You send us your score in most any format, and we produce a musically nuanced, technically accurate recording. You can decide what sort of acoustic space you’d like your recording to be made in. You can also tell us how much reverberation, where the instruments should appear to be located on the virtual stage, and so forth. Or you can trust our judgment. You can be as involved as you want to be.

Revisions

One round of revision is included with your recording. This gives you the opportunity to revise any aspect of the recording, including changing anything originally written in your score. We don’t count fixing errors or omissions on our part … those we will always fix free of charge.

Lifetime Rewrites

We keep your score on file forever. If you decide later that you want to completely re-write that horn part, we can quickly and easily make the changes and “print” you a new recording for far less than starting from scratch.

Parts and Score Printing

If you need a set of parts from your score, we’ll print them for you, along with your score, if needed. Printing can be done on a wide variety of papers and sizes. We can also deliver PDF files that you can print yourself whenever you need them.

No pre-existing score?

Let’s say, for example, your original composition existed only in a MIDI version. We can turn that file into a professional, musically accurate score (in C or transposing), produced to your specifications, or conforming to standard practice for concert performance, film scoring, musical theater, etc. We can deliver you a printed, bound copy, PDF files, or notation program files (Sibelius or Finale).

Request an Estimate

We performed Jeremy’s “Animated Watercolor” at Brandeis University in October.

Animated Watercolor

About the music

Animated Watercolor is inspired by a particular painting of Kandinsky which I find quite fantastic. While it appears to have a few different names depending on the source, the one that appears most frequently, and the one I personally like the best, is Bustling Aquarelle which translates to Animated Watercolor. It is the goal of my piece to bring to life the elements of Kandinsky’s painting musically via rhythmic energy, distinct musical lines, and colorful orchestration.

Of all visual artists I am familiar with Wassily Kandinsky has mad the most significant impression upon me. While Kandinsky has a number of stylistic periods, it is his abstract works, especially the “Compositions”, that greatly catch my attention. I have always been quite fond of brilliant, bold colors and sharp, rigid lines, both of which occur frequently in his works. For whatever reason, when I am stuck writing a piece, Kandinsky aids me in generating motives, melodies, and harmonies for my ear; often I obtain more ideas than I can deal with.

From JeremySpindler.com

“Jeremy Spindler, born 1979, currently resides in Boston, MA where he is the Irving Fine Music Fellow and a Ph.D. candidate in music composition at Brandeis University. A former trumpet player, Jeremy has studied composition with Martin Boykan, Eric Chasalow, David Rakowski and Ladislav Kubik. His focus is primarily on chamber music; however he has an ever growing interest in electronic media and music for large ensembles.”

Performed live at Brandeis University, October 4, 2009, Paul Henry Smith, conductor

Beethoven, Symphony No. 2 in D, III – Scherzo

The Fauxharmonic Orchestra recently recorded Ricci’s “Chamber Symphony” Here is the second movement:

“Lulin”

James Ricci was born in New York City in 1954. He began his career as an all-around musician, studying with jazz guitarist Steve Khan, and performing in a wide variety of musical styles from atonal free-form jazz to psychedelic rock. This eclecticism spurred a wider interest in the multifaceted world of contemporary music – fired by the crosscurrents and experimentation of the 1960’s and 70’s era avant garde. [from JamesRicci.com]

After his initial training at Juilliard in 1972, Ricci moved to Boston and attended the Berklee College of Music where he obtained a degree in music composition (B.M.1976). Further studies and advanced degrees followed at the New England Conservatory (M.M. 1980 with distinction) and at Brandeis University (M.F.A. 1986, Ph.D. ABD).

We performed Edgard Varèse’s “Ionisation” – the first percussion ensemble piece in Western art music – live at Brandeis University on October 4, 2009.

Ionisation, for percussion ensemble

Special thanks to Jay Bacal for permission to use his digital orchestra arrangement.

The Fauxharmonic Orchestra presented its second concert in the series of all nine Beethoven symphonies.

October 4, 2009, 3:00 pm
Brandeis University
Slosberg Music Center
415 South Street, Waltham, MA

Program

BEETHOVEN • Symphony No. 2 in D, op. 36
FAURÉ • Nocturne, op. 57
WEBERN • Symphony, op. 21
SPINDLER • Animated Watercolor – premiere
GENTRY • A Piece for Several Instruments (or a futile attempt to explain the magical powers of nothingness) – premiere
VARÈSE • Ionisation
UEMATSU • Liberi Fatali, from Final Fantasy 8

The Fauxharmonic Orchestra will present classics of orchestral music with music from the video game Final Fantasy 8, as well as two new student works.  The program will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D and music by Jeremy Spindler and Christian Gentry, both Ph.D. candidates in composition at Brandeis University.  The performance of Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony is part of a year-long series presenting all nine Beethoven symphonies — a worldwide musical first.  Also on the program are “Ionisation” by Varese, “Symphony” by Webern, and Glinka’s “Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture.”

Mr. Smith takes the digital orchestra out of the studio and into the concert hall to perform Beethoven’s Complete Symphonies.Performing these cornerstones of the symphonic repertoire in concert lets the audience judge whether a digital orchestra can be as expressive and moving as a traditional acoustic orchestra.

“There is no question that the music I’m playing is a masterpiece.  It’s by Beethoven, after all,” Smith says.  “So, what’s left to the audience to decide is whether my performance is any good.  If our first concert is any indication of what’s to come, people are going to be stunned.”

Technology is Not Enough – Musicianship is Key

Smith has taken the Nintendo Wii far beyond off-the-shelf video gaming.  By integrating game controllers into a computerized system with over three million orchestral sounds at the ready, he has created his own musical instrument – the Fauxharmonic Orchestra – with the flexibility and power to play nearly any orchestral music expressively and with the real-time responsiveness to acoustics and timing that great music demands.

But Smith is neither an inventor nor a programmer.  He simply uses store-bought components, coupled with extensive musical training to produce a digital orchestra instrument many recognize as amazing.   “Could just anyone do this? I don’t think so. Anyone can walk into a store and buy a Steinway, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to play it like Horowitz.  Musical ability is more important than technical ability,” explains Smith.

Even so, the quality of the tools is important.  That’s why Smith is using Bang & Olufsen’s acclaimed BeoLab 5 speaker system and the best orchestral sample library (collection of orchestral sounds) ever created, the Vienna Symphonic Library.

“Wii controllers are cheap toys to the rest of the world, but to me they are the highly reliable, mass produced ‘bow’ for my string sections.  And the fact that they cost so little is just a nice bonus,” says Smith.

“The really important technology for this concert is the loudspeakers.  The system that converts the digital information into sound in a real acoustic space has to be able to handle the demands of the music.  It has to be as good a musical instrument as the acoustic instruments whose sounds I’ll be playing.  That’s why I’m thrilled to be using Bang & Olufsen’s BeoLab 5 speakers.  You don’t hear the speakers when you listen to these, you just hear the music.”

Bang & Olufsen, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-end audio and video equipment, has generously agreed to supply Paul Henry Smith and the Fauxharmonic Orchestra with their BeoLab 5 loudspeaker system. Picked by Time Magazine as one of 2003’s coolest inventions, the BeoLab 5 system will be the “instruments” of the Fauxharmonic Orchestra.  The BeoLab 5’s adaptive Bass Control system, coupled with Acoustic Lens Technology, ensures optimum sound experience regardless of the position of the loudspeaker.

Get Updates

Sign up to get updates about future concerts.

Second movement, andante cantabile con moto, from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21
Conducted by Paul Henry Smith. Recorded live, in concert, May 20, 2009.

Recorded live, in concert, on May 20, 2009.

Third movement, menuetto: allegro molto e vivace, from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21
Conducted by Paul Henry Smith. Recorded live, in concert,  May 20, 2009.

]]> http://www.fauxharmonic.com/2009/06/12/beethoven-symphony-no-1-in-c-op-21-iii-menuetto-allegro-molto-e-vivace/feed/ 0