I love the idea behind this piece -- a musician works with people in a facility for homeless people with serious medical problems, gets to know them, interviews them, then takes parts of those interviews and composes or improvises his own music to accompany them. It's a great idea, and the motiviation behind the idea is wonderful.
But this one -- the first in a proposed series, doesn't really work. Here's why...
First off, the person being interviewed is way off-mike, in an echoey room. At times, it's hard to even make out what he's saying. The musical breaks that surround the subject's voice are really good -- interesting, intriguing and involving. (And very well recorded.) But, sonically, the elements don't integrate at all.
Second, what we hear from the subject -- even though the details in themselves can be harrowing -- is kind of superficial. What was his life like before it went downhill? Why did he fall on such hard times? What were the real, deep, struggles he's endured and lessons he's learned? I want to learn a lot more about this person than I do here.
For the producer... Keep it up. Like I said, I love the original idea, the motivation behind it -- and also your music. Maybe you should check out a couple of stories from the SoundPortraits web site to get some notion of how to really draw out the people you're going to profile. I would suggest venturing over to www.soundportraits.org and listening to "Charley's Story" and "All The Way Broken" for starters. I am not suggesting that you try to "copy" these pieces in any way. But listen for the real depth in the self-portrayal of the people in these stories.
Review of "I woke up, I was all split open..."
Gary Covino
Posted on February 25, 2006 at 05:02 PM
I love the idea behind this piece -- a musician works with people in a facility for homeless people with serious medical problems, gets to know them, interviews them, then takes parts of those interviews and composes or improvises his own music to accompany them. It's a great idea, and the motiviation behind the idea is wonderful.
But this one -- the first in a proposed series, doesn't really work. Here's why...
First off, the person being interviewed is way off-mike, in an echoey room. At times, it's hard to even make out what he's saying. The musical breaks that surround the subject's voice are really good -- interesting, intriguing and involving. (And very well recorded.) But, sonically, the elements don't integrate at all.
Second, what we hear from the subject -- even though the details in themselves can be harrowing -- is kind of superficial. What was his life like before it went downhill? Why did he fall on such hard times? What were the real, deep, struggles he's endured and lessons he's learned? I want to learn a lot more about this person than I do here.
For the producer... Keep it up. Like I said, I love the original idea, the motivation behind it -- and also your music. Maybe you should check out a couple of stories from the SoundPortraits web site to get some notion of how to really draw out the people you're going to profile. I would suggest venturing over to www.soundportraits.org and listening to "Charley's Story" and "All The Way Broken" for starters. I am not suggesting that you try to "copy" these pieces in any way. But listen for the real depth in the self-portrayal of the people in these stories.
Good luck with the next one...