workshops

Eric Somers presents a master class in concert recording in Bruno Walter Hall, The Juilliard School, NYC The Sandbook Studio, through its creative director, Eric Somers, has presented workshops on many aspects of digital arts.  These have been done for companies, universities, non-profit arts organizations, etc.  We can do it for your company, organization, or school. Here are topics we have frequently presented.  But we are open also to requests for related topics. Contact The Sandbook Studio for pricing of a custom workshop for your school, organization, business, etc.  As with all services of The Sandbook Studio, the workshops cover aspects of both sound art and visual art. CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERT RECORDING This workshop is based on the master classes in concert recording given several times at The Juilliard School in New York City.  The workshop is aimed at the performer or composer who wants to make high quality recordings of his/her work with medium priced equipment.  In the workshop we make a recording of music using low end, medium end, and high end (fully professional) equipment and compare the results.  A main goal of the workshop is to show how good results can be obtained with less than the most expensive gear provided one understands the "physics" of sound and high quality recording. VOICE OVER AND AUDIO BOOK RECORDING This is designed for people who want to be voice artists for commercials, film narration or audiobooks.  It shows you how to set up a personal studio for professional quality voice recording and how to make use of mic and vocal techniques to make your presentation expressive and engaging.  It is based the award winning advertising done by Eric Somers in the 1970s and 1980s and his more recent work at the National Audio Theatre Festivals in since 2007. AUDIO THEATRE (RADIO DRAMA) Is radio drama dead?  In the United States (though definitely not in the UK and Germany) it may be as a common entertainment medium except on public radio and experimental stations.  But a so-called "slice of life" radio commercial is really a mini radio drama.  And now some audiobooks are dramatized.  With podcasts there is a whole new market for audio-only drama.  Even a stage or film actor can learn to use his/her voice better by working in "audio theatre" (the more inclusive name for what we used to call "radio drama.")  Also, from the standpoint of the producer or audio engineer, audio drama provides all of the kinds of sound used in a feature film: dialogue, ambient environmental sounds and specific sound effects tied to actions ("Foley Art" in film terms).  In this workshop you will learn to produce audio theatre.  It is based on assignments given by Eric Somers in credit courses at Dutchess Community College (a State University of New York school) designed to train audio artists for feature film. ALGORITHMIC SOUND COMPOSITION FOR DANCE, THEATRE AND ART INSTALLATION Algorithmic sound composition is sometimes called "process music."  In this medium the composer does not specify each note and instrument one at a time, but creates a process -- often on a computer but not restricted to computer music -- that generates a sound structure.  This is also called "generative music."   It is especially useful for sound environments to accompany visual arts (film or theatre background music, music for modern dance, or music to accompany a visual art installation in a gallery) because it is less "architectonic."  That is, it is less a formal structure (like a symphony of Beethoven) and more like a sonic environment similar to the sounds of nature.  This workshop indroduces the concepts of algorithmic music and explains various ways it can be done.  It has been given by Mr. Somers as a mini-workshop at the Juilliard School in an electronic music course taught by the Serbian-American composer, Milica Paranosic. MUSIC CONCRETE COMPOSITION AND SOUNDSCAPE ART Music from sound, not from notes.  That is what is meant by "musique concrete," an art form that began in France in the 1940s and really started even earlier with the invention of recording (on disks) itself.  This is the underlying basis of much modern loop music such as techno and hip-hop, but the range of expression is much wider and is available to anyone (these days) with a computer, and recorder, and audio mixing software.  One does not need training in playing a traditional instrument.  In musique concrete, recorded sound are often processed heavily to that the source of the original sound is not evident.  Soundscape art is similar except that it is more attuned to the modern environmental movement.  Here sounds of a natural environment (nature, city, whatever) are recorded and mixed to create a sound collage, but the original sounds are preserved so that they can be recognized and associated to a particular place.  This workshop explores both forms, giving example of key compositions, and shows how one can create one's own concrete or soundscape composition using easily obtainable software and hardware. FOLEY ART FOR FILM Foley art, named after legendary film sound enginner, Jack Foley, is the art of sound effects.  In film it is called "Foley Art" but in other forms of audio it usually is just called "sound effects."  In this workshop you will learn the modern way to create Foley tracks for film, audio theatre or stage productions using digital computer software.  You will learn the difference between ambient sound and spot sound effects for specific actions.  You will also see how synchronize those effects to film or video scenes. Based on courses Eric Somers has taught in audio for media at Dutchess Community College of the State University of New York. COLOR MANAGEMENT FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY Digital cameras and digital reproduction of color images have truly revolutionized photography.  Now color images last much longer than the days of "wet" darkroom printing and digital cameras allow one to experiment with dozens of images and simply throw away ideas that didn't work -- no film wasted!  But it can be hard to be sure that the image one sees on the back of your camera, then sees in your computer, will look the same printed or on the web.  This workshop shows you how to work with a managed color workflow to assure consistancy in reproduction.  DIGITAL REPRODUCTION OF FINE ART An artist can spend days or weeks creating a single work of art on paper.  Then that work is sold and is never again available to the artist, either to re-sell or to publish in a book or magazine.  But with high end digital photography and giclee printing, it is possible for an artist to sell, or keep, extremely accurate reproductions of an original.  For many artists it is more practical to sell an "edition" of certain images, reproduced digitally, than to sell the original. It is possible to keep a very accurate digital file of an existing work of art (from a museum, gallery or artist's collection) for use in publication or for archival purposes. This workshop, given in conjuction with our business associate, Lori Adams Photography, shows you the method used by the most prestigious museums and galleries to preserve and reproduce fine art at the highest level. PRINTING OF PHOTO BOOKS USING ON-DEMAND PUBLISHING Who doesn't love a photo book?  Who doesn't love looking at images?  Up to now it used to be a very expensive proposition to create a book of high quality color or black and white photographs to sell or display.  But with modern "on demand" publishing one can create a photo book and print one, several, dozens or hundreds of copies of high quality "coffee table" books for very low cost.  This workshop shows you how to use on-demand printers like Blurb and Lulu to create books.  These can simply be one or two copies of a portfolio, or a limited edition artist's book, or a "trade" book made available world wide through online sellers or even stores. Also good for wedding albums or artists' portfolios.

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