I've been tired, so I have not yet posted about my attendance at the scoring session on Tuesday. My appologies. It was amazing. Unlike last time, where I was seated in front of the control panels where the director and sound technicians were working, this time I was behind them, so while watching Randy work, I could also see the director of Seabiscuit and the rest of the crew, and better understand how the process of scoring works on a macro level. The score sounds great, like a Natural for the people, you might say. One song he was writing, referred to as "The Crash," corresponds to a scene involving the Great Depression. I complemented him on it when he came over to greet us before lunch, and he said, "Yes, the depression was sad, I think I managed to convey that." Speaking to him at the end of the day, he was less sanguine about how the scoring process was going, and looked exhausted. But if things were going badly for Randy, he never took it out on the orchestra; he was always professional in dealing with them, and often joked with them about music and composers; some jokes about John Williams I didn't really get seemed to crack up both the musicians and the technicians in the booth ("That is so true," I would hear them remark). Near the end of the day, Randy even took to the piano, playing a bit of Heart and Soul to the delight of all, and (I forget if it was before or after that) sung out a bit of "The Old Rugged Cross."

This was the second time I attended a scoring session with Randy Newman (I previously attended a session for Monsters, Inc.). What did I learn this time? Really, the same things I learned last time. Two things in particular stick out. One, Randy Newman is an amazingly kind and generous person, and a brilliant composer. And two, Hollywood studio musicians are incredibly talented. Playing music they have never seen or heard before, and which is being re-written as they perform it, and being forced to constantly adapt to the requests of the composer and film director. And they are almost flawless, I don't think there was more than one or two missed notes the entire day. Oh, and a third thing I took away, which I can't believe I almost didn't mention because it is really the most impressive thing when you are actually there, in person, on the set: Scoring a film involves a lot of money. It's amazing how much time and effort goes into the process. I don't think they finished more than ten minutes of film the day I was there. And there was talk about redoing some of that music later in the week (the director wanted to add a fiddle, or as he called it, a "bluegrass violin").

Thank you, Randy, for such an amazing experience. I'm looking forward to seeing him in Saratoga in August (he'll be in Cerritos in August as well). UCLA Live is putting together a two-day tribute to Randy Newman in January (a Newman concert one night, followed by an all-star tribute to Randy the next). You better believe I'll be there both nights. (They're also going to have Firesign Theatre, Michael Moore, and a Kronos Quartet tribute to Edward Gorey, so I might have to look into season tickets or something...can't wait until they announce the details).

School's done, except for finals. I thought I got a decent night's sleep, so I don't know why I'm so very, very tired.