 I had lunch with a friend in February, and she mentioned a guided meditation that she had enjoyed about “keeping the heart soft,” and it blew me away. Just the idea of it. February was a whirlwind of activity, and with all the war insanity that has just been happening lately, this message of having the courage to keep our hearts soft is a powerful one. I still can’t believe all that is happening, and it’s been a challenge to stay present for all of it, and not stick my head in the Netflix sand. “Fearless” is still the mantra this year, however, it is also necessary to keep my heart soft in all this mess. I’m still meditating on that, but what I have come up with so far of what it means to keep my heart soft is this: Love always wins. I will keep compassion, forgiveness, and patience close. I will stay present to all of the good, and the ugly. I will remember that everyone has stuff going on too, both challenges, and celebrations, and that being present for them is a blessing in itself. I will remember that LOVE is also a verb. I will remember to LOVE ON MYSELF everyday. So, LOVE ON everyone! Thank you for reading, and staying in the loop. - Allegra   We just recorded Scott’s and my band, FRANCO NERO, for a few tunes. I freakin’ love playing music with these guys! They are all amazing musicians, and I can’t wait to share this music with y’all, and also share it live. This was also the first time I got to mic drums in the studio (with 9 microphones and Scott’s instruction), and also tracking my scratch vocals remotely from within the house. There’s the picture of the mic set up in the house, with the band on the computer screen for me to see them, and they could see me on the big tv monitor in the studio. Good learning experience for us all.  Franco Nero is a project that was originally started by Scott Larson and John Finkbiner, many years ago, performing original ska and reggae music, and also vintage ska, reggae and soul music from the 1950’s to 1970’s. Current members for these recordings are Safa Shokrai on bass, Jason Levis on drums, Vic Wong on Guitar, Jay Sanders on keyboards and trumpet, Scott Larson on Trombone, and Allegra Bandy on lead and background vocals.  We also welcomed into the studio, Dean Santomieri, who recorded his collection of short stories which he has written, called “Alphabet.” Each story starts with inspiration from each letter of the alphabet. Very engaging and imaginative, Dean does a spectacular performance narrating his stories. Dean Santomieri composes and performs using electric resonator guitars in non-standard tunings. Stylistically his playing is most closely associated with the modern classical avant-garde, and is characterized by a loose compositional framework that allows for improvisatory explorations. Since 2011 he has been playing and recording with violinist Thea Farhadian, in the Santomieri-Farhadian Duo. He also regularly performs as a spoken word artist, usually with musical accompaniment. His stories and poems are inspired by music, dreams, the visual arts, word games and intentionally misheard / misread items from radio and newspapers. One fan described his self-accompanied narratives as: "Derek Bailey meets Italo Calvino!"   Are you or someone you know looking for a quiet, comfortable, sound proofed and spacious place to record your audiobooks, your music ensemble, audio for your podcast, YouTube Channel Videos, TikTok Video or Voiceovers? Do you want to record with quality gear, and not worry about all the engineering issues? We can help! Come record at the Hummingbird Hut Studio! Our services to include:
LET US KNOW: If you, or someone you know is interested in narrating their own audiobook, please get in touch. We love being a resource for our literary and artistic communities. Fill out the contact form on the HUMMINGBIRD HUT Recording Studio page, and we’ll set up a time to help you plan the recording of your project.  AUDIOBOOKS | MUSIC | VOICEOVER
ODDUA’s Mission: We create and publish content that helps people make their world a more peaceful, equitable, and joyous place. We provide high quality productions of voice over, podcast production, and audiobooks in primarily non-fiction and personal development genres. We provide authentic "true voice" listening experiences by specializing in author-narrated audiobooks. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, ODDUA AUDIO works with authors and publishers, musicians, companies and individuals, both nationally and internationally.
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