July Jam in Central Park Thursday July 29 6pm to 9:30pm

Come celebrate summer with music in Corvallis' Central Park on Thursday, July 29 starting around 6pm..  You'll hear a wide variety of music including folk, jazz, swing, surf and more!

Music and revelry from The Svens, The Blowholes, Marzipanhandlers, and Fromage à Trois.

This is a FREE, family-friendly event.  Bring your family, friends and have your dinner in the park and enjoy the music.

Starting just after 6pm you'll hear acoustic music from the likes of Marzipanhandlers, Fromage à Trois, and others.

At 7pm The Svens will perform a show that is sure to entertain:  narrated tales of the wild west blended with surf music delivered with The Svens' unique stylings.

8pm - more acoustic music with Marzipanhandlers, Fromage à Trois, with others joining in.

8:30pm - The Blowholes return!  Rested and ready, The Blowholes are a 7-piece progressive swing group (4 horns and 3 rhythm players) who will swing and groove as the sun sets.

9:30pm - We'll wrap it up and combine all the musicians with a couple jam-style tunes.

CDs will be available from the respective bands, including The Svens' "Doc" CD, and my own semi-acoustic-folksy-blues collection of new songs entitled "Letters To Myself"

Hope to see you there!

Rob Birdwell

The Svens at Bombs Away Cafe July 10

Caught in the Act at Corvallis Red, White and Blues Riverfront Festival

Playing (trumpet/flugel - maybe a little sax too) with Caught in the Act.  Been sitting in with these guys for a while now.  A terrific band and a super group of guys.  You'll hear some classics (like "Still Diggin' on James Brown") as well as some originals that sound like classics!

Caught in the Act plays from 4:30 to 6:30 - two full sets.  Looking forward to hearing the other bands too.

It's a lovely way to spend the day.

RB

OPB Hard Times Series wins Peabody Award - Svens Music Featured

Just got word that the OPB's "Hard Times" series won the prestigious Peabody Award!  This is wonderful news for a number of reasons and one of them is that The Svens' performance of "Hard Times Come No More" was among the musical features!

You can read more about the music used in the series, including The Svens' offering!
http://news.opb.org/hardtimesmusic/

So raise your goblet and say it loud, say it proud:  Skål !!!!


Saxy

Thoughts on Gigs

Over the last 20 years or so I've played a lot of different gigs: jazz combo (private parties, restaurants/clubs), big band, orchestra, my student jazz band, musical theatre, recording sessions, and, more recently, rehearsals and performances with a surf band.

Today, playing in a brass ensemble with organ and a small choir for an Easter service (something I haven't done in many years) I was reminded of how good it feels to play - what a privilege and honor it is.  It doesn't seem to matter the style of music or the venue.  Being part of a group of musicians (either as a hired horn or leader) is simply a deep love for me.

I can name numerous things I dread:  weeding, working for a big company, taxes, getting rid of mementos, calls at 4am - that's a few.  But I would be hard-pressed to tell you of a single musical performance I didn't think fondly of, especially with the passing of time.

And more and more I have the privilege to play and work with really good and even great (and sometimes fabulously great) musicians.  Although the last year (with the tough economic collapse) has been tough on local businesses and venues, the musical adventures for me have, fortunately, not only continued but proved to be even more special and appreciated - by me at least.

I seldom tire of "musician talk" - talk of tunes, techniques, tips, tricks and other bits; of hearing of other gigs players have had and their experiences.  Perhaps most of all, I love the humor and laughter shared with my fellow musician friends.  Not necessarily the nefarious kind you might expect from a trumpet player type like me (which I will neither confirm nor deny I contribute to) but the stuff that just makes you smile and be glad...glad to be in the room with folks who you can share a smile, story, and music with.  

And of course I do mourn the folks I don't play with anymore either because of a lack of time, location, or the fact that they're no longer alive.  Still, I maintain this childlike hope for gigs to come and the wonderful friends I'll get to share the stage/room with soon.  And in that childlike mode, I like to think that the best is yet to come - that my full potential as a person, musician and performer will continue to grow and thrive.  Well that's my little mantra.  You can't tell me I'm swimming up stream.  And even if you did, I tell you that's the way I need to go.

Naturally, it's nice when folks express an appreciation for the music and/or musicians - not completely rare of course, but not as common as the gigs where 1) few people come out to listen; 2) the music was regarded no more than "filler" music - nobody really listening or engaged in the creative process of music making; 3) finger food and some friendly conversation between fellow musicians being the only tangible benefit - definitely not the worst case!

No, I'm not satisfied with gigs that don't engage my own creativity or skills and do my darndest to filter out the situations/gigs I know won't be a good fit for me.  But more often than not, the gigs I play end up being more than enough to keep me inspired - plenty to fuel more research, exploration, practicing, writing, and dreaming...

Every musical performance is a lesson.  It teaches us humility, respect and the importance of being part of something bigger than us as individuals.

Well, that's all I have to say now.  Nothing particularly deep or profound here but today I was once again reminded of something worthy of noting in my little blog.

So here's to good friends and good music...and to the next one.

Rob

The Svens at Bombs Away Cafe April 10, 2010

The Svens will once again perform at Bombs Away Cafe Saturday, April 10.

It will be an extra special night of music - a double header!  Starting around 8:30pm we'll perform "Hulda's Story" - the narrative is a real letter from a grandfather to his granddaughter, Hulda, reporting on his adventures exploring Alaska.  Various surf tunes are crafted into the mix along with some tasty sound bytes by Viking.

(Incidentally, we recently performed "Hulda's Story" for the real Hulda, still going strong in her 90's, at her residence in Lebanon, Oregon in March.  We toned things down a bit for the room (what we call Svens Sv-unplugged) it was particularly moving to hear Hulda talk at the conclusion about her grandfather - sounded like an amazing fellow.)

Then around 9:00pm or so we'll perform an all new rendition of "The Blacksmith" - new tunes, sound bytes and a fresh take on this classic show.

And the evening will be extra, extra special because we'll be celebrating a great new CD recording release of the previous show "Doc" - I think it's the best recording yet of The Svens.  The band is tight and the Sax parts are beginning to sound like a real Sax player is playing them! (Ha!)  I know Viking worked very hard on the mixes, fixing our glitches and making it come to life - some of the best Sven studio takes yet. So bring your CD money too and take some Svens music home for the whole family to enjoy!

See you there!

Graters of the Lost Carp at DaVinci Days Film Festival

The short film "Graters of the Lost Carp" (written and directed by Mike Aronson, music by Rob Birdwell) will show at the DaVinci Days Film Festival March 13, 3:30pm at LaSells, Oregon State University.

Click on the image on the left to see the nice poster in its full size!

Click here for more about this film and the other films being shown!

Virtual Trumpet - Limited Time Offer - Register for a BUCK

Well folks, as you may or may not know, my Virtual Trumpet software (for Windows) has been around for almost 10 years believe it or not!

It has always been FREE to download and try out, however, if you wanted to "register" the product to get both audio and MIDI playback (and get rid of the registration "nag" screen) you'd normally have to shell out $15 dollars.

But now, for a limited time (sorry that sounds so "commercial" doesn't it?) you can STILL download it for free, but the registration fee is only a single BUCK...yep, just $1 U.S. dollar.

It's pretty good deal but it won't last long.  So, whilst this offer is still good:

1. Download and install Virtual Trumpet >> here's a link to the setup files.
2. Download and install the Virtual Trumpet Audio Library >> here's the audio library link.
3. Go to the Virtual Trumpet product page and purchase your registration license - here's the link.

Bear in mind that I haven't been doing any development on the Virtual Trumpet product for quite a while (as I'm too busy writing and performing "real" music these days - a good thing).  Virtual Trumpet currently runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7.  However, support for Virtual Trumpet will be fairly limited, but hey, waddaya want for a buck?!

Svens at Bombs Away - Jan 30 2010

New Year Musical Reflections - Business as Usual

Happy new year everyone!  I realize we're deep into the new year already, but as I'm just getting re-acclimated from the holidays, it sort of feels like the start of the new year is just now happening.  I've been away from blogging, tweeting and facebook for so long that I almost feel I'm living in the 90's again

Musically, last year was quite mixed bag - however, even with the economy tanking, nothing really changed for me or my peers when it came to playing gigs, writing, and exploring various forms of musical expression - none of us got paid much at all.  Some venues cut back or closed completely - others opened their doors.  So in other words, business as usual!

Last July I decided to create my own economic stimulus package in the form of my "Sweet Surrender" CD which featured me and more of me.  So if you like "me" (and hey, I like "me"), you're going to love Sweet Surrender as it's chock full of me. Meanwhile, my plans for the next CD are forming and will likely be a return to more of my vocal and lyrical offerings, with a heavy dose of horns and such.  Maybe I can enlist the help of some friends in The Blowholes to break some new ground - or maybe another ensemble will come of it...not sure.  Yep, business as usual.

In the Spring of 2009 I wrote a symphonic work entitled "A New Day" - it featured the Max Planck Big Band from Germany - it was a thrill to get back to some orchestral writing.

My live performances were split between my Sideways Portal collaborations (Flugelhorn and Percussion) and playing in The Svens (Tenor Sax).  These groups are worlds apart in many ways, but in my mind there's a common thread that is hard to explain.  Anyway, the guys in both groups are amazing and such dear friends - and it's just so dang fun.  So look for more business as usual this year in those departments.

I'm in my 7th season of directing the Early Bird Jazz Band at Linus Pauling Middle School.  Although Jazz and 7:45am are not exactly ideal, the kids are amazing and I'm so proud of the work we're doing.  I've seen a very high percentage of my "Early Birders" (at least 90% I'd guess) continue on as successful high school players (and some even in college now as music majors!) so to be a small part of their musical journey and to perhaps have a part in their outlook on music and how it can enhance our lives and the world we live it, well, that pretty much tops all.

In 2009 I did a fair number of "virtual" horn man gigs - that's where other bands or artists find me on the internet and say, "wow, this guy is pretty good - and he's obviously cheap" and so they hire me to lay down horn parts for their own golden parachute productions.  I actually enjoy this process - I can work in my underwear and since I'm a swimmer, that's pretty much the way I like to work anyway.  I get to do my thing (hey, they hired "me" - what else can I do?) and hopefully I can add a bit of edge to their tune.  A notable few of my clients this year included Neal Gladstone, Natasha Urale Baker, Alex Sheridan, and others, including work for various small media productions who need custom horn sounds; mainly things that sound comical and/or fart-like.  Hey, it's what I do.  Business as usual.

As for writing, if I were going to set some goals (and I'd rather remain flexible) I would lean towards integrating more vocals into the ditties I'm writing and balancing those with horn lines and improvisations.  For me personally, I enjoy a story - it can be anything really, but music has to tell a bit of a story, even if it's only embedded in the cryptic title.  But better yet if there's some meat in there - something I can react to (laugh, cry, hurl, whatever).  So I'll be exploring that territory a bit more - nothing new. BAU.

I also have at least one offer to write something for an orchestra again and suppose I'll just go ahead and pursue that since, you know, I'll want to be done with it before the stream of other offers blasts my way.

Yes, it's business as usual at BirdwellMusic.com!

All the best to you and yours - and here's to a musical, happy, healthy and fun new year!


Rob Birdwell

Titanium Man

Happy to say my Dad is doing well after his heart surgery where they replaced his aortic valve with a titanium version.  He had a good night and we're all very happy and relieved.  A great surgical team and nursing staff.  Everyone has been very nice.  Thanks to all for their good thoughts and prayers.

Rob

Sweet Surrender CD - Buy While Downtown Corvallis

Thanks to these local Corvallis retailers for carrying my latest CD, Sweet Surrender:

• Gracewinds Music
• Grass Roots Books & Music
• Happy Trails Records

So...when you're out and about in downtown Corvallis, perhaps looking for some music, stop by and do some shopping...hint, hint!

Rob

Graters of the Lost Carp - Movie Debut

CORVALLIS -- "Graters of the Lost Carp," Wednesday, 8 p.m. Nov. 18, 2009, Beit Am, Mid-Willamette Jewish Community Center, 625 N.W. 36th St., Corvallis. The world premiere of the action-packed (yet nonviolent) 30-minute film, "The Adventures of Israel Stein, Gastronomical Archaeologist." Written and directed by Mike Aronson and performed by Beit Am members; music by local composer Rob Birdwell. Admission: $5 suggested donation, $10 per family. Information: 753-0067

All This Stuff - multi-mix demo using Silverlight

Cut to the chase - click this link to view the working version first pass of my 8-track mixer.  

Now read on and you'll know what I'm talking about...

I have a bunch of tunes from the last year or so that I'll probably mix down soon and just be done with them.  Using sophisticated mixers like SONAR and notation tools like Finale, and distilling it all down to a somewhat static "stereo" mix can be a bit of a let down (to me at least).  Why are we trapped in the world of stereo? (And I'm not talking 5.1 Dolby stuff here, but rather the general status quo of the consumer stereo mix for the last 50 years or so.)

What if music listeners could do more than turn up their volume - what if they could mute the lead vocal? What if they could listen in on all the background vocals and/or horn lines?  I know, there are ramifications to this.  But consider live performances - what if our portable music players could tap into the main mixing console (broadcasting openly to those interested "listeners") and interact with live performances with our own portable mixers?  Raising the level of the guitar, focusing in on the horn section....what if?  

Well, here's my first experiment with multi-track playback...using Silverlight.

The tune is mine and called "All This Stuff" - but rather than a stereo mix, you can play around with any of the 8 channels of this mix.

I plan on adding more features to the 8 track mixer console.  And 8 probably is enough, at least for me.  Audio levels, panning, muting - not a bad start.  Soloing and being able to save a mix would be nice features and they will come.

If you click the "red" button (looks like a record button) you'll see a window listing the details of the track data.  You can even modify it.  In theory, a collaborative group of musicians could pop their mp3 links into the editor and it would stream in.

Naturally, a way to do this sans little or no effort is the goal.  Again, what if...

The Svens at Bombs Away - Friday 9/25/2009 8pm

CORVALLIS - Come experience The Svens at Bombs Away Cafe, Friday, September 25, 2009.  The show starts at 8pm. The title of this show is "California Fever" - you'll hear a great story accompanied by some terrific tunes.  Hope to see you there.  CDs will be available too.

Corvallis Community Musicians Wanted - Once Upon a Mattress

Community Musicians wanted for CHS/CVHS Musical 

Once Upon a Mattress!

Opening Night is November 12
Show Closes November 22. 
(November 11 will be a preview performance)

Corvallis High School and Crescent Valley High School will put on a joint production of the musical Once Upon a Mattress.  This  two week run of performances is scheduled to open on November 12 and closes November 22.  (November 11 will be a preview performance)

Due to a high school band related event during part of that time, some of the parts will need to be covered by community players. 

This 1959 show sports a sophisticated and challenging score for a full pit orchestra (strings, winds, brass, percussion).  The orchestra rehearsals will likely begin in mid October - possibly one weeknight and Sunday afternoons.

If you are interested in being involved (even if you can only sub for a few shows) please contact Rob Birdwell AND Michael Grant at the following emails:

Michael Grant - Music Director
Rob Birdwell - http://www.birdwellmusic.com/Contact.aspx

Once Upon a Mattress - Pit Orchestra

1 PIANO 1 FLUTE (Doubling Piccolo) 1 OBOE 1 CLARINET 1 BASS CLARINET 1 HORN 1 TRUMPET I 1 TRUMPET II 1 TROMBONE

1 GUITAR (Acoustic with amp) 1 PIANO (Doubles Celeste) 1 HARP 2 VIOLINS (Divisi) 1 VIOLA (Divisi) 1 CELLO (Divisi) 1 BASS 1 PERCUSSION

Sweet Surrender CD - Now Released on CDBaby.com

It's been months in the making and finally "Sweet Surrender" is here! It has been quite an adventure attempting to formalize and release this collection of tunes that came about so spontaneously.

And I think the wait and work will be worth it. My hat is off to CDBaby.com - a fine (Portland, Oregon) outlet. Those folks have done a great job pulling off a major upgrade of their site and services. The benefits and new features will, by far, outweigh any technical glitches.

Like any endeavor, we all stumble now and then. But what the world remembers is that we were bold, got up, and did our thing the best way we know how!

Thanks for your support. I do hope you enjoy the CD - I enjoyed making it. You can order single MP3 tracks, all of the tracks digitally, or the (personally autographed) physical CD if you want!

Enjoy,

Rob Birdwell

Business Card Advertising with Rob Birdwell

Are you looking for a creative way to advertise your business or services AND support an independent musician?! Here's an easy and inexpensive way to do BOTH!

The sample CD card (the inside portion) illustrates where YOUR BUSINESS CARD or PRE-PRINTED ADVERTISEMENT would be prominently displayed within one or more of my CD releases.

If you would like to fill all or a portion of the CD insert side with your own pre-printed advertisement, I can work with you on this and we will work out a per unit rate that will be 1) affordable and 2) effective.

My recordings reach a modest but interesting and diverse audience. I sell my physical CD stock through CDBaby.com but the vast majority of my physical CD sales are sold directly to folks at live performances.

Key Benefits:

• Your business card or ad gets into the hands of local music lovers!
  
• This low-cost form of advertising helps offset the CD printing costs for me, enabling me to reach even more listeners.
• Cross-marketing your business and services with the arts is great for everyone!
  

Please contact me directly if you would like to include your business cards or pre-printed advertisement with my CD releases!

Sincerely,

Rob Birdwell

Sweet Surrender by Rob Birdwell

Here's the title track from my CD, Sweet Surrender, in a youtube performance:

Sweet Surrender is available on CDBaby and other online outlets on or after 9/1/2009.

Sweet Surrender - CD Liner Notes

Here are the liner notes to my new CD, Sweet Surrender, which I just finished mastering today. The CD, which will be available everywhere in CD and download form shortly, is a collection of improvised settings & songs. I play Flugelhorn, Trumpet, Piano and Tenor Sax. Recorded during a three week period in July 2009, this collection of recordings is unique for me in that I invented the tunes in the moment. It was a wonderfully refreshing process, one which I'm familiar with when collaborating with other musicians, but something I'd rarely tried doing while recording on my own.

Read my complete liner notes for Sweet Surrender...

Rob Birdwell - July 26, 2009