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herseaoflove:

La Vie En Rose- Louis Armstrong

And with that, happy weekend.

So this is “Don’t Say A Thing”. I’ve been working on this for the past month, with many edits and re-edits. Like all of my songs, it’s always hard to “let it go” just because it seems far from perfect, but I think I’m ready to move on to a new song. 

The hard part for me is that I usually want 2-3 arrangements of the same song. I usually want a slow version so the melody and words can be heard, I want a more rhythmic version to keep peoples interest, and I usually want an orchestral version with strings and layers and layers of musical color as well.

Here’s the file if you want to download it (just click the arrow on the right).

Don’t Say A Thing by Stella StageCoach

“When I was nine, I asked my Dad, ‘Can I have your movie camera? That old, wind-up 8-millimeter movie camera that’s in your drawer?’ And he goes, ‘Sure, take it.’ And I took it, and I started making movies with it, and I started being as creative as I could, and never once in my life did my parents ever say, ’ What you’re doing is a waste of time.’ Never….. I know there are kids out there that don’t have that support system. So, if you’re out there and you’re listening, listen to me: If you wanna be creative, get out there and do it. It’s not a waste of time.”

— Michael Giacchino when receiving an Oscar for “Best Original Score” for Up

This is so ridiculous. I love how the chipmunk looks a little bit suspicious as well as alarmed. Such good acting, you can’t coach that.

Writing has started for our next short screenplay. One thing I like to do is work on musical ideas at the same time we’re working on the story. A lot of times writing the music out gives me ideas about the story and vice versa. This music clip is a little musical idea I’ve had. Although this film will probably be in Spanish as well, we want the music to be more universal. We really weren’t planning to do another Spanish film, but we just felt that this story would be told best in Spanish and in the Argentinian culture (or we just wanted a good reason to return to Argentina). That means different instruments and different chord progressions.

I want you to realize that it’s not easy for me to post unfinished material, but I just want to share the process. For some reason, being able to share the process seems to make it even more enjoyable. At some point, when I have more knowledge and experience under my belt I think that I would enjoy teaching music to others. Until then I’ll just make these sort of posts and try not to bore you. 

P.S. The sheet music pictured above is actually the music you’re hearing. It looks crumpled because… well, I get carried away with Photoshop.

This is a promo video we made for Show Mercy International, a group of people helping orphans and widows in Uganda, Africa. I actually didn’t get to make the trip because I was in school at the time, but I did the sound and music, as always (not such a great deal for me, but for a good cause).

You can also watch the short documentary we made for them here. Recently, Show Mercy Int'l has also been working in Haiti as emergency relief. A group well worth your support.