Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

Pages: (2) < [1] 2 > [ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: April 26 2006, 05:49 Hi all, I believe my new ommadawn essay is available to view on the site. I think you can access it through the amarok analysis link. All thoughts and feedback are apreciated. Hope you enjoy it! -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1865 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: April 26 2006, 12:27 It's here: http://tubular.net/ommadawn/ Back to top

ImAFoolAndImLaughing Group: Members Posts: 536 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: April 26 2006, 13:23 Hiya Thisname! Had a read through your essay and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The only criticism I have is that, although the musical analyses are superbly written, I found your introduction a little clunky - a few too many adverbs and adjectives, perhaps. For example, in your phrase "traumatic tensions" the "traumatic" is unneccesary as tensions tend to be traumatic anyway - it might scan better had you used "tensions", or simply "trauma". Also - I'm not sure about the word "amalgamation" - think it's "amalgum", but I could be wrong. Anyway - I'm just picking flies, really - otherwise It was excellent Tony -------------- "I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded of the fact that I had been avoiding the beach." Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: April 26 2006, 15:07 Well, congratulations on what seems to me to be a fine piece of work. I'd be incapable of writing such a piece myself, so I'm not competent to offer feedback on the musical analysis, but I have one or two stylistic suggestions to make. If they're helpful, good. If they're not, ditch them without further thought. I think Tony's got a point. It gets a bit flowery in places, and your meaning might be clearer if (a) you were to try to express yourself in fewer words; and (b) if you were to choose shorter words, on the whole, rather than longer ones. So for instance, instead of saying: 'they are all two part instrumental works of approximately similar durations', why not say ''they are all two part instrumental works of about the same length'? Continuing the same kind of idea - the 'locking horns' metaphor doesn't seem helpful, and I wonder if a more direct statement might not be better: so instead of 'The genesis of the piece came from the most turbulent and emotionally painful time of Mike Oldfield’s life, where personal confusion locked horns with the new found confusion that success had brought him from the prodigious Tubular Bells album of 1973', you could try something like: 'The piece has its origins in the most turbulent and emotionally painful time of Mike Oldfield's life, when a new kind of confusion (arising from the success of Tubular Bells in 1973) was added to his existing personal difficulties.' I make these suggestions very tentatively - not because I think there's anything seriously wrong with your piece (after all, it's the content that really matters, not the style), but because its ideas are prepared with such care that I think it deserves to get its message across as clearly and intelligibly as possible. Again: congratulations. Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: April 26 2006, 16:55 Thanks everbody for your feedback. It is appreciated. I agree with the points you make. Unfortunately I am not really a very good essay writer so there are a few gremlins in the way I express things. I suppose the thing I hope for, s that the actual content of the essay makes sense and opens up perhaps what was not knwn about the superb craftmanship that ommadawn has. I know it is a bit technical in places but I would like to think that even non-musicians can perhaps get a clearer idea as to the merits of the piece. Thanks again. So, what do you want me to analyse next??? -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

ImAFoolAndImLaughing Group: Members Posts: 536 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: April 26 2006, 17:14 Quote Unfortunately I am not really a very good essay writer so there are a few gremlins in the way I express things Don't worry about it, Thisname!  I've been writing as a hobby for years now, and everything I write still ends up sounding flowery and convaluted! We'll get there, I'm sure As for what you should tackle next, I've always wanted to see an analysis of The Wind Chimes - a piece that's always fascinated me with its slightly unorthodox rhythms and the vocal gymnastics in that Monkey Chant thing! How about giving that a go - I'd love to read it! Tony -------------- "I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded of the fact that I had been avoiding the beach." Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: April 26 2006, 17:26 Quote (ThisName @ April 26 2006, 21:55) Unfortunately I am not really a very good essay writer so there are a few gremlins in the way I express things. On the contrary, you're a very good essay writer, and very much the master of your subject as far as I can tell. Sometimes one simply must use technical language, but that isn't the issue here. Generally speaking, formal writing tends to encourage most of us to write more words than are necessary, and we often end up calling a spade a manually operated agricultural implement. But just to call a spade a spade is actually good writing. I'm with Tony. Give us the famous ThisName treatment on The Wind Chimes, please. Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: April 26 2006, 17:33 Ok I ay do that! I wasnt going to say anything just yet, but I am currently making a mike oldfield site which will feature a overvew of all his studio albums. The idea is to write an objective and hopefully insightful commentary of my opinions of his music. Some of the albums will simply get an oerview etc whilst others will probably be similar to my ommadawn analysis. I don't think it will be ready for at least a few months but it is something i am picking away at. However, I am open to analysing other mike oldfield wors and I will endeavour to listen closely to the wind chimes and see what I discover.! -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

ImAFoolAndImLaughing Group: Members Posts: 536 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: April 26 2006, 17:50 Quote But just to call a spade a spade is actually good writing. Very true, Alan - I always call a spade a spade... until I trip over one... Tony -------------- "I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded of the fact that I had been avoiding the beach." Back to top

TubularBelle Group: Members Posts: 1487 Joined: April 2004 Posted: April 26 2006, 20:40 I haven't even read it yet because I want to get a new ribbon and print it out so I can read it in the comfort of my bed but I do agree with Alan that sometimes in an effort to write something well we tend to write more than necessary. I have always thought that the key to good writing is to be succinct, (is that how you spell it) to avoid people becoming bored and not understanding your point. When writing something for a Uni degree or for a test of some sort, or with the aim of having it published, people tend to feel pressured to make it wordy as an expression of their intelligence and there have been times when I have put something down because it is simply too much work to read it. I read for pleasure, not to assert my intelligence by being able to say 'I understood that, did you'. The reason I mention this is nothing to do with your piece, but because of a conversation I had with my brother recently about two books he had read, 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance' and his focus was completely on the difficulty involved in trying to understand the message rather than the content of the message itself. That made me think about why I do not read as much as I would like to. And it is frustrating when something is so convoluted that it only succeeds in making the reader feel stupid. I would love to attempt to write something myself some day, I write every day but have never attempted a specific project. Mike would be the perfect subject of course but I know that I would get lost in the musical interpretation. Congrats on finishing your piece and I look forward to reading it and any others you present to us, Cheers. -------------- I hate getting up early. I didn't even realise there were two 6 o'clocks in one day! Back to top

TubularBelle Group: Members Posts: 1487 Joined: April 2004 Posted: April 26 2006, 21:47 Well I couldn't wait and just read your essay and I thought it was brilliant. I found absolutely no fault with it at all except for the inclusion of about 5 words too many. I have ( ) around the words I would delete. While obviously struggling to understand the entire middle section, I found the opening and closing remarks easy to understand and beautifully descriptive. I almost wished I had not heard the album before so I could imagine it from your words alone. Well Done. You did a fantastic job!! Having spent the majority of his teenage life growing up in complete seclusion in order to escape the traumatic (tensions) (perhaps include 'experience' ) of living with a mentally ill mother, Mike Oldfield was now experiencing complete commercial success from what had been a product of his own personal expression. At that time, little did he know that Tubular Bells was to become the very first work in a trilogy of long instrumental pieces that had the scale and complexity of classical music, coupled with the instrumentation of folk and rock (music). It is (certainly) not to say that Ommadawn is in any way the better album of the three, but it certainly has a noticeably more mature and sophisticated layout showing how far Mike Oldfield had come in the space of a few years. Only in special circumstances do we (ever) hear guest musicians play, although in Ommadawn, guest players are used (much) more frequently. A (very) common device used by Oldfield is in the juxtaposition of two very conflicting emotional ideas. (Simply to avoid the use of the same descriptive word in the same sentence.) Much like Mahler, or even Shostakovich, Oldfield often uses moments of uneasy banality beside(s?) moments of increase (add 'ing' ) agitation and despair. And I have never heard the word 'motivically', does that mean 'intentionally'? It's a great word! Almost as good as 'juxtaposition'. -------------- I hate getting up early. I didn't even realise there were two 6 o'clocks in one day! Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: April 27 2006, 04:30 Hi. Thanks for your comments, they were very kind. Motivically relates to the use of musical motifs. Athough, I am not 100% certain if it exists! It does now anyways! I hope to make this analysis thing a regular thing, I like the idea of looking at Hergest Ridge soon. What do you all think of the site idea? I listened to the wind chimes last night, its a tricky one which has a lot going on and could require a lot more of my time to unravel what is going on, but I shall do my best! Cheers -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: April 27 2006, 05:48 Quote (ImAFoolAndImLaughing @ April 26 2006, 22:50) I always call a spade a spade... until I trip over one... Just trying to unravel your meaning here Tony. Are you trying to say that sometimes when you are engaged in spade-naming exercises, your foot makes a physical encounter with the implement, so that the forward momentum of your upper torso propels you forwards while your lower limbs remain motionless, causing you to pass beyond your normal state of unstable equilibrium and therefore to succumb to the gravitational attraction of the Earth in an uncontrollable way? Why not just say so? Back to top

ImAFoolAndImLaughing Group: Members Posts: 536 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: April 27 2006, 08:17 Quote (Alan D @ April 27 2006, 05:48) Quote (ImAFoolAndImLaughing @ April 26 2006, 22:50) I always call a spade a spade... until I trip over one... Just trying to unravel your meaning here Tony. Are you trying to say that sometimes when you are engaged in spade-naming exercises, your foot makes a physical encounter with the implement, so that the forward momentum of your upper torso propels you forwards while your lower limbs remain motionless, causing you to pass beyond your normal state of unstable equilibrium and therefore to succumb to the gravitational attraction of the Earth in an uncontrollable way? Why not just say so? Not only that, Alan, but also that the act of losing equilibrium and making contact with Terra Firma at an uncontrollable velocity and with an amount of force - that not only causes the blood vessels underneath the surface of my skin to rupture (thus creating an unsightly scarlet blemish upon aforementioned epidermis) but also causes neurotransmitters in the synapses between my nerve endings to transmit a message to my frontal lobes which causes the illusion of an unpleasant sensation in the parts of my body which made contact - provokes a spontaneous, almost reflexive response in me, which results in the propulsion of the manual earth-relocating implement in question towards a pre-fabricated brick barrier, and an explosion of exhaled air in my rapidly-oscillating larynx which, when emitted from my mouth produces a verbal and linguistically interpretable sound which could be considered by those of a particularly sensitive nature to be taboo and obscene! It's as simple as that... it really is! Tony -------------- "I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded of the fact that I had been avoiding the beach." Back to top

Baggiesfaninessex Group: Members Posts: 682 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: April 27 2006, 08:33 An excellent piece of work. Well done! I doubt I would have the patience to do what you have done.   Especially with the poor grammar I display above! -------------- “A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner Back to top

TubularBelle Group: Members Posts: 1487 Joined: April 2004 Posted: April 28 2006, 03:04 You guys are hilarious! Truly! @This Name, this is an email I received quite some time ago as you can see but never responded to. As much as I wanted to I felt I wasn't up for the challenge. I was wondering if I could maybe submit your essay to this site for inclusion in their pages, or certainly you may contact them yourself if you so desire. I would absolutely make sure you receive full credit, under your real name. Cheers. Tracy. From :  Patrick Mondout <editor@super70s.com> Sent :  Friday, 4 April 2003 12:08:49 PM To :  <tubulartracy@hotmail.com> Subject :  RE: Comments about Super70s.com   Actually, I have Tubular Bells (and Hergest Ridge and Voyager as well) and do appreciate his music. It's simply a matter of time. We've got thousands of pages to write and it will seem like we are ignoring some important artists until we cover them all. You say you have a story to tell. Tell us all about each of his albums (from the 70s or 80s) and we will publish these reviews and create pages for each of his albums. If you want to write a general biography that will take our readers up to the present (including his latest work with WB), we'll create a Mike Oldfield page to link to each of his albums. I hate to ask you to do this for us, but I don't see how it will happen any time soon without your contribution. If you do decide to do this, your work will appear here for decades to come. Thanks for the email, Patrick Mondout Super70s.com Awesome80s.com -----Original Message----- From: TubularBelle Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 2:31 AM To: Editor Subject: Comments about Super70s.com How can you not list Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells in your 1973 list. It was no 1 on the charts in England for a whole year before being knocked off in 1974 by Mikes follow up album, Hergest Ridge. (footnote: I realise this now to be incorrect) I know Triple J are not big fans of Mike Oldfield and I want to know why? When I am not listening to your station or cds of artists I bought after hearing them on your station, I am listening to Mikes music. No doubt he did some crap, he admits that himself, but since being released from Virgin and moving to Warner Music he has really come into his own and has had complete control which he had not enjoyed since Tubular Bells. Please get in touch, I want to convince you to feature Mike on the J Files, I have every cd, there are 23 of them plus compilations etc. I have been a fan since 1973 when I was 12, I got TB for my 13th birthday after not being allowed to go and see the movie 'The Exorcist', I have a story to tell. My email is tubulartracy@hotmail.com -------------- I hate getting up early. I didn't even realise there were two 6 o'clocks in one day! Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: April 28 2006, 04:25 Hi. Yes, I would be appy for you to submit my essay to that site. So you have my blessing. I am thinking about analysing HR next. Maybe in the next few weeks or so, depending on my workload (I am currently getting all my compositions ready to send off to the examiner! I was listening to ommadawn last night and was thinking about how i would orchestrate it for symphony orchestra, with the vocals sung by a full chorus. I know its a bit controversial, but i think i could do a better job than David Bedford, and I have written for orchestra already so know the ropes as it were. I think i could attempt ommadawn part one and have ideas, but maybe its a taboo? Should I just leave it well alone? After all it is a masterpiece? But when I hear those climax points, i can just hear this swelling orchestra and huge chorus and i can imagine how overwhlming that could be! Any thoughts? -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

arron11196 Group: Members Posts: 826 Joined: April 2005 Posted: April 28 2006, 04:37 Mmm, yes I can see where you're coming from on that. I'd like to refer you to the work of Jeremy Soule, who is reknowned for his work on simulating the sound of orchestra. I am familiar with a few of his pieces, and hands down, they are indestinguishable from the real article. Maybe instead of hiring a full orchestra to do your full Ommadawm piece, you could simulate in his way. -------------- Arron J Eagling Everyone's interpretation is different, and everyone has a right to that opinion. There is no "right" one, I am adding this post to communicate my thoughts to share them with like-minded souls who will be able to comment in good nature. (insert the last 5 mins of Crises here) Back to top

ImAFoolAndImLaughing Group: Members Posts: 536 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: April 28 2006, 08:01 Quote I was listening to ommadawn last night and was thinking about how i would orchestrate it for symphony orchestra, with the vocals sung by a full chorus. I know its a bit controversial, but i think i could do a better job than David Bedford, and I have written for orchestra already so know the ropes as it were. I think i could attempt ommadawn part one and have ideas, but maybe its a taboo? Should I just leave it well alone? After all it is a masterpiece? But when I hear those climax points, i can just hear this swelling orchestra and huge chorus and i can imagine how overwhlming that could be! Any thoughts? Yes - do it! I'd love to hear it! In fact I used to do a bit of harmony singing as a hobby not too long ago - let me know and I'll even come and join in! Tony -------------- "I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded of the fact that I had been avoiding the beach." Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: April 28 2006, 09:28 If i were to do it, how do you think i could get it performed? I mean, I could produce a score and have that done but getting an orchestra to play it would be a real challenge. I wonder if there is anyone close to MO who cold pull some strings to make it a real serious project? I'm happy to orchestrate it for my own pleasre, and it will be a huge creative undertaking but it would be wonderful if there was a way of getting to his record label etc to see if there would be any interest? If anyone wants to hear my writing for orchestra then I have a link to a page that has my music on including a piece i wrote for the BBCNOW in Cardiff. Cheers! -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ] Pages: (2) < [1] 2 >

Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net