Digital Deadwood: David Schwartz and 02R96

BUENA PARK, CA (July 2, 2004) — Although he declines to reveal its origin, David Schwartz is known in some circles as d.Fly. Regardless of the nickname's background, the composer has the well-earned reputation for being able to deliver a unique brand of quirky, original music while remaining true to the needs and demands of the projects he scores.

Schwartz recently upgraded his workspace with two new Yamaha 02R96 digital mixing consoles just in time for his latest project – scoring and writing original music for the critically-acclaimed Fox television series Arrested Development. Ron Howard serves as one of the show's executive producers and narrator. "It's a very funny, smart show," Schwartz explains. "We often have upwards of fifteen minutes of music for each half hour episode."

Schwartz's latest project is music for the HBO original series Deadwood, produced by David Milch (NYPD Blue). The drama series, set in a lawless frontier town, combines fictional and historical characters and events. Conductor John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra will perform David's "Theme From Deadwood" as part of "TV Night: The Sequel" at the Hollywood Bowl, July 9th – a night of great music from television. Highlights will include music from The West Wing, JAG, The Simpsons, the TV themes of Jerry Goldsmith and Earle Hagen, and a theme song sing-a-long.

After attending New York's School of Visual Arts and Boston's Berklee College of Music, the budding composer mastered a wide range of musical genres by performing with such diverse acts as John Hall, Manhattan Transfer, the Boston Civic Symphony, the Glenn Miller Band and John Sebastian. His career in writing music for film and television began around 1990, earning him a Best Instrumental Composition Grammy nomination for the multi-Emmy-award-winning hit Northern Exposure and its theme song. Schwartz scored every episode of the show for its entire seven seasons.

Since then, his television portfolio has grown to include Maximum Bob, Leap of Faith, Wolf Lake, The Ellen Show, Cold Feet, Everything's Relative, The John Larroquette Show and Beverly Hills, 90210. His film and telefilm credits include Magic in the Water, My Little Assassin, Deadman's Revenge, the soon-to-be-released You Stupid Man and the VH1 hit Two of Us, based on a fictional post-Beatles reunion of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Schwartz previously owned four original Yamaha 02Rs which he employed to compose the music for shows like Wolf Lake. "They where totally amazing," he notes, "especially for the time. Having 160 inputs and total recall really changed the way we worked. With Arrested Development, we're doing 22 episodes this season, and every week is mostly new music – everything from alternative rock to Sambas."

"The new 02R96s allowed me to simplify my studio and simultaneously have more power," Schwartz explains. "We were able to get rid of five analog and two digital patch bays, a separate master section and streamline from four down to two cascaded consoles, which gives the feeling of having one large desk. We also sold all our outboard converters, as we prefer the sound of the [02R]96's. The new boards dropped into my original custom desks, so the installation was easy. Learning the new features took a few days."

Although many of his peers are going 'console-less,' Schwartz finds tremendous value in his new digital additions. "My engineer can be mixing while I record or edit," he says. "The EQ and dynamics are very strong, and the Studio Manager software is very useful. I can save scenes from either my keyboard composing setup or from the console."

"Overall, the sound is a significant improvement over the original 02R," he adds, "and I never miss my old analog board. As far as flexibility is concerned, the routing allows me to have different setups for records, film or mixing work, and everything can be recalled at the touch of a button. We have six Lightpipe and two AES SR cards, which allow me to clock my seven vintage Roland 760 samplers, even though they're lacking word clock inputs. That also applies to my DAT machines and the like. We're also using the 02R96's onboard effects and EQ, plus TDM plug-ins. Now I can use my Teletronix LA2A or Massenberg EQ without losing quality from the converters. I'm also looking forward to the V2 plug-ins."

Although the new setup has simplified things for Schwartz and his staff, the workload has, by choice, not decreased.

"There was one week where I did two 'Developments' and an HBO pilot, totaling over 70 individual pieces of music," he says. "Organization, flexibility and recallability are a must. Sleep is overrated."

For more information on the 02R96, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Professional Audio, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.