The Most Heard, Least Known Composers In America
On the gambling floor at the Cosmopolitan with PMOL Directors Adam Routh and Patrick Wilson
Paul Gulmans – Music Director, The Netherlands
Noelle Alanis with FOX KVVU On-Air Promotion’s Sergio Rodriguez and Tai Howard
Little Elvis at The Palms
We came, we saw, we ruled the Roulette table. NAB 2013 was quite an experience…. from DTS’s 11.1 Surround Sound Headphones to the American Idol judges that seemed to be at every session. But alas we were not there to purchase the latest technologies or try our hand in a singing competition but rather for a chance to meet clients, colleagues and eat pricey dinners on the company credit card!
Special thanks to all our sub-publishers for sitting down with us – particularly Fred and the lovely Lynn Woods at Red Igloo, Jean at Music for Productions and Paul Gulmans at Music Director who still does NOT eat fish despite us taking him to a seafood restaurant…
Also, station owners Carole and Peter Kozloski from WAGM for a fantastic breakfast, Adam Routh and Patrick Wilson of PMOL for their lovely bottle of scotch that still hasn’t made it onto the boss’s desk, and of course the On-Air Promotion boys at Las Vegas’s KVVU-TV for showing us around town Tuesday night and introducing us to Corona martinis (very fancy)!
Finally what a great creole meal at Emeril’s with Fox Business’s Ray Lambiase and CNN design guru Jonathan Kemp.
And, of course we met Elvis – he’s much shorter in person!
Until next year, hope to see you there!!!
Wait… is that NAB or the circus?!?
Either way the greatest show in broadcasting is upon us. It’s going down next week in Vegas, and I can’t wait!
Although Stephen Arnold Music has been many times, this will be my first trip to THE SHOW, and I’ll be taking it in with another NAB-newbie Whitney Arnold.
Rumor has it NAB is a ginormous conference of all things broadcasting. I’ve heard it’s a techie paradise with plenty of educational sessions, industry heavy-weights, and social networking opportunities (AKA parties)! Can’t wait to experience for myself! Please let me know if you have any NAB advice! And hope to see you there!
(November 2, 2012) Hollywood awards season officially kicked into high gear last night with the 7th Annual HPA Awards held at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. The HPA Awards honor post-production excellence in feature films, television and commercials, and, for the second year in a row, Stephen Arnold Music provided the score for the entire show. From the opening cue to the final farewell, every track used by the producers came from The Vault.
“We take great satisfaction knowing that folks who specialize in creativity and innovation in post-production, and especially post-production sound, find The Vault to be an endless source of inspiration,” according to Chad Cook, SAM’s VP Creative Services. HPA Executive Director, Eileen Kramer seconded this thought, “The variety of high quality music we get from Stephen Arnold Music’s library covers the entire gamut of emotion we seek to bring to our awards show.”
We congratulate Ray Dolby (yes, that Dolby) on a lifetime of incredible achievements and for receiving the HPA’s highest honor, The Charles S. Swartz Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Post Production. And, a big thank you to Walter Murch, legendary film editor and sound designer, for a fitting tribute to a true giant of our industry.
From left to right: Walter Murch, Ray Dolby and his son David Dolby
We look forward to next year’s show and our continued collaboration with the HPA.
You can view the list of award winners online at The Hollywood Reporter.
New from The Vault! Straight off his chart topping success with ‘Declaration of Independence’ (US Country #1, US Rap #2, Billboard #5) Colt Ford lends his signature Country-Rap vocals to the new Georgia Bulldogs anthem – ‘Dawg Bite’ recorded by David Richt. Co-written by our very own Vault artist Greg Barnhill, this is the perfect track for Gameday!
You contact us at:
sales@stephenarnoldmusic.com
Or simply give us a call at:
214.726.1600
thx!
Thursday, June 7th, our very own Stephen Arnold will be doing “A Story of Six Strings” book signing event for a good cause! All book proceeds plus 10% of Two Old Hippies sales will support Little Kids Rock, a non-profit dedicated to restoring and revitalizing music education in U.S. public schools. For every book purchase, Little Kids Rock can serve about 3 children with a year’s worth of instrumental music lessons due to the support of Two Old Hippies.
Stephen will hold a workshop demonstrating ways to monetize your music beyond the stage and CD downloads by creating “sonic brands” for broadcast and cable networks. There will be performances by special guests Lee Roy Parnell, Dennis Matkosky, our very own Vault artist Greg Barnhill and Little Kids Rock Musicians.
If you are in the Nashville area stop by this free event, book signing, workshop and performance. Lite bites and libations will be served.
Two Old Hippies »
401 12th Ave. S. Nashville, TN 37203
ph: 615-245-7999
Learn more about the amazing artists performing at this event:
GREG BARNHILL:
Greg Barnhill’s music is timeless – He crosses all boundaries and genres. He is an award-winning songwriter, an A-list vocalist, a top-notch producer – in short, a brilliant musical mind. Artists from Etta James, Martina McBride, and Jessica Simpson to Chicago, Tim McGraw, Lee Ann Womack, Leona Lewis and many in between have embraced his songs. He is in high demand as a writer and performer – he travels around the world to work with acclaimed songwriters and artists such as Kim Carnes, Michael McDonald and The Neville Brothers.
At his home in Nashville, Barnhill works tirelessly and constantly. His passion is palpable when you’re sharing the room with him – he has an energy and drive that doesn’t quit. Indeed, that energy and creativity is what makes Barnhill so highly regarded by his peers.
LEE ROY PARNELL:
Lee Roy Parnell is among the elite few who can be identified as a triple threat: an ace guitarist as well as a distinctive singer and hit songwriter. Parnell has garnered the respect of fans and industry veterans alike with his soulful vocals and award-winning slide guitar playing. His music runs the gamut of diversity: blue-eyed soul, Deltablues, road house rock, Southern boogie, Texas swing, and gospel defying conventional classification. He draws from a broad range of music sources and combines them with seamless dexterity.
Based in Nashville, Parnell writes and produces music with some of the most influential songwriters and recording artists nationwide. Artists recording his songs include George Strait, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Colin Raye, Kenny Chesney, Patty Loveless, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shooter Jennings and 2011 country sensation Blackberry Smoke to name a few. Lee Roy has also arranged and lent his specific guitar stylings, recorded, as well as; live to a broad spectrum of artists most notably Tricia Yearwood, Radney Foster, Charlie Daniels, Greg Allman, Levon Helm, The Fairfield Four and Coco Montoya.
Kraig Kirchem of Kirchem Productions, winner of Fender Road Worn Guitar, with Stephen Arnold Music’s Michael Finnegan and Whitney Arnold.
The Grapevine Convention Center just off Historic Grapevine Town Center was host to the Texas Production Roundup on Thursday, presented by the Dallas Producers’ Association
Of course we couldn’t miss a chance to meet our local clients and make new friends. Local Film and TV producers and directors were there to see the latest offerings in mobile production, cameras, post-production, and great custom and library music.
These days, hyper-local is the new buzz word – just check out our latest image campaign ‘This Is The Place” – and this was our chance to see all that North Texas and Dallas, the 5th largest media market in the country, had in the pipeline.
We had a blast and even gave away a Fender ‘Road Worn’ guitar! Congratulations to Kraig Kirchem of Kirchem Productions and ABC affiliate WFAA.
Partnership to Significantly Expand The Vault’s Catalog of Ready-to-License Music
DALLAS, TX March 26 – The Vault, the licensed music collection from sonic branding experts Stephen Arnold Music, have expanded the size and scope of their catalog through a partnership with the elite UK collection Production Music Online (PMOL). The development adds hundreds of titles across multiple genres to The Vault – the extremely selective “anti-library” of ready-to-license music for broadcast and cable TV use.
Visitors to The Vault can now access PMOL’s Latin, Orchestral, Metal, Rock, Africa, China/Far East, and Science/Tech collections. Throughout 2012, The Vault will add more than 25 new PMOL volumes, comprising hundreds of highest-quality tracks.
PMOL has distinguished itself by working with many of the UK’s most in-demand film and TV composers, including Patrick Wilson (“Desperate Housewives,” “Dateline NBC,” “Today,” “The Tonight Show,” Dumb and Dumber) David Lowe (BBC News Theme, Abu Dhabi TV, TV2 Norway), Daniel Hewson (Groove Armada), and Dominic Miller (Sting).
“Every volume that goes into The Vault needs to have the ‘Wow factor’ from start to finish, and the music of PMOL more than qualifies,” says Stephen Arnold, President of Stephen Arnold Music. “Our partnership with PMOL makes The Vault a better tool than ever to quickly locate and license outstanding music.”
In addition to PMOL, The Vault also offers The Stephen Arnold Music Collection, high-end compositions from their custom music division; The Artist Collection, selected tracks from established hit songwriters like Greg Barnhill, Tom Freund and Diana Krall; and H2U, a top European collective that excels in electronica, techno, rock and beyond.
About The Vault:
Featuring a fast-moving web interface, an extremely selective catalog, and exclusive representation, The Vault is staffed by Stephen Arnold Music’s highly experienced team of full-time composers, providing content creators with a full-speed path to 100% licensable music, handpicked for maximum impact in TV, film and streaming media.
For more information visit:
http://anti-library.com
http://search.stephenarnoldmusic.com
Whitney Arnold - Manager of licensing and content for Stephen Arnold Music's The Vault.
What do Latvian Festivals, nights out in Manchester and the current Billboard #2 song all have in common? Why, Stephen Arnold Music, of course!!
Before being brought in to oversee Stephen Arnold Music’s library – The Vault – I was “lucky” enough to be a gigging Sound Engineer most recently based in London.
But before I could spend my days relaxing in my corner office listening to music all day, I had to up and move to Texas.
Trying to plan an overseas move – including arranging visas for my wife and 1 year old son, booking flights, shipping all our worldly possessions (not too many of these…), and arranging where we would be living once we got off our transatlantic flight – all during the busy festival season in Europe, was going to be very difficult.
So difficult in fact that it was impossible. And I found myself in Latvia at the end of August facing the grim reality that my current tour was ending, my wife had quit her job as a teacher and we were visa-less.
And then my FOH desk (a supposedly solid-as-a-rock Soundcraft Vi6). Fell over and died. In a field. In Latvia.
As my FOH engineer, Dave Macdonald, and I discussed our options (we were a 60+ input completely self-contained production, already fully line-checked and going on in 20 minutes) the lighting boys on the platform above kicked over a bottle of wine and drenched one of the 2 house festival desks (a Yamaha PM5D) in a nice sticky red wine glaze, rendering it as inoperable as our own digital desk!
All I can say is that cross-patching an entire stage box while dropping a dozen or so inputs to get into a 48 channel line system in Latvia in the rain with 10 minutes till change over is not much fun. But….it worked. Hallelujah.
And that, believe it or not, is how I came to be mixing the string section for what is currently Billboard’s #2 song: Adele’s “Set Fire to The Rain” from the album Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
Maybe it was coolness under pressure, maybe it was the can-do show-must-go-on attitude. Probably it was the free drinks I kept pretending to buy him. Whatever the reason, Dave asked me to lend a hand with his regular gig – Adele.
Supported by Amos Lee and recent Grammy winners The Civil Wars, the tour culminated in a live recording at the Royal Albert Hall. It was an incredible night whose highlight, undoubtedly, was the 20 ft mirrorball dropped in for the encore. (I know what you’re thinking, “who has a 20 ft mirrorball?” His name is Mirrorball Mike)
My job that day and every day was to build monitor world, set the stage monitors, mic the band, and mix the support bands (monitors). For the 3 London shows at the Hammersmith Apollo and Royal Albert Hall, a 12-piece string section was brought in.
For all the techies, FOH PA was L’Acousitcs K1 and V’Dosc for the Albert Hall and hangs of KILO for smaller theaters. Adele’s engineers – Dave MacDonald and Joe Campbell – worked on Allen & Heath iLive Consoles. Support and strings were mixed on Soundcraft Vi1’s. On stage were 7 pairs of D&B M2’s plus in-ear monitors for Adele and her two back-up singers. There was also a thumper and hard-wired ears for the drummer.
The strings were 8 violins (grouped as 1st as 2nd strings), 2 Violas and 2 Cellos. Violins and Violas were mic’d with DPA 4040 and 4041’s, Cellos used DPAs and Schertler contact mics. They each had their own independent hard-wire in ear monitors. In total that’s 8 stage mixes (including thumper), 4 in-ear mixes for Adele and her band, and 12 in-ear mixes for the strings.
All went well – as they always do during live taped shows, right? – and soon I was on my way stateside with my family, visas and all, to our new life in Texas.
It wasn’t until just last week, during the Grammy’s I noticed that the 2 performers singing in the middle of the audience were the support act I had mixed a few months before – the Civil Wars. While my wife “pretended” not to be impressed, I was really excited to see everyone recognized for what I always knew were incredible musicians and fantastic people to work with; Adele herself took home 6 Grammys that night.
Then I noticed on this very blog, on the right hand side, the Billboard top 10 songs. And there was my last gig listed as #2 – Adele’s “Set Fire To the Rain” Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
So you see everything has a purpose, and even potential disasters can turn out to be blessings in disguise.
And the best memory from those few weeks in September 2011?
Obviously the day Pat Baker, our production manager, gave everyone 3 weeks of per diems before a day off in Manchester, UK. Oh my. But that is a dirty roadie story for another time…
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Whitney currently manages licensing and content for Stephen Arnold Music’s library, The Vault, and his office is a converted closet.
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Billboard Top 100
