Our featured artist today is John Manchester. Let’s give him a warm welcome!
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A Journey from Books to Music, Darkness and Light!
by John Manchester
I was featured here some years back as a writer of dark thrillers. I’m grateful now to get a second shot with my music! Fifteen years ago, after a long career composing music for media, I hit a creative wall. With over 500 instrumental pieces published, the scene between me and the muse was feeling tired. A dream kept me going: to hear my music played by a symphony orchestra. I was lucky to record with first call NY studio musicians. They did a great job, but the results sounded….small. I could afford 20 players. A symphony has at least 70.
My dream came true in 2003, when I flew to the Czech Republic to record with the Prague Philharmonic. Within minutes I heard my dream turn to a nightmare. The conductor didn’t speak a word of English and me not a word of Czech. That wasn’t the main problem. To explain requires a little trip into the musicological weeds. The musicians, while competent, weren’t versed in the musical idiom of pop syncopation. The music I grew up with (Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, etc.) is steeped in it. Notated, that music has more notes off the beat than on. But the feel of that syncopation is completely different than in classical music. Like most orchestral players of the time, the Czech ones had trained in conservatories where the pop feel was not taught. Bottom line: my music sounded big, but terrible.
Back from Europe a new obstacle to composing arose. The music that fed my family was happy, positive, optimistic! I had a dark side that longed for expression. I drifted from music into writing dark psychological thrillers.
When I was writing orchestral music, before recording with real musicians I’d mock up my pieces using samples. Though they improved every year, hearing the real thing in the studio proved how lame those samples were.
Not any more. I’ve noticed in the TV series I watch that samples have gotten so good that it’s hard to tell them from the real thing. In the back of my mind was the idle thought that if I took up composing again I might finally be able to put Prague behind me.
My wife found me a great FREE grand piano. I started playing Bach, realized in short order that this old back, neck and hands weren’t going to cooperate. But my old muse was back, giving me coy looks. And whispering, “Haven’t you had enough darkness?”
It’s funny how reality can suddenly hinge on an idle thought. I bought a super Mac, a couple of sampled orchestras, grand piano and a choir…and was composing again. In dollars, the whole rig cost a fraction of my adventure in Prague. The toll on my peace of mind is another story. I spent a couple of months tearing out what little hair I have left mastering the technology required to make a symphony orchestra come out of a silver box.
As I approached the summit of that great learning curve I got ever more frequent glimpses of a magnificent view. Listening to music can be a great joy. Playing more so. Nothing beats making it.
The same is apparently true of visual art. A fellow musician suggested that people might be less inclined to click away from my YouTube videos if they had visuals with motion. Just as I’d fallen into composing again, I fell into making videos. I’ve been working with my wife and with two fine painters I know – Janey Fritsche and Eric Kaye. I went to the De Young museum for the first time since the pandemic and wondered why I wasn’t getting the same buzz from the paintings I used to. Because I wanted to be creating them.
The album Delight, is available on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify; the videos are on
YouTube (FREE to listen and watch, a new video every two weeks.)
That’s my story, a work in progress. Questions? Comments?
Family Is Family: OzarkHillbilly
WaterGirl
Please let us know when you get here.
Fascinating progression through your artistic life!
MomSense
Oh my goodness this is wonderful! Was just listening and wish I were still dancing/choreographing because I love fickle heart.
John Manchester
@WaterGirl: Here!
John Manchester
@MomSense: Thank you! Long ago (1982) I wrote music for a Choreographer in New York. The performance got a mixed review in the NYT….They called the music “Happy.” Given the weird state of Classical music at the time I didn’t know if that was a compliment or an insult.
MomSense
@John Manchester:
NYT is garbage!
Joy in FL
I clicked over to apple music and made a new playlist with your album Delight. What I sampled was lovely, and I look forward to hearing the whole album. Thank you for sharing some of your story. It adds so much when I know a bit about the person who wrote the music.
West of the Rockies
I just listened to Delight on YouTube. My first thought was it was like a less-mathmatically rigid Bach wrote a score for a pleasing rom-com about young musicians.
I hope that conveys my response: fun and lovely!
John Manchester
@West of the Rockies: Bach has been my main inspiration in recent years (it used to be Joni Mitchell.)
WaterGirl
@John Manchester: Welcome!
John Manchester
@Joy in FL: Great to get all this positive feedback! It gives me energy to write more.
Kristine
Bought your album–it’s lovely. Also the kind of music I can work to.
Scout211
Thank you, John. What a nice way to spend time. I watched and listened to all of your YouTube videos and I thought Chartres was my favorite. And then I saw there was one more hiding under the drop-down. Now Serenity is my favorite. The paintings and the music most definitely brought me a feeling of serenity this morning.
Thank you. I needed that.
All the videos and the music are lovely. But Serenity . . . is just so beautiful.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Such a lovely comment from you!
If I were John, I would be tempted to print it out and tape it to my bathroom mirror for a boost every morning.
MomSense
@Scout211:
I love Serenity, too.
John Manchester
@Kristine: I’m glad you think you can work to this music. I’m going to try some advertising on YouTube along the lines of “Music and Images to improve Concentration and Well-Being.” I’m not doing it for money but to get enough subscribers so that I can TURN OFF THE ADS. (There’s an irony in there somewhere.)
John Manchester
@WaterGirl: Indeed.
WaterGirl
@John Manchester:
That would never grab me. But “Music you can even work to!” or something like that would definitely get my interest. Just my two cents. :-)
Kristine
@John Manchester: Funny–I thought exactly that while listening. I subscribe to Brain.fm and what I’ve listened to so far fits in their Focus category.
I’m very happy when I can find music I can listen to while working. Anything with words is Right Out. I veer heavily into classical (Love Bach and Vivaldi and Handel) and a wide range of ambient.
John Manchester
@Kristine: Never heard of Brain.fm – will check it out. Though they have words my favorite Bach is the Cantatas. But if you don’t speak German maybe you’d find them useful. IMO they have the deepest feeling and the densest counterpoint.
MattF
Somewhat OT, but I’ve recently discovered that there’s vast amount of music, commentary and instruction on YouTube. Rick Beato’s large set of videos on guitar is a plausible place to start. And also anything that shows Yuja Wang playing piano.
And I’ll listen to John’s album soon, since I’ve pretty much figured out how to get Apple Music working for me.
ema
Lovely music and videos. More people should see/hear your work. If I may offer a few friendly suggestions (been steeped in “How to” videos for my own channel):
About – No doubt you’re a lovely and talented person. But why should a perfect stranger visit/subscribe to your channel? This section should tell visitors what you can do for them – entertain, sooth, calm, etc. It’s not about you, it’s ALL about them. Study this channel trailer video and you’ll understand.
Shorts – we all hate to make them but they are a powerful marketing tool. Long videos, people have to look for/choose them. Shorts, they’re spoon-fed and mindlessly clicked. Also, once someone views your short, they’re more likely to be recommended your long videos.
Video topics – (only if you’re interested) make a few How To videos on your software/hardware learning process, and even your artistic journey (more like a vlog). See which ones get the best response and double down on the topic.
Other channels – find music channels like yours, study them, and learn what makes them successful and what to avoid.
Hope this helps, good luck!
John Manchester
@MattF: I’ll second the Rick Beato plug. He’s a very accomplished musician whose mission is to educate musicians (and listeners) to the many dimensions of music that have sadly disappeared from popular music in recent years (harmony and now even melody.)
John Manchester
@ema: Thanks for these suggestions! I will look into all that you describe.
The instructional route occurred to me but friends in the video end dissuaded me, saying it was too much work. Now I’m going to take another look.
J R in WV
So classically trained European musicians can’t get syncopation!.?..
What a shocking and sad revelation! But the more I think about it, the less surprised I am. I found Google translate was really helpful while in Europe…
Mr. Bemused Senior
@ John and WaterGirl, thanks for this! I look forward to listening to all of Delight [just bought it]. John, you wrote,
Ah, critics. Is there something wrong with happiness? Reminds me of Leonard Bernstein’s comment [if I recall correctly] preferring Simon & Garfunkel to modern classical music.
Soprano2
I listened to the Chartres one because I’ve been there. I liked the music – it was vigorous and soothing at the same time, if that makes any sense. My choir conductor said Chartres Cathedral has the most beautiful stained glass in the world, and after seeing it in person I believe that. Unfortunately, it was winter when we went so I didn’t get any of those other beautiful visuals you included – just gray, dreary countryside, plus it was freaking cold in that place because of course they don’t heat those places in the winter. We had to sit through an hour-long program about the history of the cathedral before we got to perform – I was on a choir trip. The sound in a place like that is gorgeous!
ETA – I can’t imagine how hard it is to try to get musicians to perform your work in the way you “heard” it as you composed it, because they and their conductor might have other ideas about what it should sound like.
John Manchester
@J R in WV: There should be a different word for pop syncopation – it’s really a different animal.
John Manchester
@Soprano2: What a joy to sing in Chartres! (Despite the cold.) Wonder what music you sang?
Apparently the blue they used in the stained glass windows is a great mystery (though that info is decades old – they must have technology to research it now.)
John Manchester
@Mr. Bemused Senior: There was happy music written in the 20th century – my favorite is by Elgar. I heard something on the radio recently by Gustav Holst’s daughter Imogen – beautiful and melodic.
The atonal/aleatory guys (and they were all guys) in the conservatories were all “our way or the highway.”
kalakal
Very nice indeed 👍👍👍
Yes, sampled instruments have come a long way in the last few years.
John Manchester
@kalakal: That they have. My go to sample orchestra is the BBC
WaterGirl
@John Manchester: I got caught up with something earlier, so this is me belatedly thanking you for doing this today, and also suggestion that you check back later or in the morning because we often get comments or questions later in the evening or overnight.
Torrey
And to prove WaterGirl right, here I am with a late comment.
I listened to and watched all four. I don’t listen to music while I work–I need to focus on music–but the combination of music and images provides what I would describe as real mental refreshment. There’s no plot to follow (a good thing) and the images are inviting and restful. I can see these being just the break I need from time to time. I particularly appreciated the woods in IDYLL. “A walk in the woods on a perfect day” is an apt description. Subscribed.
The Fat Kate Middleton
Another late comment here and a question. I’m so enjoying your music, and the videos as well. I’ll watch/listen to more tomorrow. My question: do you know or are familiar with the works of John Frantzen? He’s my cousin, and I’ve been told he’s a Grammy winner.
John Manchester
@Torrey: I’m happy that you had this experience! Others have reported that the music helps them see the images better and the images help them hear the music better. Which fosters a nice mental state. Not what I intended but great that it happens.
John Manchester
@The Fat Kate Middleton: Haven’t heard of your cousin but I haven’t heard of most contemporary musicians. I will loo him up.