Comment on the POV site, or on my blog if you feel so inclined.

After riding my heavy, old mountain bike around the city for a couple years, it was time to get something lighter and road-friendly. In May, I rode in the TD Bank 5-borough bike tour, and while it wasn’t necessarily difficult to go 42+ miles on a mountain bike, I knew that if I ever wanted to ride in a longer distance tour, I would need to get a real road warrior.

A friend of mine had told me about 718 Cyclery in Park Slope, Brooklyn and that you could not only customize your bike down to each individual part, but also hand build it with 718’s owner, Joe. I set up an initial appointment with Joe via the online calendar on his website.

After meeting to discuss the kind of bike I was looking to build, Joe set up a parts & price list (using Google Docs), and we were able to tailor the project to my budget. As per Joe’s suggestion, I went with a vintage Raleigh Grand Prix racer frame from the seventies, paired with brand new parts. Using a vintage frame, in my case, was both an economical and aesthetic choice. Also, there’s nothing I like more than customizing a product, part for part by hand. (Truth be told, Joe did most of the hard work, but I was there helping out and taking mental notes for the next time I build a bike on my own.)

The fact that 718 Cyclery has a comprehensive website, let alone an interactive calendar for booking your appointment, maintaining your parts list, and emailing questions, sets this company apart from many other bike shops. In fact, 718c wasn’t a shop at all. Purchasing and building my own bike was a unique experience that was both fun and educational. And once all the parts arrived at Joe’s shop, the actual build time was only two hours. The best part was being able to ride the bike home after all the anticipation!

Check out some pictures of my bike from the build, originally posted on the 718c website: here.

On the non tech-development front, I’ve been working on a few fun projects this springtime/summer season and should be updating the site shortly.

Bye (Trailer) from Anthony Morrison on Vimeo.

Hello from the road! Well, not exactly the road, but this is in fact my first remote blogging experience. I’m in Chicago for the next few days on business, but I wanted to write about last night’s Cinereach premiere of Anthony Morrison’s Bye. I did the final mix on this short documentary on Jayden, a two and a half year old boy diagnosed with autism, and the early intervention program he attends in NYC.

The movie premiered at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York, and has already won a special fellowship award from the Cinereach organization. Seeing (or hearing, in my case) your work on the big screen is a bit daunting, but also incredibly thrilling. Typically, when I’m mixing or composing for a film, I work with a small quicktime video file. Most of the online videos I compose stay in a smaller picture size. But last night, Jayden was blown up two stories tall! I did at one point wonder whether this was the same documentary I was working on weeks earlier (of course, it was).

For more information on Anthony Morrison’s Bye, go to the Cinereach page or www.meddlerfilms.com

I will most likely post an update on this movie as soon as it goes to festival, so stay tuned.

The first entity – mixing and composing music for picture. Very soon I will announce the official launch of my new company, The Waffle House music library. The Waffle House is a boutique music library intended for clients in TV, online video, film, radio, etc.

Recently I’ve been mixing three films. One of the films, a short documentary about early autism intervention programs, will show in New York very soon. I’ll post an update to the blog as soon as I find out where the film will play across the country.

The second entity – web media. I am now a Partner Media Manager for Google in NYC. Usually, I keep the blog focused on my music/design side, but it might be an interesting turn of events to involve some Google-related blogging. As I get situated with my new job at Google, I’ll figure out how some Google blogging can play a role in kevinsiwoff.com.

Thanks to all my friends, family, and colleagues for the support during these amazing, changing times!

As promised, I have some new work to show off. I recently wrote music for a series of New Balance videos called New Balance 365. The ad campaign involves a flash website as well as an iPhone app, showcasing 1 video per day for a year (hence, 365). You can go to www.newbalance365.com and browse all of the videos, or you can watch just the ones I wrote by visiting the links below.

http://www.newbalance365.com/#/archive/2010-01-28
http://www.newbalance365.com/#/archive/2010-02-04
http://www.newbalance365.com/#/archive/2010-02-08

If you feel inclined to do so, please share the videos on Facebook, “like” the videos on the official newbalance365 site, retweet this post, comment, etc.

I’ve been writing a lot of music for commercials and film/TV lately, and I realized that I should be more careful about collecting performance royalties from these jobs. After doing a little research online and asking some of my other composer friends, I decided to go with The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (otherwise known as ASCAP). Joining ASCAP was much easier than I had expected, and took me only ten minutes to fill out an electronic application on their website. $35 later, and I can now start collecting royalties on my music for life. Or wait, that means I actually have to write music and get it broadcast before I can start collecting money!

All kidding aside, I may be a big proponent for open source technology and new creative potentials in the media industry, but there is something to be said for benefiting from your own intellectual property.

I’ll have more updates on my new work very soon, with audio/video examples to follow.

I’m always looking for creative new music-making apps to play on my iPod touch, and today I discovered Bebot Robot Synth. The iPhone app is developed by Normalware. Bebot features 4-note polyphony (you can play up to 4 different notes at once) and sports some cool effects like echo, overdrive, and chorus. You can even play along with music from your iTunes library. One of the most interesting features of Bebot, however, is the singing robot that appears in the background. Check out the YouTube demo video above, or go to www.normalware.com for more details. It’s only $2, which is a pretty good deal for a powerful little synth like this! I wonder when this app will come to the Android Market. Aesthetically, It seems like a perfect match for the new Google phones.

For the past few months I have been designing my official website, www.kevinsiwoff.com, and today the website is finally launched. Hopefully this website will give a little insight into my professional world. My main goal has been to present a cross section of my work in a unique way, combining elements of what I do into the framework of both a portfolio and a blog. The blog will serve not only as a “news” page, but also as a journal for my creative process.

I hope you enjoy my new website, and please bookmark or subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed if you are interested in seeing/hearing the newest developments in my professional life as they happen.

Sincerely,
Kevin