Nine Crows Pty. Ltd. presents

Victor Spiegel

Original music for film, theatre, dance, television and games, composed, performed and produced in his own studio.

Score a scene with his music

The spotting session

One picture. Five scores.

In his own words, spotting means “determining the entry and exit points”. After that, the music decides what a scene means. This one is cut from his own film Sunrise on the Blue NoWhere. The picture never changes. Choose a cue and watch it change anyway.

1M1 No music

Every note here is Victor’s. There is far more on SoundCloud and Spotify.

Victor Spiegel in a black hat

Since the age of five

Discovery of Improvisation

Victor’s piano teacher lived next door. He started lessons at five, played classical repertoire in concert from six, and stayed with that teacher for about fifteen years. Then, as a teenager, he went blank in the middle of a piece. The advice was simple: make something up until you remember what you’re doing. “And I began to enjoy the making up part more than the other part.”

A BA from the University of California in Performance Integration of World Myths and Music. An MA in Music Composition from Mills College in Oakland. Twelve years improvising for modern dance classes, counting “two measures of three, a bar of six, and two bars of eleven”. More than a hundred museum tour tapes, folding the music of Ethiopia, Egypt, Tibet and India under narrators like Richard Gere and Meryl Streep.

His lyricism grows from both familiar and exotic soils, from India, Japan, Indonesia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, heard through a jazz lens. From 2006 he lectured in music at JMC Academy in Sydney.

The cue sheet

Fifty years of scoring for stage, screen and concerts

CueTitleForYear

Also for the Getty Museum, Chicago Art Museum, Academy of Sciences, Bantam Books, Sprint, Digital Equipment Corporation, Bandai and the University of California.

Notes from the directors

“Victor created the thematic score for the play, as well as atmospheric underscore for each scene, and I was thrilled with the result. I have since used Victor regularly for scoring productions.”
Annette Rowlison Producer and Director, Bare Productions. On To Kill a Mockingbird, New Theatre, Sydney, 2014
“A consummate professional with a deep understanding of both sound engineering, and composition, and an excellent intuition for the musical needs of any creative project.”
John Galea Creative Director, The Puzzle Collective
“His scoring works for modern dance, choreographers, theatre, television and film is unflappable. He understands the medium clearly.”
Art Phillips Owner and Director, 101 Music Pty Ltd

Writer, director, composer

Photography, shorts, screenwriter and author: The story stands out

Author

Victor Spiegel published books

Victor in his new recording studio in Kensington, California, beside the keyboard, monitors and mixing screen
Victor at the studio desk in front of the mixing screen
Victor in the studio with the keyboard and speakers behind him

Studio hire

Opening the door to collaboration can propel your project creatively into realms neither of us can imagine

A place to workshop and record your song or album, with help from lyrics, chord progression, melody and structure right through to a full and final mix. Victor specialises in adding full orchestral accompaniment and ethnic instruments.

Need something in a hurry? Victor does emergency music. Call or text 341 254 9118.

Teaching since 1968

Gentle guidance into music creation

Piano
Beginning, intermediate and advanced. All ages.
Composition
For the beginner, intermediate or advanced student. Class or individual.
World music
Harmony, melody, rhythm, texture and form, and how to listen for them in music from anywhere.
Song writing
The basics of rhyme, reason and rhythm, and giving them voice.
Make your own radio play
Concept, script, directing, microphone technique, sound design, music and mastering.
Improvisation
For musicians and actors at every level.
The Doctor Music Show
The building blocks of music for children, as entertainment.

In the classroom

Teaching Music

Photos from Victor’s classes, drawings his young students made about them, and Music Stories by the kids themselves.

Victor with a hand drum, leading students as they move to the rhythm
Victor seated with a circle of young students and their drums
Students sitting on the classroom floor with their drums
Children dancing to the music in one of Victor’s classes
A class moving together around the room
Victor leading a class of children with a frame drum

The kids’ works

A student drawing of Victor and the class outside
A colourful student drawing of the class
A student drawing of playing instruments together
A student drawing about the stories Victor told
A student drawing of playing instruments
A student drawing about the Mommy and Daddy pattern
A student drawing about clapping along
A student drawing about doing a dance
A student drawing about rhythm
A student painting of an island and the sea

Music Stories by his students

From the studio

What Victor is working on.

Questions and answers

Ask Victor

News from the studio, told the way people ask about it. Read the latest below, then send Victor a question of your own.

Hey, Victor, what are you working on now?

Oh, that's a good question. I've got another month to go after moving back to the Bay Area. The shipment of all the rest of my Things arrives late November.

The recording studio is almost complete. Still need to install the special custom made sound absorption curtains. So that has taken up a lot of time and effort. Special thanks to Rob Kaluhiokalani for his help installing stuff.

As for creative works, The Silverlight screenplay is close to complete. Still needs some editing and tweaking. Lots of images, music, and even a novel is forming up. Let me know if you're interest in reading it and giving some feedback.

Another story undergoing constant research and development is (working title) Ana. A young woman with blood cancer meets a vampire who draws her into the world of the Undead.

Finally got a great acoustic piano, so I'm back to practicing and open for students of piano, improvisation, song writing and composition, all levels.

This website is brand spanking new, thanks to the team at AstraLabs. Let me know if you have comments, suggestions or responses.

A new album is under construction, something about the Elements. Not ready to talk about it yet.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Send Victor a question

About the music, the films, the books, the studio or lessons. It goes straight to Victor.

Recordings

From solo piano to a live Sufi ceremony.

Every album here is Victor’s own. Open one to see the tracks and listen first.

SpotifySoundCloudYouTube

Bring your project

A film, a play, a dance, a game or a song that needs its music. Tell Victor what you are making and when you need it.

vspiegel@vspiegel.com 341 254 9118

419 Colusa Ave, Kensington, CA 94707

nine crows