Author Topic: Choosing programme music?  (Read 945 times)

The Sacred Voice

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 218
Choosing programme music?
« on: January 25, 2018, 02:17:01 am »
I'm not yet ready for a programme yet... Well, I am, in the sense that basically anyone can have one regardless of ability, but I personally feel that I want to learn all the single jumps before I start putting something together - plus I'm beyond abysmal at spins at the moment, despite my best endeavours at practising I just cannot get anything resembling a consistent feel for them.

Despite this, I do still have a mindful eye on the idea of a future programme and I know that future will need music so... How do people choose programme music? I've been meaning to ask my coach for tips for a while, but what suggestions do you guys have?

I have loads of stuff that I would like to skate to, but I don't know if any of it is really appropriate. What should I be looking for? What works? What doesn't? Any general tips or stories?
« Last Edit: January 25, 2018, 02:01:27 pm by The Sacred Voice »
I'm blogging about my skating journey, please read along at dontexcelaxel.blogspot.com

WednesdayMarch

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1085
  • Nicer when fed...
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2018, 09:53:17 am »
Ahahahahah, oh glory...

It has to sing to you and make you want to dance.  Seriously.  If the music doesn't speak to you, you're not going to interpret it very well.

Have you considered Artistic/Interpretive/Improvisation?  Personally, I love interpretive/artistic best, as the focus is on the quality of the basic skating and interpretation of the music rather than the tricks/jumps/spins, etc.  It could be a way of working out what sort of thing you'd like to skate to when you feel you've got the technical elements up to a comfortable standard.

The following anecdote does relate to music choice.  Honestly... 

I used to suffer from appalling stagefright and once skated out when my name was called, only to have a complete blank.  A total and utter blank.  Could not remember what I was supposed to do and just stood there, like a terrified rabbit in the headlights.  It was one of the worst experiences of my skating life.  My coach said that it would never happen again and I would know my programme inside out, back to front and in the dark for the next season.  We (well, she) picked music I liked and she choreographed an excellent routine to it, which I went along with, despite a feeling of dread.  When she went away for a week's holiday, two weeks before the first competition of the season, I fell apart and declared that I was withdrawing from the competition.  In order to cheer me up, my training buddy put some random music on the rink system and we just messed around to it, with him remarking that it was a shame I couldn't just go out at the competition and make it up as I went along, as my skating flowed when I did that...

Later that day, I was listening to some music I'd found that I thought would be great for some friends' free dance (the Ted Heath version of Peggy Lee's "Fever", as vocals weren't allowed in the time before Noah) and it occurred to me that if I knew the music backwards and the elements I had to put in, then surely I couldn't actually "go wrong"...?

So that's what I did.  Yes, I had an idea of what I was going to do, and I'd worked out the starting position and moves up to the "all-important" first jump (if it went wrong, I could just do it again later) but then I just went with the flow and enjoyed myself.  I did get all the required elements in and had a great time.  And I went from last place the previous season up to 7th, with the highest artistic mark in the competition. 

The point of that lengthy rambling is that in order to skate to your best ability, you really need to love that music and to enjoy performing to it and interpreting it for others to enjoy.  Because that really shows through.  And, frankly, if you don't love it, what's the point?  Especially as adults, when we're not after Olympic glory.

Don't write off anything as unsuitable until you give it a try.  Watch every John Curry video you can find, because he nailed it.  And enjoy the process.  Skating and music go hand in hand and are joyous when you get the connection right.  I can't hear a piece of music without choreographing something in my head, but some pieces are just crying out to be used.  Dream a bit.   8)
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

Snufkin

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 124
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2018, 09:57:57 am »
I'm in a similar position, though my coach has actually asked me to choose programme music, but I don't feel ready. A pre-bronze programme has up to four single jump passes and two spin positions, and I currently have 0 single jumps and 1 spin position. I asked her what sort of music I should choose and she said "anything you like" so that doesn't really narrow it down.

I don't want anything too fast because I won't be able to keep up with it but I don't want anything too emotional/epic (like slow music often is) because I will feel ridiculous doing a low-level skate to that kind of music. Similar with classical pieces which are venerable and could only really be matched by a great skate. An easy option would just be some generic twinkly piano music or something like you get on study CDs or whatever but I do feel like if I'm listening to something hundreds of times I probably should actually enjoy the music. I also really dislike (and this is a very personal pet peeve, I realise this is different for everybody and wouldn't judge anybody else for making these choices) programmes set to anything overly sentimental or sexually suggestive. It just doesn't feel appropriate for an athletic pursuit to me, so I would want to stay away from anything like that.

For me, my number one choice at the moment is Pink Floyd - Eclipse. It is 1:30 long so pre-bronze is the only level it will ever be useful at. But it is a classic and I feel like it would make my low-level skating look absurd. I had high hopes for Kishi Bashi - In Fantasia but I couldn't find any good way to edit it down to 1:30ish. Ho hum.

I'm probably overthinking ::)
Started skating August 2017

WednesdayMarch

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1085
  • Nicer when fed...
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2018, 10:28:15 am »
I'm probably overthinking ::)

No, you're not.  It has to make you want to dance.  If it doesn't make you want to dance, that will show in your skating.

Personally, I don't think the Pink Floyd track is a good choice as there's no flow to it and I can't imagine even John Curry making it look good, but that is just my opinion.  It doesn't make me want to dance but if it has the opposite effect on you, then...!

I've skated to all manner of things from a beautiful piano piece that I choreographed like a ballet etude (hated by one of my contemporaries but got a good reception from the judges) through Bjork (It's Oh So Quiet) to the Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem.  Oh, and a test programme to a Tchaikovsky waltz from Sleeping Beauty (that got an immediate handshake and a "We think that deserves a merit!"  There's a world of music that must sing to you.  Stick a pin in and give it a try.  You can always discard it and plonk the pin somewhere else until you find the right piece.
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

Snufkin

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 124
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2018, 10:34:19 am »
You are right, it's not very 'dance-y'. There is a lot of music out there that makes me want to dance, it's just difficult for me to imagine how I would edit it down to the appropriate length! 1:30 is not a lot of time. I am keeping my options open and keeping it in mind whenever I listen to music, though.
Started skating August 2017

WednesdayMarch

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1085
  • Nicer when fed...
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2018, 11:19:03 am »
Yep, editing is the hardest part - and we used to have to do it on old clunky cassette tape machines!  Oh, the joy...  ::)

Of course, back in my day (pre-Noah) we could only use vocal music for exhibitions or exhibition programme classes.  I think I still prefer instrumental tracks for competition.  Stuck in my ways?  Moi?   ;D

Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

The Sacred Voice

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 218
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2018, 02:43:36 pm »
I've considered the Artistic Free Skate category, the standard Free Skating category is my long term goal, but I see what you're saying about getting practise in. For me, it's mostly a question of time efficiency. I know I could work on an artistic programme if I wanted just for the practise of it, but I only have so much time I can spend at the rink and it's a more important personal goal for me to learn all the single jumps and move into learning maybe one or two doubles while my body's still young enough to take the impact of them. Jumps take a disgusting amount of time to learn and get them to the point where you can do them nicely and consistently so it's getting all my focus for the moment. Adding learning an artistic programme on my limited time budget would just eat out of that practice. I've scheduled myself to start competitive skating in 2020, or 2019 if this year goes really well, so I'm in no hurry, but jumps are the priority for now. Plus my coach really loves her jumps so she's perfectly content to continue like this and we'll look at a programme later :)

I'm in a similar position... I don't want anything too fast because I won't be able to keep up with it but I don't want anything too emotional/epic (like slow music often is) because I will feel ridiculous doing a low-level skate to that kind of music. Similar with classical pieces which are venerable and could only really be matched by a great skate.

Like you, I have literally all of these concerns. I certainly don't want to choose anything that would seem overly dramatic or impossible for me as a learning skater to make look "right" with the ability I currently have. I have all these longing aspirations to power around the rink to a dramatic piece, but I fear I could well just end up looking silly at my current level of ability!

Yep, editing is the hardest part - and we used to have to do it on old clunky cassette tape machines!  Oh, the joy...  ::)

When it comes to editing then I think I'm somewhat lucky as I have a friend whose serious hobby interest is music production (he has some stuff published on iTunes/Amazon) so I'm confident he knows enough for some simple editing/splicing if I need it (hope he doesn't mind either! ;D)
« Last Edit: January 26, 2018, 01:04:45 am by The Sacred Voice »
I'm blogging about my skating journey, please read along at dontexcelaxel.blogspot.com

VisuallyImpairedOnIce

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1034
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2018, 02:49:06 pm »
I've done this recently. I'm way below even Pre-Bronze level, but yay for inclusive competitions :D Anyway, I'm skating to The Climb, by Miley Cyrus, and honestly, I didn't think that's what I'd end up with. I put a load of songs onto a playlist, including that one, and then we played them at the rink. My coach said she knew we'd found "the song" because my skating totally changed.


Now we've got the choreography done, and I absolutely LOVE IT! I can't explain it, but something inside me comes alive and it feels like I'm flying across the rink when I skate it.


We're lucky at our rink, one of the parents runs a nice little side business editing our music as he's an audio engineer :)


I honestly think, when you find the right music, you just sort of, know.
Inclusive Skater :)
IS Masters FD World Champion 2021 🥇
IS Pairs Level 2 World Champion 2021 🥇
IS Free Skate Level 3 Bronze Medalist 2021 🥉

WednesdayMarch

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1085
  • Nicer when fed...
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2018, 06:05:23 pm »
Now we've got the choreography done, and I absolutely LOVE IT! I can't explain it, but something inside me comes alive and it feels like I'm flying across the rink when I skate it.

I honestly think, when you find the right music, you just sort of, know.

That.  That is exactly what I mean.  Good, innit?   8)
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

Weeyin

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 131
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2018, 06:07:45 pm »
I had chosen a song for my programme and my coach choreographed to that song. Then I decided I liked a different song better - totally different style of music too. The programme we already had fits so perfectly to the new music that you would honestly think it had been choreographed for it and not a totally different song!

Florence

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 978
Re: Choosing programme music?
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2018, 07:02:43 pm »
I can't even image having to think about a programme yet! I know when my daughter has been looking for programme music it is so hard (especially at her age when most of her favourite tunes have rapping and loud bass beats in  ;D ) Luckily her coach is fab and manages to come up for something for her. We at times have spent a long time looking though.


I know what you mean though, I couldn't skate to music that didn't really appeal, it would be very half hearted. (luckily will be a long time before I have to worry, if ever, as I don't intend to compete or do Nisa levels I just want to pass Skate UK and then learn things I like the look of, presuming I can find a coach who will support this)


Good luck, hopefully something will just click!



 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy