Mix Magazine recently met up with SONAR user, Shawn Clement, to ask him about his career in music production. A composer for TV, film and video games, Shawn Clement, is gearing up for his next big project. He will be producing the soundtrack to Quantum Quest, a sci-fi /live animation feature length film, set to release in the fall. Shawn explains in his interview how he got his ‘big break’ and gives advice for those interested in the same career path. Go to Mix Online to see what Shawn had to say.
Session Story: Composer Kubilay Uner
Film and TV Composer, Kubilay (Kubi) Uner, recently scored a feature film using Cakewalk’s soft-synths, Dimension Pro and Rapture. Uner created a post-punk, pop feel for the score of the new Polish Brothers’ film ‘Stay Cool’ starring Winona Ryder, Hilary Duff, Chevy Chase, and Sean Astin. The film pays tribute to the 1980’s teen movies like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.
Uner also wrote the score for a new documentary about four deaf performing artists entitled, ‘See What I’m Saying” with sign language gestures as the main percussion instrument and acoustic guitars to emulate vowel sounds. Both movies are due out in 2009. Hear samples from both scores at http://www.kubilayuner.com/.
The NAMM Show 09': Coverage by Cakewalk
For those of you off to Anaheim Convention Center, stop by Booth #6800 to see Cakewalk live in action. If you’ve chosen to stay at home this year, get everything you need to now right here on the Cakewalk Blog. We’ve made a dedicated NAMM Page featuring posts from the exhibition floor, new product information, and media to keep you informed! Check back throughout the weekend to see it all.
To learn about our new products, view the official press releases here.
Here’s a quick overview of the artists stopping by to say hello at NAMM 2009:
Top TV and Video Game music producer, Shawn Clement, best known for scoring Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Batman: Vengeance, hosts a live demo on Video scoring.
World-renowned composer, engineer, & producer Craig Anderton will demo his brand new Electronic Guitars Expansion Pack for Rapture and Rapture LE. Watch preview here.
Legendary turntablists, DJs Faust & Shortee, will be mixing it up at the booth.
Cakewalk’s Brandon Ryan hosts a live panel discussion on “Music For Video Games” featuring these four industry professionals:
Chuck Carr is the music supervisor for SONY Computer Entertainment (PAIN, Gran Turismo 4, and Twisted Metal: Head On)
Doyle W. Donehoo, the video game extraordinaire, is best known for his work in (America’s Army, Savage, Savage II, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II)
Timothy Michael Wynn is an award-winning television, film, and video game music producer and his company, Sonic Fuel, has provided cutting edge music for clients including BMW, Energizer, Gatorade, Mazda, Nike, and others.
Rob King has won numerous awards for his work as sound designer, music composer, and dialogue director (Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, Reservoir Dogs, Heroes of Might & Magic V, Scarface: The World is Yours, Jade Empire).
Studio Spotlight: Sun Studio
SONAR at Sun Studio: The Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Chief Engineer James Lott and Assistant Engineer Matt Ross-Spang
By Randy Alberts
“Our clients love what we do for them here with SONAR,” says James Lott, chief engineer for over 20 years at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. “It sounds great and we’ve been using it for a long, long time. But most of all they trust us and how we’re using SONAR to record them. When we tell a band ‘OK, you can move on to the next song now,’ they trust us completely.”
Spoken on behalf of Sun Studio—the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll and the country’s only National Historic Landmark with a digital audio workstation in the tour—Lott’s professional trust in Cakewalk’s SONAR shouts volumes.
“Like a good horse,” he adds with a laugh, “when something in a studio runs as fast as SONAR and does everything you tell it to, then you’re gonna ride that horse a long, long way.”
Tracking History Then & Now
The sheer history of music behind Sun Studio, since Sam Phillips first built it in 1950, deserves far more space than this story allows- to give it proper justice.
Those who visit Memphis, especially musicians and engineers, would not want to miss taking one of the studio’s daily tours to learn more about the studio’s historic past.
Elvis recorded his first two songs at Sun Studio in 1953 for $3.25, when it was still called Memphis Recording Service. Before Elvis, there was Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats who recorded the world’s first rock ‘n’ roll single, Rocket 88, at Sun, originally composed by Ike Turner.
With all the history within the studio’s walls—the same cozy 25×20 live room, tight vocal booth, tiny control room, and tiled front office where the original studio manager, Marion Keisker, sat in for the absent Phillips’ to record Elvis’ first songs—Sun is one of the top, most vibrant studios in the world today.
Recently, Lott used SONAR to track, edit, and mix projects for Liz Phair, Matchbox Twenty, Maroon 5 and Bowling for Soup. Tom Petty, a tape devotee, also recorded some new tunes at Sun with the studio’s prized MCI 24-track machine. Another recent SONAR session at Sun involved Amy LaVere, an Americana music composer and vocalist who expertly plays an upright acoustic bass far taller than she. Billy Bob Thornton’s band too, was due in for another Sun session shortly after our interview with Lott.
“The vibe of this place, this sort of ‘welcome homey’ kind of feel, is really what brings people back here all the time,” says Lott.
“Billy Bob is a longtime friend of Sun, in here for the fourth or fifth time now, and it’s his birthday, too. He told us that he wanted to come celebrate and to make some music up in here. It’s very old school here: not much has changed from the old days. There’s the same floor tiles, control room, front office, and even old lamps from the ’50s hanging from the ceiling. Even Marion’s front desk is still here, the same one she was sitting at when Elvis first walked in the door. Besides our staff and the gear we use, it’s the original vintage vibe of this place that keeps ‘em comin’ back.”