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Jon Lee: Capitalist Turned Composer

profile picSo how does one of the top television-scoring professionals in the business get to where he is today? 

If you’re Jon Lee, first you run a hedge fund for 15 or 20 years…

Huh?

You’ll have to forgive Jon for not taking a more traditional route to the top of the film and television-scoring business. He found his true calling a bit later in life than most. But that hasn’t stopped him from making quite a name for himself in the field.

Although Jon started out in finance, it became a job he ended up “totally hating.” During his last few years in the business, he decided to do something about it and began pursuing his avocation: learning to play music. He took piano lessons, which eventually led him to composing. With the music bug firmly in his system, he soon enrolled at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he studied with many well-established composers.

Jon got his Graduate Certificate in Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television, marking the formal end of his career in finance, and set out to land some initial gigs. He soon connected with fellow USC alum Timothy Michael Wynn, a hardcore SONAR user who co-founded the music production company Sonic Fuel. Jon went to work with Tim and his partner Chris Lennertz for about a year, “’til they kicked me out and said ‘go get a career,’” as Jon jokingly recalls.

Continue reading “Jon Lee: Capitalist Turned Composer”

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MusicTech Focus Dedicates Latest Issue to SONAR

SONAR 8 FocusEverything you ever wanted to know about SONAR is now encased in a 132-page full-color guidebook! From cover to cover, this exclusive magazine is the most comprehensive guide to SONAR in print (besides SONAR 8! Power) – a must have whether you’re a SONAR user, or thinking of becoming one!

Packed with 100% SONAR content, this magazine features exclusive interviews with A-list SONAR users – from Shawn Clement to the world famous Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee – highlighting how they using SONAR 8.5 everyday for work. From tracking to mastering, this magazine is teeming with tips and tricks on SONAR’s expansive set of features including 17 SONAR workshops on Beatscape, Step Sequencer 2.0, Session Drummer 3, Z3TA+, Media Browser, Using ACT with your favorite controllers, Film Scoring, Recording Vocals and more! There’s also a FREE DVD packed full of video tutorials, loops, demos and tutorials. 

Don’t miss out on this exclusive help guide!

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Live from SIGGRAPH 09: Create a Killer Score with SONAR 8

Seth Perlstein shows you how to add haunting sound effects to your audio project using Cakewalk’s SONAR 8 and SONAR V-Studio 700! This clip was the final step in the digital content creation pipeline demo at SIGGRAPH 2009. Seth show’s you how to get greater control over your entire scoring, syncing and mixing process as well as how to access more tracks and more effects with ultra-low latency by using SONAR’s latest enhancements.

In part 2 (seen below) Seth adds environmental sound effects and convolution reverberations. Watch Seth  ‘geek out’  as he explains how to build an audio studio with audio equipment small enough to fit in your backpack.

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Artist Impression: Justin Lassen on V-Studio 700

Cakewalk caught up with Darkly composer Justin Lassen at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. Lassen was one of many who stopped by the Cakewalk booth to get a glimpse of the new SONAR V-Studio 700 system in action. When asked what he thought about the new VStudio 700 system, this was his reply:

For over ten years, Justin Lassen has remixed, composed and produced music for video games, TV, film and commercial projects. In fact, Cakewalk featured one of Lassen’s works in SONAR 8!

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Interview with Shawn Clement: Composing Music for Motion Pictures

Mix Magazine recently met up with SONAR user, Shawn Clement, to ask him about his career in music production. A composer for TV, film and video games, Shawn Clement, is gearing up for his next big project. He will be producing the soundtrack to Quantum Quest, a sci-fi /live animation feature length film, set to release in the fall. Shawn explains in his interview how he got his ‘big break’ and gives advice for those interested in the same career path. Go to Mix Online to see what Shawn had to say.

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Stokes Audio: Mixing & Post Production for Film

Stokes Audio, Recording & Post mixed the soundtrack to BET’s latest TV-to-film release, Nite Tales (as seen on BET Halloween) with SONAR. Hosted by Flavor Flav, it’s a ‘shockingly twisted’ double feature horror flick, reminiscent of the Tales from the Crypt series. Nite Tales is now available on DVD.

Stokes Audio is currently working on remixing the soundtrack for the documentary, Why We Laugh, shows at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Why We Laugh, directed by Robert Townsend, is a ‘sweeping account’ of the ebb and flow of black comedy in America.

Stokes Audio: The Independent Filmmakers Best Friend

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Motown Records: 'The Best of William Goldstein'

Recording artist, composer and award-winning producer William Goldstein is celebrating the Motown Records release of ‘The Best of William Goldstein,’ now available worldwide. This SONAR 7 fan is credited with over 50 film and television projects. His scores include those of FAME, Guys and Dolls, The Miracle Worker, and Twilight Zone. Since 1975, Goldstein has composed music for numerous documentaries, mini-series, television specials, concert scores, and professes the arts of ‘Improvisation and the Creative Process’ in his own masterclass. He is also the founder of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, California. With no sign of slowing down, Goldstein in currently working on two musicals in New York City as well as working on a variety of film projects. To hear the new album and learn more about the accomplished William Goldstein, visit http://www.williamgoldstein.com/.

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Christopher Ave: A Passion for Music & Media

A career journalist and lifelong musician, Christopher Ave tells stories with sound and text. He has united both his passions into a business, Music for Media Productions, in which he created a wide variety of custom music for web, video and commercial projects. He also writes and records original pop music and blogs about creating and using music in multimedia projects.

Christopher uses SONAR Producer Edition, Dimension Pro and Rapture in just about every project. He states, “With Cakewalk’s tools I have thousands of sounds at my fingertips, I really appreciate how much value they pack into their softsynths – and I wouldn’t dare record without SONAR.”

Christopher recently finished an original soundtrack for video. He’s currently scoring a photo slideshow for  a photographer and writing/recording an original song for a music video.

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The NAMM Show 09': Coverage by Cakewalk

For those of you off to Anaheim Convention Center, stop by Booth #6800 to see Cakewalk live in action. If you’ve chosen to stay at home this year, get everything you need to now right here on the Cakewalk Blog. We’ve made a dedicated NAMM Page featuring posts from the exhibition floor, new product information, and media to keep you informed! Check back throughout the weekend to see it all.

To learn about our new products, view the official press releases here.

Here’s a quick overview of the artists stopping by to say hello at NAMM 2009:

Top TV and Video Game music producer, Shawn Clement, best known for scoring Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Batman: Vengeance, hosts a live demo on Video scoring.

World-renowned composer, engineer, & producer Craig Anderton will demo his brand new Electronic Guitars  Expansion Pack for Rapture and Rapture LE. Watch preview here.

Legendary turntablists, DJs Faust & Shortee, will be mixing it up at the booth.

Cakewalk’s Brandon Ryan hosts a live panel discussion on “Music For Video Games” featuring these four industry professionals:

Chuck Carr is the music supervisor for SONY Computer Entertainment (PAIN, Gran Turismo 4, and Twisted Metal: Head On)

Doyle W. Donehoo, the video game extraordinaire, is best known for his work in (America’s Army, Savage, Savage II, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II)

Timothy Michael Wynn is an award-winning television, film, and video game music producer and his company, Sonic Fuel, has provided cutting edge music for clients including BMW, Energizer, Gatorade, Mazda, Nike, and others.

Rob King has won numerous awards for his work as sound designer, music composer, and dialogue director (Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, Reservoir Dogs, Heroes of Might & Magic V, Scarface: The World is Yours, Jade Empire).

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Composer Vivek Maddala uses SONAR

International, award-winning composer Vivek Maddala gives a tour of his home studio- featuring Cakewalk’s SONAR as the main DAW. Maddala also introduces the synth rack feature and included VST instruments in SONAR 7 Producer. If you’re wondering, “Why should I use SONAR?” Maddala’s interview should help answer your question.