Have you made up music for something you've read?

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » January 13th, 2010, 1:05 am

Over the readings that I've done, a few times (four or five?) I've needed to create a tune to match something in the reading, so it could be sung as the text needed.

I wonder if there are many others who've done the same? If we've got enough, we might have enough for a musical podcast.

I'm not thinking of recordings which have been sung to existing PD music, just stuff that you've actually composed (big word!) yourself.

Peter

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » January 13th, 2010, 2:36 am

I have once, but for a very short text (3 lines or something like that) and I am not sure it was very good...

Starlite · Post by **Starlite** » January 13th, 2010, 4:32 am

I am far from musical and when I had to sing a drunken song, it actually came out perfect! lol. Totally made up tune and totally out of key etc... I doubt you would want that.

I did do a podcast on music in recordings. I don't really have time to look for it now but it's there somewhere.

Esther

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » January 13th, 2010, 7:23 am

I recorded, I think, 3 songs for the Esperanto version of Alice in Wonderland (La Aventuroj de Alicio en Mirlando). Two of them have already appeared in a recent podcast.

I just basically made up the tune. I don't know how well it fits, but I just improvised anyway.

Post by **ezwa** » January 13th, 2010, 12:55 pm

I've done it in two solo projects (a play and a fiction) where they had one or two songs but no music for it.
And maybe a poem... not sure about that one.

EDIT : here they are (there are a few seconds of silence at the end of each files which are comprised in the lengths mentionned) :

From Viviane :
- http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/madeupmusic_viviane_vieillearaignee_ezwa.mp3 (0'42'')
- http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/madeupmusic_viviane_parfums_ezwa.mp3 (1'43'')
From La Mare au diable :
- beginning of the song: http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/madeupmusic_mareaudiable_begin_ezwa.mp3 (0'38'')
- end of it: http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/madeupmusic_mareaudiable_end_ezwa.mp3 (0'21'')
A boy's song : http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/madeupmusic_aboyssong_ezwa.mp3 (1'19'')

EDIT : a few more :

From Tartarin de Tarascon : http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/madeupmusic_tartarin_11_megervais_ezwa.mp3 (0'11'')
From Nouveaux contes de fées pour les petits enfants : http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/madeupmusic_contessegur_10_jesuisprisonniere_ezwa.mp3 (0'15'')
The Twelve Months : http://www.archive.org/download/twelvemonths_1001_librivox/twelvemonths_ellis_ezwa.mp3 (0'35'')
From L'Oiseau bleu in Contes et histoires préférés des enfants - 001 : http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/oiseaubleu-sortdeplorable-vfetm.wav (0'36'')

Starlite · Post by **Starlite** » January 13th, 2010, 3:30 pm

OH I do have one with an original score. My friend wrote and performed this:

http://librivox.org/an-englishwomans-love-letters/

Esther

ceastman · Post by **ceastman** » January 13th, 2010, 6:18 pm

I've done a few things:

Toad's Song in The Wind in the Willows, ch 12

Zoe's bit "Give a thing and take it back...", somewhere in section 15f of Ulysses

The Shadows' two songs in the second half of The Shadows

I *think* that's it.

-Catharine

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » January 14th, 2010, 12:09 am

Keep them coming! If you're happy to have them rebroadcast, please try and dig the songs out, copy them to separate files, and work out their approximate length. I'll do the same for mine. If it looks as if we'll have enough, I'll set up a thread in the volunteers section.

Peter

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » January 14th, 2010, 4:22 am

Peter Why wrote:Keep them coming! If you're happy to have them rebroadcast, please try and dig the songs out, copy them to separate files, and work out their approximate length. I'll do the same for mine. If it looks as if we'll have enough, I'll set up a thread in the volunteers section.

Peter

My song which hasn't yet been in a podcast is "La Omara Kvadrilo" ("The Lobster Quadrille") from "La Aventuroj de Alicio en Mirlando" (Esperanto for "The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland"). It is about 2 minutes, 45 seconds long.

russiandoll · Post by **russiandoll** » January 14th, 2010, 10:36 am

I made up tunes for four songs in Pippa Passes - the longest, at about 3mins 40 and kind of repetitive, I don't like that much and probably a podcast can do without it!
But any or all of the others, at about 1:10, 1:30 and under 30 secs (the famous 'God's in his heaven, all's right with the world' bit, and the only one that scans regularly) would be ok.

Clarica · Post by **Clarica** » January 14th, 2010, 11:19 am

I made up a few tunes (and found tunes for some) for the songs in Eight Cousins

Post by **chocoholic** » January 14th, 2010, 12:04 pm

Rosalind (timberwolfmage) composed a tune for Midsummer Night's Dream. It's in Act II scene 2 if anyone wants to find it.

Lucy_k_p · Post by **Lucy_k_p** » January 14th, 2010, 12:30 pm

I've sung for two things - The Tempest and The Duchess of Malfi. I didn't bother with music though, I just sang as I went along. (And I'm not a good singer) The Madman in Malfi is a sort of tuneless drone and I'm fairly sure the Tempest wasn't much better. I was trying both times.

It wouldn't have done me much good to make up a tune though, as I'm so unmusical. I wouldn't be able to sing to it even if I knew how to go about composing one.

Jessi · Post by **Jessi** » January 14th, 2010, 3:02 pm

I've done it once, in "The Light That Failed". It's just a very short piece, just a few lines , but I had fun doing it!
(I wanted first to just read it, but during recording I decided to at least try to find some tune. Although I don't usually do that sort of thing because it tends to sound awful

)

sherwingws · Post by **sherwingws** » January 15th, 2010, 7:55 am

Well, as I remember, there are three that I have recorded so far.
All for James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers. One was a hymn,
somewhere in The Pioneers, but I don't remember where that is.
The other two are from the introdoductory quote and a couple of
other places in The Pioneers, Chapter 14:

To The Barley Mow
Is from the characteristic introductory quotation at the beginning of Chapter 14

And:

Grief Turns A Black Head To Gray
Is from about half way through and at the end of Chapter 14.

I'll see if I can find the hymn as well.

Thanks

Gary