Spaghetti western orchestra

[Bill Carson]

it is not true that "these days you can produce anything you want on a computer.
you STILL have to program the part and PLAY it just like with a normal musical instrument.
i write/record music for a living (45yrs) and it's JUST AS HARD to write quality music via a computer as it was/is with real musos.
i do both.
it's ONLY ART if someone else says so. to me, it just WORK!.
archie.

I could agree with you. I didn`t mean it literally. You write music for living and I respect that. Surely you know much more about the music than me, because you do it for living... I just wanted to say that in my opinion, today is much easyer to produce something new (with computers), than in those days. Why? I mean that it is easyer to "program it" on computer, try it on synthesizer...etc., then to "make" or "invent" totally new instrument from nothing, from a sketch, like Morricone did for some sounds in Leone`s movies. And not many people done that. That`s why I said that for me that is not just "work", that is "art"!

[archangel]

BC, most hollywood score's these days start life as a mock up on a Mac or PC.
some of that mock up can even get on the final soundtrack.
a lot of the scoring sessions for music are recorded in Pro Tools which is top dog in digital audio workstations.
while i think this is great, it's leading to a lot of hollywood scores sound homogenized and samey.
morricone, when doing SL's stuff, would have known the musos beforehand, so he knew which ones would bring certain aspects to the table. the character in EM scores stems from excellent choices in the musos used.
if you listen carefully, as i have, to these soundtracks, you'll notice that they sound quite intimate and close even in the "big" sections.
this is because the orchestra WAS small. a lot of "overdubbing" is also in evidence.
that is, the same player recorded different parts at different times on different instruments.
this was the "new" thing in recording those days.
the whistler and guitarist are the same person for example.
this guy, the trumpeter and the soprano (Etta Del 'Orso) are the main "sounds" you hear in these SL movies.
btw, Etta, whose now about 70yrs, had the finest, and most "in tune" voice i've ever had the pleasure to hear.
wonderful, just wonderful.
archie.

[Bill Carson]

btw, Etta, whose now about 70yrs, had the finest, and most "in tune" voice i've ever had the pleasure to hear.
wonderful, just wonderful.
archie.

I totally agree with you, buddy!

[SeanSeanSean]

They are back in Montréal in february 2008

http://www.theatreoutremont.ca/outremont/ficheArtiste_en.aspx?artId=2285

[cigar joe]

Do they have any CD's?

[SeanSeanSean]

Do they have any CD's?

I'm not aware of any.
I'd suggest a DVD if ever, because they are more of a stage performance than sound.

[cigar joe]

Well keep us up to date on them if they do ever put something out. 

[Cusser]

Yeah, it's time they came to (what used to be the real west) Phoenix.  But a DVD would also be cool, agree: better than a CD for them.

[Noodles_SlowStir]

These guys do seem quite cool.  Looks like they’re back in Canada, Montreal, this week.  Didn’t see any other listings for shows anywhere else.


This article is from a Montreal happenings and entertainment site, hours.ca.


February 14th, 2008
The Spaghetti Western Orchestra

 

Morricone, al dente
Steve Lalla
 

 
The Spaghetti Western Orchestra: What's not to love?

 
The Spaghetti Western Orchestra turn classic soundtracks into modern musical theatre

First turning Montrealers' heads with a seven-day stint at last year's Jazz Festival, the Australian-based Spaghetti Western Orchestra bring a revamped show back here next week.
"We're coming back because we had such a good time at the Jazz Festival," director, set designer and Canadian ex-pat Denis Blais told Hour over the phone. "It was the world premiere of that show and the response was really brilliant. I think Montreal has a great audience that helps people break through marketwise, and they've always had a more open mind towards European products, thinking back on all the old prog-rock even - Montreal is what made bands like Genesis or Emerson Lake & Palmer. The Spaghetti Westerns were big there even before they broke in the rest of North America."

For those still unclear on the concept, the Orchestra breathe life into the great soundtrack music of the spaghetti western era, specifically that of composer Ennio Morricone, who wrote the scores for Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, and many more. The Orchestra do more than play music. Combined with Blais's set design, intermittent dialogue and a host of real-life sound effect props, they create a surreal, otherworldly mood not far from that of the films: grim and brutal, yet at times droll and even touching.

"People have a hard time defining it," says Blais, "because it's a theatrical concert. It's not just a musical concert, it's much more, which is very 
typical of that era also. I gave it a sort of tagline, 'soundscape cinématique,' the idea being that we soundscape from the movie era, a very famous genre, and blow it up into a show which takes on board not just the music but the sound effects and acting out some of the dialogue that would be spoken. So you're getting everything in the same package. It's been a really interesting journey so far..."

And one that has earned them rave reviews across Europe and beyond.


The Spaghetti Western Orchestra
At Théâtre Outremont (1240 Bernard), Feb. 20-23




Another brief article....

http://www.ozarts.com.au/events/spaghetti_western_orchestra_in_montreal/
“In an evocative setting, the show, both comic and dramatic, stands as a veritable tribute to the greatest of film-score composers, Ennio Morricone, finally singled out for an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars.”   
http://www.ozarts.com.au/artists/artists_music/the_spaghetti_western_orchestra/

http://www.myspace.com/rexhobart39sspaghettiwesternorchestra

[SeanSeanSean]

Clips:

TGTBAU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrenPqXgdBk

Addio a Cheyenne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VLLQM4iGc

[Helenea]

  ....Never again will I be able to watch TGTBTU without this image popping into my mind!!  It was interesting though.

[Atlas2112]

Addio a Cheyenne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VLLQM4iGc

what in god's name is that guy playing? i looks like a lead pipe rammed through a tissue box!

great video though

[Helenea]

what in god's name is that guy playing? i looks like a lead pipe rammed through a tissue box!

   

[SeanSeanSean]

Its called a Theremin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Theremin

Here they are with the theremin on OUATITW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PajpqQD0m7A

This is amazing live.

and Addio Cheyenne:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VLLQM4iGc&NR=1

And a great fistful medley:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnU7Lz8OJcM

[SeanSeanSean]

Here's a new promo clip. Really gives a good idea of this unique experience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE1OpPZnci8