Talking Sticks

My good friend and fellow musician Arthur Lipner–a world class mallet player specializing in vibes and marimba–has produced an extraordinary documentary called “Talking Sticks.”  The film tells Arthur’s story as a full-time working musician, and the journey he’s taken to find meaning, purpose, and ultimately success despite living in an American culture that doesn’t fully understand or appreciate mallet playing as a mainstream instrument.

“Talking Sticks” turns Arthur’s inner journey into an actual one–as he travels to exotic and colorful locations from Brazil to Norway, from Ghana to Mexico, in search of the cultural roots of his mallet playing.  In the process, we meet other great vibes and marimba players, and learn about the history of mallet instruments performance and creation… as Arthur comes to ultimately realize, like I and all musicians ultimately do, that the reasons we do this lie not across the ocean but inside ourselves.

Click here to learn more about “Talking Sticks”

I was honored that Arthur chose the One-Stop for his post-audio production.  Music and sound permeate the film: from an ice concert in Norway, played on a hand-made ice marimba;  to a symphonic performance by the Brazilian National Orchestra, and the street sounds of carnival in Rio; to native African instruments and dance; to a Mexican marimba factory.  So many diverse and exotic locations made for an exciting challenge for the mix, sound design, and musical sweetening that we did together.

Coming soon to a screen near you–keep an eye out for “Talking Sticks!”