Varekai in Manila 2011

June 23, 2011 I had the experience of watching Cirque Du Soleil’s show VAREKAI in Manila, Philippines. I’m familiar with the music and had seen videos of the show but to watch it in person was electrifying.

My favorite parts were of course the music (another Violaine Corradi creation), the guy with the lightbulb on his head (you’d think since I work for Cirque I could look up the characters name) and the clown act with the spotlight (I’ve heard about that act for years, was fantastic to finally see it – very minimalistic and clever). Of course there were so many wonderful elements to the show I couldn’t possibly list them all. I’ll leave a professional reviewer to do that.

A big shout out to my friends and Varekai artists Isabelle Corradi (vocals) and Paul Bannerman (drums).

Varekai Opening (Charivari) Cirque du Soleil

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2HBTxyz9uU

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Changes in Music Production from 2001 to 2011

I’m really amazed at the changes in music production software and gear over the past 20 years, especially the ten years from 2001 to 2011. Long story short: I can do almost as much with about $8,000 of gear in 2011 that it took me $50,000 of gear in 2001.

Let’s go back to 1988 when I started with a four track recorder and a single Yamaha keyboard (DX10?). My first jobs were people wanting piano backup tracks which was fine. But very quickly clients would want a little more like strings or a drum beat. So then you purchased a drum machine. Then you need better strings (back then Kurzweil was king of strings) so you bought a string tone module ($1,000 at the time on special – a great deal).

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Sesame Street roasts Spiderman Musical

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR1DdMeVqTw

Sesame Street roasts the Spiderman Musical with their own “Spidermonster”. They make light of the many technical problems and also a reference that the music is Bono’s first Broadway musical. Spider Man: Turn Off The Dark opened on Broadway to bad reviews, then closed for a revamp and reopened to somewhat better reviews.

Venetian Macau Changes It’s Tune

The Venetian Macau has changed it’s tune as of around Spring 2011. I don’t mean this in a symbolic sense, it’s literal. And maybe I’m the only one who has noticed or cares – it’s quite possible.

When I first started working at the Venetian Macau in April of 2011, all the background music piped through the hallways and upper shopping canals was Vivaldi. I’m pretty sure it was all Vivaldi all the time; specifically the Four Seasons. At the time I commented how much I loved it. The recordings were great with fine string performances. A friend said “Just wait, after six months you’ll be sick of it and never want to hear it again.” But I didn’t find that was true. I loved the music when I first heard it and still loved it three years later.

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Definition of Bull Market and Bear Market from local Chinese

So I’m talking with a friend here in Macau, China about stocks and I asked them if they knew about the terms Bull Market and Bear Market. They said yes. The Bear Market is when stocks go down. They said the phrase comes from the old West in America. The cowboys would sit around and got very bored so they decided to bring in a bear to fight with a cow. The bear lost to the cow. So a Bear Market means the stock is losing.

Oh c’mon, that’s just so darn cute. I asked them for clarification, “The bear lost to the cow?” and they said most certainly, “Yes!”