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Larkin Gayle: Two Hands

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Larkin Gayle’s voice is the kind you just fall for. She has an effortless quality in the way she delivers a song. Her sound comes across as both rich and ever-so-slightly breathy, with the right balance of musicality and spontaneity. The music has a touch of sophistication that, like her voice, will slide right by and lull you into simply enjoying the moment. I arranged some string parts for a few tracks on “Two Hands”, roughly at the same time I worked on Tim Hockenberry’s “Back in Your Arms”. While each album had its own tone and vibe, both possess really top notch production quality. I feel lucky to have had the chance to work with such talented musicians.

: Larkin Gayle: Two Hands
click on this image to go to her site

Posted in Projects | No Responses »
Tags: About Records, arranging, Larkin Gayle, Music, songwriting

Tim Hockenberry: Back in Your Arms

Friday, October 16th, 2009

More than a year ago I created some string arrangements for a few tracks on Tim Hockenberry’s album, “Back in Your Arms”. It was a recent call from About Records that reminded me of the project (and Larkin Gayle’s album, “Two Hands”). Honestly, I hadn’t thought about the project too often, since so many things have happened in the interim. It was a nice surprise to be refreshed on how rewarding it was to be a part of this project. Tim’s voice is often compared to Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Louis Armstrong and Tom Waits – but he also reminds me a bit of Peter Gabriel, with more range and control. Every song is incredibly strong and there are some truly great moments throughout the album.

: Tim Hockenberry
“Back in Your Arms”
[click to go to Tim's site]

Posted in Projects | No Responses »
Tags: About Records, album, arranging, Music, songwriting, Tim Hockenberry

Yamaha Motif Rack XS – a synth for a new era

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Things are cooking along pretty well in the studio of late. Earlier this week I completed a quick turn-around mix on a teaser for a production company I’ve worked with in the past. I’ve set up lighting and cameras to film some industrial video to show some features and functions of the SmartAV Tango extension bay.

production still of overhead shot for SmartAV Ext Bay video

And, I just installed a new single-rack-space synthesizer, Yamaha’s Motif Rack XS.

(top to bottom) Steinberg MR816CSX, Arturia Origin, Yamaha Motif Rack XS

What I really like about this particular synth is its ability to ride along the same firewire connection as my audio interface (Steinberg’s MR816CSX) for seamless integration into my studio setup. It has fantastic sounds with a huge assortment of presets, and it also has the added advantage of showing up in Cubase as a VST3 instrument plugin – all of the convenience of category-based sound browsing while all of the DSP is handled in the rack-mount unit. It’s the best of both worlds.

I’ll probably end up doing some sort of vlog entry to show how this all works, but for now I’ve got to focus on the SmartAV Tango videos. I have a feeling that the Motif Rack XS (and effects on the MR816CSX) will find a way into those videos before it’s all said and done.

Posted in Hardware | No Responses »
Tags: Cubase, Motif, Music, Steinberg, synthesizer, Yamaha

Arturia Minimoog V2 – the best keeps getting better

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

OK, I’m starting to have just a bit *too* much fun in the studio. I’m not sure if I feel like a kid in a candy shop, a bull in a china shop – or somewhere in between. The latest update to Arturia’s Minimoog V is a pretty major step forward. I love the vocal formant filter and the sound map – being able to dial in a sound that’s a parameter morph of four separate presets is amazing. And the modulation matrix is a vast improvement over version one – makes it almost Oberheim-like. I’m still getting my head wrapped around all it can do. It’s going to fun knocking out some demos with this virtual instrument – even though I spend more time with the Origin these days this plug-in can do some acoustic gymnastics that are pretty compelling. Stay tuned for demos coming soon!

Posted in Software | No Responses »
Tags: Arturia, Music, synthesizer

My new studio (updated and revised)

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

I just finished a minor overhaul in my studio.

the_red_cave

This little adventure included:

re-arranging the soft Edit Panels of the SmartAV Tango to appear in the extension bay (on the right) which makes it more convenient to us right-handers.
going back to a single-keyboard layout to allow for easier reach to the music stand.
placing the primary audio interfaces in better proximity to my monitors to run some very short lengths of cable to the monitors – which reduces the chance for interference/noise to creep into the lines
Running two DAW (digital audio workstation) computers side-by-side in the “machine room” closet – with the second machine attached to the 22″ LCD monitor that’s mounted on the wall (turned off in this picture)
re-dressing the Mogami cables that run to each speaker.
dressing/tying down everything to keep it all relatively neat

Now that everything is relatively neat and clean, I feel like I can get some real work done. All in all – I love the new look and feel. There’s still some stuff to work out, but it feels like a much more in-control creative space, which will help me stay focused on projects and get things done.

Posted in Studio Blog | No Responses »
Tags: composition, creativity, dubbing, ergonomics, film mixing, layout, Music, setup, Sound, studio, surround

Titan Line Music

Houston H. Haynes – Composition for Film, Television & New Media