Music for TV and Movies (opens to: www.soundcloud.com)
Music and Sound Design for Theatre
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The Mousetrap at St. Michael's Playhouse. The composed music is all transitional, kind of spooky, mysterious, with a nod toward Bernard Herrmann. I played with the theme of "Three Blind Mice" as it has resonance to the text.
St. Michael's Playhouse Dir. Sarah Carleton Scenic: Tim Case Lighting: Annmarie Duggan Costumes: Karen Gilmer Sound: Joel Abbott |
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Baskerville at St. Michael's Playhouse. A farcical, madcap adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story. This is a big sound design show, requiring a lot of sound effects and also nearly continuous music for underscore and transitions.
St. Michael's Playhouse Dir. Sarah Carleton Scenic: Carl Tallent Lighting: Anthony Pellecchia Costumes: Trixie Sullivan Sound: Joel Abbott |
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The sound for Professor Brenner wanted a piano so close-mic'd that it feels as though you are inside it. I wanted to hear the clicks and creaks of the machinery of the hammers, dampers, and pedal. There is an acceleration of both of tempo and instrumentation as the play develops.
New Worlds Theatre Project @ HERE Arts NYC Dir. Paul Takacs Scenic: Steven C. Kemp Lighting: Dante Olivia Smith Costumes: Sarah Smith Sound: Joel Abbott |
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The text of Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet is filled with water imagery. To support this, Joel recorded sounds of water, and created instruments from the drops and swishes, and used a variety of odd digital processing of the water sounds as the source of his sound design.
Actor's Express Dir. Karen Robinson Scenic: Kat Conley Lighting: Rebecca Makus Costumes: Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay Sound: Joel Abbott |
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Lady Macbeth and Her Lover features two suicides and wanted an edgy disturbing score to support the violence. Both the content of the play, and the venue itself (FringeNYC) seemed to support a punk electronica feel.
FringeNYC / Iron Spike Theatre Company Dir. Sasha Bratt Scenic and Lighting: Chris Hoyt Sound: Joel Abbott |
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A Comedy of Errors needed a sound design informed both by Vaudeville and by modern dance and hip hop music. So, here we have some old-timey loops (some were made to sound old), beat-matched with contemporary drums and production techniques.
Allentown Shakespeare Festival Dir. Erik Pearson Scenic: Edward Morris Costumes: Valerie T. Bart Lighting: Anthony Forchielli Sound: Joel Abbott |
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Around the World in 80 Days required extensive musical composition to support all the different locations Phileas Fogg visited. Filled with action, romance, humor, and heroism, Joel Abbott created a score filled with strong melodic motifs that could be altered to fit each new global destination and dramatic tone.
St. Michael's Playhouse Dir. Kathryn Markey |
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The sound design of Titus Andronicus was filled with heavy rock guitars and drum kits. The glam-rock sound design supported the show's transitions, raised the stakes during the action scenes, and underscored the moments of heartbreak.
Yale School of Drama Dir. Jack Tamburri |
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The North American premiere of Edward Bond's Have I None at the Yale Cabaret required a futuristic, yet earthy soundscape. All of the composed transitions are sound-collages of real objects played live. The primary sounds of the show were all played on Yale's collection of Baschet Sound Sculptures, bowl gongs, and bones.
Yale Cabaret Dir. Jessica Holt |
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Unnecessary Farce, a silly police stakeout farce set in adjoining hotel rooms, required many zany sound effects and lighthearted music. This selection is the top of show overture, which set the stage for the hilarity, wherein each door slam was punctuated by a flash of light on one of the seven doors on stage.
St. Michael's Playhouse Dir. Greg Ramos |
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I'll Be Back Before Midnight, a psychological horror/thriller, required subtle underscore and subliminal dissonance to support Jan's gradual mental breakdown. The curtain was dropped between scenes, so each transition needed horror-matinee-style music to keep the audience engaged. Processing and mic modeling was used to make the music and sound design feel like it was straight out of a 1940s psycho-thriller.
St. Michael's Playhouse Dir. Greg Ramos |
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Sylvia is about a man who compensates for his mid-life crisis and unsatisfying marriage by falling in love with a dog, who is played by a woman. The show needed some breezy jazz transitions and underscore. The instrumentation is reminiscent of a 1950s jazz combo, including a vibraphone. All the original songs were written as homages to great jazz standards.
Vermont Stage Company Dir. Mark Nash |
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"Intentional Mistakes" is Joel Abbott's Third Year Thesis Concert at the Yale School of Drama. This improvised electronica show combined many of Joel's interests including music synthesis, projection, improv, jazz, techno, and performance art.
The inspiration for the four songs on the program came from:
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"32 Variations on the "All Things Considered Theme"Two selections from Joel Abbott's "32 Variations on the 'All Things Considered' Theme."
#1 is the Carl Stalling variation #2 is the Also Sprach Zarathustra variation |
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The collaborative music site, www.indabamusic.com held a contest to remix Laurie Anderson's song "Only An Expert" from her 2010 album "Homeland." Mine was among the honorable mentions.
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