I had never seen the music video for Star Guitar (Chemical Brothers) until last week when I read by Jason Kottke. The video is really amazing, even though I’ve watched it over and over and over. Directed by Michel Gondry, the clip is a “simple” shot out of a train window, except that the buildings appear in perfect time with the music.

Jason links to the making of video, which shows Michel Gondry experimenting with the score, and using fruit and cutlery to simulate the effect he was looking to create. This took me right back to my experiments with the Visual Score, and my experiments trying to build a relationship between the vision and the music (see this post).

Now in writing this I’ve noticed that my project was a few years after the music video was made. Looking back I wish I had of found the video back then, I might have gone in a different direction.

Star Guitar video

The Making of Star Guitar Music Video

My final Visual Score

So finally I have found time to post the final version of the score for everyone to see. I’m pretty happy with the overall experiment, even if I don’t really like the final product — visually it’s a little rough and child like. That said with more time (and a faster computer) I think a more aesthetically appealing version could be produced.

(more…)

This is the shortlist of tracks I put together when looking for a piece of music to use in the visual music project. After shortlisting I removed them by a process of elimination until I ended up with just one…

Replica, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cinemage, 4:50
Another orchestral, instrumental track, this time with very distinct layers. This reminds me of an animal march. It can be harsh a grating, but has moments of uplift, and is very rhythmic in places.
iTunes Store Link

(more…)