Current News

NEWS — WINTER 2009 EDITION

Hi All:

As I write this Thanksgiving is just past, with December hard on its heels. Wishing you all the best for the holidays! Here's what we have been up to:

RONNIE LAWSON PRODUCTIONS

Ronnie Lawson is one of the premier composers and bandleaders currently making music for live industrial shows. I have been working as his principal engineer for pre-records, pitch tracks, video underscoring, etc. for nearly 10 years. He has done shows for: American Express, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bloomberg, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Cisco, FedEx, IBM, L'Oreal, MCI, Merck, Motorola, Nextel, Schering-Plough, Sprint, Verizon, Walmart and Wendy's, to name a few — a veritable A to (almost) Z of major corporations.

We just finished recording and mixing four pieces for a big show in Orlando, FL, a product launch for a major pharmaceutical company*. The show featured a five piece rock band, backed by a forty piece orchestra with orchestrations by and conducted by Irwin Fisch. Also featured was 13 year-old actor/singer/guitar playing phenomenon Brian D'Addario, pictured below. Having worked with Brian on the pre-records, I can only say that if I were the Jonas Brothers, I'd be very nervous! The band was a who's who of NYC music stalwarts: singer/guitarist Steve Conte, guitarist John Putnam, bassist Lincoln Schleifer, Ronnie (keyboards, leader) and drummer Dennis McDermott.

L to R — Steve Conte, John Putnam, Brian D'Addario, Lincoln Schleifer, Ronnie Lawson, Dennis McDermott

* Note: Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to name the company or the product in this article. All very hush-hush!

MARCO JOACHIM, JOE MARDIN AT NUNOISE:

I have been working for a good part of 2009 with singer/songwriter Marco Joachim on his forthcoming CD "Hidden Symphonies". Our relationship began when I produced his previous CD "Songville". We had a great time, exploring Marco's country and folk influences. At the end of the Songville project, we found ourselves both wishing we could do yet another project, exploring more of Marco's stylistic roots, particularly going back to British Invasion rock'n'roll. "Hidden Symphonies" is the realization of that wish.

Most recently we took our hard drive and decamped to Nunoise Studios, the domain of Joe Mardin, a formidable producer/composer and an excellent drummer. In an intense two days, Joe laid down great drum performances on nine songs slated for the album, while I engineered. We are now in the home stretch, hoping to have all our elements laid in and mixed by early 2010.

L to R — JG, Joe Mardin and Marco Joachim at Nunoise

MY CHANGING PLANET SPECIAL PREVIEW RELEASE

The My Changing Planet CD is now available for the holidays! An entertaining collection of songs and spoken word pieces, it features artists such as Joan Osborne, Toby Lightman, The Wiyos, Everett Bradley and many more. The songs reach out to young people to stimulate an interest in the world around us, and in environmental issues in particular. I was the principal producer/engineer on the project, and also the primary arranger and instrumentalist.

Proceeds from My Changing Planet go to the Nature Conservancy, so it is truly a green gift choice. My Changing Planet is available as a CD or download from mychangingplanet.com, as well as from Amazon and iTunes. If you have young people on your shopping list, it makes an excellent stocking stuffer!

MORE JGMP NEWS

In collaboration with Eytan Mirsky, I just produced a track for a very promising young singer/songwriter, Rochelle Bellin. The song we worked on, "Supposed to Know" can be heard on indabamusic.com. We hope to be hearing much more from Rochelle in the future!

We also mastered a lovely CD of traditional Irish fiddle tunes by fiddler Gráinne Murphy, recorded, mixed and produced by John Walsh.

FOR NERDS ONLY IS BACK!

We have some BIG nerdy news! Every now and then, technology delivers one of those science fiction moments when you're suddenly able to do something that by all common sense should be impossible. Celemony, the German company that makes Melodyne pitch correction software, has just delivered one of those moments in spades!

We recently installed the brand new version of Melodyne Editor. This version has what Celemony calls "DNA" or Direct Note Access, a technology that took them several years to develop. Melodyne Editor can take a mono track and break it out into polyphonic components that can be manipulated individually. That means you can retune the vocal without causing the piano leakage to sound like a warped record, or fix the one out-of-tune note in a guitar chord, or simply mute the vocal leakage in a guitar track. For those of us who deal with audio corrective work on a regular basis, it is an invaluable tool. And we have it. And it works. And we're not afraid to use it!

PRIVATE INSTRUCTION, PRO TOOLS TROUBLESHOOTING

Increasingly, musicians, composers and producers are creating significant parts of their work in home studios, under sometimes less than optimal conditions. Responding to a number of requests in this area, I am now available to instruct and troubleshoot on a private basis. Call or email for availability and scheduling.

BRAZEN PLUG SECTION

We are always interested in new recording projects! We can provide a wide range of audio and music production related services, both creative and technical, and can tailor our approach to your needs. Studio tours, consultations, budget estimates, etc. are available free, on request.

Best regards,

Jon