I've been asked to source some music for a friend who competes in dressage events. She's a talented rider with some success already under her belt, who is aiming for the 2008 Olympics - and as the events get larger, so the choice of music becomes more important.
She's asked me to help because she knows I have a large music collection, and - more importantly - because the sort of music that usually gets played at these events is pretty dire: light classics, silky-smooth jazz, naff elevator muzak, and way too many orchestral versions of rock classics. (I watched a video. It was horrendous. A ghastly sax-led instrumental cover of Tina Turner's "Simply The Best" springs to mind.) She wants something with a bit more style, a bit more class, a bit more musical worth, and with more of an appeal to her own generation.
The tracks which I pick will be edited down into sections - roughly one minute apiece - and then mixed together into a seamless suite of about 5:30. Instrumentals are therefore generally preferred over vocal tracks, as they are easier to chop up into smaller sections without losing the flow.
Tracks should be clearly rhythmic, so that the rider and horse can easily synchronise with them, but not over-poweringly so; a lightness of touch is also required. The mood should be cheerful and optimistic, with livelier sections and more relaxed sections. Nothing too spiky/demanding/agressive/leftfield: we don't want to alienate the predominantly middle-aged judges, we want to please a large crowd... and yeah, we don't want to frighten the horses. It's not important for the tracks to be well-known, but there should be a strong bit somewhere in the middle that will encourage clapping along.
Music is needed for three different types of movement: canter, walk and trot. The beats per minute are all important:
Canter: 92 - 108 bpm.
Walk: 98 - 110 bpm.
Trot: 136- 150 bpm.
You see the major restriction here? Nothing between 111 and 135 bpm, which wipes out vaste swathes of potential tracks.
Now, I'm not doing so bad with the Canter and the Walk. Basically, I'm going for mass-appeal electronica: your Mylos, your Royksopps, your Lemon Jellys, your Gotan Projects. (Or maybe Aim, Ulrich Schnauss, DJ Shadow, Phoenix, Mr Scruff...)
But as for the Trots - now, that's bloody tricky. A fast bpm, but I can't use most banging dance music, as it's too banging. (Maybe some light melodic progressive/epic/trance, though?) The best I've come up with so far, from a very limited source, is Booker T's "Green Onions".
So, any suggestions?
It's a challenge, isn't it?
― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 3 June 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)
xpost: Mmm, yes, just been
checking "Tha", and it does have potential. Depends on whether or not the faster trot section turns into the "everybody clap your hands" section, and I'm not sure about that one way or the other yet. I've also been considering War's "Low Rider", Britney's "Toxic", Lemon Jelly's "The Slow Train" and even Amii Stewart's "Knock On Wood", but none of them feel quite right.
Basically, I've got to first build up a large-ish collection of possibles, which will then be auditioned to the horses themselves - as they have their own preferences of rhythmic style/tempo.
― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 3 June 2005 12:46 (twenty years ago)