Rick Reifenstein

Here is one of the latest reviews of the Healing Circle Message DVD that I wrote the music for. "...distinct and expressive; music was original and soothing; and the organization was good, I particularly liked the 'with' and 'without' instruction sections. I can't wait to get home and try it." ~ Steven B, ND I'm continuing to work on the next set of cues to send to Jingle Punks for licensing, I'm also looking at other companies to license music through. However Jingle Punks still seems to be the best! In this new set of cues I am going to continue to explore the mix between ambient electronic and symphonic scores.

I took the day off from the studio last night. I just wanted some quality time with the kids and my wife. We watched some of our favorite shows. I made some nachos using peppers from the garden. Boy you can't beat fresh peppers. After dinner I watched a great video from TED 2008. I can't remember the name of the conductor that gave the lecture. The point was however that no one is tone deaf and anyone can enjoy classical music. It was great! He got everyone in the audience understanding a little more about not only classical music but I believe music in general. Music is more than notes. It's more than sound. It emotion encoded. It's visions encoded. It's memories encoded. Encoded with tones and sound. Sound that has the power to evoke memories that have been lost or repressed. He also used a piece from Chopin to show a little about the thought process in music composition. He showed how we as human listeners know instinctively where the "home" chord is in

I know I am going to one of many writing about Les today. My Father turned me on to Les Paul and all that he did for recording. I took that initial introduction and ran with it. I wrote papers on Lester and listened to hours and hours of recordings of interviews and studio sessions. When I could buy my first electric I bought a Les Paul copy. Almost immediately after hearing Les talk about playing with the phase of the pickups I took screw driver to pickup and flipped the neck pick up around. When played with the rear I got a totally different sound than any one else my age. His influence didn't end with the guitar. With only a 2 track reel to reel tape recorder I used his techniques to do sound on sound recording in my bedroom. His desire to explore new sonic territory will be his lasting influence on me. Les Paul will be greatly missed.

This weekend was mainly about getting masters together to send to Jingle Punks to be included in their Jingle Player. After spending most of the day outside catching up on much needed yard work; the studio lights were turned on the equipment lit up around 7:30pm. There were a lot of session to get through. most of them were recorded during the Living Dead Festival writing sessions last summer and fall. One of the things I realized I was listening for were instrument lines that would interfere with potential voice overs. since some of what Jingle Punks tracks have been used for are promos I wanted to be sure that I didn't have instruments that were in the sonic range of the human voice. It would interfere with any voice over that may be laid on the track. I was making sure that each cue was a good "bed" for what ever maybe over top. There were a few violin lines, and percussion lines that just didn't need to be. Of course one thing I struggled with was fatigue and over

Last night's session in the studio mainly focused on determining what would be sent to Jingle Punks to be licensed. I had a pretty good idea, but needed to go back and listen to the actual session recordings. There were a few surprises like tracks muted because they didn't fit the original idea feel, but may work as an underscore for someone else. There was a lot of "Why the hell did I mute that? That sounds great?" There were plenty of "Why did I label that session that way?" There were a lot of "I gotta create a better system for labeling sessions!" There was even a session that I completely forgot about that was a great piece of music. I tried to stay away from mixing or re-mastering last night. It was tough. I did end up tweaking some stuff and even laying down a timpani roll. For the most part I just listened. At the end of the night I wasn't very tired so I fiddled with a vsti string rompler to compare it to Logic's samples for the EX

I heard from Jingle Punks yesterday. I'm in! I'm really excited and look forward to working with them. I am also excited about finally having my ASCAP membership do something for me. Up until know the biggest thing that my membership provided was a card to use as a scraper for my car wind sheild when it would ice up in the winter. Just kidding ASCAP. It's not their fault. I just didn't have a reason to send stuff to get protected under a PRO before. Jingle Punks is a young company. Young but growing. I feel like I won't just be lost in the shuffle of artists. Last week was our vacation back up North. We visited with family, drank beer, played cards and made some great salsa! Oh yes! Once you make fresh salsa you will never go back to stuff in a jar again. OK back to work. A lot to catch up on!