Doug Kerr
Well-known member
As some of you know, about a year ago, Carla's youngest son, Larry, and his wife Nona (and their puppy, Foxy) came to live with us here in Alamogordo, in southern New Mexico. Larry was then a few years out of the US Army, where he served for 26 years, the last 23 of them with various army bands, where he played trombone (and more recently, guitar) and recently sung as well in the bands' vocal groups.
Since moving to Alamogordo, Larry has become involved in a new community theater group here, and was in fact in their premiere production (a original musical about ghost towns). (Carla was also in it.)
He has many talents and interests, but music is a principal one. We don't have a lot of extra space here at Dos Palmas, but Larry has managed to set up a first rate recording and editing facility in a space just 4 feet square to the right of the table in our dinette, plus just a little space on the top of the adjacent bar/room divider. Thus its name, "Studio 4x4+"
We see it here:
The electric guitar is a Fender Stratocaster; the acoustic is a Takamine (I forget just which model). There are separate audition amplifiers for each. The Takamine, although "acoustic", does have an integrated transducer and a little (and discreet) control panel for audio output.
On the bar, just to the right of the Mac, is one of his digital recorders (Zoom H4n) with integrated recording microphones, with the traditional "dead cat" windscreen. He uses it outdoors to record birdsongs and the like.
And here is the maestro hisself, on the Takamine:
Larry is now working with Carla on a spoken version of the first of her three historical novels, Cherokee Adventures. He is preparing a full underscore for it, with combinations of his music and that of others (including some authentic Cherokee works), composited with various nature sounds and the like. But there will also be a video aspect to the score, which he actually calls a "soundscape". They will share the actual narration.
We are so glad to have Larry, Nona, and Foxy with us. They are all so bright and capable, and of course they are a lot of help to us, especially valuable now that our capabilities are waning a bit (Carla is 85, I will be 88 in May). And it is especially wondrous to have this musical work going on under our roof.
Best regards,
Doug
Since moving to Alamogordo, Larry has become involved in a new community theater group here, and was in fact in their premiere production (a original musical about ghost towns). (Carla was also in it.)
He has many talents and interests, but music is a principal one. We don't have a lot of extra space here at Dos Palmas, but Larry has managed to set up a first rate recording and editing facility in a space just 4 feet square to the right of the table in our dinette, plus just a little space on the top of the adjacent bar/room divider. Thus its name, "Studio 4x4+"
We see it here:
The electric guitar is a Fender Stratocaster; the acoustic is a Takamine (I forget just which model). There are separate audition amplifiers for each. The Takamine, although "acoustic", does have an integrated transducer and a little (and discreet) control panel for audio output.
On the bar, just to the right of the Mac, is one of his digital recorders (Zoom H4n) with integrated recording microphones, with the traditional "dead cat" windscreen. He uses it outdoors to record birdsongs and the like.
And here is the maestro hisself, on the Takamine:
Larry is now working with Carla on a spoken version of the first of her three historical novels, Cherokee Adventures. He is preparing a full underscore for it, with combinations of his music and that of others (including some authentic Cherokee works), composited with various nature sounds and the like. But there will also be a video aspect to the score, which he actually calls a "soundscape". They will share the actual narration.
We are so glad to have Larry, Nona, and Foxy with us. They are all so bright and capable, and of course they are a lot of help to us, especially valuable now that our capabilities are waning a bit (Carla is 85, I will be 88 in May). And it is especially wondrous to have this musical work going on under our roof.
Best regards,
Doug
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