My experience at TimeGate 2010
I had a wonderful experience two weekends ago attending TimeGate 2010 in Atlanta, GA. Truth be told, the main reason I attended the convention was because it was the first North American convention appearance of my friend and mentor Dominic Glynn. But the convention was a great success and I had a lot of fun there.
Upon arriving there Friday evening, I called Dom and we went out for drinks. We had a lovely time catching up. As we were discussing the convention schedule, I mentioned the Doctor Who music panel on Sunday. The program billed it as “Dominic Glynn and a panel of enthusiasts,” and I joked to Dom about it. “Enthusiasts? Why am I not on it?” Dom, ever gracious, thought that was a perfectly legitimate suggestion, and said that he would pull some strings with the hosts at the convention to get me on it.
On Saturday, I attended the Eighties Doctor Who panel (which Dom was on), and then Dom introduced me to some of the people running the convention. They very kindly agreed to allow me to sit on the Doctor Who music panel on Sunday. After the Eighties panel, we went out for lunch and then regrouped with Dom a short time later. I had started downloading Saturday’s Doctor Who episode, “Cold Blood,” back in my hotel room, and it had finished by the time we returned from lunch. I asked Dom if he wanted to join us for the episode, and he accepted. A good time was had by all.
After the episode we made our way back to the convention for the cabaret performance. Dom did a lovely improv piece on the piano, which heavily incorporated the Doctor Who theme and some of his incidental music. I recorded it, but Dom in his modesty has requested that I not post it. Later that night we attended a screening of “Bad Day,” the film Dom scored last year. It was a low-budget British crime thriller. The film was dark and gritty (I liked it) and Dom’s score was excellent. The score is available on iTunes now as well.
On Sunday, we headed down to the convention in the morning, where I had the privilege of sitting on both the Doctor Who music panel and the Q&A session with Dom. We talked about Doctor Who’s rich musical history, I demoed some of my isolated elements of Delia Derbyshire’s original theme, and we discussed some of the subsequent versions of the theme. Dom also deconstructed his 2008 remix of the theme for the audience. We also took a look at Dom’s score for “Survival,” and he demonstrated what it was like with and without music. It was a wonderful, informative set of panels, and I really wish we had more time to really dive into it. Perhaps next year?
After the panels on Sunday, we went out to lunch with Dom one last time and then made our exit. I almost wish I could have stayed longer, because I had a truly exceptional time there. Hopefully I can coordinate a return next year, and maybe I can even work with the convention hosts on expanding their music panel offering. That would be something truly special.
UPDATE: As an added treat, here is the “TimeGate Mix” that Dom did for the convention. It is a remixed version of his 2008 DVD theme.
Click here for the track page.
(Please ignore the “Danny Stewart” attribution. I am hosting the mix on my Bandcamp site, but it is solely the work of Dominic Glynn. I have attributed it correctly on the track itself.)