Berklee Blogs

First-hand accounts of the Berklee experience

Author: James Staub (Page 2 of 3)

From The Intern Desk: Speaking on Camera

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On April 12, 2010

In Berklee City Music, PULSE Music Method


I recently attended another shoot with the PULSE video team for City Music’s On-Camera Interview and Public Speaking Skills workshop.

The idea was to put some City Music kids in front of lights and a camera, perform a mock interview, then talk about their performance and public speaking skills. Nora (a fellow PULSE intern) and I broke the ice by opting to get interviewed first.

Here are some clips from their interviews:

If you’re trying to pursue a music career of any sort, chances are you’ll need to be able to talk to an audience, whether its prepared or totally impromptu. You never know when an opportunity will arise and you’ll need to make an impression on someone, so we put the City Music kids on the spot and made them talk about themselves, their background in music and what it means in their lives.

From the Interns Desk: My Trip to Lawrence Music Clubhouse

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On April 5, 2010

In Berklee on Tour, PULSE Music Method

Last Monday I took a field trip to the Lawrence Music Clubhouse to hang out with the teachers there, talk about PULSE, and check out the learning environment. I spent some time sitting in on lessons, meeting the students and giving some PULSE demos. The LMC is a fantastic community space for kids to sign up for free music lessons.

Sarah Fylak, a teacher at the clubhouse, is a good friend of mine through our music program at Northeastern University, and like myself she is currently interning through Northeastern’s Co-op program.

Sarah and I also play in a band called Asyna Asayn and are continuously working to develop and maintain our start-up record label, Psychedelevator Records. It was through complete coincidence that our respective choices in Co-op jobs happened to be related organizations. Through the clubhouse Sarah and I met Jon Grabowski, another teacher and coordinator there, who now plays drums with Asyna Asayn.

The Lawrence Music Clubhouse is a great space for music education and there’s clearly a lot of young talent growing there.

My Internship at Berklee PULSE

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On March 26, 2010

In PULSE Music Method

If you’ve been following the PULSE blog, you may be wondering “Who is this intern guy, and why do I care?”

Well I can answer the first question at least.

In the beginning of January I started my internship with Berklee PULSE to fulfill my Experiential Learning requirement for Northeastern University. Erin Genett, PULSE’s Information Architect, offered me the position after having taught my Hypermedia class at Northeastern, where I’m a music technology and multimedia studies dual major.

When I’m not working at PULSE, I’m usually playing guitar or bass in one of my four bands and maintaining the website for our net-label, Psychedelevator.com.

It’s actually quite surprising how similar my work here at PULSE is to what I do at Psychedelevator.

I began both in early January and have found myself constantly using things I’ve learned about web design and social media at PULSE when I work on Psychedelevator.

At PULSE, I’m the go-to guy for general multimedia tasks including content updates to the PULSE website, editing sound and video materials and now, keeping this blog!  So until June I’ll be keeping you posted with the beat around Berklee PULSE.

Songs for Songs Concert: Putting Guitars in the Hands of Ugandan Youth

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On March 22, 2010

In PULSE Music Method

March 27, 2010 7pm, Entry by Donation ($10 suggested) Lily Pad 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA Natalie Sara, Robert Gillies, Hannah Christianson, Allison Preisinger *Collecting Guitar Donations Before and After Event!

Allison Preisinger, a work study for the last year and a half here at PULSE, is putting together a benefit performance of Berklee songwriters to raise money for guitars and music equipment to send to Pader, Uganda.

Natalie Weaver a Songwriting Major at Berklee recently visited Pader to work with youth effected by the ongoing war, but was limited by the lack of sufficient equipment. With only a single guitar, Natalie focused on teaching a group of students lyric and melody writing. The hope is that they can continue expanding their music education with the help of donated music gear.

An entertaining, fun and thought provoking mix of singer-songwriter, pop and folk styles will make the night a special one. Hannah Christianson, Robert Gillies, Natalie Sara , and Allison Preisinger, all Berklee singer-songwriters, will be performing their original music.

Allison is organizing and performing at this benefit in order to do her part to spread music and expression to those where it may not come as easily. You can show your support in coming out and enjoying a wonderful evening of music provided by four Berklee students!

Entry is by donation ($10 suggested) and there will be a raffle with great items to win! It is sure to be a great way to spend your Saturday evening!

From The Intern’s Desk: Sound Tracking for PULSE Video

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On March 8, 2010

In PULSE Music Method


Here in week 7 of my internship at Berklee PULSE, I’ve spent most of the last few days placing music examples in our upcoming History of Strings video. The breadth of examples mentioned in the video makes the job of syncing sound clips pretty interesting, and often times kind of funny.

videoScreenShot

It is pretty rare in my (short) career producing and arranging music that I sample Shostakovitch, Charles Mingus and Dr. Dre within a minute or two of each other.

The video does a great job of integrating relevant, yet cross-cultural examples of the use of string instruments, and I get to choose and arrange how they fit into the sound track.

I even got to make a sweet remix of Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp. Once the groundwork is laid I hand it off to Elizabeth who is in charge of audio for the video team for final mixing and sound design.

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