New Project: Foley Fiction – a Soundtrack without a Film

This was my final assignment for my Electronic Composition Class at Penn with Professor Primosch. Almost all featured sounds are made from manipulated sine waves, chirps, or (mostly) recordings of me singing or speaking or making noise into a microphone. I recorded a crowd of students throwing frisbees as well as some ambient city sounds in the middle of the night, but those samples were used sparsely and every sound in this project is ‘foley.’

Here is a narration to guide you through this film soundtrack [without a film]:

Incognito at his daytime desk job at the office, an assassin receives an assignment via telephone. He clears his desk, packs his bag, quickly grabs his keys, and walks casually to the elevator around the corner from his cubicle. He takes the elevator down four flights, then its doors open onto a train station. Crossing a platform, pop music plays on the radio. The assassin walks through the station unnoticed to his parked motorcycle. Across the platform, the assassin boards and starts his motorcycle. He rides the motorcycle through a windy set of tunnels, until… he reaches a large crowded roadside restaurant. He parks his motorcycle, strolls along the sidewalk until he reaches a table in the middle of the street-side seating where – he fires a single shot, eliminating his target.  In the wake of his crime’s commission, the assassin skulks away unseen.

I created this project using Audacity and Logic Pro 7.

Enjoy: HERE IT IS.

Dischord Retrospective: Four Years of A Cappella at Penn

Graduating, soon, I have been thinking a lot about my time at Penn, specifically acting as an arranger, conductor, music director, soprano/mezzo, studio producer, and board member of Dischord A Cappella. Dischord is a co-ed group that was founded at the University of Pennsylvania back in 1998. The group performs a cappella covers spanning all genres – pop, indie, rock, country, jazz, folk, world, and fusion. Under my direction, the group has featured many mash-ups and medleys in its covers.

You can read a full account of my arranging credits for the group, here: Sarah Van Sciver, ’13, Soprano

Solo performances at our semesterly concerts:

I am an arranger for hire! Professional or non-professional vocal groups of all experience levels — all-male, all-female, or co-ed — contact me if you are interested in having something arranged.

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New Piano/Vocal Pop Arrangement: Regina Spektor’s “Blue Lips”

Cover features piano, lead soprano + backing trio (soprano, mezzo, alto)…

–> check out the cover:

 [I’m singing and playing all parts.]

…and of course check out the original Regina Spektor is AMAZING. Saw her in concert last year in Boston at the Orpheum, and she and her husband and both of their bands were fantastic live!

A Cappella Arrangements – Live Performances Spring 2013

my UPenn a cappella group, Dischord, just had a spring concert last weekend on 4/6. Here are links to songs I arranged or co-arranged with other members that were performed at the show:

Fade Into You

Feelin Good

Glitter in the Air

I Want it That Way/Boy band Mashup

I Won’t Give Up/Mraz Mredley

Locked Out of Heaven

Morning Song (<– I’m the soloist on this one)

Soldier

When Love Takes Over

find out more about Dischord HERE

NEW TRACKS! Inspired by/Commissioned for Stim Children’s Theatre’s Production of ROBIN HOOD

  1. Enter the Hero for trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, and percussion
  2. The Sheriff for harmonica, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, and percussion
  3. The Final Fight for piccolo, flute, harp, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, and two percussionists
  4. Through Brush and through Briar for flute, oboe, harp, and mandolin
  5. Chase for violin, viola, cello, and contrabass

come see the show! –> RSVP here

thanks for listening!

…Just Added Two More Tracks to my Music Page!

check these out:

I co-produced Baltimore Ave and was the only producer for Lights Out, and I can’t wait to be in the studio again this spring with Dischord!

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New Project: Sound Editing and Mixing

For an assignment in Professor Terry Adkins’ Sonic Measures course at UPenn this spring, our first project was to choose an audio source, then to deconstruct and make something unrecognizable from it (so the end result is not obviously tied to or traceable to its original audio source). I chose Bobby McFerrin’s a cappella track that plays under the Pixar short film Knick Knack. We used Logic to use editing and mixing functions to create something entirely new by recycling and modifying our sound source. Mixing tools were used to enhance the environmental/other qualities of our projects.

My goal was to create a sound scape evocative of biking through a construction zone or busy city, like the Big Dig or Boston, MA more generally.

…Sonic Measures Project: “Knack Knick”…

Cool Music Videos (videos about music)

Working on several composition and arrangement projects at once, so stay tuned for new postings coming soon!

…but in the meantime, check out this great video repository of live interviews with leading musicians, music professionals, and music educators on Berklee’s Livestream site:

* Stephen Webber on Music Production Analysis

* Peter Bell on Jingle-Writing

Love the key of G minor? …You’re in luck! Check out this new piece â™«

This is the newest installment of a collection of pieces I’ve set out to compose and complete throughout 2013.

  • Check out more of my music HEREthere are some new additions, including “The Infinite Boy” (written for the same UPenn student film as “The Infinite Loop;” both are now listed on my Music page under Compositions/film scoring genre)

Let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy this one 🙂