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40 minute original score
by John Kilburn

"a wonderful musical score...
the music is exciting and evocative"
- Bob Janiskee, National Parks Traveler

All music recorded in
LOGIC PRO with;
EASTWEST QL- Symphonic Orchestra, Silk, Stormdrum, Ra,
BOULDER SOUNDS "various libraries"
NI KOMPLETE 5 bundle & more.

WhoAreWe Media

Living Death Valley Soundtrack

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WAWM Releases:

In 2009 John Kilburn composed the award winning 40 minute original soundtrack for the film "Living Death Valley"(best composition "Moondance" Film Festival) which takes the viewer on a year’s journey through remote areas of Death Valley National Park. This film has no dialogue or narration so the music is integral to telling the story along with the time lapse images and HD footage.

Sunrise Overture

Sunrise Overture
by John Kilburn © 2009 - WhoAreWeMedia

LINK

Composer notes: I built the first part as a long expanding ma13th chord, then back-cycling 4th down to minor on sunrise . It was an interesting challenge to medley 4 themes from the film (climax, wildflowers, epilogue, ghost-towns) and make them work with the visuals.

All instruments performed by John Kilburn using Logic Pro with various plugins.

Desert Bloom

Desert Bloom
by John Kilburn © 2009 - WhoAreWeMedia

LINK

Composer notes: I guess my years of having my nose buried in the scores of Debussy & Ravel probably rubbed off a little. It was fun to keep enough melodic room to allow the harp to be exposed while the cello and woodwinds are doing their dance together.

All instruments performed by John Kilburn using Logic Pro with various synth plugins. Cello, Oboe, Flute, English Horn from East West Symphonic Gold library. Harp from esx24.

Deep Canyon Blue

Deep Canyon Blue
by John Kilburn © 2009 - WhoAreWeMedia

LINK

Composer notes: I was looking for a sound that had blues elements but with more colors. The piece is built on a D drone (dig) using lydian b7 scale (sometimes b2 & b3). There's a call response between slide guitar & chinese ruan guitar. I derived the rhythmic feel of a North African rhythm hinting at 6 against 4.

slide guitar - John Kilburn,
didgeridoos - Martine Lynch & Kyler Fischer
percussion - Mark Albosta
All other instruments performed by John Kilburn using Logic Pro with various plugins.

High Desert

High Desert
by Bruce Kaphan © 2005 - Wriggling Air Records

intro & ending John Kilburn © 2009 - WhoAreWeMedia

LINK

Composer notes: This is a very nice tune written and performed by Bruce Kaphan. It stands alone as the only piece not specifically written for this film, but it worked so well we just had to use it. I expanded it to surround sound, cut out the bridge, spliced it together and wrote an intro and an ending to make a smooth transition from and to the next piece.

All instruments performed by Bruce Kaphan
Intro & ending:
acoustic & slide guitar- John Kilburn
Other sounds produced using Logic Pro with various plugins.

The Ancient & the Old

The Ancient & the Old
by John Kilburn © 2009 - WhoAreWeMedia

LINK

Petroglyphs Composer notes: The petroglyphs piece was inspired by a recording of a native american stick song game, by "The Bad Canyon Wellspring Singers" off of "Voices of Forgotten Worlds". A very lovely 2 disc set with real indigenous music from around the world.

native american flute - John Kilburn (all other instruments using Logic Pro with various plugins.)

Ghost Town Composer notes: This piece is very eclectic and features tidbits I recorded at various times & places and collaged into this piece. The rhythmic center of this piece was beatmapped to a solo morchang performance by Umesh Jadia which I recorded in India for the making of "The Rhythm of the Rann", a documentary film for which I co-produced and recorded, mixed and mastered the music back in 2003.

violin - Frances Vaux - percussion - Mark Albosta - morchang - Umesh Jadia - guitar - John Kilburn
and on all other instruments using Logic Pro with various plugins

Heat Patterns

Heat Patterns
by John Kilburn © 2009 - WhoAreWeMedia

LINK

Composer notes: Composed in 3 sections. First a long relentless intro that doesn't seem to go anywhere and only hints at a direction when the violin enters. It builds into a quirky little world music ensemble and finally into a other-worldly percussion dance in 7/8. I loved this section as I had a lot of freedom to play with sound textures. I even employed a 43 note Harry Partch scale on a warped Pianoteq piano. I appreciate the foresight some of these plug-in makers have in incorporating micro-tuning possibilities (also big thanks to the SCALA folks and whoever took the time to input that scale).

violin - Frances Vaux
percussion - Mark Albosta
All other instruments (persian santour, turkish oud, etc...) performed by John Kilburn using Logic Pro with various plugins.

Summer Thunder

Summer Thunder
by John Kilburn © 2009 - WhoAreWeMedia

LINK

Composer notes: I settled on brass and percussion used in a very open way to leave room for the sound effects (thunder and rain). This was a little challenging to create the space needed, build the tension and resolve into the rainbows. The brass did the trick as they can be soft and lyrical or majestic and loud.

brass quintet - east west library
percussion - Mark Albosta
Brass Quintet and all other instruments performed by John Kilburn using Logic Pro with various plugins.

Living Death Valley

Composer notes: This was a real challenge as It was the second to the last sequence given to me and I had less than a week to write and perform every part. I usually don't like midi only tracks very much as it can be stiff and lifeless, but considering our budget and time constraints I had no choice. I spent a lot of time tempo mapping for fluid timing, and using a wide variety of note articulations and a lot of cc11 for expression. When you do this for every note of every instrument it is quite a process But it is absolutely necessary if the orchestra is to sound realistic. This along with the wonderful East West Library gave this piece its natural sound.

Full Symphony Orchestra performed by John Kilburn using Logic Pro with east west library.

Water String Quartet

Composer notes: I love writing for string quartet and when I saw the visuals for the water sequence this ensemble called out to me. I also knew it would fit well between the brass and full orchestra. I want to thank Steve H. at www.macprovideo.com as his use of midi delay and arpeggiators inspired me to create a surround delay with a different instrument in each speaker. what fun!

String Quartet - (east west lib)
assorted marimbas (esx24, etc...)
All instruments performed by John Kilburn using Logic Pro with various plugins.

Into Eternity

Composer notes: This last piece was the first written. I wrote it before I got the visual. I did know it was after the climax and was going to have snow, sunsets and star time lapses. It was really a mirror of the beginning of the sunrise opening. I choose piano and classical guitar as they were good clean sounding instruments to enhance the delicate nature of the sequence and clear the ears out after a full orchestral climax. We felt the sound of the reeds was a good intro. It, of course, ends into the night sounds reminiscent of the beginning.

piano, guitar - John Kilburn and all other instruments using Logic Pro with various plugins.

Living Death Valley
Trailer

Composer notes: I have to say I'm generally not a fan of contemporary trailer music. Today everybody seems to go for dramatic, cliché over the top orchestra, choir and percussion, all washed in a lot of reverb. I wrote this trailer in keeping with the spirit of the film and gave a hint of the styles and instruments you'll hear in the film itself.

lapsteel guitar - John Kilburn and all other instruments using Logic Pro with various plugins.

Ghosthorse

Composer notes: I originally wrote this for the ghost-town sequence. But, after seeing the visuals, I realized it was a little too whimsical in nature. So I put it away as one of those themes that ended up in the unused bin. Later, as I was thinking about the music for the credits I realized this haunting little tune was a perfect fit. I can't help but smile watching the ravens as they perform to the music.

slide guitar - John Kilburn ukulele, ruan guitar, banjo, bass, harmonica performed in Logic Pro with various plugins.

All music recorded and mixed by John Kilburn at Three Springs Studios
Mastering by Mark Calice at Ardenwood Sound & DVD

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