Production Bumpers

This has nothing to do with cars, and everything to do with music licensing. Bumper music are those little quirky bits that you hear just about everywhere; radio, advertisements, educational films, YouTube video intros, and much more contain these little musical flourishes. Some of you might have heard my bumper into on Alamo Music Center’s audio channel, which can be heard at 00:16 on the video below.

Using only a Minimoog (more on this synth to come) and a Waldorf Blofeld, this bumper was produced in just a couple of hours. The dialing in of sounds, writing the jingle, recording/producing, and mixing/mastering all took place in one sitting. This bumper was ready to go in a jiffy and has now been featured on over 60 videos*.

So why the post? Well, as a music publisher and writer, I failed to do my due diligence in protecting my copyright, a topic that I frequently bring up with my clients. The videos that have incorporated this bumper have racked up 100,000s of views, with all ad revenue going to AMC and none to me. This of course is totally on me as I should have registered the work with ASCAP as both writer and publisher years ago, but alas, I totally slacked.

Lesson learned, and there are more bumpers to come! This bumper was also published through Distrokid and can be found on most DSPs.

*Bonus beats - Watch the entire video for a rundown of Korg’s Volca Synth, a veritable powerhouse of a synth for the frugal.

Another from Imitate

Here’s another from Imitate, and please pay attention to the seizure warning!!!

Now that we have that out of the way, this was a recent master that came to me from the multi-instrumentalist that goes by Imitate. This one is for the drumline/drumcorp nerds out there. Prepare to get the feels as this single quick ascends from a drumline-esque preamble, to full on break-beat chaos. The initial video capture was produced by Imitate while the remainder of the visualizer was produced by Hiroki Okamoto (scuy(v0id). Be sure to check out Imitate’s other videos here.

Imitate's latest single and video, "Liminal"

A recent master, Imitate is back at it again with their latest single, Liminal. A manic blend of manually gltiched drums, synths, and anything else that fits the bill. Video produced by Ellie Pritts. Take a look at the video below and be sure to follow their channel.

Daniel Kobialka’s unlikely paring with Lancey Foux

People close to me often hear about my friend and mentor, Daniel Kobialka. Daniel passed away in 2021, and at the time, we had been discussing rebranding and reorganizing his company, LiSem Enterprises, Inc. (LiSem Recordings). While not a household name, Daniel is a world renown violinist. Having spent 33 years in the San Francisco Symphony as their Principle 2nd Violinist, as well a leader in healing and new age music, Daniel’s impact and influence is vast.

I worked with Daniel on-and-off for the better part of 12 years. During that time, I got to know and work on his extensive catalog - old and new. A great deal of it was in disarray, so one of my missions has been to inventory and catalog his entire output, master recordings, and other media. During the course of this ongoing journey, various opportunities have arisen, with the most recent being a clearance for a sample. His current catalog is well over 100 compositions and unique arrangements; it’s a major task.

I was approached by Sony/RCA about clearing the sample for the latest Lancey Foux single, “Daylight”. After roughly a month of discussing details, the deal was sealed, and the output is the single/video below. If Daniel were alive today, he would be thrilled to know that his music has found this unique vehicle in which to be shared.

The Society of Rockets - Tough Trip Through Paradise

The latest from the Rockets is finally here, and I’m pretty late in posting this. Maybe that’s a good thing? Press has been fantastic, and as the band just celebrated the release last night, why not post now?

We recorded this album at the legendary Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, CA. Maybe some of you are familiar with the space? If not, teleport here. Roughly 80% of this LP was recorded live in the studio; horns and strings came at a later date. This one was particularly special as I got to record the lush sounds of the Agarita strings in San Antonio, and tracked them at my good dude Brant Sankey’s spot, Studio E. We eventually returned to Hyde Street to mix the LP, and did so with no automation - all hands on deck for this one! Not too common these days, and it felt incredible to fall back into my formative 2” tape days during the mix session. We mixed 10 songs in 4 days, and were able to get a couple of extra passes in at times.

Reviews have been incredibly positive right out of the gates. Rob Hughes had this to say about the LP in Uncut Magazine, “At heart they’re an unfailingly melodic pop band, employing horns, strings, mandolin, lap steel and Hammond organ to realise frontman Joshua Babcock’s Elysian visions”. I Don’t Hear A Single also mentioned the arrangements saying, “After the pacer listen that was Unearthed, Tough Trip On Paradise reveals the band's mellower side a bit more. The arrangements are superb and reveal them to be at ease with any direction. They master all that they do easily.”, and in another mention placed the LP on their shortlist for album of the year!

That’s it for this one. I’ll be posting more reviews as they pop up. Click on the review link in the sidebar if you have some time.

We Is Shore Dedicated is still dedicated

I’ve worked with Sam Tsitrin for almost 20 years. I first heard Sam perform shortly after I moved to San Francisco. the ebb and flow was his project at that time, and it was the first band that I saw in the Bay Area that made a mark on me. I knew that I wanted to work with them in some capacity, and my label at the time, Three Ring Records, signed them in 2004 as they were finishing their LP, Time To Echolocate. I ended up mastering that album which charted on CMJ.

Roughly three years later, Sam approached me about playing drums in and engineering an LP for his current project, We Is Shore Dedicated. The first LP was a rough hewn affair, with no rehearsals before the recording date. This initial set of tunes was recored to tape, which was a real challenge when also trying to get behind the kit, but we made it happen; and the project is still going strong today.

Jump to 2023 and I was approached to mix Sam’s latest effort, Missing Marks Amazing Dans. Stoked as ever to be working on another WISD release , this LP once again invited the listener back into Sam’s world of bizarre arrangements with pop-music sensibilities combined with oblique turns. Take a listen below.

Off to San Francisco with the Society of Rockets!

Well we’re finally heading back into the studio! It’s been two years since we’ve been together in the same place creating and making memories, and this week that changes! The gang and myself will find ourselves at the historic Hyde Street Studios once again for an entire week of sonic manipulations. More to come later!