Visuals for Classical Music

[benhanbury]

I'm trying to get a gig in the near future doing visuals for an orchestra playing classical music, the only examples I've ever seen of this being done is here:

http://www.juanrayos.com/camara2/camara2.html

Has anyone had any experience doing this? Would be interested to find out what works and what doesn't?

[Bokonon]

I've done stuff for a band which had an accordian player, opera singer, violinist and a laptop - not classical, but had significant classical elements. I just worked with the music in the way I normally do I suppose, listened to it lots before hand, took from it ideas then described them in video.

[ASMD]

...VJ Battle anyone?

Preperation is everything - will you be performing with a string quartet or a full-on Wagnerian Orchestra?

You can't go wrong with lots of camera feeds - if you don't have the luxury of camera ops then try static cameras on music stands or the conductor. Use your mixer to monochrome/sepia the feeds and add a slight strobe for a b+w film effect.

In terms of content I find gritty black and white (performers, statues, old buildings etc) overlayed with gentle swirling colours is very crowd pleasing.

[Anyone]

try videogeist

[deepvisual]

video battle..
there were more people in the string quartet than there were in the audience, but those who were there, may remember my naked musician silhoettes..

[SteveG]

I remember a funny wee man with a balding head silhoette....still makes me laugh. It's one of the few good things that came out of that gig. I heard you had a load of tranny's for the film shoot G :gag:

[deepvisual]

brazilan tranvestites are best.
they'll load the truck and give you a blow job

[SteveG]

:Smoking:

[benhanbury]

thanks for the response everyone, the videogeist stuff looked interesting, also interested in the remark about "black and white (performers, statues, old buildings etc) overlayed with gentle swirling colours is very crowd pleasing" ...

I guess I'm finding it interesting to think about as I suppose alot of the fast paced stuff used in clubs would be completely out of place here?

[deepvisual]

you have to ask yourself...
what do I see in my mind when I listen?
just depends what it is..
beethovens 5th or 6th or 9th??
every piece is different.

just try and balance your imagination with what you can achieve within the limits of your technology

just like horror movies, the less you show, the more the imagination fills in the gaps.
far better to suggest something than to show it and burst the bubble.

[sleepytom]

also bear in mind that many classical pieces are representations of stories or narratives in themselves - research the piece in question and find out what it was written for and the ideas encompassed by the music.

[hookturn]

brazilan tranvestites are best.
they'll load the truck and give you a blow job

LMFAO.
Not speaking from experience are ya DV?

[deepvisual]

did a gig at a tranny club on the reeperbahn in hamburg for david bowie.
the 'girls' were turning tricks in the loading bay while we were loading in.
they were far prettier than any of the real girls...
isn't life strange.

[many2]

also bear in mind that many classical pieces are representations of stories or narratives in themselves - research the piece in question and find out what it was written for and the ideas encompassed by the music.

That is very true :)

When I did the video for the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles the music was the "symphonie fantastique" from Berlioz and there were treasure of information about what it was about and what it was inspired from. This has been used as a basis on which we built the visual content.

[yogyog]

I'm trying to get a gig in the near future doing visuals for an orchestra playing classical music, the only examples I've ever seen of this being done is here:

What about Fantasia?

Or on a smaller scale, Oskar Fischinger (http://www.oskarfischinger.org/)

[john01]

Classical music is pretty broad, there's several hundred years worth of material.

Some stuff would be easy, Vaughan Williams "In the Fen Country" for example, few reeds, couple of midges, a windmill and the odd rustic.

Don't know why Dvorak makes me think of Hovis though........

Have to say I'd really enjoy the opportunity to do a gig like that myself.

[deepvisual]

there have been a lot of outdoor light and laser classical spectaculars here in the UK.
quite why people assume classical has to be visually staid is beyond me.

[visualove]

Think more of the audience in planning the visuals. Below is an example. Mixing some live cameras in could be a good addition.

http://www.secondstory.com/index.php?page=collection&pid=82

http://blog.techartgroup.com/wp-content/frozen_music.jpg

[benhanbury]

ha! yeah I completely forgot about fantasia!

[benhanbury]

that second story link is amazing!!

[Gumby]

Some stuff would be easy, Vaughan Williams "In the Fen Country" for example, few reeds, couple of midges, a windmill and the odd rustic.

.

I sang that piece once, when i used to be a Chorister...yes it's true hahah.
I hate it. I hate it with avengance! lol Infact i hate the fens, even though i live there! :jester:

[john01]

I sang that piece once, when i used to be a Chorister...yes it's true hahah.
I hate it. I hate it with avengance! lol Infact i hate the fens, even though i live there! :jester:

Did they make you wear one of those collar things ?

Vaughan Williams (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKz6XJlI_jk)

Give him another listen, and lie back and think of England.

[Gumby]

Did they make you wear one of those collar things ?

Vaughan Williams (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKz6XJlI_jk)

Give him another listen, and lie back and think of England.

lol nahh fortunatly we didn't have to.

[ShaKinDa]

There is a rich history of classical music and visual performance, some composers like messiaen, saw a one to one link between certain colours and certain chords and would compose whole pieces in colour. A whole lot of early abstract art, kandinsky and the boys were all about visually representing music although granted limited by a canvas and paints.

the book Visual Music: Synaesthesia in Art and Music Since 1900 is awesome, but a bit of a mare to get a hold of these days

[Gumby]

Bill Viola also did visuals for "Tristan und Isolde"

[Bokonon]

I've done stuff for a band which had an accordian player, opera singer, violinist and a laptop - not classical, but had significant classical elements. I just worked with the music in the way I normally do I suppose, listened to it lots before hand, took from it ideas then described them in video.

I'm doing a multiscreen thing* for this band on Friday @ Bush Hall

* My First

[ChikletTV]

In last May I did Vjing with a classical orchestra for the "firebird" ballet, originally composed by Igor Stravinsky.

I have sampled some classical movies about medieval stories and I tried to do a synchronized representation of Stravinsky's composition.

This was the films:

Intolerance, David W. Griffith, 1916
Anne Boylen, Ernst Lubitsch, 1920
Otelo, Orson Welles, 1952
The Private Life of Henry VII, Alexander Korda, 1933
Alexandre Nevski, Eisenstein, 1938
Que Viva Mexico, Eisenstein, 1931
Ivan The Terrible, Eisenstein, 1945-46
Andrei Rubliov, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1969
The Virgin Spring, Ingmar Bergman, 1960
Mary of Scotland, John Ford, 1936
Hamlet, Laurence Olivier, 1948
Macbeth, Orson Welles, 1948
Faust, P. W. Murnau, 1926
L'?crin Du Rajah, Gaston Velle, 1906


I have to say that working with an orchestra was a very good experience.
I enjoyed it a lot. ;-)

[bassballs]

HI!

Two weeks ago I did a Classical concert, I used footage I created in Motion and mixed it with prerecorded camera footage I shot of the members of the Chamber ensemble. I also used some flying notes I had from the Motion Dive Library :poke: and quartz composer stuff.

I think it is important with classical music not to overshadow the music so i used long clips that developed slowly to the music and a lot of audiotriggering to make things sync with the music.

I use VDMX for my gigs.

AndersK..../

[MrJustin]

I'm currently working with the London Breakbeat Orchestra (http://www.londonbreakbeatorchestra.com/) first off for a special gig at the end of november and then with any luck some more stuff to follow. Consisting of the best part of a full orchestra, drums, decks, keyboard and vocals they play sets of individual tracks, each one fully scored.

The aim is to end up with laid down visual sets for every track, resuting from discussions with the orchestra and composer as to what they see as being relevant to each track as well as my own ideas, so hopefully we'll end up with some tight AV sets which we're all happy with, and which work really well with the music.

It's gonna be a fair bit of work but needless to say, im looking forward to it!