Neil in Studio D at the Music Annex, Menlo Park
About Me
Music has been my life. My father was a professional musician for many years and I grew up with music and many instruments in the house. From the Chickering grand piano in the living room to the Allen electronic organ in the back, there were instruments everywhere. Music was on all day from classical to jazz to my mom’s favorites Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba. I fell in love with recording though.
The journey began at age five with piano lessons and then oboe at age nine. I joined my first orchestra at age 12 playing alongside my dad in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Symphony. As a young teen I started playing piano in blues and rock bands but also joined the California Youth Symphony and Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra as an oboist. I toured internationally to Youth Festivals and more than twenty-five countries and played with the Rome Festival Orchestrate age 16 . At home, I was experimenting with sound-on-sound recording using my dad’s Sony reel-to-reel recorder.
More History...
During my last year in high school, even as I was preparing to audition for Oberlin Conservatory and Curtis Institute, I began an apprenticeship in band instrument repair in Santa Cruz. That soon led to a second apprenticeship in piano tuning and ended any thoughts of going off to music school. I worked simultaneously at Laurel Street Music and began my piano tuning career doing private work and also under contract with UC Santa Cruz taking care of thirty-three pianos in their music department.
In 1978 I moved to Monterey where I continued my piano tuning work and also met Gil Rubio. Gil and I put together our first recording studio. We bought our first microphones (Sennheiser 421’s) and a Tascam 4-track recorder. We hung used carpet and egg cartons all around Gil’s girlfriend’s garage in Seaside for sound insulation and recorded our songs late into the night using a cassette recorder (in record/pause) as a microphone preamp. Our band, Sativa, gigged around the Monterey Bay area. Before leaving Monterey I moved to Big Sur where I'd been tuning pianos for the music at River Inn. I found a place to live in Pear Valley which had a propane stove and kitchen light but otherwise no power. All of my music and recording equipment went into storage but I still did a lot of writing. Moving back to the Bay Area in the early 80’s, I built a backyard studio in Redwood City where many of my earliest songs were written and recorded. Beginning with those early analog tape and synth days I’ve utilized every change and advancement in music and recording technology, from reel-to-reel and multi-track recording, the revolution of MIDI and home computing, to the digital audio realm and today’s sophisticated Digital Audio Workstations.
After joining West Coast Songwriter’s (formerly Northern California Songwriter’s Association) in the '80s', I learned much about the “business” of music and realized that my writing was suited for the “Background Music for Film & TV” category. Winning awards for two of my compositions was inspiration to keep writing. I began working with many video productions companies including Carranza Productions (Silicon Run series) and KMVT community television in Mountain View. In 1994 I co-wrote the last theme song for Garfield & Friends which aired on CBS until Jim Davis retired. To date I’ve provided music for more than 60 video productions and performed with more than 40 bands.
Now in retirement I have time to review the music I’ve written and recorded over the years, and decided to create a website to share this work with my friends and neighbors. Since starting up vocal lessons again and returning to songwriting classes, I’m inspired to put lyrics to some of my music that has until now been instrumental.
Panton Music Library
The Panton Music Library was initially created for use by Mountain View Community Access Television (KMVT). It’s a collection of original themes and underscores designed for use in television and film productions.
The library was a chance for me to consolidate years worth of my instrumental music. It was enhanced by many friends providing their musical talents on guitar, bass, drums and strings. The library was lovingly mixed by Tom Carr, engineer extraordinaire. A number of tunes were created by “Think Tank”, a group of friends that met weekly for about a year to provide more substance to the library. Some of these tracks, usually completed in an evening, remain my favorites. This band went on to become the “Nightime Jelly Jammers”, or NTJJR, who never gigged but delved deep into acid jazz and eclectic compositions.
Live Performance
My performance career began at age 12 as an oboist with the Los Gatos/Saratoga Symphony playing alongside my dad. I soon joined the California Youth Symphony where I was assistant 1st oboist. My first international tour was to Switzerland and the Czech Republic with CYS. At age 16 I was invited to perform with the Rome Festival Orchestra for six weeks which was quite an experience. I was a member of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra’s wind section and toured internationally with them for many years. Around the same time I began playing piano with blues and rock & roll bands in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1995 I switched from oboe to saxophone and began singing several years later. I continue to perform regularly in the La Honda and San Gregorio area but my days of late night bar gigs is over!
Production Work & Collaborations
I’ve had the privilege of working with esteemed composers and artists like Tom Coster and Andrew Latimer. Tom’s giving nature elevated my piano chops using jazz tunes and his melodic artistry as the guide. We spent several years improving my songwriting and recording abilities in his fabulous home studio. My decade-long association with Andy and Camel Productions involved setting up recording studios, business systems, digital and MIDI production work, and performance on a couple of albums. Tour prep included transcribing keyboard and string parts and programming samplers like the Roland Octopad.
My compositions have been used in more than 60 commercial video productions, where I’ve provided background music, scores and sound effects. These include companies like Amdahl, Apple, BPG, Carranza Productions, Somerset Media and more. I’ve also had several works placed with Mendelson/Paws, producers of Garfield & Friends and other productions.
The West Coast songwriter’s association provided a collaboration network for a number of years allowing me to work with many lyricists. This resulted in several successful collaborations which you’ll find on my music page.