Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Another happy dance music customer

I had the great pleasure of editing the music of a number of soloists at Cedar City, Utah’s On Stage Dance Studios last year in the January to March time frame. I’m happy to report that dance parents at On Stage Dance Studios have already begun having their music edited by Squirrel Trench Audio again this year, and I am happy that they are loving the results that we deliver. Here’s what another satisfied dance parent had to say today:

“Hi Morriss! Thank you so much! It’s perfect! You are definitely the best at what you do! The choreographer said you are amazing and that she can’t believe you were able to do it so that it blended so well and didn’t even sound like it had been cut. Not to mention how fast you are at getting it done too. Talk to you again the next time we need some music cut. 🙂 Have a great New Year! Thanks again”

— Andria, dance parent
at On Stage Dance Studio, Cedar City, UT
January 1, 2013

More happy dance teachers and parents

It has been such a great pleasure creating so many fantastic edits and remixes for dance studios, teachers, and parents. In addition, we’ve done music edits for the winners of the Dance Mom of the Year contest that was held earlier this spring on DanceMom.com. Here’s what the grand prize winner had to say:

“Had Sav’s ballet solo music edited by Squirrel Trench Audio (A DMOY prize).  He did an AMAZING job!  Sav’s ballet teacher was thrilled and impressed!
THANK YOU!”

— Savgirlsmom,
Dance Mom of The Year contest winner
November 1, 2012

In addition, we’ve created some slamming remixes for Rhythm Dance Company in Westborough, Massachusetts, and are looking forward to having them performed!

“Just listened once through- I Love it and am so glad I found you!!!  I have more mixes to send your way if you can do them!! Thanks again!  Psyched we can work together.”

— Nicole K., studio owner,
Rhythm Dance Company, Massachusetts
September 28, 2012

Creative remixes for dance

Britney Spears beautiful new lookBesides delivering structurally-sound remixes of single songs, perhaps my favorite music editing project is a creative custom remix. These come in many forms. I just finished a remix of four Britney Spears songs for a large competitive group at a studio in Georgia, and I’m about to begin on a “Dance Through The Ages” remix for a non-competitive studio in New Jersey. And if you are looking for a two-part cheer music edit, that is no problem as well. Other custom remixes I’ve finished include a Pixie Hollow theme, a Mary Poppins mash-up, a Wizard of Oz retelling, a train medley, an evocative drum journey, a Beatles remix inspired by the Cirque du Soleil masterpiece Love, and many more.

If you are looking for some fresh new ideas in music to give yourself a creative boost for your next choreographic masterpiece, then shoot me an email. Prices for these custom remixes depend on the complexity, but typically run between $74 and $149.

What is possible in music editing for dance?

I realize that there are many people coming to this site who may not be aware of what can be done to music to get it into shape for a dance routine. So here are just a few of the things that can be changed or re-shaped in getting a song ready for choreography. If you have any questions about it, don’t hesitate to send me an email with your questions!

  • Edit the song for smoothness – Many amateur music editors will cut a song in a spot that doesn’t make sense for a smooth flow. We have an in-depth understanding of music structure that enables us to deliver a polished edit that flows best for choreography. Just let us know how long the routine will be, and we will deliver your song at that length. Email me for more info; pricing is $39 per song.
  • Speed up a song – Advances in digital music processing enable us to speed a song up (or slow a song down) by a little bit or a whole lot. Tempo is usually measured in Beats Per Minute (or BPM). Many dance songs have a tempo in the ballpark of 120-126 BPM. Faster songs that are danceable are 132-140 BPM, and there are other songs that work at 90-100 BPM. It’s all about the groove. Since most dancers don’t know the BPM of a song, it’s okay to tell us that you want a song sped up by 5% or slowed down by 10%.
  • Slow down a song – see above. Any music can be sped up or slowed down. We can even deliver several versions for you at different speeds, for rehearsal purposes.
  • Create a unique remix – Given the right parameters, we can come up with a unique remix of a song or combination of songs. This takes some collaboration, so if you are interested in something like this, this or this, then send me an email, and we can talk further on the phone or via email. Usually this process starts with a concept for the dance, and continues from there.
  • Make a song louder – Dancers often want their music to sound as loud as every other song that is being played on a sound system. If you are using a song from a movie soundtrack, or an older song from many years ago, and it’s not loud enough compared to other songs being used, send it my way and we’ll get it just right for you. Sometimes older songs could use more bass, and we can increase the bass as well. (more on Mastering for Loudness here).
  • Remove swear words or other objectionable lyrics – Many songs have a clean version available, but many do not. Some songs have objectionable lyrics throughout, and should not be used for family-oriented dance. Sometimes a song will be perfect, but have one or two objectionable words or phrases. I have successfully removed such words from many songs, even ones where it seemed impossible. I am proud to have helped one dance group improve their score because competition judges were deducting points because of the objectionable lyrics in a Christina Aguilera Burlesque song. I removed the offending lyrics that were repeated six times throughout the song, and the routine no longer received deductions due to the content of the music.

That covers the basics. Happy dancing!

Looking for music inspiration?

For you dance teachers and studio owners, it’s an exciting time of year. The kids are back in school, and the 2012-13 dance season is about to get underway in earnest.

Are you tired of trying to cut music, spending hours upon hours to try to get it right, only to wind up with clicks, jumps, skips, off-beats, and hiccups? We are here to help. For only $39 (less with quantity), we will deliver any song to you at the perfect length and structure for your dance routines. Not only are we masters of music editing and remixing, we also understand what is needed to make music work for dance. If this sounds like the relief you need, then send us an email with the song(s) you need, and the length you need them to be.

And if you have a group dance and are looking for inspiration in terms of fresh music, email us to learn about our custom remixes. We’ve done quite a variety over the years, and they are sure inspire your choreo to reach new heights.

It’s that exciting time of year!

Congratulations to all the dance studios that have recently performed in, or are about to perform in, their National dance competitions. Nationals are an intense time for dance students, their parents, dance teachers and studio owners.

And at many dance studios, the conclusion of Nationals is immediately followed by Summer dance camp, where new routines and new music are debuted.

Squirrel Trench Audio is thrilled to have edited music for quite a number of this season’s new routines already, and are eagerly looking forward to remixing more. Here’s one studio’s reaction to the new music and new routine debuted this morning:

That’s someone’s little girl

She stands in the wings, her heart pounding fast
Her first dance on stage to begin, at last

Mom and Dad cannot help her, she stands proud and bold
Six million hours of rehearsal, she knows this dance cold

She strides to center stage into bright shining lights
Choking down nervousness and ignoring stage fright

Starting pose is assumed, she anxiously waits
Straining her ears for that first count of eight

“Excuse me! Pardon me!” a thoughtless parent cries
Making other patrons stand up in front of Mom and Dad’s eyes

Oh no! Sit down! We can’t see our princess!
We’ve waited eight years, can’t you wait two more minutes?

So the next time you stand in the midst of a routine
Know you’ve blocked us from seeing our young dancing queen.

—Morriss M. Partee, June 21, 2012

(On the DanceMom.com site, a parent wished for a dance version of the poem titled “He’s Just A Little Boy.” I felt I could deliver just the thing, and the result is above.)

Three more vocal competition karaoke tracks finished

Squirrel Trench Audio continues to do editing for vocal talent competitions. Our latest client comes from Arizona. The request was for three songs to be edited for a pageant vocal competition, and the rules are that the song can be no more than 2:00 minutes in length. We are proud to be able to produce each of these excellent song choices in the 2:00 format, in both a karaoke version with background vocals, as well as a reference vocal/guide version for our contestant to rehearse with. Here’s what the parent of the pageant competitor had to say:

“Thanks Morriss, these turned out fantastic.  We will be recommending you to everyone we know.”

— Jeff V., parent of a competitive
pageant singer, Arizona
June 13, 2012

If you have a competition vocalist, and need your songs edited to competition length, Squirrel Trench Audio is here to make it happen for you. Just send me an email and let me know the song you’ve selected and the competition’s time requirements. I’ll supply you with both a karaoke version for competition, as well as a reference vocal/guide version for rehearsal, uploaded as high quality mp3s to a secure and private online folder for your downloading and playback convenience.

National Tap Dance Day – Rhythmic Circus rocking the house

Today, May 25, is National Tap Dance Day, and not much embodies all the wonderful qualities of tap quite like Rhythmic Circus. This group of Minneapolis-based musicians and tappers has a fun show, filled with dance, music, funk, beatboxing, and most of all, a lot of humor. Our whole family got to see the show a couple of weekends ago, and it was truly a delight.

To cap off the evening, all the performers came out and signed autographs. These are genuinely a really nice bunch of people who are performing their hearts out. Be sure to catch them in New York City starting in October of this year! (2012)

Time to get your music ready for the 2012-2013 season

Here it is, the end of May, and for most dance studios, that means that Regional competitions are over, and it’s Recital time! As the dance season winds down, and studios get ready for Nationals, Summer Intensives, and Summer camps, now is the perfect time to start getting your music ready for the 2012-2012 season.

If you select your music within the next 1-2 weeks, and send it to me for editing, you can be sure you have the best music ready for your new choreography well ahead of Summer Intensives. Don’t make the mistake that many dance teachers make…. which is to choreograph first, and edit the music afterwards. The problem with doing it in this sequence is that in many cases, editing the song’s intro leads to a better soundtrack for your dance routine, and that is not possible if that part of the song has already been choreographed. If you choreograph the first minute-and-a-half of the music, you are tying your editors hands in terms of flexibility to deliver the best edited/remixed music possible.

Whenever you are ready to get your music edited, send an email!