Haddon Givens Kime - blog

IRNE Award 2008

2008-04-22T16:35:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone -

I've been a total flake when it comes to updating this blog. In the past few months I've had many adventures. Been to Palestine/Israel and made a film about it. IT can be seen HERE.

I'm having a ton of fun facing the challenges of filmmaking. It's a growing addiction...

Also, last week I won the Independant Reviewers of New England (IRNE) award for best composer/sound designer for my work on New Rep's production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." I won this award in 2004 as well and it's a huge compliment to be recognized along with the rest of the amazing artists who were both nominated and won. Streetcar also won for Best Supporting Actor, Best Set Design, Best Actress, Best Director AND Best Non-Musical Production. Pretty amazing!

Anyhow, here's a little bit of the score to jog your memory.

Into the Quarter:

Hopefully, I'll be less of a flake and write more soon. Til then, H

Another Year

2008-01-11T12:27:00.000-05:00

We've only just begun... I think that was a song at one time, but it's a great lyric for my life at the moment. I've had an amazing first 11 days of 2008 thus far. Starting out by visiting my parents in Logan, Utah. WOW! What a winter wonderland Logan is. Way more fun than Tucson in the winter. Now, in the midst of finishing up some dormant projects that have been hanging over my head, Katie and I have received news that we're going to be part of an amazing relationship building trip to the Holy Land next month. Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. I'm also going to be making another film about it.

Stay tuned...

December Projects

2007-12-02T17:17:00.000-05:00

Everything is Adventy here at the Givens Kime household. We put up the tree yesterday and hung the mistletoe. I'm working on a few films at the moment which I hope will be up on this site soon, but that all depends on how busy Advent keeps us. There could be far worse things in life. Katie and i are very thankful!

Music for new spot!

2007-11-18T20:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a spot I just completed for Traveler's Aid of Metro Atlanta. I wrote the music, and again worked with Steven Lane and Rob Broadfoot, the wizards at Chair 74.

Web Cob Webs

2007-11-12T15:03:00.000-05:00

I work on so many concurrent projects that I almost always forget to take care of my own website. I was just taking a look around and BOY OH BOY do I need to sweep some of these cobwebs away...

I finally starting writing again this week. A song called "Atlanta" and some music for a Traveler's Aid spot. I'm also leaving tomorrow for Minnesota to make a short film about the Kirkegaard Library at St. Olaf. I don't know a whole lot about Kirkegaard so I'm excited to learn.

Next week is Thanksgiving and Katie and I will be making the 12 hour drive north to visit family in Kalamazoo.

That's the news from the here and now. On to the next...

Richard III: The Roundup

2007-10-13T10:27:00.000-04:00

I'm currently sitting in the final day of tech rehearsals for Richard III. I must say it 's really nice to work in a theater with Wi-Fi. It's a HUGE asset when you're asked to hurry up and wait, which is something us music/sound folks do a lot during tech. Like now...

This gives me a chance to blog a bit about approaching Richard III from a sound/music perspective. This production is different than a "classic" mounting in many, many ways. No horses in this one. Tanks yes. Horses no. I've taken to calling this one Richard III: Beyond Thunderdome. It's a very contemporary, Burton-esque, Halloweeney setting for this play and thus, from a sound/music perspective, it becomes a challenge to keep melody AWAY from the palette.

At first, our director imagined more soundscape than score for this piece. Being as I'm new to this company/director, I decided to give the director what he wished with only minimal alteration. This is always the best strategy when starting a possible new long term collaboration with a director. Give them what they ask for, even though you imagine it could be much more, and then slowly build on it until it becomes their idea to trust your instincts and let you take it where you want it. It sounds very manipulative, and I suppose it is, but if you look at it another way, I am just trying to relate wholeheartedly to the antagonist in our production!

Anyhow, sitting here, watching this production for the 15th time or so, I think I'm finally starting to understand this play. By far, the hardest thing Shakespeare has done here is introduce SO many characters, all tangled in a web of relationships that are sometimes so confusing, that my sound engineer Amanda and I oftentimes stop our technical work for short asides when either of us realize how these relationships have worked to serve the dramatic function. Who is who's son, cousin, grandmother, aunt, wife or niece ESPECIALLY when we have a smaller cast and almost every actor is doubling roles can get very confusing, and I've seen this show 15 times. Our opening night audience has their work cut out for them.

The more I live with it though, and this is true for almost every show, the more I understand it and grow to love what the author has done. My last two shows, Streetcar and this, have both been road-tested classic shows of which I'm so happy to have a working knowledge.

I approached this soundscape/score in the same way I would if we were doing this production in the classic style. Characters have their own instruments... Here's a run down

The Young Princes (a music box)

Download Mp3

Tyrell, the murderer (Celeste)

Download Mp3

Margaret, the crazy but honest ex-queen (sitar)

Download Mp3

Richard (waterphone)

Download Mp3

Once I had these textures matched up, it became more a matter of either musically following or foreshadowing the scenes. We also have created our own musical term for this production called a punch of evil, or a POE. These come at opportune times throughout the show as accents or at times when a characters well laid plans take a detrimental blow.

GA Shakespeare does not have a whole lot of money for sound equipment and has not been able to upgrade it's system in many years, so for this production we rented a sub (a large speaker for LOW frequencies) which we placed directly upstage center, under the set, as well as four extra speakers, two for the localized onstage effects (upstage right/left) and two for fills on the proscenium.

Diagram:

This is also the first show I used QLab for. We had one huge hiccup with the program that almost brought the design to a screeching halt, but once we updated the software and kept numerous backups we ended up being alright, and tracing the problem to a corrupted plug-in.

I've worked professionally with three sound design programs at this point. SFX, QManager, and now QLab. Each of these programs is better and more managable than the last.

I'm now a firm believer in the magic and wonder of QLab. Maybe it's because it runs on a Mac, but more so because of it's drag and drop capabilities and it's ease of use. I'm hoping, at some point, to buy a mac mini and put together a dedicated Qlab system of my own that I can use in future productions.

One last thing that I'll detail here and then I'd better get back to finessing my cues.

I've found a few strategies have emerged in the creation of a sound design that have stayed pretty rock solid for me over the years, the first of which is the creation of a demo. Here's my demo for Richard III.

Download Mp3

This demo is based on the ideas of our director for sound/style he'd like to achieve. I added to this my own take on rhythms and melodic instrumentation. Once he okayed this demo I was off to the races. There are so many layers in this piece that I can use for other parts of the show. Some transitions are very short, so only the oboe line will suffice. Likewise, the waterphone that I use throughout the demo ended up being used very heavily in the production.

What happens to the demo after it is composed and approved? It becomes our Curtain Call cue!

In this case, it also become our end of Act music as well.

Here's one last piece, just for kicks. It's the 2.5 minute piece I wrote for the coronation sequence at the beginning of act 4.

Download Mp3

Thanks for listening.

-Haddon

More R3 Demos

2007-09-29T11:16:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more demo cuts of some music/sounds I'm working on for Richard III.

Punch of Evil (P.O.E.) #1:

Download Mp3

Punch of Evil (P.O.E.) #2:

Download Mp3

Umbrella Rises Sound Idea #1:

Download Mp3

Umbrella Rises Sound Idea #2:

Download Mp3

Three Ideas for the Top of the Show
#1:

Download Mp3

#2:

Download Mp3

#3:

Download Mp3

Richard III: Beyond Thunderdome

2007-09-25T09:23:00.000-04:00

The next production for me will be Richard III over at GA Shakespeare Festival.

I should have a dedicated page for this production up in the next week, until then I'll be using this blog to catalog some sonic ideas.

Here's the first one. It's an amalgamation of sounds/music that will probably end up as a curtain call cue, but for now might show some direction of how I'm approaching this design.

Press play on the player below to hear it:

Download Mp3

Streetcar's Great Reviews

2007-09-20T08:50:00.000-04:00

We've been receiving some great reviews for our work on this production as of late. A few of them even mention the music and sound design, which, IMHO doesn't happen nearly enough :)

Just so I can stay organized when I'm able at the end of next month to turn the music I wrote for this show into a package to license to other theater companies, here are a few links and quotes

9/18/07

"It's all the more remarkable, then, that the New Repertory Theatre's Rick Lombardo has staged a "Streetcar" that feels deeply true to the spirit of Tennessee Williams and at the same time true to itself. Working on a set by Janie E. Howland that's just what a Williams set should be - dingily realistic in its details, dreamily abstract in its structure - and underscored by Haddon Kime's mournful streetcar moans and saxophone wails, Lombardo's four main actors and their supporting players draw us irresistibly into Williams's shattered, shattering world."
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW HERE

9/18/07

"The New Rep revival of Streetcar is really very good, with a period feel, able acting, and the right sense of enervation punctuated by explosion. Set designer Janie E. Howland's squalid two-room apartment sandwiched into a nest of neon signs, a John Malinowski lighting design that splashes the characters' interaction with rhythmic blinks of red, and Haddon Kime's sound design of raw jazz mixed into city noise all add to a sense of carnal, quarrelsome private lives lived in public. Costume designer Frances Nelson McSherry has come up with some jaunty-looking open shirts over underwear for the men; the women have a mix of outfits that run from period chic to Amanda Wingfield's antiquated finery. And as Blanche enacts her passion, the supporting cast promenades and scuffles before and over the proceedings, hawking roasted corn, or rolling a john, as if performing a dance to Kime's music".
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW HERE

A Streetcar Named Desire

2007-09-17T18:46:00.000-04:00

I've been back in Atlanta only a few days now after spending the better portion of this month in Boston working with Rick Lombardo and New Rep on "A Streetcar Named Desire."

This is the first show I've ever designed using Q Manager software. It took some getting used to. Let there be no doubt about it, Tennessee knew what he wanted and wrote almost every sound cue into the script. It's a very large sounding production when done correctly.

Luckily when I got the call to design this show I already had plans to go through NOLA on the way back from Texas (see previous VIDEO post.) Thus, I was able with the help of my AMAZING little H4 Zoom Digital Recorder to capture a plethora of actual New Orleans streetcars jangling up and down Canal and St. Charles Streets.

Here's one now:

Upon my return to Atlanta I set about writing some sultry brass music and some dixieland jazz. I hired the amazing talents of Sam Skelton and Mike Barry to play for me here's a little sample of what I came up with for the show:

I'll be writing more about this on a future webpage in the theater section, but for now if you're in Boston or will be there int he next month or so, checkout this amazing production at New Rep!

Video: Texas Road Trip

2007-08-11T15:19:00.000-04:00

Texas Road Trip - Summer 2007 (2) from Haddon Kime and Vimeo.

Video: Northern CA Trip

2007-07-10T22:05:00.000-04:00

Summer of Love: Part Deux

2007-07-03T12:32:00.000-04:00

I'm in San Francisco at the moment. Spending some much needed time with my younger brother and older sister. Katie and I have been up to see the Redwoods and California's Lost Coast, as well as south to drive through Pebble Beach and eat ollalieberries on the San Mateo coast.

I'm going to change the format of this blog a little from now on. I started it with the idea that it would be merely a blog to keep friends and onlookers apprised of what I am working on. I don't update this nearly enough, so I'm going to be writing more about personal stuff too. Make it a real blog.

I'll post some pics of this amazing trip next week when we return to Atlanta. Tonight we're starting a 3 night stay at the Red Victorian in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Summer of Love part deux!

There is one piece of fun music related news. It looks like I'll be heading back to Boston in Sept to write a score/sound design for New Rep's 60th anniversary production of "A Streetcar Named Desire."

I'm totally stoked about this one!

H

New Comcast Ads

2007-05-24T23:22:00.000-04:00

It's hard just living life, much less updating a blog about said life...

I just returned from a fantastic trip to Boston to run all the sound junk for the 9th Annual Boston Theater Marathon. I had a great time, even a relaxed time, seeing good friends and writing some music for some 10 minute shows.

I'm hard at work on a few more Comcast ads at the moment. Hopefully they'll be posted here in the next few weeks.

I've been climbing into MOTU's Symphonic Insturment Plug-in for these ads. It's fantastic! So glad I made this purchase!

More soon...

H

BTM 9

2007-05-04T19:51:00.000-04:00

In a week I'll be heading on back to Boston to help design the 9th Annual Boston Theater Marathon. Again 50 10 minute shows in one 10 hour stretch!

This is my favorite reoccurring theatrical event! I really hope everyone reading this can come out and have a great time with us. You'll also be supporting a charity or two!

Click HERE for more info!

We will cross the mighty ocean...

2007-04-20T12:19:00.000-04:00

KT and I returned last night from a glorious week in South Carolina. We visited with my bro-in-law and he cooked us wonderful foodstuffs! I didn't realize how much history Charleston has. I used to wrok as a costumed character on Boston's Freedom Trail, and I had thought until now that Boston is the best city in the U.S. for a history buff to visit. Not anymore!

I've become fascinated with that Hunley submarine, and the history of Fort Sumter and Sullivan's Island!

KT and I also biked over the new Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge, and devised a plan to take a bike/road trip one day to ride over this country's great bridges!

Lots of fun. Back to the grind!

Fox News can't get their lies straight...

2007-04-09T11:31:00.000-04:00

Fair and Balanced... Maybe for neocon tightrope walker. Fox News is the Al Jazzera of the United States. Both outlets bait their viewers into hating someone by "reporting" a story from an obviously pre-positioned political angle.

Example: Every other news outlet around the world today ran a font page headline about the Anti-US rallies taking place in Iraq. Fox News, on the other hand played the angle that the people were being brainwashed by "anti-US cleric" Al-Sadir... While it is true that Al-Sadir is, in fact, anti US. The insinuation that thousands of Iraqis who have endured 4 years of bombings, killings, and violent civil strife as brainwashed is completely untrue and is meant to embolden the Bush administrations policy of fear mongering.

Anyhow, the clip below is almost unbelievable. IF you think Fox News is fair and balanced, just watch it and then DECIDE not to be brainwashed by these freaks anymore.

Three Podcasts I Love

2007-04-03T22:14:00.000-04:00

I'm sooooo happy that the latest podcast I've designed is about ready to be unveiled. I've learned a lot about this medium in the past few years, and it just gets more interesting to me.

This being said, it's about damn time I share with you some of the podcasts I love. Every link in this entry will take you to the iTunes Podcast Section. Here ya go:

1 .This American Life
This is probably the best radio/podcast show ever. Ira Glass, the creator of this show is my hero for how he uses the medium of sound and narrative to transport me into another persons life. It's like the radio version of reading a really good book... EVERY WEEK! This podcast is only one episode a week, but if you stay subscribed you'll start building up quite a collection. All episodes are also available as audiobooks on iTunes. My favorite thus far is episode #188 Kid Logic.

2. WNYC Radio Lab
This is also audio artistry at work. Check out the incredibly fascinating episode on Musical Language, it blew this composers mind!

3. Real Time with Bill Maher
This is a great show, and since I don't have HBO I'm thrilled that I can get it as a podcast! What's funny is that even though the show is topical, old episodes are still entertaining! It's the only way I like to hear old news...

Hi Betty!

2007-04-01T15:07:00.000-04:00

Katie and I just got your postcard today, and because you say that you read my blog to catch up with what's going on in our lives we've decided to answer you back this way...

First off, we're still trying to come and visit you, but so far it just hasn't been possible. So sorry, but we're happy that you're thinking of staying in Cambodia for another year because that gives us more time to figure something out!

Katie is very happy with work at Trinity, it's a fantastic and very talented community to be a part of. I have been working on various music/web/geek projects as I normally do down here in Atlanta, while trying to keep some projects going in Boston and NYC as well!

Thanks for your message and for continuing to read this blog. We hope to see you at some point in the near future!

much love
Haddon and Katie

Theresa's page is now online!

2007-03-30T10:59:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update to say that I've added a page on this website dedicated to "Theresa at Home" the latest show I've written music for, which is now playing in Boston. On this page you can hear some examples of my score as well as see pictures of the production and read a portion of the Globe review...

Check it out by clicking here.

The Bitch of Living

2007-03-28T08:32:00.000-04:00

While in NYC this past week I had the chance to see a few shows. My favorite of these is "Spring Awakening." I've been listening to the CD non-stop ever since. Thanks to my buddy Jason Grossman for his enthusiastic review!

Spring Awakening is set in 19th century Germany, but the only design element to reflect that is the costumes the actors wear. Everything else, lighting design, scenic design, choreography, and original music are decidely contemporary. The plot concerns the sexual awakening of a handful of white boarding school classmates, which I suppose is also decidely contemporary and probably will be for many years to come. The songs in this show are never sung from one character to another, but rather exist only in a characters head. This convention is one of the most fascinating to me in the show as it opens up so many possibilities for the composer.

The creators deal with sex in a very frank and open way. So much so that it even made me feel a bit awkward. They run the whole gamut. Teenage pregnancy, masturbation, homosexuality, sexual abuse, dominance and subserviance and seemingly everything in between... So if you go see it, and hopefully you will, be ready for it. They pull no punches.
Spring Awakening is my favorite Broadway musical experience since Rent. It's innovative, empowering, and takes risks. The first act is some of the best musical theater I've ever seen. The second act, though well wrought is also forced at points into a plot structure that has to get from point A to point B in X amount of time...Unless you cut out a character or a major plot point it's hard to imagine doing anything different, but still it's a bit dissapointing after the stellar first act.

Still, this show is WELL WORTH THE TICKET PRICE! Here's a music video of one of my favorite songs from the show, "The Bitch of Living."

ENJOY!

Ave Theresa!

2007-03-25T22:42:00.000-04:00

I've just returned to Atlanta from my whirlwind trip to Boston and NYC. I had an amazing time, and I'll review a few of the productions I saw on this blog later this week, but right now I'd love to sum up the experience of Theresa at Home!

The music I wrote for this show is your basic run of the mill doo-wop. Since Theresa is an ex novice nun who, in the script, has a propensity for playing Schubert's Ave Maria when she gets blue, I decided to take Mr. Schuberts harmonic structure and change the lyrics a bit. Here's an example:

Theresa at Home - Ave Theresa

I think it's safe to say that we had a great time over tech week for this show. Under the amazing direction of Vinnie Murphy we all put our heads and hearts together and came up with a good, if not completely finished, show. The character of Theresa reminds me a bit of my wife Katie, a loving soul with a talent for listening. I haven't fallen this hard for a fictional character in quite some time. Jessica Rabbit might have been the last one... Stacy Fisher, the actress who portrays Theresa is doing an amazing job in the role as well, which made my work that much easier!

Here's another cue from the show. The end of Act One. It's a scene in which Theresa finds herself unable to pray the way she used to in the convent even though she puts up a good fight to do so. Stacy is brillant in this scene I wish I had some video to show, but the actors union nixed that one right quick. Still, here's the cue, and below it, some stills from the show with an interview from Janet Kenney our playwright...

Theresa at Home - End of Act One

Theresa at Home - Interview with Janet Kenney

The craziest thing I've had to deal with soundwise in a long time happened during this show. I had originally designed the show for two Minidisc decks... Old school, if there ever was such a thing. Anyhow, these decks were on their last legs. One ended up ERASING 20 or so cues one morning. So BPT ended up purchasing a new laptop with SFX on it. I hate SFX, but it gets the job done. Completely NON intuitive software. Ugly UI and an all around crappy Windoze program, except that it really does control theater sound pretty well... So I ended up having to rebuild the entire show. 4 solid days of work, in less than 3 hours during the night of our final dress. Good times! Luckily our lighting designer had a friend who came in and helped me out. Thanks Matt!

Anyhow, I'm hoping to put together a podcast episode this week about Theresa. Should be fun. I promise lots of stuff though, so we'll just have to see if I come through or not. I had a GREAT time on this show and I also learned about some new show control software for the MAC!!!! It's called QLab. Check it out, it might be just what I've always wanted!

Hello Theresa, Goodbye T!

2007-03-16T09:32:00.000-04:00

Back in Boston at the moment. It's cold! There's a Noreaster that's going to sweep through town today. 7 inches of snow (not much for Boston, but would bring Atlanta to a grinding halt as roving gangs of survivors scavanged the metro area for food and warmth...) at last report.

I miss Boston. I love to be back working directly on a show, something I haven't done since Haymarket in 2005. BPT is a great place to work. Not for the sounds system as much as for the wonderful people committed to great art. They are in some dire need of someone to come in and write a donation to cover a new sound system in theater A though.

There are all these new improvements in the T. No more turnstiles. The Silver Line kicks ass! Really fast from the airport. All new green line cars. In fact, they just retired the last of the green line cars yesterday that I used to take everyday in college. They were crap cars, but I spent so much time riding them that it's kind of sad. The end of an era...

Theresa at Home is a kick ass play. It means a lot to me personally because it's about the day an ex-nun wakes up and takes on her first day as a secular housewife. Like my life story on stage! Kinda....

I wasn't raised going to church. I was basically atheist growing up. Had a conversion experience. Met Katie, and now I'm a pastors wife. The problem is that I'll never be able to leave either world behind. Half in one, half in the other. In each world there are folks who think the other family is full of crazies. Like Theresa, our protagonist, it's hard to have one foot in both worlds.

It's another great show for BPT though. I hope anyone who's in Boston in the next 6 weeks will come check it out!

Beantown and The Big Apple

2007-03-14T09:46:00.001-04:00

Heading out of the ATL today. Back up to Boston for a week or so of tech on "Theresa at Home" at Boston Playwrights Theater. Yes, I never got the Pillowman package up. That's not really true. All the materials are online if anyone wants to license it, but I haven't made an actual webpage for it yet...

That will have to wait.

Unfortunately I also lost my video camera recently. I think it may have been taken from me, so I can't take any pictures of this upcoming trip. I'll have to borrow one of my friends cameras if there's to be any images forthwith...

Anyhow, I just found this little gem on YouTube. Combines two of my favorite things, Apple products and distaste for W The President. Enjoy!

Updates!

2007-02-28T11:56:00.000-05:00

I finally put up a page for "The Pillowman," something I've been needing to do for many months now. I'm in the process of putting together a licensable music package for the show. Hopefully that will be up before Katie and I go hiking this weekend.

Other than that another podcast I've been involved with, Trinitycast, is coming along well. Also, I'll be flying up to Boston in a few weeks to work on a new show called "Theresa's Home." Been writing some doo-wop spirituals for that one... Then it's down, once again, to the city so nice they named it twice to see some good friends. Jason, Zayd, Rachel, Amy, Caley, Matt, and my buddy Rick who has a HIT off broadway show at the moment. That kid can do anything!

Katie and I saw a great documentary last night called "Shut up and Sing." The story of The Dixie Chicks and the price they paid for having the foresight to call out our mentally challenged president in 2003. It's not the best documentary ever, that would probably be "Murderball", but it's definitely worth seeing if only to recall the time when people thought we were weeks away from rebuilding Iraq and having a strong democratic coalition government installed.

As far as our current presidential administration is concerned I'm RIDING HIGH ON LOW EXPECTATIONS!