Magari - Raincheck On The Absinthe (live acoustic)
Another in our series of rooftop acoustic sessions, this time an original. I’m particularly proud of the color treatment I did to this one :)
(Please watch in HD!)
Magari - The Rest Will Flow (Porcupine Tree live acoustic cover)
Myself and Dru Serkes, aka half of my band Magari got together for some acoustic sessions on his roof in West Harlem. I ran a stereo microphone setup and shot it all through a Nikon D3100. Basically acted as a one man film crew, except for the moving shots which were done thanks to Dru’s friend Kelsey. I then edited the audio and video, mastered the audio and color corrected the video myself. #onemanmediaarmy
More rooftop sessions to come :)
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Magari
—Mr. Brightside (The Killers Cover)
So for New Years my band released this track as a free download. It’s a cover of “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. Dru came to me with a piano arrangement and initially wanted to just track that with his vocals. I added some guitar and backing vocals, though, and before long it was clear this was actually going to be a Magari track. Mark and Ryan recorded their parts remotely and sent them to me (yay internet) for mixing.
It was actually mostly recorded and mixed at my apartment in Harlem, using a shitty live vocal dynamic mic for all of the vox. All in all I’m pretty pleased with the mix given I didn’t have much control over how the drums and bass were recorded, and was working with a pretty limited setup here at home. I could nitpick it to death, but seeing as it was meant to be a free track for fun I’m pretty satisfied with the result.
Happy new year everybody!
10.19.11 - Here’s a quick little VFX test for a music video we’re starting pre-production on. (and by “we” I mean the future collective that shall be known as “Pirates and Indians.”) This is a simple workflow test done in Nuke. The actual shot will show a hooded figure whipping his hood off and exploding into a flock of birds. The music will actually be a remastered version of the track i just posted, “Ghosts In Transit,” and will be released as a free download when we finish the video.
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—Ghosts In Transit
10.09.11-
“Ghosts In Transit” an instrumental rocktronica track. I recorded the acoustic guitars back in ‘09 and decided to make some real use out of them, so I remixed them and now I can’t stop grooving to it. I’ve got ideas for a visual effects based music video/ short film to go along with this, which may become a reality.
10.02.11 - Hello
Hello. My name is Mike, and (in the vaguest terms) I am a creative professional. Digital media is my forte.
I’m not so much a jack-of-all-trades as a person exploring all of his passions, pushing his skills in each field as far as he can. I concentrate on producing the best work possible, regardless of form or function. I sometimes (half) jokingly refer to myself as a “digital renaissance man:” I make websites, visual effects, designs and animations; I create soundtracks and scores; I write, record, and produce music.
My father, a graphics professional, gave me my first copy of Photoshop 5 when I was around 12 years old; the rest is history. I tailored my skills in photo manipulation and graphic art during high school, and went on to Syracuse University’s Department of Transmedia to study Computer Art. I always knew that, even if I wasn’t sure just where my career would go, my life would be somewhere in the vast realm of digital media.
At age 14 I fell in love for the second time when my parents sprung for my first electric guitar. I have been a passionate guitarist, composer & songwriter ever since. I am co-founder of the band Magari. After briefly contemplating majoring in music, I decided to expand my digital media skillset instead. Ultimately, the choice was the right one and led me to understand a very pivotal truth: I wasn’t making a choice between music and art, I was learning how to make the most of both sides of my creative self.
Music, and later sound in general, became a major playing factor in all my work. I even spent the latter half of my college career studying sound and music production intensely.
Now, as a recent grad with a totally nebulous career in front of him, my only immediate goal is experience and improvement. I want to create animated and visual effects-based music videos and shorts, I want to produce albums and score films. I want to do it all.
Welcome to my blog, which will chronicle my process as well as talk about the things that inspire and move me: music, cinema, and art.
