Just where in hell have you been?

OK, I know....I've been gone for almost three years from this blog. And I really have no idea why I abandoned this, but for some reason I did. Life happens...which is what I'll explain in a few.

Picking up where I left off, the CD like a lighthouse gone mad from loneliness was released finally and I am really happy with how it turned out. I made a limited amount of copies since most people are buying digitally anyway, so I won't have a thousand copies lying around for years to come. Check it out anywhere you'd like...Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, any streaming site, CDBaby...you know, it's out there!

Now, to bring everything up to date. On July 15 2017, we had a major house fire caused by lightning.  It pretty much destroyed the house, so we had to find a place to live while the house was being rebuilt. We choose to live in The Barn (my wife's and my studios - stained glass and music.) So, we had to clear out everything that wasn't related to everyday living and put it in storage. For the last eight months (and counting), there has been no deep kimchee, no barn, no recording studio...nothing.

 Now, that doesn't mean that I haven't done anything musical during this time. I have been steadily writing new material and practicing most of it on guitar in my guitar classes at school. While everyone is practicing, so am I. I have ten new songs so far for the next CD, tentatively entitled Eel in the Sandal. I have also outlined a "best of" compilation of two sorts. I want to put together a CD of now that they're here songs that I think are the best examples of what I do and put that out. And I also want to cull all of the instrumental music and put it together. Both CD's will probably also include unreleased material, but I can make that decision when I'm back in the studio.

Which brings up one last thing. We have decided that when the house is rebuilt (as you can see, it's pretty much a total rebuild, so the house will be new), we are selling it and moving up to the Chattanooga, TN area. So, the next studio will be a new incarnation of The Barn. I might even end up in someone else's studio for a change and see how that goes. Who knows?

No, really…I'm almost finished!

The Barn, July 2015

Here we are at the end of summer…for me, anyway. School starts back up in two weeks and I am this close to finishing the master for "like a lighthouse gone mad from loneliness." I had the great fortune to  have Joe Hayes of the group Clatter become part of my listening panel to review my mixes. And review them he did! Joe came up with some great suggestions on how the project could be enhanced in his opinion. Many of his suggestions were instituted, so I'm ALMOST at the point where I'm ready to remaster the whole CD and send it off for duplication.

However, there are a few glitches. The CD cover isn't ready (read: not designed yet), the book of lyrics I wanted to make isn't done (read: I didn't do it), and my website is woefully outdated. There are only so many hours in a day and, more importantly, there is only so much energy I can devote to various activities that require time and creativity. So, yes…I'm almost finished…with a few caveats.

Continue to continue

Kevin Brislin at WASA/WHDG, Maryland, 1980

Here it is six months later and I could probably just copy my previous post and it would pretty much sum up what I've been up to lately. "like a lighthouse gone mad from loneliness" is a lot closer to being completed, but there are a few snags that I have to iron out before I feel like I can say it is done. First, I've asked Fred Nowicki (guitarist for the CD "Auschwitz Bound" by now that they're here…you know, my group?) to work on a few songs that I think are in serious need of a lead guitar line. If he can ever get his head above water, there are about three such songs I need him to work on.

Secondly, I need to get David Alvarez over to The Barn to record bass on a few songs also. I've used keyboard bass sounds before and most of time no one can tell the difference between a real bass and a keyboard, but there are times when a note slide really works well…and I can't do that on keyboard. Hopefully I can get Dave over in the next few weeks (although I'll be gone for the entire Spring Break, so there goes that opportunity.)

On other news, I had Tony Tartaglia over to The Barn to do voiceover work for movie theatre commercials he does for his restaurant Cluck U Chicken here in North Port, FL. Tony has a deep, sonorous voice that is perfect for commercial work. We are both hoping to do more projects together in the near future. It was a lot of fun and a great session.

As for the above picture, I was going through some old snapshots and found this one of me back when I was a radio announcer. I still have nightmares of working there and having all the news feeds die simultaneously as I realize I have ten seconds until airtime. I HATE those dreams.

A little bit of work

So, I'm still working on "like a lighthouse gone mad from loneliness" and...it's pretty much working out  the way I want. I still feel like I'm missing something in the songs, so I've been thinking about the density and texture of the vocals. I believe that I need a lot more harmonies, which just take a ton of time to do on your own. I'll just try to do a few songs and see whether I like the results.

I was asked to write a piece of music for a dance student at North Port High School. The choreography is based on a poem entitled "Balloon" and I am doing the background music. It ended up being kind of a strange piece; I played acoustic guitar through a reverb unit and doubled that track to make it repeat a few milliseconds after the initial sound. Then I added a woodwind/string sound as a complementary instrument. Very spacey. I may take it and incorporate it into "like a lighthouse...", but I haven't made a decision yet. But I like the piece.

The studio is running pretty well. I've added a second pair of monitors to get a better idea how a mix is working. As it stands, I usually listen to any mix with Sennheiser HD414 headphones (one of the best open air headphones ever made, in my humble opinion), a pair of Klipsch ear buds, Alesis Monitor 1 speakers, JBL Control 1 speakers, the surround system in my house (Sony), and then drive around in my Nissan truck. If a mix works in all of those, you are finished! Since I do my own mastering, I had to find a way to reference a mix. I've used this method for over twenty years. It works for me.

On a totally different subject, I miss painting. I haven't taken the time to do any watercolors in months and it is starting to eat at me. I have to take the time and just do it. Instead of doing other things, like watching movies, or The Gilmore Girls on Netflix. Or playing around on my iPad. Or enjoying a sunset in Key West.

OK, so Summer's over

The Barn

It always seems that Summer goes by so quickly, especially when you are a high school teacher. And the last ten weeks have been great. Lots of bicycling, a family reunion, some house projects here and there…and spending time in The Barn recording music…of course.

The next now that they're here project, "like a lighthouse gone mad from loneliness" is coming along pretty well. Most of the music has been written, basic tracks have essentially been completed on most songs, and now it's time to start fine-tuning everything. This is supposed to be the first project where I play acoustic guitar on some of the songs. Oddly, that has gone very well and I'm amazed at how much fun it has been to start a song on guitar, then build the rest of the song rather than starting with keyboards.

As you can probably ascertain, the Pro Tools issues that I had a few months ago are gone, but not without some pain. The MIDI router I usually use for all of my equipment died, so rather than replace it (it WAS 30 years old) I decided to just rewire my studio as a large daisy chain. Much to my surprise, it worked. So, for most of the Summer sessions I've had, I've been pretty productive.

I had David Alvarez, bassist from the band The Boogiemen, come over and help with a track for the next CD. We had fun getting it together and, hopefully, I didn't scare David off too much by how weird the track was. (For some stupid reason, I interchanged all of the Em chords to G, and vice versa, on the scratch chart we were using for a song. Made for some really confusing rehearsals until I figured out what I did. Duh.)

I also find that I have certain sounds I love using, like choir and mellotron sounds. They are on practically every release I've done and will be on this one also. I have been experimenting with the sound of my voice in trying to not put too many effects on it, but still have it distinctive. No success yet on a winning combination.

As for school, I will have two sections each of Digital Video Production, Electronic Music, and Guitar. REALLY nice schedule, if you ask me.

The Yearly Musical, the next CD, and other things

If you have perused this blog, you will notice that I am the Sound Director for the musical every year at North Port High School. This year the Drama Dept. did "Hairspray" and despite my initial reservations, they did a marvelous job. It was funny and fast-paced, very retro, and cool. For this show, I decided to run the sound board myself, using my intrepid crew of three for running script, comm, and sound effects. All in all, it went pretty well, but I still think we need a new board and cardioid microphones. Maybe next year.

As it stands right now, we are going to have Digital Video Production as a class at NPHS next year. We are supposed to get 20 Macintosh computers with Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premier. We have been without a class like this for three years, so I'm really excited to have it back. Our goal is have third year students take the certification exam for both editing suites, which would be a first for high schools. More on that when we get started.

I am currently working on the next "now that they're here" music project, tentatively titled "like a lighthouse gone mad from loneliness". I have 8 songs written so far and plan on going into production in June (after school is out.) Looking forward to tracking…and playing rhythm guitar (for once) since I've been teaching myself to play for the past year. Not exactly Jimmy Page, but it works. Still plan on using others for bass and lead guitar.

As usual, I am having issues with Pro Tools. This is a constant in my studio...I have no idea why... but suffice it to say that I'll eventually work out the problems and we will go from there.

Wow, I'm actually updating my blog!

Where have I been? Well, right here, actually.

Back in October, the performance of Alice in Wonderland went pretty well. To me, in retrospect, director Dena Henderson and I should have worked more closely together on integrating the music with the play in the final rehearsals. Sometimes the music just either didn't work, or was too short, or too long. And having the sound crew just stop the music or replay a song didn't work. But, when all was said and done, I still liked the play and the music. I'm still deciding if I'm going to release it commercially on iTunes, just for the heck of it.

And, since then, I've done no music at all. I did produce and edit a ten-minute tribute video for one of our departing assistant principals at North Port High. However, when they played it for the staff at his farewell luncheon, the powers-that-be decided to NOT play it in the Performing Arts Center, but in the cafeteria. Worst acoustics ever. Couldn't hear a thing anyone said on the video. So, once again. another project sabotaged by how it was presented.

I also took a 10-week class on watercolor painting. Truth be told, I've been painting for years, but felt that my technique could use a little updating. I loved the instructor and painted some pretty good scenes (mostly landscapes and flowers.) The painting above is an example of what we did in the class.

There may be some good news on the resurrection of video production at NPHS...but I'm not going to announce that until it is absolutely a sure thing. So, for now, I'm just riding my motorcycle as much as I can and waiting out the winter.

The Brislin Bros.

Just in case you were wondering what we looked like.

Alice in Wonderland

I could have SWORN I updated this blog more recently, but it sure looks like I didn't. So, let's catch up.

First, The Barn has been up and running since June. I installed all new ceiling panels and the dehumidifier works great, so no condensation issues. I reconnected all the equipment (yes, it was an ALL DAY job) and put it into a new configuration so it is easier for me to work alone. Plus I can get out of the way better when I'm recording someone else. The picture shows what it looks like.

Once the studio was up again, I started working on music for a play adapted by my friend and teaching colleague Dena Hendersen. Dena teaches Drama at North Port High School and decided to write her own adaptation of Alice in Wonderland for this year's Fall Play. She also wanted to have a "play with music" and kindly asked me to provide something unique. I ended up writing 22 interstitial pieces; that is, music that either connects scenes or is used to underscore action. Yup, just like a movie, but it's for a play. As far as I know, the play is in rehearsals now and is scheduled for performance on October 4, 5, and 6 at the North Port Performing Arts Center. I'm excited! I'll be taping the Oct. 4th show, so hopefully I can show highlights.

The Brislin Bros. are also working on their next release, which at this point is untitled since Jay and I can't come to an agreement of what to call it. I have about ten songs that I'm thinking of contributing...Jay has two (haha!) Actually, that's an unfair thing to say since Jay doesn't have a back catalog of 400 songs from which to work. However, we have traded some songs already and are working on adding parts. Jay did write an Irish drinking song that is proving to be a bear to work with. We'll see.

Studio update and NPHS Musical

Well, as you can see, The Barn is a little empty. Last month, I removed all of the equipment and took down the ceiling panels due to a condensation problem. The roof is fine and the insulation looks good, so it was just the ceiling panels that were ruined. Since then, I've installed a dehumidifier for use during winter months when the air conditioning isn't really kicking on. There has been no sign of condensation since then. So...all I need to do is get new ceiling panels (seriously thinking about using pegboard to get a weird dotted effect) and install them. Of course, I have no time at all to do that, so the studio looks exactly the same since I started this project. One. Big. Empty.

I also just finished my 8th year of being Sound Director for the North Port High School musical. This year's production, Seussical The Musical, was outstanding on all accounts; sets, singing, acting, dancing, lighting...and maybe sound. With 12 mics and 7 of them changing hands throughout the show, it was one of the most challenging shows I've been involved with. Using omnidirectional mics is a mistake, but the school and theatre just cannot afford to upgrade to cardiods and have enough of them for each performer. In effect, it just makes my job harder. I had two excellent students as assistants and they truly worked their butts off to make everything work as smoothly as possible. So, I guess, you just can't ask for more.

Radio Interview

On Sunday Feb. 17 from 9:30-10:00 pm, I am going to be interviewed (sort of) by a friend of mine, Steve Lemke, on his radio show on WSLR in Sarasota, FL. Probably be discussing the latest release from The Brislin Bros. and maybe past albums from now that they're here. Either way, WSLR streams so anyone, anywhere can tune in at wslr.org and listen live.

294 Scott St. - The Brislin Bros.

The Brislin Bros. first music project together, 294 Scott St., is available at CDBaby for download. You can find it at  http://cdbaby.com/cd/thebrislinbros. You can also find it on iTunes, Rhapsody, Spotify...and I've lost count of the others. You can search and find more, if you're interested.

If you've kept up in this blog, you will see that it took a few years to get this project done. My brother Jay and I live about 1430 miles apart; he's in Massachusetts and I'm in Florida. We have been sending half-completed audio files to each other for months and working on them. Jay wrote five of the nine songs, the best of which (in my humble opinion) is Belladonna, which I made a video for (see previous post.)

We also had one guest musician, bassist David Alvarez. David usually plays with The Boogiemen, a well-known band here in Southwest Florida. David graciously came over to The Barn a few months ago to cut the bass track for the song "Brothers to All" when I got stumped as to how I wanted it to go. His fretless playing is sublime.

All in all, this was a great project. We are both very pleased with the results and want to continue to work together on music. Now, let's see how long it takes to do the next one!

"Belladonna" video on Vimeo

The video for the song "Belladonna" from the upcoming Brislin Bros. release, 294 Scott St., is on Vimeo. You can see it at http://vimeo.com/52586317

The video was shot by both my brother Jay and myself using only iPhone 4's. It's kind of random and weird, but we had a good time putting it together.

The release of the rest of the music from 294 Scott St. should be soon. I am mastering it as fast as I can. Clooose....very, very cloooose.

Music Video in Production

The music video for the song Belladonna on the upcoming release 294 Scott St. by The Brislin Bros. is in post-production editing. All principal video was shot using only an iPhone 4. As usual, I am using Final Cut Pro on a MacBook with an external monitor for my editing station. I am hoping to have the video completed in the next few weeks and will upload it on my Vimeo channel. I'll post the URL here when it is available.

The final mixes for all of the songs for 294 Scott St. are still being worked on. The first set, while OK, just weren't quite there. Since my mastering process requires listening in six different environments (the studio, my truck, my wife's van, the house, high-end headphones, and earbuds), it takes time to evaluate what works and what doesn't. They are getting there and that's all I can say.

Still in the songwriting phase for the next now that they're here release, tentatively titled like a lighthouse gone mad from loneliness. So far I have about 7 songs that I'm considering for inclusion. Tracking hasn't really started, but some of the songs are ones that I have worked on before for other projects, then shelved for one reason or another. This is the most tedious process of all. I'd rather be tracking and mixing.

Whatcha been doing?

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote for this blog. Let's catch up, shall we?

Right now, I am working on the final mixes for "294 Scott St.", which will be the first release from The Brislin Bros., which just happens to be a collaboration between myself and my guitarist brother Jay. We have been sending each other music files for almost two years over the Internet since he lives in Massachusetts and I live in Florida. At this point, there are nine songs and it will be released electronically (no CD's...sorry.) The mixes are coming along really well. I just had bassist David Alvarez of The Boogeymen come over to work on one track. All in all, it is going well and I expect to have the mixes completed by August.

We are also in pre-production for a planned video for one of the songs from the above-mentioned project. Right now, we are looking at doing a stop-motion video with cutout characters. Hence the "planned" part of this. If it looks like we will be in production for 6 months or more, then forget it. But if we can pull this off in two to three months, then I'd like to continue. We should start production in a few weeks, but right now we are still planning.

I've also started pulling together the music for the fourth release for now that they're here. If you thought Pacific Radio Fire was eclectic, just wait until you hear the music for the new release. Right now, it's all just random tracks that are half put together. I had a slew of tech issues in The Barn that are now all settled. Added some new equipment and am about to sell a lot of my older stuff that needs to be culled out.

On a final note, the Lighthouse Trike Tour documentary is on permanent hiatus. The Kickstarter campaign did not pan out, so that was twice in one year that I tried to get that particular project rolling. I have no plans at this time to continue trying to do this and, it seems, I have no Plan C. So until I get some brainstorm on how to do this in a reasonable fashion, I'm holding off.

Maintaining Two Blogs

It seems that my life has been usurped by lighthousetriketour.blogspot.com, my other blog outlining my pending trip around Florida as I visit all 30 lighthouses this summer. It has taken months to organize everything and I still don't feel that I have a strong handle on all the details. Suffice it to say that, ready or not, I start this full throttle in three weeks.

This involves deep kimchee since I am producing a multi-episode webcast documentary of the entire trip once it is completed. I want to be able to do 20-minute segments of the trip showing the highlights of the ride and the lighthouses. When the whole thing has aired, then I plan on making it available on DVD. One of the elements of the trip is that I want to compose a theme for each lighthouse that captures what each one felt like when I visited it. This set of music will eventually end up as a CD release when completed. I am also soliciting music from other Florida musicians for the documentary and, hopefully, will be able to offer it as well.

My brother Jay and I are kind of taking a short hiatus from our project together simply because I'm dropping the ball. The Barn is having air-conditioning problems (again) and until it is sorted out it is impossible to record in the building. However, we both have been working with Dr. Cor Mulhern (whom past readers may know is not only our aunt, but a hypnotherapist whom I've produced in the past.) She is currently retired, but has written a small book entitled "Parable of the Cats" that we are editing and prepping for print. More on that when we get closer to the publication date.

I did get to do sound production again for North Port High School's musical, which this year was the extremely difficult "Into The Woods" by Stephen Sondheim. A great production that was a challenge to get right since there were so many mikes and so many singers.

In any event, if it seems a little quiet here, just check out the other blog in my life...I'm sure I'll be there.

Plans within plans within...

So, the school year at NPHS started with a BANG and I just looked up to see that it is November. And what have we been doing? Let's see...

For Kaleidoscope this year, we are producing a lip dub video based on the Billy Idol song "Dancing With Myself." We've been in pre-production since September and it has taken a long time to get organized. For those that don't know, a lip dub is a music video that is lip synced in one take and taped backwards. Also, in the last week, we decided that we are going to produce an original science fiction movie. That is being written at this point and we don't expect to be in production until February. I am looking forward to writing the score for this one, so let's see how that goes.

My big project for 2011 is going to be to create a video documentary about the Lighthouses of Florida. I plan on visiting all the lighthouses in the state while I am on a bike tour. Well, actually a trike tour since I've purchased a Terra Trike Path 8 recumbent (see the picture? Isn't it cute? Like the Tibetan prayer flag?) So, in between planning that trip and looking for corporate sponsors and training for the ride...could be busy.

Musically, I'm still working on songs for The Brislin Bros. project and that's about all. Sales for Pacific Radio Fire haven't been bad at all; got a royalty check from cdBaby!! Income is always good, ya know?

An Inert Summer, of sorts

One would think that if one has a recording studio that one would be in it constantly. Well...not this year. After practically living in The Barn last summer mastering Pacific Radio Fire, and then spending a lot of time recording stuff for Kaleidoscope this year, and working on the music and producing 8 self-hypnosis projects...it was time to cool the jets a bit.

So far this summer I've been editing a short book by Cor Mulhern and I reconfigured the equipment in The Barn to make it easier to work. But, other than that, I haven't done much music. My brother and I have worked on three songs for The Brislin Brothers CD, but not much else. It has been feet up, go visit relatives...and chill.

Kaleidoscope, The Beatles, and other random stuff

OK, as usual it has been awhile since I've updated this, but that doesn't mean that it hasn't been busy. The North Port High School Performing Arts SLC annual performance, Kaleidoscope, was last week. We had two days of rehearsals and two days of performances. Everything went very well this year. The theme was The Beatles, so we had thirteen different songs being performed by Dance, Concert Band, String Orchestra, TV Production, Chorus, and Theatre. We had our largest audience yet on the last night and had a great time with them. All in all, one of our more successful shows.

(The picture above shows us during the video taping of "Dig A Pony" on the roof of North Port High School as we recreate the roof top concert from the movie "Let It Be".)

To prepare for the final editions of the three songs my TV Production classes created videos for, we spent a large amount of time in The Barn recording studio mixing the final tracks. Of the three songs (If I Fell, Help, and Dig A Pony), the latter was the most successful as a mix. Students Christian Beam (lead guitar) and Brittany White (rhythm and bass guitars) were outstanding on the recording; I played drums and did the vocals. Eventually it will make it out somwhere to be heard, just not here.

In other areas, Dr. George Kenney dropped by The Barn to record three additional self-hypnosis scripts related to sports performance. His original series of self-hypnosis CD's (which I produced and created the background music for) are available at amazon.com. This is a great project, one that I've enjoyed being involved with immensely.

And, in other areas of music, I've (oddly and sadly) begun work on the music for the fourth release by now that they're here. There are certain songs that I came across that I forgot about in the last year while working on Pacific Radio Fire. When reviewing them, I really liked them...and realized they'd be perfect for the next CD. So, while I didn't exactly expect to immediately be working on the next CD...looks like I am.

Review in Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Dawn Scire from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune interviewed me last week about the release of Pacific Radio Fire. It was a great conversation since Dawn is articulate and funny.

You can read the review here - http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100311/ARTICLE/3111031.

BTW, the fish is just a random shot we took in Jamaica last year. I love koi.