MIDI Sketches & Concept Art – The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2025)

1. Recommendations for storyboard/concept artists would be very much appreciated.

2. Brace yourself for the most amateur video editing you've probably seen in a while.

3. WELCOME! ... to my experimental journey into the world of orchestral storytelling and sound design, based on the enchanting, age-old folktale The Sorcerer's Apprentice!

While one of the earliest written versions of this tale dates back to the 1797 poem by Goethe, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is an age-old warning of caution, wisdom and respect when wielding great power, a theme found through out mythology, fairy-tales and fiction.

The 1897 symphonic poem by Paul Dukas is most well-known to modern audiences for its inclusion in Disney's Fantasia, where it was brought to life with cutting edge animation of the 1940s.

This project grew from between the cracks of client work, as a series of digital orchestral sketches and sound experiments at my home studio. With very little experience writing for traditional live orchestral ensembles I wanted to explore a way of translating my background in various electronica sub-genres to the orchestra as a way of learning about the orchestration process.

The musical tone ranges from frantic, cartoon-ish whimsy to intense, horror-inspired sound design, merged with time-stretching techniques and fluctuating tempo to create a sense of instability – everything feels just a little too fast when the Apprentice is in control of things.

Created for a projection-based immersive show, featuring two live actors/dancers, all elements of the musical soundtrack are visually represented in a synesthesia-like display with which the performers interact. Projected visuals are optimized to take place in small-scale dome theaters and designed to be generated in part from the movements and interactions of the performers.

Piano Rolls from top to bottom:
– Winds
– Brass
– Strings

Soundtrack streaming on all platforms Apr 1st 2025

https://open.spotify.com/album/7sT4YiXl5FvQQwhwnBx8OZ?si=U7mYkgrgRXSW31n2cqMyoQ
https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-sorcerers-apprentice-ep/1801013302

Featuring
Budapest Art Orchestra

Flutes performed by
Veronika Vitazkova

Clarinets performed by
Thomas Prem

Conducted by
Alistair Kerley

Orchestrations by
Alistair Kerley & Daniel Suett

Additional Production by
Vincent Regolo

Additional Engineering by
Risto Nikolic

Orchestra Contracted by
Miklos Lukacs

Mixed by
Frankie Harper at Boxed Ape

Mastered by
Rich Aitken at Nimrod Sound

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MAGIC BLADE is a bespoke composition and musical world-building service tailored for filmmakers, artists, writers, and storytellers of all kinds.

www.magicBlade.studio

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