At the beginning of June, 2016, I went to Lisbon, to pre-produce new material with Portugal's finest goth-metal masters, Moonspell.

Over the course of four long days, four new songs were refined from their raw potential materials into dark monoliths of metal might and majesty.

Along the way, additional orchestral colours were conceptualized and virtually manifested to embellish and enhance the band's core sound, resulting in songs that sound huge and heavy.

Watch this space for further developments with this project, as the mysteries of its dark purpose unfurl over the months to come...

If you would like to hear my previous work with Moonspell, check out their 2015 album 'Extinct' on my portfolio page.

For more info on the band, visit their official facebook page.

In the gloaming months of 2015, amidst the grip of a frost-bitten winter, I performed a blizzard of guitar parts for Andrew Lavender, who is a very talented producer and multi-instrumentalist from the UK. What Andy wrote for the bridge and chorus of this song was great fun to play, with it's dramatic chord inversions, fast-strumming, and jangling dissonances.

Check out my guitar contributions in the sample below:

Perhaps you've written some awesome guitar riffage for your own music, but you're having a difficult time recording some sections? If so, feel free to get in touch to discuss receiving guitar tuition from me, or whether you would like me to record those tricky parts as a session musician for your project.

You can hear more of my guitar playing and see some of my tuition materials on the transcription page.

Have you ever wondered how the harmony in fantasy film music, adventure game soundtracks, or symphonic black metal works? Do you want to create a similarly lugubrious atmosphere in your own music?

If so, here is a theoretical explanation of one commonplace family of chord progressions that can bring about that foreboding sound-world you are looking for. 
​
Chromatic Mediant relationships are pairs of chords that are either major or minor thirds apart, creating dark moods and a brooding feel, but at the same time maintaining a loose sense of tonality.

Chord sequences like this tend to lend themselves to chromatic melodies that twist and bend through the changes, lines which could sound totally out of place in a more functional harmonic context.  

This sort of harmony can be heard in 'The Lord of The Rings' soundtrack by Howard Shore, and in the music of bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Cradle of Filth. 

Apart from the chord progressions which are underlined (chords from the same key, that share two notes), there are dramatic tonal contrasts between each horizontal pair, brought about by the chords only sharing one note.

The chords couplets that share a box in the chart are the inversion of each other (the same progressions turned upside down).  

The chart only gives examples starting on C or C minor: don’t forget that any one of these sixteen pairs could be transposed anywhere chromatically, and also that the chords could be embellished with harmonic extensions.
​
​Something I like to do is  combine two examples a tritone apart, resulting in some really rich yet thrillingly dissonant hexatonic harmonies.  

Rules are there to be learnt then burnt: you are only limited by the breadth of your inspiration and the depth of your imagination (unless someone else is in charge, of course!).

Instrumentation, performance techniques, and texture (as well as dynamics) also contribute to the manifestation of these ominous timbres.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more maniacal insights into theory, composition, and orchestration coming soon.

As requested, here are a few references to demonstrate what these sorts of progressions can sound like:

Intro / Verse

G#m - Bm 
(Chromatic Mediant Relationship, minor 3rd)

Cm - D sus 4 
( iv - V in Gm, with suspension and resolution on the D, then between D and  B there is also a C.M.R (major 3rd this time)

B - Bm 
(tonic major-minor pair)

Cm - D sus 4 
( iv - V in Gm, with Suspension + Resolution on the D )

Chorus

[Gm - Bm] x2
(C.M.R major 3rd)

Cm/^7 add 6 
(from C melodic minor)
D sus 4
( iv - V in Gm, with S+R on the D)

Cm - D add♭9
( iv - V in Gm, with S+R on the D)

Orchestral Intro
Gm - E♭m
(C.M.R major 3rd, starting in the dominant key of Gm)

Gm - B
(C.M.R major 3rd, then tritone substitution of F with B, leading into the tonic key of Cm)

Orchestral Theme
Cm - E - Cm
(C.M.R major 3rd)
Cm - A♭m - Cm
(C.M.R major 3rd, then i - iv to the sub-dominant key of Fm)

Band Theme / Chorus
Fm - A - Fm
(C.M.R major 3rd)
Fm - D♭m - Fm
(C.M.R major 3rd, then C.M.R minor 3rd into D)

Interlude
D diminished riffage + chromatic trills

Verse
E♭5 - F#5 - E♭5 -
F#5 - E♭5 - D5 

Pre - Chorus
Cm - A♭m
(C.M.R major 3rd)

​Cm - E 
(C.M.R major 3rd, then tritone substitution of Bb with E, leading into Ebm)

Vocal Solo (sung by Vortex)
[ Gm - D ] x 4

E♭m - Gm
(C.M.R major 3rd, vocal in Eb major)
then
(C.M.R minor 3rd)

B♭m add 9 - Fm
(iv - i in Fm)

E♭m - Gm add 9 
(C.M.R major 3rd, vocal in Eb major, then tritone substitution of C)

F# - Cm - D
(iv - V in G minor, same as in Gollum's Song)

Bridge
D diminished dissonant arpeggios, #11's and ♭9's

Tritone substitutions also tend to add a great deal of tension and a feeling of unease to a chord sequence: i'll post another blog specifically on that topic in the near future.

Often, the most effective harmonic cocktail for this kind of music comes from mixing up different kinds of progressions, so that the music doesn't get too predictable or repetitive, whilst at the same time maintaining an ominous and sinister vibe. 

Click on the image below to see a transcription I made of the orchestral sections of the song back in 2010:

In May of 2015, Jon went to Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, to orchestrate string arrangements and additional orchestral parts for the new Amorphis record, which was produced by Jens Bogren.  This album will be released by Nuclear Blast on the 4th of september, 2015, but until then, the first single can be heard here:

This is the only track on the album which Jon did not contribute to, but it does contain a fantastic guest performance from Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) on percussion, as well as some great sitar playing from the band's guitarist, Esa Holopainen.

In October of 2014, the internationally-acclaimed producer, Jens Bogren (Fascination Street Studios, Sweden) called upon Jon Phipps to orchestrate the song 'Perfect Symmetry', by Brazilian power metal maestros Angra.  

Jon's work can be heard between 02'32" and 03'15" in the song, as well as from 04'12" to the end.  

This track is from Angra's new album, 'Secret Garden', which was released in January, 2015. 

If you would like to find out more about the band, hear their music, and to see their official music videos, feel free to check out there website here. 

Off the back of the contribution that Jon made to the Angra album, Jens Bogren enlisted Jon to orchestrate six tracks on the new Moonspell record, called 'Extinct'.  

Moonspell are a gothic metal band from Portugal, and similarly to Angra, they have been rockin' the world for two decades. 

Jon's work appears on the songs  'Extinct', 'Domina', 'Malignia', 'A Dying Breed', 'The Future is Dark', and 'La Baphomette'.  

The album was released in March, 2015.  Find out more about Moonspell and 'Extinct' at the band's official Facebook page. 

Click on the image of Moonspell below, which will open a link to the official music video for 'Extinct'. You can hear Jon's work in the breakdown at 03'19", and in the outro of the song.  

There will be more to come of Jon's orchestration work with Jens Bogren in the near future, so watch this space!

Until then, Jon will be finishing up a project he's been quietly working on with some incredible musicians from Norway and the USA. 

In fact, he is heading off to Oslo later this month for a photoshoot relating to this album project, so stay tuned!

As well as this, Jon has been selected to be the orchestrator for a new Norway-based progressive power metal album project, which will be finished this year.  Orchestration work has started already, which has been made much easier and more effective by the addition of an incredible 27" iMac to Jon's home studio. This blows his 2008 MacBook totally out of the water, and high up into the stratosphere! 

This new power-house of a machine, coupled with the complete EastWest sample library catalogue, and a Sonuus G2M guitar-midi interface is making Jon's orchestration process more organic, spontaneous, and ultimately more realistic.  Expect amazing things on this front in the near future!  At present, the project is very much 'under cover', but the specifics will be revealed once the project has 'cooked' for a little while longer.

Let's just say, that the project includes some prestigious names, with the mystery members all bringing a vast quantity of experience and expertise from innumerable past bands and projects, most of which are timeless classics, hailing from the death metal, progressive metal and power metal scenes, both sides of the North Atlantic ocean. 

Be very excited: this is going to sound immense! 

The Kuwaiti symphonic death metal band Divine Disorder's upcoming album, which Jon contributed to as both an orchestrator and guitar soloist has been featured on the website metality.net. 

The album has been in the making for several years, and Jon joined in the creative process back in the winter of 2011.  Once the songs were finished, with all the myriad of guest contributions added into the picture, the album was mixed at Fascination Street Studios, in Örebro (Sweden), by Jens Bogren. 

Brett Caldas-Lima from Tower Studio in France has just mastered the album, and Jon got to hear the finished product in it's entirety for the first time whilst Jassem Darkvain (founder of Divine Disorder) came to visit him in the UK this week: the finished songs sound incredible! All the hard work and perseverance paid off in end! Expect an official release date later this year.  

Check out the article by clicking on the picture of Brett, Jens and Jassem Darkvain (founder and bassist of Divine Disorder) below:

Alternatively, take a listen to the mixed but not mastered tracks that Jon has worked on as an orchestrator using the SoundCloud player below:

Below there is a quotation from Carlos Alvarez's recent online post about the new Shadowdance and Divine Disorder albums, due for release later this year.  

Jon Phipps has made substantial orchestral contributions to both these projects, using software samplers to create symphonic soundscapes that embellish and compliment the metal tracks.  Some of the Divine Disorder tracks can be found here.

This is the title track to Divine Disorders' second single release 'The Puppeteer', a precursor to their new album, which will be out by the end of 2012. I composed and created the sounds for the orchestration on this Kuwaiti symphonic metal track.  

This is the B-side to Divine Disorders' second single release 'The Puppeteer'.  The piece is my own orchestral interpretation of themes from the Kuwaiti bands' symphonic metal track 'Children of Menace', which was originally orchestrated by Psy Coma from the band Kovenant.

 Find out more at www.divine-disorder.com.

This is the first track from the Kuwait-based band's debut single, which has just been released via their website http://www.divine-disorder.com/single.php.  Karl Sanders (Nile) contributed the guitar solo for this track, and Psy Coma ( Kovenant) orchestrated it.  

Jon Phipps orchestrated the second track, which follows:

The guitars, drums, synths, and vocals were all recorded in different parts of the world: see the above mentioned website for more detailed info on all those who contributed their talents to this project.  

More closely to home though, the violin soloist on this track is Elle Torry, a fellow musician from Colchester, who Jon previously worked alongside on Fornost Arnor's albums (see session work).    

The full Divine Disorder album will be released later this year.  Go to http://www.divine-disorder.com/single.php for a free download of the 'Children of Menace' single.  

Jon is currently working on more orchestrations for the remaining album tracks, and he has also contributed a guitar solo to one of the songs: a sample of this can be heard on the home page of this website.  

The full track 'The Death of A Rose (Part I)' from Fornost Arnor's forthcoming album has been uploaded onto the session work page, and you can also hear it by clicking on the player below.  ​

In addition to this, the manuscript for my own avant-garde piano composition 'Antikythera' has been uploaded onto the compositions page (You can also view it below).  

Check it all out, and get in touch! Let me know what you think of it!

Watch Jon Phipps performing on his custom Octavia 8-string guitar with the death metal band Sectioned (UK, USA, Hungary), live @ The Purple Turtle, 9th May 2011: