bing crosby remixed

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I gave an assignment to a group of aspiring sound designers not too long ago.  The task was to take two completely different tracks of music and find a way to make them work together and sound somewhat uniform using only editing, transposition and time compression/expansion.  They all had an afternoon to complete it.  Here’s my ‘remixed’ example.  Even caught some of the ii-V harmony in the second half!

Thanks to choreographer Cherice Barton for asking me to attempt this in the first place!  It was a fun experiment.  Makes me think what other wild juxtapositions are out there waiting for discovery.

music for dance – aszure barton’s “untouched”

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Using music by saxophonist and composer Curtis Macdonald; pianist and musical director Njo Kong Kie; and Russian-born violist Lev “Ljova” Zhurbi, the illustrious choreographer Aszure Barton has collaborated with each dancer independently and built a shared vocabulary for the ensemble based on these personal interactions. Inspired by collaboration, Barton is interested in creating dense environments on stage in which each performer is an individual and all are united by a shared language. Barton’s new work, Untouched, will receive its world premiere at the Harris Theater June 3-6, 2010. Tickets and more information here.

From Time Out Chicago:

“In between the two is Barton’s Untouched, a world premiere. Like Bardo, it’s for twelve dancers and moodily-lit. Otherwise, it’s from the other side of the universe. Its decor (uncredited) is lit (by Nicole Pearce) such that it appears we are looking onto a stage through its back wall. A heavy red curtain hangs, just partly opened, upstage. The floor is lit by shafts of light from beyond this curtain. There’s the sense another house, another audience, is back there sitting quietly, with only a small window onto the action we see clearly, thus, the work is our secret. On top of that atmosphere, Barton builds a world of bodily language suggesting rapidly-shifting power structures lightly dusted with the folkloric. The ambiguity of the work’s title echoes in your head as you watch: They’re immaculate. They’re virgin. They’re alone, above, below. They’ve yet to be experienced. It’s somehow about dancers. It features beautiful ideas about how and when dancers can enter and exit the stage. Its closing duet is spellbinding.”

“I can’t describe it.”

Other reviews:
Chicago Sun Times
Gapers Block Chicago

cmac produces JB3

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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.

the joker

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Last year I showed you all an excerpt of a piece I created for recorderist Terri Hron (to see the previous post, click here).  Well, I am happy to say that her album “bird on a wire” has  just been released throughout Europe, Canada and the U.S.,  It’s really a great example of several artistic collaborations on many levels.  The album’s music is comprised of several composers Terri commissioned for this project, and the audio production is of the highest, warmest quality possible – something that is difficult to achieve when electronics and real-time processing are so widely (or should I say wisely?) utilized.  This is a really unique and special album that I  am happy to be apart of and encourage you all to seek out.

Terri Hron – Recorder
Dan Porter – Engineering
Curtis Macdonald – Composition

collaborations

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Remember the previous post involving the recorder?  Well, I promised you more, and here I am hyping it once again.  Terri Hron (recorder), Dan Porter (mixing/mastering engineer) and myself (remix composition / production) have been passing files back and forth all over north america to keep the flame alive when it comes to our little trio deluxe.  I have for you now, two new recorder remix pieces that are quite contrasting from each another.  One, is a startling recorder-distorto-drum-maniac-fantasia (drums samples performed by long-time friend and collaborator Alex Wyatt), and the other is a harmonic-retrospective-ballad.