This is an amazing short film created by Bellecour Schools, Art Design & Entertainment in 2012. The film, directed by Tom Gouill, tells the story of writers block. Loosing creative energy and lacking the motivation to find the right voice is what attracted me to this short film. The film takes you through the writers initial frustration, seeing the beauty of his craft, the fight to preserve his art, and the inevitable urge to create that consumes you when inspiration is found.

Through developing linear sound textures using digital delay, I created sound score that I feel matches the energy and tone of the emotions and energy shown by the film. This score is highly influenced from my previous compositions and of course my favorite composer, Steve Reich. Enjoy!

Here is the link to the video with my version of the film score – https://youtu.be/kUTdA0hfvB8

I am very thankful to have the experience of playing in Virginia Repertory Theatre’s production of West Side Story. Set in the west side of New York City, this musical explores the confrontation between two gangs of different ethnicities. This classic love story was inspired by Romeo and Juliet and was first staged on Broadway in 1957. While this story is based largely in fiction, the themes depicted are hardly fiction at all. Using prejudice, bigotry, and violence, this musical is as important today, as it was in 1957. I strongly urge you to learn this story if you don’t know it! The Real-Life Drama Behind ‘West Side Story’

All politics and social issues aside, lets take a closer look at the demands of the percussion book!!!

Originally scored for a large pit orchestra, these days the orchestration is modified for many reasons. These modifications have lead to different percussion part arrangements, which typically leave the percussionist with a lot of responsibility!

Playing this book, you will need: Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Bongos, Castanets, Chimes, Claves, Congas, two Cowbells, Suspended Cymbal, Finger Cymbals, Triangle, Guiro, Maracas, Rachet, Slide Whistle, Police Whistle/Gym Whistle, Tam-Tam, Tambourine, Timbales, Timpani, Wood Block, Temple Blocks, Snare Drum, and kitchen sink. 🙂

If at all possible I would highly suggest that you design your set-up in the performance space you will be in. This book requires very demanding, fast transitions to different instruments. Failure to properly plan those transitions will inevitably end in disaster. Here are a few tips to be prepared for those transitions:

1 – Write in the music where you will change mallets/pick up maracas/etc… Then practice these transitions in time!

2 – Be sure to have back up sticks/mallets ready. And I don’t mean ‘ready’ in your stick bag. I mean on a trap table, or music stand with towel, ready to be used. Stick trays can be especially helpful when covered with a black towel so that you can place mallets or small instruments on them quickly without making any noise.

3 – Write in cues, but don’t always rely on them! Lets be real… we have all been there. We’ve missed an entrance… a vocalists didn’t come in, or came in early… In these situations you have to watch, listen, and adjust!

4 – Come to the first rehearsal as if it was the first performance. Know your parts, know the hard licks, and if you are in doubt, ask the maestro before the first rehearsal!

5 – Practice page turning in time, or be prepared to turn pages in multiple books. Due to the limited space in VA Rep’s pit, I need to use two music stands requiring me to read from two different parts. This can be a disaster if you need to transition and never turned the page on both books! Again, be prepared for all parts of a transition! And please… make copies, don’t be that guy that moves your one copy from stand to stand. 🙂

6 – Don’t sacrifice tone, musicianship, and character to make a transitions work. If you can’t accurately perform the part, or get the best sound possible in the situation, then go back to step one and redesign your set-up with sound, tone, and musicianship in mind. This may take a bit more planning, but odds are you will be called back if done properly!

—

BTW, I am a very lucky percussionist. The music director cut the timpani all together! I didn’t even have to bring the drums to the space! This of course was not an artistic decision, but merely a matter of space in the pit. If I did use timpani for this production, I would do my absolute best to isolate the pitches to only two drums. This saves space, however it can make tuning an absolute nightmare. Again! Something to practice, in time, and write into you part!

Another option for timpani would be to use the application Thumb Jam, which is controlled by a midi keyboard. (Thank you Anthony for showing me this!) This affordable app is available on iTunes and can be controlled via iPad and Midi controller. This option saves space and allows you to be extremely accurate with tuning and consistency. It has options for individual note execution as well as rolls with varying speeds and velocity. This could potentially be another option when drums are not available.

Come check out Virginia Repertory’s production of West Side Story! Shows go from June 22nd – August 5th!  VA Rep – West Side Story

“On a desolate island, a suicidal sheep named Franck meets his fate… in the form of a quirky salesman named Victor, who offers him the gift of a lifetime. The gift is many lifetimes, actually, in many different worlds – each lasting just a few minutes. In the sequel to the pilot, Franck will find a new reason to live.”

Grace, what is it? How do you find it? What does it mean? The origins of the word come from latin, “gratis” meaning pleasing or thankful. But this word has come to mean so much more to religious believers that use it to describe a state of sanctification through divine assistance, or simply a virtue that can be bestowed upon one who believes in God. But I must ask, what do those people do who don’t believe in divine assistance? Or a high authority in human spirituality? They just don’t have the chance to find grace? In many case’s, it seems that they get lost or off track in their life journey. They fill the emptyness by continually searching for meaning in work, marriage, relationships, and sometimes…  searching through the use of alcohol, drugs, or other means of self harm and destruction. This is something I have experienced and come to understand in my own life journey.

This film is powerful. It touches on a subject in our society that is difficult to understand. It gives perspective on what its like to live with depression and how it can manifest to suicidal thoughts and acts.

My version of the score is meant to be powerful and spiritual. Being a former Catholic, I couldn’t help myself but use the plagal cadence throughout. It is a simple concept in music theory that the music moves from the (sub dominant) IV to the (tonic) I. But it has a different name as well, sometimes referred to as the “Amen Cadence”. Think of the last time you sang a hymn and the congregation all together sang “Amen” at the end, and that is what a plagal cadence sounds like.

Using this cadence, I evokes a sense of spirituality in the score. Although hide it well in the textures and note durations. I hope you enjoy my version of the film score and be sure to find the full version of this film with the original music on gooseberry.blender.org

To watch my version click here: Cosmos Laundromat

My latest composition is named in memory of my wife’s grandmother Florence Michallis. I had the privilege of meeting her this past summer at a family reunion. Charismatic, joyful, and quick witted are just a few ways to describe her lovable personality. I will always remember sharing tea with her and our conversation of learning cursive using chalkboards in Catholic school. 🙂  I hope I was able to capture her fun personality with this solo.

FLO is written for two mallets, marimba, microphone, and delay processor. It travels various time signatures, tempos, and mallets to blend textures and develop sections. Broken into four main parts, performers will be challenged to traverse different delay effects, mallet changes, and phasing.

Below are excerpts from various parts of the work. The full recording will be released soon! Contact me if you are interested in sheet music.

FLO – For marimba and digital delay – Excerpts 

Ara’s Tale is a animated film written and directed by Martin Lubrich. The original score, created by Mikkel Nielson, is a wonderful addition to the already impressive animation. This film was created under a Creative Commons License meaning that the creators allow the public the right to share, use, and build upon the original work. Go here – Ara’s Tale Official Movie Site to read more about the film and get download access to free files of the film.

The film plot as described by Martin Lubrich is, “The story follows the journey of Ara, a mysterious young woman, as she travels deep into a gigantic network of caves in search of the last remaining living dragon. It is a path of destiny for Ara, which eventually leads to her destination.” 

This is my first attempt at creating my own film score. I have always been attracted to the scores of movies and TV shows. Most notably the scores of Nigel Westlake and Hans Zimmer; but also Mark Isham for his work on the film October Sky (1999) and Daniel Licht for his work on the TV series Dexter (2006).

I used Pro Tools 11 to create the score using my midi keyboard. I am still in the process of learning more about balancing the overall sounds and creating more dynamic direction to capture mood and impact. I also aimed to create as realistic orchestral textures as possible. There is still work to do in this area. 🙂

This first posting is what I am considering the middle three sequences of the film.  The first being Ara’s call to the dragon using the spirits of other captured dragons. It is my depiction of Ara’s strength paired with the vastness of her surroundings to summon the last living dragon.

In the second sequence I attempt to capture the feeling of uncertainty and curiosity. I lay the groundwork for a “question theme” that never resolves, played by the brass. This is the culmination of textures moving towards the bigger statement when the last dragon finally meets Ara’s power and resolve.

The third sequence is Ara’s realization of her powers. What she has accomplished and the power that she holds; while impressive, carries great responsibility and may not always be a positive attribute in her life. I attempted to portray this using a descending sequence with a fleeting major resolution that quickly dissipates to the final resolution.

I had trouble deciding if the film was a “happy” film or “sad” film.  That simple thought statement really had a huge impact on the harmonic direction and story line I wanted to highlight with my score. I plan on exploring this concept further with this film and others.

I hope you enjoy my version of Ara’s Tale! I plan to add the introduction and ending soon! Please feel free to add comments. You can also visit my SoundCloud page to listen to the film score without the animation.

~ Click here to watch ~ 

I had the privilege of sharing my last performance in Columbus, OH with the musicians of the McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra on November 20th, 2016. The group is conducted by my friend and colleague, Dr. Antoine Clark. The program included works by Rameau, Bach, Foss, and by far on of my favorite works, Pavane, Op. 50 by Gabriel Faure. For this performance I played Timpani and I came across some very challenging tuning changes on drums with no gauges, off heads, and stuck pedals. What do you do in this situation as a freelance percussionist?

For most musicians when they graduate from their School of Music, they take their instrument with them. They live with it, care for it, play it everyday. I do not know many freelance percussionists that own Timpani. For a set of four you are looking at thousands of dollars, a giant vehicle to move them, and house to store them. My biggest challenge in these situations are I have a part I need to prepare with no instrument to practice on. What do you do?

This would not typically be a problem for me as I could practice on pillows and use a tuner to check my pitches, but then I saw the second movement of the Lukas Foss Renaissance Concerto for Flute and Orchestra and knew I was in for some work. Melodic passages spread across multiple drums with expectations that the instrument you would be using can accommodate this, and the performer had the necessary skill to achieve the desired effect.

I knew I had to get to work immediately but how do you practice a melodic timpani passage requiring you to move the pedals as you perform without having the drums?  The best solution in this situation is to sing the part to the best of your ability. And of course always always always find multiple recordings if possible. Check yourself with a tuner or piano.  Record yourself singing and check your tuning again while visualizing your pedal/tuning plan. Make sure you are intimately familiar with the tonal center and make a plan for what pitch will be played on each drum. However, you cannot stop at just singing the pitches, I highly suggest singing articulations, slurs, and any other musical adjective needed to perform the passage at its highest potential. This will help you discover mallet choices, dampening, dynamics, pedal speed, and make you more comfortable with the passage.

Another tip in this situation is to arrive to rehearsals as early as you can to practice and to clear the heads or provide other maintenance. In this situation, we had enough rehearsals for me to clear one drum at each service and still practice tuning passages.

Good luck out there and don’t forget, listen to recordings, sing your parts, make a plan, and visualize the execution in performance!

(Jim Broadhurst left, and Kevin Estes right)

The opportunity to play the snare drum part for Ravel’s Bolero is a dream for many percussionists. For me, it was one of the scariest two minutes of performing I have experienced. Central Ohio Symphony launched their 38th season with an excellent program that closed with Bolero, one of the most popular orchestral works written. Having prepared for this moment by spending hours in practice rooms consulting recordings from Cleveland, Berlin, and Montreal, I could barely hold my excitement to play this work with an orchestra. Although I played the second snare drum part, it was still an incredible experience and one that I will soon not forget. However, in my preparation and anticipation for one day playing this piece with a symphony, I had not considered that I might be playing the second snare drum part in the percussion section, while the principal snare drum, Jim, played at the front of the stage, sitting down where I could not see him. The distance between me and Jim created challenges with timing and volume which opened up a new appreciation for the difficulties this piece presents to performers.

The dress rehearsal was our first chance at making this situation work. As soon as I entered, close to the end of the piece, I realized immediately that my volume hindered my ability to hear Jim. In that moment, I was able to shift my body enough so that I could see his hands through the full bowing, music stands, and musicians playing second violin. I then began to focus moving my hands exactly with his channeling the best chamber music skills I could with almost tunnel vision focus. And to my great relief, the maestro had no complaints! It worked! I was thrilled that I had a plan to make this performance successful and overall, comfortable. But, as I stood up to enter during the performance, my view of Jim was completely blocked…. panic set in.

I had eight bars to decide what to do and my mind was racing. “How had I not checked this before we started!!! Can I move over?!? Don’t forget to turn the snares on! Okay, regroup, regroup…” In many years of performing and confronting challenging situations there is only one thing you can do, “Breathe, focus, adjust.” I didn’t have enough time to move the snare drum over, and, more importantly, I didn’t want to distract the audience with a goal line defensive shift.. So… I had to make a new plan, and fast. The dynamic marked fortissimo at my entrance would, at this point, remain a subtle suggestion.

I entered softly. So softly that I knew I was under Jim’s volume. I slowly increased my dynamic making sure I was always within his sound, and the overall texture. The key change signaled the other percussionists to stand up and get ready and I could finally see the end of the piece approaching. “Hang on, your almost there!” I kept saying to myself as I was diligently subdividing and managing volume. When we got to the last three beats of the piece, I made the decision to leave out the last triplets and let Jim finish the work so there would be no questions of “fuzziness” in rhythmic accuracy and execution. The audience roared and applauded.

I had done it. I stick with my plan (with a few last-minute adjustments) and delivered a flawless performance. And to any percussionists or musicians reading this, remember that If you panic, you lose control, and your performance will suffer. “Breathe, focus, adjust.”

The premier and accompanying dance performance on November 19th has been postponed.  However, I will finish the track and release the music on SoundCloud in the coming weeks!

My latest composition, Woven, is my first exploration in composing for Cello. The work is part of my collaboration with Eve Herman’s commission to create a site specific dance work at the unveiling of Walter Herman’s earth sculpture at the Inn at Honey Run.  This work has challenged my composition skills and led me to become more adventurous with harmonic exploration and contemporary techniques for the Cello.  I am extremely thankful to have the talented, Kristen Marie to bring my writing to life.  We will be recording very soon!

Full track available soon!

Composed in 2015, the order of things “examines love, loss, fear and relationships across time and reality.”  Dancer and Choreographer, Noelle Bohaty directed this work.  Her inspiration from the poetry of Anne Sexton and the Greek mythological story of Icarus, created a unique multidisciplinary performance atmosphere including elements of acting, costumes, story telling, dance, and music.

The composition is a collection of vignettes each very distinct in character and mood.  Exploring digital delay and electronic orchestrations, this work is 18 minutes long and combines elements of percussion, piano, strings, and recorded voice.

https://dance.osu.edu/events/mfa-concert-existence-and-ways-being

Listen to the full track here: the order of things

GLASS (2015) was a collaboration between MaD Arts Group and Columbus Moving Company as part of CMCO’s 2015 season.  My friend and choreographer, Amanda Platt Steller created the movement while I composed the music and narrative.  With inspiration from Justin Richards, The Glass Princess, I created a touching and dynamic story depicting the fragility of life and the will to do more than simply survive. GLASS is the story of Princess Clio, a young girl who is poisoned and sleeps through decades of civilizations while only experiencing life through dreams in a glass stasis bed. The score written in four movements, includes electronic orchestra, tuned wine glasses, and an instrument made from 29 tuned glass bottles.  The unique collaboration brought music and movement together to create a stunning portrayal of youthful innocence, despair, and the will to survive the darkness of eternal rest.

Read more here: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2015/06/25/1-performers-tell-myth-inspired-fairy-tale-with-modern-steps.html?+OH

Listen to the ballet here: GLASS