Friday, August 28, 2009
Matt and me editing “Regulation”
The amount of time we spend on tiny details in every track is ridiculous.
(via robbiedotm)
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I’m testing out our new Zendesk setup and am having a little too much fun having conversations with myself.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The RRR science album is selling like whoa right now—mostly due to the popularity of “Lab Safety!“—so I threw together this audio promo and am temporarily featuring it on the homepage.
If you haven’t heard Tony and Grant go at it on Lab Safety, seriously, give the whole thing a listen.
UPDATE: Thanks to @tessap who, upon hearing the first version, reminded me to smile when I record.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Rhythm Rhyme Results - Regulation (rough mix, revision 1)
This isn’t nearly finished, but I’m so excited by where this is going that I couldn’t resist posting a clip. Ben’s lyrics are sick, Chin-Quee’s delivery killed it in the studio as usual, and O’Malley’s music on this is bringing it home with a combination of dirty south and Lady Gaga.
This is part of the economics album we’re producing for Flat World Knowledge, a leading educational startup that provides free online college textbooks. We plan to release it next month!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Rhythm, Rhyme, Results - Elasticity
I think it’s finished. See if you can hear the differences between this and our first pass with the production wand (revision 1). Matt (composer/producer) and Mac (vocalist) both stepped up their games on this.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Rhythm, Rhyme, Results - “Elasticity” (first rough cut)
We’re working on an entire album of economics tracks for a super-hip college textbook publisher and I couldn’t resist putting up a clip from the first production pass on this song.
The album ranges from gritty hip-hop to smooth pop tracks like this.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Anatomy of Educational Rap
Ever wondered how RRR (“Triple R”) makes educational rap? Here’s a rare behind-the-scenes look at the building process of “Layers of the Earth”, with audio excerpts at each step of development.
Bonus: you get to hear me rap.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Last summer, RRR produced a series of YouTube-style ads directed by Jesse, and as part of the Photosynthesis spot (see below), Matt and I created a fake rap song called “2+2=5”. The jab at mainstream hip-hop was not lost on the the audience, who have commented and e-mailed us asking for the song/ringtone.
In response, RRR is preparing to release one of the most exciting songs ever: a formulaic crunk track full of terrible lyrics. Dreams come true!
For the original Photosynthesis video we only made a chorus, so I’ve been beefing it up and playing around with an intro/verse section to have someone rap over, which is the excerpt here. We have more talented people who make the music, so I’m not sure it’ll make the cut, but it’s fun to work on nonetheless. (Warning: I’m working on big Bose headphones, so it’s probably not mixed well for most. Translation: lots of bass down there.)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A GrandCentral By Any Other Name Still Rules
Then, in 2007, Google bought GrandCentral. It stopped accepting new members, ceased any visible work on it, and, apparently, forgot about it completely…
As it turns out, the joke was on them. Google was quietly working on GrandCentral all along. Starting Thursday, existing GrandCentral members can upgrade to Google Voice. In a few weeks, after debugging the system, Google will open the service to all.
Google Voice starts with a clean, redesigned Web site that looks like an in-box, à la Gmail. It maintains all of those original GrandCentral features — but more important, introduces four game-changing new ones.
When we launched the RRR website in 2006 we also got ourselves a virtual phone number from GrandCentral, which has turned out to be one of the most prescient moves of all. Our team is now spread out across the country, and customers have no idea that when they call our “office line” they could theoretically reach a home office in Cambridge, a library in Palo Alto, or a café in Brooklyn.
I’m stoked for automatic voicemail transcription. Baby steps toward my inbox fantasy.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Behind the Scenes
Another promo, another 10 minutes of recording to get a couple sentences down. It’s easier to pull a Jack Donaghy when you have the luxury of unlimited takes in your room. Also, the third cut here sounds a little like I’m doing a Borat impersonation when I say my name.
You can hear the final promo and—you guessed it—learn more about the Reading Month Collection over on RRR’s site.
