Brent Bain

I knew that the High Street Broadcast’s show numbered 30 was going to be something special.  When I was told that the subject was going to be War of the Worlds I was intrigued.

For previous shows the incidental music was always just brief reactionary music to the scene.  Sometimes a vamp, sometimes just a brief melody that would be played to set the mood.   But with show #30 I wanted to try and do it differently.  I wanted it to be more like an orchestral score for a movie.  I wanted themes that would play against each other and ostinato patterns that were quickly recognizable as “this is the bad guy” or “our hero just died!”

Of course there were several songs as well.  I had a good ol’ swing song, a rock anthem/march, a straight up musical-esque number and the happiest song about annihilation ever written.

Jezebel was such a song and was super fun to write.  It was inspired by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and was a super fun song to write music for.  The band had a blast playing it and it really got the show started.

While the monthly shows for the High Street Broadcast are taking a hiatus you can expect something spectacular for them in the fall.  Something utterly amazing and that I am honored to be helping with.

Cannibal music?  Yes.

I’m starting the work on the next HSB show.  It’s coming together, albeit slowly.  First piece of music to write is a slow ballad in 12/8 it turns out.  My process for this music?  I get a recording of one of the writers singing the melody of the song… this is then transcribed into Sibelius at which point I start figuring out what chords should be played when.  Then it’s a (somewhat) simple job of actually arranging it for the band.

The process is sometimes tedious depending on the quality of the recording, singer, etc.  I find that upbeat songs are easier to put together as takes less time to figure out the chord progressions the writers were thinking of.  So I start with the ballads hoping to make them as close to what the original recording was like.

If you are around, come watch the show on September 27th!  It’s always a blast!

Brent Bain is returning to music after a hiatus during which he lived in an alternate universe as a software engineer/IT manager. He decided to abandon that fantasy to persue his roots-piano performance. He played piano since the age of four; therefore, returning to music was a very natural migration. He is studying with Edward Francis at Moorpark College, where he has composed award winning film scores for the college’s film school. He is also the recent recipient of several awards from the music department: Outstanding Student in Music Theory, The Jean Osborne Memorial Scholarship and the Film Composition Award. He also won the Piano Ensemble Award along with his duo piano partner Becca Stankis; They perform together as the Stankis and Bain Duo.

Brent has several passions besides music. He is an avid rock climber, having climbed remote locations, such as the southern islands of Thailand and regions of Nepal. He has also spent a year and a half living and working in Yosemite National Park. Brent enjoys photography as well and as photographed areas approachable only via backpacking or bicycling. He looks forward to transferring to a University in 2010 to finish his Music education degree.

The High Street Broadcast is a production performed live in the tradition of a 1940’s radio show with a modern twist and a sense of humor that speaks to today’s audience.

It’s unique hour format includes zany character sketches, original and classic songs and a half-hour serial, all with our signature HSB comedic twist.

Originally responding to a request for a pianist, Brent quickly stepped in and started writing small parts underscoring some of the sketches. Each month a new show is performed and recorded in front of a live audience.

As the new High Street Broadcast music director, Brent is in charge of transcribing and arranging the songs performed by the voice actors. He also underscores the dialogue to help emphasize the moods of the scenes.

The first full show that Brent wrote music for was ‘Thomas Madigan and the August Circus’ — the Broadcast’s 25th show. It included five songs and close to 35 minutes of underscoring music. With a turnaround time of just a month (including rehearsals) the requirements for a show of this size was incredible — but everyone pulled it off spectacularly.

Welcome to Brent’s new website running on Wordpress. It’s been several years in the making but there is finally a great reason to celebrate the new website! What’s that you ask? MUSIC!!! The website now has a flash music player that will be updated as projects are finished and other music is written and performed! We hope you enjoy the new website and if you have any questions feel free to contact us!

Testing this out

While attending “The Room” premier, the film editor, Eric Reinig approached me about writing music for a short film noir project he had a CSUN.  The only problem?  I had less then 24hrs to get something done.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get something but told Eric I would give it a shot.

The next day I spent about 3 hours and came up with a good bass riff and a dirty barri-sax line to go on top of it.  I added a couple other little accents here and there and drove the finished audio over to Eric later that afternoon.  This was by far the fastest turn-around I’ve done on any project.

Gritt on YouTube

Eric Reinig approached me about writing music for a video he had written, directed and filmed for the film school at Cal State Northridge.  I puzzled over this for several weeks as the music had to be the voice for the mimes.

Some of the music was thought out chord progressions (there were several days where I puzzled over what chord progression represented a box of chocolates).  Some of it was just improvised.  Everything was recorded live (mistakes and all!) like an old silent-movie.

Be Mime Valentine on YouTube