String sections

first thing last week, i found a string section recording on our NAS drive that i hadn't reviewed in ages. Cello, Violin & Viiola recorded in the kitchen (for the reflective qualities & refreshing facilities ,it also has the best acoustic double bass sound) a fourth violin was with us, but the jingle we were recording didn't need it or warrant it. All the ad agency had briefed was " something like unfinished sympathy crossed with life on mars , serious, moody plenty of space until the cryptinomicon creation of LOM middle section " the intensity of the copying perhaps over awed the need to experiment but with such little time to complete a finished mix, we hacked away and came up with a half decent mix. Pulling from the transcriptions "borderline" (madonna) the parallels between the substitute root notes, diminished and flat with chords of LOM complimented each other , but as someone once said 'life is not a bed of roses' and the final recording scratched around for a while until sinking to the bottom of the NAS.

From the session i remembered how string players make it look so easy, quoting right hand techniques without bothering to amend crib sheets or explain fully,

we didn't get the deal, or reimbursed for our rather frantic composing, our time or as the string players like to remind me at every chance they get & that i owe them a meal and full drinks at smolenskys (not my choice)

If the phone rang again, i would probably strip away the obvious steerage from Advertising agency & aim towards a mavishnu orchestra progressive fusion, syncopation, 5/4 bars (within reason) and provocative phrasing of Jan Hammer, Rick Laird et al's


One of the most intriguing debates regarding 'modern fusion' is the complete denial of airplay by most if not all radio stations. Freeform compositions, sketched figures, ideas left to develop and cause the album to go over budget, none of these are part of todays ."it kinda works" painting by numbers fashion of a loop from apple and tersh lyrics aimed towards sexualising a vegetable, Cartier jewlerry, Hudson river, Care facility or Hari Krishnar temple or insert anything here.