Author: Ben Wolf

As the smoke rolls in

From a few months ago, as wildfires were starting to spread across Oregon. This was the last clear night, and the smoke was just starting to roll in. I was out on a walk in the evening and caught this amazing formation highlighted by the sunset. Not sure which exposure setting I like more, so Read More

From a few months ago, as wildfires were starting to spread across Oregon. This was the last clear night, and the smoke was just starting to roll in. I was out on a walk in the evening and caught this amazing formation highlighted by the sunset. Not sure which exposure setting I like more, so here’s both.
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Now the Green Blade Riseth

Posted on by Ben Wolf

This was a fun one – it’s a virtual choir of alumni from my old church youth choir singing the Lindley arrangement of Now the Green Blade Riseth. I was asked to help out on tech for this project, so in addition to singing and playing trombone on it, I also mixed the audio and created the video.

The trombone part is interesting. I wanted to add some brass, but given the timeframe, I was the only person who could do it. The accompaniment is in 4 parts with some quite high notes (up in the trumpet range), so I played all four parts down in the trombone range, then when I mixed them, I went in and shifted those parts up an octave (or two). It’s not a perfect solution, but I think it turned out pretty nice. The video part was also interesting to work on – I hadn’t done anything like that before, so after trying (and failing) to get it working in Blender, I did some searching and found VSCD, which worked a treat.
Continue reading “Now the Green Blade Riseth” →

Music Videos

Posted on by Ben Wolf

Update 11/1/20 – added brand new music video “The Future” to the Mystery Skulls list

Well, it’s been a while and I have some free time, so I may as well put together a post, I guess.

I have some rather eclectic music tastes – it probably comes from playing in so many different genres. So, I thought I’d put together a list of some of my favorite songs (with great music videos) so that you can broaden your own tastes (or silently shake your head – you know, whatever works for you).
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Tacoma and Seattle

In April of this year, I had a work trip up to Washington state. After it was done, I had a 4-day weekend, so I decided to head over to Tacoma to spend some time with my cousin (many thanks for the hospitality, R&J), then head up to Vancouver. I’m splitting this into two posts Read More

In April of this year, I had a work trip up to Washington state. After it was done, I had a 4-day weekend, so I decided to head over to Tacoma to spend some time with my cousin (many thanks for the hospitality, R&J), then head up to Vancouver. I’m splitting this into two posts – this one is Washington, and the next will be Vancouver.

I said I’d post pictures of my trip on the blog, so now I have. (Yes, I know it’s 6 months late.)
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Pumpkins 2

Following on from last year’s entry, here is this year’s office pumpkin carving contest.

Following on from last year’s entry, here is this year’s office pumpkin carving contest.
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Wave Clouds

I caught this photo out my office window a while back. Best guess is a wave cloud. Whatever it is, it looked really neat.

I caught this photo out my office window a while back. Best guess is a wave cloud. Whatever it is, it looked really neat.
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Reindeer

This guy was waiting for me at Denver Airport last year. I wonder if he’ll be back this year?

This guy was waiting for me at Denver Airport last year. I wonder if he’ll be back this year?
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Rainbow

Well, I’m doing just wonderful at posting regularly, aren’t I? I was taking a flight recently for a work trip, and when I looked out the window, I saw the entirety of a rainbow. There is some complex physics and geometry that goes into rainbows – there are actually 5 distinct orders of rainbow, but Read More

Well, I’m doing just wonderful at posting regularly, aren’t I?

I was taking a flight recently for a work trip, and when I looked out the window, I saw the entirety of a rainbow. There is some complex physics and geometry that goes into rainbows – there are actually 5 distinct orders of rainbow, but you usually only see the first (and sometimes the second). Rainbows are also circular, but the bottom half is usually hidden by the ground. It all has to do with the way that light bounces around in water droplets.
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New old recordings and concert video

Posted on by Ben Wolf

I’ve been slowly pulling up old concert CDs and matching them up with programs and figuring out a better way to organize them (a box just doesn’t cut it anymore). As I’ve been doing that, I added several of the Clark College Orchestra concerts to the Recordings page.

Also, I found a DVD of one of my Solid Brass Christmas concerts from a few years ago. I’ve pulled that into a video playlist which you can watch here (https://youtu.be/2GGH9_TGogs?list=PLF3fZ2N4t0W5047rZZSlXCFJVvJcyQ1FT) or on the Recordings page. (Hint: there’s a few nice solos and solo-ish things from me on a fair number of the pieces).

I’ve been doing some more recording lately of my groups and others. Look for more recordings coming soon!