During the Corona crisis our government in Austria published a lot of rules. One of them was to keep distance to each other of one meter – like the size of a baby elephant.
Several months later I saw a new ad about how to behave during holiday season. A police man explained to check before travelling if it is possible to keep the distance while I could hear an elephant trumpeting in the background (a great idea of the advertising agency).
A view hours later it rained and I started composing a song with this trumpeting elephant in my mind. I found a free sound sample and built around the music.
I am a fan of Star Trek. Some weeks ago a saw the movie “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” on TV. At the beginning and at the end of the movie Captain Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy sat in the Yosemite National Park around a bonfire and sang the nursery rhyme “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”.
This inspired me to create a modern instrumental version of this song.
This year is different than previous ones. Because of the Corona pandemic crises we are not allowed to celebrate Eastern with our family and friends together.
This inspired me to create a happy and dance version of the famous traditional country song “Glory Hallelujah (John Brown’s Body)”.
The current pandemic situation and limitation of social contacts inspired me to create a dark and dramatic song. During production I recognised more and more positive vibe. Now it sounds happier than planned originally.
Do you know the Western film “High Noon” from 1952? The theme song “The Ballad of High Noon” (also known simply as “High Noon”, or by its opening lyric “Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin”) was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin (with lyrics by Ned Washington).
End of November the old-timers in our tennis club told me that this has been the best Western film ever. They told me that it is in real time. The time in the film runs just as fast as in real life.
Good luck: One week after our discussion the film was broadcasted on TV. I recorded it but had no time to watch it.
During Christmas holidays I had time and together with my younger son I watched the recorded film. We were very excited as it was supposed to be the best Western ever. And in 1952 a film in real time had been something special. We sat in front of the TV with a stopp watch and synchronised the time.
The first deviation occurred after just 15 minutes. Real time? Never. The first disappointment. How was the action and the tension? Maybe the best in 1952 but not ever. We were disappointed, but Watched the western to the end.
But what I noticed at the beginning was the theme song. After the film was over I searched for the sheet music straight away.
The Radetzky March Op. 228 by Johann Strauss’s father is an integral part of the Vienna New Year’s Concert.
Even weeks before, advertisements were made for wherever this piece was played.
That prompted me to get the sheet music and replay it in my new digital audio workstation (DAW) to learn using the software. While mixing, I had the inspiration to make more of it.
This song was created after several weeks of tweaking.
I can remember exactly: It was 12th of March 2019. We had dinner with colleagues at Figlmüller (The home of the Schnitzel – https://figlmueller.at/en/). I saw an US driving license of my colleague with the birthdate. Like a spark I had an inspiration.
After the dinner in the train to my home I recorded the first chords into my iPhone. I continued on the song occasionally when I had time and inspiration in the upcoming months. In summer holidays I finished it.
And today – on this particular birthday – I put it online.
