This week was hectic.

I know…nobody cares…we’re ALL busy…but it was hectic in a GOOD way.  I’m still recovering from getting barely any sleep (and apparently putting two spaces after every period now). 

The biggest thing that happened this week was the completion of my work composing for one episode of a TV show, Travel Scope, on PBS.  It was a good challenge.  I’ll tell you up front that my strengths are in the field of orchestration more than composition, but I am not a complete novice at the art of scoring for film, so I had a good place to start.  Thank you to all that offered advice….mostly Scott. 

As a person that doesn’t like to let someone else down (even if it’s a complete stranger–case in point: the street sweeper had to STOP at our house this morning and the dude got out of the car to move my trash cans off the street because I forgot to do it yesterday…and I felt like an idiot…), it was quite an experience to have the producer over at my studio this week to listen to my stuff, cold.  Basically, he had never really heard anything I had done on the show or anywhere else–and we had not met before hand to talk about his vision for the music or anything…so it was ALL up to my interpretation of where to put the music, for how long, and for what purpose.  So without much small talk, he came in, sat down, and I pushed PLAY on my computer…

And we sat in silence for 25 minutes as we both watched the show and heard my music for the first time.

It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.

I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced the process of creating something completely from scratch, and then inviting a stranger to come in and judge your achievement–but it is scary.   I pretty much felt like I was naked for a half an hour…and a tad vulnerable. 

But it all ended up being fine.

I’m not sure when the episode will air, but I think it will be sometime in the summer.

Here are a couple of little excerpts of the music I wrote.  Remember…we’re in Italy. 

I’ve always been a fan of technology.
Love the stuff.

I even used to be the geek that played in the computer lab during my lunch break instead of playing basketball with the cool kids (I know, big surprise).

I rely on technology to write music. If someone came to me and asked me to write music without a computer, it would take me 20x as long. It’s sad, but true.

So last week I did a wonderful thing and invested in a new technological vehicle for my studio: a MacPro.

I was SO excited.
But after having a different work station for 5 years, it took some time to get situated. SO much time.

In fact, after thinking about it, I’m fairly certain that last week I spend more time working with technology (and trying to get it right) than I did actually writing any music.
And that bummed me out…because the technology should support the art, not detract from it. The good news is that hopefully things should be fine from here on out…HOPEFULLY.

BUT
I’m meeting with the producers of the TV show on Wednesday to hear my music. I’m excited and nervous.

And I still haven’t decided on a company name. I’m still entertaining suggestions.

(Don’t worry–no spoilers ahead–I PROMISE)

So say we all.

I just finished watching one of the coolest series finales that I’ve ever seen:

Battlestar Galactica

The finale was pretty much perfect…and that’s about all I’ll say, and all I CAN say at this point (I’m still in that post-movie hangover land). I loved it. I think I loved it almost as much as I loved Star Wars, Episode III Revenge of the Sith. It was similar in the level of completion and finality that it gave to the watcher.

I was satisfied and fulfilled.

SO SAY WE ALL.

Many years ago, after moving to San Diego, we stopped by Vons to buy
some groceries, and they hit us up with the membership card. Not like
Costco., where you have to actually PAY to be a member, it’s just a
membership card that gives you a discount on some “on sale” items.

So
we signed up for a Vons card (I’m sure you have one of these, or
something like it, right?) and we punched in our phone # in case we
“forgot the card” (or never bring it on purpose).

Well, I guess the guy who registered the same San Diego number before we did was named Harold Taylor.

So
now, EVERY time I go to the grocery store and put in my phone # to get
the discount, the name “Harold Taylor” pops up on the receipt–and the
employee always looks at the receipt and says, “Thank you, Mr. Taylor!”

And I, of course, not wanting to correct every single employee that crosses my path, says, “You’re welcome!” and I leave.

And for about 10 seconds, I leave my life of Daniel, and I BECOME Harold Taylor…my ALTER EGO.

Yesterday we asked Nathaniel to draw a special Get Well picture for a Sunday School teacher of his that has been in and out of the hospital quite a bit lately.

He took a great deal of time, and drew a pretty snazzy picture:

When I asked Nathaniel about his picture, he told me all about the things going on in the letters–it is raining over the “R”, the “L” is getting it’s blood drawn, and the “F” is using a stethoscope…there were others, but I can’t remember…

Well, Noah thought the picture was just BEEEEAUUUUTIFUL, so he sat down and copied it:

IS THAT AWESOME? Or WHAT?!?!!

He’s also talking like a maniac.
Really.

Noah is going nuts with his talking. It’s phenomenal.
Oh…yeah…and…he’s at the top of his class, academically. He reads, writes, and understands concepts better than any of his classmates.
Yeah.

That’s my boy.

Today I was eating one of these things and I just thought to myself, “Is there anything better than this combo? Orange Sherbet + Vanilla Ice Cream?”

And I just couldn’t think of anything more awesome.

How about you? Favorite Ice Cream?

I’m sitting down for a minute before I go into Nathaniel’s big talent show.

I’m posting this blog from my iPhone, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. As much as I love my phone, typing for any extended period of time becomes annoying and cumbersome.

Every year Nathaniel’s school puts on a Spring Talent Show. Nathaniel auditioned back in January and made it…he sang a song from High School Musical 3 (of course). So I made a track for him, and he’s been working on his dance moves for weeks. It’s going to be awesome and adorable. Turns out he’s kind of a Casanova, too. Girls from his school are falling all over him after seeing his act during the practices. He’s had two different play date invites since last week. HAHAHA.

For those of you that can’t make it, a professional DVD is being made and will be on sale from me for approx. $5,000 each.*

…I only need one buyer…

*Actual price may vary.

I had a dream that I got a very important job, and not only was I feeling oh-so creative for this job, I also had the right tools at my disposal in order to complete the job and make the client happy with me.

Then I woke up.

And even though I spent large amounts of cash on studio monitors, displays, cables, controllers, fancy sample libraries, and even some last-minute RAM to try and make it happen…it did not…happen…

Although after many hours of trying and trying again and driving all around buying this and that and charging up my visa and guitar center cards, my computer still decided to crash and/or glitch every other 5 minutes.

Now let me clarify–all ye who wish to speak ill of the Mac–the problem was not necessarily the 5 year old PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 Processor with 2 matching HD 23″ displays and 8GB of RAM, the problem was more with the interface (or plugin–called “Play”) that I was using in Logic for the expensive EastWest samples. It’s a beast. And I was using it on several tracks…using up ALL of my processing power and memory, and making my work sound like trash due to the constant malfunctions.

Blarg.

So then in order to make a decent sounding product, I had to bounce each track to an audio file and disengage the plugin on each track as I went. So yeah, basically I spent at least half of the day doing THE LONG, TEDIOUS, ARDUOUS thing that my computer could have done on its own if it were newer…

Poop.
Time to upgrade.

Anyone got an extra 6k?

Footnote:
Sorry for the rant. I’m frustrated…but I’ll be fine in the long run…

So I have come to the point where I need to be a little more “official” about my business.

I went to the bank today to open a Business Checking account, and the guy asked me what my business name was.

Uh.

What?

I have to have a business name? Ok…Iiiiiiii’mmm goiinnnng to need to think about it.
(Keep in mind, I don’t have a lot of formal business training. I should have taken a class or two in college….dangit).

So here’s your task, xangaland and all of ye on the interwebs.

WHAT SHOULD I NAME MY BUSINESS?

I’m a freelance Arranger/Orchestrator/Composer for Film & TV (and a lot of other stuff) and need something that is along those lines…

I’ve had a couple of ideas, but frankly, I am at a loss.

Help me, o great people that read this blog.

I need to put a treadmill in my studio.

Anyone got an extra one out there that you want to donate to the Daniel-Doesn’t-Want-To-Buy-All-New-Clothes-Because-He-Sits-on-His-Butt-All-Day fund?

Seriously, it’s not good for my health to be so sedentary. I need to move more, and I’ve oft longed for a way to burn a few calories here and there during the day.
Not to mention, I recently (in the past few years) fell in love with treadmills. I used to hate them, but their ability to tell me how far I’ve walked/run and how long I’ve been doing it for has really won me over.

So, if you have an extra treadmill, you can send it my way. I’ll take real good care of it!!