curtis macdonald » production

temptation

Curtis Macdonald — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:43:51 +0000

click on the post’s link to listen to the music!
Continuing on the dance front, choreographer Cherice Barton had me sound designing, mixing and mastering her Tom Waits influenced production of Temptation, a ballet performed and commissioned by Canada’s Ballet B.C.

A review straight.com:

But it’s New York–based choreographer Cherice Barton’s Temptation that seems custom-made for the venue’s old-style cocktail atmosphere. Set to Tom Waits’s booze-soaked “Temptation”, “The Piano Has Been Drinking”, and “Jockey Full of Bourbon”, it finds the troupe decked out in speakeasy-vintage fedoras, satin dresses, and garters, twisting and strutting in vignettes that cover the stage, with Léon Feizo Gas lurching around to the drunken opening number. It’s seedy and smoky, with Marianne Grobbelaar’s red-dressed vixen at one point laughing maniacally until she collapses in a crying jag. It could easily fill a much bigger stage, but it’s so much more fun watching it in the faded Legion hall.

sound design for dance

Curtis Macdonald — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:06:33 +0000

Last summer at the Banff Centre for the Arts, I met a brilliant choreographer Aszure Barton. I was blown away when I first saw company in rehearsal and was fortunate enough to sneak into her Ballet commissioned by the NBOC (The National Ballet of Canada) in Toronto. This past weekend she asked me for some help with the sound editing and design for her recent premiere at The Juilliard School and her current European Tour. I saw the performance on opening night and was so glad to have been able to contribute to the production.

After now having seen a handful of her work, I am particularly inspired by how she employs counterpoint – her content is so compositional and ripe with richness. If you have the opportunity to catch a performance of hers, it will certainly not disappoint. I look forward to next time already, and I have something new to study for it’s compositional content – choreology!

Here’s a little sample of her work with her company, a piece that I saw them work on intensively and worked on the touring production, it’s an excerpt of “Busk”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

cmac produces JB3

Curtis Macdonald — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:39:58 +0000

click on the post’s link to listen to the music!

I like seeing my old friends from school take necessary initiative and elevate their music to the next level. Ever since graduation, I have been impressed with how much of a following my colleague, RnB artist Jesse Boykins III has generated for himself. He’s been busy all over the U.S. showcasing his music, touring with one of my best friends and outstanding drummer, Adam Jackson, has been featured on numerous blogs and rose to the near summit of the BETJ charts; not to mention fostering several noteworthy collaborations with producers such as JMost, who is also a hugely notable school chum.

Jesse and I have always talked about doing a track together but this summer we finally made it happen. He gave me a scratch a capella vocal track and then I proceeded to mix in the rest. Hopefully this will just be the beginning of a very warm series of collaborations. You can follow Jesse on twitter: @Jb3Music

DOWNLOAD the entire remix album Here.

music for television

Curtis Macdonald — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:42:52 +0000

click on the post’s link to listen to the music!

Published by CMACSOUND (SOCAN)

game audio

Curtis Macdonald — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:48:37 +0000

“Dawn” was an interactive video game with a story line similar to the movie “Hero” but never made it to release. I worked on the interactive music and sound desig. The picture here is a working animatic draft at the time to get the idea.

Click here to view the embedded video.