Fellow Composers

Back in February of this year I had the opportunity to participate in a young film composer discussion with my good friend Andrew Gerlicher (the host), Kristen Personius and James Everingham (also pals of mine), and the multi-talented composer and filmmaker George Streicher. Great fun for a guy like me. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to dig in to other like-minded musician's minds and discover their personal thoughts and approaches to the the world of modern film music. The job of a composer can often be quite isolating and so it can be strangely comforting finding other people who think and feel similarly about music and its creation.

When you have an hour to spare, check out the exchange! (Note: some colorful language).



In the wake of the recent shutdown of Vision Forum Ministries--resulting in the cancellation all future events including the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival--a new festival has arisen in San Antonio. The Christian Worldview Film Festival. One of the highlight events of this year's new festival was a short film scoring competition. What that meant was that Philip Telfer--the founder of the festival--provided a short film he had produced, thus far having no soundtrack. Any available composer (for a fee of 35 silver cartwheels) could sign up for the competition and subsequently receive a digital copy of the partially completed film, which he could score in any way he pleased--though any smart one would heed the direction of the minimal notes provided by the director. I had an available slot to fill in my schedule, signed up and a few weeks later mailed in my submission with a week to spare before the deadline. On the evening of March 15, at the awards ceremony of the CWFF they announced the winner. Though I didn't win, my friend and fellow member of the Rhapsodize Music Network Bradley Jamrozik did! And plus, I did make it as one of the six finalists of the competition, which is great. You can watch the short film with my score submission on the CWFF website if you like. http://www.christianworldviewfilmfestival.com/music-scoring-competition-daniel-white/

Also here is just the soundtrack:



Enjoy!

-Daniel

Hiatus, or not?

Where to begin?  I haven't been very active on this blog for many months.  Should I return and continue posting, or abandon this site to be lost in the crevices of the interwebs?

Lots has happened since my last visit here.  I scored yet another short film; revised the score to Gabriel Everson's short film Unmerited (which I originally composed in May of this year); joined the forces of seven other composers in producing a cinematic album of Christmas music; and begun collaboration with composer James Everingham of the UK.

So back in August of this year, up-and-coming director Michael Payne Jr. had posted on an online forum about needing a composer to work on his short film Jamie Douglas: A Scottish Martyr.  I messaged him, we talked about what he was thinking music-wise, and before I knew it I was composing full speed ahead on the score!  The film is a historical drama based in The Killing Time of Scotland (1600s) and, as the name implies, follows the life of a young martyr.  As you can imagine, the film provided a setting for some very dark, heavy music.  The trick, though, was not in creating a dark soundscape, but in using this darkness as a contrast to light and ultimate victory.

The film has not yet been released, but it should up on YouTube for free viewing pretty soon.  For now, you can listen to the soundtrack on my SoundCoud page (I've embedded it below) and even buy it on BandCamp!  (It's only $5.00).  https://composerdaniel.bandcamp.com/

For more details on the film and to see the trailer, visit http://www.scottishmartyr.com/

Moving on.

Rehashing old work is never fun, but after Gabriel Everson re-edited Unmerited, a revision of the score so it could fit the new edit was a must.  It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I did it.  The film is now available for public viewing online, so I have it embedded below.

Right after finishing up the final touches on Unmerited, I moved straight into making an orchestral arrangement of the traditional carol "Greensleeves" to be published in the cinematic Christmas album Exaltation: A Cinematic Christmas Collection.  This was a very exciting project to work on and was the first collaborative music project put together by composers exclusively from the Rhapsodize Music Network.  Every one of us had different skill sets and thus were able to contribute to the production of the album in different ways.  The album is now available for purchase on iTunes, CD Baby, Google Play, and pretty much any other place that sells music online.  The still time to get it before the holidays are over!  https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/exaltation-cinematic-christmas/id763593891

Last but definitely not least, I have been collaborating with composer James Everingham of Bristol, UK in producing a few tracks for his music licensing company.  My jobs have primarily been orchestration and programming (basically, making the orchestral parts of the music sound realistic).  So far, you can hear one of these tracks which he's published on his SoundCloud page:

Working with him has been great fun and I hope to collaborate more with him in the future!

Well, that about wraps it up!  I hope you've enjoyed these ramblings on my latest endeavors.  Heck, I might just have to keep up this little blog.

Cheers!

- Daniel

Forgiveness

It's been awhile, but things have been busy lately!   Which is very good.  On the 13th of May I headed down to Charleston, South Carolina to compose the score to a short drama film directed by Gabriel Everson.  Unfortunately, the film is yet to made available for public viewing, so I can't show it to you yet.  But I do have one track from the soundtrack online.  So you get a better idea of what the music is attempting to convey, this particular track is from a part of the film where a man is forgiving wrongs done to him by his own brother.  Dramatic.

Any thoughts?

Cheers!