We will be performing our hip-hop/funky/swing/salsa arrangements of video game music from all your favorite games with our mind blowing 14 piece band – Aug 23 in Brooklyn at club Sunnyvale 1031 Grand st. Brooklyn, NY!
ConSoul will be performing live Aug 23 at Club Sunnyvale, Brooklyn
August 2nd, 2016Consoul Big Band is Going Live!
June 5th, 2016
Stay tuned for a schedule of our performances in a venue near you!!!
Listen to our tracks on soundcloud:
Listen to our live Video Game Music / Chiptune Covers
January 22nd, 2016Lately I started covering VGM (Video Game Music), as I love gaming and i love the music so 1+1=10!! We are having a lot of fun doing it and open to feedback regrading what tunes to cover next! Please feel free to drop us a line on twitter, facebook or soundcloud!!
Winner announced in contest
January 15th, 2016First off – congrats to winners! Amazing work all around!
The winners:
Everyone else was up there and it took a lot of deliberation to conclude who is the winner! Thank you for participating – hope to see you again soon!
JOIN OUR REMIX CONTEST!
September 27th, 2015
UNLEASH YOUR INNER BRASS!!
As you already know – our squad has recorded brass with the best. Kanye, Jay Z, Eminem, Frank Sinatra, Queen Latifah , Andreas Gabalier, Wily Bo Walker, TV shows, many many other indie artists. This is your chance to show us what you can do with our brass track!
What we have here is a naked live brass fanfare, with no backing track. The original BPM is 105.
Click on image to go to soundcloud page and download the file.
Anything goes – be creative – Speed it up, Slow it down, RAP to it, Trap it, make it reggae or EDM or hip-hop or classical, add lyrics, mash it up or down, chop slide and dice.
Example Remix:
https://soundcloud.com/newyorkbrass/gansta
Prize: $150. and a trombone. We will also actively promote it on the web, and shop it around to our major clients/producers worldwide.
Conditions:
- Tracks are due by end of day Dec, 1st, 2015 EST.
- At end of mix contest all the remixes will be ranked based on listens on soundcloud.com (non-fake listens. We can detect proxies, and cheaters will be disqualified).
- We guarantee that we will listen the top 50 tracks.
- We will determine the winner at our discretion.
Copyright, ownership etc: Anything (including lyrics) submitted (including source stems) would be considered a new composition and will be 55% owned by our record label, and 45% by the composer/mixer.
The tracks will be considered published by our record Label, and copyright for winning track will be registered with organizations such as Library of congress and BMI and/or others . We will also actively promote it on the web, and shop it around to our major clients/producers worldwide.
By submitting to the contest the submitter and/or composer agree to a 5 year non-re-record/non-compete agreement of any part of composition (including stems) unless there is consent from our label.
How to submit:
- Post to soundcloud.com and then drop us a private message
- link back somewhere in your description to this original file
- Also, add your file to this group: http://soundcloud.com/groups/newyorkbrass-remix-competition
- For news and more follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/NewYorkBrass
One Response to “JOIN OUR REMIX CONTEST!”
This brass is up to something good!
September 19th, 2015The Sunshine Collective’s latest ralease “She’s up to something good” really brings out the sunshine. This is not your usual kid’s song is either a grown-up-song kids like, or a kids song that has grown up. Its superhero-y vibe is great and the arrangement using live brass and strings brings out the retro vibe in the song. Highly recommended! You can also see shots from our studio in the song!
If you own a server/wesite? You can send huge files quickly and freely
September 16th, 2015You know the problem. You have lots of largish files that don’t fit in an email. You need to do this a few times a day and it gets tedious.
I spend each day sending a lot of files (mostly audio tracks and stems) and find myself repeating the process of
1. copying files
2. zipping files
3. putting file somewhere
4. sending a link to that somewhere to someone
Yes sendspace, dropbox, gobbler and other such services are very nice, but cost money.
I ended up creating “Senderella” – a PHP script that takes care of the whole mess in one fell-swoop of a page.
And the beauty of it, that it is free for non-commercial use under the MIT license. (There is an error in the image).
Here is a screenshot:
This script has considerably reduced my workload and dread of releasing tracks 
You can check it out here
ZEDD ft. Selena Gomez “I Want You To Know” Star Wars Remix
May 17th, 2015
In a previous blog post we announced a new remix of “I want you to know”.
After a few suggestions we decided to attempt to combine the Star Wars Imperial March (A.K.A. The Darth Vader March) into the remix and came up with a completely mad new rendition of the whole thing. If you enjoy brass, Selina Gomez, Star Wars, and wacky videos – this one is for you!
New ZEDD ft Selena Gomez “I Want You To Know” remix
May 7th, 2015
We created a really really cool new remix of Selena Gomez’s “I Want You To Know” (did I say really really Cool)
with a live brass band replacing the electronic backing.
Its six trombones, two bass trombones, eight trumpets, four cornets, four euphoniums, three tubas, two bass trumpets, four french horns, live snares, bass drums and cymbals.
I know there are other remixes out there, but I hope this one stands out, as I tried to give it a completely fresh angle. I think Selena’s voice meshes with the brass so nicely. Maybe we can do an original take of a new song one day!
ENJOY!
The Making of Jay Z’s “Somewhere in America”
July 22nd, 2013
Haven’t posted in a while, too many exciting musical projects. In this picture I am prepping to record the Trombone solo that can be heard on the song “Somewhere in America”. The final take was done on a rare 1960s conn 20H and dialed in with the (music genius and world’s foremost pop/loop/hiphop/younameit producer/engineer) Ken Lewis. The pBone sounded quite good. It excels in getting that “dry jazz” sound, and for the final result we wanted something more “meaty”. The 1951 Conn 20H is one of the last small (shall we say tiny) bore horns made before everyone made the final switch to the medium and large bore horns. The pBone which is made of 99% plastic has a surprisingly good sound!
Twerk, yeah, ugh-huh
Twerk, Miley, Miley, Miley
Only in America
Two new holiday singles and a hurricane
December 12th, 2012A Merry Channuka to y’all!
Los Angeles-based SUNSHINE COLLECTIVE have just released their contribution to the sonic holiday landscape with a new song called “The City That Forgot to Snow.“ and is available on iTunes (get it here). It is a really lightweight bubbly and fun song full of many colors. I really hope people will like it. Multi-Talented songwriter Brian Arbuckle teamed up with wife Stephanie Richards to created a truly magical soundscape. We suppose to start recording but then hurricane Sandy hit. The next day Erin and I decided to go out and see first hand the effects. Although at the time most of the devastated areas were closed, we managed to reach Amity Harbor and see first hand the destruction. Here is a picture of what was left of a beach front house (click to enlarge):
Ron Bertolet recorded the saxes on Thursday night from 1 to 3 a.m. due to gasoline shortage at the time. At Brian’s request we also videoed the session, as he wanted to use it in the video. A few days later a huge Nor’easter struck and lemme tell ya, this city did remember to snow. Making the mandatory snowman with the kids, I had an inspirational moment. My son helped me drag the horns out into the snow, and we shot various snow videos to go along with the song, so check out the video!
Some of you who follow this blog may remember talented Singer/songwrited Laura Jeanne. Laura was discovered by Budweiser last year in the TV show The Big Time. A few weeks ago we started experimenting with an idea she had for a holiday song. Originally intended to voice strings and piano, as a small offering for fans, it matured into a full fledged single named “Bells Ring Out (At Christmas Time)” which is now available through iTunes (get it here). I created the midi track and then recorded live strings and horns. We refined the vocal tracks, and the final tracks and vocals were further mixed and mastered by Mark Bishop of Universal music, UK. I think we captured the song spirit, with transparent strings, and glowing colors complementing Laura’s incredible voice. Visit her fan page on facebook!
Skyping-in on the recording session. With a spot of tea.
September 28th, 2012
Erin took this really snazzy (lets bring that word back) picture of Ron Bertolet blowing his selmer sax while Paul Bennet is sipping. Paul was the bassist of the 1970s English band MAZARIBA which disbanded in the late ’70s and has recently reunited and are working on releasing their reunion album. Although these days Paul lives on Long Island, NY, I hear drinking tea on whilst listening with studio headphones on Skype is a British passtime. Incidentally the saxophone is a rare “Low E” model alto which has a deeper tone due to it’s extra length. Most saxophones have two low note keys, this one has three.
NewYorkBrass on Mars
August 6th, 2012
Curiosity rover discovers life on mars.
Fun with Bashar Al-Assad
July 22nd, 2012
Reading this post in the huffington post I realized that we are all left out of the wonderful fun of the SGPD (Syrian Government Photoshop Department). This is an attempt to rectify this. Included in this set is also a DIY version that allows you to join the fun, and create your own image!
Has anybody seen the TV remote? It’s important.
February 12th, 2012This year my work is featured in four of Kanye West’s Grammy nominations. Getting everything squared away with the Recording Academy’s (i.e. Grammy) Member Services has been an odyssey to say the least, but the paperwork itself feels like an accolade.
I hear this year’s show is going to have a host – LL Cool J – which is something the powers have opted out of for a while. I think the broadcast could use some personality; naturally, the job goes to a New Yorker.
Now to find the remote for the TV …
3 Responses to “Has anybody seen the TV remote? It’s important.”
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I know a lot about the whole site. Really cool! The site is very low in the eyes of the world of technology. What if I am a professional Internet browser. Around the eyes, so I needed around your site and visit it great. And I scrub. It is my desire to write, so the operating system chooser. Thank you very much for the good and the quality post.
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There is only one TV remote that is awesome: TiVo.
I loved that remote when we had a TiVo, but now we use a local cable provider’s DVR and its remote is fail :/
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I’m thrilled.
The Critical Mass of Yes
February 7th, 2012You know how some days are loaded with sequences of interesting events where each one is seemingly set up by the action of a previous one? Once in a blue moon I’ll experience a fully loaded day where unexpected things feel so hyper-precise and arithmetical that sitting quietly the pleasant exhaustion, I feel like I should be able to quantify the chain of events as something – something end-user and macro algorithmic. Thursday was one of those days.
After work we decided to try a cozy, dark little vegetarian restaurant in the East Village charmingly named Caravan of Dreams. Erin had covered 5th and 6th streets on foot while doing some street photography earlier and knew how to get there. I didn’t realize that Caravan was a vegan restaurant until we arrived, which worked out in my favor because
A.) Vegan is not a usual food-thing I would choose
B.) The food was delicious. Really.
I wish I could remember what we ordered – something with citrus, basil and fennel, and something with avocado, olives, mango and pine nuts. Whatever – it was all very good. I would not have said yes to this place had I known it was vegan.
June 15th, 1904
Caravan of Dreams
Anyway, we nearly missed our reservation time at Caravan of Dreams due to the discovery of (yet another) New York historical marker. This one concerned the 1904 fire on the passenger steamboat General Slocum which killed 1,021 congregants of a lower east side Lutheran church. The recent Costa Concordia disaster came to mind while reading how Slocum’s captain mishandled an already atrocious situation. There’s no need to ask why the remaining congregants chose to move their church uptown. Grateful for my life after reading about the Slocum, we headed to dinner and I savored every morsel and counted my blessings – twice.
On the way back we took a look at the former church building and discovered that it was now a local synagogue. There was a small flyer taped to the side door announcing an Avram Pengas concert that evening; the same Avram Pengas I had a chance to perform with at last month’s Zlatne Uste Golden Festival. Back in January my friend Gal called me late in the afternoon asking if I’d like to sit in with Avram & The Noga Group.
Playing with Avram Pengas & the Noga Group © oresti tsonopoulos / flickr
This was an invite just for fun – not a paid gig. For that reason I could have declined, but instead I said yes and wound up having a spectacular time. Again, here was another chance to say yes and head inside to the concert. I’m certain our vegan meal was a contributing reason why our energy level was way above average at this time of night. We stepped inside the former-church/present temple. Gal was crisp on the drums and halfway through the concert Pengas called me up from the audience to play. This was wonderful honor! It gave me a chance to make up for the fact that I had wandered in past the doorman without paying admission. Since my trombone wasn’t handy I did my super-nerdy-yet-killer Zamfir thing. I am a master of the Flam-flute. Find out if you must, by clicking here.
Here are some pictures from the event, enjoy!
The Reality TV people got this one right.
January 20th, 2012Hello 2012! We’re almost 21 days in to the new year. Have you worn out all options for entertainment this coming Saturday? I hear it’s going to be a cold one, and you’re probably going to stay inside. If so, ABC is premiering some top performers on a new show “Bud United Presents: “The Big Time.” This is good stuff.
OK I have a bias, but it’s trustworthy. Viewers of The Big Time will have a chance to sample the dynamic songs of one Laura Jeanne who I had the pleasure of working with on her debut single Coincidence, back in November. In respect to her engaging personal qualities as well as her full-bodied mezzo tone, this is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter you won’t want to miss.
- For Laura Jeanne who was chosen as one of 3 finalists, her participation on The Big Time is clearly a labor of love.
ABC has not announced whether this episode will be available to watch on-line later. So dust off your TiVo or have the in-laws take the kids for a few hours.
Who: British singer/songwriter Laura Jeanne
What: ABC’s Bud United Presents: “The Big Time
When: Saturday, January 21st at 3pm EST
One Response to “The Reality TV people got this one right.”
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I really like your writing style, great information, appreciate it for posting :D. “All words are pegs to hang ideas on.” by Henry Ward Beecher.
Dubby, jazzy, housey, techy, indie, blues & funky … 2011 was all this and more
January 13th, 2012There are so many occasions to show gratitude. And yet, there are millions of times when I do not express it enough. Thank you! Thank you all for a great year!
2011 Rocked!
Thanks again to Jim Allchin Ron Abel Michael Amante Ruslan Agababayev Yitzy Bald Andreas Bärtels Amir Ben-Haim Johnny Berman Brenda Balasz-Beylek Amir Benhaim Dori Ben Ze’ev Ron Bertolet Yerachmiel Bigun Justin “Just Blaze” Smith Tal B.R. Yanki Briskman Yochi Briskman Suri Brody Walter & Blue tha Engineer at Brown Sugar Studios Jean Carter Teddy Charles Shlomi Cohen Shloime Saul Stern Dachs Dad Barry Dallman Nydia Davila Def Jam Phil DeGorter Don Downs David Eastman Yoni Eliav Nir Erez Marissa Famiglietti Mike Ficco & the Long Island Jazz Orchestra Freilach Orchestra Ian Freitor Avremi G. Jacob Garchik Linda Garrity Charlie Gordon Mark A. Gatz Brian Gelfand Gal Gershovsky Moshe Ginsberg Tony Gorruso Zino Groenewegen Cliff Haywood Mendy Hershkowitz Zuben Mehta & the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Brian J. of the Pimps of Joytime Laura Jeanne Joseph Kaminski Kris Kasanova Terry Keevil Karen Kelly Charles Kiger Ron Ben-Haim Ray Kilday Israel Lamm Eli Laufer Moshe Laufer Gideon Levine Gabriella Lewis Ken Lewis Lex à Her Majesty’s Sound Kjetil Linnes Shahar Livne Steve Lynch The Maccabeats Maybach Music Bonnie McAlvin Stone McEwan Jeremy Miloszewicz Marco Meister Miami Boys Choir Mom Tony Eli Lishinsky Tony Montalbo Gershy Moskowitz Danielle Morandini Bizu Riki Mullu Avi Newmark Shai Nissenboim OdessMama Marco Panascia Yehoshua Pasternak Yehuda Piamente Michael Pruzansky Kenny Rampton Leib Reigler Mathias Roska Mona Rosenblum Rick Ross Dalit Segal Yosef Chaim Shwekey Lipa Schmeltzer Naftali Schnitzler Jerry Sokolov Soulfarm StadiumRed Studios Stewart Taylor Yosi Teaberg Dave Trigg Vignir Vigfusson Murry R.Kahn and the West Islip Symphony Wily Bo Walker Kanye West and Avrum Zamist!
From all of us here at New York Brass!
A Weird Ballad
January 12th, 2012When I was a wee 5th grade human puppy, my then trombone teacher Shemi Peri invited all of the students to a master class with a dude that had the biggest trombone I had ever seen; It was a bass trombone. Up to that point in my training I had never seen anything so gigantically brass. The dude’s name was Eliezer (Eli) Aharoni and he was there to show the class the latest techniques in breathing and playing trombone. Aharoni had also written some trombone books which impressed all of us. This particular afternoon meeting and listening to Eli Aharoni was the first push towards trombone playing
Eli was the driving force behind the Israeli Trombone Association. Around 1983 he brought the then-presiding president of the International Trombone Association Dr. Erving L. Wagner to give us a master class at the Jerusalem Music Center. The day was the holiday of Purim which is sort of a Jewish Mardi-gras and my hair was colored blue. (I always wonder if Prof Wagner remembers a little boy with blue hair… ). The master class was the first place I ever heard professional trombone playing on the highest level live. What a glorious sound. I knew trombone was the way to go for me.
People were playing duets and asking questions and Professor Wagner was giving advice. Suddenly there was a sudden hush. Someone next to me whispered “Micha is going to play something”, I had no clue who he was talking about. A young 24-year-old giant muscular guy walked in carrying a colossal bass trombone, although in his hands the trombone looked small. Then he played. The sound that came out was the deepest fullest sound I ever heard sort of like a trobonephonium. And I can say that to this day – all over the world – I never heard such a sound. His name was Micha Davis, and in my opinion stands in the front row of bass trombone players in the universe.
Over the years I have played with Micha many times, and we pulled practical jokes and had lots of laughs. But putting aside the jokes and laughs, Micha inspired my playing and keeps on inspiring many others to this day. Eli and Micha’s influence shines on hundreds of talented trombone players and musicians who play in the best orchestras, bands and other music venues worldwide. I have been blessed by the opportunity to play with true giants. I have played and listened to countless trombone players since, some of the finest Orchestras in the world pass through New York, but the control and sound Micha produces is unique. When he plays Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite the storm section gets a new dimension, the bass trombone gives an 18″ sub-woofer a run for it’s money.
In the video Micha Davis is playing Etude #24 from from Eli Aharoni’s (2009) book “The Non-Classic Bass Trombone” titled “A Weird Balad”. Most players feel like they need an oxygen scuba tank or a pressurized diving bell to get through this fun exercise. Micha plays it with his usual nonchalant demeanor.
Converting a 49MHz toy car into a robot
January 12th, 2012
I posted my first instructable today.
check it out here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-convert-almost-any-27-or-49-MHz-RC-Car-in/
Example Remix: https://soundcloud.com/newyorkbrass/gansta