The Art of Listening is a feature documentary film about the journey music takes to reach a listener’s ear, from the intent of an instrument maker and composer, to the producers and engineers who capture and preserve an artist’s voice. This journey is narrated by intimate conversations with artists, engineers and producers about the philosophy of their work and the intent behind each musical note they create.

This film is an invitation for music fans to rediscover the intricacies and details available in their favorite recordings. The Art of Listening is the beginning of a conversation of how the quality of our listening experiences define the medium.

The film was produced with Sony Electronics and premiered at SXSW in 2017 and was featured on Youtube accumulating 1.3 million views.

SOUNDTRACK

The Art of Listening (Original Score Soundtrack) is a collection of 10 cinematic vignettes created to color the scenes of the feature music documentary The Art of Listening. As the film narrates the journey sound takes, from imagination and composition into a physical experience, the music embodies a sense of depth and reverence for the creative process. This work was composed as improvisations with Moog Guitar, analog gear, and a tape machine, while watching each scene in the film. The moody guitar lines, and rich chords, take on a kind of warm light in the film, expressing a timeless tone and texture of sound.

Composed, mixed and mastered by Christopher Willits at the Overlap Studio in Oakland, CA and "Winding" mastered by Scott Hansen.

PURCHASE THE SOUNDTRACK: BANDCAMP / SPOTIFY / SOUNDCLOUD

TEAM

Michael Coleman - Director/Cinematographer/Editor
Michael is an accomplished documentary director whose behind­-the-­scenes work has been featured in such films as Director Brett Morgen’s, The Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane, Director Cameron Crowe's, Pearl Jam Twenty, Director Nimrod Antal’s, Metallica: Through the Never and Aerosmith’s multi platinum film, You Gotta Move. Michael is also the creator of the SoundWorks Collection video series which profiles the talent behind audio post-production and original soundtrack compositions.

Emmanuel Moran ­ - Director/Cinematographer/Editor
Emmanuel is a documentary filmmaker whose film and television credits include Director Morgan Spurlock’s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Mansome, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, A Day In the Life, Inside Man, Director Ellen Goosenberg’s Wartorn and No Dog Left Behind. With a background and focus in music production he also continues to produce music for film.

Sebastian Weinberg - Producer
Sebastian is a New York based producer. Working at Morgan Spurlock’s production company Warrior Poets, he produced and managed multiple films, television programs and short-form content. Previous projects include 7 Deadly Sins, Morgan Spurlock Inside Man, Dark Horse Nation, Losing It with John Stamos, Mansome , The Dotted Line, A Day In The Life , Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope , and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Christopher Willits - Composer
Christopher is a grammy nominated musician, visual artist and teacher who believes that music and art can catalyze inner change. Willits combines his guitar-based ambient electronic music and his own filmmaking into immersive audiovisual experiences. Multiple solo albums and collaborations with the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Tycho, have accounted for a diverse catalog of over 25 albums over the last 15 years. Willits is the founder of the music and education platform Overlap, and Envelop, a 3D immersive audio platform currently constructing a venue in San Francisco.

Steve Boeddecker - Re-recording Mixer & Sound Design
Steve joined Skywalker Sound in 1995 as an assistant sound designer for The Frighteners and Mars Attacks!  He began his career in sound creating high end audio libraries for digital sampling keyboards at companies such as Emu, Akai and Roland.  He did freelance CD mastering and was a professional products manager for Digidesign/AVID.  While at the Saul Zaentz Film Company Boeddeker did sound design for his first feature film project, David Fincher’s thriller Seven.  Past film projects include Creed, Bridge of Spies, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, Pixels, Chappie, A Most Violent Year, All is Lost, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, TRON: Legacy.