Words and Music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). “The Winding Stream” © 1997 Conrad Askland.
This was really fun working on a Final Cut video for this song, The Winding Stream. I wrote this back in 1997 for an artist who recorded it on the Road Records CD release “New Faces Volume Two”.
Christmas Gloria © 2007 Conrad Askland. Christmas Gloria in the Baroque style for SATB Chorus, SAT Trio Soloists, Flue, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, Trumpet, Horn, Tuba, Harpsichord and Percussion. Composed by Conrad Askland for the 2007 Christmas Eve service at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church.
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Continue reading “Christmas Gloria – New Baroque Style Music for Chorus and Chamber Ensemble”
Words and Music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). “Can’t Win for Losing” © 1995 Conrad Askland.
I wrote this song back in 1994 after returning from a 14 week tour of South Korea (and Japan). During the tour we spent most of our time in Tongduchon, South Korea (Hello Camp Casey!) and played different military bases 6 nights a week to entertain the troops. The band was a Southern Rock band called “The Hardriders” that was playing U.S. military bases for MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation). Every night we played a different base, sometimes with two hour bus rides each way. It was a tough tour.
“Quench the Fire” (Masquerade Dance #2) from Romeo and Juliet the musical. Book and Music by Conrad Askland. Lyrics by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet the musical © 2015 Conrad Askland.
I’ve just released additional video clips from my 2015 production of “Romeo and Juliet the musical”. The show opened January 30, 2015 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA.
MORE VIDEO CLIPS – SCROLL DOWN!
Continue reading “Romeo and Juliet the musical – Video clips and music excerpts”
Music and Lyrics by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). “You Don’t Even Know” © 1997 Conrad Askland.
This song was released by Road Records on the CD “New Faces Volume Two”. The goal of this song was to create something that sounded like a retro jazz ballad. I remember this is one of the few recordings where I used an actual upright piano to play the keys parts. Normally I don’t use upright pianos because they’re always a tad out of tune, but that effect worked very well on this song to give it an authentic retro feel.
Continue reading “You Don’t Even Know (That I’m in Love with You)”
Music and Lyrics by Conrad Askland (ASCAP) © 1995.
“Ballad of Dull Knife” is one of the first songs I wrote that ended up being on a released album (around 1995). It is about the Cheyenne chief Dull Knife (Morning Star) and the emotions I imagined he might have felt as his lands were being taken away.
“Thru Your Love” Words and Music by Dave Schaack and Conrad Askland (ASCAP). © 1997.
Update: After working in my scores with these different chord fonts, I prefer Norfolk Chord ASL Standard for all layouts (Full Score, Piano/Vocal, and Parts)
Getting the right chord font for notation software is a big deal for the player that has to read the music on the fly. Often I’m orchestrating scores for shows that I am working on and I need the fonts to be intuitive. When a score is laid out well visually then it’s a pleasure to play through scores for rehearsals and performance. I can’t waste a split second trying to differentiate a chord marking. It needs to be crystal clear.
For 2021 I’m revisiting my full-length musicals to update score layout and orchestrations. Here’s a compilation of workflow and tips from music composition sketches to final scores and parts for musical theater. An ongoing project.
Continue reading “Music Composition Workflow: Creation, Editing, Orchestration and Sibelius Tips”
The endless debate on which notation software to use seems to now be centered on Finale vs. Sibelius vs. Dorico. I’ve been using Sibelius since 2007 and I love it, while at the same time I feel a little shame that I haven’t mastered Finale. Here are some of the reasons why I’m once again sticking with Sibelius (while also feeling ashamed).