The entire company of Zaia wishes you a Happy Chinese New Year. Kung Hei Fat Choy!
I had my noodles at the local Chinese restaurant and let off bottle rockets into the water of Macau. Happy to report no rockets hit me this year.
Good Bye ZED
ZED had it’s last performance December 31, 2011 at Tokyo Disneyland. I was lucky to travel to Tokyo in October 2011 to see this Cirque Du Soleil show and meet the artists and musicians. The show and music were so fantastic. Consensus is that this was one of Cirque’s best shows. It’s an artistic crime that it is closing. I mean it was fantastic beyond words. It had that Cirque “magic” through out.
There are always hopes with the fans that the show will resurrect somehow – but Cirque has redeployed many of the artists to other shows and the ZED theater was built for the show which makes it difficult to move somewhere else. Artistically I know in my heart that whatever happens the original magic of ZED will have to be a time capsule for the short time it ran – about 3 years. A new magic can continue but you can’t go back and recreate the same magic.
To the musicians, artistic team and cast of ZED I say what you already know: You created a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that you can always carry in your theatrical heart. You were part of something truly magical…
In this video the various Cirque Du Soleil shows say goodbye to ZED, including the show I work currently work on: ZAIA.
I Want to Quit Smoking
I really want to quite smoking. I’ve been smoking for 26 years at a pack or 1.5 packs a day. Today was my quitting day. I made it 7 hours. Was dizzy, disorientated and thought about smoking almost every second. I’m smoking a cigarette now as I write this.
I don’t want to die from a smoking related disease. I have a lot more music work to do. Any tips from people that successfully quit smoking?
Bruce Swedien – Keeping the Mix Primitive
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo52yszIfPw
Audio engineer Bruce Swedien talks about keeping the mix primitive. Years ago I had his video series on microphone usage. The big tip I picked up from that was to use microphones to capture part of the room. Using microphone pairs to combine the source and ambient reflections. Also started to record keyboard parts going through amps rather than direct to the console.
I think it’s a wonderful approach to sound design and engineering. I’ve also always enjoyed Bruce Swedien’s low profile presentation. Most of us producing music these days are guilty at one point or another of getting too involved in the gear. I guess like with most studies the key is to study the details and geeky procedures as much as you can – but then forget all that and do your thing when it comes to your productions. Swedien really emphasizes the important of not losing the root passion of the music.
Continue reading “Bruce Swedien – Keeping the Mix Primitive”
NORAD Santa Tracker 2011
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuRowdmFAgk
Watch Santa Claus in his visit around the world with the live NORAD Santa Tracker at http://www.noradsanta.org
Above is a video recapping the 2010 Santa NORAD tracker. Happy H0lidays!
2001 Space Odyssey Opener
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGbA3xJ-jr8
I find this incredibly disturbing so I’m posting it in the hopes that it incredibly disturbs you as well. And now ladies and gentlemen, the official 2001 Space Odyssey opener. (Mmmm…Also Sprach Zarathustra or something like that)
Pan Law – Recording and Mixing
Pan Law, in practical application, states that an audio source, of equal amplitude and phase, that is played in both channels of a stereo system and panned from center to left or right will sound natural to increase 3db.
Read the Wikipedia link below for more details. (Actual change is 6.02db for perfect response and perfect acoustics, but practical application for most speaker setups is to think 3db).
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_law
Yin Yang
Yin Yang. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other.
Highlights of Information from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang
SWTOR Massive Beta Testing Begins November 2011
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9pXEXBmKvA
BETA testing just opened for everyone that signed up early and opted in. See you soon in The Old Republic!
SWTOR.com is Star Wars the Old Republic – an new MMORPG game from Bioware, Electronic Arts and Lucas Arts. Video above are some of the design team stating their opinions of the Sith Inquisitor vs the Trooper. Mmmm……I think I’m sold on the Sith Inquisitor. For those of us playing SWTOR that used to play Warcraft (which is probably most everyone) this seems a little like the Orc Warrior vs. a Rogue with some Mage abilities.
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Email Q&A: Who wrote Ave Maria
Email question received:
I read quite a few articles on the internet but still not sure who actually first composed Ave Maria, despite so many name changes to the music. I read that Bach, Schubert and Gounod were at least the three persons associated with Ave Maria but separated by hundreds of years apart. The music on Youtube and other places are the same for all three. Can you tell me?