Great Acoustic Guitar Tracks – Royalty Free Music

Posted by on Feb 2, 2010 in film music, illustrated music, Monk Profiles, music licensing, Royalty Free Music | 1 comment

Just added 7 great tracks from Nicky Needle.  We are so fortunate to have so many great Acoustic and Americana options in our royalty free music library.

Check them out:

Cold Miracle
A minimalist bluegrass piece that sounds straight out of T Bone Burnett and Cold Mountain.
Price: $27.00

License :
Desert Minor
Haunting slow acoustic guitar blues. Beautiful.
Price: $27.00

License :

Open D
Slow passing of time. Electric and acoustic guitars. Pensive moody.
Price: $27.00

License :
Song for my Friend
Beautiful acoustic guitar solo. Lullaby-like and comforting.
Price: $27.00

License :
 

Tangled Cables
Slow acoustic guitar solo. Thinking through the events leading up to this moment.
Price: $27.00

License :

 

 

Modern Media Composer Sebastian Morawietz

Posted by on Aug 25, 2009 in Interviews, Monk Profiles | 1 comment

Composer_Sebastian Morawietz
Name: Sebastian Morawietz
Location: Berlin (Germany)
Style of Music: Corporate, Production Music, Cinematic (Electro-Orchestral)

Composer, Producer, Artist – How do you define yourself?

Modern Media Composer. Definitely not as a film composer. I do a lot for corporate companies, image-films and such things. And I do work closely together with some publishers, where I release music exclusively for underscoring etc… . In the past I did also a lot of pure producing and arranging jobs, which I also quite enjoy, since it is great to collaborate with other talent. I guess I am spending enough time alone in my studio. way to much. ;-)

How long working as professional?

I started in 1999 ‘professionally’ if you like. I was hired in a UK studio as an assistant engineer/ programmer, which really was a great time and experience. We actually did produce some No.1 Albums (UK/ Europa) and I am still kind of proud to credited on it. And so is my mother! But as much I enjoyed it, I always wanted to be a composer, not just editing other stuff and/ or playing on their records. And since I did have a proper classical training in piano and music theory, I really felt I can do it. Well – to make it short – I do was very optimistic at that time – but the reality is, there are also really many highly talented composers out there and it was extremely hard to pay the bills and keep it going. It kind of relaxed a bit now, having had some placements and build some professional connection.

What was your best professional experience?  Worst?

Really hard to tell. I really don’t know, honestly. I still did not had ‘THE’ best experience. there were surely some great surprising in the last years. Hey-  and a couple of great jobs I had came through Andrew and his 300 Monks company. Really fantastic. A DVD-Trailer and a Website Flash Intro. Sorry to drift off, but big thanks!  (see below for Sebastian’s Starburst music)
Worst? …  I though at least! – a great job. Worked Mon-Sunday…and the client, for whatever reason did not buy it. Frustrating! I guess every college student had at least a few of these experiences. You really have to love your job to keep going.

What instruments do you play?

My main instrument is the piano. I started when I was 5 or 6 and still think it is one of the most beautiful sounds. But  I admit I am also quite a technology guy and have invested in a lot of virtual instruments etc. My main tool for now over 10 years is Logic. I started with version 3 and I just love it. And it is scary to realize that I spend probably more time with it than with my girl-friend! ;-)

What do you think is the future of music and media as a business?  An art?

Really difficult to answer. The business is changing a lot and I am worried that the value of music is declining in the future. all this file-sharing, flat-rates etc… will and already have an enormous impact and I do hope companies like BMI, PRS etc… do find good answers to earn money for their members. but how difficult it is was the last dispute with Youtube and PRS… . On the other hand I am a firm believer in quality and composers (etc…) how really put their passion, talent and education into their works will always find a way.

Who are your heroes?  Musical influences?

Ennio Morricone. He is just THE one for me. So emotional and his melodies are so wonderful. What an inspiration to me. Honestly. I do like also the works of Gabriel Yared (Film composer f.e. English Patient) and Craig Armstrong (Scottish Film Composer f.e. World Trade Center, Incredible Hulk).  Craig has a special &  stylish way of combining electronica with traditional orchestral music. But  - generally  - I listen to a lot of music, especially Film Soundtrack and I find it very inspirational.
Browse Sebastian Morawietz’ royalty free music library

.

Eclectic, passionate, composer and musician Tom Curiano

Posted by on May 7, 2009 in Monk Profiles, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Tom Curiano

Tom Curiano

Name: Tom Curiano

Location: New York City

Website:www.tomcuriano.com

Style of Music: ALL

Composer, Producer, Artist – How do you define yourself?

Eclectic and passionate.

How long working as professional?

25 years

What was your best professional experience?

Performing at the Cannes film festival.

Worst?

it’s all good.

What instruments do you play?

drums. percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, banjo, ukelele.

What do you think is the future of music and media as a business? An art?

As an art form it’s everlasting. Don’t much care about the rest.

Who are your heroes?

I have no heroes.

Musical influences?

too many to list

Other influences?

too many to list

What’s a surprising, little known fact about you?

I once drove a Smart car up the Simplon pass in Switzerland in a blizzard.

Pop, techno and world from Film & TV Music Composer Adonis Tsilimparis

Posted by on Mar 30, 2009 in Interviews, Monk Profiles | 0 comments

Adonis Tsilimparis - Composer/Producer

Adonis Tsilimparis - Composer/Producer

Adonis Tsilimparis

Location: New York City
Website: http://www.myspace.com/adonistsilimparis
Style of Music: Pop/Techno/ World
Album links iTunes/Adonis Tsilimparis/Meridian

Adonis Tsilimparis tracks to  license: music for television advertising.

How do you define yourself?

Film and TV Music Composer/Producer

Awards and Professional Highlights

1999- AWNY Advertising Award – Best Music

How long working as professional?

15 years

What was your best professional experience? -

My best experience was working at a jingle house in NYC called Fearless Music. I was there from 1995 to 2002. I learned everything there, from producing, to composing music that was not in my experience. It forced me to stretch my creativity.

Worst?

My worst experience was being on tour in the early 1990′s. I was in a band that did a tour of Upstate New York. We made very little money, the van broke down and the Bass player quit in the middle of the tour.

What instruments do you play?

I play Guitar, Bass, Piano and I sing.

What do you think is the future of music and media as a business?  As art?

I think the Music business will focus on the Film and TV industry. Labels are dying out and since people don’t by C.D.’s anymore, the best way to market yourself is to place your songs on a TV show or a Film. It’s also a great challenge for artists to write background music because it forces them to stretch beyond their own scope of thinking. I learned that when I was writing for Commercials.

Who are your heroes?

The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pace De Lucia, Steely Dan

Musical influences?

Classic Rock, Jazz, … a bit of everything.

Other influences?

Classical Music, Flamenco and World Music

What’s a surprising, little known fact about you?

I lived in Athens, Greece for three years when I was a kid. That was where I was influenced by different styles of music and it gave me a broader horizon of genres to learn from. It really affected how I approach music nowadays.

Adonis Tsilimparis tracks to  license: music for television advertising.

Music from another planet: Marinho Nobre – Film Composer/ Music Producer

Posted by on Mar 26, 2009 in Monk Profiles | 0 comments

Marinho Nobre surrounded by...gear and more gear!

Marinho Nobre surrounded by...gear and more gear!

Marinho Nobre

Location: Long Island City – New York

Website: http://www.marinhonobre.com

Style of Music:
Interplanetary

Album links:
http://www.marinhonobre.com/links.htm

Video Reel:

and also…

http://www.marinhonobre.com/video_page.htm

You can license some of Marinho Nobre’s music for film here on 300 Monks.com

Composer, Producer, Artist – How do you define yourself?

I live a life of music a day at the time. Feel very fortunate for the fact that the 3 titles above came to a perfect blend based on achievements and great opportunities throughout my career.

As a composer, I write for film, tv and concert and consider it my primary field of work.

As a Producer, I utilize my skills from all the years making music on all my scoring work and when in between film scores use those very same skills to produce talent in my studio.

As an Artist, I work on expressing my passion whether it’s based on an image, subject or feeling to the best of my ability. On my solo works I find the most freedom of expression, since I’m in full control. The primary idea is to bring people into the universe that roams inside my mind.

Awards and Professional Highlights-

2008 – Winner – Park City Film Music Festival – Best Score on a Feature Film – (Al Qarem)

2008 – Nominated – Film and TV Music Awards – Hollywood – Best Score on a Short Film (The Angel ) – “Lost” to Michael Giachinno…

2007 – Winner – Park City Film Music Festival – Best Score on a Short Film
(The Angel)

2004 – Winner – Skymedia Awards – Best music on a multimedia work – (Una estoria Verdadera – Scored for the New York Yellow Spanish Yellow Pages )

How long working as professional?

Since 1980 as a music producer – Since 2001 as a full time Film Composer

What was your best professional experience?

Several, but to name a couple Spending 3 days being mentored in Orchestration by dear friend Scott Smaley at his ranch in California – Winning the Park City 2008 Awards for best score among 30 other nominated scores.

Worst?

A few as well, but one worth mentioning was having a 3 day 60 piece orchestral session in Prague canceled over the greed of a studio exec.

What instruments do you play?

Guitar(Electric – Acoustic – Classical ) , Bass, Keyboards, Mandolin, Banjo, Ukelele, Duduk, Oud, Saz, Doumbek, Lap steel, Pan flute, Native Indian Flute, Piccolo flute, Turkish Ney, Jaw Harp, Brazilian Berimbau, Brazilian Cuica, Tar drum as well as a number of percussion instruments.
I’m still shopping for more and going about learning them so this list will keep growing…

What do you think is the future of music and media as a business?

I pray for a renaissance. There are too many injustices towards composers for film and other artistic directions. There is too much corporate control without sensibility towards the music industry and I am a firm believer that that’s what brought it to the poor sad state we find it right now.

An art?

It’s uncertain. I pray that the creative freedom and respect that are increasingly being degraded by the media and corporate worlds are rescued back to an art form that was once respected and admired.

Music cannot be a commodity for anyone. People need to understand and link the “talent factor” back to the musician and systematically weed out impostors who are slowly but surely destroying something that otherwise is one of the most important artistic aspects of mankind.

Who are your heroes?

My Father, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, Djivan Gasparyan, John Paul II, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Mahatma Ghandi, Vlad Tepish the II (a.k.a. Dracula ), Oscar Schindler, Dalai Lama.

Musical influences?

Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Villa Lobos, Puccini, Vivaldi, Bernard Hermann, Wojsiech Killar, Jerry Goldsmith, Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman, Djivan Gasparyan, Hossein Alizadeh, Mercan Dede, Ennia, Enigma, Gypsy Kings, Pink Floyd, Nacao Zumbi, Raul Seixas, Sepultura, NIN, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Young Gods

Other influences?

Not believing solely on influences. Being yourself. Creating trends rather than following them.

What’s a surprising, little known fact about you?

Considering life an art form. One to be lived with the highest praise. A blend of art and one’s inner self connection with the Universe.  Believing that spirituality is just as important if not more than all of the things in the material world.

You can license some of Marinho Nobre’s music for film here on 300 Monks.com

Composer/Producer and Recording Artist Justin Nihiser

Posted by on Mar 24, 2009 in Monk Profiles, Musical Quotes, musicians, News | 0 comments

Composer, Producer, and Recording Artist Justin Nihiser

Composer, Producer, and Recording Artist Justin Nihiser

Justin Nihiser

Location: Atlanta, GA
Website: www.freneticsound.com and www.weareberliners.com
Style of Music: Alternative Rock, ad music (which is really just a catch-all, huh?)
Album links: http://cdbaby.com/cd/weareberliners2

Video Reel:

You can license some of Justin Nihiser’s Music for Advertising at 300 Monks

Composer, Producer, Artist – How do you define yourself?

All three. I have written tons of jingles for companies across the US, I rock with the rock band We Are Berliners and I produce custom audio tracks.

Awards and Professional Highlights

Placements on MTV, E!, and Oxygen in the last year and even now.

How long working as professional?

2004

What was your best professional experience?

I don’t think I’ve had that “it” moment yet. I guess getting my band placed in several television shows with our 2nd album that was fully produced by me ranks up there.

Worst?

Doing jingle spec work after I got out of Berklee. Yowza.

What instruments do you play?

Guitar, Bass, Alto Sax, Piano.

What do you think is the future of music and media as a business?

I think we will continue to see a deeper integration of bands, artists, composers, and dj’s into advertising on television and the internet. One word, “licensing”. Who cares about record contracts? Not me.
An art? The downside of placing all types of music with visual mediums and advertising is that our music ceases to be seen as art. So, it’s now highly marginalized. Oh well.

Who are your heroes?

Musically….gee, Brian Eno, Squarepusher, the dudes who keep making those killing Scion spots.

Musical influences?

LCD Soundsystem, The Killers, the dudes who keep making those killing Scion spots.
Other influences?

What’s a surprising, little known fact about you?

I have never watched the Godfather series.

You can license some of Justin Nihiser’s Music for Advertising at 300 Monks