Archive for the ‘audio’ Category

Early 1900’s era bluegrass/country/swing gets a Hip-Hop treatment

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

“Remix America Megamix” expands on the production techniques discussed in the Peaceful Day June 24th post by further  processing and morphing various acoustic instruments to created material for a new piece. The original tracks were recorded/produced by composer Chris Hanson for VideoHelper’s ScoreHelper series.  These early 1900’s era bluegrass/country/swing style recordings include guitars, fiddle, harmonica, and clarinet parts that offer lots of possibilities for re-mixing/re-contextualizing.

The instruments were processed/combined/morphed/edited and then individual phrases/riffs were cut up and loaded onto a software sampler. Parts were programmed against a mid-tempo Hip-Hop instrumental track.  Right at the top of the piece you can hear an example of the processing/morphing of guitar and fiddle. Another example can be heard at :32 where a phrase starts as a clarinet and ends with a harmonica.

	

It’s great to hear the music when it’s set to picture by a talented filmmaker/editor. Alex Luster (www.shooteditsleep.com), aka PR!MO, a documentary filmmaker, Promax/BDA & Emmy award winning television producer based in Houston, Texas used this track in a short film he made called “Hope Mural”. It’s about Texas area street artists painting a 15′ Obama mural designed by Shepard Fairey (ObeyGiant).

	

Here’s another short film by Alex called “Graffiti Proposal” that uses a track of mine called “Love Letter For You”.

	

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Thanks Alex and great work.

Peaceful Day and Guitar Sampling

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Peaceful Day is a breezy summer Brazilian electro/hip-hop inspired track featuring the talented Elin (www.elinmusic.com) on vocals. The acoustic guitar part employs a sampling production technique which I use quite often.  I record myself improvising and then I edit short sections or phrases out of the longer jam and transfer those to the EXSampler in Logic. Then I play around on a MIDI keyboard, triggering the samples to come up with interesting musical passages/patterns. It’s a typical Hip-Hop technique which goes well with the track’s Hip-Hop beat programing.

	

Beyond Ipanema announced as Official Selection at the SXSW Film Festival 2010

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Beyond Ipanema: Brazilian Waves in Global Music is a feature documentary that delves into the fascinating topic of the impact of Brazilian music and culture around the globe.  From Carmen Miranda in the 1930’s to present day Baile Funk, the world has always embraced and been influenced by Brazil’s music.  The documentary stars David Byrne, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Devendra Banhart, M.I.A., Thievery Corporation, CSS, Seu Jorge, Tom Ze, and Bebel Gilberto.

The film premiered at MoMa in New York City in 2009 and was an official selection of the Rio International Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, and the AFI Latin American Film Fest in Washington D.C. It has travelled the world to many other festivals screenings including New Zealand, Spain, Germany, and Argentina.  Now it has been announced that the movie will also be an Official Selection of the SXSW Film Festival 2010.

I had the pleasure of working with producers/directors Guto Barra and Béco Dranoff on this project and wrote six tracks especially for the film and licensed two pre-existing tracks.

“Sol No Mar” was written for the scene where Milton Nascimento is commenting on how the film Black Orpheus first introduced Bossa Nova music to the world in 1959:

	

“Tamborim” was written for the scene where David Byrne is talking about Brazilian music and its influence on his work:

	

“Para Tara (Radio Mix)” featured on Hunnypot Radio

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

“Para Tara (Radio Mix)” was picked for the latest Hunnypot internet radio show (#178). Hunnypot Unlimited is a high profile tastemaking and music branding/supervision outfit whose principals work on major network shows such as FOX’s Glee etc.

“Para Tara” is based on a music/dance style called Forró. Forró originated in the Northeast of Brazil in the early 1900’s and is played on triangle, accordion, flute, and a type of bass drum called a Zabumba. There are three styles of Forró: xote (a slower-paced rhythm), baião (the original forró) and arrasta-pé (the fastest of the three). Dancing is done in pairs, very close together, with the man’s left hand holding the woman’s right hand as in the Waltz (although it’s much rowdier than a Waltz!).

The most famous traditional Forró artists are Luiz Gonzaga and Jackson do Pandeiro which both influenced this track, as well as my friend Mauro Refosco and his band Forró in the Dark (David Byrne has been a guest vocalist on some of their releases). So “Para Tara” is all that plus electro synths, processed flutes, filtered accordions, funky guitar, Jamaican Dancehall vibes and House stylings.