Yoko Sawai opens by saying that the Piano is a fundamental part of everything she does and is and yet, it’s with a tiny hint of shame and a subtle “can you believe it?” that she admits never having been that kid who goes around saying how much she loves music and how important piano is to her.
The importance of using reference tracks while mixing and how to use them.One of the first things I do when I schedule a time to record a band is asking them what albums, and songs they like the sound quality. I ask so I get a good idea of what they might be *subconsciously* looking for in a mix or master. Then I will ask, “What would you like your reference track for the mixing process to be?”
Putting on a show of original material for the first time can be an altogether daunting, confronting and exhilarating experience. My first performance as an original artist (beyond a forgettable jazz trio in the background of some corporate event) was a cacophony of forgotten lyrics and drunken ramblings. I’m certain a cat or a dog would’ve done a better job.
When an opportunity comes your way that requests you step outside of your comfort zone, what do you do? You could ignore it. That would be too easy. Or, you could say yes to the unknown and see where that path will take you. As a performer, I love doing what I do. I always have, and I always will. But like most performers, I am constantly searching for ways to grow as an artist and feed my artistic appetite.
Vibration in quantum physics means that “everything is energy”. We are beings that vibrate at certain frequencies. Each vibration is equivalent to a feeling and in the “vibrational” world, there are only two types of vibrations, the positive and the negative. Any feeling causes you to emit a vibrational frequency that can be positive or negative.
Music. How can I start being involved in music? I’ve been asked this in some form or another from time to time. There will always be more than one path to follow, I promise. So, perhaps the real question is, how can I start following my path?
The first 10 minutes after you wake up is the most influential time of your day, so it’s important to have a mindful routine and method in place to make sure your mind and body are happy from the start.
For some of us, our lives feel somewhat planned out. For others, spontaneity reigns. I fall into the latter! No matter how I try to decide the path to take, life loves to throw me as many curve balls as it can muster. (Most likely chuckling at me as it pitches) I used to fight it, but in the last few years, I’ve been able to get in the game and get excited about how I’m going to handle each new surprise as it explodes into my life.
So to say it simply, my process, is not a straight path from A to B. I try to let my mind be free. Free it from the constraints one might assume to composition. To just allow the present to affect the future, to live in the moment, to not judge or predetermine what it is that I’m creating.
The college audition process has become a crazy, highly competitive world over the last 10 years. Our team of professionals have been tracking the changes and demands that this process puts on young BA and BFA hopefuls for the last several years. Working closely, with not only our students but with the colleges themselves, we have heard about the challenges and headaches that face all sides.
Brazil is a huge country, the largest in Latin America, and already has more than 200 million inhabitants. Discovered in 1500 by Portuguese colonizers, it is a country that has never stopped receiving immigrants; absorbing their cultures, and mixing with them. As a consequence, it has become one of the most multicultural countries on our beloved planet Earth. And this plurality reflects directly on all aspects of our culture and habits.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with how many things you need to do and there is just not enough hours in a day? Looking at next week hoping it will be an eight-day week rather than seven? Hands up, I am one of this people! Learning how to say no to things have been a bloody hard journey for me. I think learning how to say no and prioritise yourself is something that applies to both full-timers and freelancers.
I think we can all agree that the impact of music on an audience is undeniable… Music has been around since the dawn of civilization and nothing indicates that it will ever cease to move, inspire and motivate us. It has evolved to become a fundamental part of human life and the human mind has evolved to perceive music as the universal language we all speak. It is without doubts nor reservations when I say that music is one of the most powerful tools we, as showmakers, possess.
Graduating theatre students often exit school excited to pursue a career in the performance arts, only to find out that there are minimal initial opportunities for success. There is a very limited capacity for inexperienced performers to artistically create in such a competitive industry.
Hamilton is that once-in-a-lifetime show that comes around and continues to astound Broadway fans, history buffs, music enthusiasts and the everyman alike. After its record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations and subsequent 11 wins, the bloodbath-esque process of scoring a ticket, and the triple platinum status of the cast album, it would be a challenge to find someone who isn’t obsessed with, or at least appreciates the brilliance of Lin Manuel Miranda’s revolutionary (don’t mind the pun) Broadway sensation.
The extremely talented Julie McInnes has spent her life immersed in performance. An accomplished musician, actress, and singer, she has had a long career from expressing herself creatively for Circus Oz to playing a lead character on tour to delivering the daily grind of resident shows in Las Vegas. Julies shares with TheatreArtLife insight into her life, career, and thoughts on the theatre industry and her path within it.
Life as a non-traditional Hispanic artist.
If you are reading this you are probably interested in the different lives of people in live entertainment. Where do I start? Well, I am a bit of a gypsy.
Being torn limb from limb in Australia, Sydney’s live music scene is in a war against broad sweeping measures to protect people from a harmful minority but offering them no place to go.
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