The Designer

My interest in special effects throughout high school led to the first in a very long string of projects and ideas that I continually think of, plan, and often even get to execute. I thrive on creative, out of the box thinking.

The experimentation with sounds in live performances, musical high school and recording projects would eventually lead me to explore sound design through pursuit of my degree in music production and sound engineering.

When you listen to any recording you will notice that it is a combination of sound, rhythm, lyrics, and more. The arrangement and execution that results in what we hear is music production. It is artistry. I can name many albums that inspired me. For example: Time by Pink Floyd or Fame by David Bowie but Produced by Harry Maslin. At Berkleee one time we were asked to listen to Fame and record down everything that we hear. I believe we listened to the first minute 20 times and the list just kept growing. A trained ear will be able to catch all the beauty that makes up the final product.

The Multicultural experience was a program that I continually upgraded and watched it evolve through the years. What started off as a simple design developed to an elaborate production that grew naturally. It required significant thought to connect elements that made the show seem flawless. However finding materials for the  required months of research.

The work of an educator requires significant planning. Creating material that engages and stimulates the diverse student population of diverse learning abilities and needs requires significant skills and creativity. An educator is required day in and day out to invent new materials that will enrich and entertain the learner, while still finding the time to evaluate and consider their previous work.

One often needs to consider that even when all planning has been made the wellbeing and current state of mind of the multitude of learners needs to be taken into consideration and often lots of improvisation is part of the lesson plan design.

Long term project and larger units of study are fun to work on since there is room for input from multiple team members (faculty) and trying something new is often encouraged. My mind seems to always work in that frame of mind. I am always seeking alternative ways to keep students engaged and empowered by the material at hand.

At Ancient Ties even though I worked with several gifted artists, when designing new products or concept for a tie or other apparel the concepts and idea are coming from me. This is why it takes several months of being able to translate what I see in my vision to what eventually becomes a product or addition line item.

At Tech Success the orchestration over social media assets of a client is no different than the conductor looking at the music in front of him and getting the player to execute the score which is the strategic plan. Another neology from my world would be the sound producer having multiple tracks to be cued at the right time and at the right level. Phil Ramone was one of those people who were considered one of the greatest producers. He would be able to tell or suggest that there should be an intro, only of piano, or that a certain instrument might make the song sound better. Take fast leap forward and time and look at design and production as the reason Gangam Style by Psy was watched so many times. Make for yourself a list of all the staging and shots that were designed and executed. Then you might start to understand what design is.

I believe many creative people work alike. Be it an architect, chef, composer, music arranger, choreographer, author, and the list goes on. We are all looking to present what it is we see in our vision.

While pursuing a masters in Information Studies at URI I became aware of Gamification started pursuing how that might be applied to behavioral changes within the worlds I was directly involved in. After taking a hiatus of a few years I decided now is the time to wake uo sleeping dragons and fulfill some of the visions I see in my dreams. I plan on making this a significant part of the next decade, if not more, of my life.