Jason's Blog » music

UAB Community Band Spring Concert

Jason — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:10:50 +0000

I am again participating in the community band this Spring, and if you enjoyed our performance this past Christmas I highly encourage you to join us again on Sunday, April 18th @ 3pm. I don’t have any word on the venue yet, but I’m assuming it is in the Jemison Concert hall again at the Alys Stephens Center.

Some of the repertoire of which we’ll be playing are:

Beau Ideal – Sousa
Emperata Overture – Smith
Chorale Fanfare – Bimm
Elegy for a Young American – Lo Presti
Broadway in the 90s – arr. Higgins

It’s a fun selection of pieces – all of which I enjoy playing, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing; so please join us if you have the time.

Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody

Jason — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:51:06 +0000

“Galileo, mee mee mee~”

Piano Stairway

Jason — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:55:34 +0000

I always find it interesting how music and entertainment can change a person’s perspective on a mundane task. A simple, uninteresting task can suddenly seem more appealing once an objective or reward is involved, and the video below is a perfect example.

According to social experiment 66% more people than normal chose the staircase over the escalator now that it was converted to a “piano”. Of course, one has to wonder if that amount would decrease over time if something like this was “normal”.

Symphonic Fantasies

Jason — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:20:35 +0000

Something happened today which I wouldn’t have expected to see for a long time. I’m a big fan of of video game music, and hold it in high regards when compared to other genres and forms, but I’m especially excited when there’s an orchestra involved. Symphonic Fantasies today streamed their full concert live and in high quality from Cologne, Germany available for anyone to see.

The concert was split up into four “fantasies” of the following Square-Enix games:

Fantasy I: Kingdom Hearts
Fantasy II: Secret of Mana
Fantasy III: Chrono Trigger
Fantasy IV: Final Fantasy

Thanks to the magic of YouTube, those sets are available below. While nothing can match the experience of being there, I hope you enjoy the fantastic arrangements put together and this amazing sets of work inspired by their original composers, and performed by the WDR Radio Orchestra.

Secret of Mana Fantasy Parts 1 & 2

It’s been a while since I’ve played Secret of Mana, so I’m not as familiar with the music, but there are still some great themes here. You should be able to recognize Into the Thick of it halfway through the first part if you played any of the game. This fantasy closes out with a very somber and reflective rendition of Rose and Ghost.

Chrono Trigger Fantasy Parts 1 & 2

Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite games of all time, and the soundtrack is no exception either. Opens up with a very familiar Scars of Time from Chrono Cross, eventually leading into Chrono Trigger. Out of all the orchestral arrangements I have listened to of Chrono Trigger, this is my least favorite but the rest of the fantasy does not disappoint. Just wait until you get to the amazing ending with Frog’s Theme!

Final Fantasy Fantasy Parts 1 & 2

If you are at all familiar with Final Fantasy, this portion just blew me away in a fantastic mixing of melodies in a completely new way that has not been heard before. Words for this fantasy do it no justice, so please just listen.

Encore: Final Boss Fantasy

After what seemed like 10 minutes of well deserved applause, an encore was played highlighting the final themes from all of the above. One of the most impression portions is near the end with that amazing percussion solo by Rony Barrak.

Weird Al: Craigslist

Jason — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:27:19 +0000

I’m a big fan of Weird Al, and own several of his albums. It’s been a couple of years since his last album was released (Straight Outta Lynwood), so it’s due time that another one is released soon. This summer, Weird Al will be “leaking” 4 tracks for his upcoming, unnamed, undated album. The first one was released today with the video on YouTube as seen below. Additionally you can purchase the song on iTunes. Check out his Twitter @alyankovic to keep tabs on when his next song is “leaked”.

Queen on Old Hardware

Jason — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:14:33 +0000

I’m a sucker for Queen. But at the same time, it’s pretty amazing the different sounds that can be extracted from old hardware. Some guy had the creative idea to ~~arrange~~ program old hardware to play Bohemian Rhapsody. Enjoy!

Mario Bassoon Quintet

Jason — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:07:00 +0000

You don’t see very many good student bassoonists, as the instrument itself tends to be very expensive and is somewhat difficult to play. The following video is various arrangements for bassoon quintet playing various Mario themes. Enjoy!

Mario Galaxy on Piano

Jason — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:58:00 +0000

Whoever the person is above is fairly talented and plays by ear fairly well. While (in my opinion) some of his arrangements are a little too “notey”, he still has some fantastic renditions of some of the main themes from Super Mario Galaxy. I would recommend checking out some of his other videos if you have played Mario Galaxy, and even if you haven’t, since the music is fantastic.

Seeing this REALLY makes me miss not having a piano. I really want one badly, but with the unfortunate accident has put me in not so great of a financial situation to be able to purchase one. I’m really afraid I will lose a lot of my muscle strength in my fingers from the lack of playing. Maybe after I get my rent settled for the next 6 months I can begin looking again…

Band Does Mario

Jason — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:51:00 +0000

…and Tetris, and Zelda… and more. Just watch!

Super Mario Bros. 2 Theme

Jason — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:25:00 +0000

This was just so awesome, I couldn’t resist. I know you’ve probably seen a few of these “Mario” videos before, but this one is pretty decent! A senior at SUNY Fredonia arranged the theme from Super Mario Bros 2 as the finale piece for her percussion recital. Check the video out for the coolness.