Practice Makes Perfect?

Does practice make perfect? Then why does society’s meta stories tell us otherwise? On Crazytown Blog this morning. http://bit.ly/spGW4p

Tribute [the band] live mix off the board

We recorded our live show at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s annual Fun In The Sun Chili Cookoff in October 2011. Straight off the board, with some compression/limiting done after the fact. Sounds great. And some really nice photography by Katie Macquarrie to show off the band.

We had a great time. Check out Tribute for more information. Maybe you want to book us for your next event!

Kari Davis covers Johnny Cash’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe”

Kari Davis, one of the fabulous students from the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program, sat down with me and recorded a few covers (as well as a few of her own original tunes). This is her take on an old Johnny (and June) Cash song, It Ain’t Me, Babe.

Nice.

Zach Dellinger plays the viola on the Zipper Hall stage

I had forgotten how much fun this little shoot was, from back in April 2011. But people keep coming and watching this piece (with almost 700 views on YouTube), even thought the concert that this short advertised is long-over. I think Zach is a fantastic ambassador for new and unique music, because his passion and deep understanding of the music is clearly evident when he starts talking about the Berio piece.

I filmed this in a quick two-hour session; approximately one hour of simply letting Zach play while I shot from different angles, and then another hour (probably less) of Zach and Young Riddle talking about the piece. The awesome sound comes from mics set up both on the stage and out in the middle of Zipper Hall picking up the great acoustics of that room.

Happy that so many people are enjoying this simple piece. I wonder if I could do something similar for your business or project…what are you passionate about?

Why 1969 was the best year ever…

My guest blog post for this week over on CRAZYTOWN. Check it out.

Guest blogging on CRAZYTOWN

Ooops: I forgot to let you know about my guest-writing platform on Ryan Scott Oliver’s wonderful blog CRAZYTOWN. My articles come out every Monday morning, and span subjects from pop culture to music and theatre to education to how modern technology separates us and brings us together in new and unexpected ways. I’d love for you to read it! And don’t forget to check out some of the other wonderful, hilarious, and thought-provoking writers that are also on CRAZYTOWN…

Hearken Creative produces Electronic Press Kit

credits: Loren A. Roberts, producer, ProTools recordist and editor, film editor, b-camera operator; Jordan McMahon, a-camera operator

Jennifer Robin is a fantastic jazz artist that I have known for almost 20 years, but have never gotten to work with before. That opportunity finally came when she announced a CD release party for August 2011. I stepped in to both run sound for the show and assemble some live footage for an electronic press kit. All mics were mine — we ran 12 channels directly into my ProTools rig, and then straight out to the board for live mixing. Jordan and I both brought cameras, and later I mixed down the live recording and married it up with the footage as well as some interview clips that I filmed a few days after the concert.

I love how much of her personality I was able to capture, both in the concert and in the interviews. Jennifer deals with life with a thoughtful but in-the-moment grace that is hard to find in artists, and I believe that comes through loud and clear here. And she surrounds herself with wonderful people, too: the whole band was game for trying things, but gracious and helpful as well.

In all, a good time putting together a powerful package that I hope helps her sell some more albums. And a good piece showing what Hearken Creative can do on short notice…

Summer Musical Theatre Fun

So I’m on the board of the Pasadena Musical Theatre program, and we get to do all sorts of fun and cool stuff. In addition to year-round programs, we put on two big musicals every summer — one for 4th-6th graders, and one for 7th-12 graders. So here’s what I get to do:

ADVERTISING DESIGN

All postcards and posters and such are developed by me, in concert with the directors. Here is the keyart for the two shows this summer:

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The Jasper in Deadland keyart was developed with strong direction from the composer/conductor, Ryan Scott Oliver, because this is his baby. I’m very excited to be helping him bring this original musical to life.

PRODUCT & BRAND DESIGN

As part of the story for Jasper in Deadland, the protagonist crosses the river Lethe (get out your mythology books!) and keeps getting offered Lethe™ Brand water, so we decided that we needed to offer Lethe™ Brand products as well.

It’s a clever, simple brand, but people are loving it, and I expect that we’ll see tote bags and water bottles with this logo all around campus in a week or two…

VIDEO

I have found a way to use the Canon 7D for quick, news-gathering-style video: 1) simply accept the limitations of the on-board microphone, and 2) stop the iris down a little so things don’t go out of focus so quickly. And so, every day of the program, we have posted a 2-minute recap, showing warmups, rehearsals, discussions, and antics of the kids in the program. It’s a win-win for the families in the program: parents get to see what’s going on, students get to show their day off to their friends, and PMTP gets added exposure through the hundreds of views we have gotten on Youtube. Here are two of the most popular recaps so far:

Filming these giving me a chance to understand how to choose shots quickly and follow the action. Everything is handheld except for performance video.

IN OTHER NEWS

Tomorrow (I hope) I’m going to roll out a press release announcing one of the newest projects that I have been working on. We’re very proud of the design work that Hearken Creative is doing these days, and I can’t wait to update my portfolio. It’s just a busy time of year for us!

Honestly, I’m having too much fun…

This is looking down on the stage from the catwalk where my speakers are hidden

It pays to have a kid who loves classical music, and love classical music myself. Los Angeles Children’s Chorus asked me to help out with adding surround sound to the Ambassador Auditorium for a new piece, composed for the Children’s Chorus by Caroline Park, entitled Motion. So I took a bunch of powered speakers and climbed up into the catwalks above the audience. And it sounds fantastic. Ms. Park has written a challenging piece for the kids, but the payoff is huge — being enveloped in sound in a way that only someone with an understanding of children’s voices could create.

Rehearsing the new piece "Motion." Composer Caroline Park's laptop with MaxDSP running can be seen in the lower left of the photo.

The concert is Saturday, May 14, at 7:00 p.m. You should come if at all possible — these kids are pros. They have sung with the L.A. Phil, Hollywood Bowl, L.A. Master Chorale, tons of recordings, and all sorts of other stuff. More importantly, they love music, and are learning to love the work that goes into doing something well — doing something right. I’m proud of all of the hard work that they have put into this.

And I love getting to play with sound, too.

LACC's Concert Choir rehearsing for this week's concert

Otis Rain

My good friend Bobby Rizzo is writing some great stuff, and we recorded a quick demo of one of his songs tonight. Really fun.

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edit:
A sparser, more refined mix

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