Category: Strings

Live recordings, Live stream, Piano, Strings

None of That – live stream

Steven Kent Sanford

Scored for: piano trio (piano, violin, and cello)

This is a live internet stream recording of a VCFA concert from 10 February 2016, showing the performance of my original rescore to the animated film None of That.

There is another version of this re-scored film here.

All of the “sound effects” are created by the instruments.

My goal was to capture the feel of the Warner Brothers cartoons of the 1950s-1970s, particularly the Road Runner series.

Note that the video is the property of Ringling School of Art and Design, and is used for purposes of illustrating my film scoring. No copyright infringement is intended. The music is Copyright © 2016 Steven K. Sanford.

Please do not republish this film clip elsewhere on the internet or use without permission.

Country & Western, Guitar, Live recordings, Live stream, Other original music and arrangements, Percussion, Piano, songs, Strings, Vocal

Don’t Give Up on Me – live stream

Steven Kent Sanford

Scored for: solo voice, guitar(s), bass, drums

This is a live stream recording of the VCFA Songwriter’s Festival concert on 12 February 2016, with me singing my original country-and-western song Don’t Give Up on Me (accompanied by a few talented friends).

I wrote this for my wife, who had to put up with me travelling to remote work locations every week for a few years before I retired.

There’s another version of this song here.

Brass, Demo, Film, TV, and other visual media scores, Orchestral, Percussion, Piano, Strings, Woodwinds

Demo Reel

Steven Kent Sanford

Scored for: instrumentation of these excerpts includes solo instruments, percussion, synthesizers, and studio orchestra (with additional sound design)

This is a ten-minute collection of scenes from films, TV shows, commercials, and video games that I have re-scored*. All of the short films can be found in the “Film Scores” section of my website here.

In a hurry? Listen to a one-minute audio-only sampler of media scores here.

Note that the videos and dialogs excerpted are the property of the respective companies, and are used only to demonstrate my film scoring skills. No copyright infringement is intended. The music is Copyright © 2017 Steven K. Sanford.

Please do not republish this video elsewhere on the internet or use without permission.

(video revised 22 May 2018)

(* “re-score” means replacing the original music with a newly written soundtrack)

 

Animation, Comedy, Film, TV, and other visual media scores, Live recordings, Piano, Strings

None of That – Live (rescore)

Steven Kent Sanford

Scored for: piano trio (piano, violin, and cello).

This is a very clever animated film short from the Ringling College of Art and Design. All of the “sound effects” are created by the instruments.

My goal was to capture the feel of the Warner Brothers cartoons of the 1950s-1970s, particularly the Road Runner series.

This is a live performance recording, so there is some audience noise.

Note that the video is the property of Ringling School of Art and Design, and is used for purposes of illustrating my film scoring. No copyright infringement is intended. The music is Copyright © 2016 Steven K. Sanford.

Please do not republish this film clip elsewhere on the internet or use without permission.

Advertising, Brass, Film, TV, and other visual media scores, Orchestral, Percussion, Strings, Woodwinds

CSPAN White House Tour Promo (rescore)

Steven Kent Sanford

Scored for: studio orchestra

This is a promotional TV spot advertising a CSPAN White House Tour program. I wrote patriotic-sounding music and incorporated snare drum ruffles to match the historical importance of the tour, as well as aural splashes to highlight the final visuals.

Note that the video and sound clips are the property of CSPAN, and are used for purposes of illustrating my film scoring. No copyright infringement is intended. The music is Copyright © 2016 Steven K. Sanford.

Please do not republish this film clip elsewhere on the internet or use without permission.

Advertising, Animation, Brass, Film, TV, and other visual media scores, Orchestral, Percussion, Strings, Woodwinds

Poptech (rescore)

Steven Kent Sanford

Scored for: studio orchestra

Poptech was a brain-storming conference held in Camden, Maine, that was opened each day with a short video clip. This is a rescore of that video clip.

Capturing the simplicity of rural Maine, I began with a recorder, then gradually built up the orchestration to the climax. This was, to me, supposed to be the visual and aural equivalent of a strong cup of coffee, to stimulate the day’s conversations.

Note that the video is the property of Poptech, and is used for purposes of illustrating my film scoring. No copyright infringement is intended. The music is Copyright © 2015 Steven K. Sanford.

Please do not republish this film clip elsewhere on the internet or use without permission.

Drama, Film, TV, and other visual media scores, Piano, Romance, Strings

Vertigo Restaurant Scene (rescore)

Steven Kent Sanford

Scored for: piano and string ensemble

This is a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo (1958) that I’ve rescored for piano and strings. Jimmy Stewart’s character (at the bar) is getting his first glimpse of Kim Novak’s character (at the table) while she is dining with her husband. Jimmy’s character is a private investigator who has been hired by the husband to surreptitiously follow Kim’s character, because she has been behaving suicidally.

The location reminded me of a restaurant in Brooklyn, NY, where my wife and I dined several times, complete with a pianist playing in a corner, and plush surroundings. So I staged the score with a pianist improvising a jazz piece as background music, then introduced the strings for Kim’s character.

I was able to capture some of the background sound effects during quiet moments in the scene, which I’ve included behind my rescore.

Note that the video and sound effects are the property of Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, and are used for purposes of illustrating my film scoring. No copyright infringement is intended. The music is Copyright © 2017 Steven K. Sanford.

Please do not republish this film clip elsewhere on the internet or use without permission.

Live recordings, Other original music and arrangements, Strings

Twenty Eight – Aeolus String Quartet

Steven Kent Sanford

This is a live recording by the Aeolus Quartet from 24 October 2013.

Twenty-Eight is my reaction to the twenty-eight shooting deaths, including many young children, in Newtown, CT, on 14 December 2012. It traces the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.

This composition was awarded an Honorable Mention for the William Averitt Prize in Composition for the year 2013.

Ballet scores, Strings

Shimmerings

Steven Kent Sanford

This is a ballet score I wrote for a short choreography project with the Dance Department at Shenandoah Conservatory. The theme is light on water, in three movements, in the minimalist style, as requested by the choreographers:

  1. “Sun on Water”
  2. “Bioluminescent Waves”
  3. “Moon on Water”

It is scored for orchestral string section (violins, violas, cellos, basses).

 

Ballet scores, Live recordings, Strings

Renaissance – Live

Steven Kent Sanford

This is a composition for three cellos, written for a ballet choreographed by Courtney Bechamin entitled Split. The theme is “rebirth,” although Courtney extended this to “osmosis.” The title, Renaissance, is the French word for “rebirth.”

The music follows the emotion of the ballet, and uses resolved dissonances to get the sense of splitting cells. Just for fun, each movement is in a different mode, but the whole piece is in a single key.

This performance was recorded live in concert on 21 April 2014, with cellists Alexander Scheetz, Robert Rohr, and Sydney Bennett, at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia.

(remastered 11 Oct 2017)