For me the Covid situation shook up 2020’s first half in different ways. First I had fallen sick for almost two months and lost 1/7 of my weight during that short period of time. Then came lockdown and with it homeschooling which was challenging on another level. With lockdown also came homeworking which meant sitting in a €300-chair for up to 12 hours a day leading to serious back pain that I’m still dealing with.
However, things seem to turn out great in the end:
- Motivation was high despite all those issues, and I managed to get to grips with my new DAW Studio One and my new set of samples, mostly Orchestral Tools Berlin series.
- I re-arranged an old composition of mine, “Temple of the Spidergod”, for use of these samples (adding a few Spitfire ones) and it’s already up there on Soundcloud. Track 7 btw contains some of the best string writing I’ve ever done – check it out (starting at 1′ 28″)!
xanderscores · A Love Impossible (from “Temple of the Spidergod”)
- I’ve recently started stretching muscles several times throughout the day. You won’t know how much damage hardened muscles can do to your body! I’ve started exercising a few days ago and pain is already at 50%. If you’re like me sitting at the computer all day long, I suggest you give it a try!
- Remember my first attempt at re-scoring a scene from The Prestige? Good news: I resumed composing and I’m coming along very well and very swiftly. During my 2 week vacation I’ve written music for almost 2/3 of the movie and I can already tell that it’s some of the most mature music I’ve ever written. And with those excellent Orchestral Tools samples I can finally make it sound emotional.
- Speaking of Orchestral Tools: Inspired by their recently released Tableau Solo Strings, I revamped “Goldfall”, a suite that I wrote in 1998 for cello, viola and violin and orchestra. After I was finished with the overhaul I realized I need a human being to play those solo parts. Thanks to Twitterverse and Evan Rogers in particular I got to meet the wonderful Nat Willow and decided to work with her. She’s currently recording the last few parts and judging from what I already heard it will be absolutely beautiful!
More to come soon. Stay tuned and stay healthy!