Music with a Mission

Busy talking on his cell phone, Tim Janis ignores another phone ringing mercilessly in the background. He has just arrived at his hotel room in Minneapolis, where he’ll shortly appear on Twin Cities PBS for the broadcast of “Coastal America,” his new national public television special narrated by George Clooney.

A prolific recording artist, composer, conductor, and longtime Mac user, the Billboard-charting Janis has produced nearly 25 albums, many with tone poems or Celtic themes underscoring the beauty of nature. He has also written musicals, scores for small independent films, pop songs with vocals — even jazz, country, and hard rock pieces.

But Janis wants to do more with his music than entertain. He has a mission: To raise funds for important causes and foster understanding among different cultures.

Social Consciousness
“As an individual, if you want to support something, you don’t tell anybody,” Janis says. “You just do it. As an artist, I can bring awareness to a situation. If children in Africa need school supplies, I can bring that idea to the world.”

“I most love writing music. When you have the piano in front of you, there’s a universe to explore. It’s also therapeutic, expressing your feelings melodically.”
After launching Music with a Mission — music projects that aim to advance important causes — Janis helped to bring Sinikithemba, an all-female, HIV-positive choir from South Africa, on a U.S. tour to raise understanding and defuse ignorance about AIDS. He toured China, performing concerts with footage from “Beautiful America,” an exploratory film on America’s national parks that Janis scored and George Clooney also narrated, to raise awareness of this country’s beauty. And in partnership with Church World Service, Janis performs benefit concerts to improve primary school education in Africa.

The Composer as Incredible Hulk
On the road for a 13-city PBS fundraising tour, Janis confesses that one of his all-time favorite things to do is sit in his sweats at home and compose. His Power Mac or iBook running MOTU’s Digital Performer aids him in the process.

“I’ve conducted orchestras and people often say, ‘Well, that must just be the best thing in the world,’” he recounts. “And I say, ‘Yes, it is great.’ But I most love writing music. When you have the piano in front of you, there’s a universe to explore. It’s also therapeutic, expressing your feelings melodically.”

Engaging and unassuming, Janis says he morphs into the Incredible Hulk when he composes. “Music resonates in my whole being throughout the day, so I write almost every day,” he says. “Even when I’m on the road, I might have a second to turn on my keyboard and write down a quick idea. That’s the gathering process. I try to get every idea, every thought or melody that comes out of my head into a sound bank I can bounce to the Mac. When I prepare to do a CD, I already have over 100 ideas. Depending on my mood, I just pick the ones I want.”

No-Limits Composing
Having grown up with the limitations of four-track analog recording, Janis thinks he almost dates himself by being so enthusiastic about the freedom he enjoys composing and mixing on his Mac. “I’m sure people who grew up on Macs and digital recording take it for granted,” he suggests.

Janis says he can “just go crazy” with the unlimited tracks and editing tools in Digital Performer and the storage capacity and speed of the Mac. “When I’m doing a song, I can bring the capsule of an idea, maybe a verse or a chorus, that I played on my keyboard to fruition in Digital Performer,” he explains. “I might have 60 tracks going, and I just cut, paste, and transpose. I love how intuitive the Mac is; I don’t really think much about it when I’m working.”

He uses many real instruments but may overlay them multiple times. He also uses sequencers and samples that provide weightier sounds, and finally records the percussion. “I’d say 75 percent of the work is done on my Mac,” he says.

The Freedom of Mixing
When Janis finishes composing, he becomes an engineer. “That is really different,” he says. “You’re more analytical, you’re focusing in. To be able to try a lot of different things helps with the process.”

When Janis mixes music for a project, he says, he often gets up at four in the morning and works every day until 10 at night. “When I get really in the thick of it, I have people bring in food to me,” he says. “I’m going nonstop. That’s when I really rely on my Mac to just keep going and do its job. The Mac is like a piece of industrial equipment — ‘You will work and keep working.’ I count on it to be stable and to get the job done.”

For More Click on the above Line: Music with a Mission