Audio Production
I am a curious and voracious lover of sound. From experimental field recordings to theatrical sound design, I have a wealth of experience using digital audio workstations to produce, edit, and mix layers of sound. The short clips below demonstrate my innovative process for creating standout audio production.
If you are looking to commission me for an original music/sound project, or if you are interested in taking private lessons with me to learn how to use digital audio workstations, get in touch! andyjarema@gmail.com
Audio Demo Reels
My Process in Six Short Clips
This track is a J Dilla-inspired beat that shows my continued fascination with alchemizing human sound (trumpet) and natural sound (birds, crickets, waterfalls). The natural sounds were recorded using a portable recording device (Zoom H4) during my trips over the years throughout national parks, including Great Smoky Mountains in 2018 and Hawai’i Volcanoes in 2019. They are intricately panned left/right across the sonic space to create a unique “forest” of sound. My favorite moment occurs at 0:08, where the crickets gently support the descending trumpet line and are later intertwined with the sounds of a black-capped chickadee (0:11). Using the computer software Max/MSP, I created a step sequencer that divided beats into groupings of five instead of the traditional four to let the percussion emulate the rhythmic feel of the Detroit producer J Dilla. Thanks to my friend Michael Malis for recording the keyboard chord progression!
Every sound you hear on this Radiohead cover (“Reckoner”) was created using a trumpet. It was a fun creative constraint to sit down with an instrument I have played for 20 years and approach it in an entirely different way. The percussion sounds were created by blowing air through the instrument, as well as tapping the outside metal and moving the three valves. One of the challenges recording only trumpet is getting a full frequency spectrum since the instrument tends to often sit in the mid-range. I used pitch-shifting one to two octaves down to get a bassline, as well as pitch-shifting an octave or two up coupled with lots of reverb to get shimmering, higher frequencies (the pinging notes at the end of the clip). The effect at 0:16 was created using a system of dotted eighth note delays inspired by U2’s The Edge and Buckethead’s “Big Sur Moon.”
This collaboration with the artist Alyssa Coffin cut across many mediums, including the creation of a “dance drawing” using ink on Alyssa’s feet as she moved across a canvas to this sound clip. All the sounds you hear were recorded from one single location in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The opening sound is a buzzing fly that has been pitch shifted down, time stretched, and extended with a long reverb tail. Ten seconds in, the song becomes multi-layered with processed crickets, bird calls, and talking hikers. One of my favorite details is the running water sound from 0:10 to 0:28, which produces a swirling effect by panning from speaker to speaker.
When COVID shut down the theater world in 2020, my wife Danielle produced a podcast version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth with her high school students instead. I was responsible for the sound design of the podcast, which ranged from the simple (arranging/panning multiple speaking parts, like the three witches you hear in the beginning) to the complex (the ghostly sound production). The opening sound of a bubbling cauldron was created by recording the tea kettle on my kitchen counter and then replicating the sound a few times. The sudden sound at 0:06 is a propane tank being struck with a hammer, then pitch/time shifting the sound. The eerie “possessed” sound at 0:16 was made using a custom piece of Max/MSP software that can randomly transform and process anyone’s vocals. Part of it involves reversing a sound, adding reverb to it, then reversing it back again. This produces a strange “swelling” effect where the reverb enters before the attack instead of after.
All of these sounds were recorded from my dog Aoife, a tiny 15 pound cavalier with unlimited amounts of energy. I spent a day recording her running, barking, and playing with her toys using my handheld Zoom H4 recorder. Then, I imported her sounds and began to manipulate them. The main melody in the right speaker, which flickers between the A major and A minor keys, is created from individually pitch shifting the metallic sounds of her food bowl. The ghostly sounds in the left speaker is a time stretched version of her howl. The percussive elements (snare/bass drum) were created from her leaping onto the floor and shaking her toys against the ground. I also enjoy the lopsided nature of the beat, which is constantly stuttering and landing in off-kilter ways.
When COVID-19 shutdown schools in the spring of 2020, I had to quickly think on my feet to reinvent my music classroom for virtual lessons with my 500+ elementary music students. I settled on a podcast format, using the fanciest recording equipment (ahem…an SM58 microphone) to record everything myself in my professional home studio (ahem…my living room). This podcast episode was designed to teach my students about the connection between bird song and music. In the opening of the clip, I blur the line between the human and natural world by imitating bird calls through extended playing techniques on my trumpet (half valves, flutter tonguing). Later in the recording, pay attention to how I use left/right panning across the speakers to deconstruct the complex soundscape of five different bird songs all happening at once. To see more of these podcast episodes, click here.