My new book “Acoustic and MIDI Orchestration for the Contemporary Composer” is ready for print. It will be published in October 2007 by Focal Press. This is the same publisher of my previous book “Creative Sequencing Techniques for Music Production” (2005).

As a related project I am also working on a new web site AcousticMIDIorchestration.com  that serves as a companion for my latest

book.

The web site will provide a series of informations and services related to MIDI orchestration such as reviews, forums, articles, interviews, music examples and more updated weekly. The goal is to create a community of acoustic and MIDI orchestrators and composers in order to improve your skills and inspire your with new ideas. The site will be up and running by September, 2007.

I am working on my next album entitled “A GPCRs Groove”. It is an innovative music project based on the protein sequence of Rhodopsin. The project is based on a suite of 7 original compositions inspired and harmonically/melodically built over the sequence of amino-acids found in a specific protein called “Rhodopsin”. This protein is responsible for the vision in animals and human beings.

As part of the Puma 1977 Remix Contest I created an original remix of “See the Changes” by legendary rock group CSN (Crosby, Still & Nash). To listen to the remix click the play button below.

The idea for this remix came right from the 1977 theme. I was looking for something that would express the spirit of that year. The song "See the Changes" by CSN was a perfect fit. I love that album and the spirit and groove was right.

I used Logic Pro and Live 6 as my main software tools, rewired together running on a G5 DP. All soft synths are from Logic Pro (Ultrabeat, ES2, EVP88) with the addition of Virtual Guitarist, Camel5000 and a bunch of original and stock loops. Live provided the canvas for importing and tweaking the original song (which I bumped up to 87BPM from the original 83BPM tempo in order to get a slightly "hotter" groove). The opening vintage voice is an actual speech by President Carter recorded in 1977 and tweaked in Logic.

The other background voices are from different contemporary TV recordings I did with my Powerbook using its internal microphone in order to get a more "lo-fi" effect.

The vocals and original lyrics are from my dear friend and colleague Lisa Garver. Working with her has been fantastic, a great source of inspiration! The track was mastered using the excellent Ozone by iZotope. I produced the track over a week of work in my studio in Boston using a Tascam DM24 digital mixer, Event 20/20 speakers, MOTU828 audio interface, MIDI Time Piece MIDI Interface and a Roland A-33 controller.

iDrum Rock Edition for iPhone released!

The new iDrum Rock Edition for iPhone has been released today. The application is created and distributed by iZotope. I programmed all the patterns and the sounds.

iDrum Rock Edition includes real acoustic drum sounds and fun rock-themed samples including guitar riffs, bass notes, keys and special effects. iDrum’s interface makes it easy to rock out by mixing and matching sounds, even if you’ve never made music before.

iDrum Rock Edition’s high quality acoustic drum samples also make this app a must-have drum machine for guitarists, bassists and other musicians that want to use their iPhone or iPod touch for practice or performance! A set of extra kits are included without instruments and effects, letting you instantly play along.

Buy it now!
(iTunes Store link)