Here’s my score for the film Little Hero!

You can listen to it for free on almost any streaming service. If you love it, or you’re my Mom, you can buy it above for $4 (every bit helps me make more music!)

If iTunes is your thing, I’ll owe you a hug if you write a review (but don’t buy it there – those goofs want $7 for a 10-minute album!)

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Little Hero is a short documentary in which a six-year-old explains her unique relationship with her twin brother, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The way kids communicate can be so unfiltered and pure. Directors Marcus McDougald and Jennifer Medvin honor this by showing Avery and Xander’s world from their perspective; there are no stats or soapbox to get you “riled up” about autism.

So my first thought on the music was “don’t mess this up!”

Xander at my studio

While we’ll never know what it’s like to be Xander, his story in the film is full of very relatable emotions. My aim with the music was to help us on some level feel what he feels.

The seven tracks trace the arc of the story, which goes something like:

• contemplative on a swing
• curious at an aquarium
• playful while eating pizza
• imaginative while underwater
• uncomfortable while getting a haircut
• stronger after overcoming a challenge
• yay! (end credits)

Recording at Narnack. left to right: Eleanor Weigert (bass clarinet), me, Brandon Dickert (drums), Griffin Rodriguez (engineer, behind harp), Charissa Barger (harp), Paul Curtis (bassoon). (photo: Marcus)

We recorded most of the musicians live at Narnack Studios. Our engineer Griffin Rodriguez set up a bajillion mics and projected the film on a sheet over the control room window. We took a pizza break before recording the pizza cue, and everyone ominously rattled their instruments for the haircut (Xander doesn’t like haircuts!)

Pizza music

Griffin in the control room at Narnack (photo: Marcus)

Later at my studio I fleshed things out (with synth bass, accordion, percussion, etc.) and mixed.

Mixing (I love checklists)

The funniest part of this project was recording Avery back at my studio, cheering and yelling for “Yay!” I can say unequivocally that she is the most energetic performer I’ve had in the booth – she was literally jumping up and down while recording! Many thanks to Marcus for helping channel her raw energy into a performance AND preventing any microphones from toppling over :)

Avery’s vocal session (photo: Jennifer)

Avery, Jennifer, and Marcus getting some ADR

Finally, Rob Kleiner of Studio Edison mastered the album while I tried to stay awake after a months-long case of mono.

The master(-er) at work (sorry)

If you like the score, check out the film – Marcus, Jennifer, and everyone above did a tremendous job and it was an honor to work on.

Avery, me, and Xander at my studio (photo: Jennifer)

The Devil’s Violinist - new film score

Here’s Jeff Lamb’s new short film, for which I had the pleasure of composing a solo violin piece.

When I first met with Jeff he told me how important it was for the music to be beautiful but haunting. And man, it’s vulnerable! It has no dialog, is shot on 35mm film, and the piece is performed live on set (with a film this centered on music, is there any other way to go?)

Much of the music I make is full of instruments & textures & such, so it was a fun challenge to compose something this stripped-down. Jeff put a lot of trust in me (thank you Jeff!) and it was a rewarding & fun collaboration all around.

I hadn’t written for solo violin before, and what an honor to have the piece performed by Barry Socher, who (as Jeff pointed out) has been in the LA Philharmonic since before we were born :)

Barry and Jeff came by my studio one afternoon to discuss and rehearse the piece. Barry has a really cool beard and immediately struck me as sensitive, expressive, and humble- all qualities I aspire to as a music-maker.

Hearing your piece come to life through an enormously talented musician is quite a thing.. you get a whole new sense of the possibilities. And though he has decades more experience than me, Barry was very collaborative and open to my little tweaks about this phrase or that phrase- a glissando here, an extra swell there- and quickly adapted each into his performance. Details like that are one of my favorite parts of music.

Hope you like it.

Barry & I. Someday I’ll learn how to not get freaked out and awkward when waiting for a camera to take a photo, but know I’m excited & happy to be here :)

p.s. here’s a nice writeup by Jeff from the Shorts Showcase site about making the film.