CD Release: The Pinocchio Project

My latest CD is out: The Pinocchio Project (Original Soundtrack).  Bret Carter needed theme music and scene-change music for his play, “The Pinocchio Project”. With a blend of orchestral, electronica, and robot pop, the songs retell the story of the play in an original way. You can listen to previews and buy the music on CDBaby.com, iTunes, and AmazonMp3. The album is cheapest on CDBaby. You can hear full-length versions of several of the songs on the Doctor Obvious Studios Facebook page.

The Pinocchio Proejct

The soundtrack for “The Pinocchio Project” mirrors the fundamental question of the play: Is technology our servant or our master? Even the names of most of the songs are tips of the hat to famous works of literature exploring technology, robotics, and society.

Constructed with a mix of orchestral, electronica, and robot pop, the songs create tension and a feeling of progression, often starting from simple and humble beginnings to end with sonic fireworks, or perhaps move back to a whisper. Traditional instruments are fused with synthetic ones to produce an interesting and dramatic result.

The song “False Maria” incorporates recordings from “The Conet Project”, which monitored shortwave radio spy transmissions with a haunting character.

The seeds for several of the songs (“Caves of Steel”, “Klaatu Barada Nikto”, and “Cascade Failure”) began as much as 10 years ago. Once the details of the play solidified the songs were refined and re-targeted. Several new pieces were created to capture the feeling of the play on a scene-by-scene basis. Whether it is the implied robots marching in the title track, or the sense of urgency of “Caves of Steel”, the tracks not only complement the play, but stand on their own telling a story and taking the listener someplace else, but also maybe revealing something about their home.

Feel free to post a comment and let me know what you think!

The Pinocchio Project (Original Soundtrack) - Doctor Obvious

Music for the Stage: Mobius

Mobius Strip

I was asked to develop a theme for the recent stage production of Mobius. Bret Carter gave me a melody and let me loose. The idea of the play is that what makes life interesting is the twists along a way. Like a mobius strip, the theme was designed to end where it began, but with a twist.

Here is the short version:

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CD Release: Ruby Mirror

Ruby Mirror

Bret Carter and his sister, Julie Oehlert, have released a delightful album with a mix of rock, folk, and a dash of country. “Ruby Mirror” was mainly written and perform by Bret, with Julie singing lead. Her pleasant voice immediately makes you feel comfortable as you listen to heartfelt songs and amusing stories. We recorded the album over many years and are excited to finally be able to share it.

Here’s a sample of the album. You can buy the album and listen to more excerpts at Amazon MP3, iTunes, and CDBaby will also let you purchase a physical CD. Just search for “Ruby Mirror”.

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Magic in Luxembourg

I just had the pleasure of working with Christian Lavey of Luxembourg. He wanted an introduction track for his magic show.  He requested a  “dark” feel and sent me the text for the voice-over.

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Quickie Songs: Your ideas become music!

I’ve been taking ideas from people and quickly making some little songs.  They aren’t completely polished but have been a lot of fun.  To make your own suggestions, go to the Doctor Obvious Studios Facebook page (link also in the right sidebar) and leave a comment.  “Like” or “Fan” the page in order to get the updates as they come out.

Here are some examples so far:

Make a techno version of Fight of the Bumblebee:  Supersonic Flight of the Bumblebee

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Make a polka version of Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face”:  Polka Bass

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Make a happy ring tone that I can use for when my dog-sitting clients call:  Canine Ring

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Make a song about cake:  CAKE

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Make a song about changing the toilet paper roll:  Change the Roll

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And here’s a specific one:  Make a song about having a cinnamon raisin bagel on Monday morning:  Monday Morning

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So, what  are you waiting for?  Go to Facebook and leave some suggestions!

Video for the last one:

CD Release: Kids Songs

I’ve finished a CD of original kid’s music for my nephews, nieces, son and daughter. What a project! Lots of fun with plenty of excuses to try fun voices and sounds. I got to use a vocoder, a kalimba, kazoo, slide whistle, and more. I personalized a lot of the songs to include the kid’s names. Here are some excerpts from “Get Up”, “Throatasaurus”, “Hi, Jumpers”, “Robot Versus Alien”, “Sunbeam”, and “The Monkey Song”.

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Throatasaurus_clip

CD Release: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

CD Cover

We have finally released the CD of the musical “Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch”! Woo-hoo! The play is about some cowboys who sing to their cattle to keep them from stampeding, but aren’t very good at it. At some point, some sweet-singing cowgirls enter the picture as well as a no-good-do-er looking to steal the ranch. It has explosions, cows, and everything else necessary for a good time. CD’s are $12 and help Hyland Christian School. If you would like a CD, email me or leave a comment and I’ll get a hold of you. We can ship CDs for an additonal $2.

Here’s a sampler track with excerpts from some of the songs:

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More info after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Moved to Blog Form

Welcome to the new look of Doctor Obvious Studios on the web! This page will be a good place to track the latest projects to come out of the studio. If you want to be the first to know, subscribe to the blog! Here’s a tutorial on doing so.

Kazoo Looping

For those of you that don’t mind something both different and cheesy, here is a recent talent show performance by yours truly. By the way, nothing was pre-recorded… it was all done on the spot. (If you want to see it directly on YouTube or even rate it, it’s here). Let me apologize in advance for the poor sound quality (P.A. then video tape, ick!)