What’s cool is when a client, in this case our friend Sue Nass with the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, comes to us with an idea for a great campaign that encourages kids to get outside and play. To put away their Xboxes, turn off the television and shutdown their computers to get out and play in nature. What’s even cooler is when she commissions my wife, Idaho’s Singing Sweetheart, Belinda Bowler, to write a song for the campaign that will hopefully inspire our youth to play in the great outdoors. To go for a hike, or swim in a lake. And as time goes by, listening to music that could inspire the song, and discussing musical styles with Belinda to encourage her songwriting in a positive way makes for some happy listening at home, which is always cool.
And after months of creative gestation and fruitful dialogue about the kind of song Belinda could write, a day comes along when she’s ready to present her offering. Well, it’s incredibly cool when that offering is something completely unexpected, but everything you might have hoped for her in this endeavor. And when I make a scratch track of the song for Sue and her response is tears of joy, then I know that my wife Belinda has hit her mark and the song is going to work in every way Sue might have hoped for, which is always cool. And when I play it for my colleagues here at Wide Eye, and they love it, well of course that’s cool. Click here to play the song
And when Sue sends me a script she’d like me to narrate that promotes and encourages kids to get off the couch and get out to play, well that’s cool too! Cause that’s the kind of encouragement we all need, and I’m happy to put a voice to that message, especially because I know it’ll be accompanied by my wife’s singing. So cool. (Be Outside video news release)
What’s cool is when things come together, and they work. When in the creative process the unexpected happens and it makes everything a little better.
What’s cool is when the company I work for gets me the tools I need to bring our audio booth firmly into the 21st century, providing me with a digital I/O box that delivers high fidelity recording to the work flow. And what’s cool is when all that gadgetry works as it did when it came time to do a polished recording of Belinda’s cool song.
Now I’ve had the opportunity to develop a skill set that allows me to be a pretty good audio engineer in the field. I know how to get a good recording. But I have to admit that something I’m lacking is the knowledge and experience of how best to manage a live 2 track musical recording through the post production work flow. It’s just the sort of thing we don’t do a whole lot of around here.
But what’s cool is when I have a cousin, in this case Rich Brotherton who plays for Robert Earl Keen and produces albums for Robert and many other folks out of Nashville and Austin, that I can call upon for a tip or two. And when he generously offers up his advice, that is also cool. But what I love, and this is way cool, is when his love for Belinda and his enthusiasm for her song takes over and he asks that I send him the raw recordings so he can play with them. What’s even cooler is the simple way in which he tweaks the recording making them even livelier than they sounded originally. And what is most cool is that he couldn’t resist doing a bit of decorating himself by offering up an additional mix where he accompanies Belinda on the mandola. Exactly just the sort of light hearted playfulness the song Be Outside needed. That’s over the top way cool! It works, and it was completely unexpected.
Cool!
What else is cool is watching how all of these elements are coming together for Sue. She sent me a link to a cool looking website recently (Be Outside website) and there was my voice narrating along with Belinda’s song. Too cool! Can’t wait to see what the video is going to look like. I’m guessing that will also be cool!
