Steve Ford Music scores Chicago AICP Show Titles

Each year at the AICP show, a different company does the opening sponsorship titles for the presentation of award winning commercials. ( AICP is the American Independent Commercial Producers.) The show consists of selected commercials judged by a staff of industry professionals throughout the US and it travels to major cities from New York to Los Angeles, ending up in Chicago. It is a very elegant evening and the most popular industry events of the year. This year's show was at the Cultural Center.

The show is a national show with one exception, the sponsorship presentation. This year, Protokulture was chosen to do the opening credits. Protokulture, a wonderfully talented digital effects and graphic concepting company selected us to do the music and we brought Airstream Audio on board to create the extensive sound design.

John Michaels, the owner and creative force behind the very talented crew at Protokulture came up with the concept. This can be viewed on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyP0damL1QM

SFM records 36 piece orchestra for Silk Soy Milk

On Tuesday October 20th, it was a reunion of sorts . Assembled 36 strong, was an orchestra performing a piece and variations I composed for Dean's Soy Milk, via Leo Burnett, Chicago. We had over 20 strings, a woodwind section, horns, brass, percussion and harp. Many remarked at how it was a refreshing throwback to another era. And indeed, it was a very tangible reminder of how powerful a sound one can achieve with a living breathing live orchestra. The nuances, the sheer impact if all those assembled is unparalleled in the world of digital recreations. And it was loads of fun. The spots will be airing beginning in January of 2010.

Documentary "We Believe" Premieres with original SFM Score

I don't remember much about the month of May. Except that one day sort of tumbled into the next with sleep an afterthought as I composed each evening and recorded musicians the next day for over three weeks. Both Colin and I logged some overnights at the office, which I found to be less than pleasant, but despite the unruly hours we completed over 68 minutes of original music, for approximately 40 cues and covering a multitude of styles from jazz to orchestral. We threw together a writing room in the back so that Colin could continue mixing while I figured out the next day's cues. And on top of which we had to deal with many technical challenges.

We were happy with the result and the film, "We Believe", a documentary addressing the relationship between a losing ball team and the city that loves it, premiered June 12th at the Chicago Theater to an enthusicastic full house.

At this point I am not sure where it will be released in theaters, out on DVD or on the air....but I'll let you know. The film is a lot of fun and features cameos of many well known Chicagoans, a sprinkling of history, spotlights on 7 team members, and lots of beautiful footage of our home town.

Working on "We Believe" was a lot of work in a short period of time. And having been accustomed to creating :30 or :60 second compositions overnight....it was an eye opener. But it was a fun and creative experience from which I feel made us ready for the next feature project to come down the pike.

In the meantime, we are resuming our work on commercials but remain in the ready for the next feature.

Feature Documentary to be scored by SFM

John Scheinfeld, creator of the documentary "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" has a new project close to home, entitled "We Believe", which addresses the unique relationship between the Chicago Cubs and the City of Chicago.  The 90 minute long feature film features commentary from Joe Montagna, Cardinal George, Bonnie Hunt, Bill Kostas, George Will, Billy Corgan,  along with many others, and looks at the love engendered by a team that has not one a pennant in 100 years and the city that is home to so many loyal fans.   "We Believe" is filmed during the '08 season from spring training until the last game.  It focuses on several team members with intimate interviews as well as offering glimpses of the history of both the Cubs, Wrigley Field, and the conditions here which foster such devotion.  There is at least an hour of original music to be scored and this will all take place during the month of May in time for the premiere at the Chicago Theatre June 6th.  Chris Claeys from Cutters Inc has been editing for over a year and is still perfecting the final on today, April 13th.  Holy Cow,  it's going to be a busy May!

Music for Molly Hunter Ecards

It started with a little rottweiler named Molly.  Jim Hunter invested in a computer and some software and within his home on the north side of Chicago, he began creating internet greeting cards one pixel at a time featuring Molly.  He asked me to create music to underscore scenarios with dogs travelling around the world, dogs performing in a circus, driving in a car, dogs singing "Jingle Bells", and much more for all sorts of  fun for birthdays and holidays.    Check out his website at mollyhunter.com and send one to your mom.

Continued from Page One

We at SFM are happy to present our new website as well as our new logo, all of which are part of a restatement of who we are. Music has always been what we love to create and now we have entered a time where there are many ways to provide music;  short and long format, broadcast, broadband, artists recording, and licensing.  Launching this new site reflects our new mission and  purpose.  At SFM we wish all our friends and clients a happy new year and we forward to exciting new endeavors!

SFM becomming a Mecca for Chicago Music Talent

Beneath the ever watchful eye of the Jackalope, numerous artists have recorded albums here at the "Lodge" facility of SFM. Among the many musicians who have worked here include the following:

Improvisational and jazz inflected pianist, Steve Million recorded a beautiful solo CD entitled "Remembering the Way Home" in 2008 on our concert Grotrian grand piano. Larry Hinds engineered. http://www.stevemillion.com/

Chicago's multi talented and virtuoso accoustic bassist, Larry Grey, released his second album entitled "One Look" along with his trio comprised of pianist Jim Trompeter and Dana Hall on drums. (2006) David Axelbaum engineered. Larry's first album "Gravity" a solo bass album was also recorded here. http://www.larrygraymusic.com/music.htm

The duo; "Two from Brazil" features Paulinho Garcia, a remarkable guitarist/vocalist from Brazil and saxophonist, Greg Fishman, performing American movie standards with Brazillian influences on their album "Goes to the Movies". Chris Szuberla engineered. http://www.paulinhogarcia.com

Carla Hassett, the very talented L.A. based composer, musician and singer whose Brazilian inspired songs reflect the country of her origin, sang and recorded her album, "Quero Saber" in 2006 with engineer Sam Fishkin. Also several cuts from her soon to be released CD were recorded here within the last month (January '09) with engineer, Colin Sipos. http://www.carlahassett.com/

Polish born jazz vocal stylist, Grazyna Auguscik has recorded three amazing CDs here. The most recent is "Andanca" (2008), "LULAJZE The Lullaby for Jesus", and "The Light" (both from 2005.) http://www.grazynaauguscik.com

Jazz Guitarist, John McClean recorded "Guitar Madness, Welcome Everything" which along with his guitar work features guitarist Ernie Denov, Neal Alger, Dave Onderdonk and John Moulder, Tom Radke on drums, and Larry Cohut string bass. Also Grazyna Auguscik and Kurt Elling both make vocal appearances on this CD. (2005) Chris Szuberla engineered. http://www.johnmcleanmusic.com

John McClean also produced an album for jazz vocalist Alison Ruble entitled "This is a Bird" with John McClean on guitar, Jim Gailloretto on sax and flute, Larry Cohut on accoustic bass, and Tim Davis on drums. (2009). Chris Szuberla engineered. http://alisonruble.com/

Trio Chicago, comprised of leader, Elliott Golub, on violin, Marlou Johnston, on viola, and Kay Kim on piano, recorded a CD featuring American music by composers such as Gershwin, Ellington, Bernstein, Copland, Pat Metheny, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. http://www.triochicago.com/

Jeremy Kahn, an exquisite jazz pianist, recorded "Most of a Nickle", a musical improvisation of Kurt Weill's "Three Penny Opera" with musical support from Jim Gailloreto on Sax and flute, and Larry Kohut on bass. http://www.kahnman.com/

The very talented vocalist, Pastor Chris Harris Jr. was recorded along with his famous gospel choir from the Bright Star Church of Christ in Bronzeville, Chicago, on the album, "So Amazing" engineered by Chris Szuberla. (2005) http://pastorchrisharris.com/

In addition, recently Colin Sipos has recorded Sarah Fullen and the Stanley's - R&B/Soul/Folk band from New York City, http://www.myspace.com/sefullenThe Electric Blood, - Whiskey Rock/Blues/Psychedelic http://www.myspace.com/theelectricblood, and The Wabash Cannonballs - Rock/Blues http://www.thewabashcannonballs.com/home.php

Thanks to those who made this site possible!

We are really pleased with how our website turned out and would like you to know some of the creative and dedicated folks who made it all possible. Jon Michaels, Larissa Shames, and Jack Danger at Protokulture created and programmed our site. If you are not aware of Protokulture you should check out their website. They do wonderful computer generated graphic design for television, film, websites and advertising. You can access their website at: Protokulture.

Rodney Davidson of Dogstar Design, Birmingham AL, designed our new logo with the little red bird. He is a very talented graphic designer and some of his work can be viewed on his site: Dogstardesign.


Andy Yamashiro took all those tasteful photos of our studio. He can be reached at andy.yamashiro@gmail.com.

Licensing Original Music from SFM

You may have noticed that we are providing a new service here. Licensing. Those of you who know me are aware that I have been an advocate of original custom music. And while I still enjoy coming up with custom musicality, after 20 of providing our advertising clients with multiple options of original music for their commercial tracks, we have amassed a huge library with really creative music covering many genres, tempos and and arrangement styles. These tracks have tons of merit so we figured, why not make them available? Some are electronic, some are acoustic, and some are really odd and most have a lot of character. So currently we are cataloging these tracks and in approximately a month we will be offering this service for use in advertising, film, television, and websites. Tracks like these will also be available to our advertising clients to use for presentations of boards. We will keep you posted as to our progress.