AND IT BEGINS!!
We at Ball in the House have laid down our first track of vocals, marking the official beginning of making our NEW ORIGINAL ALBUM!! Last week, we spent some time at WCTV recording our first song! This is the first of many tracks to be recorded for our upcoming album! We couldn’t be more excited to be producing new original, a cappella music, and I get to wear my a cappella production hat for this album! Blessed to be doing what I love 🎶 🎤 🎧 Make sure to keep reading my NEWS section here, along with following us on all Ball in the House social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as we'll be sharing tidbits and some behind-the-scene happenings with the making of this album, so stay tuned!
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So a month ago, Executive Director of Wilmington Community Television (WCTV - Wilmington, MA) Ryan Malyar, after a morning of running several virtual school shows for Ball in the House, day dreamingly said something along the lines of, "It'd be cool if WCTV had a jingle, we've always wanted one!"
So the next day, Dave Guisti (fellow bandmate in BitH) came up with a melody (he recorded it on his phone) and sent it to the rest of the band, and with that...well, I ran with it! I arranged the rest of the jingle around Dave's melody, recorded the guys within the day, and then edited and mixed it on the weekend...and here was the final result! This was SUPER cool to produce, and a great team effort on all fronts! Hello all! I hope the Spring-time air has been refreshing and rejuvenating for everyone...I say that, and I look outside my window and it's SNOWING right now!! Crazy weather we're having here in MA! Along with the website overhaul I made last month, I've also been spending some time reorganizing, updating, and cleaning up my a cappella arrangements available at Sheet Music Plus, the "world's largest sheet music selection". Along with updating charts, in the spirit of "spring cleaning", I have decided to make my arrangements more accessible to all, by dropping the prices!! We're talking as low as you can go, $1.89 (US) per copy, with only an extra $2.00 ($3.79 (US) per copy) for charts that are featured singles or are a part of EPs and albums!! Take a browse through my growing catalog; I've even included a plethora of my award-winning charts! A cappella arranging is one of my deepest passions, and my goal is to always share that love to all, and beyond! If you ever want to talk shop on any aspects of a cappella arranging or looking for custom work, please drop a line, I would love to hear about your project!
Hello everyone! I hope all is well and that you're enjoying the start of Spring! I can't believe it's been over a year since we've all been social distancing and following COVID-19 safety protocols! It's been a long, difficult, and tiring year for sure, but thankfully we've all been able to keep music making and singing in our lives in some way, shape, or form, safely of course! So grateful to see many friends, educator friends, and family starting to receive COVID vaccines -- myself included, I had my first dose of Moderna a couple weeks back! There's a light at the end of the tunnel! Let's all continue to support and uplift one another, more so than ever, as we head back towards some "normalcy"! Some news! I did a little over haul of my website (as you can see), and really happy how it turned out! Please, browse through and take a look! Also received some praise and BEYOND KIND words from the #acappella man himself, Deke Sharon!! Thanks, Deke! "Kevin's one of the new wave of talented a cappella Renaissance men who get it, he does it all, and that cohesive experience informs everything he does and teaches."  Hope everyone is off to a strong and fun 2021 with your music making! #acappella and #choral rehearsals and meeting up to sing can be tricky now-a-days, especially with COVID-19 still floating around. So how do I continue to stay on top of learning new rehearsal techniques and grow my knowledge in the choral and a cappella world? By READING!!
I'm really excited to dive into this new book I received as a gift over the holidays! The Choral Conductor's Companion: 100 Rehearsal Techniques, Imaginative Ideas, Quotes, and Facts. Compiled and Edited by Brian J. Winnie. The title says it all!! It's really cool to see some articles written by some wonderful and brilliant teachers I know! Dr. J.D. Frizzell (J.D. Frizzell Facebook page), Dr. Emily Young Frizzell (Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Memphis), and my former choral conducting teacher, Dr. Janet Galván (Janet Galván, Conductor Facebook page), at Ithaca College! I can't wait to dive deeper into choral singing and continue to expand my knowledge! There are even some articles about contemporary a cappella! #reading #musiced #musiceducation #music #singing #IthacaCollege  Happy New Year everyone! 2020 turned out to be one incredible year. Along with plenty of (socially distanced) music making with Redline & Ball in the House, teaming up with the A Cappella Education Association to offer my own virtual classes, and working on arranging, education, and production projects with my Cut Off Studios family, I am lucky to say that I also got engaged!! I'm truly blessed to live a wonderful musical and #acappella life, and my lovely fiancé is now along for the ride!
Despite challenges and times of uncertainty that 2020 brought, we all prospered and made it the best we could! Thank you to all groups who I had the privilege to work with this past year! The talent and passion grows more and more! Thank you Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School's Accent A Cappella, Chelmsford High School's The Crescendos, University of Pennsylvania's Dischord, Avenue A Cappella, University of Rochester's Trebellious, all groups who took a part of school assemblies and shows with Ball in the House (pre-COVID and virtual), and all groups who attended the first ever Virtual LENS with Cut Off back in November!! ---------- What's on the horizon? ---------- - NE Voices is THIS weekend, Saturday January 16! - 4 more days until #nevoices2021, and you can register and find out more information today at www.ne-voices.com! - More virtual school assemblies and concerts with Ball in the House! We're still rescheduling our big Allied Tour in the Midwest, so stay tuned...and a new album?! - Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and go to www.ballinthehouse.com for all updates! Music teachers & choir directors -- if you're looking for any virtual school assembly, masterclass, or concert opportunities, we're booking now! - More music with Redline! Thank you for all the love with our single "Treat You Better" that we released last April, and we're itching to (safely) get back in the studio to record more music! - follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and checkout www.redlineboston.com! - More arranging, production, and education projects with Cut Off Studios! Another virtual LENS? Coming soon! - follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and check out www.cutoffstudios.com for more information about all of our services! Lets make 2021 the best year yet! For questions about any of my cappella arranging, education, and production services, please don't hesitate to contact me! Cheers everyone!  Excited to share that I’ll be a clinician at Cut Off Studios
first ever VIRTUAL LENS event!! Come one, come all, whether you’re an individual or a group! Sign ups are still open! Due to the change to virtual, we are having this event as a “pay as you can”, with a suggested price of $10/person. When: Sunday November 8, 2020 Time: 6 - 9 PM EST How: Zoom Sign up here and to learn more: www.cutoffstudios.com/lens From arranging, to leadership, to directing a group, even sight reading, we have many different classes to choose from!! Learn from some of the best of the best in the field, and let me tell you, the Cut Off family are as passionate as they come!! I’m truly blessed to be working with such knowledgeable, talented, and amazing friends! If you have any questions, I’m more than happy to chat! Hope to see you there! I am excited to share that I am a part of the A Cappella Education Association's (AEA) new, international Virtual Coaching program! If you are a middle school or high school student, a choral or music teacher, or know of teachers who are interested or are involved with an a cappella ensemble, the AEA is offering some amazing classes from top-level professionals in the a cappella field! I'm honored to be amongst this incredible roster of teachers and a cappella professionals! Under the categories "Directing and Rehearsals" and "Recording", find my classes and book an appointment! All appointments are one-on-one, 30 minute, Q&A based live-video conferences, so come prepared with any and all questions about the topic! Here are my classes to choose from:
DIRECTING AND REHEARSAL First Time Music Directing So you have been chosen to be the next music director of your a cappella group, CONGRATS! “What do I need to do?” and “What am I in for?” are some questions you may be asking yourself, and that’s OK! Being a music director is a great privilege, and an exciting opportunity to use the vast resources of musical composition and performance for artistic creativity. It also carries with it important responsibilities, and you must be able to inspire and challenge musicians to perform at their highest possible level through instructive assistance that is supportive and positive. Through open discussion, we’ll address those first time music director jitters: from preparing arrangements to score study, to assigning parts, and discussing different ways to teach the music, these tools will all help with preparing and running an effective, fun rehearsal! Embracing Musicality Looking for some help on improving your group’s sound? Have you hit a musical brick wall when it comes to elevating your music? Do you want to feel the music and not just hear it? Musicality is an essential aspect of the learning process of music, and there are many ways to discover and ignite passion and electrify your singing by being musical. Through this open discussion, we’ll touch on the importance of musicality and go over some different approaches on how your group can find new, exciting, and engaging perspectives to your music making process! RECORDING DIY Recording So you’re interested in recording a cappella groups (or recording your own group), AWESOME! So where do you start? We’ll have the opportunity to go over the basic technical needs and stages of the recording process, from start to finish! Along with learning how to get started, we’ll go over the current trends and tricks of recording your singers, as the tracking stage is the most important part of the whole process! Through this open discussion, you will learn about the basic necessities and gain a deeper understanding of how to start recording a cappella groups! Preparing for Studio Success So you’re considering recording a single, EP, or full-length album, GREAT! Before you step in front of a microphone though, we need to address an important question: Why record in the first place? We will have a chance to talk about some helpful tips and ideas when it comes to the planning stages of recording. Hiring a professional v.s. DIY, realistic costs, setting recording goals, and time commitment are some topics that we’ll have the opportunity to discuss! Through this open discussion, our goal is to define your recording vision and turn your musical identity into the best musical product imaginable. |
AuthorProfessional contemporary #acappella arranger, producer, recording engineer, and educator from Westborough, MA, USA. Archives
May 2021
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