Life in Edinburgh Part I
Hello Readers!
Greetings from Scotland! I am now living in Edinburgh, getting a master’s degree in Music Composition for the Screen at the University of Edinburgh through the Thouron Award! I absolutely love this city and I’m so invigorated by my studies. I couldn't be happier,
It has been quite a past two months. I moved here to Edinburgh at the start of September, and very much felt like a freshman in university again. Perhaps it was that everything was once again new, since I had taken a gap year between my graduation from the University of Pennsylvania and my start here at the University of Edinburgh. I jumped right into exploring this city from the moment my plane landed. I have since been to an Edinburgh F.C. football match, explored the Old and New Town of Edinburgh, walked miles and miles each day finding new neighborhoods and new alleyways and new historical structures, visited the two fantastic art galleries here as well as a bunch of other lovely museums, traveled to villages like West Calder and Peebles, gone up to Loch Ness, as well as traveled to Glasgow for a day. That is just to name a few adventures. Fact of the matter is, I love it here and feel artistically inspired by this city and country.
My courses are also going splendidly. One of my courses this term is called “Audio Crafting” and our first project was to create our own sound kit with live recorded sounds in studio, and then compose sound designs from those sounds. It was an amazing experience, because it caused me to think out of the box in how to first design and perform sound, but then also how to use those sounds like musical instruments. This was made even more exciting by the fact that I have already been experimenting with using field recordings in scores (“The Wolves” and “The Pallbearer), so this experience furthered my expertise in live-recording, but also organizing sound files and using them in efficient ways. Overall, the courses I am taking are allowing me to experiment with my composing, and letting me think about music from different angles and perspectives and I am very grateful.
Music-wise, I am very very very excited about the projects I am currently working on. First, I have been working on a short film titled “The Angler”, which is the second in a trilogy of works based on Mormon folk-lore. It is directed, produced and written by Lucy and Max Nebeker. I had the pleasure of composing the score for the first film, titled“The Pallbearer”, this summer, which was an incredible experience. The score for“The Angler” expands on certain musical ideas from the previous film. I am again using live recorded sounds (this time of a lake in Maine), but also incorporating flute recordings performed by myself (tin whistle, wooden and silver flute), as well as a string ensemble and two pianos. The strings and pianos will be recorded over the next week in Reid Concert Hall. I am really thrilled to conduct those two sessions!
I am also hard at work on the score for an original play by Stella Green, titled “Ezra”, which will be premiering at Bedlam Theatre next week. I absolutely adore writing for theatre, and this experience has been so lovely. I really have been able to experiment with instrumentation, using synthesizers in intriguing ways. I’m really focusing on crafting a sound palette for the play. Can’t speak any more highly of everyone working in the cast and behind the scenes of this production. They are so professional and motivated, and it’s an honor to be a part of this project.
Last month, I also had the opportunity to conduct a 6-person ensemble in Reid Concert Hall. They played my original score for a Glasgow-produced 1920’s silent film titled “What a Night!”. The project was for my Principles of Composition for Screen course. The scoring session was incredibly professional, outfitted with a decca tree mic set up, as well as spot mics for every musician. We had a monitor playing the film as I conducted the orchestra. I could literally see my future career before me. I truly love what I do.
As always, thank you for reading. I will be writing more consistent entries now that I’m settled here!
Yours Musically.
Nicholas Escobar
The recording set-up for the “What a Night!” recording session in Reid Concert Hall
Here I am at the top of Arthur’s Seat, which looks over the entirety of Edinburgh