A Student Remix of Vintage Clown Footage

Antique footage of this post-war clown conjure feelings of mirth and fear which, mixed together, yield a remix?

Every Thursday, Treehouse Music Studios teach soundtrack creation at Natural Creativity in Philadelphia. We pull old & uncopyrighted video from the depths of the internet, load them into Garageband, and go through each video, beat by beat, looking for emotions to support—or subvert. Is it horrifying when the clown appears? Does that call for dissonance and distortion? Or perhaps it calls for tragic strings—perhaps tragic strings carry more irony and humor than bouncing jolly comedy tracks? And later, how do we support his emotion at the moment when he eats the cereal? Does that inspire a balloon-full-of-helium effect? Or does the whole track come crashing down in booming splinters?

The answers to these questions require a deeper engagement with the nitty-gritty of music technology. Because the answers reflect the creator’s taste, the way to learn what will work on the artist’s own emotion is through trying. Therefore, to know themselves students must ask: how is audio edited? How are sounds manipulated? How is a new track recorded, an old one muted, and a whole gaggle of audio files arranged into a compelling storytelling device? In the process of playfully, joyfully creating frequently ridiculous work students will learn everything that one would find on a beginner’s music production study guide. At the same time, they learn something just as important but often more elusive to teach—the emotional “why” of music.  

This week we celebrate one of our favorite student creations—Zee’s remix of the original audio from a vintage Sugar Rice Krinkles ad. This interpretation is both hilarious and technically skilled, displaying an excellent understanding of storytelling and of production mechanics. Also, it’s a total bop.

If you’d like to learn music production, soundtrack creation, and recording through playful, collaborative experimentation—rather than dry theory and rote exercises—Treehouse Music Studios offers private lessons and group workshops for kids, teens, and adults in Philadelphia. Our classes use real recording tools, real creative problems, and real collaboration to help students turn curiosity into finished work. Whether you’re brand new to music technology or looking to break out of a creative rut, we’d love to make something strange and wonderful with you.