Gareth in Japan // Los Angeles

Here are some pictures of me 'in action' (or not, in the first two pictures). The picture above was taken just before my session started.

Thanks to engineer Andrew Garver and composer Marc Jovani (and his father!) for taking the pictures!

This is me looking pensive on the podium and deciding what to rehearse next.

And I guess this is me conducting, because what else would it be....!

My next recording is this Saturday, for a student film. In fact, I have a recording every Saturday for the next five weeks. That's a lot of music to write and prepare, speaking of which, I'd better get back to it!!!

If you're reading this from eMail or Facebook, please click here to get to the blog itself so you can listen to the music.

On Saturday, we had a recording session for woodwind and brass instruments, with piano and percussion.

The lineup was: 3 Flutes, 3 Oboes, 3 Clarinets, 3 Bassoons, 4 French Horns, 3 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Piano, and 1 Percussionist.

Quite a lineup, and quite a small room to fit us all into!

The session was recorded at the Spielberg Scoring Stage, which is USC's main recording studio for film music.

Yes.... a very exciting building on the outside..............!

I'm sorry I do not have pictures of me in action, or anything from inside the building, they will be coming when we have the next session (unless someone else took some pictures from this one!). Anyway, I can say that I was there, conducted the troops who were almost entirely USC students, and they produced a wonderful recording which I can use on my demo reel.

Why did I write a piece called 'Road To Bunnyville'? To be honest, I just wanted to write something upbeat, happy, jolly, etc..., and as soon as I started writing the main melody for this piece, that image you see at the top is what came into my head. It's been a very long time since reading any of the Beatrix Potter stories, but they do stick.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy listening to the piece as much as I enjoyed composing and recording it. Thanks to everyone involved in this recording, especially the players and the people behind-the-scenes who make it possible for us to do just go up and conduct and get a good recording.





*Picture from Beatrix Potter's Tale Of Benjamin Bunny
** There are still a few tweaks to be made on this recording, but this mix is most definitely 'blog-worthy'.

N.B. You will need to click here if you received this blog update by eMail or in Facebook to experience it as it was intended.

So, last week we had to write a 'seamless loop' for a video game (the picture above is from the Xbox 360 console) of our choosing - in other words, write anything you want. A seamless loop is a piece of music where the track (usually between 1 and 3 minutes long) plays over and over again without you noticing an obvious start point or finish point. The difficult part of this assignment is getting the track to loop convincingly and remain interesting at the same time AND keeping the track within the confines of a video game situation.

My first effort, heard below, looped fine, but the music was - so I was told - too much for a video game. Basically, the first half is a bit like a 'pre-battle' theme and then all of a sudden we're in a battle. Also, the music is a little too overloud, but what the heck... I had some fun with it. It loops at around the 57 second mark.




The above picture is what the track looked like on my computer.

Anyway, in class, I was told I'd basically written too much music. The loop itself was pretty cool, but in a situation where I'd be working for a video game director, I'd probably be told...

"There are two themes in there, go and make two tracks out of that material."

So...I did, and yes, the results turned out much better.

The first track is based on the first half of the first effort. It's more like a 'menu music' track, as in the sort of music that might be heard when the player puts in the game for the first time. It loops at the 57 second mark.



The second track is based on the second half of the first effort. This is now without question a battle track. Again, it loops at the 57 second mark.



I guess what this shows, is that in many cases, it pays more to write less. Instead of one minute of music, I now have three minutes of music, and the second two minutes of music took me about 30 minutes to put together....

Comments as always - welcomed and appreciated.

Last week, one of our tasks was to compose music for a clip from Tom & Jerry. When we first got this assignment, my first thoughts were "Oh ....$"£^!. This is going to be hard."

Anyway, it got to the point where the deadline was approaching and I made a start on it. In a weird and bizarre twist, I decided to do all the writing by hand for this music. I also didn't use a piano. Those of you that know me, know that 99% of the time, I'm always using the computer to put in the actual notes. This time, it was good old pencil and paper.

I had never done this before for a piece this long, and a piece this difficult.

If you're wondering why there is a computer on the table, that was used purely for referring to the video, nothing more.

Also - note the beer can on the right hand side of the screen. ;)

Anyway, so eventually I got around to finishing, and after about 7 hours of actual work, I had written 14 pages (105 bars) of music for a reasonable sized orchestra. Writing by hand actually gave me a fresh perspective on things and it was much easier than I thought.

We have all this great technology that allows us to do so many great things, but I think if I'd done this into the computer directly, I don't think it would have come out as well as it did. It was only when I'd finished the score, that I started using the computer to record the notes.

My version is nowhere near perfect (nobody's was!). In class today, our teacher, who has been doing this for a long time, pretty much slaughtered all of us. But I think the point of the exercise was to show that:

1) It's possible to write in styles that you'd never even considered.
2) It's not as difficult as it seems to sync up music to the on-screen action.

In addition, what I learnt from this activity, was that I can write music extremely fast by hand, and that my handwriting is neater than I thought! The process that I used to write the music for this Tom and Jerry clip was so alien to anything I'd done before, but it was actually extremely liberating.

By the time I'm done here at USC, this won't go down as one of my 'best' works, but given the completely new approach, which I'm certain I will repeat again, it may turn out to be one of the most important.

And finally - here is the video. The first half is OK, but it's really from about 0:44 where I really start to grasp the idea of what it is I'm supposed to be doing. My critique for this was basically that I was writing too much, and trying to be a little too clever. Sometimes less is more.

See what you think and let me know via the comments!

Click here for the link to the video - or just watch below.

Tonight, I was lucky enough to have tickets for John Williams' annual visit to the Hollywood Bowl, where a selection of his music is played throughout the evening. The Hollywood Bowl is a spectacular outdoor venue seating just under 18,000 people. It was probably just a coincidence, but on this glorious evening, there was also a full moon, clear sky, cool temperatures. A perfect evening to listen to one of the 'godfathers' of film music as we know it.

In summary, it's one thing to hear John Williams' music in the movies, but it is quite another hearing it live and played by the LA Philharmonic. If you ever had the chance, do try and go to see him live, and if not... then slip in one of his soundtracks, and enjoy his work.

I've been meaning to put these up for a week now, but have only just found the time to do so. Two weeks ago on Monday night, I went to the Los Angeles Dodgers stadium to see a baseball game though. I can probably say that it was - in terms of the view - probably the best stadium I've ever been to, surpassing even the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The tickets I got cost $30, and considering the vantage point, I thought that was a pretty good deal!
However, one of the problems in Los Angeles is the traffic, and this meant that we didn't arrive until the third inning. This was further exacerbated by the terrible terrible infrastructure in and around the stadium, which just leads to ultimate confusion, tedium, and extremely long waiting times. It's a shame because the stadium is in a beautiful location, but is let down with poor transport connectivity.
Onto the game then, and it was quite an exciting and close game. The Dodgers were playing the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams are top of the division in their respective leagues. However, it was Cardinals superstar Albert Pujols who won the day for his team, with a towering home run to left field. The Cardinals held on to edge out the Dodgers 3-2, but most of the fans had gone home well before the end of the game to beat.... yes, the traffic.
And the traffic, not really well represented in this photo, is exactly what greeted us at the end of the 9th inning. About 30 minutes to get inside the stadium, and about 15-20 to get out. The LA metro expansion cannot come soon enough!!! LA has a major problem with public transport, because people aren't using it, they are all using cars. This means that there is less money to spend on public transport and the local government can't improve the transport until more people use it. But...more people won't use it unless there is an improvement in the service.

A vicious cycle! But still, I've managed to get by without a car for one month. Let's see how far I can go!

So, as I'm sure you've heard on the news, there is a huge wildfire that is spreading across the area North of Los Angeles. The pictures in this blog update are both taken from the balcony on the 2nd floor of our house. The cloud of smoke (yes, smoke, not a real cloud) is one thing, as seen above, but the nighttime view is perhaps more impressive. To put it in perspective, these photos are taken from 20 miles away!!!


I cannot imagine what it must be like for the people who live there, but I'm sure the LA Fire Department is doing everything they can to help. It's quite alarming when you see the hills on which the Hollywood sign is placed, in flames....

So... whilst the weather is hot and dry here, which is great, it does have its own risks.

In Japan, it would be floods and landslides because of typhoons (as well as earthquakes) - in LA, it is wildfires and earthquakes. What is it about me that likes moving to all these disaster prone places?!?!!

Here is the first of two trailers I completed some time ago for two different clients. This first trailer is for a crazy British action movie called 'The Tournament' - which looks very cool. My music is featured for the last minute or so of the trailer.



The second trailer - "Three Miles North Of Molkom" features my music for about the first 50 seconds. It looks like a very odd documentary but at least it was a chance to write some new music in a different style as opposed to the heavy action music that I've been doing for a long time.

So... the above video is my first assignment for the SMPTV course. (Please try and watch it in High Definition at Youtube).

It seems hard to believe that just over a week ago I was in Japan, getting ready to leave, and reflecting on 3 years of work.

Hello all. Here is a teaser trailer for a video game that I'm working on. Either watch it here or click the Youtube logo to watch it at Youtube.

It's still VERY early days, so this trailer is meant to be deliberately ambiguous.

Anyway, I hope you like the trailer, and of course the music ;)

Best viewed in HD.

So today, I had to go to school at 8 a.m. For what it's worth, it is exceptionally rare that I arrive at school at 8 a.m these days!!! (My contract states that I start work at 8.30 a.m). Anyway, I was told that the principal would be giving me something, I had no idea what it was, and I thought I might be in trouble at first!

Anyhow, I was presented with the document that you can see above. This style of document is what is usually given out to students when they graduate, or employees who reach milestones in their working lives.

The basic gist of the document is for the Tochigi Board of Education to show its appreciation for my work. I can't translate it word for word perfectly, but I can get pretty close.

From right to left:

"Gareth Coker

"You have worked in Tochigi-ken for 3 years as an Assistant Language Teacher. During your time here you have worked hard in teaching language and internationalisation, and have thus helped to improve the working relationship between Japan and the UK.

Heisei 21st year (current era in Japan) , 1st July.
Tochigi Board of Education.
THE BOSS (I can't read his name/translate the kanji)."

That might not be perfect, but it's pretty close. I was not expecting this, so it was nice to receive it. I'm not sure if I'll be receiving something/anything from Utsunomiya High School directly. I will no doubt find out at the closing ceremony which is.... 3 weeks today!

This is a quick post to inform you of a documentary that I was directed to by a friend recently. It is phenomenal. The photography rivals that of any BBC nature series, and in some places is simply overwhelming. The narration is a little bit preachy in parts, but I can forgive that for the quality of the documentary as a whole. In addition, the music is brilliant and features performances from many parts of the world.

The documentary - simply called 'Home' - is free to view on Youtube. It will be 93 minutes of your life extremely well spent. Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

Enjoy!

The famous stepping stones at Heian Shrine in Kyoto. I just love it here!


This place first came to my attention when I saw Scarlett Johansson walking across them in the movie Lost In Translation. It took me a while to get here, but I was able to last year, and once again this year before I leave in August.

The Heian Shrine is one of the most tourist-crowded places in Kyoto, but on this day, we were increidbly lucky, and basically had the whole shrine to ourselves! This made a fantastic opportunity for some quick photos with no-one else on the stepping stones, quite a rarity.

Do visit if you have the chance!

Here are some pictures from Kenroku-en. A wonderful and beautiful garden located in Kanazawa City, in Ishikawa-ken.

Enjoy!

Hello everyone, my website has undergone a significant facelift - so please check it out.

http://www.gareth-coker.net/

Also, there are 5 new tracks on there, with more coming very soon.

And an early Happy Valentine's Day!

**Click the arrow in the bottom right and then 'HQ' to view the video in High Quality**

Here is the first demonstration trailer for the video game I am working on called Lightspire : Fortune’s Web. The project is at VERY early stages of development, but already is showing signs of huge promise. The developer is Lukewarm Media, and currently I am serving as Director of Audio on this project. As for this trailer, I composed the music for it, and an associate of mine produced the sound FX.

There will not be much news on this title for a few more months, but when we have more information I will post it here on this blog.

The game itself is a fantasy-action role-playing game, powered by Crytek’s CryEngine 2. We hope to release the game within the next 3 years, but we can’t honestly give an accurate timeframe.

Enjoy the video!

So, above is a view of Shirakawagoe. This is a part of Japan where section of the movie ‘Last Samurai’ was filmed. It’s a very old village which has been largely untouched by the modernisation of Japan, and still has a highly active community. How they can survive the cold is beyond me!

Above is a typical house that you might find in Shirakawagoe. Similar to the houses in the previous post, but a lot smaller/compact. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live here in the winter. Japan’s climate varies greatly, with its summers being tropical, and its winters feeling like the arctic.

However, given the secluded nature of this place, it would probably be wonderful to live here for a short period of time. Totally detached from pretty much all civilization.

Of course, a place like this has to be self-sufficient to a point, and above is one of the many ricefields that are located in this village.

Shirakawagoe is one of the more famous villages of this kind in Japan, but villages like this exist across the nation, and are a great reminder of a proud past. Places like these show how far Japan have come in a relatively short space of time, but what is more important, is that despite its fast modernisation, Japan has managed to maintain and keep communites like this alive.