About this project
Music adds meaning to our lives. We know that to teach or share the experience of music changes lives, and always for the better. To be a part of the creative process is important - and yet to share one's own creation's is the most important thing. This is our mission.
We composed a cycle of 12 songs based on the Zodiac animals of the 5,000 year old Chinese Calendar. This music was composed to benefit the United Nations World Autism Awareness Day in April of 2011.
The first performance of these compositions touched the hearts and minds of its audience, and now we hope to make this music available to the world. Unfortunately, the live recording of this first performance was plagued by technical defects, and is unusable.
Enter Kickstarter and our plan to take the music into the studio to record, master, and distribute this unique musical collection.
The funds will be used for: Recording studio time, Engineers, Musicians of the highest caliber, artists to develop the collateral, CD art, Calendar and T-shirt, plus the production of those items in quantity.
The music was written in such a way as to intentionally connect the left and right sides of the listener's brain during performance. With our music it is OK to be vocalizing in the middle of the music, tapping your toes, play some percussion or even an iPad.
To construct the music in a way that encourages the shared experience is not always easy. We wanted to have non-musicians and musicians not feel inhibited to explore expressing themselves through the sounds, the melodies, the vocalized rhythms and beats. There is no right or wrong, no left or right - just a path to enjoyment.
The path we chose is the blending of ethnic, traditional, classical, pop and jazz. Yet we stayed true to some of the preferred sonic items that kids and adults with autism like, such as repeated motifs, the sounds of voices and rhythm and sound FX that are programmatic.
This music is fun to play, fun to listen to, and has already touched the lives of those in need. Please help us to continue our mission.
Here's a few photos of Price and I at various music events.
FAQ
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Yes, this music was performed live in April in Pasadena California at the Franklin Foundations celebration concert for the United Nations Autism World Awareness Day. We need to record the grand piano, oboe, english horn, flute, cello and some percussion, then master the recordings in a proper studio.
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We used a program by Jordon Rudess of Dream Theater called Morphwiz. We took the audio out of the iPad, set our exclusive scale for the "Dragon" piece and played it live. We even had some of the autistic kids come up and "jam" on the touch screen synth. We also used a program called SynthX on the "OX" song and used a MIDI out device from iConnect MIDI to play an external synth inside the Apple laptop playing the sequencer program called "Logic"
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The oboe may be the most difficult instrument in the orchestra to play. The tone, pitch and fingerings put it on its own level. Price has her Masters in Music Performance and received a Chancellors fellowship, the highest honor the University of California at Irvine provides. She has played in the Disney orchestra and numerous film and television productions.
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We are editing the compositions and the mix now. We are working on the new synth sounds now for the iPad. We are laying in sample tracks on the grand Piano now. But we have to record the big piano, oboe, english horn, cello and some percussion in a large studio environment. The sessions in the studio will take about a week, the mastering another 12 days. The the pressing and printing another two weeks. We estimate 6 weeks from funding to posting and shipping. We are ready to roll.
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Yes, through my company inspired.com, I have produced over 1,000 digital media productions, over 500 CD-ROMs, CD's and DVD's, over 250 videos, about 100 hours of television, hundreds of web sites and flash projects. I was also a founding board member of the prestigious Producer's Guild of America's New Media Council.
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
5
Backers
$105
pledged of $7,500 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on July 17, 2011.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
Receive the downloadable content before the CD is released. • We will follow you on Twitter and like your Facebook too.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
Receive the downloadable content before the CD is released. • We will follow you on Twitter and like your Facebook page too. • You will receive a PDF signed letter of thanks from the artists. • Special Thanks on our web site.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Receive the downloadable content before the CD is released. • We will also follow you on Twitter and like your Facebook page. • You will receive a PDF signed letter of thanks from the artists. • Special Thanks on our web site and a personal link to your web site. • 1 CD and 1 sticker mailed to you anywhere in the U.S.
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
Downloadable content before the CD is released. • Follow you on Twitter and like your Facebook page. • Receive a PDF signed letter of thanks from the artists. • Special Thanks on our web site and a personal link to your web site. • 1 signed CD and 1 project sticker mailed to you anywhere in the U.S. • 1 Chinese themed project Calendar.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Downloadable content • Follow you on Twitter and like your Facebook page. • PDF signed letter of thanks from the artists. • Special Thanks on our web site and a personal link to your web site. • 1 signed CD and 1 sticker mailed to you anywhere in the U.S. • 1 Printed Chinese themed special project Calendar with your name printed on the Calendar. • 1 Collectors designer T-Shirt, your choice of size.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
All of the above but with 10 signed physical CD and 20 project sticker mailed to you anywhere in the U.S. • 10 Printed Chinese themed special project Calendar with your name or dedicated name on the Calendar. • 2 Collectors designer T-Shirt, your choice of size. • A personal 10 minute phone conversation with Kevin or Price Kent or video chat via Skype for an inspired conversation about music, composing, performing, kids and music, learn-create-share philosophy.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
All of the above but with 50 signed physical CD and 50 project sticker mailed to you anywhere in the U.S. • 50 Printed Chinese themed special project Calendar with your name or a dedicated name on the Calendar. • 10 Collectors designer T-Shirts, your choice of size. • A personal 15-20 minute phone conversation with Kevin or Price Kent or video chat via Skype for an inspired conversation about music, composing, performing, kids and music, learn-create-share philosophy.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
FUND RAISERS SPECIAL ••• All of the above but with 100 signed physical CD's and 50 project stickers mailed to you anywhere in the U.S. • 100 Printed Chinese themed special project Calendar with your name or dedicated name on the Calendar. • 20 Collectors designer T-Shirts, your choice of size. • A personal 20 minute phone conversation with Kevin or Price Kent or video chat via Skype for an inspired conversation about music, composing, performing, kids and music, learn-create-share philosophy.
Pledge $2,500 or more Pledge $2,500 or more
FUND RAISERS SPECIAL - CONCERT ••• All of the above but now with a Special Thanks on our web site and a personal link to your web site from our project page. • 200 signed physical CDs and 200 project stickers mailed to you anywhere in the U.S. • 200 Printed Chinese themed special project Calendar with your name or dedicated name on the Calendar. • 20 Collectors designer T-Shirts, your choice of size. A personal 20-30 minute phone conversation with Kevin or Price Kent or video chat via Skype for an inspired conversation about music, composing, performing, kids and music, learn-create-share philosophy. --- If in the LA, Orange or San Diego California area, you get all the cool stuff above. Plus we will do our best to perform live at your school, college or do an in-home concert of the album. We will also bring 100 CD's to give away to your friends, patrons, teachers or students. - 20 minute Meet and Greet before the concert - Concert 50 minutes - 30 minutes of follow-up Q&A and/or meet and greet. * If you are out of the Southern California area and you are willing to pay for travel expenses, we would be willing to do one or two limited travel shows.
Pledge $10,000 or more Pledge $10,000 or more
Reprint license rights for up to 10,000 CD's for your approved 501C3 to press the music as a tool to help support awareness efforts for Autism in the USA only. All artwork and masters provided.
Project By
Connected as Kevin Kent (836 friends)
We are composers, musicians, Renaissance peeps, parents, passionate about life, inspired by music, and naturally curious about the way the mind works. Change the world? Hell yes.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw how many of my most revered people in history were autistic in some way: Beethoven, Bach, Da Vinci, Einstein, Orwell, Michelangelo, Mark Twain, Van Gogh, Newton, Hitchcock, Jefferson, Edison and the beat goes on. Let us understand, let us rejoice in our differences.
Music like Autism realizes a way for the mind to express tension and release. A natural ebb and flow. If art and the mind does not have a balance it is not fully realized. The greatest realization in this project is that the autistic person does not want pity, the majority want nothing of the self-loathing or pity that is so often wrought. The autistic mind hears its own natural rhythms and the it craves continuity in rhythm and repeated rhythms and values. In this music we composed, we tried to comfort and inspire. We hope we inspired you.
