Katherine Keenum

Having finished the first draft of a short story about a composer and sound engineer, I approached the brilliantly gifted musician Mark Kelso for help with technical details. I am comfortable with my setting, action, and the character’s psychology; but I’m no musician and certainly not a sound engineer. Mark graciously invited me to spend an hour today at his Muddy Angel Music Studio, where he composes, teaches, and records himself and other artists. In a dazzling display of how he uses everything from his voice, cellphone, tablet, high-tech recording equipment, and actual pianos, Mark demonstrated both song composition and film scoring, then commented on the passages I wanted to make sure ring true. Fellow writers, my advice? If you have a question, ask an expert!

Many, many thanks, Mark.