Tag Archives: character

Wizard of Oz Production mix

wizA few years ago, I created a custom, 6-minute Wizard of Oz mix for Kimberly Houli’s Dance for Joy studio in New Jersey. This mix includes munchkins, movie dialogue, sound effects, and more. She used it as a grand opening piece for her recital, and you can see a video of it below.

Because it’s been several years since this piece was originally created, Kimberly has agreed to let this soundtrack become available for purchase by other dance studios. Take a listen and see if this is right for your next Wizard of Oz recital or competition production!

Listen to and purchase this remix here on Legitmix:

Get more Squirrel Trench remixes at Legitmix

Beatles remix – Somehow Someway

The following dance routine titled “All You Need Is Love” – was an Elite Senior jazz/character routine performed at the 2012 StarPower Springfield, Massachusetts Regional competition. Choreography by Lesley Lambert. Audio design/remix by Morriss Partee, Squirrel Trench Audio. Story & audio concept inspired by Cirque Du Soleil/Beatles partnership Beatles’ Love

I love doing custom, creative remixes for dance such as this one, and am excited that quite a few dance studios will be using Squirrel Trench Audio remixes for the 2012-2012 dance season. And more are currently in the works! If you are looking for a unique dance remix, then shoot me an email and let me know your concept and routine length.

I know you are struggling with cutting your music

I know you are out there, and you are frustrated. You are a busy dance teacher, and you’ve got a boatload of choreography you have to create and teach. And in addition, you have to pick out the perfect music for each of your groups and soloists. Now you have the task of cutting down a song that is 4:10 to a competition-ready length of 2:45, or to a recital-ready length of 2:00. You grab your trusty music editing program of choice, and start listening. You stare at a bunch of strange squiggly lines on the screen, trying to figure out what-in-the-heck they mean. How on earth do these squiggles represent MUSIC? They look like a bunch of scribbles that your 3-year-old toddler drew in pre-school! They sure DON’T tell you where the bass guitar plays a riff, or the saxophonist starts wailing on a solo!

Instead of pulling your hair out, trying to figure out what needs to match up to what, just shoot me an email and I’ll solve your music cutting problems for you. And all at a VERY reasonable price! And maybe save you a from a few gray hairs in the process. After all, your students test your patience often enough, you don’t need more aggravation from trying to wrangle your music into shape!

Behind the scenes of a Beatles remix

It’s been a pleasure, a joy, and labor of love creating the Beatles remix called Somehow Someway. I can’t wait to see the choreography for this routine performed at Regionals and National dance competitions in 2012.

I’d thought I’d give folks a sneak peek at what went into the creation of the music for this piece.

More behind-the-scenes peeks of this remix will be posted soon. Let me know if this is useful to you, and I’ll do this for other remixes I’ve made. Questions? Comments?

Pixie Hollow unveiled

After months of rehearsal, Pixie Hollow, a dance routine choreographed by Lesley Lambert featuring a music creation of mine has finally premiered at competition. Pixie Hollow started with a concept by Lesley for a character dance centered around the theme of Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. She then searched out several songs on the theme, including Fly To Your Heart and Magic by Selena Gomez and Never Never Land by Jane Monheit, which I mixed along with other music and audio elements to form the soundtrack for the piece.

Here’s the music for Pixie Hollow, along with a couple of glimpses of the costumes backstage:

Pixie Hollow has been performed at three regional competitions to date: Headliners in Lowell MA, Star Systems in Worcester MA, and Onstage New York in Springfield MA. Each performance was great, and the dancers continue to improve and refine their techniques. At its premier at Headliners, it won a High Silver and was invited to go on to the US Dance Team Finals at their Nationals; at Star Systems it won a High Gold; and at Onstage New York it won a Gold and 6th place overall in its age group. Not bad for a group of 8-11 year olds!

If you’d like to hear another Squirrel Trench Remix, check out my remix of Incubus’ Drive. If you’re interested in a having a custom remix created for your studio or your dancers, feel free to contact me; I’d love to create something just as unique for you!

World Premier of Pixie Hollow

The world premier of my song remix titled Pixie Hollow will happen tomorrow afternoon at Lowell Auditorium at the Headliners Regional Competition. Lesley Lambert, Assistant Director at nationally recognized dance studio, is leading her group of mini’s in a character dance. The Pixie Hollow medley features several parts, including spoken voice, light & airy synthesizers, and a couple of rocking Selena Gomez tracks. The effect should be magical! I’m extremely excited to see this debut tomorrow.

Update:  You can now hear Pixie Hollow and get a few glimpses backstage at the costumes here: Pixie Hollow unveiled

Welcome to Squirrel Trench Audio

Announcing Squirrel Trench Audio – a company that expressly creates perfect music edits for all kinds of dance routines, including jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical, character, acro, hip hop, modern, and musical theater.

The time, effort, and energy you put into dance routine deserves fantastic, seamless music. We’d love to take your favorite song and make it the perfect length for you to express your moves with. In competition, the judges want your routine to be tight— we know how to edit the music to fit dance-routine length. We employ sweet, melty edits so that no one will be able tell that the song hadn’t been performed that way originally.

Too many home-made edits leave a nasty scar (aka a squirrel trench) on the music— don’t let a musical hiccup take the judges out of the moment— when you need it done right, email Squirrel Trench Audio!