Music Seen: Music Supervisor Hot Picks * Delphic’s “This Momentary”

Artist: Delphic

Song: “This Momentary”

Why I Luv It: This extremely memorable new song embodies strength in songwriting and performance on multiple levels.  The production is absolutely stellar.  The vocal melodies are hypnotic and infectious, and most of all, this song evokes a grand spectrum of emotion.

Scene I Can See it In: Lyrically, this is the perfect song to support a storyline involving a broken romantic relationship: One of the two people is willing to put the past behind them in an effort to rebuild and restart fresh/new, while at the same time taking things more seriously than ever considered before.

Lyrical sample:

“We, you and me what is said wasn’t never meant to hurt,
Real stories always come off worse
Can we make the time to leave it behind and reshape,
remake our faith in what we see,
how you feel so unsteady,
I’m already out of reach, remember finding your feet,
In a fine time, take the time to find me,
I’ll be ready waiting lets do something real…”

Instrumentally, there is a great break around (01:55) that would be an absolutely great fit for any beautifully filmed flying sequence at a high speed. A steadily picked bass-line, complimented by a delicately smooth synth-pad chord progression, sporadically delayed guitar chords, and dreamy vocals with elegant yet powerful harmonies give this song a naturally soaring feeling as if you’re being lifted off the ground by its sonic propulsion.

Dave Hnatiuk is a Music Supervisor/Senior Sound Designer for MTV On-Air Promotions, NYC. Visit him at Music Supervision Central or The Song Hunters.

Composer Focus: Elie Maman Keeps Moving Up

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: It’s a New Year — Instead of finding a yoga instructor for inspiration, check out Elie Maman. Equally adept at the business side of the biz, this fast-emerging producer/composer shows us just what kind of head you have to have on to fly fast forward off the city grid.

Straight out of Flatbush to worldwide exposure, Maman personifies NYC hustle. At just 21, Maman is quickly proving himself, thanks to his ability to create original artist tracks and scores that are naturally one step ahead of the curve.

If there’s one thing Maman likes more than nailing a sound, however, it just might be scoring a synch license. It started in earnest when his uniquely driving hip hop song for Universal Republic artist David Rush, “You Already Know”, got a key placement and huge exposure on a 2009 episode of the MTV show “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory”. His appetite for music supervision success grew downright insatiable, and he’s been steadily building his network and library ever since.

Q: How would you describe the niche that Elie Maman Productions holds in the music business? How is your business model similar to others out there, and what’s making you different?
A: Elie Maman Productions is a one-stop-shop for music licensing — I handle everything from composing to the legal end of things. We’re similar in the sense that we all want the same outcome — which is getting music licensed in Film/TV and commercials, but the process of how we go about landing the deal is different. It’s a one-man show here at Elie Maman Productions.

Q: How do you see music and sound production evolving in NYC right now, and how are you set up to take maximum advantage of that?
A: The NYC music scene is always evolving. There’s a lot of opportunity here to make things happen. Some of the biggest music companies are based out of here — I take advantage by going out and NETWORKING at every event I hear about. With a site like SonicScoop it makes it much easier to be informed on the 411.

Q: Thanks for the plug! Your check is in the mail. Speaking of that — which revenue streams do you see opening up most strongly for NYC-based artists and music professionals? How are you involving yourself with those streams?
A: I see there are a lot of opportunities in the music licensing part of the music biz for artists and music professionals. Every source of media needs music, everything from film to TV to video games — even elevator music! Opportunities are endless. It’s all about finding YOUR niche.

Q: OK, let’s talk about YOUR niche, then! Tell us about a couple of different recent projects that you did that exemplify what you’re being asked to do now. What made them fun?
A: A recent project that I have completed was landing two tracks on MTV’s “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory” DVD Season 1, which was released in September.

Another recent project was landing a placement on the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. The crazy thing about this placement was that the whole room was filled with the biggest names in the music/film industry and they all heard my track cranked up in the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA – this besides the millions of people at home watching it live. My track played right before Eminem took the stage — never thought I’d hear my song on one of the biggest award shows!

The cool thing about placements is hearing your track playing live on TV: You get this crazy rush that is very hard to explain. If you’ve landed a placement before then you know what I’m talking about. There’s been many different times when I would be sleeping, my TV would be on, and I’d wake up from hearing one of my songs on. Or I might turn on the TV and immediately hear my song playing.

Some of my other recent highlights include “The People’s Choice Awards” on CBS (which airs this Wednesday, at 9 PM EST). I also recently landed a track on “The How to Show” on MTV.com for their “How To Dance Like Michael Jackson” segment, plus ESPN’s SportsCenter and Sirius Radio.

One last thing is that there have been many opportunities that came from my previous placements on shows. From landing a placement on “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory”, that led me to having the opportunity to have my track on the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, to getting a few other offers from MTV for some of their hit shows. My point is: one thing leads to another.

Q: That leads to this — how is your studio set up right now? Tell us about the technical highlights, and how it was built to accommodate the way you like to work.
A: My studio right now is really simple. Apple MacBook Pro set up like a desktop running Logic, JBL LSR 4326p monitors, Korg Wavestation as my controller, Rode NT1-A condenser mic, a few guitars and basses. That’s all! Pretty simple huh?

Q: Daddy like – it makes me feel a lot better about working 99% in the box. Give us one or two great production/mixing/mastering/recording tip that you’ve learned recently.
A: One: When mixing a track it’s always good to mix at a low volume, because once you get it to sound good at a low volume it will sound even better when it’s cranked up!

Two: When mastering a track, it’s always good to have a track similar in genre to A/B against to make sure you’re still getting the volume you need for that particular style of music.

Q: I especially like “Two” – it’s simple, but I hadn’t thought of that. OK, which piece of gear or plug-in is your “secret weapon”? Give it up!
A: I don’t own a piece of outboard gear. But I will say there is one VST that I find myself using quite often. Drum roll please! PoiZone by ImageLine.

Q: I ask people this a lot, and now I’m asking you: What’s rewarding and what’s challenging about being a music professional on your level today?
A: What’s rewarding is when you’ve created a tremendous amount of buzz from a track you had playing on a hit show. All of a sudden you’ve become this mini rock star! What gets tough is juggling everything from composing, mixing, and mastering to going out, networking, and taking care of the business end. There’s just not enough hours in a day.

Q: How does the fact that you’re choosing to do this in NYC impact how you go about growing your catalog and track record?
A: I would have to say it’s definitely a double-sided question. It’s easier to have a music career in a city like New York, as opposed to Indiana where it would be much harder to meet people in the biz. But on the other hand it’s much harder because there’s a lot more competition. – David Weiss

Adam Schlesinger: Tinted Windows, Big Screens And Stratosphere Sound

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN: Is Adam Schlesinger really A Golden God? Or does he just play one on TV? The answer, of course, is neither of the above. But what’s true is this: There are few in New York City who know what it takes to make it in music – and can deliver the goods – like this multimedia operator.

A songwriter’s songwriter, Schlesinger first made his mark on planetary ears by penning the theme song for Tom Hanks’ 1996 vehicle That Thing You Do. From then on, it was Schlesinger doing the driving with the bands Ivy and Fountains of Wayne (“Stacy’s Mom”, “All Kinds of Time”), and co-founding Stratosphere Sound in 2001, one of NYC’s most resilient tracking/mixing studios. TV composing work with his mentor Steven Gold has always been in the mix, as well. As Flava Flav would say, it all adds up to a funky situation.

TINTED WINDOWS ROLL UP
Schlesinger’s latest baby is his new band, Tinted Windows. A joint venture with some people you may have heard of – vocalist Taylor Hanson (Hanson), guitarist James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins/co-founder of Stratosphere), and drummer Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) – Tinted Windows hears Schlesinger wielding his bass and pop sensibilities in evolved fashion. The songs on the self-titled S-Curve Records debut are raw, rockin’, and explode out of the speakers for track after hugely satisfying track.

“For this band,” Schlesinger explains, “my motivation was to write songs that were as direct and simple as possible, especially lyrically, and get away from the character stuff that I do with Fountains of Wayne.

“It’s very traditional, lyrically speaking. It can be difficult to write that way, but for me it was kind of a breath of fresh air, because I spent so many years trying to write other kinds of songs. Most of these songs were written by me just picking up the guitar and messing around, which is not how I usually write. Usually I write lyrics first, but with Tinted Windows I started bashing on the guitar, trying to come up with something with energy and melody that I liked.”

Started along with longtime collaborators/friends Iha and Hanson, TW was completed when the three brainstormed tediously to think of a drummer who could play just like Carlos, the same man responsible for the urgent pulse of “I Want You to Want Me”.

It finally occurred to them they were all rock stars who knew the legendary drummer personally, and they should just call and put him on speakerphone. “The light bulb came on,” Schlesinger says. “Bun E.’s the best power pop drummer of all time. But he’s also still, after all these years, unbelievably enthusiastic. He still loves to play, and he loves to listen to music. He’s just an inspiring guy to be involved with.”

TW IN THE STUDIO
To record the record, TW naturally chose Stratosphere, which sports an extremely comfortable vibe, spacious tracking rooms, and one of NYC’s best consoles: an amazing-sounding-and-looking 32- channel Neve 8068 with GML automation. True to the fast-and-loose sound of the record, the recording style, facilitated by longtime Stratosphere engineer Geoff Sanoff was shoot first, ask questions later.

“I don’t really know if I had a recording philosophy,” recalls Schlesinger, who has done well to depend on his instincts up to this point. “The hardest part of this record was the scheduling. Once we got into the studio, the recording was really fast. It was actually done slightly backwards. We started working on some of the songs with drum machines, demoing them. Then the demos evolved into masters, and then we replaced the drum machines with Bun E.

“John Holbrook mixed the record, and Tom Lord-Alge mixed ‘Kind of a Girl’ and ‘Back with You.’ It’s almost a tradition for him to do a couple. John is a great mixer, but they just wanted to give Tom a couple for good luck.”

Schlesinger notes that demand for the rooms at Stratosphere Sound remain strong as ever. “Stratosphere has luckily been busy lately, because I think it’s a place that’s grown very organically, and most of our clients come from an ever-expanding circle of friends. Unfortunately, a lot of the studios have closed, but the flipside is that it’s been good for us. There’s just fewer choices in NYC now.”

HE WRITES THE SONGS THAT MAKE THE ACTORS SING
Think about this: When Hollywood has a movie where the song plays a starring role as big as any of the actors, a top choice for that critical mission today is Adam Schlesinger. He did it for That Thing You Do, and again for 2007’s Music and Lyrics, that yummy brain candy nugget where Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore sing his clever pop duet “Way Back Into Love” again and again.

What’s the key to this perilous task, where the composer has to create a catchy and satisfying song strong enough to plausibly power the plot, without fatiguing the listener after multiple plays? “That’s an assignment, and the assignment is usually very specific,” Schlesinger explains. “It’s not just what you feel like writing that day. Ultimately, you have to bend to the will of the director and everyone else in the movie. You’re just one of hundreds of people trying to piece something together.

“’Way Back Into Love’ was kind of tricky. It had to be sung by different characters. It had to be a love song, but not an ‘I love you’-type love song. It wouldn’t make sense for the older and younger characters to look into each other’s eyes and say that so soon after they had met. So it had to be a lot of different things.”

IF Y’ALL COULD BE LIKE SCHLESINGER
“Advice is always tough,” Adam Schlesinger admits when pressed for a juicy nugget o’wisdom. “I think the main thing is: as much as you can, do stuff that you’re interested in doing. People respond to music that comes from a place of real enthusiasm. Your work will be better because of it. That will lead to other good things.” – David Weiss