It's the first morning of the year where the sun is far enough north in the morning to pierce my office windows. Spring is coming. It feels good. It was ridiculously mild this weekend too. I mean, I was walking around with my jacket unzipped for crying out loud.
Even though this winter has been milder than most up here I've still reached that point where a tropical vacation is looking pretty good (Let's face it, that's been happening since I got back from Nica last March). So, I've been planning one. You know I have.
This one: Guadeloupe. In the Caribbean, not Mexico...the Mexico one is not even spelled the same. Just focus. Here's where it is on Google maps in case you have no idea. Why Guadeloupe? Several reasons. I've never been to the Caribbean before and have wanted to go for as long as I can remember...though I've never been interested in the typical Caribbean vacation: cruises, resorts, touristy shit. Nope. Not for me. So, then, Guadeloupe happens to be the easiest one to get to that is off the beaten path and not covered in resorts. No, in fact, there are rain forests, volcanoes, deserted beaches (some of them all nude), rum distilleries, hiking, organic tropical fruits, world class diving, an underwater nature reserve, probably monkeys and French and Creole speaking people. Yes, Guadeloupe is a French overseas department still so I'll get to use my French a little, if not a lot. Excited? You bet I am.
It all started with landing on articles like this, this and this while searching for seclusion and adventure in the Caribbean. I had originally zeroed in on Dominica for a destination. It had everything. Beaches, jungles, volcanoes, wildlife, history, French speaking people, and it was off the beaten path for sure. But it was too off the beaten path. Flying into the place took two to three connections on most itineraries that were popping up and, in some cases, overnight stays on another island. That had me initially considering going ahead and making this a two or three island visit. I even considered making the second leg of the trip a ferry ride instead of a flight as there is a pretty extensive network of ferries that go between many of the islands. The method became, find a direct flight from NYC to one of these islands and then take a roughly two hour ferry ride over to Dominica.
So this is how I landed on Guadeloupe (Gwada as the locals affectionately call it). There were flights to Barbados, Montserrat and Puerto Rico that were direct and I figured I could fly from any of these over but Montserrat and Guadeloupe were close enough to ferry and Guadeloupe seemed like it had enough going on that we could justify staying a few days there. There were even several smaller islands that are all a part of Guadeloupe, reachable by the same ferry system. In fact, people usually consider Guadeloupe an archipelago of five islands and that's if you don't consider all the smaller atolls and sand spits surrounding it but I digress. I started to really discover Guadeloupe and become intrigued by it...and I also discovered that the ferries are shit. No one anywhere on the web had anything good to say about them and where they did, it was only generic reviews. The worst ones went from detailing the all too common delays and cancellations and the difficulty in getting a refund in the case of delays, all the way to people vomiting in bags due to rough seas. No thanks.
So back to Guadeloupe itself, I also became intrigued by Soufriére. the semi active volcano on the jungle side of Guadeloupe, the larger island called Basse Terre. Easier to hike than Concepción in Nicaragua and featuring countless fumaroles and mud pits and hot springs and waterfalls. I was sold. I might make this a thing, hiking active volcanoes.
The next phase of planning had us scanning Airbnb's on the island. I ultimately decided we should split our stay between opposite sides of the island just for the sake of not having to drive an hour to get to and from the airport but also so that we wouldn't have to drive an hour to get to the trailhead for the volcano hike. We settled on staying in Le Gosier, just outside the town where the airport is located, for the first few days, exploring the flatter eastern island of Grand Terre. Then we will move to Basse Terre to a little town called Saint Claude on the flanks of the mountainous region where we will explore Basse Terre, its national park area, the zoological park, the rum distilleries and the mountains and waterfalls. And of course, hike the volcano.
I can't believe it's happening in ten days. I'm already doing packing dry runs and seeing what I can fit in one bag, since we're taking a direct from JFK to Point-à-Pitre and I don't want to check anything if I can help it. Among the things I will be cramming in my bag? Camera equipment. A few months ago, I was walking with a friend outside the Barclays Center and stumbled on a GoPro Hero 3 camera on a monopod laying on the ground. It had obviously fallen out of the bag of some hapless tourist. I immediately swiped it up because I figured this person probably just got right on a train and could potentially have not even realized where and when he dropped it. So naturally, someone was probably going to pick it up long before he could get back there and it might as well be me. Knowing how much that would suck to lose a pricey camera like that along with all the photos and videos on it, I tried my best to figure out if there was any way to get in touch with this person. All I could determine was that this person was most likely French and had done a mud race in Lyon months prior and had come to New York, seen the sights and then dropped his camera right in my path. I tried Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter but I ultimately gave up...and then purchased a pack of GoPro accessories to have fun with while we're on vacation.
So expect not just pictures but HD underwater video. We leave on March 2nd and return on the 11th. Hopefully by then, I'll be getting even more sun through my office window.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2016
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Back from Manchester...
So, New Hampshire was a blast. At times grueling, at times exciting, at times boring, at times snowy, and even at times fun. Manchester is an interesting town. You can drive across it in about 10 minutes. It has a rather quaint downtown and a gorgeous wide river flowing through it, its shores dotted by old mills repurposed as various cafés, condos, university buildings and so forth. But where I was staying near the airport, and near the Mall of New Hampshire, seemed like it could have been any town.
Turns out the reason they threw me a curve ball by asking me to go up sooner than they originally had was so I could help with two separate town hall events that they had planned last minute. The first was with Sanders and Clinton and the second was with Donald Trump. All in all the trip was quite enriching and I learned a lot, getting my feet wet doing audio out in the field for the first time in ages. The veteran tech guys were superb at their job and incredibly helpful. And most importantly, everyone treated each other like professionals. As soon as I realized that, it was a lot easier to do my job.
The first morning they had scheduled me to mix audio for New Day which I talked about in my last entry. The night before, right after I landed, and before I even checked into my hotel, I went over to a café by the water, called Waterworks, where they had started setting everything up. Camera, lighting, audio. Everything cabled through an open window out to a satellite truck outside. It was incredible what they had done with only a few hours. And they wanted me to help set up the board! I only really needed a few minutes to wrap my head around what I was doing but it was intimidating at first. This is where it gets a little technical so if you're not inclined, skip past this part.
Basically, they wanted to isolate the two hosts and the guest mix so that they could mix back in New York. So I was still mixing the guests, just sending that mix out separate from the two hosts who were on the first two channels. Then they were taking those three separate mixes and sending them out the outputs of the cameras, which themselves were on their own incoming lines in New York. But of course, someone changed their mind and wanted to embed the audio after the camera in the signal chain. Which we tried but then realized we had a problem with one of the embedders and had to quickly switch everything back.
I took a look at the board and thought for a minute and then scrambled to unplug and replug cables to get everything set up the way that was going to work...and this minutes before the show was going to start, normally a time when I hate to be unplugging anything! The moment I realized that my setup had worked warranted a fist jab and a semi silent triumphant, "yes!" The rest of the show went fairly well considering I had put the guests on an Auxillary send output and needed to mix them with knobs instead of faders.
It was a heck of a way to start off my trip but it certainly boosted my confidence for the rest of the week. For both town hall debates I was really just helping pin microphones on guests and taping cables to the floor so no one would trip but it was great experience and a necessary role.
For the Clinton Sanders debate they had us set up in the balcony of the for Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett's shows and we had several quick swaps. My coworkers in New York were watching the incoming lines and seeing everything going on between commercial breaks, congratulating me every time we pulled off a narrow swap. Often times Erin Burnett would be talking to one camera and I'd be just outside the frame prepping the next guest, pinning ear pieces and microphones and hiding wires. Oh and did I mention we were essentially on the front row of the mezzanine where there was really no railing and only a two and a half foot wall between us and the potential to pitch right off the balcony. At one point, David Axelrod was using my shoulder to balance as he stepped down.
The following day was Donald Trump doing his town hall in a diner during which I hardly had any role except sitting in for the lighting guys and winding cables. We set up a three camera shoot with a fourth handheld camera and did everything live to tape, with some 40 diners and us, all in a tiny tiny space. I don't know how we did it but I saw it later on the air and it looked good.
That Friday was the snow day and I had no assignment but ended up hanging around the workspace they had set up at WMUR until I just decided I didn't want to get stuck there in case the snow got worse. Well, it got worse and I almost wound up stuck at my hotel. But driving in the snow is something I can manage even though I never get to do it. I feel like I've read one or more articles like this recently anyway, which while not the same as practical experience, can keep all the more important points in the forefront of your mind. I also noticed this weird light on my dash in the Kia Soul I was driving flickering on and off while driving in the snow. So, I just Googled it out of curiosity and sure enough the car has built in stability control.
After the snow day, my last four days of work up there were at the station and I was again, mostly pinning mics. For the last two days I was basically both running the board and prepping guests for Early Start and New Day...which meant being there at 3am. Ugh. But somehow, I managed to get around and try out a few cool local spots.
The first place of note I went, Republic, was a cool Moroccan inspired joint with a fantastic wine list and amazing food. I came here a few times throughout the week as they were open for brunch and lunch and had great coffee (it was ok...I mean it was probably the best coffee I had all week considering I had been drinking diner coffee and preground mess out of stryofoam cups at the station mostly). I even ran into a few other journalists here and made some friends (one of them I ran into on two separate occasions). I swear the town population must double when all the news crews move in to cover the primary election.
I also tried a nice seafood restaurant, Hooked, where I ordered lobster and chatted with the bartender most of the night and narrowly avoided a political discussion with the owner of the restaurant who came over when someone mentioned the Donald Trump rally going on down the street at the Verizon Wireless Arena. I think everyone in every diner was talking about politics the whole week though.
The coolest place I tried though was the speakeasy everyone had been talking about, 8one5. It was on the second floor of what looked like a regular apartment building. I had to find out the password on Twitter and speak it into an intercom in an old timey phone booth, randomly wedged into a wall, after which said wall moved away and the hostess let me in. It was a Tuesday night and the place was virtually empty save for the bartenders and hostess, at first. But the cocktail menu was creative, as was the bartender who made me a few concoctions of his own.
So that was my final night and the following morning I awoke to snow but fortunately no airport delays. After having breakfast at the Purple Finch Diner where I had found gluten free options earlier in the week, I trotted off to the airport, dropped off my car and headed in, where I ran into at least 6 old co workers of mine from NY1 who were all heading back on the same day. It's amazing how small the news business is sometimes.
Here are pics of the week.
Turns out the reason they threw me a curve ball by asking me to go up sooner than they originally had was so I could help with two separate town hall events that they had planned last minute. The first was with Sanders and Clinton and the second was with Donald Trump. All in all the trip was quite enriching and I learned a lot, getting my feet wet doing audio out in the field for the first time in ages. The veteran tech guys were superb at their job and incredibly helpful. And most importantly, everyone treated each other like professionals. As soon as I realized that, it was a lot easier to do my job.
The first morning they had scheduled me to mix audio for New Day which I talked about in my last entry. The night before, right after I landed, and before I even checked into my hotel, I went over to a café by the water, called Waterworks, where they had started setting everything up. Camera, lighting, audio. Everything cabled through an open window out to a satellite truck outside. It was incredible what they had done with only a few hours. And they wanted me to help set up the board! I only really needed a few minutes to wrap my head around what I was doing but it was intimidating at first. This is where it gets a little technical so if you're not inclined, skip past this part.
Basically, they wanted to isolate the two hosts and the guest mix so that they could mix back in New York. So I was still mixing the guests, just sending that mix out separate from the two hosts who were on the first two channels. Then they were taking those three separate mixes and sending them out the outputs of the cameras, which themselves were on their own incoming lines in New York. But of course, someone changed their mind and wanted to embed the audio after the camera in the signal chain. Which we tried but then realized we had a problem with one of the embedders and had to quickly switch everything back.
I took a look at the board and thought for a minute and then scrambled to unplug and replug cables to get everything set up the way that was going to work...and this minutes before the show was going to start, normally a time when I hate to be unplugging anything! The moment I realized that my setup had worked warranted a fist jab and a semi silent triumphant, "yes!" The rest of the show went fairly well considering I had put the guests on an Auxillary send output and needed to mix them with knobs instead of faders.
It was a heck of a way to start off my trip but it certainly boosted my confidence for the rest of the week. For both town hall debates I was really just helping pin microphones on guests and taping cables to the floor so no one would trip but it was great experience and a necessary role.
For the Clinton Sanders debate they had us set up in the balcony of the for Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett's shows and we had several quick swaps. My coworkers in New York were watching the incoming lines and seeing everything going on between commercial breaks, congratulating me every time we pulled off a narrow swap. Often times Erin Burnett would be talking to one camera and I'd be just outside the frame prepping the next guest, pinning ear pieces and microphones and hiding wires. Oh and did I mention we were essentially on the front row of the mezzanine where there was really no railing and only a two and a half foot wall between us and the potential to pitch right off the balcony. At one point, David Axelrod was using my shoulder to balance as he stepped down.
The following day was Donald Trump doing his town hall in a diner during which I hardly had any role except sitting in for the lighting guys and winding cables. We set up a three camera shoot with a fourth handheld camera and did everything live to tape, with some 40 diners and us, all in a tiny tiny space. I don't know how we did it but I saw it later on the air and it looked good.
That Friday was the snow day and I had no assignment but ended up hanging around the workspace they had set up at WMUR until I just decided I didn't want to get stuck there in case the snow got worse. Well, it got worse and I almost wound up stuck at my hotel. But driving in the snow is something I can manage even though I never get to do it. I feel like I've read one or more articles like this recently anyway, which while not the same as practical experience, can keep all the more important points in the forefront of your mind. I also noticed this weird light on my dash in the Kia Soul I was driving flickering on and off while driving in the snow. So, I just Googled it out of curiosity and sure enough the car has built in stability control.
After the snow day, my last four days of work up there were at the station and I was again, mostly pinning mics. For the last two days I was basically both running the board and prepping guests for Early Start and New Day...which meant being there at 3am. Ugh. But somehow, I managed to get around and try out a few cool local spots.
The first place of note I went, Republic, was a cool Moroccan inspired joint with a fantastic wine list and amazing food. I came here a few times throughout the week as they were open for brunch and lunch and had great coffee (it was ok...I mean it was probably the best coffee I had all week considering I had been drinking diner coffee and preground mess out of stryofoam cups at the station mostly). I even ran into a few other journalists here and made some friends (one of them I ran into on two separate occasions). I swear the town population must double when all the news crews move in to cover the primary election.
I also tried a nice seafood restaurant, Hooked, where I ordered lobster and chatted with the bartender most of the night and narrowly avoided a political discussion with the owner of the restaurant who came over when someone mentioned the Donald Trump rally going on down the street at the Verizon Wireless Arena. I think everyone in every diner was talking about politics the whole week though.
The coolest place I tried though was the speakeasy everyone had been talking about, 8one5. It was on the second floor of what looked like a regular apartment building. I had to find out the password on Twitter and speak it into an intercom in an old timey phone booth, randomly wedged into a wall, after which said wall moved away and the hostess let me in. It was a Tuesday night and the place was virtually empty save for the bartenders and hostess, at first. But the cocktail menu was creative, as was the bartender who made me a few concoctions of his own.
So that was my final night and the following morning I awoke to snow but fortunately no airport delays. After having breakfast at the Purple Finch Diner where I had found gluten free options earlier in the week, I trotted off to the airport, dropped off my car and headed in, where I ran into at least 6 old co workers of mine from NY1 who were all heading back on the same day. It's amazing how small the news business is sometimes.
Here are pics of the week.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Manchester...
I'm typing this blog from a hotel suite near the airport in Manchester, NH. What the hell am I doing here? Don't worry about it. I'm getting to it. I just first want to make reference to that bit about me being the time management ninja. I time managed. I ninja-ed. And all went according to plan.
The gig with Ryan and Jordana went swimmingly and was super fun to boot (there's some video on FB). And, already in awe at how the previous weekend timed out, in that I was able to use the disruption of the blizzard to our rehearsals as a way to push forward on the News Literacy Project's music, I was supremely awed at how it just happened that the night of the gig, I finally got word from NLP that I could push ahead on the project. See, I had been waiting to hear some direction from them, and frustrating though that can be sometimes, it was quite a boon in that I could meanwhile focus all my energy on rocking the F@$% out at the show and, as soon as it was done, shift my energy to writing the music for those educational videos. The timing of everything was impeccable, in that nothing was simultaneous. It was all sequential and I could devote all my energy to one project at a time.
Fast forward: My boss had previously mentioned to me the possibility of doing some field work as I had shown some interest in getting out there and trying something new. He did, in fact, also mention that these things can get sprung upon him at a moment's notice and, bada-bing, bada-boom. But I was surprised that something came up so quickly. They needed an audio tech out in the field for the coverage of the New Hampshire primaries and my boss offered it to me. After all, I can audio. I can tech. So I said hell to the F@#$ yes! Then, the day before I was finally going to get time to finish the NLP music, I get a call that, rather than go out on the 5th of February, they wanted me there as soon as the 1st and still until the 10th. !!!
The girlfriend didn't like it but I obliged because when else? (Incidentally, this is something my boss says to me and my colleagues a lot...when else?) So, I had two full days to wrap up work on the music for NLP and pack my bags before I had to catch a plane to Manchester. And I knocked it out. Just under the wire. I didn't even have my flight booked until two days before it was supposed to happen and I had to borrow a bass guitar from a friend to get everything done. Sidebar: I'm buying a bass guitar soon.
What a freaking whirlwind this year has been already, am I right? Sheesh! But I am loving it. You know how much I love travel and adventure. Day 1 was pretty intense already. I flew in yesterday and went straight to the anchor location for set up and then had dinner with one of the producers and the photojournalist. Then I had to go check into my hotel (a suite with a full freakin' kitchen!) because I had to be up at 3:30am for a 4am call time. Our first hit was at 5:30am.
They had us set up inside a cafe for New Day (CNN's morning show) and we had to basically turn that place into a news studio, complete with lighting, in the space of a few hours the night before. But CNN has an entourage of professionals that are on this shit and everything looked great. Meanwhile, I was thrown in on an audio board I'd never seen before with a set up I heard described to me in an email I read while waiting in La Guardia International Airport for three hours because airlines still can't get their shit together. So, that was quite fun. Once I got my feet wet, and twiddled some knobs, I started to feel much more comfortable...but then comes the shit storm of audio issues that you get when you have too many hands stirring the pot. Ultimately, we got everything on the air and I got the hang of what I was doing. And I remembered that, on some level, I enjoy this work.
After we took everything down though, I started to realize that I had no idea where I was going next. And I think that is going to characterize the rest of this week. Last minute assignments. This is why they gave me a rental car. Tomorrow, I finally found out, I'll be heading to Derry, NH where there will be a town hall style Q&A session with both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders (one candidate after the other) and I'll be running the audio. Which means I will probably be pinning a lapel mic on both candidates.
It's amazing what can happen in the space of a week. More to come!
The gig with Ryan and Jordana went swimmingly and was super fun to boot (there's some video on FB). And, already in awe at how the previous weekend timed out, in that I was able to use the disruption of the blizzard to our rehearsals as a way to push forward on the News Literacy Project's music, I was supremely awed at how it just happened that the night of the gig, I finally got word from NLP that I could push ahead on the project. See, I had been waiting to hear some direction from them, and frustrating though that can be sometimes, it was quite a boon in that I could meanwhile focus all my energy on rocking the F@$% out at the show and, as soon as it was done, shift my energy to writing the music for those educational videos. The timing of everything was impeccable, in that nothing was simultaneous. It was all sequential and I could devote all my energy to one project at a time.
Fast forward: My boss had previously mentioned to me the possibility of doing some field work as I had shown some interest in getting out there and trying something new. He did, in fact, also mention that these things can get sprung upon him at a moment's notice and, bada-bing, bada-boom. But I was surprised that something came up so quickly. They needed an audio tech out in the field for the coverage of the New Hampshire primaries and my boss offered it to me. After all, I can audio. I can tech. So I said hell to the F@#$ yes! Then, the day before I was finally going to get time to finish the NLP music, I get a call that, rather than go out on the 5th of February, they wanted me there as soon as the 1st and still until the 10th. !!!
The girlfriend didn't like it but I obliged because when else? (Incidentally, this is something my boss says to me and my colleagues a lot...when else?) So, I had two full days to wrap up work on the music for NLP and pack my bags before I had to catch a plane to Manchester. And I knocked it out. Just under the wire. I didn't even have my flight booked until two days before it was supposed to happen and I had to borrow a bass guitar from a friend to get everything done. Sidebar: I'm buying a bass guitar soon.
What a freaking whirlwind this year has been already, am I right? Sheesh! But I am loving it. You know how much I love travel and adventure. Day 1 was pretty intense already. I flew in yesterday and went straight to the anchor location for set up and then had dinner with one of the producers and the photojournalist. Then I had to go check into my hotel (a suite with a full freakin' kitchen!) because I had to be up at 3:30am for a 4am call time. Our first hit was at 5:30am.
They had us set up inside a cafe for New Day (CNN's morning show) and we had to basically turn that place into a news studio, complete with lighting, in the space of a few hours the night before. But CNN has an entourage of professionals that are on this shit and everything looked great. Meanwhile, I was thrown in on an audio board I'd never seen before with a set up I heard described to me in an email I read while waiting in La Guardia International Airport for three hours because airlines still can't get their shit together. So, that was quite fun. Once I got my feet wet, and twiddled some knobs, I started to feel much more comfortable...but then comes the shit storm of audio issues that you get when you have too many hands stirring the pot. Ultimately, we got everything on the air and I got the hang of what I was doing. And I remembered that, on some level, I enjoy this work.
After we took everything down though, I started to realize that I had no idea where I was going next. And I think that is going to characterize the rest of this week. Last minute assignments. This is why they gave me a rental car. Tomorrow, I finally found out, I'll be heading to Derry, NH where there will be a town hall style Q&A session with both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders (one candidate after the other) and I'll be running the audio. Which means I will probably be pinning a lapel mic on both candidates.
It's amazing what can happen in the space of a week. More to come!
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
My cup runneth over...
At the end of 2015, say around November, I hadn't had much in the way of voice over or music work. I had previously even stated that I was okay with it since I had been devoting so much time and energy to taking advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself at CNN. Now, somehow, in the wake of a quick job for Mohammad writing a track for his reel, I now find myself positively saturated with work of the kind that I love and enjoy and, in fact, live for.
Here goes: News Literacy Project got in touch with me about writing a track for their latest series of educational videos. Then, last Friday, Edge Studio got in touch with me about doing the voice over for a handful of TV and radio spots; and it turns out to be the biggest pay day I've had from a voice over gig to date. And then, as if all that wasn't enough to be going on with, I got a call from a friend with whom I had been jamming last summer. We had been on hiatus while he and his wife finished school but they got a gig next Thursday the 28th at the Emerson in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn and asked me to join them. So now, I gotta learn a bunch of songs in a week and a half. Solid.
I'm buzzing with excitement right now and simultaneously trying to wrap my brain around how I'll manage. The VO gig will be a quick hour long engagement tomorrow, then I have the rest of the day off. NLP should be giving me some direction tomorrow and we have until the end of January to write, record and polish off the track. My entire weekend this weekend will likely be devoted to rehearsals for this gig. But who are you dealing with here? Yes, that's right. The time management ninja. I will kill this. Just watch.
Here goes: News Literacy Project got in touch with me about writing a track for their latest series of educational videos. Then, last Friday, Edge Studio got in touch with me about doing the voice over for a handful of TV and radio spots; and it turns out to be the biggest pay day I've had from a voice over gig to date. And then, as if all that wasn't enough to be going on with, I got a call from a friend with whom I had been jamming last summer. We had been on hiatus while he and his wife finished school but they got a gig next Thursday the 28th at the Emerson in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn and asked me to join them. So now, I gotta learn a bunch of songs in a week and a half. Solid.
I'm buzzing with excitement right now and simultaneously trying to wrap my brain around how I'll manage. The VO gig will be a quick hour long engagement tomorrow, then I have the rest of the day off. NLP should be giving me some direction tomorrow and we have until the end of January to write, record and polish off the track. My entire weekend this weekend will likely be devoted to rehearsals for this gig. But who are you dealing with here? Yes, that's right. The time management ninja. I will kill this. Just watch.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Obligatory end of year post...
Approximately 12 hours ago I was riding in the dark and the pouring rain to Indianapolis International Airport. Yeah, that was about 5am. The cheap flights are always early in the morning. But it's a mark of how well I'm doing that I'm not only traveling to see my girlfriend's family but also my own in a few weeks. Yes, I may still be buying the cheaper plane tickets but I'm traveling twice for the holidays. CNN has been treating me well over the last few months and money's not as tight as it was before I started working all three jobs two years ago. Finally. I'm really enjoying getting to work there not just for the view out my window that I can't stop posting pics of. The people I work directly with are great, my boss is great and I'm meeting incredible people in all the other departments and learning that I can find opportunities to expand my duties there. Sometimes they even find me.
I'm not sure I can post the last voice over I did for them but I swear I'll alert you...no wait! Here it is!
So, that was a lot of fun to do. The job seems to get better every day and then some opportunity like that jumps in my lap. A few weeks ago I was looking up new music for GPS with Fareed Zakaria using Turner's massive music library at my boss' request. And I even helped translate an interview in French with one of the survivors of the attack on the Bataclan club in Paris for Anderson Cooper's show. Apparently, I've effectively used all of my degrees at my job now. What?!
Anyway, don't think this means I'm giving up on being a composer. Oh god, never. One of the things I can count on is one of the handful of directors I've worked with that have varying degrees of prolificness eventually calling me for a job. I got a VO and a separate music job from the same guy last week just before leaving for my short vacation in Indy.
I will say that things were a little touch and go for a minute there as I was focusing on CNN and not really devoting time to it. Also my laptop was on the fritz. All that is fixed now thanks to my friend with whom I had been trying to write music with. He and his wife and I jammed together a bunch in the summer time but when their respective semesters started school just kept getting in the way for them. Turns out though, he's a whiz with Macbooks and I happened to need a new hard drive installed and a memory upgrade. And thanks to all those slips and disasters I had in the past, my diligence when it comes to backing up my data paid off. I was back up and running within a few days or so once we did the install together.
And just in time too. Mohammad came through with a quick music gig, a track for his directing reel and I busted it out in record time cuz that's how I do. The VO for the sizzle reel (separate job) was, inevitably, a mock movie trailer voice so you can imagine I had fun with that one. One thing that I really want to do next year is chase things like that down instead of this sitting around and waiting for them to come to me. Obviously, that's going to require a different approach and perhaps some outside encouragement.
So, what else happened during this fine year of 2015? Well besides a lot of traveling and a new job, I now have a partner in crime who just moved in with me back in November. And that's been real nice. No more roommates, I says. And guess what else? We get to travel together, beyond going to see relatives. Next stop is Guadeloupe this March. A French speaking Caribbean nation...with an active volcano. Sounds right up my alley.
Another thing, I plan on doing next year is writing more in the blog...which requires having more things to write about, so look out for that.
I'm not sure I can post the last voice over I did for them but I swear I'll alert you...no wait! Here it is!
So, that was a lot of fun to do. The job seems to get better every day and then some opportunity like that jumps in my lap. A few weeks ago I was looking up new music for GPS with Fareed Zakaria using Turner's massive music library at my boss' request. And I even helped translate an interview in French with one of the survivors of the attack on the Bataclan club in Paris for Anderson Cooper's show. Apparently, I've effectively used all of my degrees at my job now. What?!
Anyway, don't think this means I'm giving up on being a composer. Oh god, never. One of the things I can count on is one of the handful of directors I've worked with that have varying degrees of prolificness eventually calling me for a job. I got a VO and a separate music job from the same guy last week just before leaving for my short vacation in Indy.
I will say that things were a little touch and go for a minute there as I was focusing on CNN and not really devoting time to it. Also my laptop was on the fritz. All that is fixed now thanks to my friend with whom I had been trying to write music with. He and his wife and I jammed together a bunch in the summer time but when their respective semesters started school just kept getting in the way for them. Turns out though, he's a whiz with Macbooks and I happened to need a new hard drive installed and a memory upgrade. And thanks to all those slips and disasters I had in the past, my diligence when it comes to backing up my data paid off. I was back up and running within a few days or so once we did the install together.
And just in time too. Mohammad came through with a quick music gig, a track for his directing reel and I busted it out in record time cuz that's how I do. The VO for the sizzle reel (separate job) was, inevitably, a mock movie trailer voice so you can imagine I had fun with that one. One thing that I really want to do next year is chase things like that down instead of this sitting around and waiting for them to come to me. Obviously, that's going to require a different approach and perhaps some outside encouragement.
So, what else happened during this fine year of 2015? Well besides a lot of traveling and a new job, I now have a partner in crime who just moved in with me back in November. And that's been real nice. No more roommates, I says. And guess what else? We get to travel together, beyond going to see relatives. Next stop is Guadeloupe this March. A French speaking Caribbean nation...with an active volcano. Sounds right up my alley.
Another thing, I plan on doing next year is writing more in the blog...which requires having more things to write about, so look out for that.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Success...
Tangible success. Finally, I can say it. I have a full time position at CNN now.
It's been six years since I first freelanced at CNN and at times it didn't look like it would turn into anything. At other times, I seemed painfully close to getting the other foot in the door. Through a turn of events some time last fall, I found myself in a position where I could really help out the department by just being available at a time of transition and it served to put me in the right place at the right time. Not long after, a position opened up and I applied but there was another applicant who had the experience my new boss there was looking for. The department had shrunk and we were being tasked with coming up with new procedures for media management and this new guy who got the position I had applied for had plenty of relevant post production experience. My boss told me all this, saying it was a tough decision but he wanted me to stick around so he gave me a big fat raise and assured me that there'd be something else he'd need me for soon. Sure enough, another person in that department got promoted a week later and her position opened up. There was a month of waiting and hearing rumors that I was going to get the position until finally one day I received a call from my boss offering me the position.
Soon after, once we had solidified a start date, I put in my notice at NY1. I gotta tell you, NY1 really knows how to give a send off. There are a series of traditions whenever someone leaves NY1 on a good note. First, a glowing email from your boss about your departure, detailing your accomplishments etc. Then, your coworkers plan a going away party at a local bar and on your last day they get you cake in the conference room and you give a speech. Somewhere along the line you send out your own goodbye email. And by the end of it all, you're usually overcome with emotion.
They got me a nice gluten free cake from Tu Lu's bakery in the East Village:
My boss wrote a poem for me (which I still need him to send me) and I did a Letterman style Top 10 List in honor of David Letterman's last show the week before (Top 10 Things I Will Miss About NY1). That Friday we all went to The Crooked Knife on 14th Street in Chelsea and toasted my time with the company.
So, it was a great send off and I left it all feeling supremely blessed to have worked with such a great group of people for so long. And it was such a surreal feeling, too, the last time I swiped my ID badge through the card reader to punch my last out time. I stopped after that swipe and said out loud to my friends that were standing there, "huh, I don't work here anymore," as I let that fact just wash over me. Walking toward the elevator, it really started to set in that I was leaving. And the excitement of what lay ahead was immense.
Now, I'm a good two weeks into working at CNN full time and have gotten fully settled into the new routine, 9-5 hours, Monday through Friday, and with a view of Central Park out my window. The guys I work with are hilarious and everyone has been super nice. I've even run into a few old NY1 people who moved on to CNN years ago.
What's totally awesome though, is that in my first week, I had the good idea to get back in touch with the producer for one of the shows who had asked me to help him with voice overs a few months ago. I told him about my recent move to full time status and that I'd be around the building every day now if he ever needed help. Monday morning of the second week I worked there, he emailed me about reading a few scripts for Nancy Grace's show. So I went into the audio tracking booth and banged it out really quickly and sent it down to him. One revision, a little more intense and frenetic, and my segments were added to the show. Two days later, a new script. Not sure if this one made the show or not but he did cut a version of it so that I could have it for my reel.
So I'm just completely floored by that and then I get an email from one of Ann Wright's assistants, one of the agents that I've been chasing down and who sent me on an audition a few months back. She wanted to have a meeting with me. That day. My voice coach told me these meetings are usually just about personality and them getting to know me and just to be myself and relax. And it was. It was a short meeting and I was thrown off slightly by her asking me for a hard copy of my demo (even though I had already emailed it to her) which I didn't have with me. But all in all I felt good about it. So here's hoping I'll get sent on some more auditions soon.
That was one hell of a week last week. And there's more to come. I'm meeting all kinds of people at CNN that are connected in various ways to the things I want to do and I'm always meeting new musicians out and about. It's still to early to be able to tell what kind of an effect these people will have on my career but I have never felt so on track. It helps in that I feel at ease that I'm pointed in the right direction and now I can finally relax on the weekends for a change. Relax on the weekends and do things like this.
Top 10 things I will miss about working at NY1:
10. Breaking News (Just kidding they have that at CNN, too...they even stay on it much longer).
9. Getting put up in the Dream hotel during storm coverage, even without electricity or hot water.
8. Holidays when they order food, especially if it's Dino BBQ.
7. The quality of sleep you get after an overnight shift.
6. Scaring tourists off the elevator.
5. Being called "The Voice."
4. The assignment desk, producer's pod, politics and the control room all calling to ask, "are you rolling on the president?!"
3. Mis amigos en NY1 Noticias que me ayudan a aprender español
2. Breakdancing at the NY1 Christmas party (also, the NY1 Christmas party)
1. All of you crazy people.
It's been six years since I first freelanced at CNN and at times it didn't look like it would turn into anything. At other times, I seemed painfully close to getting the other foot in the door. Through a turn of events some time last fall, I found myself in a position where I could really help out the department by just being available at a time of transition and it served to put me in the right place at the right time. Not long after, a position opened up and I applied but there was another applicant who had the experience my new boss there was looking for. The department had shrunk and we were being tasked with coming up with new procedures for media management and this new guy who got the position I had applied for had plenty of relevant post production experience. My boss told me all this, saying it was a tough decision but he wanted me to stick around so he gave me a big fat raise and assured me that there'd be something else he'd need me for soon. Sure enough, another person in that department got promoted a week later and her position opened up. There was a month of waiting and hearing rumors that I was going to get the position until finally one day I received a call from my boss offering me the position.
Soon after, once we had solidified a start date, I put in my notice at NY1. I gotta tell you, NY1 really knows how to give a send off. There are a series of traditions whenever someone leaves NY1 on a good note. First, a glowing email from your boss about your departure, detailing your accomplishments etc. Then, your coworkers plan a going away party at a local bar and on your last day they get you cake in the conference room and you give a speech. Somewhere along the line you send out your own goodbye email. And by the end of it all, you're usually overcome with emotion.
They got me a nice gluten free cake from Tu Lu's bakery in the East Village:
My boss wrote a poem for me (which I still need him to send me) and I did a Letterman style Top 10 List in honor of David Letterman's last show the week before (Top 10 Things I Will Miss About NY1). That Friday we all went to The Crooked Knife on 14th Street in Chelsea and toasted my time with the company.
So, it was a great send off and I left it all feeling supremely blessed to have worked with such a great group of people for so long. And it was such a surreal feeling, too, the last time I swiped my ID badge through the card reader to punch my last out time. I stopped after that swipe and said out loud to my friends that were standing there, "huh, I don't work here anymore," as I let that fact just wash over me. Walking toward the elevator, it really started to set in that I was leaving. And the excitement of what lay ahead was immense.
Now, I'm a good two weeks into working at CNN full time and have gotten fully settled into the new routine, 9-5 hours, Monday through Friday, and with a view of Central Park out my window. The guys I work with are hilarious and everyone has been super nice. I've even run into a few old NY1 people who moved on to CNN years ago.
What's totally awesome though, is that in my first week, I had the good idea to get back in touch with the producer for one of the shows who had asked me to help him with voice overs a few months ago. I told him about my recent move to full time status and that I'd be around the building every day now if he ever needed help. Monday morning of the second week I worked there, he emailed me about reading a few scripts for Nancy Grace's show. So I went into the audio tracking booth and banged it out really quickly and sent it down to him. One revision, a little more intense and frenetic, and my segments were added to the show. Two days later, a new script. Not sure if this one made the show or not but he did cut a version of it so that I could have it for my reel.
So I'm just completely floored by that and then I get an email from one of Ann Wright's assistants, one of the agents that I've been chasing down and who sent me on an audition a few months back. She wanted to have a meeting with me. That day. My voice coach told me these meetings are usually just about personality and them getting to know me and just to be myself and relax. And it was. It was a short meeting and I was thrown off slightly by her asking me for a hard copy of my demo (even though I had already emailed it to her) which I didn't have with me. But all in all I felt good about it. So here's hoping I'll get sent on some more auditions soon.
That was one hell of a week last week. And there's more to come. I'm meeting all kinds of people at CNN that are connected in various ways to the things I want to do and I'm always meeting new musicians out and about. It's still to early to be able to tell what kind of an effect these people will have on my career but I have never felt so on track. It helps in that I feel at ease that I'm pointed in the right direction and now I can finally relax on the weekends for a change. Relax on the weekends and do things like this.
Top 10 things I will miss about working at NY1:
10. Breaking News (Just kidding they have that at CNN, too...they even stay on it much longer).
9. Getting put up in the Dream hotel during storm coverage, even without electricity or hot water.
8. Holidays when they order food, especially if it's Dino BBQ.
7. The quality of sleep you get after an overnight shift.
6. Scaring tourists off the elevator.
5. Being called "The Voice."
4. The assignment desk, producer's pod, politics and the control room all calling to ask, "are you rolling on the president?!"
3. Mis amigos en NY1 Noticias que me ayudan a aprender español
2. Breakdancing at the NY1 Christmas party (also, the NY1 Christmas party)
1. All of you crazy people.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
At bat...
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.
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.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Advice, plans...
My apartment is currently rather spartan. Sounds echo off the walls. It's the end of an era, as my cousin has moved out, leaving half the apartment empty, and I'm now awaiting the move in date of my first non family member/non-spouse roommate since senior year of college. I've been lax about writing lately but have had a lot of things on my mind as the season changes. Moving into a different head space on a lot of things. Revamping plans and thinking about the future...the long future.
It's a hard thing when you start to look at where you are and where you want to be in a decidedly arbitrary amount of time. You start to feel overwhelmed and that you may never get there even though you've certainly made strides. You have to sort of remind yourself that you certainly haven't been idle. Look at what you've done so far. Acknowledge it, pat yourself on the back. It's hard.
This advice, while here referring to the entire scope of my endeavors, was packaged amongst the advice I got slung my way by a voice over agent about a month ago. My new voice coach has these classes where she'll have a slew of her students read for a chosen agent that she has a connection with. This particular night I was the second to last person to read and it must've shown that I'd let my nerves take over. I told her my voice over history in a nutshell, as the other students had done, maybe leaning a little too hard on the point that I had been frustrated with my lack of progress. While she had some definite critiques for me, she was rather generous with her praise of my accomplishments. So, I felt better and really brought my A game for the next agent a few weeks later. That agent was a little hard to read unfortunately though.
I really made a great choice picking up this coach. Having been a casting director and an agent at one time or another herself, she has all sorts of remaining connections in the voice over world. I've made the decision to have her help me spruce up my demo and vary it a bit so it's not all the same stuff and it has some range to it. And then I'm going to show it to every agent she puts me in front of. That's the best part about this new partnership honestly. My coach knows I'm not just doing this for fun and has a plan to get me to a point where I can be a "big fish in a little pond," as she put it.
This is part of the plan. Yes. I have a plan. It's multi faceted after all and both music and voice over play into it. And it's even rather fluid as I keep checking in with it.
With things seemingly falling apart all around me in the TV world (CNN just lost some people and Comcast is merging with Time Warner Cable), it's motivating me to really make a push to get things happening. Music is on hold, it seems, except for the fact that I may be playing at a yoga class in a few months. Ambient stuff, live looping the guitar and everything...been composing a little bit there too. But, finding enough time to practice is proving a bit of a challenge.
Nonetheless, the passion is still there. There's talk of collaboration here and there, of finally getting a practice space with Brad, writing another piece with Tania (both were over at my apartment hanging out Saturday night). And "The Life" remains a rather tentative yet exciting ball in the air. The pitch bible for the first season and the pilot episode are about to be in the hands of some very influential people. I'll say no more.
Ultimately, I'm hoping that voice over proves to be lucrative enough as to afford me more time to put into the music, so that I can bank on other things besides "The Life," and whatever the next Indie film is that comes along. We shall see. Again with the waiting. Anyway, just some thoughts to let you know I'm still alive.
It's a hard thing when you start to look at where you are and where you want to be in a decidedly arbitrary amount of time. You start to feel overwhelmed and that you may never get there even though you've certainly made strides. You have to sort of remind yourself that you certainly haven't been idle. Look at what you've done so far. Acknowledge it, pat yourself on the back. It's hard.
This advice, while here referring to the entire scope of my endeavors, was packaged amongst the advice I got slung my way by a voice over agent about a month ago. My new voice coach has these classes where she'll have a slew of her students read for a chosen agent that she has a connection with. This particular night I was the second to last person to read and it must've shown that I'd let my nerves take over. I told her my voice over history in a nutshell, as the other students had done, maybe leaning a little too hard on the point that I had been frustrated with my lack of progress. While she had some definite critiques for me, she was rather generous with her praise of my accomplishments. So, I felt better and really brought my A game for the next agent a few weeks later. That agent was a little hard to read unfortunately though.
I really made a great choice picking up this coach. Having been a casting director and an agent at one time or another herself, she has all sorts of remaining connections in the voice over world. I've made the decision to have her help me spruce up my demo and vary it a bit so it's not all the same stuff and it has some range to it. And then I'm going to show it to every agent she puts me in front of. That's the best part about this new partnership honestly. My coach knows I'm not just doing this for fun and has a plan to get me to a point where I can be a "big fish in a little pond," as she put it.
This is part of the plan. Yes. I have a plan. It's multi faceted after all and both music and voice over play into it. And it's even rather fluid as I keep checking in with it.
With things seemingly falling apart all around me in the TV world (CNN just lost some people and Comcast is merging with Time Warner Cable), it's motivating me to really make a push to get things happening. Music is on hold, it seems, except for the fact that I may be playing at a yoga class in a few months. Ambient stuff, live looping the guitar and everything...been composing a little bit there too. But, finding enough time to practice is proving a bit of a challenge.
Nonetheless, the passion is still there. There's talk of collaboration here and there, of finally getting a practice space with Brad, writing another piece with Tania (both were over at my apartment hanging out Saturday night). And "The Life" remains a rather tentative yet exciting ball in the air. The pitch bible for the first season and the pilot episode are about to be in the hands of some very influential people. I'll say no more.
Ultimately, I'm hoping that voice over proves to be lucrative enough as to afford me more time to put into the music, so that I can bank on other things besides "The Life," and whatever the next Indie film is that comes along. We shall see. Again with the waiting. Anyway, just some thoughts to let you know I'm still alive.
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, August 15, 2014
Hitting the ground running...
And we're back in. Vacation was great, adjusting to the new work schedule has been smoother than I had imagined, and I just saw one of my favorite artists in concert at the Beacon Theater. Tori Amos. I could just die it was so good. But we'll get to that. Also, I just met with a new voice over coach for a consultation and I have good feelings about the future.
Every night now, I try to get myself into bed around 9:30 - 10:00pm and I wake up at 5:30am. I spent my vacation sort of slowly acclimating myself to the schedule, because, let's face it, mountain sunrises in NC are worth waking up for. That and everyone in the house was going to bed around 10pm anyway. By the 1st of August, upon my return I had absolutely no problem getting up and going to work and surviving through the day without feeling tired.
Another aspect of my routine has changed as well, now that the Brooklyn Yogaworks studio is open. A much shorter ride to class for starters but also, taking all evening classes has totally flipped my days on their side. Now, I'm working first, then doing VO gigs, depending on the availability of auditions, and then going to yoga, eating dinner and going to sleep.
I'm looking forward to seeing how I'll manage the next music gig but now my focus has shifted back to VO until that comes along. I mentioned an agent I was waiting to speak with only briefly a few weeks back, but didn't elaborate. What happened was, right before my vacation, I got in touch with him and got some advice and pointers from him. While it was mildly discouraging, I did glean a lot from the conversation and made sure I walked away from it with some clear direction for my next steps. I pulled a few names from him of coaches I should work with, classes I should take.
So, I picked one that I researched pretty heavily and who had worked with Jane Lynch before and ultimately reached out to her after I was settled back in post vacation. The consultation was yesterday and it went really well. I went in there expecting to get torn apart because, after all, I'm well aware that there's something I'm lacking. After speaking with the agent, it came clear that it's obvious to anyone in the business who hears my demo that I need more acting training.
I did not get torn apart however and in fact, had a lot of fun with the new coach. She had me fill out paper work and whatnot and then we chatted a tiny bit about what I've done and she told me she can already hear what it is I need to work on. So she stood me in front of a condenser mic hooked up to her iPad and threw some copy at me and I just dug in. Her direction was not uncommon but something about the way she explained things made it sink in so much more quickly and before I knew it I was really nailing the copy, and incorporating all her directions with ease. I think that impressed her and, as we were finishing up, talk turned to all the agents she'd like me to meet once we get working. So I signed up for a package deal and a handful of coaching sessions over the course of the next month and a half, even marking my calendar for a day when one of these agents is going to be there specifically to listen to her other students.
Psyched doesn't even begin to describe it. But, oh yeah, Tori was amazing. And the Beacon Theater was an amazing venue. She played only two songs off the new album and the rest were scattered from just about every other album, with a heavy selection from Little Earthquakes and From the Choirgirl Hotel. I'd always heard about how her concerts are like a religious experience for some. This crowd was no different. The were appropriately boisterous during the wild parts but they always shut the f*ck up immediately after their outbursts because they, like me, wanted to hear every single note she sang. For me, I was just on the edge of my seat listening, overcome with glee when she'd break into a favorite song of mine. I've always found her melodies and vocalizations hauntingly beautiful. A favorite moment from the show was her closing with Hey Jupiter. Listen to the song, especially the part where she vocalizes at the end of the chorus in "oohs." I almost cried it was so beautiful. And just her up there singing and banging on her Bösendorfer alternately swiveling around to the keyboard behind her (at one point it was an organ they wheeled out during a changeover), sometimes playing both at the same time (she had a microphone at each instrument and would sustain a note at the end of the line as she switched mics to hilarious effect), occasionally slamming the lid back on the piano for emphasis (and scaring the shit out of most of us when she'd do it). She even busted out a cover set in the middle of the show, including Faith by George Michael, Blue Jeans by Lana del Ray and Wicked Games by Chris Isaak. Add a four song encore and I was satisfied. One of the best concerts I've seen in my life.
There are other things on the horizon that I'll keep secret for now but I will mention that I have already secured my hotel reservation for Costa Dulce for next February, the real start of my trip planning. For now, even though I don't work until 10am, I think I'm going to drift off to sleep and dream of being a voice over god.
Every night now, I try to get myself into bed around 9:30 - 10:00pm and I wake up at 5:30am. I spent my vacation sort of slowly acclimating myself to the schedule, because, let's face it, mountain sunrises in NC are worth waking up for. That and everyone in the house was going to bed around 10pm anyway. By the 1st of August, upon my return I had absolutely no problem getting up and going to work and surviving through the day without feeling tired.
Another aspect of my routine has changed as well, now that the Brooklyn Yogaworks studio is open. A much shorter ride to class for starters but also, taking all evening classes has totally flipped my days on their side. Now, I'm working first, then doing VO gigs, depending on the availability of auditions, and then going to yoga, eating dinner and going to sleep.
I'm looking forward to seeing how I'll manage the next music gig but now my focus has shifted back to VO until that comes along. I mentioned an agent I was waiting to speak with only briefly a few weeks back, but didn't elaborate. What happened was, right before my vacation, I got in touch with him and got some advice and pointers from him. While it was mildly discouraging, I did glean a lot from the conversation and made sure I walked away from it with some clear direction for my next steps. I pulled a few names from him of coaches I should work with, classes I should take.
So, I picked one that I researched pretty heavily and who had worked with Jane Lynch before and ultimately reached out to her after I was settled back in post vacation. The consultation was yesterday and it went really well. I went in there expecting to get torn apart because, after all, I'm well aware that there's something I'm lacking. After speaking with the agent, it came clear that it's obvious to anyone in the business who hears my demo that I need more acting training.
I did not get torn apart however and in fact, had a lot of fun with the new coach. She had me fill out paper work and whatnot and then we chatted a tiny bit about what I've done and she told me she can already hear what it is I need to work on. So she stood me in front of a condenser mic hooked up to her iPad and threw some copy at me and I just dug in. Her direction was not uncommon but something about the way she explained things made it sink in so much more quickly and before I knew it I was really nailing the copy, and incorporating all her directions with ease. I think that impressed her and, as we were finishing up, talk turned to all the agents she'd like me to meet once we get working. So I signed up for a package deal and a handful of coaching sessions over the course of the next month and a half, even marking my calendar for a day when one of these agents is going to be there specifically to listen to her other students.
Psyched doesn't even begin to describe it. But, oh yeah, Tori was amazing. And the Beacon Theater was an amazing venue. She played only two songs off the new album and the rest were scattered from just about every other album, with a heavy selection from Little Earthquakes and From the Choirgirl Hotel. I'd always heard about how her concerts are like a religious experience for some. This crowd was no different. The were appropriately boisterous during the wild parts but they always shut the f*ck up immediately after their outbursts because they, like me, wanted to hear every single note she sang. For me, I was just on the edge of my seat listening, overcome with glee when she'd break into a favorite song of mine. I've always found her melodies and vocalizations hauntingly beautiful. A favorite moment from the show was her closing with Hey Jupiter. Listen to the song, especially the part where she vocalizes at the end of the chorus in "oohs." I almost cried it was so beautiful. And just her up there singing and banging on her Bösendorfer alternately swiveling around to the keyboard behind her (at one point it was an organ they wheeled out during a changeover), sometimes playing both at the same time (she had a microphone at each instrument and would sustain a note at the end of the line as she switched mics to hilarious effect), occasionally slamming the lid back on the piano for emphasis (and scaring the shit out of most of us when she'd do it). She even busted out a cover set in the middle of the show, including Faith by George Michael, Blue Jeans by Lana del Ray and Wicked Games by Chris Isaak. Add a four song encore and I was satisfied. One of the best concerts I've seen in my life.
There are other things on the horizon that I'll keep secret for now but I will mention that I have already secured my hotel reservation for Costa Dulce for next February, the real start of my trip planning. For now, even though I don't work until 10am, I think I'm going to drift off to sleep and dream of being a voice over god.
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.
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, April 21, 2014
33...
33. And I almost forgot to put on Thirty-three by the Smashing Pumpkins. Something I always said I would do when I turned 33. So with a half hour left in my birthday, I thought I'd write a bit. There's not a ton to report. The weekend was fun and filled with friends and drinking. My party Sunday ended up being small but still fun. And today, I had a free yoga class at my old studio and got to catch up with a teacher I hadn't taken class from in a while.
I also had a doctor's appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat doc to see what was happening with my right ear. What is happening with my right ear? Okay, so a few weeks ago, I had a cold so bad I wound up with an ear infection in my right ear and, while the pain subsided the following day, sometime the next week when I was back in Brooklyn, I noticed something odd. While playing my guitar, single notes were resonating as two notes out of tune with each other. I thought something was wrong with my guitar and wrote it off, saying I'd check into it later. The next day though, I heard the same phenomenon with music that was playing in my kitchen. I was hearing an echo off one of the walls, reaching my ear a millisecond later and coming in out of tune with the left ear. I was standing there plugging and un plugging my left ear and listening to the music jump up in pitch every time. It was so weird.
I researched it and found that it's an actual thing you can get if you either have damage to the sensory nerves or if you have fluid or ear wax buildup in the inner ear. It's called, wait for it, "Diplacusis." The wiki article doesn't give you much but there's more info out there. Anyway, I just assumed it would resolve itself, seeing as how it was probably related to the ear infection and not any damage, but it was taking a while, so I scheduled the doctor's appointment just to be safe. I would have gotten there on Friday last week but I showed up without an insurance card on me and had to reschedule for today...by which point, it had fully cleared up. I've been recommended to someone for a full hearing test though and I'm going to go because I need to be sure it's gone. I have tested it tonight and it seems fine and at the doctor's office, she held a tuning fork up to both ears alternately and I heard the same pitch in both ears. So, it seems it's cleared up. I had to test it here as well because I was finding, when it was at its worst, that the softer the sound the more evident the difference in pitch was. You should've seen me plugging one ear and listening to my guitar as I plucked the open strings first softer and then gradually louder and louder. The pitch would resolve back to where it was supposed to be as it got louder. It was the weirdest thing ever.
And of course, only a musician would notice it. Or anyone with any musical sensibility. So, naturally, I was disturbed that part of my instrument (as a composer) was malfunctioning. And in the most ridiculous possible way...like why a half step difference? That's pretty dissonant. Another interval, like maybe a fourth or something would've been fun maybe but weird dissonance was not cool. I admit I panicked for a hot second.
But anyhow, that's all cleared up now and I'm feeling loads better minus the lingering dry cough that you can get with a head and chest cold. And the weather here is ever improving so there's that.
And I'm gearing up for a great summer, with loads of fun plans coming up including things like a trip to NC to see my nephew on his birthday in July, a trip upstate at some point, and a Tori Amos concert, one of my favorite artists of all time, whom I've never seen perform live. I think I'm going to be working a lot during the summer months as well, covering someone's maternity leave at CNN. So I'm hoping I won't go insane. And things are happening with both voice over and music. I'll be putting together that promo demo as soon as I get the audio from the last two jobs, and I'm still finishing the score for "The Life" which is getting ever closer to completion. I may even have another job soon but, as always, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
For now, I need to sleep off this weekend and get in the mindset for productivity again. Good night!
I also had a doctor's appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat doc to see what was happening with my right ear. What is happening with my right ear? Okay, so a few weeks ago, I had a cold so bad I wound up with an ear infection in my right ear and, while the pain subsided the following day, sometime the next week when I was back in Brooklyn, I noticed something odd. While playing my guitar, single notes were resonating as two notes out of tune with each other. I thought something was wrong with my guitar and wrote it off, saying I'd check into it later. The next day though, I heard the same phenomenon with music that was playing in my kitchen. I was hearing an echo off one of the walls, reaching my ear a millisecond later and coming in out of tune with the left ear. I was standing there plugging and un plugging my left ear and listening to the music jump up in pitch every time. It was so weird.
I researched it and found that it's an actual thing you can get if you either have damage to the sensory nerves or if you have fluid or ear wax buildup in the inner ear. It's called, wait for it, "Diplacusis." The wiki article doesn't give you much but there's more info out there. Anyway, I just assumed it would resolve itself, seeing as how it was probably related to the ear infection and not any damage, but it was taking a while, so I scheduled the doctor's appointment just to be safe. I would have gotten there on Friday last week but I showed up without an insurance card on me and had to reschedule for today...by which point, it had fully cleared up. I've been recommended to someone for a full hearing test though and I'm going to go because I need to be sure it's gone. I have tested it tonight and it seems fine and at the doctor's office, she held a tuning fork up to both ears alternately and I heard the same pitch in both ears. So, it seems it's cleared up. I had to test it here as well because I was finding, when it was at its worst, that the softer the sound the more evident the difference in pitch was. You should've seen me plugging one ear and listening to my guitar as I plucked the open strings first softer and then gradually louder and louder. The pitch would resolve back to where it was supposed to be as it got louder. It was the weirdest thing ever.
And of course, only a musician would notice it. Or anyone with any musical sensibility. So, naturally, I was disturbed that part of my instrument (as a composer) was malfunctioning. And in the most ridiculous possible way...like why a half step difference? That's pretty dissonant. Another interval, like maybe a fourth or something would've been fun maybe but weird dissonance was not cool. I admit I panicked for a hot second.
But anyhow, that's all cleared up now and I'm feeling loads better minus the lingering dry cough that you can get with a head and chest cold. And the weather here is ever improving so there's that.
And I'm gearing up for a great summer, with loads of fun plans coming up including things like a trip to NC to see my nephew on his birthday in July, a trip upstate at some point, and a Tori Amos concert, one of my favorite artists of all time, whom I've never seen perform live. I think I'm going to be working a lot during the summer months as well, covering someone's maternity leave at CNN. So I'm hoping I won't go insane. And things are happening with both voice over and music. I'll be putting together that promo demo as soon as I get the audio from the last two jobs, and I'm still finishing the score for "The Life" which is getting ever closer to completion. I may even have another job soon but, as always, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
For now, I need to sleep off this weekend and get in the mindset for productivity again. Good night!
Monday, April 14, 2014
2003 Anjou Villages Brissac
I opened a 10 year old bottle of wine this weekend that I've been saving for almost 7 years. What was I saving it for? I have no idea. When I bought it I was newly single and in France, in the town where I studied in 2002, hanging with my parents and my aunt. I smuggled it back to the States and put it in my wine rack. When I think back, any number of occasions have passed on which I could have imbibed this bottle, an Anjou Villages Brissac from 2003...Brissac being a chateau that I visited during my study abroad trip all those years ago. The bottle itself was one of which I had bought a 1996 vintage back in 2002 on that trip and drank relatively soon after returning to the States. So, sure, it's got a little bit of sentimental value and that, but ultimately, I kept pushing back when I was supposedly going to open it. In fact, I actually never really assigned it any special occasion on which I would potentially open it.
I felt a little like Paul Giamatti's character in "Sideways" with his 1961 Cheval Blanc that he saves and saves, saying it was supposed to be for his 10th wedding anniversary but ultimately ends up drinking it out of a paper cup in a White Castle at the end of the movie. He supposedly does this in response to a line by Virginia Madsen's character: "The day you open a '61 Cheval Blanc, that's the occasion." So I kept thinking about that. My weirdly oenophile boss at NY1 would always point out that a 10 year old wine that's been moved as many times as this one has is as likely as not to be peaking and/or past its prime, perhaps even spoiled. So, the pressure has been on for a while to hurry up and just open the damned thing, occasion or not.
I could have picked any milestone along the way in my career(s). First paid music gig (happened years ago), moving to NY (also happened years ago, with not nearly as much fanfare as you'd think), first paid voice over gig (been there, done that), first time getting two VO gigs in one month (also, knocked that one out last year), getting a voice over agent (who knows?), getting a music agent (also who knows?), the time I got a contract with a licensing agency (also barely any fanfare). Hell, I could have even waited just slightly longer to see what happens with "The Life" and if it gets picked up and if they use my music and/or hire me as the composer.
But I opted to open it with a friend, during the day on a work day to celebrate our shared birth month. I think the point was to share it with someone versus just celebrating by myself. That's the sad part about the end of Sideways. Even though he finally just drinks his Cheval Blanc, he's alone whilst doing it and in the saddest of places: a fast food joint.
But let me tell you, I do have something to celebrate. It's been a damned good month so far. That voice over gig I had on April 1st? I knocked it out of the park. There were three different directions I was given to go in and on the third and final one ("tight with tension," a direction they weren't sure how else to describe), I nailed it, eliciting wide eyed excitement from the director and a woman from the publishing company who sat in on the session.
That afternoon, I was rushing over to NY1 after the job to try and knock out another audition for this same client, borrowing a mic from the head editor and using the tracking booth to do it. This promo for a sequel to "The Bone Collector," I managed to really hit the mark, coming off the "Bourne Ascendancy" gig early that day with a lot of energy and a good sense of what works for these kinds of jobs. So the next morning, I had an email from the director saying they liked my read and wanted to book me for the job and get me in the studio the very next day. So, that's two VO gigs in one week, better than I've done to date. And the money? Let's just say I made enough for my rent and then some in the space of two hours of hard work. I'd say that's reason enough to open any bottle of wine at any time of the day.
And sure there'll be other occasions, other milestones. But I'll go out and buy more bottles of good wine to celebrate them when I get there. For now, you guessed it, I gotta go to sleep.
I felt a little like Paul Giamatti's character in "Sideways" with his 1961 Cheval Blanc that he saves and saves, saying it was supposed to be for his 10th wedding anniversary but ultimately ends up drinking it out of a paper cup in a White Castle at the end of the movie. He supposedly does this in response to a line by Virginia Madsen's character: "The day you open a '61 Cheval Blanc, that's the occasion." So I kept thinking about that. My weirdly oenophile boss at NY1 would always point out that a 10 year old wine that's been moved as many times as this one has is as likely as not to be peaking and/or past its prime, perhaps even spoiled. So, the pressure has been on for a while to hurry up and just open the damned thing, occasion or not.
I could have picked any milestone along the way in my career(s). First paid music gig (happened years ago), moving to NY (also happened years ago, with not nearly as much fanfare as you'd think), first paid voice over gig (been there, done that), first time getting two VO gigs in one month (also, knocked that one out last year), getting a voice over agent (who knows?), getting a music agent (also who knows?), the time I got a contract with a licensing agency (also barely any fanfare). Hell, I could have even waited just slightly longer to see what happens with "The Life" and if it gets picked up and if they use my music and/or hire me as the composer.
But I opted to open it with a friend, during the day on a work day to celebrate our shared birth month. I think the point was to share it with someone versus just celebrating by myself. That's the sad part about the end of Sideways. Even though he finally just drinks his Cheval Blanc, he's alone whilst doing it and in the saddest of places: a fast food joint.
But let me tell you, I do have something to celebrate. It's been a damned good month so far. That voice over gig I had on April 1st? I knocked it out of the park. There were three different directions I was given to go in and on the third and final one ("tight with tension," a direction they weren't sure how else to describe), I nailed it, eliciting wide eyed excitement from the director and a woman from the publishing company who sat in on the session.
That afternoon, I was rushing over to NY1 after the job to try and knock out another audition for this same client, borrowing a mic from the head editor and using the tracking booth to do it. This promo for a sequel to "The Bone Collector," I managed to really hit the mark, coming off the "Bourne Ascendancy" gig early that day with a lot of energy and a good sense of what works for these kinds of jobs. So the next morning, I had an email from the director saying they liked my read and wanted to book me for the job and get me in the studio the very next day. So, that's two VO gigs in one week, better than I've done to date. And the money? Let's just say I made enough for my rent and then some in the space of two hours of hard work. I'd say that's reason enough to open any bottle of wine at any time of the day.
And sure there'll be other occasions, other milestones. But I'll go out and buy more bottles of good wine to celebrate them when I get there. For now, you guessed it, I gotta go to sleep.
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!
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