Don Bodin's Music, Life and Art Blog

Composer/Artist Don Bodin's account of real life adventures as he sails the sea of music, movies, games, art, life and living with a passion for creation and a need to pay his rent.

1/8/10

2010 - a new year - week 1

I tend to get a jump start on "Resolutions" . I'm a big fan of change and I like to shake things up . . . maybe a little more than is necessary. The new year has just begun but I am happy to say that I started implementing most of my resolutions in November and December.

I also aspire to update my blog more frequently.

Some personal goals are already underway. You know, the usual, stay in shape and get regular physical activity to become a part of my life.
Although I tend to stay physically active (hiking a couple times a week) and run, I decided to give yoga a shot. I joined the yoga studio down the street and have been going to pilates classes a couple times a week - going on week 5. The yoga classes are a little "lite" for me but I am getting into the challenges of pilates.

Business goals weigh in with equal and often more importance. I want to utilize more of my creativity to contribute to new and exciting projects and of course, get projects to score with larger budgets. I have an indie film to score in February, but my ambitions are to be working with more directors and producers who I click with. To find people with projects that welcome experimenting with music arrangements and textures against the picture.

Getting to work with Lance Hayes on Forza Motorspot 3 was a great experience. Ideally at this time next year I want to be leading a games music team. I have a passion for creating unique orchestrations and aspire to add depth to a game's world through musical texture.

Many people I talk to about continuing my career forward say to give it time, that eventually people will hear what you do and want to work with you. Maybe I am asking to much for only scoring professionally for just 4 years.

A good friend said advised I share your music in videos on the internet. "People will spend more time watching and have a richer experience then if you just have music samples." she said.

This bit of advice really resonated in me. I don't even have a scoring reel.
So moving forward I decided that along with my bi-monthly newsletter to all my friends, filmmakers, game developers and directors, that I would include a promo video for each one in 2010. I was motivated enough that I completed the first video (First Snow - Holiday Greeting) for the Holidays in December.

I taught myself how to animate over a weekend and completed the video. It was fun and since it was also a holiday greeting, I was able to not take it so seriously. This allowed me to experiment and learn a little bit about animation and have some first hand insight as to the process of making a film.

As soon as I completed that I realized that there are so many great opportunities for me to make short films and videos to go along with my music. And then after speaking to my brothers (Tbob - the screenwriter and Bernard - the aspiring film maker) I knew that we already had a little short animated project that we could all work on together. Dispite the fact that none of us are illlustrators or animators we had come up with a fun concept last year and will be documenting our attempt to animate a short film in the next couple months.

It's taken many years to realize that most people don't have a relationship like I do with my brothers. I feel really lucky that I have two creative, talented and positive friends to share ideas with. Both Tbob and Bernard were instrumental in the birth of The Radioactive Werewolf album as well as supporting and advising me on several of my other personal projects. I have always thought "They are my brothers and this is how siblings do things" but I guess most people don't have the same kind of experience - brainstorming, supporting, facilitating each others creative endeavors.
I am lucky to have them as well as so many talented creative friends.

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12/17/09

Forza 3 Racking Up Awards


Microsoft releases "Dream" trailer for Forza Motorsport 3 I'm proud that I was able to work with Lance Hayes on music for Forza Motorspot 3 for XBOX. Congratulations to the entire Turn 10 team - so far Forza 3 has received the following awards.


IGN.com: Best Xbox 360 Racing Game of the Year

G4TV: Best Racing Game of 2009

CNNTech: Best Racing Game of 2009

SpikeTV: Best Driving Game of 2009

Details at: http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/blogs/post.aspx?App=turn_10s_forza_motorsport_blog&y=2009&m=12&d=16&PostName=forza-motorsport-3-racing-game-of-the-year

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12/16/09

VS. Mad Max Daily Vault Review


Reviewer Vish Iyer takes my apocalyptic ode to the Mad Max trilogyVS Mad Max for a spin and publishes the review on DailyVault.com.

" . . . frenzied as the concepts themselves. With a sound that can be best described as a mishmash of speed metal and techno, the paltry thirty-three minutes of this record throws in enough punches"

" Even with its inescapably strong nuances of speed metal, Vs Mad Max is a surprisingly accessible record, especially to someone who isn’t particularly into this genre. The tight compositions are simple and have the same allure for pop as ‘80s goth did. The album is more fun and less dark than it appears to be, much like the Mad Max movies themselves."


Full review here: http://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=6301

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12/15/09

First Snow Holiday Video

Finished my first Holiday Animated Video for the theme "First Snow"




Download it and 4 other Holiday tracks at: DonBodin.com/Holiday

12/9/09

Forza 3 Soundtrack CD available now!



I am excited to announce the release of the Forza Motorsport 3 soundtrack. I was thrilled to contribute to the score and work with Lance Hayes and am proud to be apart of this critically acclaimed - best selling racing game.

Sumthing Else Music Works and Microsoft Game Studios, proudly presents Forza Motorsport® 3 Original Soundtrack featuring the original music from the critically acclaimed racing game developed exclusively for Xbox 360. The soundtrack is available at Amazon.com as well as on Sumthing Digital www.sumthingdigital.com and iTunes®.

Forza Motorsport 3 Original Soundtrack includes 90 minutes of ambient electronica music created by award-winning composer and producer Lance Hayes aka DJ Drunken Master. The soundtrack features a broad range of music styles and overall chill demeanor encompassing primarily electronica, ambient and downtempo with forays into ambient breaks, illbient and acid jazz.

Composer Lance Hayes said, "This was truly a rare and amazing project to work on. I knew it had to be perfect because this was Forza but we also agreed that it had to be music that could stand on its own. We were looking for the right balance of listen-ability and edge."

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11/20/09

Forza Motorsport 3 nominated for Spike TV Video Game Awards

Forza Motorsport 3 for XBOX 360 (game includes music by Lance Hayes & Don Bodin ) has been nominated for a couple Spike TV! Video Game Awards.

FM3 has been nominated in the categories of: Best XBOX 360 Game & Best Driving Game

The Spike TV! awards show will be broadcast live on December 12, 2009 at 8pm.

The nominations were announced just days after Forza 3 has officially sold over 1 million copies.


You can VOTE and view the other nominees here

10/29/09

Bobby Fischer Live Premiere

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

7:30pm

7907 Beverly Blvd at Fairfax Ave.

Los Angeles, CA

Invitation Only


Bobby Fischer Live premieres Tuesday!




I created the score for this bio-pictorial about the world famous, eccentric chess champion earlier this year and it had a few musical challenges.



Not only was I brought in to create the "underscore" instrumental music, but I was also asked to write and produce several "Could-Have-Been" tracks which essentially reflect the spirit of the music from the 50's through the 80's - the music of Fischer's life time.




"The Girl You Loved"
written and performed by Don Bodin and Linda Abbott

Unable to hear the track? Download the MP3 here.



The highlight of these tracks was "The Girl You Loved". This was my first collaboration with Linda Abbott. After I sketched out a rough arrangement and melody with a nod to the Ronnie Spector sound, I shared it with Linda so she could lend her unique vocal sound to the track.

We had just a few hours to finish the track and couldn’t find the right lyrics for the tune. We gave up and decided to revisit it later in the week but 
as Linda drove home from the session she called me and said "I have the lyrics for the chorus!". They were perfect. We ended up using her line "You never told me the girl you loved wasn't me". 



With the chorus lyrics in place I was able to quickly write the verse and bridge lyrics and by the next day, we had the song recorded and mixed.



CLOCK THEME
Main theme written for the film
written and produced by Don Bodin

Unable to hear the track? Download the MP3 here.


Composing the instrumental themes and score presented another exciting challenge.

Since the film’s chess competition sequences are shot in slow motion, the music takes a dominant role. It was essential that the music conveyed the tension of the match and the characters’ internal conflict.

'Big Match'
cue from the film Bobby Fischer Live
written and produced by Don Bodin

Unable to hear the track? Download the MP3 here.