Another Review, Free Song, and Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve brings us to a new review from Stubby's House of Christmas of "I Wonder as I Wander," the free song (click song name for the download link) from my album Jazzy Christmas to You II.  Here's a taste of the review (thank you, Stubby!):

"Well, as good as ["Jazzy Christmas to You!"] was, "Jazzy Christmas To You II" is unbelievably better.  It's simply amazing!  A true jazz tour-de-force.  You should buy it.  Seriously.  Go now (I'll wait)!"

Read the full review!

And, of course, since it's Christmas Eve there is lots of fun stuff happening at the Chaston household!

Today my sister came into the Y105 radio studio with me to be on air on the Morning Wake Up with Chris Farber.  It was awesome and lots of fun!

Loved having Amy in studio!

I couldn't contain my Christmas cheer and had to wear my "White Christmas" dress--even though no one would see it since I was on the radio!  But Chris had a brilliant idea: Amy took a picture of me while Chris held a poinsettia in the picture to make the picture completely festive.  (I think the floating poinsettia is my favorite part of the picture!)

Those are Chris' hands!

The Chaston's Christmas Eve traditions have continued to be just that!  We've already reenacted the Nativity, opened Ornaments, opened our Christmas Pajamas, opened our Children's Christmas Books, Caroled (yesterday), and are currently watching our favorite Christmas movies and shows!

Here is a funny aside:  Today my mom made her almost famous buns (dinner rolls) plus she made a new recipe of dinner rolls today because my sister wanted something besides the traditional Chaston buns.  BUT my mom's buns were not to everyone's liking so my brother, Keith, offered to make them again.  He botched the first batch so he made a second batch and they were VERY light and tasty!  So in preparation for Christmas dinner, we have made four batches of buns!  It is another Chaston tradition to keep finding ways to create joy for each other--even if it means making four batches of buns in one day!

Have Yourself a Merry [Little] Christmas!

Radio and Ann Romney

From Johnny J at Cumulus I learned all about writing commercials.

I wrote spec commercials for salespeople to pitch to prospective clients. I wrote commercials that were recorded and aired--after Johnny looked them over and gave me pointers! I learned to put the hook at the beginning, not the end. Also to make every word count. Brevity and clarity are of most importance when information is being squeezed into 15-, 30-, and 60-second commercials.

And of course, the beauty of a really great commercial is to make it seem like you aren't jamming all the information into that tiny spot!

Speaking of..uh hum...speaking...I watched Ann Romney's speech tonight at the Republican National Convention and I was truly impressed with her eloquence and unabashed honesty.

I am not a crier. I probably cry, at most, twenty times during the calendar year. I just don't cry. But when I heard Ann Romney talk about how important women are to our country, to husbands, to children, in their jobs, and to their communities, I cried. I haven't heard a woman speak so simply yet powerfully about the incredible influence women have and that they do not expect life to be easy.

I love to see powerful women who are real. To me, real means they have problems that they work through. They love their families. They love their husbands. They love to work hard. They love to give. They sacrifice. They go without. They are daughters. They are wives. They are mothers. They are grandmothers.

Basically, Ann Romney reminds me of my own mom. And frankly, I think everyone who heard her speech could think the very same thing and feel gratitude for a mom who loved them.

Saying Goodbye...

So what does it mean when I wake up and wish my alarm were going off, telling me I had to get up at 5:50 AM to go to work? It means I miss my internship with Cumulus! (Check out more pictures on Facebook!)

Erik, my brother, and I absolutely LOVED interning at Cumulus! Last year we interned during the summer and returned again!

I thoroughly enjoyed being on-air daily with Chris Farber on Y105! I learned how to prep news for the Hollywood Scoop, Music Minute, and Weird News. Then Chris gave me my very own spot: Olympic Moments!

During the Olympics I scoured the news (and, of course, watched the Olympics) for not only results but also noteworthy human interest stories revolving around the Olympics. The first week had a lot of Michael Phelps...the second week a lot of Usain Bolt! But I learned to sift through the mounds of information I had collected and compile it into a 3-minute informative yet interesting daily piece.

After the Olympics ended, I thought my spot would end, too. But it continued as Back to School Tidbits. This spot was a real challenge for me! How many different items of Back to School news could there really be to talk about?

My first spot was easy: Back to School shopping. Then Back to School anxiety the next day. I wasn't sure where to go next.

Fortunately, the ideas started coming. I talked about Back to School for senior citizens, safety tips for college students, communication ideas for parents and new college students, communication ideas for parents and k-12 students, reducing Monday morning stress by having a homework plan for the weekend and packing backpacks Sunday night. I loved finding new and fun ways to talk about one subject: Back to School!

I learned a lot of other things from Chris, too! Will tell you about them tomorrow, as well as what I learned from everyone else at the station!

Birthday, Voice Tracking, Internship

Today is my brother, Erik's, birthday! He is 24. We celebrated by mixing I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm on our upcoming Christmas album Jazzy Christmas To You II! (Check out Jazzy Christmas To You! on iTunes.) We also voice tracked O Come, O Come Emmanuel and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night yesterday!

Okay, so maybe that wasn't actually part of the festivities...but we did have a fun breakfast of German Pancakes (an oven soufflé dish, click here for a recipe that's similar to ours), presents (of course), Dairy Queen ice cream cake (a Chaston tradition), birthday signs all over the house recounting his accomplishments and activities during the previous year, game playing, and movie watching. All in all, a pretty sweet birthday!  (We had Happy Joe's Taco Pizza yesterday to kick off the day's celebration!)

A highlight birthday present for Erik was an orange label LP first edition release of Chicago's first album when they called themselves Chicago Transit Authority--a title that the CTA required them to discontinue using, hence the band name simply being Chicago!

I only have two days left of my internship at Y105. I am really going to miss being on-air with Chris Farber on the Y105 Wake-Up! I have absolutely loved interning with Cumulus again (I interned last summer, too)!

After doing the "Olympic Moment" during the Olympics on the morning show, I started doing a "Back-to-School Tidbit." I love researching for the spot! Tomorrow, I'm going to talk about safety tips for college students and their parents. Tune in at 9:50 a.m. CST on Y105.

More tomorrow!

Radio Jingle and Virtual Instruments

Today Erik and I orchestrated and produced a radio jingle!

The tune was basically written as were the lyrics, though we did change both slightly.  We were given carte blanche!

First, we recorded a simple piano part, then a syncopated bass line. We did this on a small MIDI controller. Then we pulled out EZ Drummer and that's when the jingle really started shaping up!

We got EZ Drummer as part of a deal through Sweetwater last November and haven't ever used it--we've always had the "real deal" drum tracks for songs. But we didn't have the luxury or the time to have a drummer get all miced and play the track for us. (Erik is actually a drummer, but we were in a time crunch.)

I am so pleased with how "easy" EZ Drummer is to use! I plan to find more opportunities to use it in the future on other projects.

Now, don't get too worked up. I still prefer having a drummer lay down "human" tracks. There is no substitute for developed talent in human skill, ideas, and feeling. But for this situation, EZ Drummer was a life saver!

After the drum tracks were finished, we automated the sustains on the piano track. Then we changed the piano patch to a guitar patch.

Next we recorded my vocals. We did a few different kinds of jingles (the entire jingle, just the phone number, etc.) to give the company options for the commercial.

Then we added reverb, compression, then mastering compression (hello, sound wars!) and bounced the tracks.

Not a bad day's work in three hours, eh?

Stay tuned for more sound and recording adventures!

My Take on "My World"

Jillaine released her "My World" single today!  I never get tired of the song and let me tell you I have heard it at least 100+ times.  Okay, that is an exaggeration but I have heard it a lot in the last week.  With most songs you would feel inclined to cut your ears off when you cannot stand to listen to them one more time.  This is by no means the case with "My World."  In fact, it is just the opposite.  

Every time I hear it, I connect even more with not just the orchestration but the deep meaning of the words.  "My World" simply envelopes--it pierces the soul.  It really is hard to express the effect it has had on me.  This morning it was played on KLYV 105.  It took all the muster I could conjure up to not get emotionally choked up--not the kind of choked up because it is my sister, Jillaine, I am hearing on the radio, but because the song is just that powerful in connecting with the listener.  It is simply something you have to experience for yourself.

On Air with Classical 89

Had an absolutely wonderful time at Classical 89 today with Rosie Stevenson and Tom Brinton!  Please help Rosie and everyone at the Classical 89 station reach their goal of raising $50,000 in listener pledges.

Classical 89's fund drive is ending tomorrow, so please pledge any amount no matter how small to keep Classical 89 bringing beautiful music and upbeat music-inspired programming to Utah and the world.

Listen to a live stream and archived shows at classical89.org.

You can also donate to the fund drive through Classical 89's website or by calling 1-800-321-8911.