Portfolio

Bell Curve WIP-111221 by Paul Matthis

This is a current work in progress for Next Dance Company at REDCAT Spring 2012. Most sounds come from recordings of water dripping onto the bell of a trumpet. Note: It is really hard to get clean recordings of water dripping onto the bell of a trumpet.

Yes is Not Passive, by Stephanie Nugent. Performed at REDCAT

Click the above image for, well, more images
Nice review 1
Nice review 2

The Next Step is to Go Back, with choreographer/dancer Lindsey Lollie.

Selected for performance at ACDFA!

Subtopia, a dance film by Victoria Sendra, choreography by Lindsey Lollie.

The Lamp Piece, with choreographer/dancer Michelle Sagarminaga.

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Everything above this line is from after grad school started.

Freneticism by Paul Matthis

Hello! I am Paul Matthis. I’m an MFA-1 Composer/Performer for voice at California Institute of the Arts. I also do a bunch of live electronics and stuff. Everything from the top of the page is recent, everything around here and below is old.

Feel free to contact me at paulmatthis@alum.calarts.edu! I also update my blog about things I like or have done, so subscribing to that would be cool too :)

1. Lunatic Sun by Paul Matthis

I quit my job in December 2009 to go hike around the Himalayas with my brother for a month. On the flight back I wrote the first draft of a contemporary musical called Lunatic Sun. It’s now completed, and this is the first time I’ve ever posted the title track online. Every voice you hear is mine layered up and caked in reverb.

2. “81205.3″ by Paul Matthis

Back when my family still lived in Tennessee I was part of a noise collective called Horsehair Everywhere, which is the greatest band of all time.

3. Hypnagogia by Paul Matthis

When I wrote this, I had hoped to eventually realize it as a chamber-ish dance piece for strings and electronic decay. I still don’t know if that’s possible, but it’d be rad.

4. CalArts Tuition is Too Damn High by Paul Matthis

Made this not long before school started. I had originally intended it to be a throwaway showcase-type thing for a class called Choreographers and Composers, mainly to show how much I like combining sound design with musical elements. It was born out of various coins and metal objects found around my new apartment and recorded in my new bedroom, which has wood floors. It took weeks to perfect this track, and by “weeks” I mean like an hour.

5. Universal Attraction by Paul Matthis

This itty bitty pretty little ditty is an interstitial from the musical, which features a ton of banjo.

6. Dog Days by Paul Matthis

Also from the musical, and also on the banjo, although at this point in the story we call it a “gas banjo” and it has a lot more punch. And by punch I mean verbed distortion :D

7. Ahh, Dancin’ by Paul Matthis

I tried really hard in the month or so before grad school to not start any new projects. I wasn’t quite able to make it, but I was able to keep it down to just this and the following track. There’s a bit of a dubstep influence in the bass, some world drums and singing, and some randomly epic bluesy vocals toward the end.

8. Hello Ocean by Paul Matthis

Mostly a result of me trying out the new vocoder plugin in Ableton Live 8.

Pop demo:

Paul Matthis – Demo 2011 by Paul Matthis

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Film & Dance

Three collaborations with NY choreographer Nicole Durfee:

Artifacts of Lost Moments from Paul Matthis

Rooms & Reasons: House from Paul Matthis

Rooms & Reasons: Train Station from Paul Matthis

I scored nine student films in the two years I went to Florida State. They are seven or eight years old, but I’m linking one here anyway. It has no dialogue and was scored in a very insane three days, part of why I still like it:

Playback from Paul Matthis

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Etc.

Live looping through my Boss DD-20 Giga Delay pedal. What you don’t see is my foot dexterously manipulating through presets as I try really hard not to rush the tempo.

Next come these cartoony concept storyboards to a track from the bottommost playlist. I think it’s really funny how the drawings get progressively crappier as my hand gets more tired. I don’t know how the character animation kids do it, seriously.

Moar playlists:

Paul & Romann – Backpack Studio (2010) by jawshack

A collaboration with cognitive scientist and genius jazz pianist Romann Weber. He was in town for the summer and discovered he’d gained access to a rehearsal studio at CalTech with two grands, so I brought my ninja recording setup and we did some collaborative improv over the course of several Saturdays.

And finally:

The Jawshack Promo (2009) by jawshack

In 2009 I moved into a rehearsal studio with the intention of figuring out how pop music works. I listened to a ton of blues and folk music and started a new song every day. This is about one tenth of what I made in the course of three months, which I then released as an album because why the hell not, that’s why.

So yeah, that’s a pretty good spread of stuff I’ve done in the past that I hate now, but you know how that goes. I’d totally love to get swamped by emails from other CalArts students from any of the schools, or professional queries, or broke people who just want to say hey. So hit me up at paulmatthis@alum.calarts.edu, and thanks for dropping by!