Updates for this week:

1. I finished the 1.0 mix of Conrad Kehn’s Elegy. This was the first complete edit from the 6 takes in the session. The composer requested a few changes, and I finished the 1.1 yesterday.

2. Continued work on Hsing-Ay Hsu’s recording of the Barber concerto. Editing and tone matching.

3. Started the spring semester: my final semester of course work ever.

4. Met with Leslie Gaston on Wednesday to discuss the pedagogy project on critical listening training.

5. Continued work for Mentormeter.

1st entry of the New Year. Couple of updates.

1. I got a copy of the CD I mastered for Conrad Kehn and Marc Clifford. I like it.

2. Did a couple of sessions: a piano quintet and Conrad Kehn’s string trio piece Elegy

3. Sketch work for new chamber/multimedia piece with working title Last Words.

4. Idea for MS thesis.

5. Continued work for William Hill

6. Continued work on SFS for Mentormeter Media

7. Started prep work for teaching next semester.

I’m really enjoying working from home again. During fall semester, I was usually gone 10-12 hours a day. It  was a great change of pace after working at home for several years, but it really started to wear on me towards the end. A couple of weeks at home will be nice. Hopefully, next semester will be a bit more balanced.

Current projects:

1. Copy work for William Hiil

2. Continued work on a wind ensemble work for Mentormeter Media

3. Started sketch work on something new – multimedia, electro-acoustic, vocals – more to come

Wow! It has been a while. This semester has been a whirlwind. Finishing my dissertation, carrying 17 credit hours in a concurrent masters program, teaching at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and doing enough contract composition work to pay my bills was so overwhelming that I just had to put my head down and keep working.

An overview of the last few months:

1. Finished and defended my dissertation for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition. I will walk for the degree next week.

2. Completed 17 hours towards my second masters degree, a Master of Science in Recording Arts, at the University of Colorado, Denver

• This included a project in Audio for Post Production – a complete soundtrack for a three minute segment of film including all dialog and effects (backgrounds, foley, and cut FX).
• Recorded Sins of Babylon, a local metal band
• Recorded Nataniel Rateliff and the Wheel as part of their pre-production work for their upcoming Rounder release.
• Recorded New Ancient Astronauts
• Recorded the Metro State Orchestra  on several occasions and did a project comparing stereo microphone techniques for large ensemble
• Did my first remix project using Logic
• Master class on studio design with John Storyk
• Master class on virtual production with Sandy Hoover
• Master class on acoustics and concert hall design with Robert Mahoney

3. Continued contract composition work for Mentormeter Media, LLC.

• Boca-Motion for Alto Saxophone Wind Ensemble with J.S. Abramowitz
• WIP wind ensemble piece
• Arrangements of several tunes for a synagogue

4. Taught several composition majors at CU-Boulder

5. I will likely be working on an audio post project for UCD next semester as part of a scholarship opportunity.

6. Started the academic job search process again

7. Re-arranged the home studio. Since I am really only editing and mixing at home, I moved my control room back in the larger room. It is more comfortable and makes more sense for me now. I also bought a new Mac and upgraded to Pro Tool 8.

Gotta run. To be continued…

1. Started the MSRA (MS Recording Arts) program at the University of Colorado-Denver last week. I’m very excited.
2. Finished formating the bound copy of some dissertation docs.
3. Very close to a complete first draft of the research doc for the dissertation.
4. Sorting through all of the video I’ve collected this summer and started to edit and process.

It has been a while since my last update. I have continued to work on various projects this summer.

1. Dissertation research doc.
2. Guitar and percussion piece
3. Mentormeter Media work
4. Loeffler project
5. Transcription work
6. production of hhkkhaaouummp recording
7. shooting video for use with my live performances. Learning Jitter.

I took a trip to NYC in June. I have also been riding my bike a bit and doing some gardening. I have visited with a lot of friends and colleagues.

1. Did another ambient work with processed organillo for the film music series.
2. Continued work for Mentormeter Media ”band-”strating the viola piece.
3. Finished a pass on the remix of Powder. Not quite ready for re-release yet.
4. Packaged some promo CDs.

New Ground ambient piece up on the ground site at http://mysterycabal.com/artists/ground

in the WIP (Work in Progress) folder.

Rhythm tracks by lani milbus.

Electronic manipulation of organillo by me.

1. Finally a breakthrough: New Ground track. Planning a new album. It owes a lot to Joe Preston, as I think he is a fraking genius. It is posted in the WIP album here
2. Work for Mentormeter Media.
3. Straightened out confusion about Comp Project 2. That and Dissertation Project 4 should be in the books soon.
4. Started a jazz guitar practice routine. I never really had any inclination to learn to play jazz on guitar until quite recently. Not sure where it will go, but it is fun.
5. Finishing a new Ground track seems to have helped break through the creative glacier I’ve been stuck in. I’m working on the wind ensemble arrangement of Song & Dance. Also doing an arrangement of Abramowitz’s viola piece for sax/wind ensemble. I feel inspired for the first time in a few months.
6. Made a few tweaks to the Prospectus for the research doc based on Jeremy Smith’s advice.
7. Discovered that I can likely finish the MSRA program in a year. That would be nice.

Been a few weeks since the last post:

1. FLE Vol. I Nos. 2 and 4 are up on the Mystery Cabal site. Almost done with all of the reissues.
2. Continued confusion about Composition Project 2.
3. Prospectus for research doc submitted to committee.
4. Submitted abstract for a conference next fall.
5. Finished all teaching responsibilities for the year.
6. Accepted admission to the MSRA program at University of Colorado – Denver.
7. Work for Mentormeter Media.
8. Large rework on the coding for the brandonvaccaromusic.com website. Trimmed the size down by about 40%.
9. Added artists websites for mysterycabal.com – Free Love Ensemble, Kallisti, Coefficient of Friction, S. Lyn Goeringer and Brandon Vaccaro, and Ground.
10. Sketched a bit, but I am still unbelievably unmotivated to compose right now. Frustrated, broke, hungry, and depressed.