For the first time since the organization was formed in 1998, the national Assn. of Music Producers recently elected a Chicago-based president.
Larry Pecorella, creative director and partner in Comma Music and Particle sound design, is leading the some 80 music companies AMP members nationwide that represent the sound of music in advertising.
With national headquarters in New York, AMP is similar to AICE in that it establishes guidelines for standards and practices throughout the start-to-finish process of creating high-quality advertising music and sound design.
One of his goals as president, says Pecorella, an original founder of AMP, “is to rebuild and reinvigorate the Midwest chapter and bring up the stature of Chicago again,” referring to a time not so long ago when Chicago’s large number of music houses and talent made the city a thriving center of advertising music.
“I also want to establish rapport with agency music producers,” he adds.
Chicago AMP members include Bang Music, Catfish Music, Comma Music, earhole, Steve Ford Music, John Mennella’s id Music and Secret Frequency.
Sidebar: STORY’S Mark Androw as a previous national AICP president was the only other Chicagoan to head a national advertising trade organization.
IN OTHER COMMA/PARTICLE NEWS: Particle has formed a Latino recording, design and mixing division called Onda (translates into “waves,” as in sea or audio waves).
It’s led by executive producer Luz Agudelo, a Columbian native, who had been an associate producer with David Axelrod’s former AKPD political consultancy, and sound designer Steven Aguilar, from Costa Rica, previously with Towers Productions.
The new company also utilizes lead sound designer Kate Mindeman and sound designer Dominic Morris when required.
Recent projects have been the rerecording in Spanish of a licensed English track made by Canadian band Mother Mother for Kraft Bright Ideas/mcgarrybowen and Spanish-language tracks for Bush’s Beans for Lapiz, Leo Burnett’s Latino division and Orbit gum for Bravo, Y&R’s Latino division.
