Facebook“You produced a beautiful recording, that sounds really ‘real.’ Your fine musicianship is evident in your product.”
J. Eric Schmidt
Faculty, Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television,
USC Thornton School of Music
Spotlight - Pictures at an Animation Exhibition
Ravel Virtual Studios recently had the pleasure of performing and recording film composer J. Eric Schmidt’s Pictures at an Animation Exhibition suite for concert band.
These six humorous and highly entertaining pieces showcase the compositional techniques (and general overall insanity) of the music to the classic Warner Bros. cartoons. Each movement musically describes a rather odd and wacky painting, while irreverently quoting dozens of familiar classic Americana tunes.
Short excerpts of each movement are available below for your listening pleasure. We hope you enjoy!
1. “Don’t Be De-feeted”
The Picture: Several folks, with two left feet, in various forms of pedestrian activity.
Based upon the tunes: ”Strolling Through The Park One Day,” ”Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” ”She’ll Be Comin’ ’Round The Mountain” and ”Arkansas Traveler.”
2. “Eat, Drink and Be Wary”
The Picture: A gang of guys imbibing at their local pub.
Featuring the titles: “Hail, Hail, The Gang’s All Here,” “Someone’s In the Kitchen with Dinah,” “How Dry I Am,” “Drink to Thee Only with Thine Eyes” and “Shortin’ Bread.”
3. “Boo Hoo, A Sad Zoo”
The Picture: A variety of animals gather for a condo board meeting.
Annihilating the melodies to: “The Farmer in the Dell,” “Buffalo Gals,” “Animal Fair,” “Three Blind Mice,” “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” “Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me” and “Turkey in the Straw.”
4. “Way, Way, Way Out West”
The Picture: The 1846 annual picnic of the California Legislature.
Occasionally quoting: “Red River Valley,” “I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad,” “Clementine,” “Sweet Betsy from Pike,” “Oh, Them Golden Slippers” and “California, Here I Come.”
5. “No More Amore”
The Picture: Love runs amuck at a very odd senior prom.
Completely obliterating the fine compositions: “Beautiful Dreamer,” “Believe Me If All Those Enduring Young Charms,” “Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair,” “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and the love theme from “Romeo and Juliet.”
6. “Old Tools of the Trade”
The Picture: Some unique and strange tools displayed in an old hardware store.
Loosely hinting at the motives from: “Old MacDonald,” “The Old Grey Mare,” “Old Folks at Home,” “On Top of Old Smokey” and “Old King Cole.”
About J. Eric Schmidt
For the past twenty years, Eric has been one of the busiest freelance composers in Los Angeles. He has composed, orchestrated and conducted the music for over 300 episodes of animated series produced by Disney and Warner Bros. His work has been featured in dozens of motion pictures, commercials and theme park shows. He is currently teaching conducting and composition at the USC Film Scoring Program.
Eric’s concert repertoire includes numerous works for concert band, solo piano, choir, chamber ensembles and children’s choir. For several years he conducted and orchestrated for pianist John Tesh. He has served as composer, orchestrator or conductor on projects that have received the following nominations: two Grammys, three Emmys, two Golden Reel Awards and one Annie Award.
Visit Eric on the web at www.jericschmidt.com.
