'Of Mice and Men' music preview

As promised, incidental music from Theatre Banshee's production of 'Of Mice and Men' can now be heard here. Music composed by Troy Sterling Nies, music performed by 'Trio Apollo' woodwind trio: Tonya Mertz, oboe, Michelle Kiec, clarinet and Sara Boyd, bassoon.

'Someday'

Someday’ is the prelude piece - as I thought of Lennie’s vision of a simple way of life, the rain in the winter, living off the fat of the land. George’s vision is in there as well although a bit more melancholic. The uplifting part in the middle is where they both share the vision for a fleeting moment, but perhaps George’s vision is a bit jaded by the realism of their situation.

'The Machine'

‘The Machine’ isn’t a literal musical interpretation of Lennie crushing Curly’s hand. Rather, it’s the representation of working on a ranch, a farm, with the machinery, the threshing machines, the routine. There is a bit of an unsettled undercurrent that suggests trouble ahead - this was suggested to be used as a lead-in after intermission.

'Tending Rabbits'

‘Tending Rabbits’ is a musical interpretation of another of our duo’s vision of their paradise. The Rabbits are musically represented by the melody line that is interwoven between the three players. There is still a somber, almost naïve tone with a melancholic resolution to the end.

Theatre Banshee's 'Of Mice and Men' tickets and information can be obtained at http://www.theatrebanshee.org/

'Of Mice and Men' incidental music

(Burbank, California) Theatre Banshee's production 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck will open Saturday, March 8 at The Banshee and run through April 13. Make your reservations today by calling 818.846.5323. (click here for online reservations)

Incidental music for 'Of Mice and Men' composed and recorded by Troy Sterling Nies, performed by woodwind trio Trio Apollo. Examples of the music will be linked here after the show opens.

'In Search of Lovecraft' feature film score completed!

I recently completed the score to feature film 'In Search of Lovecraft'.

ISoL is scheduled for a mid 2008 release. Updates on film festival screenings and distribution information will be posted here as it develops.

Examples from the film score:

'In Search of Lovecraft' title sequence

'In Search of Lovecraft' score excerpt

The score will be available for purchase mid to late summer, 2008.

'The Call of Cthulhu' to be screened at Fargo Film Festival March 4-8

I just received word that 'The Call of Cthulhu' will be screened at the March 4th-8th Fargo Film Festival, in Fargo, North Dakota. The festival is held at the historic Fargo Theatre. I will be attending the festival and look forward to meeting filmmakers and all involved! Pictures will be posted after I return.

I scored the lion's share of 'The Call of Cthulhu' film score. Ben Holbrook and Nicholas Pavkovic also provided music for the film.

CD's & DVD's will be available for purchase - so if you would like one, hunt me down at the festival or order them from here.

'The Whisperer In Darkness' Teaser Trailer

Music composed by Troy Sterling Nies - performed by members of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra.

Studio Upgrade & Film Scoring Update

Well, I have officially taken a huge step closer to the 'darkside' that is Mac.  I purchased a MacBook Pro 17' and am now running Digital Performer 5.12.  This will be a nice addition to the PC setup I currently run (Sonar Pro 5).  Instrument and sound libraries will include the same libraries I have been using (East West, Native Instruments, etc.). bul will soon include the MOTU Symphonic plugins soon as well.

With the new MacBook Pro, I'm finding it to be a very intuitive OS (Leopard).  I've been exploring 'widgets' and am actually typing this blog entry using a handy little blogger widget.  Grreat stuff!  

'In Search of Lovecraft' is in full swing - scoring is going well as I continue to work with Todd Hartman and David Hohl.  The score, so far, can be described as a combination of organic instrumentation and electronic sounds - certainly stuff to send a chill up the spine.  Check back for more updates and clips soon.

'In Search of Lovecraft' Music Preview

I'm currently composing music for the upcoming feature-film, 'In Search of Lovecraft' by Hohlograhic Productions. I've been working with Director David Hohl and Audio Engineer Todd Hartman.
A sample of the film's music is included here - this is the 'In Seach of Lovecraft' title sequence:
'In Search of Lovecraft' title sequence composed by Troy Sterling Nies (MP3 format)

Check back soon for more updates!

2008 Happy New Year - sneak preview of upcoming projects

Happy New Year 2008! (I'm only off 3 days..)

It's been a bit since I last posted - I thought a teaser of what's to come in 2008 would be in order:

Currently scoring Hohlographic Productions' 'In Search of Lovecraft'.

H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society will be releasing some very interesting projects this year:
'The Whisperer In Darkness" Also visit the youtube link to teaser that I scored: here
I will be scoring the film, recording on-set dialouge and providing sound design.

H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society will be releasing another installment in the 'Dark Adventure Radio Theatre' series : 'The Dunwich Horror". I will be scoring the music segments and creating sound design for the radio drama.

The N.D. Music Teachers' Association has commissioned me to compose an original work for their annual conference. The performance will be held June 12 or 13, 2008 at the Bismarck State College, Bismarck, N.D. The work is being composed specifically for the Apollo Trio ensemble with other added elements.

A TOP SECRET special project will be in the works during 2008 - watch closely here or www.troysterling.com for more details...

Recent Screenings for films with music by Troy Sterling Nies

2 films and 1 film teaser-trailer that I composed music for have screened at film festivals recently:

"The Whisperer In Darkness" teaser at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon

and Diabolical Tales 2 & 3 at Schockerfest International Film Festival in Modesto, California and 'It Came from Lake Michigan Film Festival' in Milwaukee, WI.

More film screenings and updates soon...

The Whisperer In Darkness

'The Whisperer In Darkness' teaser / trailer is now online!!!

http://www.cthulhulives.org/Whisperer/trailer.html

I recently composed the music for this teaser and will be scoring the feature length film. 18 Members of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra performed the music for the teaser with Dr. Tom Porter conducting. Extra music was recorded that was not included on the teaser ( click here to listen )

I will also be the on-set recordist/sound design for the film in Los Angeles this fall/winter and other set locations in the spring. We’re working with an orchestra this time for the score – it will be a fantastic experience! ‘The Whisperer In Darkness’ is being created by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. HPLHS also brought to you the new silent-film sensation: ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ (http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html )’ which I also scored.

Keep up to date with developments at my website (http://www.troysterling.com/ ) and my blog (http://www.troysterling.blogspot.com/ ).

-Troy

Bismarck-Mandan Symphony perform 'The Call of Cthulhu'

On Sept. 29, 2007 The Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Performed excerpts from the film score, 'The Call of Cthulhu' by Troy Sterling Nies. The concert was a great success, nearly selling out. Still-shots from the film, 'The Call of Cthulhu' were projected while the orchestra performed. A link to the performance will be posted soon.

Pictured: Dennis Gowen (conductor) and Troy enjoy the after-concert gathering.



In attendance were some very key people in the development of Troy's creative life. Pictured to the left: Composer and mentor Bill Tornow, Troy's Piano Teacher and mentor, Arlene Gray and Dr. Tom Porter - compositional mentor and instructor to Troy while he studied at Bismarck State University.

The 'Pre-concert chat' entitled, 'The Composer Emerges' was hosted by Brian Palacek. The chat was very well attended. Troy and Brian discussed the process of scoring to film and how to translate film score to performance hall. The audience even attempted a 'sing-along' to the dark themes from 'The Call of Cthulhu' with Troy on piano and Brian guiding the audience. It was spine-tingling indeed! Brian Palacek is also a long-time artistic mentor to Troy.

Diabolical Tales 3 - Teaser Trailer Audio

Diabolical Tales 2 & 3 will be screening very soon (October!) at "Shockerfest" Film Festival in Modesto, California and "It Came from Lake Michigan" Film Festival, Milwaukee, WI.


To whet your aural apetite - here is another snippet of score material by Troy Sterling Nies. This audio clip is from the Diabolical Tales 3 teaser trailer.


Diabolical Tales 3 Teaser Trailer Audio

Diabolical Tales 2 & 3 in Film Festivals!

"Diabolical Tales 2 & 3" in It Came From Lake Michigan Fest
(Troy Sterling Nies composed the film scores for the Diabolical Tales Trilogy)

Cosmic Control Productions' "Diabolical Tales: Part II" and "Part III" have been selected as official entries in the 2007 It Came From Lake Michigan Film Festival, to be held from October 26-28, 2007 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The films will be playing back-to-back starting at 6:00pm on Saturday October 27th in the "Poe Room" at the It Came From Lake Michigan! Film Festival. This marks the first public screening of "Diabolical Tales: Part III", which is the final entry in the trilogy. Troy will be in attendance with Brandon Kane (producer/director) and will be appearing on Q&A and panel sessions.

http://www.diabolicaltales.com

http://www.itcamefromlakemichigan.com

Diabolical Tales 2 is also playing at Shockerfest on Sat Oct 6th at 5pm at the Galaxy 12 Cinemas in Riverside (Modesto) CA. Oct 8th will commence the awards ceremony. www.shockerfest.com/2007/schedule.html

"The Call of Cthulhu' filmscore to be performed!

Excerpts from 'The Call of Cthulhu' filmscore by Troy Sterling Nies will be performed Saturday, September 29, 2007 7:30 p.m. Central Time at the Belle Mehus Auditorium, Bismarck, North Dakota. Link: http://www.bismarckmandansymphony.org/

Tickets are available at: (701) 258-8345

Troy will be present for the 'pre-concert chat' session with Brian Palachek, M.C. and will also be available following the concert to answer any questions.

Your attendance supports the BMSO and Troy's compositions!

'Diabolical' Ring-tones

Hello everyone -

As post-production wraps up on the 'Diabolical Tales' Trilogy - we're happy to make available to you, TOTALLY FREE, Diabolical Tales Ring-tones for your cell phone!
http://www.diabolicaltales.com/ringtones.htm

ENJOY!

Diabolical Tales 2 will be receiving it's premiere screening October 6th at the 6th Annual Shockerfest 2007 Film Festival. Also, DT2 will be screening at the 'It Came From Lake Michigan Film Festival' October 26-28.

Diabolical Tales 3 score samples!

As post-production for 'Diabolical Tales 3' wraps up, I've been given the green-light to go ahead and realease some 'teaser' samples of the Diabolical Tales 3 score. Listed below are 4 excerpts for your aural-sampling pleasure:

"The New Protégés" ( http://www.troysterling.com/mp3s/DT3blogexcerpt.mp3)

"Zerrath's Plan" ( http://www.troysterling.com/mp3s/DT3scene5excerpt.mp3 )

"The Hologram of Zorak" ( http://www.troysterling.com/mp3s/DT3scene9excerpt.mp3 )

"The Ultimate Battle" ( http://www.troysterling.com/mp3s/DT3scene11excerpt.mp3 )

Make sure you visit http://www.diabolicaltales.com for everything Diabolical! For more information on what I'm up to or to listen to other music examples - make sure you visit www.troysterling.com

Thank you for listening!

best regards,

Troy Sterling Nies

Diabolical Tales 3 Completed!

It's a wrap! I have officially completed the score to the Diabolical Tales 3 - Betrayal of the Men from Within the Earth. http://www.diabolicaltales.com/

With the completion of episode 3, I have composed over 2 hours of music for the Diabolical Tales Trilogy. The Trilogy will be screening as several film festivals this summer/fall. Details will be posted here as they become available.

The Diabolical Tales Trilogy scores are available for purchase at: http://www.troysterling.com/TSN07CDS.html

Diabolical Tales 3 score nears completion...

Well, the Diabolical Tales series is nearing completion. I'm currently over one-half of the way completed with the score. When this episode is completed, I will have composed nearly 2 1/2 hours of music for the series! The scores to episode 1 and 2 are available for purchase at (http://www.troysterling.com/TSN07CDS.html)

To whet your audio apetite, here's a score excerpt to the upcoming 'Diabolical Tales III: Betrayal of the Men From Within the Earth'

Diabolical Tales 3 score in progress excerpt
(http://www/troysterling.com/mp3s/DT3blogexcerpt.mp3

Purchasing music?

I've had a few requests as to where my music can be purchased:

You can either order the physical CD (signed) using the links on the left side or by purchasing downloadable mp3 files for your ipod through the Snocap store to the right.

Troy Sterling Nies - official website ordering page

Events, commissions and other music-tidbits

I received a very exciting email a short while back from my long-time and much loved piano teacher, Arlene Gray. It appears that the N.D. Music Teachers Association has selected and commissioned me to compose an original work for their June 2008 conference. The work will be performed at the Bismarck State College, June 2008. Corinne Nustad, NDMTA President contacted me and confirmed their selection. It will be a great honor to compose a work for the NDMTA and be able to share some new music with a good number of my music mentors as so many are still in the Bismarck/BSC community.

In addition to the NDMTA commission, I am currently working on a new work for 'The Apollo Trio' The composition will be for oboe, clarinet and bassoon. The premiere will be held at their October concert. Dates and times TBA.

I recently completed the reorchestrations of selections of 'The Call of Cthulhu' filmscore I composed in the Fall of 2005. The Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra will be performing selections from the score at the Belle Mehus Auditorium, Sept. 29, 2007, Bismarck, N.D. This concert is the 2007 season opener, 'Cinema Series Concert' other works performed will be selections from 'Maginificent Seven', 'James Bond', 'Star Trek' and others. Reserve your tickets by calling 701-258-8345.