Making the music for Bataille de Neige a year ago was a lot of fun. This time I've started a journey through a much longer silent film adventure with Nosferatu. Made in 1922, it can now be found on the Internet Archive as it's in the public domain. You'll find many versions, each of them with a different sound track as there is no official music for this film which makes it a great excuse for creating a new one! The full length is about 1.5 h and it seemed a bit much to cover in one go, so this is only the first act (25 min). The next ones should come later, as and when I find the time and inspiration.
Also this time I'm not using a piano but a synthesizer keyboard, so part of the experience was to create all the sounds and domesticate all the expression controls of the instrument. Doing this feels a bit like designing a new instrument to go with each piece, which really adds a great dimension to the composing process. Although the synthesizer could be automatically controlled by a computer using a sequencer, it was equally designed for live performances and in this case all the music was played just with both hands on the keyboard to give more flexibility and follow the action in the film in real time.
The first live screening in the basement of the CB2 cafe in Cambridge, UK was a great experience. This is quite encouraging and will definitely help me with completing the music for the rest of the film.
