Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 4:07 pm
True story, my first job in CA was for a startup that was trying to make an online municipal bond trading exchange, circa 2000-2002. Hope that helps, Frank! 
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Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
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Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 4:19 pm
What were the themes like? Did you have a lot of design issues with the color palettes
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:20 pm
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:21 pm
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:42 pm
Yes, I understand that. But the Bond movie songs are basically just songs written in the style of the performers who made them. The Duran Duran song could have been on any of their albums. The Adele song sounds like Adele. Chris Cornell sounds like Chris Cornell. Like what are the characteristics of a “Bond theme”? Do you see some common thread that I’m missing?
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:51 pm
Are we supposed to incorporate the actual Bond theme song?
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:17 pm
My take, given the bond theme song playlist, is that every bond movie has a theme song. There are just more popular ones that we'd consider *the* bond theme song. Each theme song is more or less about the movie it's associated with. In this case, the bond movie is Carte Blanche, and you're writing a theme song for that movie. You get to decide what the movie is about, who's playing bond, maybe the villian? Give it a theme, give a plot... and then give it a theme song!frankie big face wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:51 pmAre we supposed to incorporate the actual Bond theme song?
or not, i'm not a judge or even writing a song for that matter. 'bout to fire up some diablo 3 over here.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:23 pm
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:34 pm
Except there is a Bond book called “Carte Blanche” so the story is already written. I guess I haven’t paid very close attention to the lyrics of these songs but I don’t really think each theme song is “more or less about the movie.” I’ll give some closer listens, I guess. This is kind of a dumb challenge, imo.Lucky Spoon wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:17 pmMy take, given the bond theme song playlist, is that every bond movie has a theme song. There are just more popular ones that we'd consider *the* bond theme song. Each theme song is more or less about the movie it's associated with. In this case, the bond movie is Carte Blanche, and you're writing a theme song for that movie. You get to decide what the movie is about, who's playing bond, maybe the villian? Give it a theme, give a plot... and then give it a theme song!frankie big face wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:51 pmAre we supposed to incorporate the actual Bond theme song?
or not, i'm not a judge or even writing a song for that matter. 'bout to fire up some diablo 3 over here.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:58 pm
Children are a blank check and it's up to us to determine how much they pay off. Maybe just re-submit Chupacabra?
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:59 pm
frankie big face wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:42 pmBut the Bond movie songs are basically just songs written in the style of the performers who made them.
So write a song in the style of Frankie Big Face which is inspired by the book Carte Blanche.frankie big face wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:34 pmExcept there is a Bond book called “Carte Blanche” so the story is already written.
As Ujnhunter's post is evidence of, there are loads guides on what musical tricks bond songs traditionally incorporate, so they'll help with your musical direction. The irony in your apparent bewilderment about this challenge is that I have no doubt you'll write/perform/record a better song than me.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:04 pm
That "How To Write a Bond Theme" video was not as good as I was hoping it be. It was basically just "have a rising chromatic three note motif". That should have been like a minute of a longer video going into other commonalities.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:05 pm
Frank, if you don’t write a song in French, you have failed.
You have the opportunity to make history here.
Plus nobody will care what it’s about.
You have the opportunity to make history here.
Plus nobody will care what it’s about.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 1:13 am
Sure, I’m not going to win Nur Ein being that I was eliminated in Round Zero, but now feels like a good time to mention that, twenty years ago, I won a Nintendo 64 at our work Bond-themed Christmas party, where I was the only person who turned up in head to toe gold paint. I gave the Nintendo to my little brother.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:02 am
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I will do my best! (Only slightly sarcastic, I promise)
But I will not be reading a James Bond book, furrypedro. That I will not.
But I will not be reading a James Bond book, furrypedro. That I will not.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:39 am
Wikipedia, my friend. Wikipedia.frankie big face wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:02 amBut I will not be reading a James Bond book, furrypedro. That I will not.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_Blanche_(novel)
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 4:39 am
I don't think it is. The French word for check is "chèque". A more faithful translation is "white card" or "blank paper".
Meaning: you gave the enemy a large blank sheet of paper on which they could write their demands.On donnait ainsi à l’ennemi une grande feuille de papier vierge sur laquelle il pouvait écrire ses exigences.
The result, of course, is the same, but the origin is not from an actual check.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:00 am
I sure wish I'd known that there was an actual Bond novel titled Carte Blanche before I wrote my lyrics, but, hey, c'est la vie.
I'm a little surprised that Frank apparently can't hear the commonalities among James Bond movie themes. It's true that most of them are in the style of the person or band performing them, but I don't think these songs sound like typical songs by these performers. "View to a Kill" has many hallmarks of that Duran Duran sound, but I think it would sound pretty out of place on a Duran Duran album.
Some running throughlines I observed...
NUR EIN!!!!
I'm a little surprised that Frank apparently can't hear the commonalities among James Bond movie themes. It's true that most of them are in the style of the person or band performing them, but I don't think these songs sound like typical songs by these performers. "View to a Kill" has many hallmarks of that Duran Duran sound, but I think it would sound pretty out of place on a Duran Duran album.
Some running throughlines I observed...
- Every single one has full orchestration with string and brass sections.
- Most of them use some form of either augmented or diminished chords.
- They're all quite melodramatic, and make frequent use of words like "live," "die," and "kill."
- Many of them focus on the lead vocal performance, including a difficult melody with lots of space for the vocalist to belt.
- All but a few of them take their titles from the movie, or at least use it in the song's lyrics.
NUR EIN!!!!
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 2:11 pm
Thanks Jon, that's helpful. I just don't feel like reading a book or listening to an entire playlist of crappy songs over and over again when I just want to write a song. You saved me the time and trouble. I'd personally rather spend that time actually writing a song. Next week, we'll have to summarize the collected works of Proust. But only use two instruments.Generic wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:00 amI sure wish I'd known that there was an actual Bond novel titled Carte Blanche before I wrote my lyrics, but, hey, c'est la vie.
I'm a little surprised that Frank apparently can't hear the commonalities among James Bond movie themes. It's true that most of them are in the style of the person or band performing them, but I don't think these songs sound like typical songs by these performers. "View to a Kill" has many hallmarks of that Duran Duran sound, but I think it would sound pretty out of place on a Duran Duran album.
Some running throughlines I observed...
I know at this point we're late in the week, but those observations gave me plenty to go on for this challenge. Good luck to all!
- Every single one has full orchestration with string and brass sections.
- Most of them use some form of either augmented or diminished chords.
- They're all quite melodramatic, and make frequent use of words like "live," "die," and "kill."
- Many of them focus on the lead vocal performance, including a difficult melody with lots of space for the vocalist to belt.
- All but a few of them take their titles from the movie, or at least use it in the song's lyrics.
NUR EIN!!!!
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 2:21 pm
P.S. You are right about one thing. These songs wouldn't appear on normal albums by these artists. Because they all suck and would be cut. The Duran Duran song is a good example. The Garbage song is another good example. There are many.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:00 pm
frank, as the only actual composer in the field (as far as I know) you ought to be able to own this challenge.
Re: Nur Ein XV Round Four "Carte Blanche"
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:14 pm
You'll get no argument from me on that, Frank. I actually wrote that and then erased it... Most of them just aren't very good! I'd say two or three of these are all time classics (jury's still out on Adele, but I think hers may stand the test of time), and the rest range from actively awful to just okay. I figured we wouldn't want to model that part of it.frankie big face wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 2:21 pmP.S. You are right about one thing. These songs wouldn't appear on normal albums by these artists. Because they all suck and would be cut. The Duran Duran song is a good example. The Garbage song is another good example. There are many.