“Illumination” Prize Drawing and Sneak Peeks of Music

“Illumination” Album Cover Art Design Contest

Welcome graphic designers! 

I posed the question last week on my social networking sites if people would be interested in a contest to design my album cover for my upcoming CD.  Many people seemed to be pretty excited about it – which is very exciting – thank you.

I am always interested in you guys – the ever-so-dedicated fans of my music. I like to know what you think, what you do, what draws you to my music and more.  Many of you are always so happy and willing to contribute to ideas. Though many of you are not musicians yourself, I know that some of you are incredibly talented in other art forms.  And that is why this contest is for you!

How the Contest Works:

If you happen to be one of the interested party for this contest, then YOU will be designing the front/back cover for my album. I will provide a few different “temporary” photos for you to work with, as the official cover hasn’t been shot yet, but will be available towards the beginning of June.  These temporary photos are similar to what the final photo will look like, and represent the inspiration of what we will be trying to achieve.  I will also provide photos of the actual venue where we will be shooting, so that you can have a better feel of the colors and mood.

You design the rest.  The font, graphic design, effects, placement, any artwork, etc.  Since I will be using a digipak wrapping for the CD, the artwork needs to go from the front of the CD and wrap around to the back.  A template will be provided, as well as all the words/info that need to go on the exterior of the album.

Rules:

1. Design(s) must be submitted by midnight (wherever you are), June 1^st, 2012 to me at jennifer@jenniferthomasmusic.com
2. You can submit more than one design.
3. Design can be created in various programs, but most helpful for me to receive final versions in Photoshop OR InDesign Files, unflattened with layers still in tact.
4. You must download and use the template I will provide – which can be used within any of the following programs, however, I still need final version to be submitted in either PS or INDD.  (AI, CDR, EPS, FH8, FH11, INDD, P65, QXD, or QXP).  If you do not have PS or INDD, you can download a free 30 day usable trial version from Adobe.
5. If you use any fonts that are not standard font styles, you will need to provide the font files as well.
6. You must use all the wordage provided by me, which includes:  Album Title, Artist Name, Track Listings, Credits, and anti-piracy warning.
7. Back of CD must include space for the following which will be inserted later:  UPC code, and label logo.
8. If I choose your design, I reserve the right to request small changes made if necessary.
9. I also reserve the right to NOT choose a winner if there are no designs that meet the desired result.

Prizes

One winner will receive:

1. Your design on my upcoming album – which will appear in retail and music outlets across the globe, including Amazon, iTunes, Cdbaby, Pandora, and more.
2. $50 giftcard to my favorite online retailer – Amazon.com.
   
3. Your name will appear in the credits in my CD liner notes for your design (Album artwork by:_Your name__).
4. Credit for your design on my website, blogs, etc.
5. A blog post highlighting YOU, your work, your website, and more. Blog post will be blasted on my Facebook and Twitter as well.
   
   
6. 5 FREE copies of my new album for you to share with your friends and family.

One Runner-Up Winner will receive:

1. Honorable mention on my website, blog, facebook, twitter with links to you and your website.
2. 1 free autographed copy of the new album.

Steps to participate:

1.  Download the following ZIP file.Jennifer Thomas Album Cover Art Design Contest PacketIt contains:
   1. Temporary working photos
   2. CD templates for your design program
   3. Text document with all words, info to be included on CD cover/back.
   4. A surprise to aide you in your work. Enjoy.

Please don’t hesitate to email me with any questions, and good luck!

- Jennifer

jennifer@jenniferthomasmusic.com

Clothing Stylist Wanted

I am currently looking for a fashion stylist who can help me when I have events and photo/video shoots.

I am looking for someone who has connections in the fashion industry, who knows how to dress a woman who is definitely NOT a size 0 – ahem, moi  I also need someone who understands my tastes and style, but can also be resourceful with new ideas and looks.

If you are interested, or know of someone who is, please email me at jennifer@jenniferthomasmusic.com with your credentials, fees, experience, etc.

Exciting Happenings in 2012

One thing I’ve learned over the course of my career is to not spill any beans too early.  This means new music, new collaborations, new projects and so forth. It’s better to keep mum on most things until you are certain. Oh and yes I have been guilty of spilling beans way too early before, and whoops lesson learned.

However, I do have several things to share with you now. I’ve definitely been working on a few tricks up my sleeve over the past several months and am finally in a position where I think I’m ready to tell you about it all. I’ve got lots of beans to spill!!  I’m practically bursting at the seams.

So here’s the spill…All the good stuff happening in 2012 that I feel I can now finally share with you:

MUSIC VIDEOS!

I’m excited to share that I will be filming my first music video in a couple of months. We’re trying to align it with my new CD release which will be late June.

This music video project will not be the sole release either. We have plans to do multiple videos over the next year, featuring many of the songs going on my album, as well as some singles as well.

My collaborator in this project is the very talented filmmaker Ali Mohsenian.  Ali is an award winning filmmaker from Seattle and not only does he have quite a little rapport here in the city, but he is also an ex-Sony music video producer/editor. And he told me that as long as at some point he can put explosives in my videos, he will be happy. Ha-ha…we shall see.

The first video will be for the title track “Illumination”.  Our budget will be tiny-sized to start with, but hopefully if the video thing works out well maybe someday we can afford to put grand pianos in really cool locations, and of course, use explosives.

COLLABORATIONS!

I’m really excited about some upcoming collaborations that I will be working on.  Even though I am a solo artist, I do enjoy a good collab every now and then.  This year I will be doing some extensive collaboration (walking on untrodden ground here!) and here is the scoop…

Felicia Farrere

Felicia is one of the most amazing vocalists I have worked with, or heard for that matter.  She has the ability to sing any type of music, any genre – and nail it every time.  I have had the pleasure of working with Felicia a few times thus far, and she is not only incredibly gifted with her voice, but she is a very sweet and lovely person whom I very much enjoy being around!

We plan to collaborate on an entire album together.  Right now we are in the planning stages, figuring out the concept of the album, what the music will sound like, and more.  With her being in Oregon, and me in Washington, we will be close enough to meet up several times for recording and more. Felicia and I love working together and are very excited about the future prospects for us as co-collaborators.

Viktoria Tocca

Viktoria and I were both nominees at last year’s Hollywood Music in Media Awards – and she took home the win for the Classical Category (as well as a few others).  We recently have gotten to know each other and I have to say – there is SO much in common between us both personally and professionally it’s crazy.

We have both decided to work together this year on at least one or two songs (possibly more), with also the possibility of doing a music video as well.  But we shall see on that one.  Where can I set up a donation jar for music video production costs, please?

Viktoria is from Sweden, currently lives in Romania.  So getting together is going to be a bit more difficult. There is so much that we can do online long distance, but it might be that she ends up making a little trip to Seattle (or perhaps I will go to Europe??!) She has an extensive musical theater background, and is now concentrating on writing and recording.  Here is her rendition of “Dark Waltz” (that won the HMMA). So excited for the future and our projects and friendship together!

CONCERTS!

I’ve very much been in the composing & recording phase for the past while – and that excludes any concentration on performing for me.  But I do plan to do some performing after the release of my new album.

The only “official” concert I have lined up right now is for Wed, Sept 5th at Cozy Corner Concert Series in Salt Lake City,UT.  You can get your tickets online here.

I want to do a CD release concert and am just trying to figure out when and where I will do that.  Seattle?  SLC? Both?  Hmmm.

SUBMISSIONS

Another exciting prospect I am waiting to hear back on is my submission for the Hilary Hahn 27 Encores project.  I wrote a little piece for this and am crossing my fingers that she will select mine to perform on her album and concert tour 2012 – 2013.  If selected, I will have premieres around the world, as well as a recording spot on the album.

If you’re not familiar with Hilary Hahn, get acquainted straight away right here.

ALBUM RELEASE

Last but not least, I have a new album coming out as you all know.  I have been working on this album for the last 4 years and am so excited to soon be able to share it with you. It is looking like a late June release.

I will be accepting Pre-Orders for the album beginning April 15th, and there is a prize drawing (worth $350) for the lucky pre-orderer.

Since I’m not able to share the music with you quite yet, I thought I would give you a sneak peek of the track listing going on the liner notes of the album.  Are you excited?

1. Etude For the Dreamer 
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas
Beats and additional orchestration by Glen Gabriel

2. After the Storm 
Dedicated to Dixie - After all the storms she has had in her life, she still shines so brightly. 
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas

3. Illumination 
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas
Beats and additional orchestration by Glen Gabriel

4. Gymnopedie No. 1 
“Gymnopedie No. 1″ by Erik Satie
Arranged and orchestrated by Jennifer Thomas

5. New Life 
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas

6. Beyond the Summit 
For my Will - who’s many mountain adventures were on my mind while composing
this piece of music. 
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas

7. Secrets 
“Secrets” by Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic)
Theme from “Cello Suite in G Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach
Arranged and orchestrated by Jennifer Thomas
Cello solo by Stephanie Yose
Beats and effects by Glen Gabriel

8. Into the Forest
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas
Vocals by Felicia Farerre
Beats and effects by Glen Gabriel

9. Toccata and Fugue 
“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565″ by Johann Sebastian Bach
Arranged and orchestrated by Jennifer Thomas
Beats and additional orchestration by Glen Gabriel
Additional Beats/Effects by Adam Amos

10. Pachelbel’s Canon (A Duet) 
“Canon in D” by Johann Pachelbel
Arranged and orchestrated for 1 piano/4 hands by Jennifer Thomas

11. Firedance 
“Asturias” by Isaac Albéniz
“ Malagueña ” by Ernesto Lecuona
Arranged and orchestrated by Jennifer Thomas

12. Sonata Minoré 
“Piano Sonata, Op.7, Mov. 2″ by Ludwig Van Beethoven
Arranged and orchestrated by Jennifer Thomas

13. Rainforest 
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas
Vocals by Rachelle Hrncirik

14. Across the Starlit Sky
Original music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas

15. Requiem For a Dream (Lux Aeterna)
“Requiem For a Dream (Lux Aeterna)” by Clint Mansell
Arranged and orchestrated by Jennifer Thomas
Beats and effects by Glen Gabriel

16. Eventide
Original Music and orchestration by Jennifer Thomas
“Scheherazade” violin theme by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Violin solo performed by Jennifer Thomas

17. New World Symphony 
“Symphony No. 9 in E Minor – Largo” (New World Symphony) by Antonin Dvořák
“Piano Concerto No. 3, Mov. 2″ by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Arranged and orchestrated by Jennifer Thomas
Violin solo by Jennifer Thomas

Produced by Jennifer Thomas
All songs composed and/or arranged by Jennifer Thomas
Piano performed by Jennifer Thomas
Violin, and Orchestration – Jennifer Thomas
Cello – Stephanie Yose
Vocals – Rachelle Hrncirik, Felicia Farerre 

Mixed and mastered by Rob Beaton 
Recording and additional engineering - Zak Dewey 
Beats/FX - Glen Gabriel
Additional beats on Toccata and Fugue by Adam Amos

Recorded at Tickled Ivory Studios, Seattle, WA
and ZDPro Studios, Brier, WA

© 2012 Tickled Ivory Music (ASCAP)
Distributed by Tickled Ivory Music, Seattle, WA.

The Significance of Music in My Life.

I hope it’s okay if I write a little something more personal here on my blog this evening.  I have had some thoughts on my mind that are burning within me, and I feel I must write them out.

This morning I got up and saw my husband off on another ultra-marathon race, and then took my boys to a funeral of a little girl that passed away (we know the family). And then this evening, I played in a flute recital as an accompanist.

To say the least my emotions today have gone from excitement, to sadness and grief, to happiness. As I sat there and listened to these talented high-schoolers performing this evening, it really hit me how much music had effected me this week, today in particular.  I was in awe, as if it were the first time, at realizing how much music impacts each and every one of us; How absolutely significant it is in our lives.

You would think as a musician, I would know this.  I dare say, I don’t know the extent my own music has on other people.  I do receive lovely comments from many of you and I cherish them.  But I DO know the impact that music has on me…

At the funeral earlier today, we sang the hymn “How Great Thou Art”, and I watched many people in the congregation unable to sing because they were so affected by the song and its meaning and words (me included). The tragic passing of one so sweet and young – the music not only touched our hearts but healed us as well. So many beautiful and meaningful words were offered, and the words did help…but not in the same way that the music did. At least for me. During the service, the family’s children, nieces and nephews all got up and sang a song, “I Am a Child of God”, and it was so emotional. There is something about hearing little children sing that is so touching.

This evening, trying to pull my emotions together as I had just come home from the funeral and then had to prepare for the recital, I mentally had to flip a switch and get into a different mode (not to mention turn into full mom-mode as well, as my hubby was still running his race and not home to help out). I turned on Seattle’s classical radio station, as I was performing on a Bach piece this evening, I needed to have “Classical brain” tonight.  And of course my favorite radio program was on, “From The Top”  with Christopher O’Reilly.  If you’re not familiar, it is a nationally broadcast radio show on Saturday nights where the host (Christopher) has a young person (usually between the ages of 8 and 18) perform Classical music.  The children are usually prodigies, but the great part is afterwards he interviews them and it’s always funny and insightful – and they of course always say funny kid stuff and seem very non-classical-musician-ish.

Tonight there was a 10 year old pianist, and she talked about some hard events that had happened in her life – living in a domestic violence shelter with her mom, having all of their personal belongings stolen by an abusive father. Through it all, music was her solace – and you could see the impact it’s had on her life and how it’s been her rock (as well as her mom).  Through all she’d been through, she still managed to play and perfect her musical ability. Her story touched me.

At the recital this evening, as I listened to these young flutists perform, I recognized the Bruch Violin Concerto (arranged for flute) that was performed, and it took me back 10 or so years ago to when I was in college as a member of my university’s symphony orchestra when we performed that same piece of music. I was filled with nostalgia with each note I heard this evening – as if I was sitting there in the concert hall of my college watching my conductor wave his baton.  I remembered all of a sudden, the practice rooms and what my life was like then.  The hours and hours of practicing…

Every time I have attended a live performance lately, I have been so affected. So inspired.

And then I realized, today, what music does is that it takes each of us back somewhere.  Music creates a memory within us from the time we hear it – and we make an association. Whenever I hear the Bruch Violin Concerto, I will think about college.  Whenever I hear “How Great Thou Art”, I will remember the sweet little girl that passed away.  “Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.” – Aaron Copeland.

This evening, after my husband returned home from his 50K ultra-marathon – I was asking him how he did.  Usually I’m able to attend his races and be there from start to finish, and I was a little sad today that the kids and I weren’t able to be there for him.  You know what he told me?  He told me that as he was coming into the finish of the race, he had my song “Illumination” playing on his MP3 player and it lifted him up, even to the point of having tears in his eyes, as he felt me there with him through my music.

And all this time I really haven’t gotten it.  But today I did.  Today I got it.

What is the significance of music in MY life? It’s everything.  It speaks my emotions for me.  It is my solace.  It is part of my spirituality.  It is an expression of my love. And if my gift in music can do for someone else what other wonderful musicians out there do for me through their talent and hard work –  then I would feel like I had succeeded.

I received this comment on my Guestbook this past week, and it touched me:

“I bought this album as I happen to go on music buying sprees… Some I keep and share, others tend to get lost in the caverns of my hard drives. Queued it up on the way in to work on a gorgeous, cloudy day. I had to pull over…and just listen on the side of the interstate with my eyes turned upward and inward. Absolutely stunning…” – Jamie C from Atlanta.

THAT is what I got today.  A lesson about the true significance of music in our lives. It is powerful.  Simply put.

Thank you for allowing me to share my music with you.

Building My New At-Home Music Studio

We recently moved into our first home purchase.  While we got an amazing deal on the home, we also had our work cut out for us in order to bring it up to “livable” standards.  It was built in 1995, and I’m pretty sure the previous owners never cleaned, painted, or updated the home whatsoever.

Over the course of the past three months, my husband aided a contractor on the work on the home. I’ll eventually get to the photos of my music studio later in this blog, but first, to give you an idea of the amount of work that was done, here are a few Before/After photos…

The Living & Dining Room

Stairs with my cute 3 year old…

Looking down at what used to be a coat closet in the entry…

Front door/Entry

The Family Room/Fireplace…

The Entry Chandelier…

Looking towards the Entry and Kitchen…(obviously we are not all the way unpacked yet).

The Staircase…

The Kitchen area…

Now, we still have a lot to do to finish our home, but the good news is we’re in it and loving it.

The other big project that we just finished was my Music Studio.

We decided to turn one of the upstairs bedrooms into my music studio. However, being that it was right next door to our little boys’ room, we knew there would be a sound issue.  My boys are notoriously light sleepers, and my music making is notoriously loud.

When we were telling our contractor our plans for the room, he looked at my husband strangely.  I think when he was told I was a “pianist”, I think he imagined, you know, a wife with a little hobby of playing the piano. He wasn’t quite informed that I also compose and work on my music at night with two 8 inch studio speakers putting out high density sound.  Not to mention, with a LOT of repetition with each recording sessions – sometimes going on for 6 hours nonstop.

Yeah, I’m that kind of pianist.

So we had to soundproof the room.  Here are some step by step photos of what went into it…

A few BEFORE shots of the studio…

The first thing I did was pick a paint color for the room – which ended up being a dark grey color called “Dark Cavern”.  Really people, I’m not a dark person!  But for my studio, I really wanted to create a certain atmosphere for my creativity.  I wanted the room to feel like it was not my house – as if I was stepping out of my everyday life into my other self in order to create.

Here is a photo of the dark paint, as well as the wall after we started tearing off the sheet rock…

After a lot of research on soundproofing (thanks to my wonderful hubby!)…next we covered any cracks, holes, etc that could leak sound into the next room. Such as:  heaters, outlets, light switches, etc…

After the goop stage, we put in special insulation…

After the pink stuff, came a layer of rubber…

After the rubber came the “Sound Board”, which is what you see below…

And after all these layers, finally, went the dry wall…

After the drywall went in, it was textured and painted…and finally carpeted…

Once the carpet went in throughout the house, we moved in a few days after.  It’s been almost a month, and I now finally have my studio organized, put away, and decorated.

Here are some final shots.

A Before/After…

My keyboard “work station”. My studio is a digital studio, meaning, the work I do here is all done through midi and then using only the best orchestration software where I create my “orchestra” layer, upon layer.  This is what 90% of film composers are doing nowdays, as it cuts down on the cost of using a real orchestra, or some use a hybrid of real players with VST software.  All of the software that I use are recorded directly from real instruments, and I also use a hybrid method of recording where I mix the samples with my own acoustic violin to get the most authentic sound I can get. I use a studio near Seattle to record any live audio tracks for my work (big mixing boards, microphones, etc.)

Looking onto my wall – photos from my first album, me on the violin at age 6, awards, newspaper clippings, etc…sort of my “scrapbook”.

My two albums framed, next to two 1920′s Steinway ads…back when you could buy a Steinway for $875.  The top ad is a painting of Rachmaninoff – a composer that I really love.  Also are my Yamaha HS-80m’s studio monitors – which, in my humble opinion, are the best monitors for mixing piano.

Here is my really cool light fixture I picked out.  It’s a “chandelier”, sort of.  I couldn’t decide between going totally modern, or very chic.  I thought this light was a good mix of the two.  Lots of sparkles end up on my wall because of it…

So over by the window (which I am eventually going to be getting curtains for), is my new cube shelving system for my software, shipping supplies, and more…

I kept the closet doors off the closet and am using it for storage.  CD storage, and concert dress storage.  Since I have an 18 month old, and a 3 year old I have to keep my CDs tucked away unseen. I learned the hard way, at our previous residence, I left a full box of new CDs out in the open and found them thrown to the ground and trampled on. My boys seemed to have found them great things to stack and climb upon, or to use as skis as they are quite slick on carpet.  I ended up giving away a LOT of free CDs in cracked jewel cases.  So sad.  The white dress on the left is what I’ll be wearing on the cover my new album, “Illumination”.

So that’s it.  My brand new DIY music studio.  Hope you enjoyed the tour! By the way, that fabulous pink/purple beach picture was taking by my talented dad – Ron Southworth. You can purchase it here:  http://www.ronsouthworth.com

Behind the Scenes: The Forest Photo

Yesterday I debuted a beautiful piece of art that is going to be used for the album artwork on my upcoming CD “Illumination”. It was a collaboration between my dad, photographer Ron Southworth, and 3D digital artist Don Webster.

The response was overwhelming – which was very exciting.  I thought it would be fun to share more about what went into creating this photo…

The Forest

Yes that is actually a REAL forest, not a digital one.  I had visited the Redwoods earlier last summer and found a grove that I fell in love with called the “Thomas A Grieg Enoch Percy French Winifred Brown Bell” Grove, which is in the Humboldt Redwood State Park. My dad and I were talking about where to get the perfect forest shot for my album, and I knew this was it. There was something magical and peaceful about it – it was amazing. Almost surreal. Reverent.

Here is me taking a self-portrait (as I was in the grove alone)…you tell by the smile on my face how in love I was with this place.

I excitedly called my dad from my cell phone and told him I’d found THE spot for the photo.  Plans were made, and then a couple of months later that summer, my parents went down to the Redwoods and camped for 4 days.  They got up before dawn each morning, headed into the grove to try and get just the right shot when the sun came up.

As you can see from the photo above, the size comparison of these huge trees to normal objects.  That is my parents’ truck in the photo there, and it looks like a toy.

My dad specializes in landscape photography, and while many of you have obviously seen his portraiture work (my website homepage photo) among others, his forte really lies within photographing mother nature. Capturing these trees was a fun project for him.

He ended up taking a panoramic, which if you’re not familiar with how those work, it is a spanned photo of the entire surroundings.  Usually a 360 degree view.  I am not sure if his forest photo was a 360, but I know he said he ended up stitching about 27 photos together to create the panoramics.  Here are a couple of the best ones he ended up stitching together…

To give you an idea of the quality of these shots, you could zoom in on a tiny little clover in that photo and have it be clear enough to be a full size photo.  If we were to print out the original panoramic, it would span a wall space of 25 feet.  A mural!

Once my dad finished “processing” his panoramic, we then sent it off to Don Webster.

The 3D Piano

If you aren’t familiar with Don Webster, he is an award winning 3D artist.  I found him through Synthogy Ivory, as he done all of the digital artwork for their piano software.

His work is simply amazing. I can’t even describe how incredible it is, you just have to see for yourself….

Anyway, over the last year or so Don and I have developed a wonderful friendship and I’ve been privileged enough to see a glimpse into this talented man’s heart and soul.  I have felt so lucky to work with him.

The process of inserting a grand piano into the forest scene and have it actually look pretty realistic had its little tricks. I didn’t want it to be done unless it could be done and actually LOOK like there was a piano in the forest. No cheesy stuff.

When asking Don what he needed from my Dad in order for the photo to work for him, he instructed him to be sure to not only capture the forest but to also take shots of the sky and other surroundings, so that he would have a detailed idea of the forest surroundings which would have an influence on the reflection seen in and on the piano itself.

3D digital art is different than normal artwork, in the sense that once the object has been created it can be turned, tipped, moved around, etc to whatever angle or placement you want it to be.  Just as CGI animators do for movie scenes and objects.

Here are a few of Don’s drawings and scalings he had to do with the piano.

Just for your enjoyment, here is another favorite that Don has designed using the same grand piano that he used for my forest photo, but in a different setting.

I can’t tell you all the work that goes into it, but I can tell that it is very detailed. From the light rays, the reflections, the scale work, everything. One thing that was particularly tricky in our forest photo, is figuring out how to place the piano.  If we placed it true-to-scale, the piano would actually be MUCH smaller, almost looking like a tiny toy piano next to those huge Redwoods.  To avoid having the piano look like a toy, it was brought up to larger scale, but with the hope that the massiveness of the trees were still portrayed enough to the viewer.

What we ended up with is an incredible piece of art where the viewer, I would hope, will feel a sense of beauty, reverence, awe, and peace.  I want it to be a place where someone would want to feel music inside of them, and would feel like sitting down at that piano and playing.

What will the artwork be used for?

The entire concept of my album “Illumination” is light, in its many meanings.  Not only does light refer to goodness, enlightment, but it also has everything to do with vision and how we SEE the world.  Photography is light being captured, and I am using my Dad’s photography throughout this album.  For every song going on my album, there is a beautiful photo (piece of art) that coincides with the music.  I want the listener to be fulfilled by both their auditory and visual senses.  This forest photo goes with one of my songs entitled “Into the Forest”.

And coming soon, the beautiful artwork will also be available to you as a piece of fine art.  I’ll have more on that soon.

Behind the New Website…

So I’m done taking my hiatus, and am ready to get back to work.  For those just tuning in, my fam and I just moved into a new home that we had purchased several months ago and then flipped it.  LOTS of hard work, stress, and more. But totally worth it now that we are all moved in.  I’m loving it.

It’s nice to be back in the swing of things, and now that I’m back to working on my music, I’m back to blogging about it as well.

I have a lot of exciting things happening for me this year.  Or at least, I hope they turn out to be exciting.  Releasing my brand new website was just one of the things that needed to happen along with my upcoming cd release, and other things…Here is a behind-the-scenes look at my thoughts behind my new site and why I chose the design that I did.

New Website

So new website. Same URL, just new design.

My old site was something I created on my own in 2006, and have been updating it as needed over the past 6 years.  Not being a web designer, I’d say I did the best I could, but let’s face it. It’s 2012 and websites now are much more sophisticated than 2006 and I was feeling a little amateur.

So I hired a designer.

Creating a new website design took a lot of work! I spent an enormous amount of time looking at hundreds of other musician websites, writing down things I liked and disliked about them, getting ideas, etc. until I finally came up with the whole concept for my own site.

One thing I disliked about my old site was that it was too cluttered. That is solved in the new design with a very minimalist approach.  Instead of having like 20 menu buttons all on the homepage, I now have 5 main ones with drop-down menus underneath.

I also had all new photos taken specifically for the use on the website. I hadn’t had a formal photoshoot since my debut album, and frankly I was getting really tired of using the same photos year after year.  I had definitely changed and so had my music, and I was just wanting something very new and fresh.

Now I always love knowing the behind-the-scenes stuff about other peoples’ projects, so I’m going to share with you all that went into this photo shoot…

I knew that I wanted a 100% site (meaning the background takes up 100% of the monitor screen), and therefore needed a photo that would be simple enough to allow text overlaying. Since my upcoming album concept has so much to do with my dad’s beautiful landscape photography, I wanted him to take my website photos as well.

As I searched around for inspiration on how I wanted the photos taken, I found this really great photo of Stephan Moccio (who is a fabulous composer and pianist, by the way):

Let’s face it, when you are trying to be photographed next to a grand piano, there are only so many ways you can pose.  You can pose at the keys, standing next to the piano, through the lid (like the photo above), or if you’re brave enough you can lay on top of the piano (I’m certainly not that confident I wouldn’t break it LOL).  The photo of Stephan above was really great because it told the viewer “Yes, I play the piano”, and yet it gave enough space in the photo for text, or whatever else.

So we did our best to take this concept and expand on it in our own way. My dad came over to our home, and we set up a big backdrop in my living room behind my piano.  He brought his studio lighting, and other fun toys.  It took about 2 hours to get the room finally how we needed it for the shoot.  Here is my cute 3 year old posing for some test shots

We also used a fan blowing on my hair to get sort of a whimsical look.  This really didn’t make it easy on my dad.  We ended up having lower lighting in order to get the just-right shadowing in the photo, but because the lighting was low it was difficult to capture my fast-moving hair that was blowing in the breeze.

I know you will totally laugh,but the following picture is a pretty good representation of how 98% of the photo shoot turned out.  Pretty funny huh.

Also, you will notice the after-editing we had to do on the photos that did make the final cut.  The photo above is raw from the camera. You notice the lighting is off (too dark), the backdrop has crinkles in it, and also was not wide enough to make it reach clear across the keyboard (notice the black strip down the right hand side). Those were all things that were fixed in all of the final photos.

We did manage to get a couple of photos that were good, one in particular where my hair wasn’t doing crazy things, or in my eyes, or blowing straight up to the sky, and it was this one:

As you can see the color differences between the raw photo and the edited one, you can see what goes into the after editing.  My dad did all of the lighting editing, being that he was the photographer. He was very particular and even edited things I would not have noticed – like he removed some of the dust from under my piano strings!  Amazing right? (and I thought I had done a good enough job dusting my piano before the photo shoot – ha ha).

Also another funny thing I can tell you that you would probably never realize, is I had to spread my arms WAY out for the photo. When my dad took photos of me playing the piano normally, my arms were right at my side which made my mid-section appear very wide and it was not flattering.  Therefore, I ended up having to place my arms out (one hand at the bottom of the keyboard, the other at the top) in order to give me more waist definition and to create some space there.  Betcha didn’t catch on to that I wouldn’t actually look like that while playing the piano.

Even though that photo above turned out, unfortunately we couldn’t use it for the website.  It was taken in a portrait setting, and needed a landscape orientation.  This was such a bummer! None of the landscape photos turned out – too much hair in my face, blurred, etc.  Who knew it would take so much to get ONE perfect shot, right?

So a few days later, we did photo-shoot #2!

Again, we re-created the room and got it all set up.  Problem though – the sun was out that day.  Usually that would be a wonderful thing but it was casting some really bad lighting on the backdrop. We had to drape blankets over the window and stuff pillows in order to block out the sun.  In the end, the room turned out much darker than the other photoshoot.  So yet again, we were dealing with dark lighting, fast moving hair, and a shutter that wasn’t fast enough to operate in that low of lighting with the moving hair.

Again, we took numerous photos (I think around 200?).  In the end, we were lucky to get a few photos that would work for the website. It was very tricky for all the elements to come together – hair out of my face, me not doing a cheesy smile or laughing because I had hair in my face, also if I turned my head too far one way the studio lighting would pick up too much of the white of my eyes making me look totally drugged.

In the end, it came down to two photos:

There was a third, that I really liked because I was smiling in it, but the orientation of it didn’t allow for enough room for website text to overlay it and not be too busy. It was this one:

Out of the two above, I had actually originally chosen the 2nd one, but then decided against it because I felt it was a little too sultry  ”Sexy” was definitely not the message I was trying to send to my audience. I wanted to be taken as a serious musician.  My parents as well as many friends also really preferred the first photo.  So in the end, that is the one I ended up choosing for the website.

After debuting my website yesterday, I had many comments on the beautiful site. However, there were a few people who felt that the photo was “aggressive”, or “unfriendly”, or one person said I seemed to be “disinterested”.  Even though I received so many positive comments, of course I was still bothered by the few negative ones.

If it helps, you should know that my entire motive with my new website was the minimalist approach. You notice I don’t have any in-your-face ads on the homepage, or very much text at all.  All I really want is for the music to speak for itself without the sales pitch.  Most artist websites out there are very sales-driven.  You will find yourself being bombarded with sales pitches left and right.  Although from a marketing standpoint, any web designer will tell you that this is the correct way to build a retail site where you are selling goods.  In fact, that is originally how my own web designer suggested we build the site.  Nothing wrong with that in my opinion – all of us musicians want/need to sell our music in order to make a living. But I  wanted my website to be “artistic”, not “retail”.  I want people to come to the site and have an artistic experience, and enjoy their visit without the added pressure to buy.

When I also considered what my music most represented, what it sounded like – the best descriptions people often find are “emotional”, “cinematic”, “dramatic”.  It was my hope that the photo that I chose for my website best coincided with the feeling my music presented.  I wanted something that represented class and professionalism. And lastly, I feel that my music on my upcoming album is also very dramatic, which also coincides with the website’s feel.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new site.  I’ve added some new things (short fun bio, as well as new formal bio), new photo gallery, a “listen” page, and more.

I’ve got a lot of other exciting things in the works that I will go into further detail later, such as a prize drawing for all pre-orders on my new album. My amazing dad will actually be offering one of his beautiful photographs (valued around $400) to the winner.  We are going to put together a video for that for the official announcement.  And then speaking of videos….oh boy I have lots to share on that front as well.  But it would take an entirely new post.  All you need to know for now is MUSIC VIDEOS this year! LOTS of them.  The good kind too  You know – with awesome filmmaking and storylines.  But more on that later!

That’s all for now! Here’s a few more photos that didn’t make the final cut but were okay…

Concert in SLC – Sept 5th 7:30pm

Since I will be in Utah this September to support Forest Gump (er, uh, my husband Will) running another 100 mile ultra marathon (the Wasatch 100), I decided to take full advantage of my time there and do a concert as well.

I will be performing at Michele McLaughlin’s home in Salt Lake City (otherwise known as the Cozy Corner Concert Series) on Wednesday, Sept 5th at 7:30pm.  I know – Wednesday is a bit unique being that it’s a weeknight.  But the reason being is Will’s race starts 5am Friday morning and so he wouldn’t have been able to attend a Thursday night concert.  Or a Friday night, or a Saturday night.  Oddly, it does take considerable time to run 100 miles. And since he’s my muse, I need him there.

So if you’re in the SLC area – please come!  Tickets are on sale here.

http://store.michelemclaughlin.com/September_5th_at_7:30pm_featuring_Jennifer_Thomas_and_Michele_McLaughlin_(Concert_Tickets)

Hiatus

My husband and I recently purchased our first home. Thank you, thank you very much.

Before you get delusions of grandeur, you must know it’s a total fixer-upper.  Thus, my time lately has been spent more at Home Depot than in my music studio.  Trying to do both has almost made my brain explode.

Therefore, I am taking a hiatus until our home is finished and we move into it at the end of February.  I might even show you progress photos of my new music studio if you’re patient.

This means my album will be behind schedule a bit, but if it means a more happy less-stressed me, than I am okay with that and hope you are too. And when I re-emerge, I promise I will have lots to share, including a brand new website, news about new music videos, new music, and more.

Ciao for now!