“Meditation on Roads Not Taken” by Audible Abstraction

“Meditation on Roads Not Taken” by Audible Abstraction

Barry's Projects, Blog
During the Fall 2017 semester at Hostos Community College, I was grading Exercise 2 (E2), a recording and editing assignment in Introduction to Recording Techniques (DM106).  For this assignment, students were asked to choose a page or two from the syllabus, a technical manual, or a poem and record themselves or someone else reading the text, and then edit any reading errors.  It’s always interesting to see and hear what students choose to record for this assignment.  The first student I graded chose the Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken,” and he did a great job recording himself reading it.  As I began listening to it, unaware of what it was at first, I noticed that it sounded strangely familiar. Coincidentally, a few months prior, one of my piano…
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Rich Coffey’s “Nature Suite” – Getting Back in Touch with the Natural World

Rich Coffey’s “Nature Suite” – Getting Back in Touch with the Natural World

Blog
Story by Wesley Orser, one of Barry's former Hofstra students who sat in on a mix session for Rich Coffey. In the midst of widespread lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, many residents left isolated in their homes have been reminded why long walks and fresh air are so important to one’s mental health. It was a complete coincidence that I was asked by Barry to write about one of his recording clients, Rich Coffey, and his ongoing “Nature Suite” project right as these nationwide lockdowns started to take effect. Still, unexpected circumstances nevertheless informed the importance of what Coffey is trying to communicate through his music. Coffey’s “Nature Suite” invites listeners to develop a further appreciation of nature by evoking its tranquil effect and beauty through music. Featuring a…
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Anita Molinaro: An Aspiring Artist at 80

Blog
Story by Wesley Orser, one of Barry's former Hofstra students who sat in on some recordings with an aspiring artist in her 80s. There is a long-standing idea, especially in music, that creativity has an age limit. Perhaps the most common concern for an older aspiring artist is that it’s too late to start pursuing their craft. Those mental roadblocks can keep someone from finally taking up an instrument or learning to sing. They didn't stop Anita Molinaro. Anita Molinaro Anita is an 82-year old grandmother from Finland. She starting writing music at a young age, but never received any formal training. Recently, she was inspired to channel her natural talent into recording original songs for the first time in her life. Anita has an advantage younger musicians don't when they're…
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Staying Organized 2: Advice for a Music Producer

Staying Organized 2: Advice for a Music Producer

Blog
I recently shared a blog post about getting organized as a creative professional. In this post, I’ll go more in-depth about how I organize projects as a music producer. Half, if not more, of the job is just making sure everything’s prepped and ready to run smoothly. A producer’s expertise is often in forecasting problems that might arise—gaps in communication, flaky collaborators, changes in creative direction—and making a plan airtight enough to support productive improvisation.   Determining a scope of work It’s tempting to just start working and see where things go, but most projects are easier when both the music producer and artist understand the scope of work. In the case of entire EPs and albums, this means deciding which songs to use, often sifting through years of ideas that…
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“Rather Be With You” featuring Samantha Kenny

“Rather Be With You” featuring Samantha Kenny

Barry's Projects, Blog
It must have been late December or early January this year when I received a text message from Samantha Kenny, one of my former students at Guitar Center Studios (Danbury, CT), where I taught piano, guitar and bass (and got amazing discounts!) from 2012-2018. Samantha stopped taking piano lessons with me after graduating high school and becoming a student at The New School in New York City. It was great to see her again when she came to hear me perform some unusual, experimental music in Brooklyn with Audible Abstraction in September 2017.Anyway, as I was preparing my syllabi and course content for the Spring 2019 semester at Hostos Community College (Bronx, NY), Samantha reached out to say hello and let me know she was around if I needed help…
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Staying Organized: Advice for Self-employed Creatives

Staying Organized: Advice for Self-employed Creatives

Blog
In my last blog post, my recent intern Jacob wrote, “Barry is the most organized person I have ever met in my life. He has every minute of his day on a schedule and he follows it strictly.” Every minute might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s true that I work hard on having an efficient schedule. Everything in music production and having a home studio requires organization and self-discipline; I am constantly juggling clients and am often the main point of contact between them and the other professionals working on their products. If you’re self-employed, you know you don’t have much of a choice but to get organized. Keeping Track of a Self-Employed Schedule My Apple calendar is probably what Jacob noticed first. I wouldn’t have any idea…
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