While the studio computer is booting up, I wanted to post a quick update on what the last two weeks have been like. First off, my new studio computer is still down. The new motherboard got installed on Monday but it didn't solve the problem. They now think it's the power supply. The replacement part arrived today and the service tech is scheduled for tomorrow. So HOPEFULLY I'll be back up and running on the new machine by tomorrow night.
In the meantime, my old machine is doing the job. I've submitted 11 cues so far for the film score. I've been getting some positive feedback from the director so that's very encouraging. I've started to get into a bit of a groove and I think I've got a pretty good sense of what the director is looking for score-wise. I've still got quite a bit of music left to write, but not a whole lot of time left to do it in.
Speaking of which, gotta get back to it, that March 1st deadline is coming up quick!!!! But before I go, I just got to give a "shout out" to my awesome wife who is being so extremely supportive and encouraging through this "stressful" couple of weeks. I love you honey!
-Big Blue
The Best Laid Plans...
Ever have one of those days when the one thing that you absolutely could not afford to go wrong does? That was today for me.
I awoke this morning to find that my studio computer had decided to engage itself with a game of tag. But instead of chasing someone around and slapping them, it decided to turn itself off, wait a second, turn itself back on, but within a second or two before it could even get booted up, it would turn itself off again. This vicious cycle could only be stopped by disconnecting the power cable. Obviously, there is never a good time to encounter this kind of computer problem. But when you're on a deadline of basically 3 weeks to compose a film score for a full-length film, well, that just makes matters worse. Fortunately, for me, I still have my previous studio computer so I'm not at a total loss. But I did spend the entire day just installing two pieces of software (around 100GB each) just so I'd be able to keep working while I wait for my machine to get repaired. It is under warranty, but this is the second time I've had to have it fixed for basically the same issue. The last time they replaced the processor. This time they're replacing the motherboard. If it happens again, they'll be replacing a customer ;-) Well, it looks as if the software is done installing so I better wrap this up and see if I can get anything done tonight. - Big Blue What's Up Ahead
As some of you already know if you happen to follow me on Facebook or Twitter, I recently got a gig scoring a full length film. I've had the rough edit for a few days but tomorrow I'm getting the locked version, as well as having a spotting session with the director. I'm very excited about this project, as it will be my first full length film scoring gig, and with a very quick deadline, I'm also slightly terrified :-)
Fortunately, I've got the support of many friends, family and colleagues to help provide some words of wisdom and encouragement. If this one goes well, then the possibility of other projects looks to be there. But I'm not worried about that. As a sports fanatic, I plan to take it one score at a time. If the deadline wasn't as soon as it is, I would take the time to blog about the process while it's going on but I'm just not going to have enough time to do that. After I'm done I'll try to post a blog or two about the process and the overall experience. Once I'm finished with the film project I'll start writing some "Reality TV" cues for my largest library client. I wrote a couple of them last year and so far one of them has been used in a couple of different shows over the last 3 months. I expect I'll be writing quite a bit more this time. After that, well, if it's anything like the last project, then I'll probably need to take a break! - Big Blue Looking back before looking ahead
The year started off with me participating in a social networking Blog contest sponsored by Ariel Hyatt. It was during the contest that I really began trying to figure out my musical identity. I was torn between trying to be "Big Blue Barry" the artist and "Barry French" the composer. At first I struggled with the decision but eventually decided to go with being the artist. Then near the end of the year, I re-visited my choice and began moving forward as "Big Blue Barry" the composer. Now I'm at total peace with my choice and it feels great. During the spring I began signing some new deals with music libraries, both for myself and for Crushing Gray, all of which were results of direct forwards from TAXI. I also began getting some new placements outside of the daytime TV medical talk show that I wrote some tracks for the previous year. Unfortunately, not everything in 2010 was great. In May, Nashville was hit with one of the worst natural disasters it's ever seen, simply known around here as "the flood." We were fortunate in that the only damage we had was with our driveway, but others were not as fortunate. The effects of the flood are still felt throughout the city. The summer was spent cranking out as many tracks as I could for another daytime TV talk show, this one being focused more on home and lifestyle, produced by the same company that produces several of the largest daytime TV talk shows out there. I ended up signing 50 tracks with them at the end of the project. It was a very tiring project but well worth it in the end as I ended up with around 120 placements on the show during the last three months of the year. Speaking of the last three months of 2010... I had a chance to take my annual trip up to the Big Blue Madness to see Kentucky start off the 2010-11 season, as well as my trip to the TAXI Road Rally. The week after the Road Rally I found out that I had landed the theme song for a new TV show that was debuting on a brand new network that debuted in 2011. Again, it's one of those deals that I'm not permitted to disclose the name of in public but you can probably guess which network I'm talking about. I'll give a hint about the show, it airs on Monday nights at 10pm, but that's all I can say :-) Finally, in December I got a chance to become a "Go To Guy" for the library that had gotten me placements on a couple of TLC shows earlier in the year. I've already signed a handful of tracks with them and look forward to writing more. I believe that covers the highlights of the past year. And from the looks of things so far, 2011 is going to be just as exciting!
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