Emergen-C – The Answer to Getting Sick During Tech Week

orange1.jpgI always seem to get sick during tech week (aka “hell week”) before a show. Last show I did the sound tech hooked me up with Emergen-C and it brought me back up to speed within 24 hours. So now I just take it during tech week as a precaution.

The manufacturer is Alacer Corp, you can visit the Alacer Corp. Website for more information on Emergen-C. Alacer Corp. was founded in 1972 by Jay Patrick

From their website: “Super Orange Emergen-C fizzes in water to furnish 1,000 mg of Vitamin C with 32 different mineral complexes plus B Vitamins. Sweetened with Fructose for Quick Energy with Staying Power.”

The sound tech told me Emergen-C is the best kept secret of the theatre world, so let’s not let it be a secret anymore.

ABOUT VITAMIN C
Since Vitamin C is an acid (ascorbic acid) which can irritate the kidneys, bladder and intestines, side effects associated with Vitamin C intake in large doses include heartburn, nausea, flatulence and diarrhea. Researchers have found that ascorbic acid was really just an intermediary form of the vitamin and that in the form of mineral ascorbates it could provide all of the health benefits with none of the side effects. Mineral ascorbates are produced naturally by most animals (but not humans), yet when consumed regularly by humans serve as excellent transporters of Vitamin C to the over 70 trillion cells in the body. Mineral ascorbates have additional benefits, including increased energy, improved vision and reduced susceptibility to the common cold.

orange1_back.jpg

As of this posting, Emergen-C is available at the following retail locations:

A & P
ALBERTSONS
ARIZONA HEALTH FOODS
BARTELL DRUGS
BASHAS’
BIG Y
CUB FOODS
CVS
DUANE READE
FRED MEYER
FRY’S
GIANT EAGLE
GNC
GREAT EARTH
HAPPY HARRY’S
H-E-B
HEINEN’S
HI-HEALTH
KINGS
KING SOOPERS
KINNEY DRUGS
KROGER
LONGS
MEIJER
NEW SEASONS MARKET
PATHMARK
PCC NATURAL MARKETS
PHARMACA
RALEY’S
RALPHS
SAFEWAY
SAVON
SHOPRITE
SMITH’S
SPORT CHALET
SPROUTS
STATER BROS.
STOP & SHOP
SUNFLOWER MARKET
SUPER SUPPLEMENTS
TARGET
TRADER JOE’S
VITAMIN COTTAGE
VITAMIN SHOPPE
VITAMIN WORLD
VONS
WALGREENS
WAL-MART
WEIS
WHOLE FOODS
WILD OATS

Sound Effects for Seussical the Musical

images1.jpgUPDATE 02/07 – Free Download of Seussical Sound FX

Here’s a list of sound effects I prepared for Seussical the Musical. Most are called for in the score. Some of them are timed with the music so I prefer to have myself or one of the musicians trigger audio fx for the show.

I use Kontakt by Native Instruments which is a virtual keyboard for computer. I load my sounds into a laptop and program my sound effects across the keyboard – usually layered in sequence for when they occur in the show. Preproduction of audio effects is done on ProTools, where I have full control of high end delays, reverbs and panning. I run sound effects stereo and make sure the sound team is processing my sounds in stereo. I think it’s important to clarify whether you have a stereo setup available at your performance, because it will change how you pre-process your show sounds and foley.

Subtle sound effects add another subliminal layer of depth for any show presentation, so I encourage you to take the time to create them to the best of your ability. Having the actors do the fx like is “ok”, but take the time to make it super-duper cool.

SOUND EFFECTS FOR SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL

Slide Whistle (you’ll get better samples than performing this live)

YOPP! (Jojo’s yell in Act II – I process multi-tap delay with panning, so it “calls across the universe”)

Elephant Call

Egg Hatching

Explosion

Water Splash (For the Cat’s sneeze onto the Planet of Who, my own twisted addition)

ACT II Entracte – Overture clangs and bangs

Thunderstorm (To add to ACT II melodrama string music)

Bird Chirp

Animal Grunts (For intro of Monkey Around, listen to CD)

Dog Bark “woof”

Email Regarding Freddy Fender and 2003 Laughlin DVD Shoot

Hello Conrad,

I really appreciate having found your website because of the wonderful inside look at Freddy Fender. I have been just short of obsessed with finding information about Freddy since his death.

freddy5.jpgI’m not sure why except for perhaps some sort of spiritual connection on all levels. I’ve always liked his music but hadn’t listened to it recently. I didn’t recall what brought me back to it until I read on your site that it was included on the soundtrack of “3 Burials …” which I saw and enjoyed immensely. Probably that was what got me started seeking out and downloading all of his stuff. Then I read a little about his being so ill and finally his sad death. Since that I have been combing the internet, buying DVD’s, haunting YouTube, wanting to know everything I can about him.

Perhaps the whole spiritual thing is wrapped up in his looking so much like my first love, (who I met around the same age he and Vangie met and fell in love). I didn’t spend my life with this man but did reconnect with him briefly in our late 50’s and he was very much like FF in appearance and personality at that age as well. He had also been through the whole prison, drugs, & drinking experience that Freddy had but also retained a great basic wisdom, self awareness and childish joy that I observe in Freddy. They both had that smile and sparkle that can only come from within. Also, in my lifetime I was a caregiver for many years to my husband who developed Alzheimer’s Disease, so I relate to what Vangie must have experienced in the many years of illness through which she cared for and supported Freddy.

And finally, I relate to you, being super Scandinavian in heritage and skin tone but I grew up in National City, California where I was the minority and all of my friends were Mexican. I adored their families and was often referred to by more than one dad or brother as “weda” or “blanca” and one particularly mean big brother as “gordita”!

Even before I found your website, I saw the Laughlin casino DVD from 2003 where you are on keyboard and he calls you “blanco”, “blancito” and “Wedo”. I loved it and recalled many warm feelings with my Mexican friends. One funny note. In High School, my parents decided perhaps I should find friends who were not Mexican so they moved to another slightly more upscale area of San Diego in hopes I’d find more of “my own” type. I did. I found all 5 Mexican families in the area and hung out with them!

Anyway everything about Freddy Fender, his surroundings, his family, his music strikes a chord with me and I just wanted to mention that I found your information to be the most personal and enlightening and I’m very appreciative of it. You write so beautifully too. Why not write a book or a movie about his life? Please continue to share stories about him.

Judy Bow

Barrington, IL