Julius Dobos
Encyclopedia
Gyula Julius Dobos is a composer
and music producer, best known for his electronic and orchestral music releases worldwide, and for his film scores and music used in major motion pictures and television programs in Europe and in the United States.
With Mountain Flying, his most popular album up to date, Dobos became the first Hungarian composer of a large-scale orchestral-choral-electronic music project to receive international attention. With seven album releases, including a platinum album, countless film- and television scores, Dobos is one of the prominent living music composers/producers with a Central European origin.
Dobos’ distinct musical style is characterized by emotionally deep, haunting melodies and monumental instrumentation, unique sound textures and the extensive use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments. Although classically trained, the composer generally disregards the formal rules of music composition. Dobos has been influenced by a wide range of musical styles and other art forms, however his works do not follow the trends of popular musical genres. Currently living in the United States, he primarily composes instrumental electronic music, exploring the uncharted territories of melody and sound.
, Mike Oldfield
, Vangelis
, Rick Wakeman
and the visual nature of Isao Tomita
's Pictures at an Exhibition
. Following his dreams of creating musical worlds, or “visible music”, he found himself spending more time with composing than practicing the piano, and also obsessed with his new interest: learning about electronic musical instruments. He recorded his first collection of music pieces titled Mars in his parents’ living room with a very modest Yamaha synthesizer, borrowing his father’s two-track Teac X-7 reel-to-reel tape recorder.
After quitting his piano classes, Dobos studied composition and film score composition at various institutions in Europe, including the Weiner Leo Music School in Budapest
and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart in Germany
, but never obtained a formal degree in composition. In a later radio interview, Julius expressed his beliefs about Europe's classical music training methods and music education system in general: “These ideas including solmization
are greatly beneficial for performers, but severely narrowing the vision of composers and limiting the development of their personal style to its full extent. They are restricting their personal artistic freedom to creating original music without having to obey the formal rules”. After selectively learning the composition and orchestration techniques he found beneficial for his personal approach, Dobos started composing music for radio and TV commercials
, mainly in Hungary.
The first few local successes and his involvement with the electronic instrument-maker Roland Corporation
, whose newly introduced synthesizers he composed music and designed sounds for, enabled him to build his modest home recording setup, consisting of only two synthesizers and a computer. This is where, at the age of 19, he composed the early "demo" version of Mountain Flying – the music that brought him international success three years later with the album of the same title.
In 1997, Dobos met Zsolt Menesi, Regional Marketing Director for Nokia
. Menesi was immediately impressed by the young composer’s original musical style, unique vision, warm personality yet rather strong opinion about the mainstream music scene of the time. Instead of a sponsorship he was initially looking for, Dobos was offered the opportunity to produce a promotional / for-sale Nokia-sponsored album about communication, styles of self-expression and of course, mobile phones. Albeit the topic was challenging to put into music, the resulting album, Connecting Images, featured Dobos’ own, distinct musical style, catchy melodies, monumental instrumentation, a 50-piece choir and Grammy® Awarded vocalist Márta Sebestyén
on the track Connecting People. The album was exceptionally well received by listeners, to the satisfaction of Nokia. It was also a wakeup call for the country’s record industry, which had previously believed that there was no popular demand for music that did not belong to the mainstream or jazz or classical music category. The album reached platinum status in Hungary.
on the track New Pangea, was an instant hit. The success of Mountain Flying quickly spread across Europe and taking advantage of early online distribution channels, reached the fans of electronic and modern orchestral music worldwide.
" Mountain Flying is an adventure in your fantasy, a movie score without a movie. It is the musical expression of feelings like freedom, openness and respect for nature" - the CD booklet reads. Dobos often describes the project as an album “made without much of a compromise”, referring to Nokia’s conceptual influence in Connecting Images and the resources and time the major production required.
Europe Express. Subsequently, he was named The Youngest feature film music composer in Central and Eastern Europe. Although the movie was a moderate success, the score was praised by both movie critics
and audiences. Pest Est (leading program magazine of Hungary) called the score "exceptional and atom-professional" and Filmvilag (World of Film), Hungary's artistic movie review magazine wrote "Dobos' score would easily work in Hollywood superproductions". No live orchestra, but a great number of electronic instruments and a large choir were used for the score, which featured several character themes and electronic soundscapes for various scenes.
In the following two years, Dobos composed more original music scores, including those for the movies Thend and Black Strawberries , a Balkan War-themed radioplay, as well as Musique concrète
pieces for exhibitions and movie theaters.
Before getting more involved with the American film- and television industry, the orchestral-electronic piece Peter's Flight was born. The music commissioned by Aerobatics World Champion pilot Péter Besenyei
for his musical stunt program at the World Championship of Aerobatics (2002) was produced in a rather unique way. The first time in the sport’s history, the pilot and composer reversed the order of production; it was not Besenyei who followed a chosen music track with his flight, as it is customary among pilots, but Dobos scored the video recording of Besenyei’s preferred aerobatic program, following musically every move, similarly to a film score. The instrumental music enthusiast pilot, and the composer whose favorite theme has been flying, became friends during the uniquely creative process.
In the following years, in association with a local music production company, Dobos composed music and programmed sounds for several popular television shows. His work can be heard on Dragon Ball Z (as part of Bruce Faulconer
's team of arrangers), at the time number one anime show on Cartoon Network
, an award-winning claymation series Red Planet Blues, for The Reality of Speed and Your House & Home television series.
In 2003, under the wings of his music production company, JDSProductions (later The Creative Shop ), Julius produced the high-energy electronic music album, Epic , which includes nine instrumental electronic tracks and five trance-pop songs. Although the music of Epic can be considered Dobos’ most mainstream album, the tones and sounds reveal a great attention to detail with original sound design and synthesizer programming. Epic was well received at its official premiere at the Winter Music Conference
in Miami, Florida in 2004, but due to the rapid changes in the music industry that resulted in lack of funding for promotion by major labels, the album became a limited edition release.
Feeling disenchanted by the absence of a truly creative process and the increasing use of ghostwriter
composers in the film- and television music industry, Dobos looked for opportunities to satisfy his hunger for original music composition without forced artistic direction, and to return to his true, personal compositional style and the use of electronic instruments.
ElectroScapes , another music library project followed soon. In an electronic music journey through space, every track of the album evokes a unique setting, a distinct sonic and musical environment of an "electronic landscape". Produced with extensive sound design and synthesizer programming, Dobos’ haunting melodies and textures make ElectroScapes a groovy yet ambient album with a unique character, making it easy to visualize the imaginary landscapes. The album was also the first major work of the composer that did not feature large instrumentation, rather it relied on multi-layered sonic textures.
’s You Don't Mess with the Zohan
(2008) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009).
Throughout 2009 and 2010, Dobos also wrote several individual pieces of electronic and ambient-electronic music, constantly evolving and altering his production approach, while keeping the characteristics of his compositional style.
As the tracks of Transitions are arranged in chronological order based on their time of creation, the composer's darker period is identifiable by several unexpectedly aggressive titles such as Big Break and Reality, and can be placed between the years 2005 and 2008. The booklet of Transitions also confirms these dates with various adjectives and related track titles shown around a graphical timeline. One can observe that this period matches the years of Dobos' negative experiences and general disappointment with the limited creative freedom allowed by the film- and music industry.
Dobos deliberately chose the release date of December 27, right after Christmas, to make a point about not creating music for sale (as most labels strive to put out releases before the holidays), but publishing music that is not influenced by the typical routines of the film- and music industry.
, the men and women making a great sacrifice by performing work in abnormal levels of radiation at the damaged reactors, and the survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
. Having a personal connection with nuclear catastrophe victims as his grandmother had lost her life due to the effects of the Chernobyl disaster
, Dobos was eager to raise awareness about the Fukushima 50
, and to support the relief efforts by inspiring donations. He achieved the latter by publishing a 5-minute video, which features the Hymn to The Fukushima 50 music, precisely edited together with the video (not unlike the way film scores work), and asking viewers to donate to the Japan relief efforts through their choice of charity organization. In exchange for donations, Dobos offered a free download of the Hymn to The Fukushima 50.
The emotional, powerful piece received highly positive feedback on YouTube
, where the video was published. The piece received over 10,000 views in the first week, and over 30,000 views within three weeks of its launch. The concept of inspiring donations also worked, as on April 4, 2011, The Creative Shop reported approximately $10,000 in inspired donations.
The Hymn features Dobos' typical mix of monumental electro-orchestral and electronic instrumentation, as well as thunderous percussion and sound design elements, and following a positive, uplifting feel, it ends with a mysterious sound and lack of happy ending. In the composer's words: "For those who have showed the word what being a patriot truly means, the Fukushima 50 Hymn expresses their heroism, the pain of Japan and celebrates the spirit of its people."
, Vangelis
, Isao Tomita
, Kraftwerk
, John Carpenter
, and some contemporary the works of 20th Century composers such as Béla Bartók
, Michael Nyman
, Wendy Carlos
, Karl Jenkins
, Ennio Morricone
, combined with his strong desire for originality enabled Dobos to free himself of the strict rules and classical teachings of the conservative music education system, and forge his own, distinctive style.
Dobos’ music clearly reveals his European roots, his haunting melodies and chord structures instantly create deep, intense emotional experience for its listeners regardless of their cultural or social background.
“The sound design work is an essential part of the music creation process. Using traditional instruments, you end up focusing on the notes and rhythm. But synthesizers add a new dimension to the music: sounds. With them, you start thinking in terms of tones, textures, feelings, moods – which are often more important than the melody itself.” (Julius Dobos)
Dobos is known to use a wide array of synthesizers, music software, effect units and experimental techniques to create new sounds. These receive a prominent role in his album ElectroScapes , which features extensive sound design and sound programming work. In terms of equipment, studio photos reveal the use of vintage analog synthesizers, such as the Minimoog
, Crumar Spirit
, Oberheim Matrix
, Sequential Circuits Pro-One
, and several modern virtual analog and digital synthesizers.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and music producer, best known for his electronic and orchestral music releases worldwide, and for his film scores and music used in major motion pictures and television programs in Europe and in the United States.
With Mountain Flying, his most popular album up to date, Dobos became the first Hungarian composer of a large-scale orchestral-choral-electronic music project to receive international attention. With seven album releases, including a platinum album, countless film- and television scores, Dobos is one of the prominent living music composers/producers with a Central European origin.
Dobos’ distinct musical style is characterized by emotionally deep, haunting melodies and monumental instrumentation, unique sound textures and the extensive use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments. Although classically trained, the composer generally disregards the formal rules of music composition. Dobos has been influenced by a wide range of musical styles and other art forms, however his works do not follow the trends of popular musical genres. Currently living in the United States, he primarily composes instrumental electronic music, exploring the uncharted territories of melody and sound.
Early life and education
Dobos started playing the piano at the age of five and writing music at nine. After winning several district piano competitions, his interest turned towards composition. It was in these pre-teen years, when his father introduced him to the 70's and 80's electronic music. The young Dobos was greatly influenced by the sounds and musical worlds created by electronic music pioneers like Jean Michel JarreJean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
, Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
, Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
, Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
and the visual nature of Isao Tomita
Isao Tomita
, often known simply as Tomita, is a Japanese music composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements...
's Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists...
. Following his dreams of creating musical worlds, or “visible music”, he found himself spending more time with composing than practicing the piano, and also obsessed with his new interest: learning about electronic musical instruments. He recorded his first collection of music pieces titled Mars in his parents’ living room with a very modest Yamaha synthesizer, borrowing his father’s two-track Teac X-7 reel-to-reel tape recorder.
After quitting his piano classes, Dobos studied composition and film score composition at various institutions in Europe, including the Weiner Leo Music School in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, but never obtained a formal degree in composition. In a later radio interview, Julius expressed his beliefs about Europe's classical music training methods and music education system in general: “These ideas including solmization
Solmization
Solmization is a system of attributing a distinct syllable to each note in a musical scale. Various forms of solmization are in use and have been used throughout the world.In Europe and North America, solfège is the convention used most often...
are greatly beneficial for performers, but severely narrowing the vision of composers and limiting the development of their personal style to its full extent. They are restricting their personal artistic freedom to creating original music without having to obey the formal rules”. After selectively learning the composition and orchestration techniques he found beneficial for his personal approach, Dobos started composing music for radio and TV commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
, mainly in Hungary.
The first few local successes and his involvement with the electronic instrument-maker Roland Corporation
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
, whose newly introduced synthesizers he composed music and designed sounds for, enabled him to build his modest home recording setup, consisting of only two synthesizers and a computer. This is where, at the age of 19, he composed the early "demo" version of Mountain Flying – the music that brought him international success three years later with the album of the same title.
Connecting Images
Dobos made his first appearance on Hungarian State Television 1, performing his piece Mountain Flying on synthesizers. Although he received great feedback from the viewers, neither this television performance, nor later radio broadcasts of Mountain Flying raised the interest of record labels.In 1997, Dobos met Zsolt Menesi, Regional Marketing Director for Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
. Menesi was immediately impressed by the young composer’s original musical style, unique vision, warm personality yet rather strong opinion about the mainstream music scene of the time. Instead of a sponsorship he was initially looking for, Dobos was offered the opportunity to produce a promotional / for-sale Nokia-sponsored album about communication, styles of self-expression and of course, mobile phones. Albeit the topic was challenging to put into music, the resulting album, Connecting Images, featured Dobos’ own, distinct musical style, catchy melodies, monumental instrumentation, a 50-piece choir and Grammy® Awarded vocalist Márta Sebestyén
Márta Sebestyén
Márta Sebestyén is a Hungarian folk vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S...
on the track Connecting People. The album was exceptionally well received by listeners, to the satisfaction of Nokia. It was also a wakeup call for the country’s record industry, which had previously believed that there was no popular demand for music that did not belong to the mainstream or jazz or classical music category. The album reached platinum status in Hungary.
Mountain Flying
The success of Connecting Images was followed by the large-scale realization of Mountain Flying, the expanded and revised version of the compositions from Julius Dobos’ teenage years. The main supporter of the project was Nokia. After 7 months of production, Mountain Flying was released in November 1999. The album, which was the first ever large-scale electronic-orchestral music production by a Hungarian composer, featuring an 130-piece symphonic orchestra and choir, multitude of synthesizers evoking the sonic world of snow-capped mountains, and once again Márta SebestyénMárta Sebestyén
Márta Sebestyén is a Hungarian folk vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S...
on the track New Pangea, was an instant hit. The success of Mountain Flying quickly spread across Europe and taking advantage of early online distribution channels, reached the fans of electronic and modern orchestral music worldwide.
" Mountain Flying is an adventure in your fantasy, a movie score without a movie. It is the musical expression of feelings like freedom, openness and respect for nature" - the CD booklet reads. Dobos often describes the project as an album “made without much of a compromise”, referring to Nokia’s conceptual influence in Connecting Images and the resources and time the major production required.
Movie scores and other works in Europe
Dobos wrote his first major film score at the age of 22, for the action-adventure movieAction film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
Europe Express. Subsequently, he was named The Youngest feature film music composer in Central and Eastern Europe. Although the movie was a moderate success, the score was praised by both movie critics
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
and audiences. Pest Est (leading program magazine of Hungary) called the score "exceptional and atom-professional" and Filmvilag (World of Film), Hungary's artistic movie review magazine wrote "Dobos' score would easily work in Hollywood superproductions". No live orchestra, but a great number of electronic instruments and a large choir were used for the score, which featured several character themes and electronic soundscapes for various scenes.
In the following two years, Dobos composed more original music scores, including those for the movies Thend and Black Strawberries , a Balkan War-themed radioplay, as well as Musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
pieces for exhibitions and movie theaters.
Television scores and Epic
Motivated by the creative possibilities of motion pictures and music, and at the encouragement of Black Strawberries director Marion Stuart, Dobos relocated to the United States in 2000.Before getting more involved with the American film- and television industry, the orchestral-electronic piece Peter's Flight was born. The music commissioned by Aerobatics World Champion pilot Péter Besenyei
Peter Besenyei
Péter Besenyei is a renowned Hungarian aerobatics pilot and world champion air racer. He was born on June 8, 1956 in Körmend, Hungary. He lived near the airport of Budapest and became interested in flying when he was a child. From watching 1962 World Aerobatic Championships he decided to become a...
for his musical stunt program at the World Championship of Aerobatics (2002) was produced in a rather unique way. The first time in the sport’s history, the pilot and composer reversed the order of production; it was not Besenyei who followed a chosen music track with his flight, as it is customary among pilots, but Dobos scored the video recording of Besenyei’s preferred aerobatic program, following musically every move, similarly to a film score. The instrumental music enthusiast pilot, and the composer whose favorite theme has been flying, became friends during the uniquely creative process.
In the following years, in association with a local music production company, Dobos composed music and programmed sounds for several popular television shows. His work can be heard on Dragon Ball Z (as part of Bruce Faulconer
Bruce Faulconer
Bruce Faulconer is a composer and the primary author of the music featured in the Funimation English dub of the popular anime Dragon Ball Z...
's team of arrangers), at the time number one anime show on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, an award-winning claymation series Red Planet Blues, for The Reality of Speed and Your House & Home television series.
In 2003, under the wings of his music production company, JDSProductions (later The Creative Shop ), Julius produced the high-energy electronic music album, Epic , which includes nine instrumental electronic tracks and five trance-pop songs. Although the music of Epic can be considered Dobos’ most mainstream album, the tones and sounds reveal a great attention to detail with original sound design and synthesizer programming. Epic was well received at its official premiere at the Winter Music Conference
Winter Music Conference
The Winter Music Conference is a weeklong electronic music conference, held every March since the mid-1980s in Miami, Florida, United States. Venues are hosted primarily in Downtown Miami and Miami's South Beach...
in Miami, Florida in 2004, but due to the rapid changes in the music industry that resulted in lack of funding for promotion by major labels, the album became a limited edition release.
Feeling disenchanted by the absence of a truly creative process and the increasing use of ghostwriter
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
composers in the film- and television music industry, Dobos looked for opportunities to satisfy his hunger for original music composition without forced artistic direction, and to return to his true, personal compositional style and the use of electronic instruments.
Electronic music library projects
Also in 2003, Dobos composed music for a music library project, and titled the album Tekno Chemistry . The sixteen rhythmically driving tracks (fourteen originals and two alternate mixes), features catchy melodies and custom-programmed synthesizer sounds. They are all themed around the distinct character of fourteen elements of the periodic table. The music from Tekno Chemistry has been used in various television shows and advertising.ElectroScapes , another music library project followed soon. In an electronic music journey through space, every track of the album evokes a unique setting, a distinct sonic and musical environment of an "electronic landscape". Produced with extensive sound design and synthesizer programming, Dobos’ haunting melodies and textures make ElectroScapes a groovy yet ambient album with a unique character, making it easy to visualize the imaginary landscapes. The album was also the first major work of the composer that did not feature large instrumentation, rather it relied on multi-layered sonic textures.
Music in major movies
Re-organizing his production company and composition studio, The Creative Shop , Julius Dobos took a fresh approach with his music composition, focusing exclusively on producing various styles of electronic music. He created music for use in such international blockbusters as Adam SandlerAdam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
’s You Don't Mess with the Zohan
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
You Don't Mess with the Zohan is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Carlito Cabardo, and produced by and starring Adam Sandler. This is the fourth film which has starred Sandler and has been directed by Dugan...
(2008) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009).
Throughout 2009 and 2010, Dobos also wrote several individual pieces of electronic and ambient-electronic music, constantly evolving and altering his production approach, while keeping the characteristics of his compositional style.
Transitions
Under his label, Creative Shop Music, a new compilation album titled Transitions was released in December 2010, featuring many of Dobos’ individual music pieces written between 2005-2010. The title referring to the stylistic metamorphoses of the composer and his musical environment throughout the years, as well as the story of his transition into the film music industry and back into his career as a solo artist, the album features 19 (plus one hidden) tracks in styles ranging from electro-orchestral music (e.g. Fly Away, a piece reminiscent of Dobos' Mountain Flying album) to progressive electronic music (e.g. Electrohymn to Progression, a track showcasing Dobos' ambient-electronic side and sound design work).As the tracks of Transitions are arranged in chronological order based on their time of creation, the composer's darker period is identifiable by several unexpectedly aggressive titles such as Big Break and Reality, and can be placed between the years 2005 and 2008. The booklet of Transitions also confirms these dates with various adjectives and related track titles shown around a graphical timeline. One can observe that this period matches the years of Dobos' negative experiences and general disappointment with the limited creative freedom allowed by the film- and music industry.
Dobos deliberately chose the release date of December 27, right after Christmas, to make a point about not creating music for sale (as most labels strive to put out releases before the holidays), but publishing music that is not influenced by the typical routines of the film- and music industry.
Hymn to The Fukushima 50
Following the events related to the Fukushima I nuclear accidents of 2011, Dobos composed a powerful musical tribute, titled Hymn to The Fukushima 50, to honor the Fukushima 50Fukushima 50
Fukushima 50 is the alias given by the media to a group of employees at the crippled Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a related series of nuclear accidents resulted in a serious fire at the plant's unit 4 on 15 March 2011, these 50 employees...
, the men and women making a great sacrifice by performing work in abnormal levels of radiation at the damaged reactors, and the survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
. Having a personal connection with nuclear catastrophe victims as his grandmother had lost her life due to the effects of the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
, Dobos was eager to raise awareness about the Fukushima 50
Fukushima 50
Fukushima 50 is the alias given by the media to a group of employees at the crippled Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a related series of nuclear accidents resulted in a serious fire at the plant's unit 4 on 15 March 2011, these 50 employees...
, and to support the relief efforts by inspiring donations. He achieved the latter by publishing a 5-minute video, which features the Hymn to The Fukushima 50 music, precisely edited together with the video (not unlike the way film scores work), and asking viewers to donate to the Japan relief efforts through their choice of charity organization. In exchange for donations, Dobos offered a free download of the Hymn to The Fukushima 50.
The emotional, powerful piece received highly positive feedback on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, where the video was published. The piece received over 10,000 views in the first week, and over 30,000 views within three weeks of its launch. The concept of inspiring donations also worked, as on April 4, 2011, The Creative Shop reported approximately $10,000 in inspired donations.
The Hymn features Dobos' typical mix of monumental electro-orchestral and electronic instrumentation, as well as thunderous percussion and sound design elements, and following a positive, uplifting feel, it ends with a mysterious sound and lack of happy ending. In the composer's words: "For those who have showed the word what being a patriot truly means, the Fukushima 50 Hymn expresses their heroism, the pain of Japan and celebrates the spirit of its people."
Works in Progress
Having returned to his musical past, distinct composition style and the preference of analog, digital synthesizers and various other electronic musical instruments over the use of traditional orchestra, Dobos is currently at work on a new electronic concept album, which is expected to be released in 2011 or 2012.Influences
The influence of the early electronic music pioneers including Jean Michel JarreJean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
, Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
, Isao Tomita
Isao Tomita
, often known simply as Tomita, is a Japanese music composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements...
, Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
, and some contemporary the works of 20th Century composers such as Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
, Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film A...
, Karl Jenkins
Karl Jenkins
-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...
, Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
, combined with his strong desire for originality enabled Dobos to free himself of the strict rules and classical teachings of the conservative music education system, and forge his own, distinctive style.
Dobos’ music clearly reveals his European roots, his haunting melodies and chord structures instantly create deep, intense emotional experience for its listeners regardless of their cultural or social background.
Instrumentation and sound design
Dobos’ music is well known for its monumental instrumentation. This is achieved by his use of a large number of textural and melodic layers, micromelodies and countermelodies, with the instrumentation often involving the combination of electronic, traditional western and ethnic instruments. The extensive and creative use of analog and digital synthesizers and software play a major role in adding both emotional depth and sonic complexity to his works. As the composer stated:“The sound design work is an essential part of the music creation process. Using traditional instruments, you end up focusing on the notes and rhythm. But synthesizers add a new dimension to the music: sounds. With them, you start thinking in terms of tones, textures, feelings, moods – which are often more important than the melody itself.” (Julius Dobos)
Dobos is known to use a wide array of synthesizers, music software, effect units and experimental techniques to create new sounds. These receive a prominent role in his album ElectroScapes , which features extensive sound design and sound programming work. In terms of equipment, studio photos reveal the use of vintage analog synthesizers, such as the Minimoog
Minimoog
The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. It was released in 1970 by R.A. Moog Inc. , and production was stopped in 1981. It was re-designed by Robert Moog in 2002 and released as Minimoog Voyager.The Minimoog was designed in response to the use of...
, Crumar Spirit
Crumar
Crumar is an Italian company which manufactured synthesizers and keyboards in the 60's, 70s and 80s. Its name is taken from that of its founder, Mario Crucianelli...
, Oberheim Matrix
Oberheim Matrix synthesizers
Oberheim Matrix synthesizers are a historic product line of analog synthesizers from Oberheim featuring a method of synthesis which Oberheim called "Matrix Modulation" as a method of defining preset and user patches...
, Sequential Circuits Pro-One
Sequential Circuits
Sequential Circuits Inc. was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are often taken for granted in...
, and several modern virtual analog and digital synthesizers.
Discography
Studio- and compilation albums:- "Connecting Imges" (1998)
- "Mountain Flying" (1999)
- "Applied Moods – Selected Works of Julius Dobos" (2000)
- "Tekno Chemistry" (2003)
- "Epic" (2004)
- "ElectroScapes" (2005)
- "Transitions" (2010)