08/09/2005
It's Pandemonium!

In a move that has startled many industry insiders, a confidential source (who sounded very much like Peter Sellers and insisted on being called "Noyes Fleur") has revealed that Jon Herbst and Jay Cloidt are forming a new audio enterprise called "Pandemonium Productions".

In an overnight CBS/New York Times poll, 57% of respondents queried about these developments said, "Huh?"

Stay tuned for further developments.

To find out more about this Jay Cloidt guy, click on the link below.

Jay Cloidt

07/10/2003
Coventry Studio Offers CD Duplication

In an ongoing effort to provide complete turnkey audio services for our clients, we're now offering audio CD and CDROM duplication.

After completing the mix on a music or spoken word project, you no longer have to go to a separate facility to make your copies. That means avoiding the usual worries about quality, and slow turnaround. It also means you won't get stuck paying a substantial premium on "short runs"; orders under 300 CDs.

With our new high speed duplicator, we can quickly and cost-effectively burn virtually any quantity of CDs you're
likely to need. Call or email us for pricing.

06/01/2003
“From My Heart” Just Released

While I was in the middle of producing another album last fall, Mario Guarneri (a terrific trumpet player, educator, friend and collaborator) asked me to help him figure out how to "best capture the sound" of his jazz quartet.

Since his group was very used to responding to the energy of an
audience (as compared to a more sterile recording studio environment), we decided to invite friends and fans to a concert at Hellman Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music .

The resulting album, “From My Heart”, is combination of tracks recorded live-in-concert with additional tunes recorded a week later in the same hall.

The Quartet features MARIO GUARNERI (trumpet and flugelhorn), CALVIN KEYS (guitar) , KASH KILLION (bass) and PETER MAGADINI (drums). The tunes include several of Mario's wonderful original compostions and some great jazz standards.

Recording a concert utilizing a portable multi-track direct-to-hard drive system was a challenging assignment. And the editing, mixing and mastering of any CD requires tremendous care and patience. But producing this album with Mario and the band was a hell of alot of fun and we succeeded in capturing some great music in the process. To order a copy of "From My Heart" please visit Mario's website, listed below.

Mario Guarneri

Peter Magadini

05/03/2003
35mm Print of "Tell the Truth and Run" at Rafael Film Center May 7, 2003

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

A terrific film I had the good fortune to compose the score for several years ago, "Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press" will have a special showing at the Rafael Film Center at 7pm on Wednesday May 7, 2003.   

This is a rare opportunity to see a 35 mm print of Rick Goldsmith's Academy-Award-nominated documentary on censorship and suppression in the news media.

The film is especially timely in the wake of the war in Iraq and its American media coverage tainted by spin, suppression of war carnage, and military-controlled "embedded" reporting.  

Filmmaker Rick Goldsmith will appear in person after the film for Q&A, along with journalist Norman Solomon, who recently returned from Baghdad and is co-author of the best-selling book "Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You."  

I.F. Stone called George Seldes "the granddaddy of us investigative reporters," and for good reason: Seldes spent eighty years tirelessly exposing abuse of power and the big money forces that corrupted the news.  

In Tell the Truth and Run, Seldes's encounters with General Pershing and Mussolini, the tobacco industry, J. Edgar Hoover and the "lords of the press" provide a piercing look at censorship and suppression in America's news media.  Seldes at 98 years old is remarkably engaging, witty and impassioned.  Ralph Nader, Ben Bagdikian, Victor Navasky, Daniel Ellsberg, Nat Hentoff, Morton Mintz, Colman McCarthy, Marian Seldes and Jeff Cohen provide incisive commentary.  Narration is by Susan Sarandon with Ed Asner as the voice of Seldes's writings.

This is the Bay Area premiere screening of a stunning 35mm print version of Tell the Truth and Run. Hope to see you there.   

The Rafael Film Center is located at 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael; 415-454-1222, www.cafilm.org.

Rafael Film Center

04/22/2003
"China 21" KQED Airdate: Saturday May 3, 6pm

"China 21", a film I scored last year will be airing at 6pm on Saturday, May 3rd on KQED. It will be shown on other PBS stations as well during May -- Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Local airdates include:

KQED San Francisco: Sat. May 3, 6 PM
KTEH San Jose: Fri. May 2, midnight
KCSM San Mateo: Fri. May 9, 11PM

"China 21", a one-hour documentary, follows four Chinese families as they step into the 21st century. Working without official permits, filmmakers Ruby Yang and Lambert Yam used compact digital video gear to record intimate portraits of ordinary people living in tumultuous times. The talk is candid and sometimes emotional. Families are small -- one child in the city, two in the country -- so children hold center stage. Veterans of the Cultural Revolution are saving up to send their son to business school. Another couple, whose son is a prize law student, glow with satisfaction. To insure his children's future, a peasant leaves his remote village to work in the quasi-legal urban job market. A farm family near Shanghai feels manhandled by the privatizing economy. They sacrifice to send their daughter to high school. "China 21" introduces otherwise anonymous people whose spark and initiative are changing their country.

For more information about "China 21", filmmakers Ruby Yang and Lambert Yam, and airdates on other
PBS stations you can click on this link:

Kbik Films

03/01/2003
Original Music For A New Exhibit at the Lawrence Hall of Science

"PLAYING WITH TIME", a new traveling museum exhibition about the unseen world of natural change has opened at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley.

I was fortunate to be commissioned last year by one of the exhibit's co-producers (Bob Hone / Red Hill Studios) to write original music for part of the show that is housed in a small theater called "THE REFLECTORY".

This theater space invites visitors to have a seat and enjoy a stunning look at the world of change over different time scales. A panorama of seven (!) screens display super-fast (i.e. water drops splashing) to super-slow (canyons forming) events. Viewers see that even the quickest events are made up of discrete parts and can marvel at the effect of each component part on the evolving whole.

The experience is narration-free, featuring original music by Jon Herbst.

For more information about "Playing with Time" or directions
to The Lawrence Hall of Science, click on their website (#1) below.

For more information about Red Hill Studios, click on their
website (#2) below.

I hope you get a chance to visit and enjoy the exhibition. It will be at the LHS through May 4th.

Lawrence Hall of Science

Red Hill Studios

02/17/2003
Can You Hear Me Now? Coventry Studio goes Global

Sometimes working as an audio producer connects you to unexpected people and foreign places.

This past month, through the miracle of teleconferencing
and and the use of our newly installed telephone hybrid (see "New Technology, New Services" below), we produced three Web-bound seminars for a corporate client..

An international team of experts was linked simultaneously from Belgium, England, New Zealand and several locations across the US. Once on the line, they were able to give presentations, share ideas in real time, and interact with a panel of California-
based experts who were on-mic in our studio. These exchanges were recorded and edited for subsequent web presentations and CD distribution.

For more information about utlizing this technology, contact us
at: covstudio@herbstmusic.com.

02/14/2003
New Technology, New Services and A Steinway Made More Grand

Two new very cool toys have come to live at Coventry Studio.

A new Telephone Hybrid has made it possible for us to provide a range of telephone-based services. 2-way phone transmission and recording capabilities mean we can:

---Record interviews or presentations (any number of studio guests and conference call participants) for live transmission or for tape-delayed /edited distribution.

---Record and Direct interviews (VO sessions, etc.) with geographically distant talent as "double enders". This is for applications where the highest audio quality is critical.

---Feed or Record any audio source (live studio mics, CDs, DATs) via phone. This is a great way to allow clients in other locations to be able to sign-off quickly on lengthy projects that are time sensitive.

Elsewhere on the technology front; our new stand-alone audiophile quality CD burner now makes it possible to make CD?s during the recording session. No waiting while bouncing from a DAT master into a workstation and converting files to Redbook standard for burning. Clients in a hurry can be out the door in minutes with VO "keeper takes" or real-time reference mixes of music projects.

A GREAT INSTRUMENT MADE BETTER

Piano technician extraordinaire Israel Stein (A-Major Piano Service) has done a masterful job re-voicing and regulating our 1907 Steinway ("Model A", 6 foot) Grand Piano. It sounds fantastic, records beautifully and is a delight to play. Stop by and check it out. Israel can be reached at the email address link below.

Israel Stein

I've just completed a recording project that has taken up most of my waking hours these last couple of months. But it's not a film score. Instead, I've been producing (arranging, performing, recording and mixing) a Holiday CD, entitled,

"CLAIRDEE: THIS CHRISTMAS".

It features award-winning vocalist Clairdee (along with Nic Bearde and Brenda Boykin) in the company of an all-star group of West Coast musicians. It's a fun, accessible album that transcends any single musical genre. The arrangements vary stylistically, offering "new takes" on some Christmas classics and unique settings for some less-well-known gems. They include elements of the Blues, Soul, Gospel, Funk, Jazz, Latin and Hip-Hop.

The process of collaborating with some of the Bay Area's finest singers and instrumentalists has been truly inspiring. And the fun we had in making this music is clearly evident in the tracks.

"CLAIRDEE: THIS CHRISTMAS", can be purchased, via a secure server, from Clairdee's web site at:

http://www.declaremusic.com/thischristmas.html.

Bulk (10 or more) and corporate discounts are available.

Alternatively, copies can be ordered by phone, fax or mail:

Call Toll-free: 1-888-533-8988
Or locally: 415-614-0876
Or via fax: 415-563-1288

Declare Music
1288 Columbus Avenue #202
San Francisco, CA 94133-1302

Bay Area friends and fans: Please join us for a special Christmas Eve (December 24th) Concert and CD Release Party at YOSHI'S in Jack London Square.

Show times are 8pm and 10pm. For more info about the show or to purchase tickets, please call YOSHI's at 510-238-9200 or visit their web site at:

http://www.yoshis.com/ (click on "Complete Calendar").

Hope to see you there. Best wishes for the Holidays and the New Year,

Jon