About me & Music. For more info visit www.kranidiotis.gr
Yiannis Kranidiotis
Another wallpaper I designed “When You Play” is featured in Smashing Magazine’s Wallpaper Collection for April.
A toy figure playing a D, photographed on my piano.
You can download the wallpaper in various sizes here
My wallpaper “Joy Of Life” is featured in Smashing Magazine’s Wallpaper Collection for February.
“…I get most Joy in life out of Music.” This famous quote from Albert Einstein together with the firsts notes of Handel’s Recorder Sonata in G minor, inspired me to create this wallpaper. I am willing to create a series of wallpapers about the Joy of Music. We’ll see!”
To create this wallpaper, I used my son’s toy figure and an old recorder placed on my office (which I turned it to a small studio for this photo-shoot).
You can download the wallpaper in various sizes here
Bellow you can listen to Damijan Mocnik’s “Verbum Supernum Prodiens” performed by Vocal Inventions directed by Olga Alexopoulou. Vocal Inventions is a vocal ensemble at Athens, Greece that I am a proud member of.
It was recorder live at Michael Cacoyannis Foundation during the Christmas concert we gave at 20 December 2012.
Verbum supernum prodiens
a Patre o lim exiens,
qui natus orbi subvenis
cursu declivi temporis
Illumina nunc pectora
et tuo amore concrema;
audito et praeconia
sint pulsa tandem lubrica.
Laus, honor, virtus, gloria
Deo Patri et Filio
Sancto simul Paraclito
In sempiterna saecula.
Amen.
Celestial Word, to this our earth
sent down from God’s eternal clime,
to save mankind by mortal birth
into a world of change and time;
Lighten our hearts, vain hopes destroy;
and in Thy love’s consuming fire
Fill all the soul with heavenly joy,
and melt the dross of low desire.
To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Laud, honor, might, and glory be
From age to age eternally.
Amen.
Interesting links about “Verbum Supernum Prodiens”
- Wikipedia Article about Verbum Supernum Prodiens
Bellow you can listen to Damijan Mocnik’s “Verbum Supernum Prodiens” performed by Vocal Inventions directed by Olga Alexopoulou. Vocal Inventions is a vocal ensemble at Athens, Greece that I am a proud member of.
It was recorder live at Michael Cacoyannis Foundation during the Christmas concert we gave at 20 December 2012.
Verbum supernum prodiens
a Patre o lim exiens,
qui natus orbi subvenis
cursu declivi temporis
Illumina nunc pectora
et tuo amore concrema;
audito et praeconia
sint pulsa tandem lubrica.
Laus, honor, virtus, gloria
Deo Patri et Filio
Sancto simul Paraclito
In sempiterna saecula.
Amen.
Celestial Word, to this our earth
sent down from God’s eternal clime,
to save mankind by mortal birth
into a world of change and time;
Lighten our hearts, vain hopes destroy;
and in Thy love’s consuming fire
Fill all the soul with heavenly joy,
and melt the dross of low desire.
To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Laud, honor, might, and glory be
From age to age eternally.
Amen.
Interesting links about “Verbum Supernum Prodiens”
- Wikipedia Article about Verbum Supernum Prodiens
Merry Christmas with this new piece I wrote for Christmas. I started composing it last year but I didn’t manage to finish it on time. So this year It was easy for me since more than half of the composition was ready.
The painting is “Christmas Eve” (1959) by Guy C. Wiggins. The references – influences for this composition are Tchaikovsky’s “Russian Dance – Trepak” from Nutcracker and John Williams “Holiday flight” from Home Alone (I believe that John Williams also used Tchaikovsky’s Trepak as reference!)
I wish you happy holidays with a Christmas song I composed in 2002. I edited the orchestration and recorded it again. It’s fun to revisit things you did ten years ago!
The beautiful painting in the video is “Christmas Market in Germany ” by Nancy Cote. You view her inspiring work at http://nancycote.blogspot.com
I realized that there is not piano version of the popular soundtrack the Ennio Morricone composed for Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Malena“. The main theme called “Inchini Ipocriti E Disperazione”, was always one of my favorite Morricone ‘s themes. So, I decided to write down the arrangement I used to play in the piano.
You can download it for free here:
Malena Theme – Inchini Ipocriti E Disperazione – Piano – Yiannis Kranidiotis.pdf
and you can listen to it here:
Bellow is the original movie version of the theme.
The summer has almost finished so it is time for a new post! I reOrchestrated Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for solo cello, symphonic orchestra, SATB choir and the original voice of Kurt Cobain. I would love to read your comment on this!
And for the visitors from Germany, where YouTube banned my video for copyright issues (I have used parts from the original music video), bellow is a Vimeo version:
Writers: Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic
Load up on guns, bring your friends
It’s fun to lose and to pretend
She’s over bored, self assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word
Hello, hello, hello, hello?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino
A mosquito, my libido
Yeah!
Hey!
Yay!
I’m worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino
A mosquito, my libido
Yeah!
Hey!
Yay!
And I forget just why I taste
And yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it’s hard to find
Oh well, whatever, never mind
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino
A mosquito, my libido
A denial! A denial!
A denial! A denial!
A denial! A denial!
A denial! A denial!
A denial!
Interesting links about “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
- Listen to the original version of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg
- “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Wikipedia article.
The last weeks I have been using an exciting app for my running routines called “Zombies, Run!”. It is a running game and audio adventure for both iPhone and Android devices. You can read more at www.zombiesrungame.com
Inspired by the stories of this audio adventure I wrote a piece trying to describe the atmosphere of the “Zombies, Run!” game. I also dramatized the music creating a video with a similar timeline of the game mission and using the graphics and symbols of the app. Where it is:
Update:
The developing team of “Zombies, Run!” game liked my music and they post it on Facebook and Twitter:
One of our fans, @YKranidiotis, made a soundtrack and video inspired by Zombies, Run! Check it out - it’s pretty cool! youtube.com/watch?v=QTnoT0…
— Zombies Run (@ZombiesRunGame) July 3, 2012
Hint: place your mouse over the picture and move it around. Use mouse wheel or double click to zoom in/out. For best experience click full screen. Click the bulb icon for a visual representation of the soundscape.
While working on this MusIcon™, the “The Empire of Light (L’Empire des lumières)” by René Magritte, I faced a problem. I wanted to have the sound of the morning birds only in the blue area of the sky. Additionally, the music I compose for the light, heard only in around the light and up to the dark area of the trees. Using the “music sources” approach (in short, having music source around the image like small speakers. For more info read my previous post here.) this was impossible. So I decided to move forward and upgrade the MusIcon idea. I totally damped the “music sources” and instead now I use what I call “music heatmap” for every music source. A music heatmap is a visual representation of the music volume just like a heatmap is a representation of the temperature. In our case, is a grayscale image representing the volume of the music from black=0% volume to white=100% volume. Have a look in the images bellow (The Light, The Window, The Sky) where these are colored versions of the music heatmaps.
This approach has many benefits. For example, you can control the spread of the sound and the direction. You can have a sound that stops immediately in an area or spreads smoothly in another. You can also have the same sound in two ore more areas of the image.
“The Empire of Light (L’Empire des lumières)” by René Magritte, numerous versions of which exist (Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, The Guggenheim Museum), gets its title from a poem by Paul Nouge. It depicts a dark, nocturnal street scene is set against a pastel-blue, light-drenched sky spotted with fluffy cumulus clouds. With no fantastic element other than the single paradoxical combination of day and night, René Magritte upsets a fundamental organizing premise of life. [1]
In this painting there are 3 different music themes:
[caption id=”” align=”alignnone” width=”144” caption=”Music heatmap of “The Light” music theme.”]
[/caption]
The Light.
A slow melancholic theme played mainly by the piano and the harp. [caption id=”attachment_1029” align=”alignnone” width=”144” caption=”Music heatmap of “The Window” music theme.”]
[/caption]
The Window.
A theme that is use in “The Light” music played by the flute and the english horn. A harp is accompanying. [caption id=”attachment_1028” align=”alignnone” width=”144” caption=”Music heatmap of “The Sky” sounds.”]
[/caption]
The Sky.
The sky is filled with the sound of morning birds.
What is a MusIcon™?
MusIcon™ is a picture where you can move and listen to different music moments. There are various music sources that come from different points. If you want to read more about the creation and inspiration of MusIcon™ read my post here.
Get it on your android phone!
I created an android application so you can enjoy the MusIcon in your phone. Explore the painting with your finger or tap the magic wand and use the “Random Tour” while you are on the go with your earphones. You can download it from bellow:
Get the Share it!
If you want to post this MusIcon™ in you website or blog then use the following code: [code]<iframe width=”100%” height=”410” src=”http://kranidiotis.gr/MusIcons/MusIcon.swf?xmlURL=/MusIcons/Rene Magritte - The empire of light/MusIcon.xml” frameborder=”0” allowfullscreen scrolling=”no”></iframe>[/code]
Note: Copy & paste the above code as html and not as text. Click here for instructions for embedding code on sites powered by popular web apps such as Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, dotNetNuke, BlogEngine.NET and ScrewTurn Wiki.
More info:
[list style=”star”]
- “The Empire of Light” Wikipedia article about the various versions of the painting.
- René Magritte Wikipedia article.
[/list]
Notes:
- Painting description from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
