SkinnyMan's Roy Harter Helps Liven Up Noggin's "The N"

All new music tracks for children?s cable network. (May 17, 2004)

SkinnyMan Music composer, Roy Harter, and co-owner and senior audio engineer at Editional Effects, has completed the production and composition of an entirely new music package for "The N" channel. The music (over 40 songs) was part of a redesign for the Viacom children's cable network Noggin. Harter was tapped by Noggin after he successfully created the audio signature for the network's initial launch in 2000.

"The project came about after I was asked to compose the music for two 30-second promos for the channel, said Harter. Noggin producer, Matt Perrault, wanted the music to sound like snippets of songs that kids would hear on the radio, complete with lyrics. Shortly after the promos aired, the Noggin website started getting bombarded with requests asking who performed the music.

Due to the overwhelming response, the network and Harter decided to produce full-length versions of the tracks, resulting in such titles as "Bloom" and "Pull Ahead from the Pack". Noggin then provided visitors to its website to download the music for free.

"Roy's creativity and determination to deliver great music was awe inspiring," said Joe Pappalardo, producer for Noggin. He worked collaboratively with our team, constantly taking in suggestions that took the music to another level.

To complete the package Harter hired some of New York's finest independent-rock musicians. The ensemble gave the music a raw and unpolished sound; completely different to what one would expect in a time of technically refined network music.

"I used a lot of room mics and real amplifiers to capture the work of the musicians", said Harter. "Sometimes I even used tracks recorded on a cassette 4-track. It gave the music the necessary edge to match the beautiful visuals. Noggins producers gave us the freedom necessary to make the tracks sound authentic and spontaneous."

The resulting music will be heard every day on Noggin's "The N" from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.

Credits
Client: Noggin

Editorial and Audio Studio: Editional Effects

Composer: Roy Harter  
Audio Mixers: Roy Harter and Ken Harter