To help us – and a lot of other people – on our way, companies like Izotope and Waves are producing a new generation of audio plugins to help composers and musicians get great sounding results that are much closer to a finished product than ever before. Each plugin provides a series of pre-sets designed for specific applications (processing, drums, guitars, synths, vocals, stems, or even mastering final mixes). The plugins then allow you to tweak the presets to your taste using a series of simple and well laid out controls.

Different companies have taken their own approach to these products. For example, Izotope developed their own bundled suite of plugins for processing a wide variety of audio: Alloy, another suite for processing vocals: Nectar and another for mastering audio: Ozone

The folks at Waves teamed up with big name producers and engineers to develop plugins that model and recreate the signal paths of the hardware they use to create their signature sounds. Examples of the best Artist Signature Collections by Waves (which can be bought individually or bundled) are those developed with Chris Lord-Alge, Eddie Kramer and Tony Maserati. I was able to meet and speak with Chris, Eddie and Tony after they live demoed their collections at a recent AES show, and these guys were very gracious, informative and encouraging.

Give these plugins a look and see what they can do for your productions. There are plenty of reviews about them available online. Because they work better with some types of music than others, I strongly recommend downloading the free demos and test driving them first. We use many of these products in our projects, and we like ‘em very much. Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day…

Anthony@LiveBody

Music composition, sound design and music licensing will still be among our core services, only now we’ll be doing….more.

As all this “big stuff” is going on behind the scenes, I’m also going to start experimenting with posts, tweets etc. that have audio in them as well as snippets of content from very talented people I’ve come to know via social networking.

Stay tuned.  I promise it will all be worth the wait…

Anthony@LiveBody

If you have experienced emotional abuse, or if you know someone who has, give Heart Transplant a look.  It was my pleasure to compose the music and do the editing for this video.  Thanks, and make today count…

Anthony@LiveBody

I’ve also been enjoying Dark Horse’s Star Wars: Knight Errant.  There’s a novel coming out based on a separate adventure of Kerra Holt later this month.  Star Wars: Legacy is back as well, and I’m thrilled about that.  There’s also the ongoing Dark Tower stuff from Marvel, Buffy Season Eight from Dark Horse (which is drawing to a close), and a bunch of other stuff. 

Speaking of Dark Horse, I’ve read Andrew Vachss’ Heart Transplant several times since its release in October 2010.  That’s a book everyone needs to read and understand.  Watch for a separate post about some of the work we’ve done to help promote the book.  I’m also getting ready to read Mr. Vachss’ latest novel, The Weight. 

So, what’s all this have to do with music?  Comics are highly visual — like the media of film and television.  We have several projects in the works that touch on several different media.  We’re also exploring the possibility of venturing into the evolving media of motion comics and interactive books.  It’s too early to say more about it at this point, but rest assured, we’ll have more to say on the subject. 

In closing, one of my new personal favorites in the comic space is Joe Benitez’ Lady Mechanika.  This book has amazing art-work, strong characters and a highly compelling story set in an alternate steampunk past.  I hear lots of music when I read this book.  See below for one of the covers of Lady Mechanika #1 for your viewing pleasure.  Stay tuned, folks.  There will be many missives released to this site about many cool things we’re involved in, and the cool people with whom we’re partnering.  A fine evening to all…

Anthony at Live Body

So, tell us what you’ll be doing outside this spring by sending a note to bodies@livebodyproductions.com. We’d love to hear from you. Enjoy your day…

Anthony @ Live Body

I’ll be attending the premiere of Cara Shatzman’s “Euphemia” at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television First Run Film Festival in New York City on April 9, 2010.  Live Body composed the score for this animated short between late 2009 and early 2010.  More information about the film and the event can be found by clicking here.

It’s always nice to get back to New York to attend industry events, and to see the host of family and friends I have in the area. There’s news brewing on other fronts as well, so stay tuned for further updates, and make the most of your day…

Anthony @ Live Body

The first title in the company’s catalogue is Andrew Vachss’ “Step On A Crack.”  The story was originally published in Mr. Vachss’ “Born Bad” collection, and it is performed by Ean Sheehy (CSI: Criminal Intent).  The following description is from the MPformance.com website.

“For decades, Andrew Vachss has been asked: “Who would you like to play Burke on the screen?” His answer has never varied: “I’d want an open casting call, because I know there are better ‘undiscovered’ (meaning ‘unconnected’) actors out there than you’ve ever heard of. Me, I’d want the best. And I know I’d have the best chance of finding the perfect dog in a shelter than I would at an AKC show.”

MPformance is our attempt to replicate that “open casting call.” We’re selling mp3 audiofiles of performances — not “readings” — of short stories by actors you’ve never heard of … yet. Our performances are always less than a dollar. “

As additional stories and performances are selected by the MPformance team, Live Body will enhance them with music and sound.  So, be sure to visit www.mpformance.com and get a copy of Step On A Crack.  The MPformance launch will be covered in a variety of media, so stay tuned for information.

To mark this wonderful occasion, I’m going to pull out some archival audio from an interview I recorded with Geraldine earlier this year and post some clips in the Interviews page of this site. Stay tuned for details… Anthony at Live Body