Wednesday 25 June 2014

Independence Day - July 4th 2014

Independence Day - July 4th, 2014

Clive Farrington's solo album is available to download on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/independence/id670306586

Music and Lyrics: Clive Farrington and Jon Brooks
©2013 Tough Monkey Records

Independence - Clive Farrington

Subscribe to my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/jonbrookscomposer
Subscribe to Tough Monkey Records' YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/toughmonkeyrecords

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Free Music Streaming - Xbox Music


Free streaming music on XBox Music here: http://music.xbox.com/playlist/jon-brooks-music/7b0eed84-806b-00fe-b487-64cba35358d1?action=play
(Make sure you are signed in to access the playlist)

Xbox Music has over 18 million songs available to stream for FREE.  You can even download the music to your computer, tablet, phone or other device.  Xbox Music is cloud connected so you can sync. your playlists and music collection across the web and all your devices.

Xbox Music - Music Streaming


Check out Jon Brooks' music playlist here: Jon Brooks Music Playlist
(Make sure you are logged in to access the playlist)


Sunday 8 June 2014

Heart of the Unicorn - Clive Farrington



'Heart of the Unicorn' is the ninth track on Clive Farrington's album 'Independence'. It's a slow, emotional love song that tugs at the heart strings. Music and Lyrics by Clive Farrington and Jon Brooks. (© 2013 Tough Monkey Records).

'Heart of the Unicorn' is available to download on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/independence/id670306586

Manchester based music producer, Jon Brooks, teamed up with fellow Mancunian Clive Farrington (lead vocalist of 'When In Rome') to co-write and produce Clive's first solo album 'Independence'.

Jon Brooks specialises in Music Production for Film, Television and Advertising. (South Manchester, UK).

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/jonbrookscomposer
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonBrooks_Music
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jonbrooks-1
Blogspot: http://jonbrookscomposer.blogspot.co.uk
Official Website http://www.jonbrooks.co.uk

'When in Rome' had a No. 1 hit single in the USA with 'The Promise'. It was released in 1988. In 2004, 'The Promise' was used as the end title theme in the movie, 'Napoleon Dynamite'. Due to unfortunate legal issues over the band name 'When In Rome', Clive decided to go ahead with a solo album.

The official release date (4th July 2013) is significant; not only does it symbolise independence in the United States; it also represents Clive Farrington's independent release outside of 'When in Rome'.

The album exhibits a fusion of styles; blending classical orchestral elements with a modern day electronic sound... as an addition to this, 'Independence' also boasts a hint of the 80's too! It's already receiving extensive radio play and TMR Records have negotiated and licensed two of the tracks to GAP (Mexico) for use on their latest compilation CD. Various tracks on the album could be classed as a cross between the 'Pet Shop Boys', David Guetta, Scott Walker and Robert Miles. The songs are honest, suitably original and highly emotive.

The album 'INDEPENDENCE' was released on their own record label: TMR (Tough Monkey Records) through Kobalt Label Services / AWAL on July 4th 2013.

------- ------- LYRICS ------- -------

VERSE 1:
There was a time
Our heads in the clouds
No reason or rhyme
Or searching for rainbows
Without knowing why
The long hot summers
We thought would never end
And they never did

CHORUS:
And we never found
The heart of the unicorn
We never found
Something so beautiful
We never found
The heart of the unicorn
We never found
That truly magical place

VERSE 2:
When you see me reaching
In search for your soul
Make no mistake
My heart won't grow cold
Failure to deliver
My hopes and fears
Recalling the moments
When your temper brought tears

CHORUS:
And we never found
The heart of the unicorn
We never found
Something so beautiful
We never found
The heart of the unicorn
We never found
That truly magical place

INSTRUMENTAL:

CHORUS:
And we never found
The heart of the unicorn
We never found
Something so beautiful
We never found
The heart of the unicorn
We never found
That truly magical place

Something so beautiful...

------- ------- ------- ------- -------
CREDITS:

Released: 04 July 2013
All songs written, performed & produced by: Clive Farrington & Jon Brooks
(Except,'Showdown' & 'Breathing': written by: Clive Farrington, Jon Brooks and Andrew Mann).
Lead Vocals: Clive Farrington
Piano, Strings & Keyboards / Backing Vocals / Mixing: Jon Brooks
Sequencers / Morse Code (Deliver): Clive Farrington & Jon Brooks
Ibanez Acoustic Bass Guitar: Clive Farrington
Spoken Word 'Invisible': Steve Benz and Paul Todd
All Tracks Mastered by: David Eley at TGM

Saturday 31 May 2014

TEEN TAAL - Marketing Campaign

I'm currently working on the soundtrack for this beautiful feature film. The cast and crew of 'Teen Taal' are amazing and the director, Shakirul Alam, is awesome! Please do help us to share and support the campaign. The crowd funding campaign is to assist with marketing, promotional material and to help push the cinema release worldwide. It's such a pleasure to be involved with this movie - Thank you again Shakirul for such a beautiful and emotive film. This kind of movie is a composer's dream! Click the link for more info. Please do share; it'll be much appreciated. Thank you! Best wishes, Jon.  xxx



The aim and what's on offer 
£50,000 is the aim to gather through a Crowd-fund to add to the budget for distributing, marketing and promotions. This fund would ensure up to another additional 30-40 screens for release at single and multiplex cinema theatres. Also the number of posters, and TV/ theatrical trailers shown will be significantly more which would help promote the film a lot further before the release to try and reach the maximum number of audiences to see the movie.
Here’s a fantastic opportunity for anyone and everyone to get involved and support this project. Several perks are listed with different levels of rewards for your kind support. From a signed DVD, to credits in the movie to an invite to the premiere, everything is on offer for anyone who is interested to support the campaign.
The impact
So much hard work, passion and love has gone into making this film by the entire team (literally everybody from the cast & crew to musicians & composers). One of the aims and wish is that everyone’s work gets the fullest appreciation by reaching the film to the biggest possible audience. We have dedicated the film to Attar Singh Chowdhury and it’s a great thought to think his story and music finally will get recognised and never be forgotten.
For anyone getting involved with this campaign, you can always remember that you had something to do with the success of this film hopefully after release. Everything counts and we appreciate equally for all the kindness shown towards this film.
Those looking to break into the world of cinema, here’s also a great opportunity to get your name noticed and possibly collaborate on upcoming projects being developed by Shakirul Alam Pictures Ltd. This is my first feature film and by no means last. I’m currently working on other projects including Hindi films and also British projects for English language films.
Other ways you can help
Some people may not be able to contribute, but don’t feel left out as that doesn't mean you can't help. We appreciate every type of support given towards this campaign. You can simply get the word out about this unique campaign through word of mouth and also by using sharing tools to promote the campaign link on your social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
On behalf of the entire Teen Taal team, a very genuine and big thank you for all your kindness and support. We hope to bring this beautiful movie to your cinema screens soon.
‘Teen Taal’ (‘Three Rhythms’) – ‘A journey in the footsteps of a father’
A Shakirul Alam Pictures Ltd production
Executive Producers – Shakirul Alam & Jaz Ali
Written, Produced & Directed by Shakirul Alam
Introducing – Gaurav Chowdhury    Shakirul Alam    Ravi Shankar Chowdhury  Neha Kargeti    Shivan Thukral    Barkha Sharma    Viraaj Sharma                  Vaibav Chowdhury   Kshitej Oberoi    Anita Chowdhury   Anuradha Kalia
Cinematography - Premanand Bhageerathan
Sound Designer - Arjun Singh
Production Designer - Shakirul Alam
Editor - Pradeep Kumar and Shakirul Alam
Music Composer - Chahat Kakkar
Background Music - Jon Brooks and Chahat Kakkar
‘Mere Rehnumaan’ Lyrics - Malwinder Singh
‘Mere Rehnumaan’ Singer - Saurav Mishra
Production Manager - Anurag Biwal
Casting - Vineet Sharma & Shakirul Alam
Assistant Director – Ishan Chopra
Location Manager – Muni Natesan
Assistant Editor -Jitender Prajapati
Costume Design - Shakirul Alam & Nit Priya
Poster design & development - Arnie Mallorca
Camera equipment (Red MX / Epic) – Vivek Chaudhary
Sound Equipment – Rajesh Chopra

Monday 21 April 2014

Tiger Beer 'Beast' TVC - Music Production





Below is a description and analysis of the compositional process I took in creating the music for this TV commercial.  Tiger Beer 'Beast' TVC - Music Composed and Produced by Jon Brooks. This was a demo and part of a presentation I prepared for an interview and position I took at WASP Studios, Malaysia. I worked on this advert in 2004. Wowsers! Ten years ago! Please see below for more info.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
- Because there was no voice over, it was evident that the key to the soundtrack was to provide the correct emotional messages by accentuating the on-screen text and images for the audience.
- There's a lot of information for the audience to absorb.
- I felt the music should be rhythmically driven and embody a punchy and solid sound that compliments the pacing whilst securing continuity.
- Overall, my interpretation of the commercial was that Tiger Beer will fulfil your every need; giving you street-cred and success. All positive aspects of life.

COMPOSITIONAL PROCESS AND ANALYSIS:
- First of all, I imported the commercial into Cubase (Music Sequencing Package) to sync. the picture to a click track so I could establish an appropriate tempo. I settled on 155 BPM (beats per minute). This made numerous hit points accessible due to the high tempo.
- One of the main components of the score is the use of syncopation, which helps build up a sense of adventure and excitement.
- Another major feature of the music is the use of a memorable motif, of which reiterates throughout. The seven note motif is expressed on the pianoforte, constructed of staccato quavers. Following this motif, you can hear a tonal, yet percussive syncopated sound which goes through various permutations as the advertisement develops.
- The soundtrack has a punchy drive that constantly moves forward, stressing that "if you consume this beer"... "you will be fulfilled". Hard sell huh?
- When the beer cans are submerged in water, the timbre of the music shifts to reflect this, e.g. with filtering and EQ (equalisation) to the lower frequencies. The music then reverts back to being "in your face". To conclude, the text, visuals and pacing sum up all the positive aspects; the soundtrack compliments and reinforces this.

INSTRUMENTATION:

- Grand Piano
- Roland XV-5080 Ionizer
- Roland XV-5080 Millenium Strings
- Tam Tam
- Roland XV-5080 Power Trip
- Drum Kit
- Roland XV-5080 Sound Module Choir
- Drum Loops 155bpm (x 3)
- Roland XV-5080 Velo Techno 2
- SFX (Various sources)
- Korg SP Midi Controller

Official Website http://www.jonbrooks.co.uk

Thursday 10 April 2014

Cosmic Butterflies - Something Else

SOMETHING ELSE - COSMIC BUTTERFLIES


"Cosmic Butterflies" - Something Else. Music composed and produced by Jon Brooks and Tony Brown (aka Wi777ard). Download the MP3 on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/cosmic-butterflies-single/id855153909

'Something Else' is an English electronic dance music production partnership consisting of Tony Brown (aka Wi777ard) and Film and TV composer Jon Brooks.

Music: Jon Brooks and Tony Brown
Video Produced by: Tony Brown
(© 2014 Something Else)

Additional credit goes to the following artists/organisations for the use of their productions:

- Juan Sillero - FREE Green Screen - Butterfly Motion HD.MP4
- GreenActionFootage - Butterfly Collection - Free Green Screen Footage.MP4
- GFX illam - Best Animated Butterflies
- Lucid TV - "Zoey Hoops" HD Fractal Exploration
- bib993 - Like in a dream -3D fractal trip.mp4
- N/A Brummbaer‬ - I found this algorithm and... 
- 2512loko - drops green screen (FHD)
- Christian Schladetsch‬ - Fractal 3d.mp4
- Orson Wang - Deepest Mandelbrot Set Zoom Animation ever
- Trakout - Fractal Art.mp4

- BestofGreenScreen:
Energy Ball - Green Screen Effect
Rotating 3D Earth
Beautiful Flowers Rain
Background Video - Animated Cosmic Makes
Energy in a Glass Box - Green Screen Effect
Stonehenge - Stone Circle - Green Screen Effect

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