Alex McGery

The Early Days

was first introduced to orchestral music at a fairly young age. A friend of my parents copied a classical music casette for us, and it was through this that I got my first taste of orchestral music. Although I did not talk of any yearnings to learn a musical instrument or indeed to write music, my thoughts were always consumed with the music that I had heard. My musical debut was at the age of six, when I sang the tune of Ravel's Bolero' from start to finish. One of these days I'll find the tape and have a listen, I might even upload it for your amusement! Before this however, I had honed my dancing skills by interpreting the music of The Planets suite by Holst. I have seen the video of me dancing (I was four, this was NOT recent!) and I can only say the dance was a mix of hardcore raving and extreme morris dancing. My dance later went on to inspire the Riverdance by Michael Flatly, although it never was a good as the original 'Planets Dance Fantastique™'. At this very young age however, I did not really show a great interest in music itself. At the age of 10 I began having drum lessons, despite the fact that my mother wanted me to play the violin. My dad, an ex drummer (Ex as in can't play anymore!) set up his old kit, and I seemed to take to it. To this day I still play the drums, and recently was awarded a Grade 8 certificate. It wasnt until I joined a rock band in the second year of secondary school as the drummer, that music became a pivotal force of my life. As I became more involved with the band I wrote a few rock songs, something that I found to be enjoyable and fairly easy. However, at the back of my head I always had a nagging feeling, that writing rock music wasn't my true calling. (Most songs I write with a guitar sound like they were done by Metallica!) I instead discovered it was much easier to write with a computer, as you do not have to rely on your ability to play an instrument. -------------------------------------------------------------------

First Orchestral Compositions and Changes in Style

My first attempts at writing orchestral music, were headed in a very futuristic, minimalistic direction. They were, according to me at the time: "The very pinnacle of musical art." Recently I listened to my older stuff, and realised that I was infact, not right. I was dare I say it, wrong. At the time I think I knew really that I was capable of much better. I'd be writing a piece of music on the computer, then come away only to hear it playing in my head. The difference would be that the version in my head was MUCH better! Through writing so much music, I improved as time went by. I have since then taught myself to write for a full orchestra, and hope only to continue to improve upon my abilties. The annoying thing is, the music in my head is still a millions times better! This however, is the thing that spurs me on the most. I know what I am capable of, and my aim is to be able to achieve it! During the last 2 years I have written hours worth of music on my computer, and years of music in my head (resulting in sleepless nights!) This year I will be going to a university to study the art of music composition. If I don't drop out, I'll be a Bachelor of Arts in three years time! At the moment I am writing music for an evening premier (In London) of a training video that I also wrote the music for! With any luck it will lead to more opportunities as I am always looking for more work. (Musical composition, not manual labour!)