Skating to powerful music like LOTR

[jjane45]

Tips tips tips please...!!! I am trying to decide music for my first program (low level free style, one minute and half) and Lord of the Rings soundtrack is a top candidate. (eta: one of my favorite albums of all time, love the movie)

Apparently it's overused in some areas but I've never seen people skating to it. Is it very demanding on the skater? If so, particularly in what aspects? Did you feel skater sometimes gets overpowered skating to such music?

Tips and suggestions are highly, highly appreciated!

[FigureSpins]

At recent competitions, I've heard LOTR, Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure used repeatedly, sometimes by competitors in the same group.

I think that if the skater can "keep up" with the tempo of the music and interpret it, then powerful music is fine.  When a skater is slower or has to stop skating to make this gesture or that movement, it really doesn't work.

Yet, less-strong skaters often don't have the control to do much-slower programs, so a middle ground is often best.

Someone at our rink is skating to some Bollywood music, which I think stands out and is fun.
She's a strong, fast skater but still struggles to keep up with it at times.

[Skittl1321]

I think skating to music you like.is the best thing you can do. I've seen slow little.girls.turn powerful when inspired by music they pick, rather than their coach did.

Powerful music is also easier to interpret, as it usually has ups and downs.  I don't mind skating to common music, it is usually easier to cut and at my level (low) I'm cheap and want to be able to cut it myself.

[jenniturtle]

my dd hated her music until I found Pirates of the Caribbean. Her coach agreed with the change. Now my DD wants to listen to the song all the time! Its crazy how just the right song can change how someone feels about her program. She was the one who I posted feels self consious. We just changed her music and she hasn't skated her program to it yet, but i expect to see a difference in her attitude!

[nicklaszlo]

It is an excellent work, but it's 3 hours long.  There are parts that would be easy for you to keep up with and express, and parts that would be too hard.  Did you have a particular part in mind?

Since the soundtrack uses leitmotif, you can have several concepts to express in a single movement.  I'm not sure if that will still work if it's cut down to 90 seconds.

It's one of the few modern works of music that I like.

[jjane45]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and comments!

Nicklaszlo, I am thinking probably "The Black Rider" or "The Uruk-Hai"... but really uncertain if I could handle them, my skating is not particularly big, and probably will show zero connection to music LOL. (BTW is Pipin's Song even skateable?)

Love pretty much everything about LOTR soundtrack so will first check if Coach already has some LOTR music cuts. I am dying to find out what Coach recommends next week.

More comments and tips are greatly appreciated!!

[nicklaszlo]

I'd go with some cuts from the the first half of Ukuk-Hai.  Also it would be awesome if you had Orc-Makeup.  You might not be Uruk-Hai sized (which is a good thing), but your skating is big enough. 

"BTW is Pipin's Song even skateable?'

No.  Learn to sing it instead.

If skatemom can get Michael Jackson public skates, maybe we can get LOTR public skates.

[elliegouda]

You should try this one, I love it.
Lloyd Weber is also a very good composer, found this video and the canadians skated to this Lloyd Weber piece.
http://www.olympic.org/figure-skating-ice-dancing-mixed

[rosereedy]

You want fast and powerful?  Check out the Van Helsing soundtrack.  There are a lot of 1 1/2 minutes songs on there and it moves fast.  I agree with FigureSpins about seeing people with fast music that can't keep up.  It doesn't work but if you can, man those programs are incredible to watch.  I personally love "soundtrack" powerful music but refuse to use the stuff that everyone else uses.  I also like stuff from the movies like Far and Away, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Gladiator, Van Helsing, etc.  I don't want girly froo-froo music.  Give me something with cahonas.

[FigureSpins]

I was thinking about this the other day - "powerful" doesn't always have to mean "fast."  Audacity lets you slow down a song, so if you like something, but can't keep up with it, a slowed-down version could be the solution.  As you master the program, you might be able to speed it up a notch.