I met Andy in 2002 when he was helping set up my fathers new studio in 2002. I had gone along for the day with the sole purpose of meeting, in my opinion, the most talented guy from the orb as he was showing Dad how to use his new logic set-up. It would be true to say I was in awe - Orblivion is one of my favourite ever albums. Not only did I learn more that day about being a professional musician than my entire time at University - I also met a kind, fun and inclusive musician. Towards the end of the afternoon we made a song together and then went off for a Nando’s.

A couple of weeks later Andy called me and invited me up to his studio in Brixton. It was incredibly exciting for me to visit Andy’s studio - next door to the Basement Jaxx (who he introduced me too) showing me lots of Mac music tricks that I still use on a nearly daily basis. I would play him something I had been working on and he would offer advice - and then he would blow my demo out the park with his latest and greatest steaming out the studio monitors like champagne on crystals.

The strangest thing happened what turns out to be the last time I saw Andy - I was waiting in the car for my girlfriend to finish work in Soho and was chatting to some people who were smoking outside their office nearby. I decided to give Andy a call as we had seen each other just before Christmas and had discussed starting a film and tv sync catalogue. As his phone rang - who should walk round the corner but Andy fishing his phone out his pocket to answer my call. He was actually on his way to have a meeting with the people I had been chatting too!! An insane coincidence made doubly bizarre that at the time I was living in Brighton and Andy was living in Rochester! As it happened he was early so we had half an hour in the car playing each other some stuff and making plans. He really liked my Psychogenic material and I don’t mind telling you I’m still chuffed (and will always be) with his comments on that. Andy played me some of his latest which as ever bounced out the speakers with sparkle and wit.

Much of Andy’s best stuff remains unreleased - most probably still sitting on his hard drive so I will be making noises at the funeral of some way of cataloguing his work for posterity. I’ll miss you mate - if your reading….

Andy Hughes Suite The Will: Stream - Download The Endeavour: Stream - Download The Dance: Stream - Download The Mirror: Stream - Download

]]> http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=176 http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?p=130 http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?p=130#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:35:20 +0000 Jack http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?p=130

Splitsound Suite

Splitsound Suite I  stream - download
Splitsound Suite II & III  stream - download
Splitsound Suite IV & V  stream - download

Hi everyone, stayed up very late last night writing this. Interesting metre, hope you enjoy.

Its scored for Piano, Strings, Harp and Percussion Section.

All comments welcome. Score to follow…

i love what he does there is some magic there and tell him i wish him all the success he deserves it and its different which is great its what i want to listen to in the morning or when i feel i need a shrink his music and arrangements make me feel like the world is a beautiful place to live in.

Its the kindest thing anyone has ever said about my music and really given me the inspiration to finish the album off!

Reflections Part 2 - stream - download

Today I spent the day at Martin Smith’s studio recording some live cello, courtesy of Nick Squires (pictured right) on the second part of my Reflections Suite.

It was a privilege to work with Martin (formerly of ELO) who engineered the session and got a great sound from a great player. I wish I could spend every day recording real music like this!

I also had good news from Imagem music who called me this morning to let me know the Kaiser Chiefs have approved my arrangement of I Predict A Riot - and their third of Creep by Radiohead ]]> http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=137 http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?p=192 http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?p=192#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:19:38 +0000 Jack http://www.jackpickett.com/blog/?p=192 As regular readers know I take this whole music thing seriously - so on the approach of my 33rd birthday I treated myself to a We Are Listening music assessment. You get to choose what questions to ask out of a choice of about 10. Here is what they said:

Is my sound original? Do I stand out?

All the tracks I listened to are beautiful and cinematic. They opened up my imagination and colorful images came pouring in while listening to your songs. I also really enjoyed how memorable your themes are and how you develop the orchestration of them throughout each piece. You have a great sense of melody and “hooks” and I sense a lot of character in each piece. Really wonderful work!

Is my music commercially viable?

I think a lot of what I heard is viable in the film and TV scoring world as well as in commercial advertising. Most of those kinds of projects are scored to picture (the picture is filmed and edited and then the music is scored afterwards) so I’m not sure these specific pieces would be able to be used without modification, but from listening to the many and varied pieces you’ve created I’m sure you would be capable of scoring whatever a scene might require in the classical/orchestral genre.

Should I quit my day job?

I’m not as familiar with the scoring world as I am with the songwriter world, but I can tell that you’re very talented at what you do. Beyond that what I can tell you is that if you want to write and score full time, be sure you are prepared to work 7 days a week on both your craft/art and your business. Success requires not only being talented, but being willing to put yourself out there and network and learn from your colleagues, and maybe even have a mentor. You might consider looking for a manager who can help you get scoring gigs. And you might have to make the sacrifice to relocate to really have a chance at success in your field since it’s a very specific and small market. I don’t know how much work is available in London, it might be plenty. Los Angeles is a great city for your field. Be prepared to work really hard and make sacrifices and your talent will take you far!

I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs - arranged for Piano Quintet.  Stream - Download

I love this song - so tried to do a Piano Quintet arrangement of it over Christmas and this is (2 or 3 weeks later!!) is what I ended up with. I’ve also borrowed (horribly) - in fact stolen!! from Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata for the piano part - but hey - I’m just a muppet with logic right?!?!

I have composed a 4-movement piece called Reflections for 2 pianos, Sting Sextet and Vibraphone. (!!) This year I have done a lot of chamber music for various projects I have been asked to work on - this however is a 4 movement piece that I have been working on the last week or 2 under my own volition so I thought I would post it up to share over the festive period.

Reflections Part 1: stream - download
Reflections Part 2: stream - download
Reflections Part 3: stream - download
Reflections Part 4: stream - download

You can also watch a (small) version of the film on my Showreel page.

If you added up all the money in the world and divided it by the amount of people in the world - how much would we all end up with?

One of the (many) graphs on display was one that showed a graph of drop-off in monetized consumption of music compared to ever-expanding music consumption. The picture was bleak and really exponentiates around the 2006 mark; the general consensus being peer-to-peer downloading is to blame but I wonder is it a co-incidence this was also the year Top of the Pops was canned? (Top of the Pops for non-uk readers was the oldest music show on the BEEB that gave a weekly list of the Top 40). It was claimed to be a bit of a tired format - but very little resistance was put up by sectors of the industry that really ought to be putting up a fight. But I think there is scope to argue that this graph dropped off at exactly the same time TOTP was confined to history. Nothing has taken its place - and with that the music industry lost its flagship vehicle for promoting weekly sales. Its not many people who know what it number 1 these days….people just aren’t sure what to buy. Would Leona Lewis have sold so many records without X-Factor? I doubt it.

I propose a relaunch of TOTP on Saturday night - for a whole hour….Live. Weekly sales may never be what they once were but maybe this would give them a kick up the arse.

A day passes and I am working deep into the night to get my blog integrated into my website (more on that in a minute) and my friend Dan sends me a text to say that “The Highlights are on now!!”. ITV obviously relented and stumped up the cash for the highlights a day later. I tuned in in time to see the last goal! So I got to see the hat-trick; I just missed everything that proceeded it. It seems in these modern times the result is becoming just as important to the fans as it is to the players, afterall its the only thing the majority was partial too. I hear Heskey had a blinder!!

Anyway - as I mentioned, I got on with integrating my blog into my website. With a bit of jiggery-pokery and a lot of help from this site I can now have the blog nestling within the new site design. So thanks Mr Moshu - whoever you might be.

I suppose in 5 or 10 years this will all seem a bit old hat, quaint and naff - but for now I guess I’m quite impressed! Something else I’ve been trying out has been the Powerplay campaign on last.fm that allows me to viciously force-feed my music onto 100 unsuspecting music listeners. I directed my campaign to play the music to people that like DJ Shadow and the Herbaliser. It reports back that 27 people have listened to it, they all listened to the whole thing (thank the stars) but 0 people loved it. All this for a mere £11.50.

So for this princely sum I essentially just played a gig - well sort of. The part I like is that it gets your stuff to people who are more likely to dig your stuff! I like last.fm - it’s the best way I’ve found to promote music online without looking like a spam castinet. I’ve got a group over there called “Sounds of the true independent underground” and a couple of artists are using it to tell people when their new stuff is out. Last.fm groups, though admittedly geeky in the extreme, are a great way in making music connections with your mates and combining your musical forces.

Anyway, that’s me: iphoned, last.fm-ed and wordpressed up to my eyeballs.

I absolutely love Greenwood’s work on There Will Be Blood which I read is made of works he recorded for the BBC based on the music on Pederecki. Well worth a listen and the most original score I have heard for a long long time!

And its not like all tv themes are bad - I love the new channel 5 cricket theme! Samit Patel et al being given the chance to shine!!

Originating in the mind or in mental or emotional processes;
having a psychological rather than a physiological origin. Used of certain disorders.

The following may or may not be true. Fragments from
broken dreams. Time surrenders all knowledge of escapism and iconoclasticism.
The body becomes a vestage for the soul. The dark mind shivers its life free
from its physical constraint. The Psychogenesis can begin. We will never know
the dark mind. Certain objects fuel our desire. People and places visit our
thoughts. We must leave these places in the past. In the realms of possibility
our souls become intertwined with our spirit - that part of us untouched from
memory. We call this place The Other Side.

Rest now child for your journey will be long as we
travel back through time’s drifting sands. Our dreams become our souls realm,
itself now fragments of broken dreams. Like a river you flow through me. Like
a light, you are my sky. I see you in my hopes and dreams. I see you on the
tv screens. I see you in the broken light. I see you on my satellite. A teardrop
in an open sea. We complicate whats meant to be. A teardrop in an open sea.
You don’t know what you mean to me.

Rest now child. Our sleep is where we meet in the recess of night visions.
We are the lies. Believe your eyes. Theres no suprise. Look to the skies. You’ll see the dark mind take the form
of a megastructure - the conflagration will be your new dwelling. You take the shawl of your conciousness to your
breast…you feel its warm lustre. You hold it like your new born child - you wash its mothers birth fluids.
You bless it from the tenets of your religious beliefs.

But you now question your beliefs and take refuge in the deep, vast comfort of that which we do not fully understand.
The bridge is now open. The rivers of chaos are tamed. I throw myself overboard - into a great sea of you. I am the river; you can run through me.
We are now Psychogenetic - our essence joined in the union of an earthly matrimony. My tears are your tears - your fears are my fears - your laughter
is my laughter. We share a mutual destiny. You are part of the dark mind. Rest now child. Rest.

Sweetly - whats my name? Sweetly - and surrendered. Whats inside? I’m all around you. I’m all inside you.
I strip your shawl of conciousness - I strip your willful mind - I replace the tenets of your faith. I cleanse you - I cleanse your mind. You are renewed
at the alter of the dark mind. Your new world is one where there is no shade. No debt to your society. No need for anxiety or strain. Your new domain will treat you well.
It requies only your trust. Only your disposition. Only your belief. Your unconditional trust. Our tears are your tears - our fears are my fears - our laughter
is my laughter. We share a mutual destiny. You are part of the dark mind. Rest now child. Rest.

The psychogenic process is nearly complete. Your time in the dark mind will not be open to revision. Any doubts you have will now have to be
surrendered to the process. Your new psychogenic soul will automatically render these thoughts void. Your mind will become one with the dark mind. Your body will be
harvested for reusable proteins. There is no physiological origin. This void is your destiny, your birthright. Your death. Sweetly - whats my name? Sweetly - and surrendered. Whats inside?
I’m all around you. I’m all around. Rest now child. Rest. Your time of process approaches.
Your life-blood flows into the dark mind. Your contract with us is now completing. You will be welcomed to the dark mind. We will celebrate your ascension.

We speak from the heart. We speak as one now freed. We assimilate. We are cleansed of difference from our brethren. We our evolved of deference to our brethren.
We are neutered now - we have no sexual allegiance. Welcome to the dark mind child. Wake now child. Wake in the dark mind. Forge your future in this better place. The first step is your greatest
as we enter into our new freedom. There is no need to fear - we see everything. We correct all that is wrong. The soul will, like a river, forge its twisting path to our sea of nirvana. We are a river.
We can flow through you. Our tides become the emotional balance of our eco-system. Our memories become like pebbles on our bed. They travel with us on our course. They erode.

We speak from the heart. We speak as one now freed. We assimilate. We are cleansed of difference from our brethren. We our evolved of deference to our brethren.
We are neutered now - we have no sexual allegiance. Welcome to the dark mind child. Wake now child. Wake in the dark mind. Forge your future in this better place. The first step is your greatest
as we enter into our new freedom. There is no need to fear - we see everything. We correct all that is wrong. The soul will, like a river, forge its twisting path to our sea of nirvana. We are a river.
We can flow through you. Our tides become the emotional balance of our eco-system. Our memories become like pebbles on our bed. They travel with us on our course. They erode.

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ds˚∆˚∆∆ß∂∆˙å^ø¨≈ç^ø¨ºªª•ºªåßå∆å¬å˚∆߬∆¬˚å∆߬˚∆¬å˚ß∆¬˚å∆¬∆≈çø^∆≈ø∆çø≈^∆¬˚≈ç∆˚ç¬∆¬ç≈˚∆˚¬ç≈˚∆¬˚≈ç∆~∂ß∆˚∆ ∂ß˚~∂˚∆~ß∂≤µ≤µßµ∂~≤µßµøœ^∑øœ¨∑œ∑ø^∆˚åß∆˚¬∆˚~≤~∆ç˚≈˚≈ç~˚ ∆˚∆≈ç˚∆~˚∆≈ç˚∆~˚∆~≈˚∆~åµß~πå^¨˙^åß
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Music and Lyrics: Jack Pickett
Concept Development: Gus Pickett and Elizabeth Tree.
Be Lucy is a remix of P9FM’s Be Lucy available at electronicscene.com
Recorded in London, Amsterdam and Brighton on Apple Computers. 2003-2008
Press Contact: Toby Kidd, Destiny Media.