February 2012
6 posts
The West Wing, "Shibboleth" AKA "There's an...
CJ: They sent me two turkeys. The more photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.
Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.
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My Take on Mulan
Jerry Goldsmith’s score for Mulan does a brilliant job of balancing her femininity with her obviously masculine badassery of, you know, defeating the Huns. It’s a tricky thing to do and a very interesting concept, so I wanted to try my hand at it, though through a different genre because, I mean, who among us mortals can even compare with Goldsmith?
Writing this piece has been one...
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WatchPad Yatra: A Green Odyssey, the documentary I’ve been working on for the past few months with some fantastic people, just released its first trailer! It looks so good - please check it out for yourself as well as the website.
The trailer also features some music from the film as well!
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Olympics 2012: The Stadium
Here comes another piece, now the second, that I’ve written by hand. I’m still excruciatingly slow at it, but I also think I’m making progress as far as efficiency goes.
The idea behind it is pretty embarrassingly simple - ever since I’d seen the opening for Star Trek Deep Space Nine, I’ve always wanted to write a piece that uses that interesting...
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This post comes a little late, since this article published a week ago, and an earlier version of it many months ago. But anyways, here is the final version of China Daily’s profile on me. It’s fitting for this to appear on Tumblr since that’s how the reporter Amanda and I first “met,” and over the topic of chicken fried steak no less.
Dear Amanda, thanks for all...
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WatchHere’s a cool side project I got to work on over the weekend - it’s a fake trailer for a fake remake of Bruce Lee’s Return of the Dragon, done as a submission for the Fake Film Festival in Vancouver.
Friends/actors/directors Osric Chau and Stanley Tsang did some amazing martial arts choreography and even trekked to the Great Wall for what I can only imagine must’ve been a...
January 2012
4 posts
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Artifacts
Instead of being meticulously planned and written out over a period of days, I wrote this in half a day (hurray for looming deadlines) at the computer and actually went in not having a single clue how I wanted the piece to turn out.
The idea for the piece really just spawned from the fact that I really wanted to write for gamelan - and that was the only thing I had planned. Everything else...
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Going Old School - The Fanfare
I’ve been worrying that my music hasn’t been great lately (if ever). Don’t worry, I’m not fishing for compliments or pity. I don’t think it’s been bad - I’m actually quite pleased with my stuff for what it is - but I’m also all too aware of the limitations of my technique and how I compose, which is at the computer.
So, I decided to change things up...
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Nuwa Dance Drama - It's finished!
Well folks, barring any additional revisions to the story or choreography, my involvement with the Beijing Dance Drama and Opera’s production of Nuwa ought to be considered complete and over. Still no news on the premiere date, but it should be soon.
Some thoughts and notes on the new pieces I got to compose during the last round of story revisions:
The Gods Duel
I definitely had...
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December 2011
5 posts
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Yunnan Charity Concert
These song arrangements for a benefit concert in Yunnan were the very first project I ever worked on for the Beijing Dance Drama and Opera, all the way back in February, during a brief 2.5 week trip, and I’ve finally received the DVD and CD!
This solo concert features “national first-class vocalist” 吴春燕 (Wu Chun Yan) singing a variety of old and well-known Chinese pieces but...
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What are the effing chances - someone please...
Saturday afternoon on the subway, a guy roughly my age sits down next to me. I’m playing with/trying to figure out my new phone, feeling thoroughly unhip, so I don’t notice when he starts talking on the phone in Chinese. What caught my attention was the random English words peppered throughout the conversation, in much the same manner as when I speak Chinese.
“Ahhh. Waiguoren...
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The Chinese Way of Getting Things Done
Bumping into other expats in this city, there are always eccentricities about China we can immediately bond over - the pollution (which recently maxed out all the air quality meters), crazy Beijing drivers, etc. I’ve discovered another quirk to add to this list is the Chinese way of getting things done. Most everyone I’ve met is astounded that things get done at all in China, but...
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Another Imitation Gone Wrong
Yesterday, I went and attended my first opera in China, and not only that, the one my friend and I picked, Xi Shi, was marketed as the first Western Chinese opera - that’s to say, it’s an opera purely produced in China - it’s sung in Chinese, about an old Chinese legend, and done completely in the Western opera tradition.
So how does this “landmark masterpiece”...
November 2011
20 posts
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Chinese Knot Great Wall
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Shanghai - The Bund and Music Conservatory
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Shanghai - Downtown!!!
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Shanghai - Yuyuan Gardens
The White Piece of Paper
Whenever I meet new people and get around to telling them I’m a composer, the reaction is usually, “That’s so exciting!” or “How interesting!” or “So cool!” or “I’m jealous!” And it’s true - I reap some unique rewards and satisfaction from my line of work, but there’s also the anxiety, and tumult, and fear. This quote...
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Last-minute to Shanghai
I recently got sent on a last-minute trip to Shanghai to attend a dress rehearsal for a show, Nutcracker Magic, and meet the producers and stage directors afterwards. By last-minute I mean I received roughly 16 hours notice on the trip and 3 hours notice on the actual time of my flight, which I almost missed!
(Picked up from the airport by a uniformed officer and feeling pretty civilian)
...
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“I was watching a television program before, with a kind of roving moderator who...”
– President Bartlet
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Cool Studio in the Middle of Nowhere
Aimlessly perusing the Beijinger looking for something to do on the weekend, I came across an event for a recording studio open house. Needless to say, at that point I had my weekend figured out.
When I say the studio is out in the middle of nowhere, let’s just say that none of my friends I talked to had heard of the Line 15 subway that you need to take to get there (“Don’t...
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Finally, A Visit to the Egg
I know, bad composer. I’ve totalled 5 months in Beijing and haven’t attended a concert at the National Center for Performing Arts (the Egg) until recently. On the program: a men’s military chorus and a girls choir.
I was skeptical at first, especially when the men’s chorus started off the program with some traditional Chinese songs, but the girls choir - they sang a...
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Old Song, New Orchestra
This 3+ year old piece (the original version) got placed on CBS a few months ago - for what I still don’t know, but it makes for a cool story. It’s a quasi-Christmas piece, really a Nutcracker imitation Jeff asked me to write for his Liquid Cinema - Family Adventure trailer music library. This also begs the question - how early is CBS starting Christmas this year?
The old version -...
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Leo: One in three?
C.J.: Yes.
Leo: He said one in three White House staffers are on drugs?
C.J.: Yes.
Leo: Where does he get these stats?
C.J.: Leo-
Leo: I mean where does he pull them from?
C.J.: Out of the clear blue sky, but that doesn’t matter!
Leo: [to Margaret] Is someone bringing me a tape on this?
Mandy: This isn’t happening to me.
Leo: Nothing’s happened, stay cool.
Sam: Is it possible for Peter Lillianfield to be a bigger jackass? You think if he tried hard, there’s room for him to be a slightly bigger horse's ass than he’s being right now?
C.J.: At some point you hit your head on the ceiling, don’t you?
Sam: I think there’s unexplored potential.
Josh: ‘Sup.
Mandy: Josh.
Josh: Five White House staffers in the room. I would like to say to the 1.6 of you who are stoned right now that it’s time to share.
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The Emperor's Summer Palace
As the name would suggest, this is where the ancient Chinese emperors would live and relax during the summers. It’s not so much a palace as it is a gigantic complex of palaces on a stunning landscape - on Longevity Hill and around Lake Kunming. The Chinese name for this place, Yiheyuan, literally translates to “Garden of Nurtured Harmony.” Something I doubt the English and French...
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Finally getting a peek at what the show'll look...
I was finally able to get my hands on a program for the Nuwa Dance Drama I worked on from Mr. Liao, and wow! My old boss, Jeff Rona, had mentioned to me before, “If you want decoration and packaging done right, do it in China,” and I completely agree.
This is also the first time I’ve seen anything as it relates to how the production will look. Composing for film, I’m...
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Bengali Dance
Well, this strange quasi-Indian piece came as part of a very rushed job. As always, the background details are fuzzy, but I think there’s a Chinese-produced dance performance that’s premiering in Bangladesh. For whatever reason the Bollywood piece the troupe was supposed to dance to couldn’t be used anymore (copyright issues?), but the choreography was already all set in place,...
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Farewell My Concubine - An Epic Tragedy
It’s the only Chinese film to have won the Cannes Palme d’Or, the highest prize at the festival, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Feature in 1993. Most of the time when I’m watching Chinese cinema or television, I’m rolling my eyes at the poor cinematography, music, storytelling, etc (see Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame or any...
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Sam: In 1787, there was a sizable block of delegates who were initially opposed to the Bill of Rights. This is what a member of the Georgia delegation had to say by way of opposition; 'If we list a set of rights, some fools in the future are going to claim that people are entitled only to those rights enumerated and no others.' So the Framers knew...
Harrison: Were you just calling me a fool, Mr. Seaborn?
Sam: I wasn't calling you a fool, sir. The brand new state of Georgia was.
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Weather Music That Doesn't Suck
Remember those days when “weather channel music” was the domain of smooth jazz and other innocuous fluff? Watching CNN International the other day, I can’t help but think about how far the “genre” has come. Whoever did this music is brilliant, and if he/she put out CDs, I’d want one!
There’s also a great branding strategy at work here. Instead of the...
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Lee - Dance, Martial Arts, and Drama
Oh boy, I’ve been wanting write about this score for a while, and now I finally can! I’d been itching to score something thematic, big, and percussive that could incorporate some ethnic and electronic elements. Lee is a film written and directed by Roland Wiryawan about a gay kung fu student who prefers to cross dress and dance when no one is looking. When he is discovered by...
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Quarrymen's Trail to the Ming Tombs
With an actual autumn coming to Beijing (as opposed to the fake ones we get in LA and Houston), this is the time to head out of the city for some hiking, set the camera on vivid, and partake in some leaf peeping (I like this latter term probably a bit too much).
This particular trail is two hours outside of Beijing, and as the name suggests, is the same trail ancient quarrymen stomped on...
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An Update on Pad Yatra
The film recently received an advance/test screening in Nepal, and much to the my amazement, my director, Wendy, told me that it received a ten minute standing ovation and that there’s now an entire mountain praying for the film’s next steps forward (npi).
And in what feels like a subtle compliment, His Holiness asked for some additional music in the film, so I’m back to work...
October 2011
19 posts
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Sam: You're asking me out on a date.
Mallory: No, I'm asking you to accompany me to see an internationally renowned opera company perform a work indigenous to its culture.
Sam: Right, and in what way will it distinguish itself from a date?
Mallory: There will be, under no circumstances, sex for you at the end of the evening.
Sam: Right.
Mallory: So what do you say?
Sam: Well, like most people I'm an absolute nut for Chinese opera. The Chinese being known the world over for their soaring and romantic melodies, and what with your guarantee that there won’t be sex, I don’t see how I could say no.
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Solana (aka Beijing's Grove)
From the collage of postmodern architecture, all the dining and shopping one could want, a live performance stage, and a movie theater, this is the Grove. It even has a musical fountain! Except this is not the Grove, it’s the Grove China-sized: Solana!
I wound up here with a couple of friends checking out an expat services expo another friend had suggested. There was something like...
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Invaders from Around the World
I am two degrees of separation removed from a Rugrat! Here’s a cute little project narrated by Cheryl Chase that I somehow managed to squeeze in a while back in Beijing.
It’s an educational video on biodiversity for the USC Sea Grant, and animator George Zaleski was referred to me by a friend. Because I was in Beijing at the time, we actually never met. That notwithstanding, I had a...
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Korea - Their Mountains Kick My Ass
My last full day in Korea, Andrew took me to a nearby mountain trail to go hiking. After examining the park map thoroughly, we chose what appeared to be a reasonably easy trail…but it really wasn’t. Scale of 1-5, I’d call it a 4 (if anyone’s gone up Mt. Baldy in LA, I’d call that a 5 - still not sure how I made it up there…).
If the trail wasn’t...
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The Beijing Film Academy - or China's USC SCA
A film director/producer friend of mine offered me a tour of the Beijing Film Academy, which up until now, despite this being my third trip to Beijing, I had never stepped foot on. It was really quite exciting walking around campus, seeing random film crews scattered throughout, and thinking, “They’re just like people I already know!”
(Dear George Lucas, give SCA some...
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Korea - the East China Sea
I forget what this beach is called unfortunately (bad tourist! bad!), but it’s quite beautiful with a slight hint of green. It’s also really nice that, other than the annual mud festival, few tourists have reason to go to Boryeong, which means you pretty much have the scenery all to yourself, save for a few locals.
It also means restaurants randomly close early when they send...
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Tonight's the Night
This film wins the award for bending me most out of my comfort zone. The project is very much a blast from the past - I spent two months on it last year, we recorded in early December, but the film itself only recently got completely finished - mixes, color correction, conversions and all. It’s about a young girl who enlists in the army and is about to be deployed into combat and who wants...
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Korea - Boryeong Odds and Ends
More photos from Korea! Here’s some random scenery from Andrew’s city of Boryeong. It’s a fairly small and simple rice-growing city quite a ways from Seoul.
He was trapped, but we gave him a hand.
Lots. Of. Rice.
I didn’t know this is what it looks like before you eat it.
Some Korean restaurants don’t believe in chairs. I endorse this.
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WatchMusic and a cameo! Here’s a short trailer piece I got to do for a new production company, Stage5, and their dangerously talented director, CC. It was a quick out-of-the-blue-last-minute job that had to be done right before flying out of LA, and in fact, because of the scheduling, the music was completed before the script even reached its second draft. Anyways, I got a cool picture out of...
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