Cry, Desert podcast: Part Five: The Cry Desert Pitch – Music and Video

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There seems to be some dispute these days as to the worth of a picture – a thousand words; a million words, perhaps? I’ve seen it expressed both ways recently and it’s led me to examine the value of video. Are we able to free associate with quite the same depth and purpose when being led so succinctly by clever editing? I know first hand as a photographer, that success lies in an image conjuring up multicolored tapestries of meaning; an invisible reflection, if you will, of an individual’s worldview. But as we offer greater clarity to our production, I wonder if we run the risk of explaining too much..?
From the narration, we hope the audience is engaged; from the dialogue, we hope the audience is challenged; from the visual projections, we hope the audience is transported; and from the music, we hope the audience is connected. Lofty goals, all of them, but this boldness of vision can only be destroyed if it’s starved. We’ve just got to keep our larder fully stocked.

The danger of the storyboard stage is that many of the ideas you have been carrying around in the form of words alone suddenly seem lost amongst the colors and shapes of the backdrop they front. The desert shots we are executing call for simple, powerful visual statements in the style of classic cinema. The storyboard above illustrates perfectly how close we are to getting what we want. 100 frames completed, now we need 600 more…

Cry, Desert podcast: Part Four: Narration

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During the closing weeks of 2011, I was delighted to pass the final script for ‘Cry, Desert’ to the incomparable voice artist, Wayne June. You will hear, from this brief excerpt, the stunningly, emotive qualities of his voice. Words that fell easily onto the page are magnified enormously and validated considerably by this delivery. I am now impatient to share more.

Cry, Desert podcast: Part Three: Supermassive Superstar

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The beauty of music like this is that the intensity can be increased with each clockwise turn of the volume knob. Your neighbors may disagree, of course – but I guess that’s what cars are for.

Recovering from major shoulder surgery for the past twelve weeks has been no picnic. Simply holding a guitar has been a challenge, let alone playing it. So with the initial, and rather painful, rounds of physiotherapy well underway, I decided that resuming these duties would be a steady build up. I would have a stab at the middle section of the track – no more than three takes – and see if I could create a vibe over some abstract piano that I had laid done some months ago. To further enhance the experience, I set up a camera and recorded the takes back-to-back (looping the playout section beforehand). I planned on selecting the best bits from each take but to my surprise, I accidentally played them back altogether and liked what I heard. It’s like three seperate voices; unique personalities working in and out of the piano melody. Another element at play is the sound of the instrument. I have always subscribed to the ‘less is more’ school of thought – melody and emotion must be served with humility. I want folks to remember the guitar lines after repeated listens and with this interplay, I think we’ve hit on something very nice.

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The second single release from ‘Cry, Desert’ is out on Jan 10th 2012. The driving and inspirational’Supermassive Superstar’ is fast becoming a signature piece from the production. Grooves come and go, but this one sets up a permanent residence in your brain, decorating the space with guitar playing straight from the soul. Also, stay tuned for the Supermassive podcast coming soon.

Cry, Desert Podcast: Part Two, ‘Communicate’

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Reflections on the song, Communicate.

Cry, Desert Podcast: Part One, ‘Love Affair’

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A look at the show opener. We hope you enjoy a look inside the ambition.

The first official release from ‘Cry, Desert’ is OUT NOW. The haunting and deeply relevant song, ‘Communicate’, evokes sentiments of love, compassion and truth; a simple message from artist to audience. Weaving through multiple musical genres, ‘Communicate’ washes over the listener like a warm ocean wave. Official release date is Dec 19th, 2011 and will be available on all major music sites.
For those interested in how this stuff gets put together, I posted a video at CryDesert.com of the live recording of the guitar parts. You’ll see that while caught up in a sea of cables and hard drives, an oversight occurred during playback which changed the entire dynamic of the song’s extended playout. I think you will agree that it was extremely fortuitous.

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