http://xlr8r.com/tv/82

Once a month, Christopher WIllits, the electronic musician and guitarist guides us through recording and production techniques, basic electronic programs and other technical skills that he uses to create music. In this episode, Willits explains automation clips—setting them up, as well as their role in recording and playing live. Past episodes have included techniques he’s used on his albums, like processing sounds through MIDI pick-ups and synthesizers.

Tune in once a month as Christopher shows us some of the ways he produces his own music, as well as the many cool things you can do with recording software. According to Christopher, “I simply want to excite people’s imaginations and creative process so they can more easily create the sounds and music and art they love.”

http://xlr8r.com/tv
http://christopherwIllits.com

The first Sound Arts effect pedal workshop was amazing. Lots of fun and very productive. In two days we were able to make from scratch a 808 Tube Screamer replica, and if I do say so myself, sounds way better than the store bought version (more dynamic range in tone, plus two mods; one for saturation of low end, capacitor bypass and the second, for symmetrical or asymmetrical clipping). Matt Von Ohlen and Sarah Bernat built, painted, decaled, tested and rocked the pedals. From start to finish this was an amazing weekend. I’m looking forward to all of the up coming electronics workshops at Sound Arts.

808 Tube Screamer with modifications

soldering the pedals

Sarah mapping out the enclosure

Matt testing and tweaking his new pedal

Finished pedals Day two

Here are some of my homebrewed pedals, and a four channel mixer.
Theres a big muff, a fuzz face, a tube screamer, an old transistor radio effect, and two compressors. The roud compressor is a replica Dynacomp and the orange one is a replica orange squeezer.

The Bay Area Video Coalition website has been fully redesigned. The new site features better navigation and descriptive articles about the variety of programs and opportunities that BAVC offers. One of the featured youth programs that will be conducted over the next 3 months is Elements.

Elements is a digital media training program for at-risk young people and ex-offenders ages 18 – 23. Funded by the California Employment Training Panel, the program provides 150 hours of industry-standard training in one of three training tracks – Web and Video, Audio and Multimedia, and Drafting and Design - as well as an additional 150 hours of job skills development and career counseling. The program engages students full-time, Monday through Thursday, from 9am to 5pm for three months. Upon successful completion of the program, students are given job placement assistance.

In cycle 2, different from the first cycle, Artist/Musician, Zack Vieira will be the focus of the group portfolio. Zack has recorded with Sound Arts and will continue the development of his debut solo release. The talented and eager students will team up and use Zack as their “client” and with their new skill-sets create and package a portfolio of Zack’s work. This will include designs for CD packaging, flyers, a mini documentary, and a website design and build with sounds, flash, songs and videos. Shortly after the completion of the portfolio, Zack will be releasing an EP and will later be featured in the Sound Arts Breakup Compilation.

Interested in applying to participate in the Elements Program?
Download the application for cycle 3.

July 31st through August 9th, 2008

We will be hosting a “recording boot-camp” where seasoned Sound Arts interns assisted by new students from youth outreach and media literacy programs, will record, mix and deliver songs produced by selected sponsored artists. The first three days will highlight recording setup and techniques, followed by a full week of music production and collaboration. Artists are invited to apply for this unique opportunity to record their songs and take part in a music compilation, totally for free!

We’ll work together to produce two to four artists/bands, start to finish. All the participants receive credit in the compilation and are encouraged to network, collaborate, and take part in future programs and opportunities in the filed of music production. Intern hours will also be logged to satisfy portions of required intern hours for other youth training programs.

This is a very fresh idea still undergoing some incubation, but we are looking to use this model and pilot project in a future grant proposal. Our goals are to provide free/discounted studio time to up and coming artists in the Bay Area, establish a crash course program to educate young engineers and producers, and to create a creative venue that releases routine compilations from a variety of genres and communities.

To apply for a recording sponsorship email:
education@soundarts.org

or for more information, email:
info@soundarts.org

Create, Engineer, Produce, Network, & Collaborate!

This past weekend, Sound Arts hosted an awesome Logic class where 4 students participated in all aspects of audio production using Apple’s cutting edge software. We began with basic audio and MIDI editing and worked into advanced automation, 5.1, and multichannel comp creation. We created 2 neat promo pieces for the Bay Area Video Coalition… Check em out!

BAVC Spot 1

BAVC Spot 2

BAVC plans to continue to host off-site Logic classes at Sound Arts along with a handful of other cool classes including a Sound Design Workshop on June 10th, 2008, with instructor and musician, Christopher Willits. To enroll in the next Logic class on July 28th - 30th, 2008, contact www.bavc.org

Stereo Miking Techniques
Saturday, May 17th, 2008
10 am - 6 pm @ Sound Arts
Sound Arts welcomed a very unique Stereo Miking Techniques Class that covered capturing audio content in a Stereo Field for Music Production, Film Recording, and Sound Art Creation. Four Stereo Miking Techniques were thoroughly explored, and instructor, Ryan Kleeman is eager to run this class again really soon. Ryan’s audio knowledge and passion is seriously abundant and brings this class a great deal of insight and inspiration. Great responses from all the participants…looking forward to the next one!