Love Jones: The Musical
In September 2015, I was brought on board as the music producer for Love Jones: The Musical. The play was based on the iconic 1997 film, and my task was to create the music for a show that would feature a large number of artists and actors singing their own songs. Having previously produced music for a Ne-Yo tour and several stage plays using a playback-only format, I knew we could deliver a high-quality show without a live band.
I produced and arranged all the music in Cubase Pro and mixed everything in Pro Tools. Initially, the show had 15 songs, but by the time we hit the road, the song list had grown to 29. For the live performance, I chose Ableton Live 9 as our playback platform due to its reliability and multi-track audio streaming capabilities.
As both the music director and playback operator, I was in charge of designing and building the entire playback rig. This system was the heart of the show and was built for maximum stability. It consisted of two identical, custom-built computers, each with a dedicated solid-state drive for show audio. The computers were optimized to do one thing only: run this show. They operated simultaneously but independently, ensuring that if one computer failed, the other would take over seamlessly.
The real magic came from the custom audio switcher I designed. It received 24 channels of audio from each computer. If one computer malfunctioned, the switcher would instantly switch to the other, allowing the show to continue without missing a beat. I also incorporated Apple MainStage for live underscore cues and a separate Ableton Live install to trigger over 300 sound effects.
Working closely with our amazing director, Zadia Ife, we delivered a flawless performance night after night. Love Jones: The Musical was a shining example of how combining musical and production disciplines can create a cohesive and entertaining show.