NC and Brooklyn, again...

I've been meaning to post about this since last weekend since it's sort of a follow up to the previous post about the Greensboro (in this case NC in general, specifically Winston-Salem) - Brooklyn connection.  I went to a party with my friend Steve, a cinematographer/director for whom I've been writing music, somewhere in Greenpoint at his friend's audio mastering studio where they were having a fourth anniversary party. 

I arrived later than I had intended because the L train wasn't running all weekend, so when I got there all the alcohol was pretty much gone except a few liquor bottles and I knew no one except Steve.  I hung around though and we went to a bodega to pick up some booze and brought it back.  As the party started to dwindle and people left, I started to think it was going to be a bust.  I had been hoping to meet a lot of new people, and some of them industry people but I had only really had a chance to speak to a few of them...one of them the girlfriend of some drunk jealous hipster.  When the party was down to about 10 people and everyone seemed to be engaging someone else, I got talking to a guy named Amos, who offhandedly mentioned something about North Carolina.  When I asked him if he was from NC, he mentioned Winston Salem and having attended the NC School of the Arts, a program I had auditioned for some 11 years ago.  Incidentally, he also auditioned for my Alma Mater, UNCG.  Funny, if things had been differently, we might have gone to school together.  He studied music as well, was a clarinet player.

So, I've made another musician connection and another NC-Brooklyn connection connection.  Incidentally, when he sent me a friend request on Facebook, I checked it right away on my phone as we were all walking from the party to the G train.  We had 6 mutual Facebook friends, most of them old dorm mates of mine from freshman year that he went to high school with. Small world. 

Anyhow, beyond serendipitous run-ins, the world of the composer is still humming with much activity.  I'm still technically on retainer for "The Life" and there's a chance I may have to write some more to the cues that I've already submitted.  Steve's music is nearing completion on my end, hopefully.  Both the promo and the music for the narrative reel.  I'm enjoying both processes as always.  There's yet another exciting film music opportunity potentially on the horizon but I don't want to say too much about it yet.  It's not certain yet. 

And beyond those projects, still, I have to complete composition on the piece that Tania and I will be performing on May 10th at Galapagos Art Space. This is going to be the toughest because not only do I have to complete the piece I have to work out logistics for performing it but I think I know what I'm going to do.  I'm going to test out the viability of sampling her during the performance and then if it doesn't work, I'm going to save recordings from our rehearsal and use those as material for the performance.  To catch you up, my plan is to use recorded samples of her performance, cut into chunks and manipulated, as material for the second half of the piece...where things are going to get interesting.  Sorry, that's all the preview you get for now. 

Meanwhile, the voice over career has not seen anymore excitement since the Aereo project but I've been submitting to voice123.com feverishly every chance I get and even working out ways that I can submit auditions while on the go, as long as I can find time in one of the edit bays at work and I have my laptop.  Also, currently trying to figure out how to install Windows on my Mac so I can use Sound Forge anywhere. It's a Windows only program but it has the easiest to use noise reduction plugin that I can find anywhere.  If I am at work and I get an audition that I can submit to on my break or before I clock in, it would help me immensely to have Sound Forge at my fingertips since I've already created the best workflow with it here at home.  And back here in my home studio, I've streamlined my process even more to the point where I can submit as many as two auditions in under thirty minutes.  Most of that is because of being able to leave things half setup but also, it comes from years of using this software and equipment. 


For now, I'm going to get going.  Lacy should be here in a bit and we'll be rehearsing all afternoon.  We're performing at Pete's Candy Store's open mic tonight in Williamsburg.  Come if you can, it starts at 6, I believe.