News | New Festival for The Visitation

Just received word that The Visitation has been accepted to the Park City Film Music Festival. The seven-day event takes place in the very same location as Sundance in the first week of May. I am really happy that this picture continues to make its way around to festivals, not just for me, but for everyone involved in the production. All of us believe in the quality of this film and want to see it succeed. As of right now I am unsure of my plans to attend the festival, but I will certainly keep you posted.

Once again here is the full soundtrack of The Visitation, coming to you from soundcloud:

  The Visitation by Dave Volpe

Recording in Arizona

  To True Love's Eyes by Dave Volpe


Today I recorded my commissioned choral work at a studio in Arizona. It was an evening of lessons, revelations, and serious music-making. Upon starting the session I began to realize that my seemingly straightforward choral piece was in fact rather difficult. On paper it looks totally reasonable, but when it comes time to actually assemble the harmonies and transitions, it is another beast entirely. Luckily the choir was in the hands of my dear friend Rob, who was able to mold their performance into something truly amazing.

The lesson I (re) learned today is that recording a choir, particularly in a studio space, is really tricky. There is no wiggle room for tuning and nuance - every detail is exposed. It can be frustrating, but when you have a group as good as this, it's very doable.

My revelation came at around 11pm when we were well into the editing/mixing process. Rob was at the computer molding all of the audio, while my travel companion and always supportive friend Sherri Chung was standing by with all of the notes she had taken on all the different takes and bits of music we had recorded. I began to swell with love and appreciation when I realized how unbelievably lucky I am to be surrounded by people like Rob and like Sherri who, without hesitation, rally to help me make this happen. This is precisely how teams are formed. I can't wait until we are sitting together at the Sony recording stage with a huge budget being paid to score a big feature film.

This day was definitely one for the record books. Sherri and I left at 7am, got to Arizona at 2, recorded from 730-930, mixed till 2am, then got on the road and got back to Los Angeles at 930 so I could take care of other pressing work. Four days later I'm still recovering. Worth it? Absolutely.

Rob in hour two of editing

An Amazing Series for An Amazing Composer

For the two years I've been in Los Angeles I've had the tremendous pleasure of experiencing The Jerry Goldsmith Project, a series of concerts paying tribute to the legendary composer. Hosted by Jon Burlingame (one of my professors from USC) and featuring David Newman with the American Youth Symphony. Today was the last installment in the three year series. Being not overly familiar with Goldsmith's work, I found the concerts both enjoyable and informative. This year I got to attend the pre-concert symposium, which consisted of a panel of Jerry's closest collaborators including his agent Richard Kraft, music editor Kenny Hall, and directors Joe Dante (Gremlins) and David Anspaugh (Rudy). Best part is that all of it is free and I even got to attend a lovely dinner in between. I think my favorite part about this evening is the schmoozing one can do - I saw so many people I knew. Always a good thing.

You can read more about the event in this article.

News | Projects Abound

One of the things I love about being a film composer is the diversity of the challenges you are presented with every new project. Today I met with a producer from USC who is making a short film entitled "Intersection," which tells a story about the strained relationship between a father and a son. We come to find out that the father is a drag queen. The son, who doesn't know, discovers the truth in a very brutal, yet poignant moment. My job is to write a night club-worthy song for the father to sing in his drag show which will play through a montage and into him singing on stage. The recording will take place on April 1st at USC's Spielberg Scoring stage. Look for a post of the finish product. 

I also received word this week that I'll be doing an arrangement for the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, one of the country's largest men's choral ensembles. They need me to do a medley of two songs: "Running Up that Hill", written by Kate Bush recorded by Placebo, and "Live to Tell" by Madonna. The group does very thoughtful and narrative programs; my two songs will be at the end of a tribute to the over 200 members that were lost to AIDS in the 1980s. This also is due by April 1 so it can be rehearsed for their summer concert, which I believe will happen sometime in June. I of course will post info as I learn it. 

Both of these projects along with the completion and recording of my choral piece and the collection of pieces for contrabass and harp will make March 2011 the most productive month I've had in recent memory. Stay tuned for updates and new music. 

Commission Complete

On January 10, 2010, I posted a blog entry detailing a commission I received from a man from northern California who had me set a sonnet he wrote for his anniversary. Today I am thrilled to report that I have completed it. I confess this was quite a challenge for me. This sonnet was particularly tough because I found its rhythm to not be innately musical, rather I really had to make up and force out what I felt to be an appropriate rhythm and phrasing. For me, choral music is about harmony even more so than melody so I needed to find the appropriate harmonic language for the piece to live in. I wrote the opening three times before I landed in a harmonic palette that I liked. In terms of form, some composers are planners in that they like to map out their structure before they write anything. I like to allow the piece to develop as it goes. Sometimes I'll have ideas for certain spots that I will write down and then work to arrive there, but in general the piece is being birthed measure by measure, phrase by phrase. With this text I felt strongly that we're being taken somewhere, so I didn't feel compelled to keep any kind of song structure, that is a strict return to opening material. The music, like the text, finishes somewhere different from where it starts, though I did make it a point to use the opening phrase ("to true love") in its original key at the end of the piece. I felt that a harkening onto the title/premise would be important in rounding the piece out and giving us closure, but I vary the harmony, melody, and texture up until the very end. 

The most exciting part about this is that the piece will be recorded with a choir in Arizona on March 22. My dear friend Rob Gardner is helping me out by assembling a group of 12 professionals who I know will do great justice to the work. Be sure to check back here then as I will most certainly be posting the recording.