Sound Design and Composition Examples

All of the following sound and music compositions were written, performed, recorded, mixed by Michael Rasbury unless noted.  Music Technology such as computer-based digital audio editing and music scoring tools were used.  Most of this material was recorded on-location with portable sound/music equipment.

It is also important to note that most of the following recordings were originally presented in some kind of surround sound, multchannel setup. These are stereo reductions of the original work.

All music is copyrighted and may be used with permission.

Co-writer/Composer/Sound Design, Max Understood, a new musical written with Nancy Carlin, Staged Reading directed by Jack Cummings for the Eugene O’Neill National Music Theatre Conference, Waterford, Connecticut and in 2007- Staged Reading directed by Nancy Carlin for New Voices of the West, Foothill Theatre Company, Nevada City California

This is an original musical script written with co-writer Nancy Carlin. Inspired by the plight of my son Max, an ordinary day in the life of an Autistic child is revealed as an unusual journey. Max Understood, a play with music and sound design, takes the audience on a surprising and sometimes disorienting expedition around his apartment complex. Please visit this page to look at the script and listen to the corresponding songs. Click here to listen to these songs in one player.

Sound Designer/Composer, Macbeth, directed by Lynne Collins, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado

Engineering/Mixing/Mastering for recording artist Doug Duffey, Compact Disc, Lengnau, Switzerland

A demo will be here soon- for now click here for more information.

Recordist/Engineer, EarthRecordings.com, a new website showcasing original environmental recordings utilizing HRTF wide stereo techniques

Sound Designer, Marcy in the Galaxy, a new musical with book, music, and lyrics by Nancy Shayne, based on a story by Shayne and Michael Patrick King, producer of “Sex in the City”, directed by Jack Cummings III for the Transport Group, New York, New York

A demo will be here soon- for now click here for more information.

Sound Designer, Crossing Brooklyn, a new musical with music by Jenny Giering and books and lyrics by Laura Harrington, directed by Jack Cummings III for the Transport Group, New York, New York

A demo will be here soon- for now click here for more information.

Sound Designer, Ubu Roi, by Alfred Jary, translated by David Ball, directed by Betsy Tucker

For this production, the design team agreed to design the entire production over the course of a Friday-Sunday with existing items in our theatre. From this, a sound design developed that primarily utilized sounds the actors could make with their voices and any available props and musical instruments. During the chorus of the design storm, I wrote melodies for any sung song in the script. Through improv with the actors, musical passages were developed as scene change and underscore music. The translator, David Ball, was present during the design storm and suggested I adapt some of his lyrics to the song "La Carmagnole' as a way to end the piece. Although the song was performed live, I made an electronic arrangement of the piece for the preshow music.

Sound Designer/Composer, The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Scott Gilbert and Romeo and Juliet, directed by Sharon Winegar; Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival and Sierra Shakespeare Festival, California and Nevada

For Romeo and Juliet, director Sharon Winegar decided to set her production in a Venetian-lie town in the mid-18th century during Carnivale. This was based on her fascination with the masked ball elements of the play. In deciding on a style for the music, she shared with me her interest in the powerful rhythmic and story telling qualities of Cirque du Soleil's, Ka. Of course, we didn't want our production to sound or look like Cirque's production. Using Ka as a model, I began creating something more orchestral and cinematic. Winegar also incorporated some "mysterious figures" into scenes as a convention for expressing fate. We underscored their four appearances with an ambient soundscape. To listen to the entire score for Romeo and Juliet, click here.

Composer/Sound Designer, The Story of Opal, World Premiere, written by Gale Fury Childs, directed by Lynne Collins, Foothill Theatre Company, Nevada City California.

Based on the actual diaries of Opal Whiteley, Gale Fury Childs' The Story of Opal presents the rural 1900's world from the perspective of a young child. In this story, creeks sing, trees talk, and invisible fairies leave gifts. Opal was played by several actors and everyone but the "lead" Opal portrayed much of the scenery and animals. In this selection, you will hear a collage of several environmental cues from the production, including the talking trees, the singing creek, fairies, the colors blue and green, and the closing music. This track opens with the overture followed by the "Girl With No Seeing" theme. For info regarding this production, click here. For more information about Opal Whiteley and her diary, click here.

Sound Designer/Composer, Twelfth Night, directed by Nancy Carlin and Othello, directed by Scott Gilbert; Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival and Sierra Shakespeare Festival, California and Nevada

Feste the clown sung "O Mistress Mine" using this composition for our Peter Max/Yellow Submarine inspired production.  I used the Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty Four”, and the sounds of Kurt Weil as inspiration for the music.  My voice was used to “workshop” the idea for the actor. This is an original string quartet based on the Beatle’s “Eleanor Rigby”.  Olivia and her court played “air” strings to this recording using two-dimensional cutouts of string instruments. “Come Away” may be the most recognizable song from Shakespeare.  I composed and performed this song using the Beatles’ “Fool On The Hill” as a model.  The track was later used as scene change music, and the song was performed live by Viola and she accompanied herself with stand-up bass. This composition was created using Apple’s freeware, Garageband.  I added the vocals with Digital Performer.  This song was used as the opening piece for the second half of the performance. "For The Rain it Raineth Every Day" was intended by Shakespeare for Feste but in our production it became a group number.  During the major motif change at the end, Viola and the Duke waltzed off through the “O” of a giant scenic piece that spelled “LOVE”.  The Beatles, Elvis Costello, and Burt Bacharach influenced this piece.  The string quartet at the beginning is a prerecorded loop.   

Sound Designer, The Lost Colony Outdoor Drama, written by Pulitzer Prize recipient Paul Green, directed by Jane McCulloch; Manteo, North Carolina, 2006-present.

This short clip is an example of a sound collage.  The sequence started with the sound of an arrow traveling from behind the audience through to the stage.  Then to the audience’s left and right, a large, group roar started in hidden speakers.  At this point, actors dressed as Native Americans and settlers started battling.  I recorded most of the human voices on location in Manteo, North Carolina. This is an example of a nighttime field recording.  The director of The Lost Colony decided to add the sound of the native whippoorwill to the opening of the second half of the production.  I made this recording of a whippoorwill in the Lost Colony parking lot.  The bird was deeply embedded in the woods surrounding the lot.  Although this is the raw recording, for the production, the audience was surrounded with the sounds of crickets before the actual field recording started. 

Sound Design for Waiting for the Parade by John Murrell, Directed by Jonathan Green, University of Virginia,

These sounds were composed to augment Waiting for the Parade, a Canadian World War II drama by John Murrell.  The first composition utilizes a public domain newsreel.  The purpose of this cue was to make the newsreel audio come alive.  The design was successful; the newsreel sound came from a prop radio and the other “modern” battle sounds completely surrounded the audience.  Airplanes flew overhead, bombs exploded behind the audience, and screams of townspeople could be heard all around the theatre.  This track is a recording I made in Old Cabell Hall on the campus the University of Virginia of our Glee Club singing “Beer Barrel Polka." I also had to recreate the sound a departing train full of service men waving their goodbyes to loved ones.

Sound Designer/Composer, Macbeth, directed by Lynne Collins, and Comedy of Errors, directed by Carolyn Howarth, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival and Sierra Shakespeare Festival, California and Nevada

This example was used in an “old west” version of Comedy of Errors.  One of the clown twins used a toy “stick” horse as a real horse.  The town sheriff (Antipholus) was a bit trigger-happy and accidentally shot his servant's horse causing it to fall with this effect as underscore.  The “Porky-Pine Rag”, was co-written by Caryl Casl and Gary Wright.  It was sung by the town Courtesans as a device for opening the second half of the production.  The fiddle and steel guitar tracks in this song were comprised of single phrase, prerecorded loops from efiddler.com.  I selected an arrangement of these loops, and “fit” them in to the greater composition as a way to validate the sound of the electronic instruments. This "Cowboy Song" was composed around a small part of text within Comedy and changed into a song.  It was sung live to Luciana as a “wooing” song. This recording is the demo I supplied to the actor as a learning tool.

For Macbeth, I used a medieval motif as a thematic material for Macbeth and his company. A modern European flavor represented the oncoming force of Duncan and his company.  An important feature of these recordings is the Hurdy Gurdy.  I originally obtained this instrument to complete work on One Flea Spare at Actors Theatre of Louisville. For this project I recorded all of the instrument's noises and created an electronic sampled version of it.  The sampled version is what you hear in these tracks.  This way, I could travel with the sound of the instrument, but not the actual and very expensive instrument.  There are some included soundscapes in this compilation, including the earth opening to reveal the witches, their voices, and the sounds of Macbeth’s heartbeat and breathing.  The witch environment contains the sounds of bats. These were made to encircle the audience during using surround sound techniques.  The heartbeat and breathing were used under Macbeth’s famous “Dagger” speech. The next three examples are symbolic music/sound events used for the production.  They were created to augment three particular moments when it is revealed that Macbeth has committed murderous acts. Each event utilizes similar elements, but unique to each are particular animal sounds (crow, hawk, and wolves.)

Sound Design/Composition for Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill, Directed by Betsy Tucker, University of Virginia.

There are two sung songs in Churchill's play both at the beginning of acts.  The first act started in a British household in Africa during the 19th century.  The company performed the opening number, "Come Gather", along with the music in this track.  The second act took place in 1980, and opens with a song called "Cloud Nine" (adult lyrics).  I modeled my version of this song after Gary Numan's popular 80's hit, "Cars". I also had to create a number of scene transitions and for this I utilized recordings of African tribal singing.  Although I didn’t record the base material for these, I heavily augmented these tribal songs with sound effects and composition for African Drums (Transitions One, Two, Three, and Finale).  My goal was to create something new, without providing focus to the prerecorded material. Given the contrasting settings of 19th and 20th centuries found in this play, a contrasting set of sound scapes were necessary. All music and sounds were presented using a multichannel setup with speakers surrounding the seating and stage.

Propellerheads Reason exploration...

Until this point in my career, I was carrying around with me a computer, multiple keyboards, a large rack of equipment, and speakers. I had tried various instument plugins for my recording software, Digital Performer, but never had much succes because of latency issues and sound quality. Then I discoverd Reason. I was aware that this software was primarily used for making dance music and my first experiments with it were within this style. However, I fell in love with its interface and functionality. It loaded quickly, and I could program it easily. This track is an example of one of the first tracks I created using Reason. This is the first attempt at creating an orchestral piece using the sounds that came with Reason. I soon found ways to import other raw musical instrument samples to create custom groups of sounds. I invented new orchestral timbres such as strings, brass, and percussion using samples from other applications. In this track, I utilze string samples from professional sound libraries imported into Reason. You should notice a change in the sound of my work from here forward, as I switched from a studio of multiple hardware to a notebook computer as a sound generator and sequencer. Click here to hear a sampling of pop tracks I've created since 2005 with Reason. All musical work prior to this point was created using some version of the following hardware: Kurzweil K200vx, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Ensoniq ASR-10, and Korg Wavestation SR.

Sound Design for Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Directed by Clinton Johnston, University of Virginia.

These tracks present the simple sound of a carriage approaching and departing.  Although these may sound simplistic, each is the result of combining as many as ten audio tracks.  Horse noises, wheel noises, carriage noises, and other squeaks and rattles were used to create the impression of a horse and carriage.

Digital Archivist, Center for Rural Development, Digital Transfer/Mastering of Analog Archives for Folklorist Susan Roach, Louisiana Tech University, Available at http://www.latech.edu/tech/rural/folklife/index.html.

Sound Design/Sound Operator, John Cage Trust, New York, Alphabet, a newly discovered John Cage work. This production premiered at the International Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland and continued to Berlin, Dublin, Perth, Berkeley, and UCLA; traveled to these cities as Master Sound Technician/Sound Designer.

A demo will be here soon- for now click here for more information.

Composer/Sound Designer, The Leafmen, by William Joyce, Directed by Mark Guinn; an entirely original production of the children’s book, Louisiana Tech University

In 2001, Louisiana Tech University professor Mark Guinn adapted William Joyce’s The Leafmen and the Brave Good Bugs for the stage.  Joyce's Leafmen is a children's illustrated book with very sparse text. We presented his book to an audience with large scale perspective scenery using a performance style similar to pantomime.  In this composition, the sound of an encroaching storm is represented using orchestral instruments. The antagonist of the plot is an evil spider queen. In our production, she was portrayed with a puppet controlled by eight people. This composition is the spider queen's theme. I recorded the voice of Jake Guinn, Mark’s son, as the narrator and composed original music and sounds to underscore the most of the piece. The production also incorporated a live "doodle bug" band comprised of musicians dressed as bugs. These four pieces were written by Andrew Lankford and Mel Mobley. Listen to a sequence of the entire piece (both electronic orchestral pieces and recordings of live pieces) with narrations by clicking here. All electronic orchestral music and sound elements were presented in surround sound utlizing Richmond Sound Design's AudioBox. Listen to all of the Leafmen music without narrations by clicking here.

Guest Sound Designer for Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, 1998; Original Sound Design for the new play Like Totally Weird, written by William Mastrosimone, directed by Miladen Kiselov,

This is one of my favorite compositions.  In this play, two young boys take their favorite filmmaker hostage and reenact scenes from his “Pulp Fiction” style movies on him.  This sound cue was intended to represent a clip from a movie.  This clip was played repetitively as the audience waited for the production to start.  The effect was that the boys were attending iterations of a particular movie so they could memorize and reenact its scenes.  The plays ends with the boys reenacting the violent scene represented in the clip on themselves, ending in their actual deaths.  The text of this cue was written in the script by the playwright.  It was my challenge to make the sparse movie text sound like a movie sound track.  Although I recorded most of the sounds used in this “collage”, the music used is from the soundtrack to the film, Hard Rain.

Composition/Mastering/Mixing/Graphic Design, “Gypsy Tunes,” Michael Rasbury, Compact Disc

I have always had an interest in popular music so I decided to create a pop album featuring original compostions of different styles. Cowriter Lynn Alford named the album "Gypsy Tunes", receiving inspiration for the title from a song with lyrics written by Marci Rasbury called"So Down". Visit this page to hear all the songs from the album.

Composer, One Flea Spare, The Public, New York City, New York, Directed by Ron Daniels, Starring Dianne Wiest, Winner of “Obie” Award for Best New Play

My first opportunity to work on this play came in 1996 at Actors Theatre of Louisiville. I composed an original score for the 1996 presentation at the Humana Festival for New American Plays. Then in 1997, the Public presented the play and asked me to compose an entirely new score for it. This is a beautifully crafted play dealing with the relationships and power strugles between social strata placed in the world of the 16th century England during the Plague. Two wealthy citizens become quarantined in their home along with two vagabonds.. The plays director, Ron Daniels, requested the sound of the Hurdy Gurdy, a medieval instrument often included in artwork of the time depicting the grim reaper and/or death. I quickly found one and learned to play it enough to begin recording phrases to construct the play's opening theme. This play also includes sung songs wirth lyrics by the author. In this compilation, several tracks for these lyrics are heard including, "Tyburn Tree", "One O'Clock", and "Farewell". Visit this page to hear a cross section of original music from the production.

Keyboard/Vocals/Composition, The Lightnin’ Bugs, Shreveport, Louisiana, 1997-2003

Between 1997 and 2003, I provided keyboard, accordion, and vocals for the Louisiana world beat band, The Lightnin' Bugs. Although most of our music was written by our bassists Bruce Gay, we were also known for doing original arrangements of other artist's songs. We released two albums during my seven years with them. Listen to our theme song, "We Are The Lightnin' Bugs" and then visit this page to hear the entire album.

Composer/Sound Designer Shadows in the Forest by W.L. Mundell and The Legend of Daniel Boone, by Jan Hatman; Outdoor Dramas, Harrodsburg, Kentucky, 1995-2000.

These plays were large historical dramas performed outdoors and in rotation during the summer months in Harrdsburg, Kentucky. The Legend of Daniel Boone had been presented for at least twenty years in the local Fort Harrod Amphitheatre and in 1995 Shadows in the Forest was added. This new play was written by W.L. Mundell, author of Blue Jacket and a well respected figure in outdoor drama. His play provided the full story of Simon Kenton and Simon Girty, two secondary characters portrayed in Jan Hartman's The Legend of Daniel Boone. Fort Harrod Drama Productions presented their outdoor drama for the last time in 2000. Click on this link to hear all of the music from The Legend of Daniel Boone, and this link to hear all of the music from Shadows in the Forest.

Composer/Sound Designer, Blue Jacket Outdoor Drama, Xenia, Ohio, 1993-2007.

Although a historical outdoor play, many consider the story's main character, Blue Jacket, to be a fictious character. According to legend he was the only white person to be appointed War Cheif of the Shawnee Native American tribe. The Shawnee were known for adopting people of other races and cultures. I consider this work my first stab at working professionally. This music is still used by First Frontier, Inc. in Xenia, Ohio every Summer. This first piece is Cheif Blackfish's theme. Blackfish is a supporting character in the story primarily reflecting his relationships with early American frontiersman Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton and his refusal to leave Shawnee land claimed by the Americans. The tracks were created with one Ensoniq EPS 16+ Sampler and an early Opcode Macintosh based sequencer. I later added Native American flute to some of these tracks. I pulled these selections from the compact disc sold at each production.