Composer. Italy.
#FlashbackFriday #FBF Do you remember our Community Spotlight with Kristian Sensini?
Kristian Sensini is a jazz/classical musician and composer. He plays the flute and piano.
“I create soundscapes for movies, television shows, video games and advertisements. I’ve written instrumental music since age 14. People have always told me that my music could be used for moving pictures. I was lucky enough to have grown as a child in the eighties and have listened to great film music composers scoring my favourite movies, such as the Star Wars saga, Back to the Future trilogy, and all the eighties blockbusters. As a musician, I’m really interested in music that is interesting and complicated from the harmonic and rhythmic point of view but sounds ‘easy’ from the melodic side. Frank Zappa, for example, or Debussy, Dvorak, Satie.”
Biggest Challenge:
“The hardest thing is to write music for images without images. This happens when you must write only having the script – or when you must write generic music for libraries, advertising or documentaries.”
Solution:
“’Imagine the images.’ Not having the visual medium shouldn’t lead you to ‘overscoring.’ Create music that is by itself complete and independent. Good music for images is the kind that becomes one thing with the picture.”
Favorite Technique:
“When I write music, I don’t start from a melody, a leitmotif, but from a ‘good idea’ – it could be an instrument, a particular sound I have in mind, a special harmonic progression, a rhythmic pattern or even an ‘odd noise’ that I can use as a musical instrument. Then I write a short sketch of the composition, how it starts, how it evolves and grows, and how it ends. This gives me the unique gift to write at the end really interesting and fascinating melodies.”
Favorite Tool:
“The first is my good old piano that gives me the chance to listen in my mind to the orchestral sound of the piece. The second, of course, are my computers, Cubase – I’ve used it for about 15 years now – and various virtual instruments and sound libraries. Musical ideas are important, as much as the sound quality.”
Current Projects:
“Just finished re-scoring the movie Apette from the Italian director (Cinecitta award winner) Andre Baldassarri. I started to work and write music for the movie Monkeyshine by Nathan Spencer, but they eventually chose to go a different way, using soundtracks made of songs instead of instrumental music. It’s a choice, but a shame. I think when the music and the picture are good, the project doesn’t need conventional, easy listening songs with lyrics.”
Background:
“Worked a lot for music libraries for Mediaset and R.A.I., the biggest television network in Italy. It’s challenging work because you have to imagine different situations when you write – from ethnic music, to jazz, to pop tunes, to Latin ones… You must work a lot with imagination and intuition, catch the ear’s attention in a few seconds and write quality music. The good thing is that you have a lot of freedom. You’re free to experiment new things and not have the director say, ‘It’s good but try this little change,’ and, in effect, you understand you have to rescore the whole thing. Lucky, I’ve had the opportunity to work often with directors that understand the musical world and how it works and that are really clear about what they want about the music.”
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