composition - 'Goats and Tigers'

The free version of the game has now been finished and released on iTunes and can be download to your iPad, iPhone or iPod free of charge by following this link:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/g-t/id399598547?mt=8

The premium version will hopefully follow by the end of December, as will an entirely new game, codenamed 'Bridges'.

Modulus - here we go again...

Once again the band suffers upheaval as my latest singer Aimee has decided to quit in light of her heavy workload at the school. We are grateful to her for organising our rehearsal spaces over the last three months or so. I have informed our drummer Yuri that the band is to cease with immediate effect. It's just too much hassle trying to do this when other people can't commit.

orchestration - radio 4 work

It's been a while, hasn't it?! Recently I was quite lucky to be offered some work by Ben's girlfriend Becca, who works as a broadcast assistant at Radio 3. The work was essentially two transcriptions of cabaret songs for a forthcoming Radio 4 production. It was unpaid, but the experience was still extremely valuable. The work had an absolute deadline of this evening, and I'm pleased to report that it was completed by 3am early Friday morning. Hopefully this will have portrayed me in a good light and might therefore place me well to be offered further work.

composition - 'Encaustic'

Unfortunately, Encaustic did not make it through to the shortlist of the Citta di Udine competition. Still, there's always next year.

composition - 'Goats and Tigers' title themes

Currently on my MySpace are three versions of the title theme I've been working on for the forthcoming 'Goats and Tigers' iPhone game. Please do have a listen, all feedback is genuinely welcomed, good or bad. We are aiming for a release date of late August to early September.

composition - 'Goats and Tigers' iPhone version

The iPhone version of 'Goats and Tigers' is due to be released this autumn. As composer of the original video game soundtrack, I have been asked to write more music for this release. It has been decided that the game will have a distinctly retro feel, with the others requesting me to write in an "8-bit C64/Spectrum style". This is an exciting project to be working on as our little design group branches out into hi-tech applications like the iPhone. Whether it is successful or not, I've been asked to compose music for two further video games (also coded by Dan) - which are 'Bridges' and 'Suicide Chess'. All of these three games can be played in a Java format here. Please send any feedback here.

composition - 'Encaustic' currently being considered

Dear composer Jamie Gray,
TEM - Taukay Music Publishing House thanks you for your participation in the VIII International Competition for Composers "Città di Udine" with the composition Encaustic. 
This year we have received 469 works from 50 countries, which is a tribute to the increasing renown of the competition. 

Albania (3), Argentina (7), Australia (5), Austria (3), Belgium (4), Bielorussia (1), Brasil (8), Bulgary (1), Canada (14), Chile (2), China (8), Cipro (1), Colombia (4), Cuba (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (1), Philippines (1), Finland (4), France (12), Germany (11), Japan (22), Greece (8), Hong Kong (1), Ireland (1), Island (1), Israel (3), Italy (184), Korea (9), Malaysia (1), Malta (2), Mexico (5), Norway (2), Netherlands (10), Perù (1), Poland (2), Portugal (7), Romania (3), Russia (7), Serbia (9), Spain (17), Sverige (7), Switzerland (4), Taiwan (8), Thailand (2), Turkey (2), United Kingdom (27), Hungary (1), Uruguay (1), USA (27), Venezuela (3)

The results of both sections of the competition will be announced at the end of July. We'll send you notification as soon as possible.

In october during "Contemporanea" New Music Festival the following prizes will be awarded in Udine (Italy):

- Best composition in the section “Instrumental compositions for chamber group”: one thousand Euro (1000 Euro).
- Best composition in the section “Electro- acoustic music”: one thousand Euro (1000 Euro).
- Special prize “Piero Pezzé” (founded by his heirs in memory of the Friulano composer who passed away in 1980): seven hundred Euro (700 Euro).
- Special mention with the awarding of the medal offered by the Presidente della Repubblica Italiana for this edition of the event.
- Special mention with the awarding of the medal offered by Senato della Repubblica Italiana for this edition of the event.

TEM - TauKay Music Publishing House will organize a public performance of 6/8 selected compositions from among these submissions. This program will be audio and video recorded. 

Due to the large participation in the competition, two CDs instead of one will be produced, the first one dedicated to "Instrumental compositions for chamber group" and the second one dedicated to "Electro-acoustic music". The CDs will be included in TEM - Taukay Music Publishing House catalogue.

The two winning compositions for each section will be broadcast by RAI Radio as part of the national programming of the RAI Radiotre Suite dedicated to contemporary music. 
Submitted works which include an audio recording of the composition may be included in the programming of Taukay Web Radio. The choice of compositions to be broadcast will be decided in accordance with the editorial direction of the broadcaster (http://radio.taukay.it/).

TEM - Taukay Edizioni Musicali, following the indications of the Jury and in agreement with the composer, offers to include and make available the most interesting compositions as part of their electronic catalogue of New Music.

If you need to receive more information please contact us.

Cristina Scuderi
Coordinamento organizzativo
Concorso Internazionale di Composizione
"Città di Udine"

composition - 'Encaustic' submitted for the Città di Udine competition

Without wanting to get my hopes up for the latest composition competition I've entered (seems like over a thousand composers will take part!) ... I received the following email about an hour ago:


-----------------------------------------------------
Dear Jamie Gray,

Thank you for your participation in Città di Udine International Composer Competition.

Yes, we received your composition and the entry fee payment made using credit card.

As soon as possible you'll receive other info about the competition.

Best regards.

Vittorio Vella

Modulus - personnel changes

Sincere apologies for the general lack of updates & information on my site over the last couple of months. 

As a result of some important changes in her circumstances just before Christmas 2009, it is with great reluctance that I can confirm Dee has left our band. This was not due to the usual reasons you hear or read about, like "creative differences" or "technical reasons", but purely because her employer had been forced to close by the Fraud Office, and she had no option but to find other work. Consequently, she could not commit any time to the band. All of us at Modulus are pleased that she has left on good terms with all of us. We respect her decision and wish her the very best for the future.

Additionally, Emma has been very busy with her MMus at Trinity. She has been performing with a range of top-quality ensembles and orchestras, and for the BBC. Such a hectic schedule has, like Dee, clearly left her with very little in the way of free time. Again, we understand her reasons for leaving us behind, particularly when you have more glamorous things to do with your time (wouldn't we all?) - and wish her the very best.

As Christmas ended and the New Year started, it was therefore up to myself as Band Leader/Director to take charge of the situation and recruit new musicians, a situation made slightly more complicated as, of course, I am no longer a student at Kingston Uni. I was therefore reliant upon the administrative staff circulating some advertising emails on my behalf, and a select few flyers taped up in the common room area.

At Dee's Christmas party, I had the fortune to meet Steve, one of her housemates. He mentioned that he sang, liked Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Jamie Cullum, and was looking to be in a band - the rest, as they say, is history! Just under two weeks later, I got a phone call from Anna, a Bulgarian girl, who had seen my advert at the uni. Some initial meetings were arranged and a preliminary rehearsal agreed. As the band's repertoire could be comfortably performed by both myself and Ian on bass, it was Anna's decision on what we would rehearse.

After much hectic timetabling and inquiring about people's availability, a general band rehearsal was finally scheduled for yesterday, Saturday 20th, at 14:00. Even then, we only booked the room thanks to Dee, as the rest of the band are no longer students at the uni! The rehearsal got off to a shaky start when Anna arrived nearly an hour late. We did manage to complete the programme we intended and scheduled some more songs to work on for next time. 

After carefully evaluating from others in the band concerning Anna's voice and its characteristics, I was obliged to write her an email informing her that I did not want her to continue to sing for us. Her voice had a very nasal, raucous tone to it that might have served her well in a rock music setting (and she had frequently boasted of her vast experience in this particular genre) but considering that I want the band to expand into R&B, soul, swing, and jazz, to give us a more rounded repertoire, I felt it was the only practical outcome, especially as her voice would not be suited to the subtleties and shades of most or all of these genres. I was disappointed both personally (late punctuality) and professionally with her.

With an eventful few weeks behind us, hopefully now we can continue with our present line-up of Ian, Jamie, and Steve. We are still on the lookout for a drummer, but the basic foundations of the band are accounted for. Watch this space!