Great article about Ennio Marricone

"At times, he exhibited humility bordering on the absurd... At other moments there were the flashes of hubris..." 


Read the article here

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/movies/ennio-morricone-the-film-composer-celebrated.html?_r=0

Freshmade Music and A Fresh Pair of Undies (Just In Time For The Holidays!)

Jerome Rossen's Freshmade Music has once again partnered with New York’s SS+K communications agency, this time to provide the musical soundtrack while a beautiful model slowly undresses to show off really gross underwear.  She’s urging men to upgrade their underwear.

Local SF Bay-Area jazz fans may recognize the sounds of Tom Griesser’s tenor saxophone.

You can see the spot at any of these outlets:

Huffington Post

NY Magazine

Creativity Online

Media Bistro

Tommy John

Help me get to 500,000,000 page views on YouTube!

Check out the current Happy Tree Friends Halloween Episode. I’ve written the music for this one and bunch of other funny, twisted episodes. Right now the material I worked on is at 298,000,000. But please don’t show kids – it’s violent!

Happy Tree Friends – A Vicious Cycle

Updated website. Now with bigger broccoli!

I just posted some new tracks on my website... www.freshmademusic.com - including some kid's songs with words (for other people to sing). Oh, and I made the broccoli picture bigger...

SF Ferry and Headlands

SF Ferry and grid

Collaborating With First Graders!

In the Spring, I worked with 80 kids in the first grade, from Tam Valley Elementary in Mill Valley to write five songs based on character traits that the school promotes.

Here is a page with a rough live recording, lyric pages and sheet music.

http://www.mvschools.org/domain/416

Accordion on Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Music by the esteemed Peter McConell
Accordion performed by Jerome Rossen
Thanks to IGN, you can kind of hear it here.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iE0FS8cOiA)

Politics 101: Can stalling and answering questions with other questions be a successful strategy for you?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why politicians incorporate the strange practice of asking themselves questions, then answering them? I have. Have you noticed that some of these questions seem rhetorical, but they answer them anyway? Yes, they do. Have you ever stopped to realize that these politicians are saying a lot of words, and they make it seem like they are really trying to answer questions truthfully, but are really just talking, and talking without saying anything at all, and continuing on, and on without end and they might even sound sincere with their device of asking a different question, in order to avoid answering the first question, until you realize you don’t remember what they start answering, or asking in the first place, and you wish you hadn't even asked anything? Sorry, what was the question again?

Composer Says His Music is Key to Obama’s Victory

Mill Valley – Composer Jerome Rossen of Freshmade Music has made the claim that his musical underscore was the key to delivering the crucial swing-state votes to yesterday’s Presidential win for Barack Obama.

 In the video titled “For All”, where supporters share why they support Obama, Rossen’s underscore lends musical support to their message with a rhythmic piano counterpoint and a warm guitar texture. Rossen says “I’m from Ohio, so I really thought that I could help the Obama folks figure out how to deliver the 18-22 year old votes – with my music. What can I say? It worked!”

 To see for yourself, the video is here:

400 Meter Burt Bacharach Medley

Great to watch Ryan Lochte in the 400 Meter medley, but you should hear him sing his 400 Meter Burt Bacharach Medley!

Goodbye Roger Williams

Roger Williams, Pianist Known for Sentimental Songs, Dies at 87

Hear his version of "Autumn Leaves"

What I'm Listening To...

A few records I'm listening to - some new, some old

Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive (2011)
Rootsy, folky songs from this amazing American songwriter, Earle and his music have been featured in TV shows Treme and the Wire, among others.


Andy Palacio & the Garifina Collective – Waitina (2007)
Infectious music from Palacio, a musician from Belize, features wonderful grooves that seems to define Caribbean. It's an intersection of many cultures, especially Cuban and West African.


Faithful - Marcin Wasilewski Trio (2011)
Wonderful trio from Poland featuring pianist Wasilewski, is easily the most reserved and sublime jazz that I’ve ever heard. Wasilewski has a wonderful touch and a great sense of time and melody.

Choice Cuts: Tasty Bites from Freshmade Music

Hi there-

I’m beginning a newsletter of sorts to share what I’ve been up to recently.

As usual I’ve been working on a mix of projects. I'm including a few samples below, that are scored to video. Don't miss my listen page at Freshmade Music with some new music samples. Stay tuned for a cool (soon to be released) video that I'm scoring celebrating 10 years of work of a great SF director of photography, Tom Seawell.

Ongo
I worked on a fun, fast-paced animation for a startup called Ongo. I wrote and performed the music, then brought audio engineer Jim Lively aboard to add his magic with sound design and mixing.
Watch it here:




Are you in the Bay Area?
Shop local! Freshmade Music is your nearby, organic, grass-fed (among other things), sustainable, eco-friendly choice.


Google - YouTube
My music was featured in a Google video for YouTube, accompanying Russell from the Happy Tree Friends, as he learns about copyrights. This overly dramatic, orchestral music is my take on the classic animation style, which draws it’s inspiration from some of my favorite cartoons growing up, like Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry – created by composer Carl Stalling and others. You can watch this video here (My music comes in at 1:17.):



Happy Tree Friends
If you’re interested in watching/listening to the latest Happy Tree Friends episode, you can access it here. (If you haven’t seen the show, you should be aware that it’s not appropriate for little kids as it contains some extreme cartoon violence):

Subscribe to Choice Cuts

The High Line in NYC

This is a great, short explanation about the High Line in New York City.
Robert Hammond: Building a park in the sky

Tom Petty to Michele Bachmann: Stop Playing My Song

Tom Petty has asked presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann to stop using his song “American Girl” in her campaign. He “has reportedly issued a cease-and-desist letter to the conservative's camp” according to press reports.

Read the article here.


Dear Ms. Bachmann,

I understand you may be looking for some new music for your campaign. Here are some suggestions you may wish to consider:

Crazy – Patsy Cline
Crazy – Willie Nelson’s version (he originally wrote it)
Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
Let’s Go Crazy – Prince
(Not) “Takin’ Care of Business” Bachman Turner Overdrive
U Don’t Know – Jay-Z
Don’t Know Nothing – Maroon 5
Runaway - The National
Go Away – Roy Orbison
The Longest Day – in honor of (the real) John Wayne

Sincerely,

Jerome Rossen

Customized Music Helps Ongo Hit the Right Notes

Freshmade Music produced the audio for the “About Ongo” video, a fun, fast-paced animation created by veteran animator Tom Westerlin and his team of artists. I (Jerome) wrote and performed the music, then brought audio engineer Jim Lively aboard to add his magic with sound design and mixing.

Upon first listen, you’ll notice that the music isn’t particularly complicated, however I adjust the music’s role to actively support the story when necessary, or lay it in the background to set a mood.

The music track consists of three pieces – the outer space theme at the beginning, the second piece, the one that builds in tension to support the story, then the third happy “Ongo” theme. While it would be possible to provide a soundtrack for a spot like this with library music, I think that having a score unique to the action of the video serves the overall story much better. The area that is most noticeable is the 2nd piece of music (starting in a major key at around 0:04). As the “chaos” enters, the music shifts to minor at 0:12, then there’s a big transition at around 0:30. Having the ability to compose a piece just for this section allowed me to get the right amount of tension in the story at just the right time.

Another feature that you just wouldn’t get with library music – the ending is musically scored to picture. Also, the sound design contains a good portion of musical sound design, often cymbal hits or bells.

Walking Instructions

Last Night at the Big Top

After I finished college, I wanted to move to New York to become a rock star, so I needed a job that would help me put a little money in the bank. I ended up working on a cruise ship that did a couple of different routes in the Caribbean. Among one of the many characters that I met was a drummer named Jim. He was a nice guy, and really normal compared to most of the other cruise ship ilk. In my first couple of days aboard, he asked how everything was going, and I told him that I thought that this must be what a circus is like. He had sort of a funny look on his face and raised an eyebrow, and said, “Well, sort of.” And he proceeded to tell me about the circus that HE had played, the sort that is called a “Mud Show”. They’re called Mud Shows because they generally set up at the edge of a town in the dirt. And they don’t have the luxury of canceling due to rain. So if it’s been raining, and the dirt is wet, on with the Mud Show. Jim’s general sense was that the cruise ship thing was pretty normal – but if you want to meet some REALLY CRAZY characters, then you should work in a Mud Show. He had a theory that Mud Shows were the perfect place if you ever needed to placed in the witness protection program. You travel around a lot from town to town and you’re probably not going to run into anyone you know. In any case, the circus performers need to say goodbye to the town when the end of their run is over. That’s the Last Night At The Big Top.

What genre is your music? What music styles do you write?

Yes! Well, sort of. I’m comfortable writing in any genre, with the caveat that my music is going to have my own personal “filter” on it.

My instrument is piano, and my training is in Jazz. That said, I’ve written and recorded lots of other styles, like guitar-driven surf music, disco and classical.

I create the music for a funny and very violent (did I mention funny?) cartoon called "The Happy Tree Friends" a project I've worked on since 2005. This requires me to write in numerous styles, sometimes in the course of 1 episode.