Final Cut Pro & Multicams

I needed something a little more right-brained this weekend after a very hectic month at work.  I’ve been playing around with Final Cut Pro X and synchronizing audio and video just for fun.

Today I skipped the Superbowl and played around with some video.  Over the weekend, I got the radio broadcast of Todd Rundgren with The Metropole Orchestra, a show I was privileged enough to see live in Amsterdam on Sept 24, 2011 while on my way to Bangalore.   Just for fun, I pulled a couple of YouTube videos that were shot at the concert (one full clip, one partial clip), synched them up with the audio from the radio show, and did a multi-camera edit — just because I’d never done one before.  Once I wrapped my head around the FCPX approach, it was pretty straightforward, and didn’t take long at all.

It’s hard to describe the wall of orchestral sound that was coming at the audience from this 55-piece orchestra, in a venue that wasn’t huge, but if you look at some of the faces in the crowd, you’ll see it was a pretty special event.

I was surprised in viewing the final render at how much of a difference this approach makes in communicating what was happening (vs just a camera pointed at Todd).

Might have to go out and pick up another camera for my own videos .

Videos  here in various formats.  Pick your favorite!

• God Said – HD
• God Said – Standard
• God Said – Cellular

Here’s the video.

Top 10 of 2010

It’s time once again for the annual Top 10 list.   As a reminder, this is my subjective opinion only, and based on discs I bought and listened to repeatedly over the course of the year.

The Annual Top 10 Video is here. The video contains clips, photos, video and a bit more on what I liked about each disc.

And the list:

10.  Sessions – Nick Vernier Band

09.  Museum Quality Capture – Seinking Ships

08.  Eureka – Rooney

07.  Lies and Fairy Tales – Secret Powers

06.  Grain and Grape – Taylor Locke and the Roughs

05.  Kevin Gilbert/Toy Matinee Live – Kevin Gilbert/Toy Matinee

04.  Louder than Usual – Francis Dunnery

03.  Four – Bleu

02.  All Quiet on the Noise Floor – Jason Falkner

01.  Amerikana & Oceanea EPs – Thomas Dolby

Other discs I liked a lot (in no particular order):

• Farrah – Farrah
• The Dark Leaves – Matt Pond PA
• Galaxyland – Maple Mars
• Oranjuly – Oranjuly
• Watercolor Day – Seth Swirsky
• The Eternal Struggle for Justice – Jackdaw4
• Sunrise Highway – Sunrise Highway
• Shadows – Teenage Fanclub

The band I probably spent the most time listening to outside of these discs (but no 2010 release):  Throwback Suburbia.  These Portland-based guys are amazing.

So that’s it for another year!

WWII

I had a few spare moments here/there over the past few days, and had a little fun with some video.  Most of what’s posted on this site are Hall Family Videos.   This really isn’t a “Hall Family” vid….more of a music video for a great tune by Eric Matthews.  The tune is called “And the World Will Go,” and it can be found on the excellent _Foundation Sounds_ CD.

As I said, this isn’t really a family video, but it does contain a few interesting family photos.  Randall, Billy (grandparents) and Aunt Helen can be seen in the video if you look closely, but one of the more interesting photos was taken by Randall when he was stationed in Europe in WWII.

While back in Kansas earlier this summer, we came across a photo of what’s either some sort of rally or a religious ceremony.  If you look closely, you can see a swastika at the event.  I ended up photoshopping out the swastika from the video because it didn’t really fit the context (and might be misinterpreted), but I’ve included the original photo here.

WWII

Judging from the apparent size of the mountains in the background, I would say that those are either the Alps or the Pyrenees.  I know Grandpa was in France so I’m guessing that’s where this is.  Interesting photo.

In any case, this was a fun video to put together so I’ll probably do a few more of these.  Here’s a link to the video, which is also posted on YouTube:

• YouTube
• H.264
• QuickTime

TLL AAA Cubs 2010

I put together a quick video recap of the TLL AAA Cubs 2010 season.

This season was dominated by rain.  We had more rainouts and rescheduled games than I can ever recall.  Very wet spring.

Here is the video:

• iPod/iPad/iPod Touch
• Windows
• H.264 (Higher-Res)

For the technically-minded (geeks), here’s a little more info on “the making of” the video.  Stills were from a couple of different cameras.  One of them was a Pentax K200 (not sure about the other one).

The music, one of my favorite parts, was from Todd Rundgren’s No World Order CD.  I thought it was appropriate since Reed is a TR fan:

Reed and Todd Rundgren

Video composition was constructed using:

1. Adobe Photoshop for image editing, logo deconstruction/reconstruction into PSD format
2. A custom app from Todd Rundgren used to remove vocals from the soundtrack
3. Apple Soundtrack Pro for editing/cleanup and normalization of audio files
4. Apple Motion 4 for image segments and logo animation
5. Final Cut Pro for final composition
6. Apple Compressor for rendering

SoundTrack Pro

Then there were all those video segments….each put together with Motion 4.  I hadn’t ever done a spinning logo animation, but it was pretty simple in motion once I had the logo deconstructed into layered pieces to work with.  While a daunting program initially, this program makes a lot of sense.

Motion 4

Then final composition using Final Cut Studio, with rendering in Compressor:

Final Cut

I had a bit of fun putting together.  Enjoy.

Sounds like Ben Folds + Todd Rundgren + Burt Bacharach.  If you’re looking for loud guitars, this won’t be your cup of tea.  But if you’re looking for great piano work, harmonies, interesting arrangements, and not your typical boy-meets-girl tunes, this will fit the bill.

From the web site, it looks like these guys are getting close to a new release.  Can’t wait.

Here’s a sample.

The Syn 2009

Some of my favorite 2009 releases thus far could be categorized as New Progressive.  And oddly enough, they seem to be centered around Francis Dunnery.

Dunnery teamed up with Tom Brislin (another of my staples from Spiraling) and Steve Nardelli to produce the latest “The Syn” CD entitled “Big Sky.”

Rehearsals 1

For those not familiar, The Syn was basically the precursor to Yes, and the project has continued to evolve over 40 years.  That’s a band with staying power.

Rehearsals 2

In this incarnation, Francis was the producer, music director, and he put together a fantastic record.

The record won’t actually be released until 4/24, but Umbrello Records has a special digital package available now that includes a digital download of the disc….and, of course, given the lineup, I bit on the offer.

Francis is all over the CD, but I’m still hoping to hear more Tom Brislin stuff (he’s an amazing player).  Granted I haven’t listened to it all the way thru so I’m guessing I’ll discover things with each spin.

Rehearsals 3

If you’re wondering what the connection is to this site….I’ve had the privilege of seeing both Tom Brislin and Francis Dunnery play live, and I’m going to try to catch the live tour for this record.

Rehearsals 4

Randy & Francis Dunnery

Enough pix…here’s a sample.

Reed created this EP all by himself today using Dad’s Mac and a crowd of thousands, as you’ll hear on the EP.  The crowd couldn’t get enough.  Good thing Mom made a big ham for Easter Dinner.

Download your copy, all-pre-tagged and ready for your iPod here.

Track Listing:

1. Secrets
2. Peace
3. Scream
4. Smoothie
5. Shake It

I’m on trip #4 to Helsinki this week. Normally, I take time for an “Ed Hall” adventure. My dad always tells me not to “do anything Ed Hall wouldn’t do.” In other words, be careful when you’re in a foreign country.

That usually doesn’t stop me (sorry, Dad), but I got distracted yesterday. I spent most of the morning finishing prep work for meetings, that started in the afternoon, but as I was considering my options, it occurred to me that I hadn’t taken advantage of the fact that I was in Europe and might be able to pick up some good import music that’s super-expensive in the US.

In particular, I’d been trying to get my hands on the new It Bites disc (Tall Ships) that came out in Europe last October, but is not for sale in the US.  For those who aren’t familiar, It Bites is a group of Cumbrian progressives, formerly led by Francis Dunnery.  Dunnery opted out of the project, but the band replaced him with a guy called John Mitchell, who sounds like a cross between Francis and Peter Gabriel.  Great voice, great player.  Anyway, I had tried everything to get my hands on this disc: ordered off Amazon’s import list, tried going through the band web site, trolling the It Bites lists for anyone looking to sell a used one somewhere. No luck.

A quick Google search revealed that there were about 5 indie record stores in Helsinki center center that looked promising. I’m not good at reading Finnish (ok, I can’t read it at all), so that ruled out a couple right off the bat. I came across an entry for Popparienkeli – Popangel one that had an “English” option, and did a quick search on “It Bites” “Tall Ships.” To my surprise, it came back with a hit that showed they had one on hand.

After punching in the address on my GPS phone, I grabbed my coat and headed out.  Through the magic of GPS, I was there after about a 20 minute walk from the hotel.  As it turns out, the shop is owned/operated by an older guy and his son.  When I asked the proprietor if he had it, I was amazed that he knew exactly where it was (there’s a guy who knows his store).  And it was mine.  After months of searching, I had a copy of the elusive disc, which I immediately imported via iTunes and loaded onto my iPod.

Obligatory dork picture goes here:

My big find in Helsinki

The disc came in really handy because I woke up at 2am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I gave the disc a solid listen.  And it’s phenomenal.

Here’s a sample of the first two tracks that grabbed me:  Great Disasters, and When I Fall.

There’s a 9-minute video of Bob Dalton (drummer) recording his drum part for “Great Disasters” here.

So, Dad, so far I’ve listened, and haven’t had an “Ed Hall” Adventure yet.  Not sure I’m going to have time on this trip either – hectic agenda.

Tuesday March 03, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO – Roger Powell releases Blue Note Ridge, a collection of improvisations that embrace classical melody, contemporary harmony and impressionist forms on this debut solo piano album. A stream of consciousness merging styles and eras, Blue Note Ridge is pure, elegant and honest.

In the 70’s and 80’s Roger Powell’s groundbreaking electronic synthesizer albums Cosmic Furnace (Atlantic) and Air Pocket (Bearsville) were hailed as masterworks. Powell has always been held in high esteem by his peers. “Even among the keyboard titans of the prog-rock Seventies, Roger Powell always stood out.” (Future Music U.S. Ed.- June 2006).

2006 signaled a welcome return of Roger Powell with the retro-futuristic, groove oriented, Fossil Poets (Inner Knot CD/Vinyl LP). The critically acclaimed release was produced by award winning producer Gary Tanin, who along with Powell, produced the 2009 solo piano offering Blue Note Ridge.

Fossil Poet Records is releasing Blue Note Ridge as a Limited Edition CD through CDBaby as well as digital download by way of iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, and Mindawn (offering a cutting-edge lossless format for superior audio fidelity).

Contact:
Gary Tanin
Daystorm Music

email : daystormusic@garytanin.com
website : http://www.fossilpoets.com
MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/fossilpoets