Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Music By Jon Glassett

For as long as I've had a yard haunt, I've had music playing to enhance it. Back in the day, it was selected tracks from John Carpenter soundtracks and various horror scores. I remember one early year the main titles from BEETLEJUICE even made it to the final cut. Lately it's been dark ambient music. Subtle and unnerving, slowly building to add tension and a pending certain doom for any trick-or-treater close enough to hear it. Music makes the shadows darker and the pumpkins brighter. And the night a little colder.

A good friend of mine from a few states away has a really cool blog which I've featured a number of times here. He's a talented writer and I've always found his stuff to be witty and insightful and loaded with heart. He's also a musician and a composer. He featured some tracks of music recently and I was blown away. I don't write that lightly. It did what music's supposed to do - it connected with the listener [me]. I related to it and felt emotion from it...and wanted more. I posted a few comments complimenting his work and invited him to satiate his desire to write horror scores by composing something for my haunt video. To my delight, he accepted the offer and began working on a score to my 2008 video for THE HOLLOWMEN.

It's difficult to describe how I felt when he sent me the finished product. Listening to a musical score that was written specifically for my video was a tad overwhelming. I'm an opinionated stickler for music and spend an insane amount of time selecting tracks for my haunt videos. His music was simply perfect. He displays a skill for subtle tension and chilling accents, while avoiding any of the typical trappings you might expect from a horror score. I felt like it was Halloween again. Like I was looking at someone else's haunt. The video is now packed with atmosphere and style and creepiness.

I'm pretty honored and extremely grateful that he did this for me. He's a Master at his craft. I have darker shadows and brighter pumpkins to prove it.

Thanks, man.

Click to watch:

12 comments:

Johnny said...

Wow.

Cold. Distant. Chilling.

Beautiful.

I agree, this feels like Halloween. Fantastic.

Grim said...

That is pretty cool, to have music made just for your video. I've been spending the last two days trying to find the right music for the video for the video I'm working on now. I always wondered if you made your videos to fit the music, or made the video then picked the music.

crudedoodle.com said...

I would buy an album of his music, man. No joke.

Anonymous said...

that was incredible.the music made you feel like you were actually walking through some chilling walkway up to a worn down abandoned house with freakish scarecrows telling you to stay away or you will never see the light of day again.

great job to you both!

bean said...

I've said it before, if I heard Jon's music out somewhere I would have to buy it immediately. Intelligent, subtle, creepy, unnerving, atmospheric...and the perfect music for that video.

Jon...more please!
:)

Rot said...

Put it up on youtube : )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gLNVX376x0

JHMDF said...

His music is just my style. I love simple sounds, and having it not sound like it was made with instruments you can easily recognize.

The Captain said...

I love the ambient whispering and the tinkling wind chimes. Very nice work, I agree I would buy an album of similar tracks.

Unknown said...

I like the "whispers" in the background. It sounds like your rotting sculptures are trying to communicate with the living... or each other...

Anonymous said...

What an amazing gift; the score truly compliments your video. It brought all of my 5 senses to life. After reading Jon's last blog entry hinting around that you are entertaining the idea of writing a manual dedicated to helping people create Halloween props and designing unique yard haunts. I thought what an amazing idea! A book filled with all things that make Halloween so special. Touching on topics such as "haunt theory", creating atmosphere, chosing the right music, and to be able reference some "how to" prop making instructions/ ideas. Including inspiration pictures of past haunts and props would be an excellent addition to any Halloween enthusiast's library! Perhaps including a CD showcasing scores from Jon Glassett (that way avoid having to pay royalties-except to Jon of course) perhaps including your own videos. I am a believer that when opportunities come around you must take advantage of them; otherwise you might find your self regretting it down the road. You have acquired quite the cult following of the past years; and with this book you would be able to reach a larger demographic and inspire so many more people. I would love to see this come to fruition! I am still looking forward to the day I see Pumpkinrot T-Shirts/ stickers (showcasing past props like Pumpkinrot, Bog Man, Blight, Roots, and the Three Witches) available through your ETSY page. Let this be a motivational message to you. Put me down for an autographed copy.
Stay True~
Rob
FMI

Jon Glassett said...

This has been an incredibly fun, gratifying project for me on many creative and personal levels. It really was a blast not only making the music itself but communicating, coordinating and conspiring to get the end product ready for viewing. This was, without a doubt, a gift and privilege for me, especially having never done anything like this before (but having ALWAYS wanted to).

Thank you for letting me "cut my teeth" on your video, 'Rot. I look forward to the next one. ; )

And a HUGE thank you, as well, to all the folks who have commented here and on my own site. I really, really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I will try to have more music to offer as soon as inhumanly possible.

-Jon

Jason-v said...

Simply fantastic!!!!