Epic Fireworks Blog

Archive for the ‘Fireworks N Music’ Category

There is a lot of talk of late surrounding an Opera called the Firework Makers Daughter.  The opera by composer David Bruce is based on the Philip Pulman novel of the same name following a string of successful chamber music performances it has continued to grow in popularity and is said to be an excellent representation of the novel.  Very colourful and family friendly it contains 3 big firework displays (all part of some ingenious stage trickery) and it is high energy performance throughout.

The plot surrounds the adventures of Lila, the daughter of a firework maker who aspires, despite being a girl, to be a firework maker like her father Lalchand.

The story follows the exploits of Lila who not only learns how to create ‘crackle dragons’ and ‘golden sneezes’ but it also follows her on her perilous journey to face the fire fiend.

She sets off on her adventure with her two unlikely accomplices a talking white elephant called Hamlet and his caretaker Chulak.

It is a moralistic tale about self discovery and personal courage, good fortune and friendship.

The Opera continues at the Royal Opera House until Saturday 13^th April then moving onto Walford Palace Theatre May 17^th and 18^th.

OZ the Great and Powerful – A small-time magician with dubious ethics arrives in a magical land and must decide if he will be a good man or a great one.

And before anybody asks, we are not talking about our “three blind mice” fountain, possibly the only musical firework (it does actually play the three blind mice tune). We are talking music suitable for a fireworks show.

Being a DJ for the last 30+ years, I am continually being asked what pieces of music I would recommend to put to fireworks. Recently Komodo fireworks won the 2012 Southport with a stunning display of musicality, timed to a split second.

Hundreds of hours went into the preparation, and well worth the effort bearing in mind the kudos of winning one of the most highly coveted awards. For those of us who just want to put a piece of music to a display to create an atmospheric feel to the show, here’s a few pointers. Firstly, it may help to watch our videos online, look at the speed of the fireworks in your show, most of our packs start off with a smaller piece and gradually build to a stunning finale. The main thing here is to create an atmosphere with a nice ‘fireworky’ pace (if there is such a word)
There are many software packages to download, mostly either shareware or free trials just for the one off display such as wavepad, wavosaur, wavetrim, etc. just search free mp3 editors and go.

If you’re really serious or are planning to do a few shows through the year maybe look into mixmeister (www.mixmeister.com) It’s not free but not expensive either and again there are free trials (with limitations) to have a go it to see if it suits your needs. With it you can copy a few bars and overlay it onto another track. Speed up the B.P.M (beats per minute) and beat mix into another track with no overlap just a simple click on the snap to beat icon and it’s done. Looping a sample is the same, highlight the piece you like, click copy, and paste it as many times as you like (try not to get too repetitive as this may spoil the impact).

There are also thousands of royalty free audio clips online (explosions, whistles, applause, sirens, cheering, to experiment with). It may also be worth contacting the performing rights society if you are intending to use music with a business just to check with them your legal rights. They can be contacted on 0800 068 4828 or email them at response@prsformusic.com. Who knows you might even accidentally have a chart hit on your hands.

The tracks I have had success with are Rofo’s theme by Rofo

Cocoon by Timerider

Toccata by Sky (or the Johann Sebastian Bach version in D minor).

The choice is endless and personal, not being a big fan of jazz doesn’t mean I wouldn’t consider using a bit jazz in there if it works. The choice is entirely yours. Whatever suits you and your friends, most of all …. ENJOY.

Disco Stu