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Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 13 2000, 20:00 I've seen some fans' opinions on the Orchestral Tubular Bells while looking at various web sites...many seem to not think very much of it. I'll admit that perhaps things could have been better, but I also find it very interesting... But, what do people out there think...has David Bedford butchered Mike's masterpiece, or has he created a valid piece of orchestral music? I'll no doubt tell you more of what I think if some replies start to come in (just thinking that this forum looks a bit empty)... Back to top

GMOVJ Group: Members Posts: 273 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 14 2000, 03:18 Yes of course, things always could be better... But I like OTB very much, as much than the original one ! Maybe Fans miss guitar on some part, but I was very surprised when I read some Fans'opinion on the internet : when I was a kid, I was looking desperatly for this Orchestral version, because I used to prefear classical music than other. And once I found it, I was not at all disapointed ! So, reading all those bad opinion makes me feel like ... loving EM ! Maybe Piltdown Man is a bit disapointing, all right, but Part 1 is very powerful... My opinion on OTB is : - This is a valid piece of Orchestral Music - D.Bedford did a good job most of time - This is a master piece in MO discography - We should stop comparing everything to TB Cheers, GMOVJ -------------- Cheers, GMOVJ [URL=http://tubular.fodplanet.com]http://tubular.fodplanet.com[/URL] - The french speaking mailing list Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 14 2000, 19:56 I always thought that the Piltdown Man part lost it's power a bit... I think that maybe some parts of the album work better than others, but it's definately a very interesting interpretation of the album. Yes, it does lose parts of Mike Oldfield's character when the orchestra play it, but it also gains a new character of its own. I admit to expecting more guitar on seeing "With Mike Oldfield on guitar" printed on the cover, but it works...I'm divided on that one really. I think that the guitar can work brilliantly in classical music - not necessarily just the classical guitar, but also the electric guitar, if used in the right way. It would be quite interesting to try something in between the two albums - perhaps bringing back the piano, the guitars and having some more bells (I'm thinking of at the end of part 1 here), as well as a few other bits that I'll probably think of later... I think it works, though - it makes an interesting alternative to the original (perhaps you could argue it's more conventional, in a way, but you could argue a lot of things...) and translates into an interesting (and valid  :wink:) piece of orchestral music. Back to top

toMtOm Group: Members Posts: 41 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Aug. 23 2000, 10:30 Hi! It's very interesting, that I heard sooner the OTB than the original TB! And it was very exciting to hear later, how solved DB the problem of arranging TB with violin, flute and other classical instruments. I think - as you above - that OTB a masterpiece not only in MO life but in DB life as well. And a second small addition: the most interesting me on Tubular Bells always the guitar solo at the end of part 2, just before the Sailor's Hornpipe section. It's brilliant that there are no same interpretations on the different versions (TB, OTB, TB-Exposed, TBII, TBII live, other TB and OTB live performances) I mean it's really a 'solo'. And my opinion is that maybe the best version is on the OTB... Back to top

MISHIMA Group: Members Posts: 7 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Oct. 31 2000, 11:23 I have the Orch.TB on CD, and at first I was really annoyed by it. Discovering this web page just the other day, I decided to dust it off and give it a spin. I like it a lot more than I remember. It is a little muddy or klunky-sounding to me... that is the orchestra doesn't really seem as tight as they should, and there are some blatantly bad moments in the brass here and there, but generally it's a nice thing to have along with the original. I wonder if a chamber ensemble version would have been a better choice. It could start with piano and progress much like the original, then eventually we would hear strings, winds and brass work there way in. Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Nov. 01 2000, 19:04 I definitely agree that the performance isn't great - maybe it would have worked better in a live setting, simply because the orchestra might have given it a bit more with an audience there. Could be the conductor's fault as well, of course... A chamber version could be interesting. I'd like to bring in some more guitar, probably in the form of classical guitar (but that's just me...). In fact, I don't personally see any reason why the electric guitar shouldn't be used in 'classical' music, if used correctly and in the right setting (I do realise the need for subtlety...). Perhaps it's up to a fan to arrange something like this (although for the moment I think I'll pass on that idea myself - I can't see myself having time to arrange Tubular Bells for even a small orchestra...). Back to top

Archangel Foster Group: Members Posts: 215 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Nov. 01 2000, 20:45 IMO, OTB is as good as TB. I love that bit in Part I that starts at 14:11 (I don't know what you call that) - here David Bedford has made 'something completely different' out of it, and something great, too. I think DB is a marvellous arranger as well as composer (have you heard his arrangement work on Camel's 'The Snow Goose'?). Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Nov. 03 2000, 18:11 I think it was sort of brave of David Bedford to even try arranging Tubular Bells for orchestra. He did create something new, certainly, and all credit to him for trying something new. That said, to many fans of Mike's, it won't have been pulled off quite right. It's an interesting piece of work, whatever opinions people might have... I do think that the performance isn't as strong as it perhaps could be, though. Whether this is the fault of the musicians, the conductor or maybe the music (or rather how the performers felt about playing it) is open to question. The sound isn't actually as wonderful as it perhaps could be (the acoustic of the space it's recorded in doesn't come across as being too spectacular to me). Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Aug. 09 2002, 23:31 I actually quite like it, although it isn't the best. It would certainly be my favourite orchestral piece (well, it is one of the only ones I've heard...) -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

Guru Meditation Group: Members Posts: 55 Joined: May 2003 Posted: May 17 2003, 05:23 OTB could sound much better then it does. There is no echo and reverb, which anoys me, and it could be much more expressive. Also, the famous introduction even sounds a bit unmelodic. I think he could do better work with this, although some parts sound much better then on Oldfields original. All in all I was dissapointed with OTB - I expected much more. I thought he is going to change some parts, cut some parts off or extend some others... But I was positively surprised with how he managed to arrange some parts for orchestra. So it is a bit controversal - both good and bad, but not good sounding all in all. Greetings Back to top

Mike Chadwick Group: Members Posts: 231 Joined: May 2003 Posted: Aug. 14 2003, 14:13 well - anyway it is sad that ORCHESTRAL HERGEST RIDGE and ORCHESTRAL OMMADAWN had not beed officialy released. -------------- kik-eze kik-eze Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Aug. 14 2003, 15:34 There never is any added echo or reverb on classical recordings - they rely solely on the acoustics of the space they're recorded in (in this case, Barking Town Hall). There is definitely natural reverberation there, though - it might not be immediately apparent (it doesn't seem to be a particularly long reverb time), but I think if you compared it to a recording made in an anechoic chamber (where there really is no reverb), you'd hear a difference. I think it remains an interesting attempt at reworking the piece, though. Back to top

Mike Chadwick Group: Members Posts: 231 Joined: May 2003 Posted: Aug. 15 2003, 03:41 yes, you are absolutely right Korgscrew! -------------- kik-eze kik-eze Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1357 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Sep. 18 2003, 11:54 I have just relistened to it twice for the first time in about 3 years,and i have to say,i still think it's a great effort in interpretation,i think the caveman sequence came out well,considing how weird a track it is on the album,a difficult piece for an orchestra to try and play,but i think they did well,even though it loses a lot of it's power. I was looking forward to hearing Mike play some classical guitar,almost new music as i had'nt listened to the album in so long,but i was amazed at how short a time Mike is on the album,but it was good to hear him again,i liked the sequence as it comes to a great climax with Mike on electric guitar!!!! Back to top

trcanberra Group: Members Posts: 349 Joined: Jan. 2008 Posted: Feb. 03 2008, 06:57 From what I have read Mike was not very impressed with the playing of the orchestra, and listening to this disc reinforces that for me.  They are very "loose" in their playing, almost as if disinterested.  Not sure if it is just the lack of rehearsal alluded to earlier. Some of the orchestration is also less than inspired. I have a "lot" of classical CDs, and considered as one of them this does not compare very well (just go out and listen to von Karajan and the BPO on Beethoven's 7th for one comparison - any version). So, probably my least favorite of the 13 or so Mike CDs I have at the moment (more on the way, will let you know what I think when I have the lot).  Still, pleasant enough in its way as another way to look at TB. Back to top

Ghostmojo Group: Members Posts: 94 Joined: Mar. 2009 Posted: April 06 2009, 18:09 I have always had mixed feelings about this one. I suppose it seemed a natural progression of sorts, to take a modern piece of orchestrated music, and create an interpretation of it with a traditional classical orchestra. But in many ways it is also a fool's errand. What do we like about the great original? Besides the wonderful music itself, it is the fact that almost everything is played by Mike himself. In that respect it is a very personal statement - and that was what Mike intended. He also intended it to be orchestral music played in the rock genre. Without the rock instrumentation it loses much of its ummph. To be honest, IMHO it sounds a bit boring at times because the classical orchestra (and I do like classical music) just doesn't have the dynamics of modern technological instruments. Part of Tubular Bells appeal was that it was very much firmly rooted and anchored in the new progressive rock tradition of the late 60s/early 70s. It was also the child of the studio's new ability to multi-track and this was really MO's oevre - as followed logically through to Amarok which has to be his last major opus-type achievement (although TB2/TB3/TSODE/Tr3s Lunas are all worthy). Mike was certainly inspired by the likes of Sibelius and much later composers like Philp Glass and Terry Riley, but he was also a product of the 60s expansive rock tradition which embraced everything it could get its hand on. The Orchestral Tubular Bells is therefore ironically diminshed as a musical statement by being planted into the classical environment - where one might assume it would sit quite naturally. Oddly enough - it really doesn't work so well as might be expected. Tubular Bells is the hybrid offspring of a curious mind who said "what if and why not?". It worked as a rock workout with classical pretentions and framework - but IMO largely failed as a classical piece taken out of, and away from its quite unique heritage. Tubular Bells was a kind of fish-out-of-water (early symphonic rock perhaps?) which worked once but as a fish-returned-to-water somehow just didn't... -------------- " ... if you feel a little glum - to Hergest Ridge you should come ... " Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: April 11 2009, 07:07 I think the crux of it is that TB is chamber music in nature (with various individual instruments talking to one another); and to convert it to orchestral music (which is about large groups of people talking to one another) falsifies its very nature. Back to top

Kiwwy Group: Members Posts: 106 Joined: Aug. 2003 Posted: June 18 2009, 16:46 I've always liked it alot. It might not have so much of the original feel left, but I think its a very interesting piece of orchestral music in its own way. I guess you could say that its more David Bedford than MO, but I'd certainly like to see more music like this written (or re-written) for a full orchestra. -------------- TB Ultimate #363 Platinum #101 QE2 #749 Back to top

chrisdewey Group: Members Posts: 18 Joined: Sep. 2005 Posted: June 18 2009, 20:10 The Orchestral Tubular Bells holds a special place in my memory, as although not the very earliest exposure, it was amongst my early experiences of Mike Oldfield's music. When I was about ten, my wonderful music teacher, Miss Mapstone, played us both Tubular Bells and the Orchestral Tubular Bells in class, and asked us to write down the different instruments we could hear. It was a very memorable lesson for me. 30 years on, she lives in a village nearby, so I must make the time to visit her and tell her what it meant to me, and how I've ended up being a huge fan and running Dark Star for the last 24 years! Back to top

Mark Group: Members Posts: 32 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: June 24 2010, 12:43 Quote (Korgscrew @ June 13 2000, 20:00) But, what do people out there think...has David Bedford butchered Mike's masterpiece, I think Mike performed a far greater act of butchery of TB1 on the 'Exposed' tour. Back to top

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