About

Jim Lamarche – Bio – 2023

NEW!  ONE LIFE, TWO LIVES, THREE LIVES (trilogy), the process (story).
below:  scroll down.

For those coming to this site wishing to read the Media Arts Education Report, please note that as of March 27, 2020 it has been moved/migrated to the MAE Blog (back of site).  This will be the last update/instalment of the MAE report.  LINK HERE >>>  http://www.jimlamarche.ca/mae2020/

.

1986 Spiral Studio, Phoebe Street Toronto

.

Jim Lamarche is an Education & Employment Advisor/Communications Specialist and Web Content Developer with a background in Digital Media & Audio Visual Design.

Starting out as a recording engineer/music/recording artist (A&M/Universal Music Group), Jim moved into Media Arts teaching/counselling (Ryerson University/International Academy of Design/Toronto Film School/Trebas Institute). Living in Punjab India in 2008, Jim traveled extensively while on tour for CIVC (Canadian Institute of Vocational Courses) based out of Mohali, education consulting in conjunction with Lambton College in Sarnia just before returning as an education consultant in Toronto to this day.

game change

India was a necessary departure/opportunity – living for 4 months up in the Punjab brings it all into perspective.  “It was a game-change” reflecting back … “one quickly realizes that there’s a lot more going on in the world than we here in North America can even begin to realize – and you really have to go there – to get it”.  Jim returned, working as a college recruiter whilst immersing himself in photoshop/blogging/writing and experimenting with audio/visual media resulting in this ongoing experiment that’s all new.   Growing up in Woodstock and going to school in London, Ontario; Jim soon found his calling in Toronto, living and working in various large format analog studios (Captain Audio, Kensington Sound, Eastern Sound, Amber Studio and Grant Avenue Studio – Hamilton), working his way up to becoming a full-time engineer where he continued to develop at the time working on his original compositions and recorded music productions during “down time”, exploring the creative sound process …

Getting no sleep and having no social life for years; his efforts were finally noticed by A&M/UMG in 1983 and was signed to a five-year world-wide deal. He recorded two albums with the major label whilst continuing to hone his craft in various studios in the GTA as a freelance producer/engineer having worked with Australias “Split Enz”, Canada’s “Bruce Cockburn”, “Blood Sweat and Tears/David Clayton Thomas”, Linus Entertainments “By Divine Right”, Toronto progressive rock group “Cerafim” and the power pop band “Eleven:11″.  Jim has recorded 7 independent albums (as artist); since A&M/UMG; “night parachuting” (1992), “spearmint lake” (1994), temple (1998), a collection of vintage remastered songs on “old friends” (2006) and his latest trilogy, ONE LIFE, TWO LIVES & THREE LIVES (2020). Various tracks from “night parachuting” continue to receive airplay on Toronto’s CHUM-FM and CHFI (evening programming), amongst dozens of other stations across Canada. One of his composition/recordings,  “ricepaper dancer” (night parachuting) was the opening and closing theme for the nationally syndicated radio show “Steps Ahead”, during the 90′s hosted by John Kares.

Jim has been nominated for a Juno Award as “Most Promising Male Vocalist” in 1985 (first ballot), and served as a Juno Award judge in the “Recording Engineer of the Year” category from 1992 – 1998, as well as having scored numerous national television commercials for various ad agencies, television shows, documentaries and corporate audio-visual productions.  Jim continues as a writer/blogger and media composer in Toronto.

Bio by Ingrid Müller (updated by Jim Lamarche)

.

.

The trilogy features works from a variety of composers whose pieces I have downloaded from YouTube and fleshed out in Logic Audio and Final Cut.  About a handful of these tracks/clips are original compositions/songs; some are morphed combinations (mine w/others) and others are edited/remixed tracks composed by others (credits/links provided).  All other music on this site is original (Temple Redux, Night Parachuting, Old Friends), composed & performed by Jim Lamarche.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years, listening to what would appear to be an infinite number of chillstep/ambient (downtempo, psybient) compilations in YouTube; being quite attracted to the sounds & images they convey.  There are hundreds of young composers from all over the world who dabble in it, most in their early 20’s (relatively unknown), all created in humble little electronic studios usually in their apartments/flats etc.  That said; there are about a dozen composers (featured in the trilogy), who are truly gifted.  Some are in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Russia and South America.  I’m betting most have day jobs and live modestly.  There is certainly no shortage of good music in this world.

Honestly, 99+% of the tracks I hear on the compilations are quite average but occasionally I stumble upon a piece that is truly spectacular.  In that 4 – 6 minute source music clip, there’s usually a lengthy sample (1-2 minutes) where the magic really presents itself.  I typically focus on that 1 – 2 minutes … cutting the rest out, re-arranging the sample in Logic Audio, stretching it out (copy/paste) followed by extensive automation (levels, EQ, time based processing), before adding more synths then voices.  It’s what I call a remix.  As for the visuals?  Same.  In the process of finishing the music mix, I see pictures of what a video could look like, then search in YouTube, often looking at dozens of clips before finding something (or a few things) that work before downloading and working them into Final Cut.

If you want to hear more of this music genre that I speak of, then just go to YouTube and input ‘chillstep, ambient’ into the search bar.  There are thousands of compilations there.  Notable hosts/sites are below.

Fluidified:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTPjZ7UC8NgcZI8UKzb3rLw

Ambient:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm3-xqAh3Z-CwBniG1u_1vw

Mr. Suicide Sheep:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5nc_ZtjKW1htCVZVRxlQAQ

BLUME:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq22aK0t0mrOEq676Be4ezw

.


JIM LAMARCHE/MUSIC:

BLOGSPOT:  http://jimlamarche.blogspot.ca/
OR IN THE SERIES:  http://www.jimlamarche.ca/onelife/
TEMPLE INTERACTIVE MEDIA:   http://www.jimlamarche.ca/temple/

EMAIL:
jimlamarche@sympatico.ca

.

NATIVE TONGUE – ONE LIFE

.

jim lamarche (w/ben woods, Ak & mapps) – native tongue from Jim Lamarche

.