Twilight Mediations II Setup Day One

So, I find myself in between terms, so it seemed high time to finish this followup album thats been percolating so long.

Setup went okay today. Wrote a minute of melodies, using Omnisphere (what else would I be using for the first track :), then I tried booting up one of the PCs to offload some of the playback, cause this first track is going to be orchestration heavy.

It started up, Synergy loaded, VStack loaded, the patches loaded and I got a MIDI pulse, but no sound. I think the Audiophile 24/96 card might be fried.

I think it might be just me, but am I blowing up sound cards too much? Anyway, They(tm) finally opened a Guitar Center about 4 miles from me. Guess where I'm headed in the morning?

I'll keep you apprised as the nights continue on.

My best,

Jack

Chakra Meditation

Evening

So, about a year or so ago, an editor friend of mine and I (his name is Anthony Rhoads) started another project for John Edward. It was called Infinite Quest and it was a pretty cool idea, a social networking site and educational tool for people interested in cultivating their non-corporeal skills.

Anyway, Anthony and I were working together on a way to incorporate video and music/soundscapes together to make a mediation piece for the site. It had been about a year since we had worked together on the last season of Cross Country so we were pretty excited.

So I found out that you can watch and listen to the first Mediation (Red) without being a member of Infinite Quest. Here's the link:

http://www.infinitequest.com/tools/chakra-meditation-player

And here's the link to Anthony Rhoads' website:

http://www.rhopro.com

Now you might be wondering if these are shameless plugs for my friends.

You'd be right :)

j

World Instrumentation

Morning,

So, ever hear of a Berimbau? Perhaps an Erhu? How bout a Pipa (no not Kate's sister)?

The commonality for all of these instruments, at least to me is that I hadn't heard of them 6 months ago. Alright, maybe the Erhu, but a Berimbau?

One of the joys of being a composer is that you occasionally get to work with instrumentation you've never heard of before. Personally I had no business picking up a Pipa, but after I included that in the full orchestration piece of music the texture changed imperceptibly... but it did change nonetheless.

I can't remember where I read it, I think it may have been Eric Persing giving an interview, maybe Nick Phoenix; in any case it's an interesting idea.

In western music orchestration, we are used to the regular standbys. Full orchestra composed of strings, winds, percussion, and sometimes choir. Oh and don't forget the piano player.

The suggestion was this though: try replacing some of your instruments with some exotic counterparts. Instead of a baritone or French horn, Try the German Alpenhorn. Replace a commonly used bass drum with an African floor drum. The point being while these instruments sound a little bit like their Western counterparts, they aren't an exact match. By introducing new textures, some of them of which are perceptible, some not, you can see if there are certain world instruments that were give you a different timbre to your orchestrations.

If you do try this, I'd be interested to hear what you replaced and how it sounded and sat in the mix.

Till next time,

Jack

Album Sessions

Heya

In NY this week working on producing Jim Caputo's vocals for his new release due sometime the end of next year.

Yesterday was a lot of editing and clean up, and today will be as well. We'll do some vocals later today, and sending a lot of stems over to Scottie Kohlmorgen for drums. If he can turn them around fast enough, all the basic tracks should be done, with the exception of the odd instrument that Jim wants and I just can't play.

Here's to a long productive day in the studio :)

j

Spirit of South Africa

John Edward Spirit of South Africa

Been doing some research and writing for a new show broadcast on SABC in South Africa called John Edward Spirit of South Africa.

The majority of music is still drawn from seasons two and three of Cross Country which premiered here in the states in 2006. I did a new theme based loosely on the first one, with some various hits at new places with the main titles.

Scott Blass, one of the editors at the production company I work for did the editing, and it really is a nice show. It has a particular gold tone, opposed to the the more muted blues and purples of Cross Country.

Sooo, if you’re in Johannesburg at 10:30 at night, most nights, tune in :)

j

Bob Moog

I can remember being in Mrs. Voscanion's music class in 5th or 6th grade..can't remember which. She was way ahead of me in terms of coolness. Well, I was a kid and she was an adult. But she introduced me to Styx, and to the Moog synthesizer. I can remember a desk full of black boxes and patch cables and a speaker system and was like "WTH is this supposed to be?" . When she started to play, well, that's the first exposure to synths I ever had. I'm glad it was that. I mean, Moog synths are where it all began.

I received an email from Spectrasonics a while back, touting a new tribute library to one of the great electronic music pioneers, Bob Moog:

http://www.spectrasonics.net/products/tribute/

After reading the list of contributors to the 700 program library, and learning more about a contest Eric Persing's company started (he's a crazy synth programmer among other things) I decided to give it a whirl.

There are a lot of libraries out there that try to come close to this library, but you just can't beat sampled Moogs which are then further processed by Omnisphere's Steam engine. There is a lot.. I mean A LOT of inspiring patches in the library. I've been at a standstill with finishing TM2, but with some adaptations, Bob's tribute library may have saved my collective ass.

So they are going to open a museum in Asheville, NC and no doubt stock it with examples, vintage gear, and exhibits related to the instrument that all of us keyboard players, whether we know it or not, owe our careers to.

My submission is in. Now lets see if I did any credit to the Moog legacy.

Best,

j

Sade

After 10 years, Sade returned to touring. Apparently she’s just been in the studio recording in between her two tours. I hadn’t seen her before she took a break, but last night’s concert was from a first time attendee, something else.

It was about the music. Well, I know it’s always about the music. The band however pulled off all their parts with really minimal instrumentation. The rhythm section had the usual suspects; acoustic drums, misc. percussion, bass, guitar. The interesting addition was a keyboard player that played pretty much only Rhodes piano.

Thus my one… Lets call it complaint. It is really hard to mix Rhodes piano into studio recordings. Live its even worse. In an arena concert it’s a certifiable nightmare.

It was her second show of a thousand-date comeback tour. I’m sure in a few dates the FOH engineer will get it together. All I know is I’m glad I’m not him.

Oh, and the other standout were the two backup singers. They were really nice when they took the spotlight and got the crowd going.

Till next time,

j

Bad Cat Music Collective – All Pumped Up

Finding Seoul is finished. Definitely feeling the sad its done, but can’t wait to see the final cut – thing. Ya know?

Next up is to get the musical geniuses I work with approved to be pumpaudio.com artists. We’re going to go under our current moniker, Bad Cat Music Collective. It started out as a drop-box working music collaboration between some pretty scary individuals. It became clear after the fifth genre of music we tackled that this group needed to be official, at least in music placement people’s eyes.

So wish me luck while I try to get the Bad Cats pump audio green lit.

Twilight Meditations 2 is back in the news as well. One more track and it’s done. Mix should go pretty quickly (I usually mix on the fly anyway). I’ll let you know as soon as I get a release date. Until then, I will start posting snippets on the Facebook page. Comments, good and bad are always appreciated.

j

Drawing Close to the End

8 More cues and 2 possible songs for the film Finding Seoul, and then alas this project will be over.

I get a bit sad when things get to this point, because I know a lot of the hard work is soon going to go into rewrites and ultimately, come to an end. When you work on a TV series, its different because the end is some thing in the far future that may or may not happen every season. I guess because as the episodes come in you realize that those milestones are just as important as the type I am closing in on..

I've almost found my Seoul.

My best,

j

Seoul Continues to Shine

I’m into day three of production. Well I should say night three.

I tried. I really did. I tried to compose during the day and failed miserably :)

Well, that’s not true. I did finish a number of cues for Finding Seoul on friday afternoon. The main theme though has been rocking in my head pretty much the whole week I’ve been working on this, and its hard to get it out. I’m working a lot on the beginning of the film since the music is pretty close. The historical footage is my favorite. I chose alto flute for the main character for when he was a boy, since it really hit the child-essence thing to a T.

As far as later on in the film, there is going to be a lot more of the recapitulation of the the main title theme, which is a song. Vocals and everything.

So here’s to another overnight of composing!

j

Seoul In My Soul

Evening everyone.

I just finished pre-production and instrument selection for a new documentary I’ll be scoring next week. It’s a beautiful piece, and pretty much what I look for in any passion project. It’s real, well produced, and has a great narrative. I’ll begin the downbeat this Wednesday and should have the first drafts out by Friday afternoon.

Check out the documentarian’s weblog here:

http://findingseoulfilm.tumblr.com

As for TM2, I have hit a wall. I’ve written 48 minutes of the record and only have about 12 minutes to go, but those last 12 minutes are so hard. I don’t know if anything I’ve done is even worthy. I guess that’s why us artists can sometimes get to self-conscious and think everything we do is crap.

I know I do.

I still haven’t finished the music for my new demo reel, which is going to feature music that’s been everywhere. I mean, A&E, WE, NatGeo… You’d think I’d be rarin ta go and get the demo reel soundtrack going... And to boot, one of my friends who’s probably the best editor I’ve ever known is cutting the damn thing together! I mean common Jack!

But like I said it’s hard.

Any of you having the same problems I’m having?

Thanks for reading,

j

Looking Over The Tracks

Hi there fellow friends and composers

I’ve checked (and re-checked) what I have so far for TM2 and realized that a little more than half the album is done. There are three tracks that I am confident will make it onto the next album, while two others which don’t match the sound. One of them was so upbeat and happy I almost didn’t recognize it was me.

Along the same vein as the working-title tracks “Open” and “Clear” are another two percolating, which have yet to be named. Still figuring out instrumentation on one and the other…well I know it will have piano, that counts right? :)

Since returning to school, I’ve found less and less energy to do this album. But I am still working on it, and I will keep you posted on how it is going.

As always thanks for reading,

j

Jack Walker Music – Update

Hello friends and fellow composers. Just a quick update on where the projects and albums are.

I spent 2010 in convalescence while completing a number of television projects for A&E and National Geographic.

As such, the albums I was working on took a major hit. TM 2 has been put off for a year, and two other projects began to percolate in the last month and a half. I’ll address those in a later post.

I am rebuilding my sounds database (had a hard drive crash about 6 months ago) and the studio wasn’t operating at 100% for a while.

As for TM 2, its getting close, but I’m still not quite happy with some of the arrangements. I’m considering bringing on a friend who does kick ass arrangements (you know who you are). Hopefully it will reignite the fires of creation as it were.

I’ll keep you updated, and get a release date for TM 2 soon.

Thanks for reading,

Jack