Recently finished up the soundtrack work for this piece by artist Clarissa Gregory. Really enjoyed working with a lot of organic sounds and just using simple editing techniques to create the “score”. Additional vocals provided by Bethany Dinsick.
walk through forest, enter water, build fort from Clarissa Gregory on Vimeo.
I’m getting into mixing and recording live shows. I’m realizing that while there is a lot of great video footage of live events here in Baltimore, the audio component of the show is usually done with an onboard camera mic, or maybe a shotgun mic attached to the camera. With not much additional effort (I had already set up this show, and was running sound), I was able to set up a pair of mics on two of the concrete pillars opposite in the stage in the Bell Foundry.
I REALLY like the acoustics here, plenty of reverberant space and the concrete floor and ceiling give it a bit of a cathedral effect. The audience was very quiet, sitting cross-legged in a humid basement, and I’d like to think they were appreciating the sound and the moment as much as I was.
I was asked to make some music and sound effects for the play “The Story of Invention”, by Baltimore theatre troupe The Un Saddest Factory. I really like scoring for video, but there’s something really fun about the flexibility of working with live actors. Timing is obviously important in both mediums, but when you’re scoring for visuals that have already been shot, or if you’re editing visuals to fit to prerecorded music, you can easily hit a wall – the length of a scene can constrain musical phrases to an unnatural rhythm, or maybe the editor needs a little extra footage to make the scene work with the music she has. There’s always creative solutions to these problems – but when you’re doing it live every time, these problems don’t even exist.
I’d done some work in the past with The Missoula Oblongata, notably arrangement of the score by Bob O’Brien for “The Most Mysterious Day of the Year”. I lived on the other side of the country at the time, and our collaboration was limited to email. As they workshopped the play, the music (pre-recorded) needed frequent revisions before timing and mood were where they needed to be. While the experience was fun, it left me wishing I could just be there rehearsing with them, and arranging on the spot. I think there’s a notion that us computer music dorks aren’t as flexible as live musicians (which is kinda fair), but it really doesn’t have to take much time at all to make big changes to elaborate arrangements – cut out parts, change the timing, add instruments or sound effects – anything really. I’m hoping to do this more in the future, I imagine that directors could really get down with working with a composer with the same kind of flexibility they expect from their actors.
ANYWAY, tonight is the last night to see The Story of Invention, so if you’re in Baltimore, I hope you can make it to The Bell Foundry to see it. Here’s the info: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192955354075345
And here’s what it’s about!:
“The Story of Invention follows an insomniac inventor as she attempts to build a machine that allows humans to experience more than one feeling simultaneously. Pressured by investors who want another profitable product, and by a color-blind botanist who studies dream plants and needs an invention of his own, she navigates what it means to make something new in a crowded world. Her only assistant may be imaginary and is definitely a puppet. The play was workshopped at Whartscape 2010 as well as the 2010 Delaware Fringe Festival.”
TOUR STARTS TODAY
Which Birds / Drew Swinburne Spring 2011 Tour
March 22 – Durham – House Show (very hush hush)
March 25 – Charleston – House Show (Cancelled)
March 26 – Savannah – ?
March 28 – Tampa – International House of Boba
March 29 – Orlando – Stardust
March 31 – Pensacola – Sluggo’s
April 1 – New Orleans – House Show
April 5 – Kansas City – The Mustache Club w/ Height with Friends!
April 6 – Chicago – Ball Hall w/ Height with Friends!
April 8 – Detroit – Division Gallery w/ Height with Friends!
April 11 – Pittsburgh – Garfield Artworks
April 12 – Rochester – Nazareth College
April 14 – Troy – 51 3rd St.
April 15 – Oswego – House Show
April 16 – New Paltz – Record Store Day at Rhino Records
April 17 – NYC – Death By Audio
15 precious little squeakers commissioned by Vice for “The Cute Show“. The Cute Album is a remastered collection of these songs, packaged in beautiful art by Ryan Syrell, held together with an actual jewel case, and released under the proud banner of Wham City Records.
The release party is March 20th at the Bell Foundry
$3 at door
CDs available at the show for $3 off regular price.
March 20th is the debut performance of the Canticle of Spring.
It will be held at the Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland, and will also serve as the release party for my new CD, “The Cute Album”.
The Canticle of Spring is an 18 minute choral work for 4 vocalists and synthesizers. Four loudspeakers are placed in each corner of the room with a vocalist between them, surrounding the audience. The synths and vocal parts are arranged to simulate motion and to emphasize different sides and corners of the room. Here’s a graphical representation:
The work itself is hymnal and reminiscent of gregorian chant. It is sung in the ceremonial language Za Sa. I’m really excited about putting this on. Also performing this evening will be Andrew Bernstein, Jenny Graf, and Which Birds.
March 20th, 9 PM. At the Bell Foundry, Baltimore, Maryland. $3.
This year’s Wham City Christmas CD-R is out today! It’s an awesome Christmas card curated by Dina Kelberman of important comics. For friends outside of Baltimore, it’s sort of an annual reminder that that we’re all still having fun, and they should move here, too.
Ack. I should’ve posted this a week ago, but a new Cute Show episode came out, with a new track by me. It’s about sloths! They are very cute.
I do nearly all of the music for the show – and will be compiling the best tracks into a Cute Album. The Cute EP (see sidebar) is a shorter, web-only release.
This week I’m mixing some audio for The Creepers’ upcoming album. Not sure about the release date, but I’m really excited that these songs are finally going to make it onto physical media. It is an album full of hits. Not to gush too much, but I think The Creepers are probably the most songwriterly of bands I know. It is actually really pretty rare for new bands to write songs that stay on topic and avoid drowning themselves in accidental metaphor. I wouldn’t say there’s anything wrong with this style when executed well, but having a point can be really helpful for a lot of listeners.
photo by Nate Dorr
Nate Dorr is just all over this website right now.
In other news, I’m working a bit with Adventure on his new album, also. Without saying too much, I think this new album has a lot to offer, and it shows off a more mature style with greater depth than his previous work. There are some exciting details about the new material but I don’t think I should reveal anything right now. Sorry for the non-news. I’ll be more specific at a later time.
From the Adventure/Dan Deacon split
Let’s not call it a blog. I really hate the term ‘blog’. It has a guttoral quality that doesn’t suit its function. I realize we already have an accepted name for what this kind of website is – we’ve settled on ‘blog’, but I don’t like the sound of it, and I really don’t like what I think it means to most people. I used to maintain a website like this – of course the tone was too personal (like it is right now), and the whole scene got too self-important after a while. But then there was MySpace and Twitter, and who cares how vain we are on the internet anyway?
I guess it makes sense to feel insane about having a personal blog. Spalding Gray might have had an interesting personal blog – maybe Garrison Keillor? That’s basically all he does anyway. I am not a writer, though, and I’m not trying to imply by having a website that the things I think and do are more important than what you think or do, but I do miss the personality we used to shine on each other during the more naïve years of the internet. This lead me to the blog of the supposed coiner of the term, Peter Meholtz, at http://www.peterme.com/, and as I’d guessed, his blog is candid and frank. He talks about technology and his opinions on it, and though it’s not quite my style I appreciate that he has one.
I don’t know. I walk a fine line between loving and hating blogs that range from “I’m just me being me” to “check out this cool thing I found on the internet” to “This is what to do and this is a blog about it”. Maybe I’m just deluding myself on the issue of what KIND of blogs I like and am really only tallying style points.
I was talking with some friends the other day about how isn’t it funny that the movie Friday was very popular among our grade-school friends at the time, and do you think studio executives had any idea that 11 year old suburban white kids would be quoting Ice Cube on the playground?
What’s funny about this is that studios are lately so concerned about feasibility and name recognition in new films (sequels, adapted franchises, etc), that they are discounting a lot of the long-tail effects of films that don’t already have a precedent to justify their existence. The film rights to the “Monopoly” movie are secured – it is a brand name, and someone with money thinks that people will see a Monopoly movie. I can assure you that 5th graders playing kickball will not look for ways to quote it, though.
While this is an official website for the music of Drew Swinburne, I’m not certain that it needs to focus on that entirely. At the risk of appearing disorganized, I’d like to expand on that with posts about process and significant cultural ideas that affect said process. Like the movie Friday, this might be a somewhat harder sell now than it was in the mid 90′s – a time when we were more certain that art would find its audience, without having to hedge our bets with another Toy Story sequel just to try and reach the 11 year olds that would’ve liked Friday.
I think that sums up my long-winded point about blogs, and what this blog (website) intends to be, and who I am in vague, esoteric terms. I am a musician living in Baltimore and this is my website. I’ll be posting updates on my work, sketches of songs, news, etc. I will make an effort to be personal but not boring. More news to come, thanks for reading.
