AIRWOLF RETURNS - The Motion Picture (Original Score done on MuseScore 1.3)
Last year, on December 1st, I released a new original score titled AIRWOLF RETURNS - The Motion Picture. I used the MuseScore 1.3 to write the entire orchestrated score using the format of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. I have a very good stereo system in my home and the finished work sounds magnificent, but I have to admit I'm biased about my own work. (chuckling) So I released it on my CDbaby artist page to see if it would sell. The final product uses a combination of 3 programs and not just the MuseScore 1.3 program to give the final flair to the finished work. This was necessary because the selection of gong sounds was very limited in both choice and timbre in the 1.3 program. The gong sounds you hear were added in using an old Krystal Audio program no longer made, but a program I love regardless, as a simple multi-track audio program which can be used to do finishing work. I've yet to fully explore the Musescore 2 update but the first thing I tried was uploading the 1.3 version into the 2.0 version and immediately all the dynamics were off from the 1.3 version which I didn't like, because it will be a lot of work to readjust the dynamics from the 1.3 version of the score tot he 2.0 version of the score.
Anyway, I decided to write this score, because I had written a much simpler score back in 1989, which had been in moth balls all through the decades, because I had lost my health to chronic disease from bad sausage I ate one day. It's a hellish story, so I'll skip that part.
While the 1989 arrangement was not the original score, the arrangement started to sell immediately from CDbaby and their partners. Each month, for every month since, for the past 5 years, it keeps on selling about 6 to 12 copies a month resulting in a few $50 royalty checks from CDbaby to date as a result of the ongoing sales. Not anything astronomical yet, but it is selling, which is interesting to me, even when there is no advertising being offered to tell anyone where they can buy it. How odd?
So I decided to take it another step further, thinking Airwolf fans all over the world were ready for something different than the old techno score written by Sylvester Levey. To my surprise, when I released the new orchestration, it started to sell right away too and is doing the same thing the other 1989 score has been doing. I can't explain it either.
Why then am I posting this?
Well, perhaps one of you musical geniuses can tell me how to target the audience globally that loves what I've done. While some hard core Airwolf fans don't care for my 1989 musical theme remix, a lot of people do and they are proving it with sales. The 1989 arrangement was inspired by the back ground music of Airwolf, not the original theme music I might add. I did not want to do the original theme music, because it had already been done in that time period, but I wanted to have fun with a different approach and my intuition seems to be on the mark even three or so decades later. Go figure? (LOL)
However identifying this audience globally through the internet is proving to be quite a challenge over the years, so I thought, given I used the MuseScore 1.3 program, I'd ask some of you who might be able to make some suggestions that might help me find my niche audience with both works. I might add, that I'm disabled these days from what my health went through, but I'm back to writing again when I'm up to it, after a long convalescence. So I can't go find an orchestra to try out my new score for a live concert approach. Would be fun though if I could.
So here is a link to my CDbaby Jango radio station so you can hear the entire 1989 "band type studio arrangement/remix" in case some of you can give me some intelligent ideas to help me reach my target audience. Remember fun is what music is all about and it is clear I'm attracting many who have fun listening to this arrangement in spite of the hard core fans.
http://www.jango.com/music/Kevin+F+Montague/Airwolf+Theme+remix+
Here is the offering on my CDbaby artist page as well so you can see how it is being offered. I can only think that some people must think they can find just about anything through these internet music sites, not realizing not everyone is on their wave length when they go music hunting. I seem to have hit upon something, but I can't understand it?:
https://origin.cdbaby.com/cd/kevinfmontague2
Now here is the newer release using the MuseScore 1.3 program to show off, not only my arranging ability, but also the power of the MuseScore 1.3 program. You should hear this thing when transferred to a CD and played on a conventional stereo system. I was very impressed by the FULL POWER sound replication of the 1.3 program when I had the final done. It actually sounded like I had the London Philharmonic Orchestra in my living room in the end and that is the best compliment I can give the programmers of the MuseScore 1.3 effort. I hope you enjoy what I did?
http://www.jango.com/music/Kevin+F+Montague/AIRWOLF+RETURNS+The+Motion+…
Here is the offering page on my CDbaby artist page as well. Maybe you have some suggestions with the offering page too.
https://origin.cdbaby.com/cd/kevinfmontague32
I do love the style of John Williams, the flamboyant style of Danny Elfman and composers diversified ability of James Horner, but I also have ideas of my own when orchestrating and I love to try new ideas when it feels right. I think this new arrangement hit the feel right part of my being and so far it is selling, as people look up the subject of Airwolf music on the Internet.
I further got permission from NBC Universal through YouTube to release my 20 minute fireside chat, to the YouTube audience, to try and draw in ideas to help me sort this out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained don't you know? At first NBC Universal blocked me, but I made a good and logical appeal to release the block, so both they and I could learn from feed back responses to my appeal for ideas to the YouTube audience. NBC Universal liked my ideas, so they released the block. You may find wathcing this helpful is hearing my thoughts behind all of this with the hope I might learn more about my current audience that is buying my work. Right now the whole thing is a mystery to me. Still it is a big world in terms of the numbers, so I know I'm barely scratching the surface to the numbers I'm reaching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS2TIj-Ail4
Thank you for your time, if you have good ideas that can help me better find my audience for this finished score, which MuseScore 1.3 made possible, without having to hire out the London Philharmonic. (chuckling).....please let me know. I welcome all the help and guidance I can get with this. Maybe one of you sees what I can't see with this thing, as I share the history of this so far on the forum for discussion. Let me know because I'm stumped right now and it appears I'm onto something good with the sound I've created in the new score.