This was my Pandemic project: post production on tracks recorded in New York for a 50-minute demo of a brand new musical exploring the memories of Rita Hayworth through the undiagnosed fog of Alzheimers.

Performed by Almog Pail (Vocals) and Logan Medland (Piano)

Book by Almog Pail & Stephen Garvey, Music & Lyrics by Logan Medland, Sound Design by Jeff Mockus. Directed by Jay Stern, Produced by Blue Panther Productions, New York.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/love-goddess-the-rita-hayworth-musical

Love Goddess - The Cabaret

Love Goddess, The Cabaret (excerpt)

Composed and produced by yours truly for Legoland California's 2005 Summer Fireworks Spectacular, "A Spark In The Knight", it relies heavily on EW/QL's Symphonic Gold, my Chapman Stick, Greg Sandoval's Drums (recorded in Kim Foscato's attic), and Ruff Yeager's Narration. Thanks to Laura Lee Juliano for the gig.

A Spark In The Knight

From Sledgehammer Theatre's Macbeth (2004), directed by Kirsten Brandt.  In this production, the news of the Queen's demise was delivered by her shrouded ghost, so that Macbeth gave the "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" speech holding his dead wife.  A rare chance to underscore this moment, the cue is 100% chapman stick with tons of true reversed reverb (flipped the file, added verb, flipped it again).  It still haunts me.

The Queen, My Lord, Is Dead

Hot off the forge-fires:  This cue frames San Jose Rep's production of "The Big Meal".  Love that Logic Pro arpeggiator!

The Big Meal

As a Sound Design intern at ACT in SF in 1990, I found this patch on Resident Sound Designer, Steve LeGrand's Korg M1.  Programmed by Steve's music partner, Eric Drew Feldman, for his band: Pere Ubu, I believe the patch was called "Lost Ubu Nation".  It lent itself to all manner of pitch bends and expression control, which I sequenced several layers of using Performer v1.0 on Steve's Mac SE.

R2's Bad Trip

Another spare-time use of Steve LeGrand's M1 as his intern at ACT in 1990.  I didn't set out to, but by the time it took shape it felt like it should be a tragic ballet, Beauty-loses-Beast story, which of course links it in my mind to the Muppets with Leslie Ann Warren...

A retro listen into attempting making orchestral music on MIDI tools.  I'm sure the harp track is completely unplayable on an actual harp.  I think I'm most pleased with how just when the ostinato has driven you mad, it changes into an arpeggiated chord progression (edited completely in the sequencer from said ostinato: don't ask me to play it!).  Also happy with the tempos.

I can't really deny the Danny Elfman influence.  Sorry, not sorry ;)

Scary Monsters

Learning yesterday that I was a few months late looking up the maker of this flute. Thomas "Hap" Newman had crossed the veil of mists. This morning I dug this long neglected and broken gem out of the garage, and gave it breath.   The cracks and repairs had made it nigh unplayable for years and decades, but today it sang.  For all the Black Point Renaissance Faire friends who knew him.

Recorded April 1, 2024.  Forgive the long absent practice.

Faire Thee Well Hap

I suite of cues I wrote for Winchester Mystery House's 2023 Halloween-Season haunted house experience, "Unhinged Housewarming".  Music and sound design for 40 looped zones across 2 tour routes, with as many or more triggered scare cues and live actor interaction.

´©2023 Jeff Mockus, All rights reserved.

Feeding Time Suite

A mash-up of cues composed and sound designed (in a few short weeks) for an attraction at a major tech corp's 2-day Halloween party.  15 zones ran on constant loops, culminating  in a giant Jabberwocky attack.  Yes, I was asked to "Vanilla Ice" the White Rabbit groove.  Included for continuity.  Yes, that's me as the Red Queen's voice, and the Jabberwocky growls & roars.

Additional Soundscapes by Jason Asbahr.
photo credit: Scott Levkoff, of art by Ted Naifeh

Alice's Dream

A mix of music cues from Winchester Mystery House's 2024's haunting.  This year I got to create much of this in an office in the mansion.  The immediacy of crafting a haunting soundtrack in an actual haunted house really helped, especially during the vampiric work schedule I kept.

I think it ended up at 46+ zones running constant loops.

The Unhinged Hotel Suite

Composed for Shakespeare Santa Cruz' 1990 production of "Othello", directed by Mark Rucker. Desdemona entered thru the isles, searching everywhere for the handkerchief that proved so treacherous.  I remember Mark approving of the cue and telling me I had "Gothic" sensibilities.  That show was my first professional Sound Design and composition after finishing my internship at ACT.

Jeff Mockus

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