My portfolio includes scoring, arrangement and composition work for video games, feature film and television. As a musician and producer I have released over forty albums of jazz, folk, electronic, punk and modern classical music. I am currently accepting new commissions.
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Why Chris Schlarb?
The world is full of musicians, composers and producers. The hard part is matching the right person with the project they are best suited for.

Here is a quick example: if you want to approximate an orchestra of instruments with a single keyboard, I am probably not the right one for the job. My best work utilizes any number of unique, real world instruments including tabla, euphonium, mandolin, marimba and upright double bass. I thoroughly enjoy working with real instruments, in real spaces, with real musicians.

If your film, video game or album requires texture and atmospheric depth, unique or unusual live instrumentation, and thoughtful arrangement, I would love to hear from you. For the last decade I have explored the ambient, jazz, folk, electronic and modern classical genres as a member of both the American Composers Forum and ASCAP.

I specialize in taking small and medium sized budgets and turning them into expensive sounding recordings. I operate my own mobile recording studio and engineer most sessions, saving time and cost.

My work can be heard on this site and read about in the New York Times, All About Jazz, Time Out New York, Chicago Reader and Pitchfork.

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Some Assembly Required

twilightsuitcase.jpg

This past Sunday afternoon I spent a few hours picking up last minute accessories for the upcoming performance of Twilight & Ghost Stories: plug adapters, electric cables, miniature light switches and bulbs. My luggage hardly consists of a “musical instrument” in the traditional sense; I won’t even be traveling with an acoustic guitar. When I last performed the piece in Austin I had the luxury of time (three days) and thus, any lighting or audio issues were worked out slowly with the help of Aaron Mace. In New York I will have less than three hours to set up so I need to have my act together, so to speak.

My red suitcase includes just about everything I will need sans light bulbs; I decided to purchase them in New York rather than have them destroyed in the belly of an airplane. My lightbox (upper right) is the centerpiece of the entire live performance. Custom made for me by Will Donaldson for the Next To Last Festival in Athens, Georgia, Will was able to bring together all the ideas I had about bringing Twilight & Ghost Stories to life for an audience. Now that the size of the ensemble has grown I have augmented the light box with additional mini-light switches (below lightbox) so that I can independently control eight lights from the box alone. With the clip light (lower right) attached to my own mic stand I will have nine lights operating at the same time. I’m also bringing along a small radio, milk frother, marimba mallet and some duct tape. The older I get the more I think that gaffer’s or duct tape should always be on my person.

In addition to setting up the lighting (and performing, of course) I will also be attempting to engineer the piece with a makeshift mobile recording studio. Jake R. will be filming in HD and Scott Friedlander will document the event with his wonderful photography. It’s a once in a lifetime show for me and I want to make sure I have something(s) to remember it by. Putting this all together has been a thrill (I even got a nice write up in Time Out New York) and I can’t thank Shannon Fields and John Zorn enough for providing this opportunity.

UPDATE: Post-performance photos and essay here

Twilight & Ghost Stories NYC

February 7th, 2009
The Stone
The corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street
New York, NY. 10009

Tom Abbs- acoustic bass, dijeridoo
Diane Cluck- voice and acoustic guitar
G. Lucas Crane- tapes, electronics (Vanishing Voice)
Shannon Fields- omnichord, glockenspiel, clarinet (Stars Like Fleas)
Grey Gersten- electric guitar, electronics
Roberto C. Lange- electronics (Savath y Savalas)
Mick Rossi- piano (Philip Glass Ensemble)
Chris Schlarb- acoustic guitar, electronics, lights
Chad Taylor- drums (Chicago Underground Duo, Iron & Wine)
Katherine Young- bassoon, accordion (Anthony Braxton)

Two Seatings: 8pm and 10pm

Tickets $15 at the Door. No advance sales.

Feb 04, 2009 | featured, live performance