Right brain

I feel like posting music and movie clips that speak directly to my right brain and have effects I don't understand at all.



That was Philip Glass's "Opening" performed on the marimba.  It's perfect for that instrument:  simple repeating pairs on notes in each hand.  It sounds complicated only because the right hand is doing triplets over the left hand's doublets.  This composition is buried in the theme music for the under-appreciated movie "Breathless."  In the final scene, the modified Glass piece alternates with Jerry Lee Lewis's "Breathless," followed by the same song performed by "X."



I get exactly the same feeling from "The Piano":

3 comments:

Gringo said...

It sounds complicated only because the right hand is doing triplets over the left hand's doublets.

From my time playing the piano: easier said than done.

Texan99 said...

It's not too bad. The notes are so simple that you've got brainspace to spare for the mismatched beats. Once you get going, it's like a perpetual-motion machine.

Eric Blair said...

Interesting. Glass's music was used at the end of the movie "Hamburger Hill" which I saw when it came out with about 400 other GIs, including actual veterans of the battle.

Used over O'Donnell's poem, and the credits of the cast, (very good cast, btw), had a very powerful effect.

This is the last scene of the movie; the music kicks in at about 4:46; http://youtu.be/WJLgr1Ch1hQ

You see just the poem and credits here: http://youtu.be/bYOHeTNsNFM