Blazemane's Redwall Fan-Music (Updated)

[Blazemane]

Hello, all,

Two years back, when I was reading through Doomwyte, I was struck by this part in the book:

"Corksnout and Friar Gullub began shepherding the Dibbuns off to their beds. Even the notorious D.A.B. gang did not complain. It seemed that most Redwallers seemed heavy-lidded and languid. Bosie played a beautiful, slow air, which conjured up scenes of quiet, heather-strewn glens, with tranquil streams wending through them. One by one, everybeast drifted off upstairs, until there was only the mountain hare and Samolus Fixa, keeping each other company amidst the flickering shadows cast by guttering candles and fading lanterns..."

And... I figured I should try to write a version of that. I don't know about my attempt being beautiful or conjuring heather-strewn glens, but everyone's got to start somewhere, right?

Two disclaimers:

-Since the sound comes from composition software, it obviously isn't as good as what you'd get from an actual violinist (though I added some reverberation and chose to have the sound play as if it was in a "medium hall"). But I'm not a string player, and we don't have any violins in the house.

-Bosie's instrument wasn't exactly a violin. I could only guess what his instrument sounded like and try to approximate it.

Further Music:

Chapter 2
https://soundcloud.com/user716556540/chapter-2

This piece is based on part of Chapter 2 of Outcast of Redwall (hence the title, "Chapter 2"), with the bassoon representing Sunflash the Mace, the French Horn representing Skarlath, and both instruments taking turns here and there to represent the environment and/or the general feel of the situation that these two character find themselves in.

I don't know if it would be too much posting of the book to write the section this music is based on in this post. But as a basic setup, Skarlath and Sunflash have managed to escape from Swartt Sixclaw, and they've just finally stopped for a rest in the snow at a clearing in the forest after running all night long. Now they consider their new-found freedom and what to do next. The piece basically ends as they leave the clearing and begin their long quest to take Swartt down.

[Leatho Shellhound]

very nice!

[Rusvul]

Aye, thankee for helpin' me get to sleep last night

[Blazemane]

very nice!

Thanks!

Aye, thankee for helpin' me get to sleep last night

This helped you go to sleep? Wow--thank you!

[KitrallStreamrippler]

That was beautiful. Thank you for adding more good music to the world.

[Blazemane]

That was beautiful. Thank you for adding more good music to the world.

Thank you for listening.

[WoodlandWarrior]

That was well done!

[Blazemane]

Thanks!

[321tumbler]

I love it!

[Blazemane]

Thank you very much!

[Blazemane]

This past winter, I had my first semester of composition lessons. I'm a beginner beginning after all other beginners, but I really do enjoy writing music anyways, and I figured that with actual deadlines, I'd finally have an "excuse" to practice.

One of the other students who was studying with the composition instructor is a bassoonist, and he put out a call for us to write pieces for his instrument. He told us that the bassoon doesn't get a lot dignified literature (pieces featuring it are often somewhat-comical, because it has a sort of... ponderous, caricatured, low sound), and he was hoping we could write some things that avoided that.

So naturally, when a student asks for dignity, my first thought is to associate the bassoon with a badger.

No, but seriously, I immediately thought of Redwall. And, well, the badgers of Redwall can be very dignified. What followed was this:

https://soundcloud.com/user716556540/chapter-2

This piece is based on part of Chapter 2 of Outcast of Redwall (hence the title, "Chapter 2"), with the bassoon representing Sunflash the Mace, the French Horn representing Skarlath, and both instruments taking turns here and there to represent the environment and/or the general feel of the situation that these two character find themselves in.

I don't know if it would be too much posting of the book to write the section this music is based on in this post. But as a basic setup, Skarlath and Sunflash have managed to escape from Swartt Sixclaw, and they've just finally stopped for a rest in the snow at a clearing in the forest after running all night long. Now they consider their new-found freedom and what to do next. The piece basically ends as they leave the clearing and begin their long quest to take Swartt down.

I have to be honest--I don't feel the greatest about this one. Maybe it was finding different content in the chapter than I'd expected when I got down to reading it and thinking about it, maybe it was working with only the two instruments, maybe it was adjusting to a new compositional process with my instructor, or maybe it was a combination of a bunch of different things. But it took me about two and a half months to finish, and by the time I was done, it still seemed sortof... lifeless and uninspired. Even now, in thinking about posting this today, I went in and made some changes to it again.

But it's been sitting on my computer for months, and I figured that maybe it'll sound different to some other people. And that's something I won't know until I finally put it out there. So here it is.

[Tam and Martin]

That is great!

[Blazemane]

Thank you very much!

...Do you mean the "Bosie" piece, or the "Outcast of Redwall" one?

[Tam and Martin]

Both!

[Blazemane]

Wow. Well, thank you again.