Issue: Week of March 7, 2003

COMPOSER HALL GIVES PROPELLER A SPIN

NEW YORK - Veteran composer Doug Hall has gone out on his own, launching the full-service music company Propeller (www.propellermusic.com) last month. Partnering with former MTV producer Iris Schaffer, Hall has created a boutique facility dedicated to providing innovative original music and sound design.

Hall is a former Elias/NY senior composer and co-owner/creative force behind the Clio-winning Mess Hall Music. Most recently, he made his talents available on a freelance basis.

"What I've missed most while freelancing was not having direct contact with agency creatives," says Hall. "One of my strengths is being able to draw out the information I need when I talk to them about their projects. It really puts clients at ease when they know that a composer begins the creative process with a clear understanding of their vision."

Adept at musical genres from orchestral to techno, jazz to hip hop, Hall has demonstrated his stylistic versatility in more than 1,000 commercial tracks for advertisers such as UPS, MasterCard, Visa, Jeep, Calvin Klein, Mercedes Benz and Sprite. While working with Mess Hall, Hall contributed to spots for BMW, Citibank and AT&T. Most recently he made himself available on a freelance basis, scoring spots for such clients as Dodge, Andersen Windows, Playmobil, Aqua Fresh and Crest.

Executive producer Iris Schaffer has a background specializing in the area where creativity meets business. She is a nine-year veteran of MTV where her duties included producing special events with CEO Tom Freston. As VPof client services at ASA Creative, she implemented a division for broadcast and new media. Schaffer is also an experienced vocalist and recording artist.

Propeller's West 45th Street studio features a moderately-sized live room designed by acoustical architect John Storyk. The MIDI composing room, with a view of Rockefeller Center, is outfitted with the latest version of MOTU's Digital Performer running on a dual 2 GHz Power Mac G5, complete with Apple's 23-inch Cinema Display. The suite also offers a variety of soft synths and other music software, as well as an inventory of analog pre amps and outboard processing gear.