Where have I been? Where even am I now? I'm sitting in the break room at NY1. It's cold. Winter has come early and with a force. I'm hiding though the temptation to go outside and get real coffee is there. A lot has changed this year and not just that I'm actually drinking coffee again. But I got thinking yesterday and today about a specific moment in the evolution of a career. When the realization comes over you that you might be finally stepping up to the plate.
A few years back now, I had a chance to submit my ideas for a 10 minute snippet of a documentary about nuns in Hong Kong in the early 1900s. I was excited, overwhelmed even and, though I took the day off work to get the bulk of the work done, I feel like I didn't really grasp the significance of the opportunity. I did take it seriously, that's for sure. I knew I had to give it my all but I really just think I wasn't ready.
Fast forward to now. I'm getting some more opportunities in voice over and I'm feeling paradoxically like I'm both more ready and more frightened to be at bat. Maybe it's that I'm more frightened by the opportunity that tells me I'm more ready. But I do hope to get past that. Being confident that I can do this is winning out over being terrified that I'm not fit just yet.
On Sunday, I went to a screening of "True Love," the film I scored over the summer. The film is an offbeat comedy about two brothers who try to pick up a middle aged prostitute. It was my first chance to really score a comedy and to actually make my music part of the joke in a lot of the scenes. It came out really well and there some cues where the director added something after the fact that added to the laughs. At one point, a slowed tape effect whenever two characters were about to kiss but were interrupted and a few other times to bring back the same trope to comedic effect. In fact, the first time my underscore, which was based on the same idea as the opening title theme, came in, during the prostitute's dramatic telling of her backstory, the audience burst into laughter. It's a heartfelt bittersweet piano piece with a string trio behind it, almost taking itself seriously but with a wink, to the extent that at the moment it comes in, it's a cue that the film knows that it's absurd. It was such a treat to hear people reacting to my music. Normally, in the film's I've scored, my music has a much subtler effect.
So, going forward this week with that triumph, I get an opportunity to read a documentary script at CNN, just so the producers can hear my voice (apparently it got back to them that I do voice overs). At first I'm terrified, mostly of messing up and nothing coming of it but then, I'm terrified of something actually coming from it. And then I'm out there and laid bare, standing in front of a packed auditorium in my underwear and free to be judged on my talents or lack thereof. But then I go back in that booth and do a second take because I know enough to not be satisfied with my first take and because I'm confident that I can totally f*#$ing do this.
And no, nothing has come of it yet. I was merely using that example to illustrate a point.
Hopefully soon, though, I'll be able to show you all clips from "True Love" with my music. Stay tuned guys. And stay warm.
Showing posts with label film scoring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film scoring. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
A hiatus is not the end...
A hiatus is not the end. A hiatus is not me just throwing in the towel for a while and maybe I'll get back to it. A hiatus does not even mean it's a matter of time before I give it all up and find myself a respectable job and just keep my guitars around to remind myself I once aspired to be a professional musician. Yes, occasionally, I have to remind myself of this. When things seem like they're getting away from me. When I feel like all of my other responsibilities are taking over. When I wonder when the next job will come my way. When I wonder, if I could just be managing my time better, whether I could find the time to release an album, or submit some more tracks to the licensing agency...or even secure myself a decent job scoring an indie feature.
I'd love to be one of those composers who teaches and has time to compose things, release albums, play shows and book paying gigs back to back. Who licenses his music for commercials and videos, who generally gets paid on a consistent basis and doesn't have to work a day job that sucks his time and his soul away. Yes, those kinds of composers exist. Maybe I don't know any of them except in passing, the stray informational interviews I've done over the years, meeting someone at a party or connecting through a friend. Most of us, though, do tons of other things in addition, and just because my "other thing" is somewhat unrelated to music, it doesn't mean that if I have to focus on the other thing for a while, that the music is going to slip away from me.
I really do worry that it will though and that's why I have to remind myself. Remind myself that I didn't just come up here to succumb to doing the sensible thing for the sake of comfort and stability. Remind myself that the day job is important but that the aspirations are important too.
I needed to write tonight, guys. It's been a while since I've submitted anything and watching the frequency of these blogs become less and less has troubled me a little. I want to have spectacular news to talk about all the time but then, my tendency is toward cautious optimism these days. When I do have things to report about the trials and conquests of being an aspiring film composer/voice over artist in New York City, I find that I want more to not jinx them than I do to share them necessarily.
But more than anything I want to share these thoughts I'm having tonight. That this hiatus feels particularly harrowing because I'm finding myself really needing to do something musical while I'm kind of also having to job hunt a little. My extra freelance work that I'd been depending on has dried up so that I'm subsisting on just the one job now.
I need that outlet though, the music. I've started to practice piano again for my own personal enrichment, even written a few things and put them on SoundCloud and may have a chance to perform at some yoga classes soon. I am finding more time to submit voice over auditions and my new coach has shown that she has enough faith in me to submit me for voice over auditions that she's privy to during our lessons. But booking the job is the hardest part there. The new coach and I are working quite well together though and I'm feeling a lot more confident. I should probably lean on that for a while and just accept that the music gigs will come. And the harder I work at the voice over right now while I have this good coach in front of me, the more that's bound to pay off (literally).
I'd really much rather that I had the time to go and seek composing gigs out instead of waiting for one to come around. But even that has to wait. I've told myself that this is just temporary and that I will get back to it once day job land stabilizes a bit. I mean, I have a financial plan now. I'm a big boy and I pay my bills on time. In another life I would have loved to have lived a Bohemian lifestyle in the East Village, scraping together rent money month by month, and doing nothing but playing music, but that's not as easy as it sounds from my current standpoint.
I can't imagine giving up the music altogether just for that level of comfort that everybody craves sometimes. I meet people up here all the time that gave up acting or whatever monumental endeavor they came here for and they tell me they're happy not being part of the rat race anymore. Whenever someone has to tell me they're happy though...I just wonder if they really are, or even if they really wanted it all that bad to begin with. But I try not to judge. Everyone has their path, their limits and maybe they are happier. But you have to participate in a rat race just about everywhere you go, any industry, any job. And if you just slide into a comfortable position at a job you have to pretend to like, and try to coast through the rest of your years until retirement, than what are you even doing? I don't want that to be me. I've told myself that even if I never make it to where the bulk of my income is from music gigs, I'm always going to be doing what I love. I'll make sure of that.
I'd love to be one of those composers who teaches and has time to compose things, release albums, play shows and book paying gigs back to back. Who licenses his music for commercials and videos, who generally gets paid on a consistent basis and doesn't have to work a day job that sucks his time and his soul away. Yes, those kinds of composers exist. Maybe I don't know any of them except in passing, the stray informational interviews I've done over the years, meeting someone at a party or connecting through a friend. Most of us, though, do tons of other things in addition, and just because my "other thing" is somewhat unrelated to music, it doesn't mean that if I have to focus on the other thing for a while, that the music is going to slip away from me.
I really do worry that it will though and that's why I have to remind myself. Remind myself that I didn't just come up here to succumb to doing the sensible thing for the sake of comfort and stability. Remind myself that the day job is important but that the aspirations are important too.
I needed to write tonight, guys. It's been a while since I've submitted anything and watching the frequency of these blogs become less and less has troubled me a little. I want to have spectacular news to talk about all the time but then, my tendency is toward cautious optimism these days. When I do have things to report about the trials and conquests of being an aspiring film composer/voice over artist in New York City, I find that I want more to not jinx them than I do to share them necessarily.
But more than anything I want to share these thoughts I'm having tonight. That this hiatus feels particularly harrowing because I'm finding myself really needing to do something musical while I'm kind of also having to job hunt a little. My extra freelance work that I'd been depending on has dried up so that I'm subsisting on just the one job now.
I need that outlet though, the music. I've started to practice piano again for my own personal enrichment, even written a few things and put them on SoundCloud and may have a chance to perform at some yoga classes soon. I am finding more time to submit voice over auditions and my new coach has shown that she has enough faith in me to submit me for voice over auditions that she's privy to during our lessons. But booking the job is the hardest part there. The new coach and I are working quite well together though and I'm feeling a lot more confident. I should probably lean on that for a while and just accept that the music gigs will come. And the harder I work at the voice over right now while I have this good coach in front of me, the more that's bound to pay off (literally).
I'd really much rather that I had the time to go and seek composing gigs out instead of waiting for one to come around. But even that has to wait. I've told myself that this is just temporary and that I will get back to it once day job land stabilizes a bit. I mean, I have a financial plan now. I'm a big boy and I pay my bills on time. In another life I would have loved to have lived a Bohemian lifestyle in the East Village, scraping together rent money month by month, and doing nothing but playing music, but that's not as easy as it sounds from my current standpoint.
I can't imagine giving up the music altogether just for that level of comfort that everybody craves sometimes. I meet people up here all the time that gave up acting or whatever monumental endeavor they came here for and they tell me they're happy not being part of the rat race anymore. Whenever someone has to tell me they're happy though...I just wonder if they really are, or even if they really wanted it all that bad to begin with. But I try not to judge. Everyone has their path, their limits and maybe they are happier. But you have to participate in a rat race just about everywhere you go, any industry, any job. And if you just slide into a comfortable position at a job you have to pretend to like, and try to coast through the rest of your years until retirement, than what are you even doing? I don't want that to be me. I've told myself that even if I never make it to where the bulk of my income is from music gigs, I'm always going to be doing what I love. I'll make sure of that.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Fruits...
Of labor. Lots of labor. Lots of fruit. I just came home to a shipment of wine from Naked Wines. Joined, used the $100 voucher they reel you in with and now I have more wine than rack. It's kind of a nice feeling. I could get used to it. My cup runneth over...quite literally.
So life is full and love is real. Things that I've spent my short life on are starting to come to fruition. But there is still work to be done. Not now though. Dear god. Remember how I was saying I wouldn't have a day off for 50 days straight? Between the rush of freelance hours at my two part time jobs, the film score and three VO gigs, I didn't stop except to take the day to go to a wedding on Long Island and a few days off to host a friend who might end up rooming with me in the fall. But it's coming to an end a little sooner than I'd thought. CNN wants to cover with staff before freelancers now so I end my streak early, as of this Saturday, but I'm not too terribly fussed about it. Heck, CNN has already secured me for another weekend morning in August.
But this week, not just wine but money came flowing in. Paid from a VO gig and all three jobs plus a bonus from NY1, a rather unexpected bonus that came with a raise. F*ck yeah. Oh what a feeling. And soon I get to take a vacation to see my family and when this film score is done in less than a week (I confidently predict), I will be getting the final payment from that.
This film score I've slaved so diligently over for the past month and a half. I love scoring comedy, I've found. When I can make it work. I got thinking about process the other day while watching a video on YouTube the other day with Mark Isham, composer on such films as Crash, Point Break, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and The Mechanic. He was talking about his process and I got thinking about how mine tends to differ with each director and their personal style. I've worked with some directors who couldn't care less what I wrote and are tickled with anything I send them, and, while offering little direction, just let me have free reign. Others are very particular, going so far as to ask me to emulate a rhythm they have in their head. Others let me do my thing but only after we've discussed in detail where the music should go...then they come in and say they want me to move this note or that note or change this chord or that. I can't decide which method I like best. I think a huge part of me is just so damn giddy to have this work that I dive in and do whatever they tell me (within reason, of course).
Mark Isham talks in this clip about how his method works.
What stands out to me is that he asks that directors just leave him alone for 2-3 weeks. I do enjoy that when they let me have free reign to just come up with my ideas in a vacuum. At the same time, though, sitting down with a director and hearing what their notions about the film and each individual scene when they wrote and shot it is immensely helpful. The director I was working with on this film, "True Love," will do that but he also will ask me what I think about certain scenes...not just what music I think should go where but things like, "did this certain emotion or plot detail come across," "did you follow this scene," "can you tell what this character's motivation is." And he will listen to my input. These are the moments when the director can tell me something very specific about what he needs the music to do but I can also listen for something that he may not be explicitly saying and derive an understanding of the scene that's totally my own and may take the scene to a whole new place.
I love what Isham says at about 4 minutes in about finding that one scene that "defines the overriding communication of the film" and just starting from there. It's a brilliant idea, even just when writing a composition. To start where you'd like the piece to peak and work up to that. To know where it's going first. In a way, it's a bit like rocket science. You have to decide where you want your rocket to go first and then do the math to figure out how much fuel you need and how much acceleration you need to refine your trajectory and hit your target, be it the moon or the ISS, or low Earth orbit.
In a short film, it's a little different because all the exposition, character development and resolution happens in such a short amount of time that you may not have enough time to really flesh out any thematic material in such a cinematic way but there is definitely still an arc. Wow, arc = parabola, trajectory...this metaphor of rocket science and film scoring is a pretty good one. I think I'll stick with it for a bit.
Anyway, the way I scored this film was by sitting down with the director and talking about the individual scenes and, since it's comedy, there were a lot of moments of parody where the score was highly instrumental (no pun intended) in getting the laugh. The pivotal sort of "characters are changing" moments, were all kind of compressed into a montage scene that I scored with a techno dance beat that incorporated some distorted guitar that built in layers until the scene ended.
There was a little bit of talk about making the whole cohesive in some way between the underscore, the main title theme and all the bits of electronic dance-y pop music that sort of would take you out of the moment to get a laugh and remind you that it was a comedy. Ultimately though, the only real cohesion was between the title theme and the underscore in a few of the scenes. The rest of the score ended up being pop and rock influenced styles that in some other, more commercial films, may have been covered by source music or other licensed pre-recorded tracks. But it all works and I'm pretty happy with it.
Tomorrow I record a violin player friend of mine and push the final mixes through by next week. It's great to be working like this again. And it's so great to have a vacation on the horizon. For now, I need to, you guessed it, get some sleep. More soon!
So life is full and love is real. Things that I've spent my short life on are starting to come to fruition. But there is still work to be done. Not now though. Dear god. Remember how I was saying I wouldn't have a day off for 50 days straight? Between the rush of freelance hours at my two part time jobs, the film score and three VO gigs, I didn't stop except to take the day to go to a wedding on Long Island and a few days off to host a friend who might end up rooming with me in the fall. But it's coming to an end a little sooner than I'd thought. CNN wants to cover with staff before freelancers now so I end my streak early, as of this Saturday, but I'm not too terribly fussed about it. Heck, CNN has already secured me for another weekend morning in August.
But this week, not just wine but money came flowing in. Paid from a VO gig and all three jobs plus a bonus from NY1, a rather unexpected bonus that came with a raise. F*ck yeah. Oh what a feeling. And soon I get to take a vacation to see my family and when this film score is done in less than a week (I confidently predict), I will be getting the final payment from that.
This film score I've slaved so diligently over for the past month and a half. I love scoring comedy, I've found. When I can make it work. I got thinking about process the other day while watching a video on YouTube the other day with Mark Isham, composer on such films as Crash, Point Break, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and The Mechanic. He was talking about his process and I got thinking about how mine tends to differ with each director and their personal style. I've worked with some directors who couldn't care less what I wrote and are tickled with anything I send them, and, while offering little direction, just let me have free reign. Others are very particular, going so far as to ask me to emulate a rhythm they have in their head. Others let me do my thing but only after we've discussed in detail where the music should go...then they come in and say they want me to move this note or that note or change this chord or that. I can't decide which method I like best. I think a huge part of me is just so damn giddy to have this work that I dive in and do whatever they tell me (within reason, of course).
Mark Isham talks in this clip about how his method works.
What stands out to me is that he asks that directors just leave him alone for 2-3 weeks. I do enjoy that when they let me have free reign to just come up with my ideas in a vacuum. At the same time, though, sitting down with a director and hearing what their notions about the film and each individual scene when they wrote and shot it is immensely helpful. The director I was working with on this film, "True Love," will do that but he also will ask me what I think about certain scenes...not just what music I think should go where but things like, "did this certain emotion or plot detail come across," "did you follow this scene," "can you tell what this character's motivation is." And he will listen to my input. These are the moments when the director can tell me something very specific about what he needs the music to do but I can also listen for something that he may not be explicitly saying and derive an understanding of the scene that's totally my own and may take the scene to a whole new place.
I love what Isham says at about 4 minutes in about finding that one scene that "defines the overriding communication of the film" and just starting from there. It's a brilliant idea, even just when writing a composition. To start where you'd like the piece to peak and work up to that. To know where it's going first. In a way, it's a bit like rocket science. You have to decide where you want your rocket to go first and then do the math to figure out how much fuel you need and how much acceleration you need to refine your trajectory and hit your target, be it the moon or the ISS, or low Earth orbit.
In a short film, it's a little different because all the exposition, character development and resolution happens in such a short amount of time that you may not have enough time to really flesh out any thematic material in such a cinematic way but there is definitely still an arc. Wow, arc = parabola, trajectory...this metaphor of rocket science and film scoring is a pretty good one. I think I'll stick with it for a bit.
Anyway, the way I scored this film was by sitting down with the director and talking about the individual scenes and, since it's comedy, there were a lot of moments of parody where the score was highly instrumental (no pun intended) in getting the laugh. The pivotal sort of "characters are changing" moments, were all kind of compressed into a montage scene that I scored with a techno dance beat that incorporated some distorted guitar that built in layers until the scene ended.
There was a little bit of talk about making the whole cohesive in some way between the underscore, the main title theme and all the bits of electronic dance-y pop music that sort of would take you out of the moment to get a laugh and remind you that it was a comedy. Ultimately though, the only real cohesion was between the title theme and the underscore in a few of the scenes. The rest of the score ended up being pop and rock influenced styles that in some other, more commercial films, may have been covered by source music or other licensed pre-recorded tracks. But it all works and I'm pretty happy with it.
Tomorrow I record a violin player friend of mine and push the final mixes through by next week. It's great to be working like this again. And it's so great to have a vacation on the horizon. For now, I need to, you guessed it, get some sleep. More soon!
Friday, June 27, 2014
Planning ahead...
I really like to plan ahead. It's just something I do. Which is why I'm taking a break at the mid point of my work on this film score, to do a little Nicaragua planning for February 2015. Going to the Apoyo Lodge I stayed at last time on the last night, ending the trip at Costa Dulce but then, hiking a volcano in the middle somewhere.
Hiking up a volcano sounds completely crazy, but don't worry it's an extinct one. This has been the centerpiece of this trip from its inception, when a co worker heard me talking about my last trip to Nicaragua and told me about this island in Lake Nicaragua called Ometepe that I should go to. The island consists of two volcanoes, one active, one extinct, joined buy a narrow isthmus, covered in coffee plantations and ancient petroglyphs and accessible only by ferry from San Jorge or Granada. Putting this crazy adventure in the middle of my trip and being able to get rides to and from the ferry dock from people I already know in Nicaragua (our hosts at both the Apoyo Lodge and Costa Dulce) seemed like the best idea. But, the Apoyo Lodge is booked through the 24th, a day after I had hoped to arrive, then there's a one day gap before another group is considering booking it. This wouldn't be a big deal except I'm trying to align my trip with something. I want to wind up at Costa Dulce on the 27th or the 28th when a friend may be there.
Going to the volcano island straight from the airport in Managua is not an option. It's too far and there are too many modes of transportation required (cab-ferry-bike-feet). But going to the crater lake for just one day before going to the volcano island defeats the purpose almost. Another reason for starting there this time is that we didn't get but half a day and one night there the last time...and that wasn't nearly enough time for such a gorgeous locale.
Hiking up a volcano sounds completely crazy, but don't worry it's an extinct one. This has been the centerpiece of this trip from its inception, when a co worker heard me talking about my last trip to Nicaragua and told me about this island in Lake Nicaragua called Ometepe that I should go to. The island consists of two volcanoes, one active, one extinct, joined buy a narrow isthmus, covered in coffee plantations and ancient petroglyphs and accessible only by ferry from San Jorge or Granada. Putting this crazy adventure in the middle of my trip and being able to get rides to and from the ferry dock from people I already know in Nicaragua (our hosts at both the Apoyo Lodge and Costa Dulce) seemed like the best idea. But, the Apoyo Lodge is booked through the 24th, a day after I had hoped to arrive, then there's a one day gap before another group is considering booking it. This wouldn't be a big deal except I'm trying to align my trip with something. I want to wind up at Costa Dulce on the 27th or the 28th when a friend may be there.
Going to the volcano island straight from the airport in Managua is not an option. It's too far and there are too many modes of transportation required (cab-ferry-bike-feet). But going to the crater lake for just one day before going to the volcano island defeats the purpose almost. Another reason for starting there this time is that we didn't get but half a day and one night there the last time...and that wasn't nearly enough time for such a gorgeous locale.
I mean, papaya trees on the property, a resident yoga instructor, a beautiful outdoor yoga platform and a 23,000 year old crater lake in which you can float in an inner tube. How can I miss out on that?
So, in typing this out, I realized what makes the most sense is to start my trip on the 24th, the one day that Apoyo is free and stay there one night, travel to Ometepe the next day, spend the same amount of days there as I was going to originally, then go to Costa Dulce, arriving there on the 27th or 28th, spend 3 nights there and then go back to Apoyo and spend 2 more nights.
Perhaps. I have to write the Apoyo people a few months from now closer to the dates to see if anything has changed. And see if I can even stay there on the last few days of my trip. I still need to type an email to the hotel on Ometepe that I've zeroed in on, though, so there's yet more planning to be done.
Anyhow, this and budgeting for the trip has gotten me excited about my little light at the end of the tunnel. Sure there's fun to be had between now and then, summer weather to be enjoyed, other trips to take. But it's nice to have the thought of going back and having another adventure to tide me over until then. And to help me with bracing myself for all the work that's ahead. A month and a half more of CNN, still working at truTV, the current film score and all the other potential projects coming up.
Voice over is on a bit of a hiatus, or maybe just a lull, while I figure out things. I let my membership to Voice123.com lapse and may not subscribe again for a while, so I won't be doing as many auditions. I'm waiting to hear back from an agent though...and man I hate talking about that because it's probably nothing and I don't want to get my hopes up. I had a co worker here at NY1 in Creative Services send my demo on to a few agents in the city and only one got back to him, so far, just saying that he wanted to give him some feedback on my voice. Whatever that means.
At any rate, I have a wedding to go to tomorrow so I'm going to actually take an entire day where I don't do any work on anything. Which is cool because I was thinking I'd need it, what with all the extra freelance work at CNN and truTV, and then this came up. A friend of mine from the college days was planning on going to our friend's wedding out on Long Island and asked to stay with me in the days leading up to it and asked if I wanted to go, too. So I managed to get the day off from CNN and bought myself a suit. I'm not looking forward to traveling back from Long Island late at night...nor am I looking forward to wearing a suit in hot weather. But I do want to look good.
Not much else to report tonight. Just wanted to get all that out. Maybe I'll have some insight into my writing process on the next blog. For now though, I'm just going to enjoy a too short weekend and an old friend's wedding.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
A freelancer's dream...
When I let three weeks go by without posting, you can assume I'm busy, which is a good thing. When you're a freelancer, like me, you gotta take all the work you can get. I'm
working full time nights at NY1, Monday through Friday, both Saturday
and Sunday nights at CNN until the end of July, still picking up two
shifts a week at truTV in the mornings before NY1 on Tuesday and
Thursday. This makes it so that, save for taking next Saturday off to attend a friend's wedding out on Long Island, I'll be working for the next 50 days straight. On top of all of that, I've picked up three and a half voice over gigs in the past
month (the half gig was a pickup that I recorded from home for a book promo...they decided they wanted me to say the author's name in the spot) and I'm also scoring a short comedy/drama. So, yeah. Lots to do.
It's summer solstice today, though, and I'm missing all kinds of fun stuff because I'm working. Not the least of which is the weather (oh my god) but also the yoga in Times Square and the Mermaid Parade and I'm sure there's several live concerts happening around the city, some of which my friends are playing in. But, I'm missing all of it. I probably have said this every summer since I moved here, but there is way too much going on in the city every summer to do everything anyway, whether I'm working or not, even if I just stuck to the things that sound particularly awesome. I guess this just proves that I'll never get sick of living here...I just have to keep my ear to the ground so that if I am able to attend something, I actually know about it in time to make plans to go.
Sure, there's always next summer for most of this stuff. Though, it still does bum me out a little that, whenever I remember that Celebrate Brooklyn concerts at the Prospect Park Band Shell are a thing, I realize that the few artists that I would go see, fall on days that I can't go. It's like this every summer. I mean, I always try to make it to at least one and I usually succeed, but last year, because I work nights, I wasn't able to make any because I didn't find out about the one concert I could make in time to get enough friends interested in going with me. This year, St. Vincent is playing on August 9th and, while I'm just getting into them, I going to make it a point to go. It's one of the first weekends I'm going to have off again.
Summer shenanigans aside, it is nice to have a foot in so many different places and to be getting so much work. For one thing, it's given me the faith that I can one day quit full time work and be totally devoted to both sides of this career of mine. Of course, cautiously optimistic is always the way to go. But add on top of the gigs I am getting, the fact that I'm getting a lot of attention for my VO and music work and have been quoting people for projects just as often as I am booking them. Granted, at least one of those was a friend asking. But still. It's definitely a good thing if my name is out there.
And for the piece de la resistance: I found the finished versions of those two book promos I voiced online. Check them out on youtube.com:
I'll have more to update soon with the film score. It's been coming along nicely though and the director has liked most of my initial ideas. We're still in the writing phase but I'm nearly done with that and will soon move on to mixing and finalizing everything. In the meantime, it's also nice to see that it's totally possible for me to work three jobs, get three voice over gigs and still find time to write music.
It's summer solstice today, though, and I'm missing all kinds of fun stuff because I'm working. Not the least of which is the weather (oh my god) but also the yoga in Times Square and the Mermaid Parade and I'm sure there's several live concerts happening around the city, some of which my friends are playing in. But, I'm missing all of it. I probably have said this every summer since I moved here, but there is way too much going on in the city every summer to do everything anyway, whether I'm working or not, even if I just stuck to the things that sound particularly awesome. I guess this just proves that I'll never get sick of living here...I just have to keep my ear to the ground so that if I am able to attend something, I actually know about it in time to make plans to go.
Sure, there's always next summer for most of this stuff. Though, it still does bum me out a little that, whenever I remember that Celebrate Brooklyn concerts at the Prospect Park Band Shell are a thing, I realize that the few artists that I would go see, fall on days that I can't go. It's like this every summer. I mean, I always try to make it to at least one and I usually succeed, but last year, because I work nights, I wasn't able to make any because I didn't find out about the one concert I could make in time to get enough friends interested in going with me. This year, St. Vincent is playing on August 9th and, while I'm just getting into them, I going to make it a point to go. It's one of the first weekends I'm going to have off again.
Summer shenanigans aside, it is nice to have a foot in so many different places and to be getting so much work. For one thing, it's given me the faith that I can one day quit full time work and be totally devoted to both sides of this career of mine. Of course, cautiously optimistic is always the way to go. But add on top of the gigs I am getting, the fact that I'm getting a lot of attention for my VO and music work and have been quoting people for projects just as often as I am booking them. Granted, at least one of those was a friend asking. But still. It's definitely a good thing if my name is out there.
And for the piece de la resistance: I found the finished versions of those two book promos I voiced online. Check them out on youtube.com:
I'll have more to update soon with the film score. It's been coming along nicely though and the director has liked most of my initial ideas. We're still in the writing phase but I'm nearly done with that and will soon move on to mixing and finalizing everything. In the meantime, it's also nice to see that it's totally possible for me to work three jobs, get three voice over gigs and still find time to write music.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Change your attitude...
Slap the snooze bar, decide to get up anyway, pants, shirt, scrambled eggs, toast, green tea, pack lunch, shower, shave, train. If only going to sleep was as easy for me as waking up. Again, last night, I was up until past 3am, all because I decided to stop at a friend's bar after work even despite the fact that the trains were not cooperating and I ultimately ended up having to get a cab from the Financial District (not an easy task) which promptly got stuck behind a garbage truck for 10 minutes. So naturally, I stayed out a little later than intended.
As I've mentioned previously, I've been trying to overhaul my nighttime routine, get in bed and sleeping sooner, but I just like unwinding too much. I was never good at being systematic about going to bed and sometimes when I get home I want to write or read articles or drink wine, and otherwise enjoy the space that I pay rent to basically sleep in. It's healing in a way, too, to be able to spend a certain number of my waking hours not working or commuting.
Part of it, too, is that I can't just say, "okay, go to sleep now," and actually fall asleep. It's no surprise really. My mind is pretty busy these days regardless of how much I've gotten to unwind, full of thoughts about what just happened and the day ahead. And when one of those thoughts is "I need to be going to sleep soon," it makes it that much harder to actually do the thing.
I have my methods, though, when I start to realize that I'm in danger of tossing and turning for hours. The first thing is to relax. I know. Sounds obvious but so many times I've been trying to sleep and noticed myself tensed up, trying not to move, trying not to scratch every itch, trying to ignore the fact that I need to eat something/drink something/go to the bathroom. All I need to do in these situations is just lie on my back and breathe for a few minutes straight, sometimes pretending I'm at the end of a yoga class doing Savasana (Maybe even get up and eat something/drink something/go to the bathroom).
The next thing is to shut out that "oh shit, I need to get to sleep soon" thought, so I try to let my mind wander toward any thought but that. Not in a "don't think about sleep," kind of way, though, because sleep is the first thing anyone would think of when told not to think about sleep. No, I just daydream. I try to imagine positive thoughts, like me getting an award or scoring a really fantastic gig. Or getting my ass back to Nicaragua to the beach. Any rich imagery that can completely fill my head and leave no room for stressing about getting to sleep. Because when I stress about it, that results in the opposite effect. I'm wide awake.
Lastly, if I really can't go to sleep, I just go ahead and deal with the thoughts about what tomorrow's going to be like. Big deal if I'm tired tomorrow. I'll just come home and be tired enough to drop right off to sleep. That usually does it. Letting go of results. I'm going to sound very Buddhist here but I'm okay with that. One of my yoga teachers uttered this gem on the morning that we heard that Maya Angelou had passed:
I'm sure the Buddha said something similar as well. There are two aspects to this. I was thinking about a lot of the things I've been going through and how just letting go of results can do wonders in terms of changing your perspective about whatever it is. When I was going through my depression about 10 years ago (wow, 10 years ago?), thoughts like this basically saved me and turned my life around. How easy it can be to spiral down into a pit of despair over something when if you just stopped and said, "well let me look at this another way," you could reverse everything and get back to square one.
I'm finding that every time I get discouraged about any aspect of my career, whether I'm just bummed I didn't get an audition or I am full on berating myself for sucking so bad at something, I can back up a few steps and say to myself that it's not nearly as bad as I'm painting it. In fact, it might not even be bad at all. And then, I'm free to look at it however I want. I just accept my situation and move forward from there. It's already 3am, I'm already going to be tired tomorrow, there's nothing I can do about that part of so I might as well change my attitude. I didn't get that VO gig, it's probably not saying anything about the quality of my audition, they were just looking for something else. I'm still on the right track.
Lots of people want to tell you that this or that is not possible, or they want you to look at the reality of a situation and not get your hopes up. "There are so many people doing what you're trying to do," "There's so much competition," "Just don't get ahead of yourself." Well intentioned stuff, for sure...or maybe not. I think people just get so mired in negativity, they forget to dream about what's possible. And they forget that you should never let something like a negative thought stop you from acting on something anyway. Why would I not try? How else would I know if I could do it or not? By listening to my negative thoughts that are probably not even grounded in reality? Of course not.
Anyway, that having been said, I also had to change my attitude about the inordinate number of hours I'll be working so that I don't go insane thinking ahead to how overworked I could potentially be in a few weeks time. This past weekend, I was supposed to re-train both Saturday and Sunday nights at CNN but, upon getting there on Saturday and talking with my co worker, we both deemed it unnecessary for me to even stay too late that night. So I left at 8, went out with friends and then decided to make Sunday a day to just relax and enjoy the weather. Yoga, gluten free pizza, gluten free cupcake, East Village community gardens and a quick drink with a friend before cooking dinner, watching Cosmos (doing a tiny bit of work on the film score) and then heading to Barbes to watch Stephan Wrembel. All around a great afternoon and evening. And now, after this Thursday which I have off, I'm probably going to be working about 50 days straight on top of scoring a film and trying to get more VO work. Don't worry, though. I'm not going to burnout. Tim Daoust doesn't burn out.
As I've mentioned previously, I've been trying to overhaul my nighttime routine, get in bed and sleeping sooner, but I just like unwinding too much. I was never good at being systematic about going to bed and sometimes when I get home I want to write or read articles or drink wine, and otherwise enjoy the space that I pay rent to basically sleep in. It's healing in a way, too, to be able to spend a certain number of my waking hours not working or commuting.
Part of it, too, is that I can't just say, "okay, go to sleep now," and actually fall asleep. It's no surprise really. My mind is pretty busy these days regardless of how much I've gotten to unwind, full of thoughts about what just happened and the day ahead. And when one of those thoughts is "I need to be going to sleep soon," it makes it that much harder to actually do the thing.
I have my methods, though, when I start to realize that I'm in danger of tossing and turning for hours. The first thing is to relax. I know. Sounds obvious but so many times I've been trying to sleep and noticed myself tensed up, trying not to move, trying not to scratch every itch, trying to ignore the fact that I need to eat something/drink something/go to the bathroom. All I need to do in these situations is just lie on my back and breathe for a few minutes straight, sometimes pretending I'm at the end of a yoga class doing Savasana (Maybe even get up and eat something/drink something/go to the bathroom).
The next thing is to shut out that "oh shit, I need to get to sleep soon" thought, so I try to let my mind wander toward any thought but that. Not in a "don't think about sleep," kind of way, though, because sleep is the first thing anyone would think of when told not to think about sleep. No, I just daydream. I try to imagine positive thoughts, like me getting an award or scoring a really fantastic gig. Or getting my ass back to Nicaragua to the beach. Any rich imagery that can completely fill my head and leave no room for stressing about getting to sleep. Because when I stress about it, that results in the opposite effect. I'm wide awake.
Lastly, if I really can't go to sleep, I just go ahead and deal with the thoughts about what tomorrow's going to be like. Big deal if I'm tired tomorrow. I'll just come home and be tired enough to drop right off to sleep. That usually does it. Letting go of results. I'm going to sound very Buddhist here but I'm okay with that. One of my yoga teachers uttered this gem on the morning that we heard that Maya Angelou had passed:
I'm sure the Buddha said something similar as well. There are two aspects to this. I was thinking about a lot of the things I've been going through and how just letting go of results can do wonders in terms of changing your perspective about whatever it is. When I was going through my depression about 10 years ago (wow, 10 years ago?), thoughts like this basically saved me and turned my life around. How easy it can be to spiral down into a pit of despair over something when if you just stopped and said, "well let me look at this another way," you could reverse everything and get back to square one.
I'm finding that every time I get discouraged about any aspect of my career, whether I'm just bummed I didn't get an audition or I am full on berating myself for sucking so bad at something, I can back up a few steps and say to myself that it's not nearly as bad as I'm painting it. In fact, it might not even be bad at all. And then, I'm free to look at it however I want. I just accept my situation and move forward from there. It's already 3am, I'm already going to be tired tomorrow, there's nothing I can do about that part of so I might as well change my attitude. I didn't get that VO gig, it's probably not saying anything about the quality of my audition, they were just looking for something else. I'm still on the right track.
Lots of people want to tell you that this or that is not possible, or they want you to look at the reality of a situation and not get your hopes up. "There are so many people doing what you're trying to do," "There's so much competition," "Just don't get ahead of yourself." Well intentioned stuff, for sure...or maybe not. I think people just get so mired in negativity, they forget to dream about what's possible. And they forget that you should never let something like a negative thought stop you from acting on something anyway. Why would I not try? How else would I know if I could do it or not? By listening to my negative thoughts that are probably not even grounded in reality? Of course not.
Anyway, that having been said, I also had to change my attitude about the inordinate number of hours I'll be working so that I don't go insane thinking ahead to how overworked I could potentially be in a few weeks time. This past weekend, I was supposed to re-train both Saturday and Sunday nights at CNN but, upon getting there on Saturday and talking with my co worker, we both deemed it unnecessary for me to even stay too late that night. So I left at 8, went out with friends and then decided to make Sunday a day to just relax and enjoy the weather. Yoga, gluten free pizza, gluten free cupcake, East Village community gardens and a quick drink with a friend before cooking dinner, watching Cosmos (doing a tiny bit of work on the film score) and then heading to Barbes to watch Stephan Wrembel. All around a great afternoon and evening. And now, after this Thursday which I have off, I'm probably going to be working about 50 days straight on top of scoring a film and trying to get more VO work. Don't worry, though. I'm not going to burnout. Tim Daoust doesn't burn out.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Killing procrastination and thinking about trips...
I learned something today. I can overestimate the scope of a task. But I can also bypass my own thinking. At the start of this week, I had a semi impromptu guest and, rather than worry that I wasn't going to have enough time to do what I said I would do on this project, I just hung out with my friend who I hadn't seen in over a year and got very little sleep. A few days later, when she left, I started to panic that I was behind schedule and assumed I wouldn't get done half of what I said I would in the time I had left.
To clarify, I told the filmmaker I'd be able to get him some samples by the end of the week of a beat that he wanted for one scene and a piano theme that we discussed the tone of during our spotting session on Sunday afternoon. Having shunned my work for the first three days of this week (somewhat shunned...I did a good bit of work on the beat while I was at work a few nights in a row and did come up with something that I like), I started to panic a little. I knew I'd need the piano to work on the theme and wouldn't be able to actually sit down and play it without waking up my cousin until this afternoon. I even tried to use my keyboard and listen in headphones the other night but, as I mentioned, it's a little messed up right now. I said to myself, "well, I guess I'll just tell him I won't be done by the end of the week and push it back a few days." After all I'd have the weekend to catch up.
I was pleasantly surprised, though, to realize that I could come up with something of a theme for this film in the limited amount of time I had just today. And I was able to stretch my ideas to cover some of the underscore in one of the first scenes while working on it more tonight. So, boom. I just surprised myself.
And you know how? I just got started instead of letting myself get overwhelmed with the weight of what I still had left to do. I just sat down at the piano and started playing. And god, it felt good.
Now, I can relax a little. Maybe have a glass of wine when I get home and put my feet up. The rest of the weekend I'll spend mixing the beat that I wrote for the other scene. But that can wait until I'm at home and have my monitors and headphones at my disposal.
Earlier tonight, in my down time, I started to look at flights to Nicaragua for next year since I decided on my dates. Even found one for $378 round trip (although it leaves from Newark International and includes an overnight stay, each way, in Miami). I figured out that it would still be cheaper, especially if I took the path to Newark Penn Station and the shuttle to the airport from there in lieu of taking a cab or a car service. The hotels in Miami would add to the cost though and probably make that itinerary ultimately no better than the next option I saw which also left from Newark but returned to JFK and had no overnight layover. That one was $550. I've been keeping all this in a Google doc along with my planned itinerary. Apoyo Crater Lake, then the island of Ometepe and finally Costa Dulce for one last night.
So that's what I do. I think waaaaay ahead. I've always been that way. Even as a kid. When I knew we were going to the beach, even though it was months away, I would always be asking my parents about it. "What floor are we staying on? What are we going to do when we're there?" Etc. Etc. I probably annoyed them a little. But I was always eager and still am. Besides, there are benefits to being so into planning things. First it helps build excitement and also, see cheap plane tickets above. I'm also tracking them using this site: www.yapta.com. Get into it if you haven't. It will alert you when the price of your tickets drops so you can buy them at the cheapest possible price. Hurray for penny pinching as well.
That said, I need to get out of here. Wine awaits. Weekend awaits. Music and fun awaits. Also work but we'll get to that.
To clarify, I told the filmmaker I'd be able to get him some samples by the end of the week of a beat that he wanted for one scene and a piano theme that we discussed the tone of during our spotting session on Sunday afternoon. Having shunned my work for the first three days of this week (somewhat shunned...I did a good bit of work on the beat while I was at work a few nights in a row and did come up with something that I like), I started to panic a little. I knew I'd need the piano to work on the theme and wouldn't be able to actually sit down and play it without waking up my cousin until this afternoon. I even tried to use my keyboard and listen in headphones the other night but, as I mentioned, it's a little messed up right now. I said to myself, "well, I guess I'll just tell him I won't be done by the end of the week and push it back a few days." After all I'd have the weekend to catch up.
I was pleasantly surprised, though, to realize that I could come up with something of a theme for this film in the limited amount of time I had just today. And I was able to stretch my ideas to cover some of the underscore in one of the first scenes while working on it more tonight. So, boom. I just surprised myself.
And you know how? I just got started instead of letting myself get overwhelmed with the weight of what I still had left to do. I just sat down at the piano and started playing. And god, it felt good.
Now, I can relax a little. Maybe have a glass of wine when I get home and put my feet up. The rest of the weekend I'll spend mixing the beat that I wrote for the other scene. But that can wait until I'm at home and have my monitors and headphones at my disposal.
Earlier tonight, in my down time, I started to look at flights to Nicaragua for next year since I decided on my dates. Even found one for $378 round trip (although it leaves from Newark International and includes an overnight stay, each way, in Miami). I figured out that it would still be cheaper, especially if I took the path to Newark Penn Station and the shuttle to the airport from there in lieu of taking a cab or a car service. The hotels in Miami would add to the cost though and probably make that itinerary ultimately no better than the next option I saw which also left from Newark but returned to JFK and had no overnight layover. That one was $550. I've been keeping all this in a Google doc along with my planned itinerary. Apoyo Crater Lake, then the island of Ometepe and finally Costa Dulce for one last night.
So that's what I do. I think waaaaay ahead. I've always been that way. Even as a kid. When I knew we were going to the beach, even though it was months away, I would always be asking my parents about it. "What floor are we staying on? What are we going to do when we're there?" Etc. Etc. I probably annoyed them a little. But I was always eager and still am. Besides, there are benefits to being so into planning things. First it helps build excitement and also, see cheap plane tickets above. I'm also tracking them using this site: www.yapta.com. Get into it if you haven't. It will alert you when the price of your tickets drops so you can buy them at the cheapest possible price. Hurray for penny pinching as well.
That said, I need to get out of here. Wine awaits. Weekend awaits. Music and fun awaits. Also work but we'll get to that.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Musical Saturation...
My weekend was filled with incredible music as per usual. Positively saturated, in fact. And some of my favorites as well. This is how I like things to be. This is a blog in which I plug those amazing musicians, some of them good friends of mine.
Saturday afternoon began like any other Saturday. I was leaving yoga when I noticed a text from Lacy, saying that her neighborhood bar in Ditmas Park was having a 1 year anniversary party with BBQ and music all afternoon long and that I should come. I returned the text and, on a whim since the Q train was the first to arrive as I stepped onto the platform at Canal Street, I decided to just go straight there, yoga mat bag and all (Lacy didn't see my text and called me a ninja because I just appeared there in less than an hour since she had texted me). The music was varied and of good quality, some Rockabilly, some Bluegrass-y stuff and it was good catching up with Lacy. The BBQ was damned good, too and the ciders cheap. So commenced the day drinking. I even ran into a friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in ages. Got to meet some new friends too.
But I was headed out around 6:30 or so because I needed to touch down at home before heading to The Way Station to catch Dahlia's band DecaDence. These guys rock my face off, consistently. I've come to see them about five times now and it just gets better. Their songs are reggae influenced with some French lyrics and accordion and ukulele and lots of dancing. All of them world class musicians and great guys. Too bad, I was feeling a little bummed because I had no one to dance with, as I had arrived solo, and the place was full of couples (even a bride and groom that had just gotten hitched). But seriously though, if you have a chance to check these guys out, take it. They're currently playing every Monday night at District 12 up in Inwood plus a handful of other shows including The Way Station again on June 21st.
I ditched the scene a little early because I had to work at TruTV in the morning on Sunday and also had to meet up with that filmmaker whose film I'll be scoring. After work Sunday afternoon, I met Ben at one of my favorite gluten free restaurants in the city, Hu Kitchen, and we spotted the whole film. Talked about which cues should go where and how the music should be in general. This is always a fun phase, pulling the film apart and discussing characters and their motives and how the scenes are edited, etc. Next I sit down and watch the film a few times and then start riffing musical ideas. The film, "True Love," is a 20 minute short about two brothers, the older of whom is trying to get a hooker for his brother so he can have his first time. It's a quirky comedy disguised as a drama, so there'll be some tongue-in-cheek humor in the music. Really excited to get working on this.
After our meeting I took the train back to the Slope, swung by and picked up a few things at the co-op and went home to cook dinner. I had been texting with my friend Crystal, whose band is in town to play a few shows (that I'll unfortunately miss). She needed a place for just her to stay so she's crashing here for a few days (currently passed out on the air mattress). I was psyched because we actually got to hang out for a change. Usually I just go see the show and then they have to head on to the next town. She and I have been friends since undergraduate days and she's an incredible musician. If you're not doing anything on Tuesday night I strongly suggest you go to Goodbye Blue Monday and check her and her band out. Crystal Bright and The Silver Hands. I'll give you one of my favorite descriptions of her music that I've heard elsewhere, probably in a review: "A Kaleidophrenic Cabaret." She plays, among other things, accordion, keys and musical saw. Go see her dammit!
I met her and the band at Superfine in Dumbo yesterday evening where they were watching a bluegrass band, (cannot remember the name of them now) and stole Crystal away to head into Manhattan because a mutual friend of ours from Greensboro named Caitlin Watkins was playing at Bowery Electric. Caitlin is writing some amazing folk rock and just gets better every time I see her perform. The last time was at a singer-songwriter round at Jalopy in Red Hook and I remember just being pulled inside the songs she was singing. On the edge of my seat, feeling every emotion in the songs. Last night was no different. Her voice does some incredible things and she reminds me a tiny bit of Ingrid Michaelson. Last night she had a banjo player, Bennet Sullivan, with her who was pretty incredible and complimented her songs nicely. Also a Greensboro native. You should also see her and Bennet if you get the chance.
When the set was finished we hung out for a little longer (Bowery Electric has a card minimum of $10 and my wine was $9...I really hate drinking in Manhattan sometimes), and then went over to Barbes where the rest of Crystal's band was hanging out on my recommendation. They also are interested in playing there so I'm going to try and help out with that as much as I can.
Who was playing at Barbes? Who else? Stephane f*cking Wrembel. As usual Stephane and has band tore it up. They had a guest guitarist and violinist playing as well. The violinist even did some vocal improvisation that just blew me away. Great way to end the night. Great way to end the weekend.
So, another weekend full of music under my belt and now I gotta get back to work...in more ways than one. I have a film to score now.
Saturday afternoon began like any other Saturday. I was leaving yoga when I noticed a text from Lacy, saying that her neighborhood bar in Ditmas Park was having a 1 year anniversary party with BBQ and music all afternoon long and that I should come. I returned the text and, on a whim since the Q train was the first to arrive as I stepped onto the platform at Canal Street, I decided to just go straight there, yoga mat bag and all (Lacy didn't see my text and called me a ninja because I just appeared there in less than an hour since she had texted me). The music was varied and of good quality, some Rockabilly, some Bluegrass-y stuff and it was good catching up with Lacy. The BBQ was damned good, too and the ciders cheap. So commenced the day drinking. I even ran into a friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in ages. Got to meet some new friends too.
But I was headed out around 6:30 or so because I needed to touch down at home before heading to The Way Station to catch Dahlia's band DecaDence. These guys rock my face off, consistently. I've come to see them about five times now and it just gets better. Their songs are reggae influenced with some French lyrics and accordion and ukulele and lots of dancing. All of them world class musicians and great guys. Too bad, I was feeling a little bummed because I had no one to dance with, as I had arrived solo, and the place was full of couples (even a bride and groom that had just gotten hitched). But seriously though, if you have a chance to check these guys out, take it. They're currently playing every Monday night at District 12 up in Inwood plus a handful of other shows including The Way Station again on June 21st.
I ditched the scene a little early because I had to work at TruTV in the morning on Sunday and also had to meet up with that filmmaker whose film I'll be scoring. After work Sunday afternoon, I met Ben at one of my favorite gluten free restaurants in the city, Hu Kitchen, and we spotted the whole film. Talked about which cues should go where and how the music should be in general. This is always a fun phase, pulling the film apart and discussing characters and their motives and how the scenes are edited, etc. Next I sit down and watch the film a few times and then start riffing musical ideas. The film, "True Love," is a 20 minute short about two brothers, the older of whom is trying to get a hooker for his brother so he can have his first time. It's a quirky comedy disguised as a drama, so there'll be some tongue-in-cheek humor in the music. Really excited to get working on this.
After our meeting I took the train back to the Slope, swung by and picked up a few things at the co-op and went home to cook dinner. I had been texting with my friend Crystal, whose band is in town to play a few shows (that I'll unfortunately miss). She needed a place for just her to stay so she's crashing here for a few days (currently passed out on the air mattress). I was psyched because we actually got to hang out for a change. Usually I just go see the show and then they have to head on to the next town. She and I have been friends since undergraduate days and she's an incredible musician. If you're not doing anything on Tuesday night I strongly suggest you go to Goodbye Blue Monday and check her and her band out. Crystal Bright and The Silver Hands. I'll give you one of my favorite descriptions of her music that I've heard elsewhere, probably in a review: "A Kaleidophrenic Cabaret." She plays, among other things, accordion, keys and musical saw. Go see her dammit!
I met her and the band at Superfine in Dumbo yesterday evening where they were watching a bluegrass band, (cannot remember the name of them now) and stole Crystal away to head into Manhattan because a mutual friend of ours from Greensboro named Caitlin Watkins was playing at Bowery Electric. Caitlin is writing some amazing folk rock and just gets better every time I see her perform. The last time was at a singer-songwriter round at Jalopy in Red Hook and I remember just being pulled inside the songs she was singing. On the edge of my seat, feeling every emotion in the songs. Last night was no different. Her voice does some incredible things and she reminds me a tiny bit of Ingrid Michaelson. Last night she had a banjo player, Bennet Sullivan, with her who was pretty incredible and complimented her songs nicely. Also a Greensboro native. You should also see her and Bennet if you get the chance.
When the set was finished we hung out for a little longer (Bowery Electric has a card minimum of $10 and my wine was $9...I really hate drinking in Manhattan sometimes), and then went over to Barbes where the rest of Crystal's band was hanging out on my recommendation. They also are interested in playing there so I'm going to try and help out with that as much as I can.
Who was playing at Barbes? Who else? Stephane f*cking Wrembel. As usual Stephane and has band tore it up. They had a guest guitarist and violinist playing as well. The violinist even did some vocal improvisation that just blew me away. Great way to end the night. Great way to end the weekend.
So, another weekend full of music under my belt and now I gotta get back to work...in more ways than one. I have a film to score now.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Rough sleep...
I'm writing in the morning for a change. I've been actually debating changing my evening routine a little because, with or without the writing and snacking and drinking wine and web surfing and otherwise looking at a screen and reading, I have not really done all that much to unwind and get a decent amount of sleep lately. Most of it is the things I have on my mind lately that have been forcing me to stay up pondering until I reach a point where I just tell myself to go the hell to sleep, usually pushing 2am by that time.
Luckily, I have things on the docket. Yes, things. Things to dive into. Things to distract me. Things that will pay money. So not only do I have something to occupy my dizzyingly frantic mind, I also have incentive to try harder to get a decent amount of sleep. On top of the 7 day a week cluster f*ck I'm about to dive into with day time work, I will now need to score a 20 minute short film by the end of June. I'll forgo cliches about the degree to which it precipitates when it finally does precipitate.
This is the short that I wrote thematic material for a few months back in the fall of 2013. They are picture locked and will probably want to go in a slightly different direction than the first material I wrote them. That was written merely to have something to play for the actors before they did the scenes to give them a sense of where the director wanted to go with the tone of the film.
The music, I'm told, will now encompass some poppy electronic stuff in addition to some piano pieces. Probably about 5 - 7 minutes worth of music, all told. So it should be a decent amount of work. But here's the thing. I can only write during the day when I can actually make noise around my apartment so then, getting enough sleep and getting up at a decent hour will be crucial and will make sense. The other day though, while working on "The Life," I spent the hours before sleep when I usually unwind, working on the mixes in headphones, and I found myself just as productive. So maybe I'll try both. Working at night and working in the morning.
For now, though, I think I'll be good during the week, get home, brush my teeth, maybe play guitar for a little bit and then do some breath work/meditation and try to just drift off. See if I can get past these past few weeks of rough sleep and recharge before I dive into the insanity to come. It all starts May 26th. Really only about a week away. And I haven't even seen the film yet. Wish me luck!
Luckily, I have things on the docket. Yes, things. Things to dive into. Things to distract me. Things that will pay money. So not only do I have something to occupy my dizzyingly frantic mind, I also have incentive to try harder to get a decent amount of sleep. On top of the 7 day a week cluster f*ck I'm about to dive into with day time work, I will now need to score a 20 minute short film by the end of June. I'll forgo cliches about the degree to which it precipitates when it finally does precipitate.
This is the short that I wrote thematic material for a few months back in the fall of 2013. They are picture locked and will probably want to go in a slightly different direction than the first material I wrote them. That was written merely to have something to play for the actors before they did the scenes to give them a sense of where the director wanted to go with the tone of the film.
The music, I'm told, will now encompass some poppy electronic stuff in addition to some piano pieces. Probably about 5 - 7 minutes worth of music, all told. So it should be a decent amount of work. But here's the thing. I can only write during the day when I can actually make noise around my apartment so then, getting enough sleep and getting up at a decent hour will be crucial and will make sense. The other day though, while working on "The Life," I spent the hours before sleep when I usually unwind, working on the mixes in headphones, and I found myself just as productive. So maybe I'll try both. Working at night and working in the morning.
For now, though, I think I'll be good during the week, get home, brush my teeth, maybe play guitar for a little bit and then do some breath work/meditation and try to just drift off. See if I can get past these past few weeks of rough sleep and recharge before I dive into the insanity to come. It all starts May 26th. Really only about a week away. And I haven't even seen the film yet. Wish me luck!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Focus on the Narrative...
It's cold in Cape Cod and how the wind howls! I stepped outside earlier today to go and see if the CVS two doors down from this house was open and had to hold the hat I borrowed from my dad on my head to keep it from getting picked up by the wind. I was only going to seek out tissues because this head cold has forced me to consume almost every facial tissue that was in this house when we arrived yesterday.
So far, despite having the sicks still, I've had a great time. Today was a long day of just hanging out in the house and meeting relatives from my mom's side either whom I've never met or wouldn't remember meeting. Been awful nice to not leave the house all day except for a fruitless trip to an already closed drug store mere steps from the house. Oh and one slightly longer walk earlier in the day before everyone arrived when it was weirdly warmer. I think it's helped me get over this cold a little. Even after taking last Wednesday off, I think I must've relapsed as I have been coughing and coughing and blowing my nose incessantly.
The good thing is my voice has come back up a few notes in pitch and is not squeaky despite the veritable assault of four days of non stop coughing. The voice over gig is slated for Tuesday at 1pm and I was told in the audition notes "younger, edgier, not voice of god." You should've heard me Thursday and Friday at work. People would ask, when I answered the phone, "Tim?" as if I'm the only one whose voice could possibly be that low but acknowledging that something definitely wasn't right.
Yes. It was me. Barry White had nothing on me. But it wouldn't have been appropriate for this read. Well it might've worked but the point is that's not what they said they want...and after all I have the range...on a good day. The job is an ad for a new Bourne novel called Bourne Ascendancy. Kind of an exciting gig, really. And I really hope I can keep getting gigs like this. I need stuff to pad my promo demo because I really only have one job and a few solid recordings from coaching sessions that I can include on there now. The promo demo is something that I've wanted to get rolling for quite a while...really since that first promo gig, "Scarlet," that I did in November 2012. They've got to be the most fulfilling jobs I do. Ask anyone who's ever watched network television sitting on the couch next to me. Whenever a network promo or movie trailer comes on, I mimic the voice style and ham it up. I love it.
Of course, sounding like those guys is not the only thing that gets jobs. As my coach and I have discussed in our sessions, it's about sounding believable. Thinking about the words and not just how my voice sounds. You can start to obsess over it and then you forget things like properly breathing and a phrase or two could drop out at the end and you have to do a retake and things get slowed down and the director gets impatient and the whole experience can be unpleasant and then they never hire you again. Okay, that's like, worst case scenario, but you get the idea. Focus on the script. Tell the story.
Focus on the script. Tell the story. Replace script with narrative and it's good advice for both of my endeavors. "The Life" score is the same. If the music is not helping to tell the story and is just there because of some convoluted obsession with canvasing the visuals with aural support, then its effectiveness could be minimal to nil.
Thankfully there's a tiny bit less pressure on the scoring because I can watch the scenes over and over, retreat for a day or so and come back to it and ask myself, "is this still working?" It's remarkable how I've actually become dissatisfied with my first takes and wanted desperately to go back and fine tune it. At first, they sounded great (even the director liked them) but now they sound like music playing in the background. I know that that literally is what it is but you don't want it to sound like music playing in the background. I'd rather people not notice my music at all until the parts where it's supposed to shine.
At any rate, my first takes now sound childish and elementary, so my second takes sound like gold now that I have a clearer idea of what I want for each scene. The opening cue is a great example. I had music playing from the start of the scene and it was basically a structured song with a chord progression and a melody, albeit stripped back. Just an electric guitar with delay strumming whole note chords and my token backwards guitar melody. The mood of the music really struck a chord (boy, I really didn't want to use that phrase just then) with the director so we moved forward with it. That cue ended up being on the cut that went to the Boston screening. But there was something wrong with the audio channels from the dialogue track and when it got burned to DVD some of the character's lines in that scene were completely missing. So we just had background noise and my music. So, now all of a sudden, my music is laid bare, flaws in my performances and all.
But what was most compelling was that, on my second listen, I started to realize that a continuous musical idea was not fitting this scene. The first thing you hear in the opening scene is music. And once you're hearing it you can't unhear it. So, all of the other things you're supposed to be noticing about the scene are diminished (especially when the lines of dialogue are missing).
The solution, I figured, was to strip it way back. I tried an idea with all the audio I had already recorded. I got rid of the strums on the delayed guitar and didn't even bring in the backwards melody until a few seconds into the scene. The I let it fade before the main character's dialogue starts. Then the music, as it was originally orchestrated swells up once the dialogue is done and carries us into the next scene. This is an oversimplification of what's going on but, let's face it, I've never liked writing about what music sounds like. Whenever I had to do it in graduate school, all attempts came across as asinine and contrived. Program notes. Pssht! Hated that shit.
But, I digress. Essentially, on the first pass, I got the mood right. But it took a second pass and a mishap at the screening for me to return to it and reevaluate, attempting to also hit the mark with the music's timing and cadence. It's all about feeling the rhythm of the scene itself and figuring out how to make the music match that rhythm. Focus on the narrative. Tell the story.
That's all for tonight guys. Tomorrow I'm hanging out with my 94 year old Uncle Norman again and my dad's sister, Aunt Suzy before they drop me off in Boston for the bus ride home. 4 hours in a bus and I only have one episode of "True Detective" left. Wish me luck.
So far, despite having the sicks still, I've had a great time. Today was a long day of just hanging out in the house and meeting relatives from my mom's side either whom I've never met or wouldn't remember meeting. Been awful nice to not leave the house all day except for a fruitless trip to an already closed drug store mere steps from the house. Oh and one slightly longer walk earlier in the day before everyone arrived when it was weirdly warmer. I think it's helped me get over this cold a little. Even after taking last Wednesday off, I think I must've relapsed as I have been coughing and coughing and blowing my nose incessantly.
The good thing is my voice has come back up a few notes in pitch and is not squeaky despite the veritable assault of four days of non stop coughing. The voice over gig is slated for Tuesday at 1pm and I was told in the audition notes "younger, edgier, not voice of god." You should've heard me Thursday and Friday at work. People would ask, when I answered the phone, "Tim?" as if I'm the only one whose voice could possibly be that low but acknowledging that something definitely wasn't right.
Yes. It was me. Barry White had nothing on me. But it wouldn't have been appropriate for this read. Well it might've worked but the point is that's not what they said they want...and after all I have the range...on a good day. The job is an ad for a new Bourne novel called Bourne Ascendancy. Kind of an exciting gig, really. And I really hope I can keep getting gigs like this. I need stuff to pad my promo demo because I really only have one job and a few solid recordings from coaching sessions that I can include on there now. The promo demo is something that I've wanted to get rolling for quite a while...really since that first promo gig, "Scarlet," that I did in November 2012. They've got to be the most fulfilling jobs I do. Ask anyone who's ever watched network television sitting on the couch next to me. Whenever a network promo or movie trailer comes on, I mimic the voice style and ham it up. I love it.
Of course, sounding like those guys is not the only thing that gets jobs. As my coach and I have discussed in our sessions, it's about sounding believable. Thinking about the words and not just how my voice sounds. You can start to obsess over it and then you forget things like properly breathing and a phrase or two could drop out at the end and you have to do a retake and things get slowed down and the director gets impatient and the whole experience can be unpleasant and then they never hire you again. Okay, that's like, worst case scenario, but you get the idea. Focus on the script. Tell the story.
Focus on the script. Tell the story. Replace script with narrative and it's good advice for both of my endeavors. "The Life" score is the same. If the music is not helping to tell the story and is just there because of some convoluted obsession with canvasing the visuals with aural support, then its effectiveness could be minimal to nil.
Thankfully there's a tiny bit less pressure on the scoring because I can watch the scenes over and over, retreat for a day or so and come back to it and ask myself, "is this still working?" It's remarkable how I've actually become dissatisfied with my first takes and wanted desperately to go back and fine tune it. At first, they sounded great (even the director liked them) but now they sound like music playing in the background. I know that that literally is what it is but you don't want it to sound like music playing in the background. I'd rather people not notice my music at all until the parts where it's supposed to shine.
At any rate, my first takes now sound childish and elementary, so my second takes sound like gold now that I have a clearer idea of what I want for each scene. The opening cue is a great example. I had music playing from the start of the scene and it was basically a structured song with a chord progression and a melody, albeit stripped back. Just an electric guitar with delay strumming whole note chords and my token backwards guitar melody. The mood of the music really struck a chord (boy, I really didn't want to use that phrase just then) with the director so we moved forward with it. That cue ended up being on the cut that went to the Boston screening. But there was something wrong with the audio channels from the dialogue track and when it got burned to DVD some of the character's lines in that scene were completely missing. So we just had background noise and my music. So, now all of a sudden, my music is laid bare, flaws in my performances and all.
But what was most compelling was that, on my second listen, I started to realize that a continuous musical idea was not fitting this scene. The first thing you hear in the opening scene is music. And once you're hearing it you can't unhear it. So, all of the other things you're supposed to be noticing about the scene are diminished (especially when the lines of dialogue are missing).
The solution, I figured, was to strip it way back. I tried an idea with all the audio I had already recorded. I got rid of the strums on the delayed guitar and didn't even bring in the backwards melody until a few seconds into the scene. The I let it fade before the main character's dialogue starts. Then the music, as it was originally orchestrated swells up once the dialogue is done and carries us into the next scene. This is an oversimplification of what's going on but, let's face it, I've never liked writing about what music sounds like. Whenever I had to do it in graduate school, all attempts came across as asinine and contrived. Program notes. Pssht! Hated that shit.
But, I digress. Essentially, on the first pass, I got the mood right. But it took a second pass and a mishap at the screening for me to return to it and reevaluate, attempting to also hit the mark with the music's timing and cadence. It's all about feeling the rhythm of the scene itself and figuring out how to make the music match that rhythm. Focus on the narrative. Tell the story.
That's all for tonight guys. Tomorrow I'm hanging out with my 94 year old Uncle Norman again and my dad's sister, Aunt Suzy before they drop me off in Boston for the bus ride home. 4 hours in a bus and I only have one episode of "True Detective" left. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Big things...
I thought I was going to let an entire month go by with just one blog entry. Truth is I haven't felt like writing. Not that there haven't been things to write about nor that I haven't been busy. I guess I just got to a spot where I was re-evaluating this whole blog, its purpose and what it brings to me. I envisioned it, at first, as a chronicle, and, at some point, I thought maybe I could pepper it with advice on moving to NYC, on being a composer, or on just following your dreams despite the odds. I've done all those things and various people have taken notice, gotten something from my blog themselves or just cheered me on.
At the end of five years and two months doing this and writing a blog about it, though, it feels like its main purpose is still a journal for me. And I think I'm okay with that. For a few months, I'd been perusing so many amazing blogs and seeing what kind of traffic they have and then questioning whether or not I had something so valuable to offer. Maybe I could find something, if I thought about it. Maybe I could reinvent my blog altogether.
But then again, don't I have two simultaneous careers going here? I'm getting close to a lot of big things (I've been over how I don't believe in jinxes or superstitious things before), and maybe if I ever do get there, I'll cap off this blog and save it somewhere and start a new one. I'll find the time to write something more valuable and substantial when I figure my shit out. For now, let me talk about what those big things are.
I just got another voice over gig, slated for next Tuesday, this one an advertisement for a novel. This is the same guy who hired me to do "Scarlet" a few years back. A repeat customer worth his salt, unlike the one a few summers ago who wanted me to work for peanuts and wouldn't give me copies of my work. This is also the highest paying single gig yet. So, I'm feeling pretty good.
Minus a little bug I'm fighting with a sick day and copious amounts of ginger tea and the like (got some essential oils from a friend, too). Oh, and one newly delivered memory foam mattress which I unraveled this morning. You should've seen the thing inflate. I wasn't even done stripping all the plastic off it before it start to extrude out of the bag and take over my suddenly tiny bedroom.
It's the most comfortable thing I've ever laid down on. I already feel millions of times better in it than I have on the old spring mattress. I was having all kinds of problems of late, with my back, especially my neck and even my ankles (?).
But moving along, I mentioned that "The Life" had a screening in Boston a few weeks ago. A few new players are coming on the scene and it's still got a lot of interest behind it. Survivors at the screening were very moved by it. And, while we're still working on the edit and all that, I'm back to tweaking the score again. Unfortunately, because of the timeline of this screening we hadn't had a chance to do any kind of sound design so my score wasn't best represented and one of the producers didn't like it. The writer/creator/producer that I'm friends with stood up for me and pointed out that the lack of proper sound design basically rendered it nearly impossible to achieve a decent mix with the music. Plus, these cues were a tad bit thrown together and, in my mind at least, still preliminary, due to the short notice decision to put music on it in the first place, for this screening.
At any rate, I'm not letting any of that shake me. I've got a great chance to do some meaningful revisions and have already re done most of the score, aiming for much more subtle renderings of my ideas. I'm in the throes of digesting the first season of "True Detective," as well, and listening closely to the music cues on that one. Spectacularly done. All of it.
It gives me great refreshers on what kind of stuff works and what doesn't. My aim for this score, as with any score of its nature, is to hide between lines of dialogue and to never draw attention to the score, and overall, just go with a "less is more" approach given the subject matter and the strength of these performances. I've found that simple things like slowly fading in the musical idea, or just going with something extremely brief at just the right spot instead of covering the whole scene, or even just having the overall volume of it lower, are all very effective methods. That last one is also why an overall mix that was not given any attention drew attention to all the flaws in the score. When something doesn't work, you can really tell when it's louder than anything else.
It's really hard to score like this, incidentally, with things unfinished. So ultimately, I'm going to wait to do my final mix until I've heard something a little more ironed out. But that doesn't mean I can't keep working now on the overall ideas.
So, that's where I am. There's really only one cue for me to retouch. And then countless (I hope not) revisions on the others. I have a brand new 12-string guitar coming in the mail soon and will be using that to rerecord one of the cues. The guitar that I have had since I was 16, I'm finally through with. It developed a nasty fret buzz on the open E-string, so I took it in to my guitar guy to see what it would take to fix it and he spotted that my bridge was coming away from the body of the guitar. A few twists of the truss rod got rid of the buzz somewhat but he told me it could be up to $300 to fix everything. Some of my frets are coming up as well too. I paid somewhere around $200 for it in 1996. So, I figured, time for a new guitar...especially since I need it to work on this score. I'm so psyched about having a new guitar, too. Not about selling the old one though. That's always a pain.
Anyway, up ahead this weekend, for my mother's birthday, I'm heading up to Cape Cod for the weekend. It should be nice to get away for a hot second...even if it's the Cape and it's going to probably be colder than here. Some day it will get warmer...I keep telling myself that. I'll update next week after that VO gig. Meanwhile, I sleep in my new bed.
At the end of five years and two months doing this and writing a blog about it, though, it feels like its main purpose is still a journal for me. And I think I'm okay with that. For a few months, I'd been perusing so many amazing blogs and seeing what kind of traffic they have and then questioning whether or not I had something so valuable to offer. Maybe I could find something, if I thought about it. Maybe I could reinvent my blog altogether.
But then again, don't I have two simultaneous careers going here? I'm getting close to a lot of big things (I've been over how I don't believe in jinxes or superstitious things before), and maybe if I ever do get there, I'll cap off this blog and save it somewhere and start a new one. I'll find the time to write something more valuable and substantial when I figure my shit out. For now, let me talk about what those big things are.
I just got another voice over gig, slated for next Tuesday, this one an advertisement for a novel. This is the same guy who hired me to do "Scarlet" a few years back. A repeat customer worth his salt, unlike the one a few summers ago who wanted me to work for peanuts and wouldn't give me copies of my work. This is also the highest paying single gig yet. So, I'm feeling pretty good.
Minus a little bug I'm fighting with a sick day and copious amounts of ginger tea and the like (got some essential oils from a friend, too). Oh, and one newly delivered memory foam mattress which I unraveled this morning. You should've seen the thing inflate. I wasn't even done stripping all the plastic off it before it start to extrude out of the bag and take over my suddenly tiny bedroom.
It's the most comfortable thing I've ever laid down on. I already feel millions of times better in it than I have on the old spring mattress. I was having all kinds of problems of late, with my back, especially my neck and even my ankles (?).
But moving along, I mentioned that "The Life" had a screening in Boston a few weeks ago. A few new players are coming on the scene and it's still got a lot of interest behind it. Survivors at the screening were very moved by it. And, while we're still working on the edit and all that, I'm back to tweaking the score again. Unfortunately, because of the timeline of this screening we hadn't had a chance to do any kind of sound design so my score wasn't best represented and one of the producers didn't like it. The writer/creator/producer that I'm friends with stood up for me and pointed out that the lack of proper sound design basically rendered it nearly impossible to achieve a decent mix with the music. Plus, these cues were a tad bit thrown together and, in my mind at least, still preliminary, due to the short notice decision to put music on it in the first place, for this screening.
At any rate, I'm not letting any of that shake me. I've got a great chance to do some meaningful revisions and have already re done most of the score, aiming for much more subtle renderings of my ideas. I'm in the throes of digesting the first season of "True Detective," as well, and listening closely to the music cues on that one. Spectacularly done. All of it.
It gives me great refreshers on what kind of stuff works and what doesn't. My aim for this score, as with any score of its nature, is to hide between lines of dialogue and to never draw attention to the score, and overall, just go with a "less is more" approach given the subject matter and the strength of these performances. I've found that simple things like slowly fading in the musical idea, or just going with something extremely brief at just the right spot instead of covering the whole scene, or even just having the overall volume of it lower, are all very effective methods. That last one is also why an overall mix that was not given any attention drew attention to all the flaws in the score. When something doesn't work, you can really tell when it's louder than anything else.
It's really hard to score like this, incidentally, with things unfinished. So ultimately, I'm going to wait to do my final mix until I've heard something a little more ironed out. But that doesn't mean I can't keep working now on the overall ideas.
So, that's where I am. There's really only one cue for me to retouch. And then countless (I hope not) revisions on the others. I have a brand new 12-string guitar coming in the mail soon and will be using that to rerecord one of the cues. The guitar that I have had since I was 16, I'm finally through with. It developed a nasty fret buzz on the open E-string, so I took it in to my guitar guy to see what it would take to fix it and he spotted that my bridge was coming away from the body of the guitar. A few twists of the truss rod got rid of the buzz somewhat but he told me it could be up to $300 to fix everything. Some of my frets are coming up as well too. I paid somewhere around $200 for it in 1996. So, I figured, time for a new guitar...especially since I need it to work on this score. I'm so psyched about having a new guitar, too. Not about selling the old one though. That's always a pain.
Anyway, up ahead this weekend, for my mother's birthday, I'm heading up to Cape Cod for the weekend. It should be nice to get away for a hot second...even if it's the Cape and it's going to probably be colder than here. Some day it will get warmer...I keep telling myself that. I'll update next week after that VO gig. Meanwhile, I sleep in my new bed.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
The process...
It's good to have goals. It's great to achieve them sometimes. But sometimes, it's just amazing to still be trying. I say this as I sit discouraged in one of the areas I've applied myself while simultaneously more confident than I've ever been in another. Voice Over felt like it had a strong start this year but none of the audition invites I've had in the past few weeks have turned into anything. In fact, the only one that got close was cancelled. Music, on the other hand, has shown some early promise and despite the odds of any of the opportunities I'm presented with really going well, it just feels really invigorating to be writing again. Creating for a change instead of waiting for things I've put out there to garner me attention.
This is when I feel most in my element, making something and, in the moment, not caring what happens with it beyond what the director or producer is going to think. That time when my mind hasn't gotten to the point where I'm wondering if the end product will be seen by the right people. I'm just in my head creating. I just want to see it get done the same way I can't stand to look at a pile of dishes unwashed in the sink. I see a project that needs doing and I just go at it until it's done. The challenge of figuring out the best way to accomplish it, strategically navigating the obstacles of each music cue, the intricacies of the plot and the structure of each scene, that eureka moment when I try something and it works. All of it is what I live for.
There was a moment when George and I were going over some of my cues and we decided to try taking two elements from two separate cues from earlier in the episode and melding them together to really highlight a certain change in this one scene. Unanimous positive reaction and high fives all around. My mind just buzzing with delight at the accomplishment in the moment. See? Why in the hell would I want to do something else besides exactly this?
I wrapped up the seven cues for the pilot episode (down from a potential ten), just this evening and I'm not even technically done. This screening on Friday in Boston at the Harvard School of Public Health is a preliminary test screening of sorts and the episode itself still has some phases to go through before we actually premiere it. A few changes to the edit and pretty much all of the sound design still remain to be tackled. The idea was for me to get some music on this thing so that it wasn't so rough around the edges when we screen it for the first time. We lucked out, in fact, that George and I had a good week of nightly meetings since our shifts at NY1 overlap by a half hour. So we were able to hash things out real time. Which is a great experience and certainly tops batting emails back and forth and waiting for the other party to reply.
So, anyway, the work there is done for a while but, depending on the degree to which this thing changes and how much the sound design effects my own mix, I will be doing a fair bit more work but the bulk of it is done. The cues are written, timed, recorded for the most part (though I may re record because, let's face it, I'm a perfectionist), and time codes have been meticulously laid out for start times and all that. But it's an understatement to say that I can't wait for this thing to come to fruition. We're all hoping it'll open up some doors for us. But again, regardless, I live for this process so I'm trying not to get up in my head about all that.
I have another potential job that just came up tonight writing a bumper for a friend, this, in addition to the feature length that I might be doing. Knowing that I potentially have more work in the future is a huge boost right now.
Now, I can't even let it get me down that voice over success has not been the same. The two have progressed at their own rate all along and I've obviously been composing longer than doing voice over. I choose to take away this from this past two months: I'm still getting attention for my voice and the reasons I didn't get those jobs (besides that one being cancelled) is more likely to do with the clients just wanting a different sound than it is anything to do with my read itself. Even if it was, that's why I have a voice coach, to whom I'm taking my audio files and those scripts in a week. In other words, not sitting on my ass and whining about another failure. I see failure as an opportunity to find out what I did wrong and improve. No other way.
With that said, it's late, as it always is when I'm writing, and I should finish this amazing gluten free beer and get ready for another day. Good night!
This is when I feel most in my element, making something and, in the moment, not caring what happens with it beyond what the director or producer is going to think. That time when my mind hasn't gotten to the point where I'm wondering if the end product will be seen by the right people. I'm just in my head creating. I just want to see it get done the same way I can't stand to look at a pile of dishes unwashed in the sink. I see a project that needs doing and I just go at it until it's done. The challenge of figuring out the best way to accomplish it, strategically navigating the obstacles of each music cue, the intricacies of the plot and the structure of each scene, that eureka moment when I try something and it works. All of it is what I live for.
There was a moment when George and I were going over some of my cues and we decided to try taking two elements from two separate cues from earlier in the episode and melding them together to really highlight a certain change in this one scene. Unanimous positive reaction and high fives all around. My mind just buzzing with delight at the accomplishment in the moment. See? Why in the hell would I want to do something else besides exactly this?
I wrapped up the seven cues for the pilot episode (down from a potential ten), just this evening and I'm not even technically done. This screening on Friday in Boston at the Harvard School of Public Health is a preliminary test screening of sorts and the episode itself still has some phases to go through before we actually premiere it. A few changes to the edit and pretty much all of the sound design still remain to be tackled. The idea was for me to get some music on this thing so that it wasn't so rough around the edges when we screen it for the first time. We lucked out, in fact, that George and I had a good week of nightly meetings since our shifts at NY1 overlap by a half hour. So we were able to hash things out real time. Which is a great experience and certainly tops batting emails back and forth and waiting for the other party to reply.
So, anyway, the work there is done for a while but, depending on the degree to which this thing changes and how much the sound design effects my own mix, I will be doing a fair bit more work but the bulk of it is done. The cues are written, timed, recorded for the most part (though I may re record because, let's face it, I'm a perfectionist), and time codes have been meticulously laid out for start times and all that. But it's an understatement to say that I can't wait for this thing to come to fruition. We're all hoping it'll open up some doors for us. But again, regardless, I live for this process so I'm trying not to get up in my head about all that.
I have another potential job that just came up tonight writing a bumper for a friend, this, in addition to the feature length that I might be doing. Knowing that I potentially have more work in the future is a huge boost right now.
Now, I can't even let it get me down that voice over success has not been the same. The two have progressed at their own rate all along and I've obviously been composing longer than doing voice over. I choose to take away this from this past two months: I'm still getting attention for my voice and the reasons I didn't get those jobs (besides that one being cancelled) is more likely to do with the clients just wanting a different sound than it is anything to do with my read itself. Even if it was, that's why I have a voice coach, to whom I'm taking my audio files and those scripts in a week. In other words, not sitting on my ass and whining about another failure. I see failure as an opportunity to find out what I did wrong and improve. No other way.
With that said, it's late, as it always is when I'm writing, and I should finish this amazing gluten free beer and get ready for another day. Good night!
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Productive...
Nothing like a productive Monday to put me in the mood for a late night glass of wine. This Rioja I picked up a few weeks ago...pretty damned good. And why not? I got so much done in a day. Started off with a quick breakfast of fried over easy and toast and out the door early to drop some clothes off at Goodwill in Downtown Brooklyn, then off to the best yoga class I've had in a while with the inimitable Holly Ramey. Something about deep twists and creative sequences and just the right amount of balance poses and add to that my frame of mind and a nice sit before class, I was on cloud nine. Perfect way to start up the day. Got to catch up with a yoga friend on my way out the door and then I was off. Cooked lunch at home and then sat down and proceeded to write three more cues for "The Life" to add to the one I started yesterday. Got to work on time, emailed the director and producer the spotting notes and the cues thus far and finished out my shift at NY1.
Now I'm back and still wide awake. My co worker at NY1 says to me this evening, "I don't know how you find the time." I don't either. But the fact that I do find the time, gives me a great deal of faith that we'll be able to get some music put together before this thing gets screened in Boston in two weeks. I'm going to have to clear my schedule just a little bit but we should be fine. I think, since we're all in agreement that the edit still needs some work, that we're not even going to try to get this thing perfect before this first screening but they did ask me, since we have time, to put together at least a few music cues. I went ahead and spotted the whole thing, like I said the other day, and now I wait to see what we'll focus on actually covering. It's exciting. The main title sequence is in the works now too, so I'm getting to see what that's going to look like with my music. The director was nice enough to have my credit for "Original music by" come on screen right when the song goes into the guitar solo. Epic.
So, fit to burst with excitement in just getting to work again but also not getting too far ahead of myself. It is nice to envision the finish line every once in a while but you gotta keep running to get there.
On another note, had a great time this weekend and saw two great shows on top of going to a yoga workshop with two of my friends from the Nicaragua trip on Saturday (good to see them again but the workshop was crowded). After the workshop though, I was off to Four Tet at Terminal 5 on Saturday night (epic set), at which I made a new friend, a musician from Cleveland who had won tickets and came to the city on a whim (with no second person to take his second ticket), and then Stephane Wrembel at Barbés on Sunday night (yet again, never gets old) for which I tried to get said new friend to join me but, being new to the city and not knowing the trains, he wound up in Queens by accident and resigned himself to heading back to the AirBnB where he was staying. But then I made more friends at Barbés just hanging out by myself, almost all of them musicians themselves. One of whom plays in an awesome French fusion reggae band here in the city called DecaDence. They're pretty frickin' awesome.
All around, times are good these days. And I'm heading into the long week with a good feeling...which is a lot better than most Mondays. So, onward and upward.
Now I'm back and still wide awake. My co worker at NY1 says to me this evening, "I don't know how you find the time." I don't either. But the fact that I do find the time, gives me a great deal of faith that we'll be able to get some music put together before this thing gets screened in Boston in two weeks. I'm going to have to clear my schedule just a little bit but we should be fine. I think, since we're all in agreement that the edit still needs some work, that we're not even going to try to get this thing perfect before this first screening but they did ask me, since we have time, to put together at least a few music cues. I went ahead and spotted the whole thing, like I said the other day, and now I wait to see what we'll focus on actually covering. It's exciting. The main title sequence is in the works now too, so I'm getting to see what that's going to look like with my music. The director was nice enough to have my credit for "Original music by" come on screen right when the song goes into the guitar solo. Epic.
So, fit to burst with excitement in just getting to work again but also not getting too far ahead of myself. It is nice to envision the finish line every once in a while but you gotta keep running to get there.
On another note, had a great time this weekend and saw two great shows on top of going to a yoga workshop with two of my friends from the Nicaragua trip on Saturday (good to see them again but the workshop was crowded). After the workshop though, I was off to Four Tet at Terminal 5 on Saturday night (epic set), at which I made a new friend, a musician from Cleveland who had won tickets and came to the city on a whim (with no second person to take his second ticket), and then Stephane Wrembel at Barbés on Sunday night (yet again, never gets old) for which I tried to get said new friend to join me but, being new to the city and not knowing the trains, he wound up in Queens by accident and resigned himself to heading back to the AirBnB where he was staying. But then I made more friends at Barbés just hanging out by myself, almost all of them musicians themselves. One of whom plays in an awesome French fusion reggae band here in the city called DecaDence. They're pretty frickin' awesome.
All around, times are good these days. And I'm heading into the long week with a good feeling...which is a lot better than most Mondays. So, onward and upward.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Spotting...
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna start another blog entry with "It's late and I should be sleeping..." So here goes:
It's late and I should be sleeping. But honestly, when you've got Nicaraguan rum and Jamaican style ginger beer and a head full of hope and thoughts of the future, it's hard to settle down. Plus I had some work to do. It's probably a little too soon, as the final cut has not been polished, but I've been spotting for "The Life." Mostly independently of the director and the production team so far, but George and I have chatted a tiny bit about it.
My process is usually this: (and I've gotten some of this from a lot of industry people who say this is their method, and it works for me)
I start by just watching the film/movie/episode/whatever one time through without any thoughts about music. Then I add a second viewing where I'm also not writing anything down but I let thoughts about music start to creep in...incidentally this is why I hate it when editors put in temp music...most of the time. It messes with my conception. I couldn't get a Latin vibe out of my head for an early feature film I scored about 10 years ago because the director himself had put some canned Latin loops in the opening scene. Anyway, on the third viewing I actually make notes about what scenes can use music, coming up with names like "So and so takes a walk in the park" which sometimes end up as the actual title of said music cue. Still no time codes at this point, though. This is the point at which I like to sit down with the director and ask their thoughts and usually get shot down on a few things. Then and only then do I actually sit down and start riffing while watching the film...quite possibly the funnest part of all. This is when it really starts to take shape. Incidentally, I really like it when a director has strong opinions about where and when and how music should go...okay, not always how. Sometimes I just want them to let me do my thing. But you can't have it your way all the time.
Further refining of ideas comes and then I start to nail down starting and ending time codes so it's not all "music stops when so and so walks out of frame." Then it comes down to actual production which is where the real magic happens, the fun part. Who am I kidding? It's all fun. That's why I do this. And why I've been dying to get started on this project.
In my spare moments over the past few weeks, while I've waited, I've started to dream up my next vacation. And yes, it's to Nicaragua. Again. But I've been approaching it with the same zeal with which I approached the trip to France I planned in 2007 for my parents and my aunt. After all, planning is so much fun! Maybe that's why I also like the planning stages of composing a film score. I like organization. But at the same time, I love that feeling of uncertainty right before implementation. That "how is this going to go?" That fear of failure and desire for success. It's positively exhilarating.
The Nicaragua trip won't take place until next January more than likely (because it's contingent upon my accrual and usage of vacation hours) but I have my sights on an island comprised of two volcanoes, one active, one extinct, in Lake Nicaragua called Ometepe that a co worker informed me about. I found this site which I have fully digested now, and through which I've almost chosen a hotel. I also plan on starting the whole trip back at the Apoyo Lodge on the Apoyo crater lake because they host three day yoga retreats there all year round. Then, I go to Ometepe and hike to a crater lake where I can swim, explore the island and take in the petroglyphs and then, when I'm fully exhausted, I get Gonzalo to meet me in San Pedro and drive me back to Casa Ola where I will stay for the remainder of my time...and finally learn to surf.
It's gonna be one incredible year leading up to all that though. It has to be.
It's late and I should be sleeping. But honestly, when you've got Nicaraguan rum and Jamaican style ginger beer and a head full of hope and thoughts of the future, it's hard to settle down. Plus I had some work to do. It's probably a little too soon, as the final cut has not been polished, but I've been spotting for "The Life." Mostly independently of the director and the production team so far, but George and I have chatted a tiny bit about it.
My process is usually this: (and I've gotten some of this from a lot of industry people who say this is their method, and it works for me)
I start by just watching the film/movie/episode/whatever one time through without any thoughts about music. Then I add a second viewing where I'm also not writing anything down but I let thoughts about music start to creep in...incidentally this is why I hate it when editors put in temp music...most of the time. It messes with my conception. I couldn't get a Latin vibe out of my head for an early feature film I scored about 10 years ago because the director himself had put some canned Latin loops in the opening scene. Anyway, on the third viewing I actually make notes about what scenes can use music, coming up with names like "So and so takes a walk in the park" which sometimes end up as the actual title of said music cue. Still no time codes at this point, though. This is the point at which I like to sit down with the director and ask their thoughts and usually get shot down on a few things. Then and only then do I actually sit down and start riffing while watching the film...quite possibly the funnest part of all. This is when it really starts to take shape. Incidentally, I really like it when a director has strong opinions about where and when and how music should go...okay, not always how. Sometimes I just want them to let me do my thing. But you can't have it your way all the time.
Further refining of ideas comes and then I start to nail down starting and ending time codes so it's not all "music stops when so and so walks out of frame." Then it comes down to actual production which is where the real magic happens, the fun part. Who am I kidding? It's all fun. That's why I do this. And why I've been dying to get started on this project.
In my spare moments over the past few weeks, while I've waited, I've started to dream up my next vacation. And yes, it's to Nicaragua. Again. But I've been approaching it with the same zeal with which I approached the trip to France I planned in 2007 for my parents and my aunt. After all, planning is so much fun! Maybe that's why I also like the planning stages of composing a film score. I like organization. But at the same time, I love that feeling of uncertainty right before implementation. That "how is this going to go?" That fear of failure and desire for success. It's positively exhilarating.
The Nicaragua trip won't take place until next January more than likely (because it's contingent upon my accrual and usage of vacation hours) but I have my sights on an island comprised of two volcanoes, one active, one extinct, in Lake Nicaragua called Ometepe that a co worker informed me about. I found this site which I have fully digested now, and through which I've almost chosen a hotel. I also plan on starting the whole trip back at the Apoyo Lodge on the Apoyo crater lake because they host three day yoga retreats there all year round. Then, I go to Ometepe and hike to a crater lake where I can swim, explore the island and take in the petroglyphs and then, when I'm fully exhausted, I get Gonzalo to meet me in San Pedro and drive me back to Casa Ola where I will stay for the remainder of my time...and finally learn to surf.
It's gonna be one incredible year leading up to all that though. It has to be.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Anticipation, a baby, some mountains and a thunderstorm...
The D, N and R trains are finally not skipping my stop at nights and I began to realize this week how long it's been since I've even been in the Prospect Ave. R station on the Bay Ridge bound side. I had been taking the F to 7th avenue on my way home from work and walking the 10 blocks south to my apartment. While it did afford me a little extra time to walk and think, and, on some nights when I didn't feel like the hassle, got me a little more comfortable taking cab rides that would eventually be reimbursed by Time Warner Cable, it also put me dangerously close to Barbes on more than one occasion, which excused a few random stops during which I got to meet some interesting and cool people.
To be fair I only went in once directly after work last week for a drink and it was to kick off a nice 4 day weekend during which I traveled to NC to see family and meet a brand new addition, the nephew I spoke of a few entries ago.
The mountain house in which we stayed was also quite comfortable and came with an amazing view of the mountain ridges. We watched a thunderstorm one afternoon while we sat outside on the porch drinking, too. It was pretty spectacular and calming to sit and listen to the rain.
After two nights, getting to hold my sleepy 2 week old nephew a few times, a few games of ping pong, some Dr. Who and Nintendo DS with the nephews and neice (my sister's kids), I took a ride down to Greensboro in my mom's convertible to see some old friends and paint the town. Saw my old haunts and caught up with a few friends. It all ended with me lazing around in the pool at my parents' house with my other sister and her kids and spending too much time in the sun before heading off to the airport. Couldn't have planned a better trip unless it were longer and involved more relaxing.
Now I'm back to the daily grind, jumping right back in with a day at both jobs (for which the MTA made me 15 minutes late), some work on the trailer for "The Life," and even a phone call to an agent I've been trying to chase down. There, I said it. I told myself I wouldn't say anything so as not to jinx it but it's getting close enough I think I can mention it. I'm also realizing I'm not as superstitious anymore. If it doesn't happen it won't be because I got my hopes up but because it wasn't the right time.
And now I wait. But I spoke about waiting a few entries ago. Sometimes the anticipation can be just as stimulating as the outcome. And it is an experience in and of itself. Certain things may not pan out but the important thing is that I've worked hard enough that I'm up at bat for a change and that alone gets me pretty ecstatic. Yes, I used a baseball analogy. They're useful sometimes. What can I say?
Anyhow, there are lots of other exciting things that I have varying levels of confidence about coming up, some musical collaborations, some film scoring work and even a few concerts. 2013 has already been a pretty amazing year and I only expect it to get better. Now I have to find some way to get to sleep amidst all this excitement.
To be fair I only went in once directly after work last week for a drink and it was to kick off a nice 4 day weekend during which I traveled to NC to see family and meet a brand new addition, the nephew I spoke of a few entries ago.
The mountain house in which we stayed was also quite comfortable and came with an amazing view of the mountain ridges. We watched a thunderstorm one afternoon while we sat outside on the porch drinking, too. It was pretty spectacular and calming to sit and listen to the rain.
After two nights, getting to hold my sleepy 2 week old nephew a few times, a few games of ping pong, some Dr. Who and Nintendo DS with the nephews and neice (my sister's kids), I took a ride down to Greensboro in my mom's convertible to see some old friends and paint the town. Saw my old haunts and caught up with a few friends. It all ended with me lazing around in the pool at my parents' house with my other sister and her kids and spending too much time in the sun before heading off to the airport. Couldn't have planned a better trip unless it were longer and involved more relaxing.
Now I'm back to the daily grind, jumping right back in with a day at both jobs (for which the MTA made me 15 minutes late), some work on the trailer for "The Life," and even a phone call to an agent I've been trying to chase down. There, I said it. I told myself I wouldn't say anything so as not to jinx it but it's getting close enough I think I can mention it. I'm also realizing I'm not as superstitious anymore. If it doesn't happen it won't be because I got my hopes up but because it wasn't the right time.
And now I wait. But I spoke about waiting a few entries ago. Sometimes the anticipation can be just as stimulating as the outcome. And it is an experience in and of itself. Certain things may not pan out but the important thing is that I've worked hard enough that I'm up at bat for a change and that alone gets me pretty ecstatic. Yes, I used a baseball analogy. They're useful sometimes. What can I say?
Anyhow, there are lots of other exciting things that I have varying levels of confidence about coming up, some musical collaborations, some film scoring work and even a few concerts. 2013 has already been a pretty amazing year and I only expect it to get better. Now I have to find some way to get to sleep amidst all this excitement.
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