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