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It has been a busy and full summer so far, and we still have a full month until school starts up again for Music Composition for the Screen MFA students. Read on to see what I’ve been up to.

Aside from independent projects (arranging, transcribing, and scoring for clients), we’ve been having a great time traversing across the country. We will be in Mapleton, UT for a bit and on our way over, stopped by the Hill Air Force Museum in Layton. I usually keep my expectations low whenever I visit museums—especially free ones. This one was surprisingly good. Maybe I was just really happy to get out of the car, but the exhibits were fascinating. If you are ever driving through, you should check it out.

Things like this:

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And this:

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I’ve also seen a few movies this summer. By far my favorite was Star Trek. I’ve never been considered a Trekie. I had never gotten into any of the previous films. But this one was great! I especially loved the score done by Michael Giacchino. I had to go back and see it again in theaters because it was so good.

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The score is interesting because it is so organic. Many composers would try to take a new, digital, electronic sound to this new world JJ Abrams created. I really respect Michael for the great work he did in making the orchestra sound so good and uncompressed and natural and…wow. It was just so good. Check it out here if you haven’t already.

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WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developer Conference) also happened since my last post. This has a huge impact on the world of creative professionals and you can bet I was there watching it live. There are lots of really great things coming out for iOS and OSX. Also, the new Mac Pro? WOW. If any of you want to buy me one, I’d be more than happy. What a great update to a computer line that many composers heavily rely on. Can’t wait to see that thing in action.

I’ll leave you with one more picture of us on the boat. Leave a comment below and tell me what you have been up to this summer. I’d love to hear about it.

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