My interest in audio technology grew out of my love of Music. After college, I made my full time living as an Artistic Director, Performer, Songwriter, Arranger, Marketing Director and Touring Manager with Fourth Avenue, a professional a cappella group based in Dayton, Ohio. Besides an addiction to harmony, I learned that you have to commit equally to empathy and communication, or you will never connect to your audience. This next video features Fourth Avenue performing Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me.”

 
I didn’t just sing lead; I arranged, “Stand by Me,” for Fourth Avenue. It is an engaging challenge to wrap new harmonies around an existing melody. It can be as simple as stacking 5 part harmonies to create interest and increase impact…

…or translating a time honored classic into a more contemporary work.

With the diversity of the human voice and creative arranging, you have the flexibility to perform any style of music. My original compositions leverage the versatility of the human voice to enhance the message:

Many of the film soundtracks for my animations have been created by multi-tracking and layering my own voice.

I also love the challenge of molding different voices into a composition. For the opening of the 2010 Project Jericho Summer Arts Camp, I created a soundscape from the voices of at-risk youth I recorded over the course of the camp. These powerful metaphors of being at-risk were inspired by writing prompts given by Project Jericho artist Beth Dixon. The trick in the recording process was not just capturing clean audio, but coaching the youth to produce natural performances. After editing and mixing, I recommended that the track be played in total darkness in the theatre. It became a powerful intro to the final Project Jericho camp performance.

My unique background as a vocalist, producer, arranger and recording engineer has also led to voiceover work. I’m currently the “on hold” phone message for Clark State Community College. Beyond the voiceover responsibilities, I did the recording, editing, mixing, and created the background music using loops.

You can hear additional sound samples by going to DawsonCreativity on SoundCloud.