My Arrangement of John Williams Music. Which is better?

[vertigoone]

Neither of these are perfect.  I'm still an amateur.  One is an arrangement that tries to encompass John Williams' entire body of work, the other is just Star Wars.  I was able to discuss the Star Wars arrangement with Garrick Ohlsson.  He said it had "panache," which is usually code-word for "ambitious but undisciplined."

John Williams Medley:

Star Wars Medley:

[dcstudio]

Welcome to PS! 

Hey! I really like your playing   those are pretty ambitious arrangements you have there.  The live one had a better feel to it... but it may just be that you were so into it.

Not a lot of PS people appreciate arrangers...  IDK why that skill is so underrated around here.   To take a theme and combine it with other themes and create a totally unique piece of music that is your original creation---yet still sounds familiar to the public... that's a valuable and very marketable talent.. It's not as common as you might think either so you really have something special in that regard.  


so do you do this a lot?   Take movie themes and mash them up...   Do you play them by ear then mess with them until you come up with something you like?   I do a lot of improv and I am a working "blue collar" pianist...  I do this kind of thing all the time..

movie themes are awesome... especially the big ones---it's not so much the music itself--it's the reactions I get from the audience when I play them.  Everybody has an emotional connection to Star Wars...  well almost everyone..lol  

Just one ever so humble suggestion if I may remember in your arranging that sometimes you don't have to add all that flare.   Ration that out a bit...   Start simple -- lull them into a relaxed state--THEN hit them with the big chops..

I do also like how you mashed up the Leah's theme from Star Wars with the love theme from Raider's.   Take your time there...  that's beautiful... give me more of that please.

you may be an amateur now--but those chops could really go pro.  Nice Job!  


and I love this..



“I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.”
― Ludwig van Beethoven