is on the verge of death but Walton is also on his own quest to find a Northwest passage and that is failing.
Victor's health gets even worse and now the crew are almost ready to mutiny. Walton agrees to turn the ship around and return to England. Despite his condition, victor wants to continue to pursue the monster.
Victor dies but the monster makes his way on board looking for Victor. He tells Walton his side of the story but then leaves the ship continuing his now fruitless journey and disappears into the mist.
The monster in speaking to Walton alludes to Paradise lost and compares himself to a fallen angel.
MUSIC
Into The Mist
Orchestration
Ableton Operator (with Absynth 5 Aetherizer and Guitar Rig Effects)
Guitar Rig (Roland Space Echo, EH Flange, EH phaser and reflector using "Sprit Canyon Audio" impulse response
MIDI
Slider 1 - Oscillator C (Frequency)
Slider 2 - Oscillator C (Level)
Slider 3 - Pitch Envelope (Level)
Slider 4 - Spread
Slider 5 - Tape Feedback
Slider 6 - Tape Speed
The Ascent
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Fire Giver Notes
Frankenstein Notes
MUSIC
Prelude
LETTERS FROM THE ARTIC OCEAN
http://jenmitlas.wordpress.com/ - An Arctic Passage
We find a common technique of the romantic period here called framing. We meet the captain of a ship, Robert Warren who is seeking a way to get from the Arctic Ocean to the North Pacific via the North Pole. Warren is aware of the challenges and warns his wife that if he fails he may return soon but perhaps not return at all. We also find Warren's letters at the end of the book after he has met both Victor and his monster.
2- The Lonely Journey
Warren is lonely on the ship and looking for companionship.
We find for the 1st time an allusion to "The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner" in 3 very Romantic ideas (seafaring, the mysterious, the quest for knowledge)
3 - A Letter to Home
Warren continues to express a heartfelt confidence that he will find his passage but not really backed up by knowledge which is a very romantic notion. He has the good fortune of passing a ship returning to England called "The Merchantman who will be able to get his letter to his sister before his return.
4 - Victor is Saved
Warren's ship 1st encounters a gigantic man (I.e. the monster, driving a dog sled) and then Victor trailing him on a block of ice. Warren is delighted to have someone to talk to. Here Victor begins as narrator in a sense and then fully in chapter 1
VICTOR'S STORY
1 - The Early Years
Victor tells us of the early years of his family, both hard times & good - the gift of Elizabeth - themes of hearth/home
2 - The Alchemists
Victor speaks of his interest in the alchemists Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus (not really an alchemist but more a natural scientist)
Victor witnesses a lightening storm that blows apart a tree
Idea for sound
A lightening strike morphing into a nuclear explosion, morphing into a vocal cluster (Symphony of Voices) morphing into ice effect or ice like sound)
MUSIC
Lightening Strike 2
Reaktor Prism - SlowMotion
Kontakt
Cello -Solo
Novachord - 1939 - Pad - Unseen
3 clips - assigned to lowest notes on keyboard
Thunder
Tesla Coil
Nuclear Blast
Buttons
Absynth
Live Reverb
Slider 1 - Volume Reaktor (Prism)
Slider 2 - Volume Kontakt (Cello and Novachord
Slider 3 - Clip Volume
Slider 4 - Clip Transpose
Slider 5 - Prism - Feedback
Slider 6 - Prism
3 - Ingolatadt
Victor's mother Carolyn dies
Victor meets his teaches Krempe and Waldman
Waldmen encourages victor to learn every branch of natural science
4 - Grace Robber
Victor excels at Ingolstadt especially in chemistry but Victor would become reclusive seeking body parts in graveyards. Victor's withdrawal from the world gets worse. He let's letters go unanswered and his health is effected.
Shelley is intimating the romantic ideal that man must control technology not technology which controls man.
MUSIC
The Graveyard
Clips
Metal gate (of graveyard)
Human remains (grapefruit squish)
Orchestration
Chromaphone
Bowed Gamelan
Cylindrum (Kontakt)
5 - The Creation of the Monster
Henry Clerval - Romantic - Poet - Friend - Knight of the Round Table
Ingolstadt - The Iluminati - Science - The Enlightenment
The re-animation of a dead body - Galvanism - Ventalators
The monster is created. Victor is horrified and runs from his creation. He is found by Clerval who slowly brings him back to health.
The monster is created - need music to represent Victors horror
Perhaps sounds of footsteps running, heavy breathing, heartbeat, synthetic sound as the sound of Victors fears chasing him through the streets.
The dream of victors mother - worms from her head
Rhime of the ancient mariner quoted. Influential in the novel.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
Second Thoughts
Clips
Lungs
Deep Breathing (Slot 1)
Hospital Ventilator (Slot 2)
Heart
Heartbeat
Orchestration
Blade (controlled by Live envelope follower)
Kontakt 4 - Strings
Cello (ensemble)
Viola (solo)
ElectraX
MIDI
Slider 1 - Blade Volume
Slider 2 - Strings volume
Slider 3 - ElectraX volume
6 - Visit with an Old Friend
Letters from home, family matters, Victor's recovery, language studies
7 - The Death of William
William (youngest brother) is strangled by the monster
Victor glimpses the monster in flashes of lightening
Victor suspects the monster is guilty but does not want to reveal it.
8 - The Trial and Hanging of Justine
Justine is accused of William's murder (the monster places a locket in her pocket)
Justine is hung unjustly for the crimes of Victor's monster. Victor looks on helplessly knowing the true guilty party.
9 - A Time for Healing
Victor's 2nd depression - Refuge at Lake Geneva - Suicide considered
The Chamounix valley - depression a theme of Romantic writers - Why?
The healing powers of nature - Mont Blanc - Percy Shelly
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist256/alps/mont_blanc.htm
10 - The Monster Confronts His Maker
Connection with Milton's "Paradise Lost" - name for the song of Frankenstein meeting his monster? - the creature as Victor's Adam before and after the fall - banished from paradise
The romantic view that people are born good but society corrupts them - much like the monster
The glaciers - snow, ice, rock - connection to the scene at the north pole
The storm signals the monitors approach - weather as signal
11 - The Monster and The De Lacey Family
the monster relates his early life experiences to victor - romantic vision of home and hearth - the monster does not dare approach.
12 - The Monster Learns to Speak
The monster learns French from the De Lacey family, he begins to gather wood from them, he sees his reflection
13 - Reflection on Good and Evil
A Turkish woman comes to the cottage and learns French, the monster learns more from this, Shelley goes more into the good and evil nature of man, language is seen as good, themes of Paradise Lost - is Shelley here wrestling with issues of science as good or evil?
14 - De Lacey family history
Felix, Safie's father is defended by the De Lacey family but in their battle to free her father from the Gallows their wealth is confiscated. The family was well to do but is brought to ruin.
15 - The Monster Learns to Read
Plutarch's "Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Roman's", Milton's "Paradise Lost", Goethe's "Sorrows of Werter", and Victor's notes found in his jacket
The monster questions his place in the world, he sees his reflection
The monster decides that in spite of his looks the family might accept him. He waits till only the blind father remains who warmly welcomes him but on seeing him, Felix beats him severely and the monster leaves without any resistance.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
16 - The Monster Requests a Companion
As the monster tells his story, he catches up with Victor's in time
The De Lacey family leaves the cottage and it's burned down by the monster.
William (Victors brother) is murdered by the monster when he realizes who it is
The locket is placed in Justine's pocket sealing her fate
The monster requests that Victor create a mate for him
17 - The Ultimatum
The monster gives victor an ultimatum. Either make him a mate or he will destroy all that is good in Victor's life and make his heart desolate. In exchange, the monster tells him he will leave Europe for the wilderness of South America.
Victor has many doubts and goes into another depression.
18 - A Trip Down The Rhine and Return to Geneva
Victor returns to Geneva to fulfill his promise and make a mate for his monster
Victor recovers and tells his father he want's to catch up on science
Victor tells his father he will marry Elizabeth on his return and travel through Europe and eventually to London. He joins his friend Clerval.
They travel the Rhine - much Romantic imagery here
19 - A New Creation
Victor leaves Clerval who continues his tour of the Rhine
Victor reads the latest philosophers and wrestles with the implications of the plans for a new creation.
He goes to the Ornkey Islands so he can be isolates - his mental condition deteriorates
20 - The Refusal
Victor refuses to go any further fearing that his new creation might be a threat to the world. He destroys the new creation and the monster tells him he will be with him on his wedding night.
The monster disappears into the night.
Victor removes everything from the laboratory and cleans the remains planning to return to Clerval for a trip to India.
On his return from the Island Victor finds he is wanted for murder and is taken into custody.
21 - Clerval is Murdered and Victor Arested
The sight of his friends dead body causes Victor to become extremely I'll for 2 months. A nurse is provided who nurses him back to health in the prison.
His legal council is able to prove his innocence and presence on the island lab at the time of Clerval's murder.
Alphonse takes Victor home but he remains very ill. A brief visit is made to Paris.
22 - Victor marries Elizabeth
They go on their honeymoon and Victor plans on telling Elizabeth about the monster. He fears the threat of the monster expecting the monster to attack.
23 - The Death of Elizabeth
There is a storm (gothic symbol that something will happen). Victor wanders the halls looking for signs of the monster who finds his way to Elizabeth's room and kills her. Victor reaches her and the monster and even gets a shot off but the monster escapes unharmed.
Victor's father, Alphonse, overcome by shock over Elizabeth's death, dies
Victor goes to the local magistrate and tells him the story of his monster from it's creation and that it was the monster who killed his wife.
A few gothic elements here. 1st, there is communication of sorts between Victor and his creature who seems to always know where he is.
Victor vows to spend whatever time it takes to destroy the monster.
24 - The Final Chase
Victor is goaded by the monster's laugh as he visits the graves of his family. The monster's knowledge that Victor would be there is another gothic element. He pursues the monster and chases him out of Geneva and after boarding a ship on the Black Sea and then to Russia and the Arctic Circle
The monster finds a dog sled and Victor continues to pursue but the ice begins to crack.
The two are separated on two different pieces of ice which is where the letters at the beginning of the novel start. The monster want Victor to chase him. He keeps leaving notes. Without them Victor would not be able to pursue him. The arctic is a gothic element.
THE FINAL LETTERS
The end of the book is told from the perspective of Walton's letters. Victor also shows him letters of Felix and Safie to lend credence to his cautionary tale. The two enjoy much time together talking about literature and other things.
Victor is on the verge of death but Walton is also on his own quest to find a Northwest passage and that is failing.
Victor's health gets even worse and now the crew are almost ready to mutiny. Walton agrees to turn the ship around and return to England. Despite his condition, victor wants to continue to pursue the monster.
Victor dies but the monster makes his way on board looking for Victor. He tells Walton his side of the story but then leaves the ship continuing his now fruitless journey and disappears into the mist.
The monster in speaking to Walton alludes to Paradise lost and compares himself to a fallen angel.
MUSIC
Into The Mist
The Ascent
MUSIC
Prelude
LETTERS FROM THE ARTIC OCEAN
http://jenmitlas.wordpress.com/ - An Arctic Passage
We find a common technique of the romantic period here called framing. We meet the captain of a ship, Robert Warren who is seeking a way to get from the Arctic Ocean to the North Pacific via the North Pole. Warren is aware of the challenges and warns his wife that if he fails he may return soon but perhaps not return at all. We also find Warren's letters at the end of the book after he has met both Victor and his monster.
2- The Lonely Journey
Warren is lonely on the ship and looking for companionship.
We find for the 1st time an allusion to "The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner" in 3 very Romantic ideas (seafaring, the mysterious, the quest for knowledge)
3 - A Letter to Home
Warren continues to express a heartfelt confidence that he will find his passage but not really backed up by knowledge which is a very romantic notion. He has the good fortune of passing a ship returning to England called "The Merchantman who will be able to get his letter to his sister before his return.
4 - Victor is Saved
Warren's ship 1st encounters a gigantic man (I.e. the monster, driving a dog sled) and then Victor trailing him on a block of ice. Warren is delighted to have someone to talk to. Here Victor begins as narrator in a sense and then fully in chapter 1
VICTOR'S STORY
1 - The Early Years
Victor tells us of the early years of his family, both hard times & good - the gift of Elizabeth - themes of hearth/home
2 - The Alchemists
Victor speaks of his interest in the alchemists Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus (not really an alchemist but more a natural scientist)
Victor witnesses a lightening storm that blows apart a tree
Idea for sound
A lightening strike morphing into a nuclear explosion, morphing into a vocal cluster (Symphony of Voices) morphing into ice effect or ice like sound)
MUSIC
Lightening Strike 2
Reaktor Prism - SlowMotion
Kontakt
Cello -Solo
Novachord - 1939 - Pad - Unseen
3 clips - assigned to lowest notes on keyboard
Thunder
Tesla Coil
Nuclear Blast
Buttons
Absynth
Live Reverb
Slider 1 - Volume Reaktor (Prism)
Slider 2 - Volume Kontakt (Cello and Novachord
Slider 3 - Clip Volume
Slider 4 - Clip Transpose
Slider 5 - Prism - Feedback
Slider 6 - Prism
3 - Ingolatadt
Victor's mother Carolyn dies
Victor meets his teaches Krempe and Waldman
Waldmen encourages victor to learn every branch of natural science
4 - Grace Robber
Victor excels at Ingolstadt especially in chemistry but Victor would become reclusive seeking body parts in graveyards. Victor's withdrawal from the world gets worse. He let's letters go unanswered and his health is effected.
Shelley is intimating the romantic ideal that man must control technology not technology which controls man.
MUSIC
The Graveyard
Clips
Metal gate (of graveyard)
Human remains (grapefruit squish)
Orchestration
Chromaphone
Bowed Gamelan
Cylindrum (Kontakt)
5 - The Creation of the Monster
Henry Clerval - Romantic - Poet - Friend - Knight of the Round Table
Ingolstadt - The Iluminati - Science - The Enlightenment
The re-animation of a dead body - Galvanism - Ventalators
The monster is created. Victor is horrified and runs from his creation. He is found by Clerval who slowly brings him back to health.
The monster is created - need music to represent Victors horror
Perhaps sounds of footsteps running, heavy breathing, heartbeat, synthetic sound as the sound of Victors fears chasing him through the streets.
The dream of victors mother - worms from her head
Rhime of the ancient mariner quoted. Influential in the novel.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
Second Thoughts
Clips
Lungs
Deep Breathing (Slot 1)
Hospital Ventilator (Slot 2)
Heart
Heartbeat
Orchestration
Blade (controlled by Live envelope follower)
Kontakt 4 - Strings
Cello (ensemble)
Viola (solo)
ElectraX
MIDI
Slider 1 - Blade Volume
Slider 2 - Strings volume
Slider 3 - ElectraX volume
6 - Visit with an Old Friend
Letters from home, family matters, Victor's recovery, language studies
7 - The Death of William
William (youngest brother) is strangled by the monster
Victor glimpses the monster in flashes of lightening
Victor suspects the monster is guilty but does not want to reveal it.
8 - The Trial and Hanging of Justine
Justine is accused of William's murder (the monster places a locket in her pocket)
Justine is hung unjustly for the crimes of Victor's monster. Victor looks on helplessly knowing the true guilty party.
9 - A Time for Healing
Victor's 2nd depression - Refuge at Lake Geneva - Suicide considered
The Chamounix valley - depression a theme of Romantic writers - Why?
The healing powers of nature - Mont Blanc - Percy Shelly
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist256/alps/mont_blanc.htm
10 - The Monster Confronts His Maker
Connection with Milton's "Paradise Lost" - name for the song of Frankenstein meeting his monster? - the creature as Victor's Adam before and after the fall - banished from paradise
The romantic view that people are born good but society corrupts them - much like the monster
The glaciers - snow, ice, rock - connection to the scene at the north pole
The storm signals the monitors approach - weather as signal
11 - The Monster and The De Lacey Family
the monster relates his early life experiences to victor - romantic vision of home and hearth - the monster does not dare approach.
12 - The Monster Learns to Speak
The monster learns French from the De Lacey family, he begins to gather wood from them, he sees his reflection
13 - Reflection on Good and Evil
A Turkish woman comes to the cottage and learns French, the monster learns more from this, Shelley goes more into the good and evil nature of man, language is seen as good, themes of Paradise Lost - is Shelley here wrestling with issues of science as good or evil?
14 - De Lacey family history
Felix, Safie's father is defended by the De Lacey family but in their battle to free her father from the Gallows their wealth is confiscated. The family was well to do but is brought to ruin.
15 - The Monster Learns to Read
Plutarch's "Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Roman's", Milton's "Paradise Lost", Goethe's "Sorrows of Werter", and Victor's notes found in his jacket
The monster questions his place in the world, he sees his reflection
The monster decides that in spite of his looks the family might accept him. He waits till only the blind father remains who warmly welcomes him but on seeing him, Felix beats him severely and the monster leaves without any resistance.
MUSIC
Paradise Lost
16 - The Monster Requests a Companion
As the monster tells his story, he catches up with Victor's in time
The De Lacey family leaves the cottage and it's burned down by the monster.
William (Victors brother) is murdered by the monster when he realizes who it is
The locket is placed in Justine's pocket sealing her fate
The monster requests that Victor create a mate for him
17 - The Ultimatum
The monster gives victor an ultimatum. Either make him a mate or he will destroy all that is good in Victor's life and make his heart desolate. In exchange, the monster tells him he will leave Europe for the wilderness of South America.
Victor has many doubts and goes into another depression.
18 - A Trip Down The Rhine and Return to Geneva
Victor returns to Geneva to fulfill his promise and make a mate for his monster
Victor recovers and tells his father he want's to catch up on science
Victor tells his father he will marry Elizabeth on his return and travel through Europe and eventually to London. He joins his friend Clerval.
They travel the Rhine - much Romantic imagery here
19 - A New Creation
Victor leaves Clerval who continues his tour of the Rhine
Victor reads the latest philosophers and wrestles with the implications of the plans for a new creation.
He goes to the Ornkey Islands so he can be isolates - his mental condition deteriorates
20 - The Refusal
Victor refuses to go any further fearing that his new creation might be a threat to the world. He destroys the new creation and the monster tells him he will be with him on his wedding night.
The monster disappears into the night.
Victor removes everything from the laboratory and cleans the remains planning to return to Clerval for a trip to India.
On his return from the Island Victor finds he is wanted for murder and is taken into custody.
21 - Clerval is Murdered and Victor Arested
The sight of his friends dead body causes Victor to become extremely I'll for 2 months. A nurse is provided who nurses him back to health in the prison.
His legal council is able to prove his innocence and presence on the island lab at the time of Clerval's murder.
Alphonse takes Victor home but he remains very ill. A brief visit is made to Paris.
22 - Victor marries Elizabeth
They go on their honeymoon and Victor plans on telling Elizabeth about the monster. He fears the threat of the monster expecting the monster to attack.
23 - The Death of Elizabeth
There is a storm (gothic symbol that something will happen). Victor wanders the halls looking for signs of the monster who finds his way to Elizabeth's room and kills her. Victor reaches her and the monster and even gets a shot off but the monster escapes unharmed.
Victor's father, Alphonse, overcome by shock over Elizabeth's death, dies
Victor goes to the local magistrate and tells him the story of his monster from it's creation and that it was the monster who killed his wife.
A few gothic elements here. 1st, there is communication of sorts between Victor and his creature who seems to always know where he is.
Victor vows to spend whatever time it takes to destroy the monster.
24 - The Final Chase
Victor is goaded by the monster's laugh as he visits the graves of his family. The monster's knowledge that Victor would be there is another gothic element. He pursues the monster and chases him out of Geneva and after boarding a ship on the Black Sea and then to Russia and the Arctic Circle
The monster finds a dog sled and Victor continues to pursue but the ice begins to crack.
The two are separated on two different pieces of ice which is where the letters at the beginning of the novel start. The monster want Victor to chase him. He keeps leaving notes. Without them Victor would not be able to pursue him. The arctic is a gothic element.
THE FINAL LETTERS
The end of the book is told from the perspective of Walton's letters. Victor also shows him letters of Felix and Safie to lend credence to his cautionary tale. The two enjoy much time together talking about literature and other things.
Victor is on the verge of death but Walton is also on his own quest to find a Northwest passage and that is failing.
Victor's health gets even worse and now the crew are almost ready to mutiny. Walton agrees to turn the ship around and return to England. Despite his condition, victor wants to continue to pursue the monster.
Victor dies but the monster makes his way on board looking for Victor. He tells Walton his side of the story but then leaves the ship continuing his now fruitless journey and disappears into the mist.
The monster in speaking to Walton alludes to Paradise lost and compares himself to a fallen angel.
MUSIC
Into The Mist
The Ascent
Monday, July 2, 2012
The Persistence of Memory
In 1931, Salvador Dali finished a painting titled "The Persistence of Memory" which featured a dream like landscape of clocks hanging from trees. What strikes me about this painting and why I have always liked it is that we often see time as something rigid and mechanical from the pendulum clock owing it's regularity to the laws of motion and gravity to the atomic clock, the nearly perfect updated version owing it's regularity to laws of quantum mechanics.
So to our music has changed with the advent of computers. Madonna introduced the dance crowd to the computer controlled artificial orchestra of drum machines and perfectly syncopated bass lines.
It was not so different in the Baroque period with the Basso Continuo or even the rhythmic motion of Beethoven.
I however prefer a less rigid notion if time. It seems that the tail wages the dog with computers. We live life at times on a mechanized grid of clocks and rigid lines. Gothic architecture is replaced by functional cartesian boxes complete with all but grid lines like a Star Trek holodeck.
And so, as a prelude to "Fire Giver", my latest album, I am looking to make the musical version of the Persistence of Memory to remove the grid lines and suggest a more fluid sense if musical motion. I welcome any ideas from readers.
So to our music has changed with the advent of computers. Madonna introduced the dance crowd to the computer controlled artificial orchestra of drum machines and perfectly syncopated bass lines.
It was not so different in the Baroque period with the Basso Continuo or even the rhythmic motion of Beethoven.
I however prefer a less rigid notion if time. It seems that the tail wages the dog with computers. We live life at times on a mechanized grid of clocks and rigid lines. Gothic architecture is replaced by functional cartesian boxes complete with all but grid lines like a Star Trek holodeck.
And so, as a prelude to "Fire Giver", my latest album, I am looking to make the musical version of the Persistence of Memory to remove the grid lines and suggest a more fluid sense if musical motion. I welcome any ideas from readers.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Second Thoughts
In many ways the title for this blog has several meanings. The 1st is that I am revising "Second Thoughts" for my "Fire Giver" album. This composition represents the thoughts of Victor Frankenstein after he creates his monster. The beating heart and heavy breath represent his horror after creating the monster which he flees from. This is the second meaning of the title.
The 3rd meaning is a bit of my own life seeping in here. I do work in a hospital often with the critically ill. I am not a doctor or nurse but I do see families torment themselves over ventilators when at times they only prolong the inevitable. Don't worry, I am no angel of mercy and I strongly oppose Euthanasia. I just see the limits of medical care.
Frankenstein (the book not the movie) is really an inquiry into the limits of science. It is not anti science but is a recognition that science has limits.
I am sure that many families after suffering for days sometimes with a loved on on a vent wonder if they have done the right thing thus the 3rd meaning, "Second Thoughts". Often love is in letting go.
The 3rd meaning is a bit of my own life seeping in here. I do work in a hospital often with the critically ill. I am not a doctor or nurse but I do see families torment themselves over ventilators when at times they only prolong the inevitable. Don't worry, I am no angel of mercy and I strongly oppose Euthanasia. I just see the limits of medical care.
Frankenstein (the book not the movie) is really an inquiry into the limits of science. It is not anti science but is a recognition that science has limits.
I am sure that many families after suffering for days sometimes with a loved on on a vent wonder if they have done the right thing thus the 3rd meaning, "Second Thoughts". Often love is in letting go.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Shape of Things Musical
The number of factors effecting the tone of a musical instrument is considerable. Of course, the knowledge of instrument making has grown over hundreds of years. However, what if we think in more fundamental terms. What objects can we find in our homes that can be used as instruments and more importantly what makes them musical?
I would argue that shape and material have the greatest impact of how "musical" an object might be.
For the moment however I ask you only to consider the following shapes:
Rods
Cylinders
Bars
Plates
It is interesting that these shapes are used in physical modeling synths such as Ableton Live's Corpus and Applied Acoustic Systems "Chromaphone". There also seem to be mathematical models for these shapes.
In my exploration of the acoustic properties of objects so far, I have found that objects that have these shapes have a strong series of harmonics which I would suggest makes them musical.
Just an aside. Most things made of glass seem to be musical. It's not a shape and I have no idea why. It's just an observation.
This is just a quick comment on what I hope to be a series of them as part of my "found instruments" project. I very much welcome comments and ideas fir the project. Let me know what you think.
I would argue that shape and material have the greatest impact of how "musical" an object might be.
For the moment however I ask you only to consider the following shapes:
Rods
Cylinders
Bars
Plates
It is interesting that these shapes are used in physical modeling synths such as Ableton Live's Corpus and Applied Acoustic Systems "Chromaphone". There also seem to be mathematical models for these shapes.
In my exploration of the acoustic properties of objects so far, I have found that objects that have these shapes have a strong series of harmonics which I would suggest makes them musical.
Just an aside. Most things made of glass seem to be musical. It's not a shape and I have no idea why. It's just an observation.
This is just a quick comment on what I hope to be a series of them as part of my "found instruments" project. I very much welcome comments and ideas fir the project. Let me know what you think.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Gothic As a Genre
Anyone who knows me well knows that I am Catholic as well as an electronic music composer. My recent project and future album "Fire Giver" is a musical exploration of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein - The New Promethius". As I prepared to render this gothic literature in musical form I not only read it but wrote some notes and did some research.
The book was written in the middle of a literary movement in England called the "Romantic" movement that in many ways was a counterculture to the industrial revolution. Frankenstein is really a philosophical argument that just because it can be done does not mean it should.
Unfortunately Hollywood turned the novel into a horror and science fiction movie complete with Tesla Coil. Frankenstein does not delight in his creation in the novel but runs from it. The creature literally is the walking dead, an abomination who pursues his creator by destroying all he loves and ultimately, weary of life itself, Victor Frankenstein dies of the pain of his earthly life denying his creature closure as he dies before the creature bursts into his room. The creature fades into the mist and ice of the North Pole denied his final act of vengeance.
So, this is what I wanted to bring to life. Many of the Gothic novels do not romanticize evil as the modern day twilight movies do but show it for what it is. Frankenstein does not have a happy ending. It does have a moral message that as a Catholic I find echoes the Church's own regarding science, technology and progress. The Church is certainly not anti technology or science but rather, believes that such activity can be good or evil. The assumption that all change is good is really what the romantics questioned as do I and as does the Catholic Church.
So, I realize that none of this has much to do with gothic music but I wanted to explain why I am using a gothic and romantic novel as the basis for my music.
I am personally not a fan of twilight and I think if those who like it read the gothic novel "Dracula" or studied some of the historical basis of Vladimir the Impaler they would find the truly gothic version much less sweet to their taste. Leave it to Hollywood to get it wrong again.
So if I refer to my work as gothic, it is because I want to remain faithful to Mary Shelley and the romantic movement.
The book was written in the middle of a literary movement in England called the "Romantic" movement that in many ways was a counterculture to the industrial revolution. Frankenstein is really a philosophical argument that just because it can be done does not mean it should.
Unfortunately Hollywood turned the novel into a horror and science fiction movie complete with Tesla Coil. Frankenstein does not delight in his creation in the novel but runs from it. The creature literally is the walking dead, an abomination who pursues his creator by destroying all he loves and ultimately, weary of life itself, Victor Frankenstein dies of the pain of his earthly life denying his creature closure as he dies before the creature bursts into his room. The creature fades into the mist and ice of the North Pole denied his final act of vengeance.
So, this is what I wanted to bring to life. Many of the Gothic novels do not romanticize evil as the modern day twilight movies do but show it for what it is. Frankenstein does not have a happy ending. It does have a moral message that as a Catholic I find echoes the Church's own regarding science, technology and progress. The Church is certainly not anti technology or science but rather, believes that such activity can be good or evil. The assumption that all change is good is really what the romantics questioned as do I and as does the Catholic Church.
So, I realize that none of this has much to do with gothic music but I wanted to explain why I am using a gothic and romantic novel as the basis for my music.
I am personally not a fan of twilight and I think if those who like it read the gothic novel "Dracula" or studied some of the historical basis of Vladimir the Impaler they would find the truly gothic version much less sweet to their taste. Leave it to Hollywood to get it wrong again.
So if I refer to my work as gothic, it is because I want to remain faithful to Mary Shelley and the romantic movement.
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