Photography by Penni Fox Grammer

Here's another slideshow I put together of my cousin's photography. I love her photos and was inspired to make a slideshow. I used three songs from Michael Omartian's album, Conversations. It just seems like the perfect match for her photos. There are a variety of different types of photos.....some are of her kids, including her son's senior photos, and others are landscapes.

Slideshow for Colleen

For a few years now, I've wanted to start a little side business creating video slideshows to music. It all started with my 20 year high school reunion in 2006 when I taught myself PowerPoint and made a 20 minute slideshow with lots of great 80's music. It was a great success and I had a blast doing it. My grandmother turned 98 in February and I decided to make a slideshow for her which renewed my desire to start my own business. I decided I needed to volunteer to do a lot of free slideshows for different types of occasions in exchange for using it as a sample on my website (my future website is http://www.lalalandpresentations.com). A boy (well he's 27 now so I guess he's a man) that I used to babysit when I was in high school got married 3-27-10 and I just finished making a slideshow for he and his bride. It turned out really well. Next on my list was a slideshow for my niece who is graduating from high school on 6-5-10. Considering that Colleen has 300+ photos posted on her Facebook page, I feel pretty sure she's going to like the slideshow (it also made it a lot easier since all her photographs were already out on the web) since she loves pictures of herself with her friends. I've changed my process in how I design my slideshows and set them up and it saves me a lot of time. I design the slide in PowerPoint 2007 then export it to a graphics program and save it as a .jpeg file and the entire slide (which can have multiple photographs on it) becomes my photograph/slide which I then import into Memories on TV which is an amazing little slideshow program. The greatest feature is that you can sync your music to the slides. In PowerPoint you can spend HOURS tweaking your timings if you're using music.....and then it sometimes still doesn't time out right. So I started Colleen's slideshow Friday, thinking I was going to be pushing it to get it completed by 6-5-10.......it's Sunday and I'm finished! I've got it listed below so you can watch it. I had my brother and sister-in-law both watch it and they said they loved it and they were both crying! My sister watched it too and she said she loved it. I'm pretty proud of it too.....but I'm a little partial. The best thing was that my brother thought it was so good he said I ought to start my own business.......so that was an affirmation for me that I'm heading in the right direction.

Enjoy the show!

6/26/10 Here's the FINAL version of Colleen's slideshow which includes pictures from her graduation.

http://loopmasters.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/mastering-with-your-daw/

http://loopmasters.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/mastering-with-your-daw/

This blog is more just a reminder to myself that I need to read this article about mastering. I'm really wanting to learn more about editing, remixing and mastering.......like what's the difference between the three? I want to learn how and when to apply effects to a song.....especially panning in a song with a techno beat. I think that sounds so cool. Like a week or so ago I remixed the school song from Howard Payne University using two different recordings: one for the vocals and one for the band. It was hard to hear the harmonies over Dr. Bottoms and I want to know if there's a way to isolate the harmony parts and enhance them. I have sooooo much to learn in this area. But it's exciting.

Meanwhile, I keep churning away at slideshows. I just finished the wedding last night that I've been working on since March. I'm pleased with it. The only problem now is figuring out how to record a video onto a DVD. It's not quite as simple as burning a CD. The first program I used kept getting an error every time I would try to burn a DVD which is a shame because I had an awesome title menu set up and everything. My goal for today is to find a DVD burning software that will allow me to burn a video DVD with a title menu that can be played on a regular DVD player......not just on your computer. Guess I better quit writing and get on to my research in finding the right software program. I have quite a few so surely ONE of them will do what I want it to do.

Ahhh.....I just found another tutorial I need to read.....this one about mixing using reverb in Ableton. Just what I need.

Mixing Techniques | Reverb | Music Tech Tutorials

Old Contemporary Christian Music

http://oldchristianmusic.wordpress.com/

Whoa!!!! I found an amazing site tonight! You know all your favorite Christian music you listened to in high school and college on cassette tapes and it's no longer available? This site has links to downloading some old albums......such as Bryan Duncan's Holy Rollin' and Michael Omartian's Conversations. I have searched and searched for these albums. I've already seen a few more on the list that I can't wait to listen to!

Amy Grant - Innocence Lost

I have almost every one of Amy Grant's albums dating back to 1983 (except her most recent one......just remembered I haven't gotten it yet). This song, "Innocence Lost", is on her album Simple Things so I know I've heard it.....probably hundreds of times. But I don't think I TRULY heard it until about 30 minutes ago.

Yesterday was an odd day. I was watching/recording a VHS tape from my college graduation festivities in preparation for a slideshow I'm putting together. The evening before graduation is always "Chime-Out" held at the Bell Towers. It's just a short ceremony where the seniors pass the "torch" (garland) to the juniors to carry on the Howard Payne traditions (somebody clearly dropped the ball on the school song......read my blog from a few days ago and listen the remix of the school song I did for the slideshow). While watching the video footage yesterday morning of our "Chime-Out" ceremony, I decided to listen to the "charge" that Dr. Don Newbury (our school President at that time) gave to the seniors to see if it might be neat to include it with a song playing in the background (found a great Michael W. Smith song that I believe came out that very year, 1990)......it's going to turn out really cool.....we ALWAYS loved listening to Dr. Newbury speak so I think everyone will enjoy it. But listening to his words over and over while trying to work out the volume levels against the backdrop of a song, I realized I really dropped the ball myself 20 years ago. I don't represent what Howard Payne taught me or what Howard Payne stands for......or what I stood for 20 years ago on that Friday evening listening to those words from Dr. Newbury. So here this morning I come across this Amy Grant song that's really the story of my life from the last 20 years. It blew me away. WOW. Here are the lyrics:

I can't relive my life
I can't retrace my tracks
I can't undo what's done
There is no going back

I chased a selfish dream
Did not survey the cost
Illusions disappeared
I found my innocence lost

Some say it's lessons learned
Some say it's a living life
I say it's choices made
Knowing wrong from right

One night I fought to sleep
In my slumber I turned and tossed
I woke to a cloudy day
And found my innocence lost

Innocent child is a beautiful thing
Secure in her father's arms
Sleeps while a mother sings

There's no way to know
All the harm this world can bring
I miss my innocence
Oh, to be innocent

My heavenly Father
The way of eternal love
That overflows with grace
I can completely trust

My broken heart repaired
And all my sin forgot
I can be pure again
In spite of my innocence lost

In his eyes I'm a newborn child
'Cause I accept his love
I have a new found hope
Though I've found my innocence lost

I can be pure again

I've found my innocence lost

Groove 3 & Findremix present Timothy Allan Remix Contest! | Find Remix

Groove 3 & Findremix present Timothy Allan Remix Contest! | Find Remix

Check out this new remix contest as well as the sponsor websites, especially http://primeloops.com. They've got some great loops and free samples!

20 Years ago today . . . . .

Pomp and Circumstance.......I was filing into the Brownwood Colliseum for our graduation ceremony at Howard Payne University. It was an exciting time, but also a sad day because I was no longer a Howard Payne student......I was about to become an alumnus. I'll always remember my days at Howard Payne fondly and as probably the happiest four years of my life.  

The night before graduation is always Chime-Out, held at the Bell Towers.  This is when the seniors pass the torth (literally, the garland) to the juniors to carry on the HPU tradition.  Amy Coatney-Davidson, my roommate, was who I chose to go through Chime-Out with me.  Although Amy technically was in my class, she wasn't going to graduate for another year because she had changed majors.  Here's a picture of me with Amy right after Chime-Out.  

This is kind of a sad day for me as the last 20 years haven't turned out the way I had dreamed they would.  Nothing in my life has.  Oh well....what can you do?  Life goes on.  If you call this life.

Twiturm.com - Laura Upshaw - Implosion

Twiturm.com - Laura Upshaw - Implosion


Taking a break from FB for a while. If you're interested in what's going on in my life, you can find out here.

Howard Payne University's Alma Mater (The way it SHOULD be)

This is a "remix" of the school song as it was performed in the late 80's (I'm not sure how far back it goes). Unfortunately, there's no known recording (that I could find) of the arrangement that was used in the 80's. I had to take the vocals from the 1990 Graduation ceremony and the band part is from a studio recording the band apparently made around... 2002 that was a slightly different arrangement and in a different key. It took a lot of cutting, editing and mixing to get it to sound as close to the way I believe it should be sung/performed. I like the vocals being acapella because it puts emphasis on the lyrics, which I suspect is why it might have been arranged that way. Here's to you Howard Payne!

HPU Alma Mater #2 by Lalabell68