What was he working on?
(1) A remix of David Bowie's "Changes." As published in a previous blog post, Trey expressed interest in revamping this classic Bowie song. Inspired by Macklemore (@macklemore), he set off to create his own rendition of "Changes" by injecting rap breaks infused with hip hop. He proved voracious in his approach, for he scoured the campus for local talent. He brought in student trombonists, consulted faculty musicians for guitar, and even called upon a student rapper for the main line. Trey ran into scheduling difficulties with his on-campus musicians, however, and at that point the process halted indefinitely. He attempted to reach out to professionals in NYC, but these efforts did not yield results. For now, then, the project is at a standstill; perhaps he will be able to revisit it while at Full Sail.
(2) A jazz line overlaid with dubstep.
As he said before to the IP faculty, Trey has a penchant for jazz and big band. What if, he posed, he designed a music mash-up combining these styles with electronic/dubstep? He made in-roads into this pursuit, but this too remains a work that he can revisit only post-Kildonan.
(3) An updated black and white cartoon.This project constituted the bulk of Trey's work. One day Mr. Klvana approached the sound design class and posed that they select a clip and replace some of the sounds with their own. After hunting on the Internet for some time, Trey discovered Disney (@Disney)'s "Mickey Mouse: Mickey's Mechanical Man." Released on June 17, 1933, this black and white cartoon saw Mickey Mouse (per his original animation) create a robot and enter him into a boxing match with a gorilla, "Kongo Killer." This clip possessed interesting sounds, so Trey selected this piece as the one that he would revamp. To see the original clip, click here.
Once he had made his decision, Trey set off on a sustained process of
sound engineering. He was kind enough, too, to invite the IP faculty to
his workspace so that we could begin to comprehend his process.
Separated in a small room, Trey manipulated ProTools on a desktop
computer with his laptop, a microphone, and various instruments
positioned nearby. Viewing multiple lines of sound at once, Trey would
highlight particular sections of the original clip and then begin to
fashion his own in a parallel sequence. He consulted banks of sound via
public domain for more obscure noises, but he also did not hesitate to
create his own when these searches proved fruitless. Indeed, Trey was a
veteran in this process after creating an original composition entitled
"Sound Art" last year; therefore, he set about crafting his own sounds
with gusto.
After months of work - on the very last day of school, no less - Trey
approached the IP community ready to present his piece. He gathered the
students and his family in "The Makers' Space" and launched into a
guided viewing.Ultimately, the Edge / IP faculty believe that Trey succeeded in modernizing the clip. By inserting a heavy metal line underneath and by stressing effects that resembled actual punches, he evoked an atmosphere more honest to an actual boxing match. In this way, as Ms. Charlap wisely pointed out during the follow-up Q&A, Trey encouraged the cartoon to avoid shying away from the violence that it conveys visually. He stripped away the comic score underneath and did away with Disney's reluctance to entertain violence; instead, he highlighted the latter as the central focus of his piece.
Trey produced an insightful, entertaining cartoon that allowed him to share his evolving understanding of ProTools and sound design. In this way, he fused his two years within IP into a larger tract along which he will continue to travel once he reaches Full Sail University (@FullSail) in September. We are proud of the progress and maturation that Trey has facilitated for himself over the past two years, and we encourage you to celebrate his work with us by posting in the comments section below.
Descriptions of images: An album cover of David Bowie's "Changes," top-left (located at www.rockpeaks.com). Upper-mid sees a shot from "Mickey's Mechanical Man" (located at drgrobsanimationreview.com). Pictured at lower-mid is a screenshot of ProTools (located at www.lennonbus.org). Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the images preceding or Disney's cartoon. Bottom left shows Trey beginning his presentation; photo taken by the IP faculty.
The
National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) held its annual
convention in Anaheim, CA, from January 22-25. It is a huge trade show
where companies that sell music equipment showcase their latest and
greatest products. This was my second year attending. I couldn't wait to
see what was in store for this year’s show.
Walking
through the aisles of the convention hall, you experience very talented
musicians demonstrating wonderful pieces of equipment. 
Saturday morning was a dream come true for me. I was seated in Row 11 for the 
One of the highlights of the show was catching up with 
