Friday, December 04, 2020

WYSIWYG Online Scene Segue Love to Lust

Here's a master track of the online scene right before the finale in WYSIWYG. There are 2 songs (Up to Us and Secret Admirer) with a short recitative in the middle. The scene takes place online and the songs represent the juxtaposition of love and lust on the web. The singers are Tony Domenick, Blake Nawa'a and Anne Jenness and all the segments were recorded remotely in October and November 2020.


Preparing for an audition? WTH...download the public domain sheet music for "Up to Us" and "Secret Admirer" from our website and sing along with the SOUNDCLOUD rehearsal tracks to practice your part. Good Luck!

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

DIY 20 Dollar PDF document page turner

So I’ve been learning to play the accordion lately and I'm now at the point where I can read accordion sheet music arrangements fairly well. There are definitely some nuances with the notation to get used to. Also, it's just not that easy to turn your sheet music with the instrument between you and the music stand. I like reading digital music on my tablet, but it still feels clumsy to swipe the page and get reacclimated all in time. WTH… these accordion arrangements can have a lot of pages! If you're using PDF documents here's an easy, cheap way to make a Bluetooth enabled footpad to go forward and backward in your music. 


Sunday, October 18, 2020

Accordion Music at the Cheeseman Park Pavilion

Over the last few years I've been working on a new Musical with playwright Mark Sbani about the Peoples Republic of Eigg, as it's been jokingly referred to in the Scottish media. So back in July, I decided to learn how to play the accordion and figure out how to fit it into the ensemble. I had never written for a Ceilidh band, but I love the music, the people and the atmosphere of this little place and WTH...it's just another keyboard...right? 🎭😀



Tuesday, September 22, 2020

My first acting competition

In 1974, I participated in the state forensics festival at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Our team placed third overall and I received third place honors for dramatic interpretation. The event was sponsored by NSDA (National Speech and Debate Association). Everyone back home was so excited and supportive.

Funny, I'm not sure I had ever been out of the Parkersburg area before that; in any case, the support helped more than anyone may ever know. It's been such a wonderful ride since then and I've made so many great friends in the performing arts along the way.

Wednesday, September 09, 2020

Hugs for all those alsup.org website peeps

It's really nice to find out your website is getting visitors from all sorts of cool places around the world. I wish I could have given each of you a hug when you arrived. The site has had roughly 10,000 visits, 5,000 users, 30,000 page views and the average time on the site is almost 5 minutes now. WTH...here's your belated hug! 🤗

Alsup Website Peeps


Friday, August 14, 2020

"I'm in it for good" with Blake Nawa'a

Here's a master track of "I'm in it for good" sung by Blake Nawa'a, August 2020. The vocal recording, mixing and mastering were actually done remotely. It's rewarding to finish a song, it takes a lot of time and there are a lot of moving parts; fortunately, there's a nice sense of accomplishment when it's all done. Great job everyone...Enjoy!


Preparing for an audition? WTH...download our public domain Sheet Music for "I'm in it for good" and sing along then use SOUNDCLOUD rehearsal tracks to practice your part. Good Luck!

Friday, May 15, 2020

Denver Voyage Interview (May 2020)

I was recently selected as one of Denver's most inspiring stories by Voyage Denver. To read the interview and see all the pictures select the link below. I guess I find it hard to articulate my past, but WTH...it's nice to get recognized for who I am today.

Denver Voyage May 2020



Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Rehearsal track for "HOOPLA"

Here's our latest rehearsal track for "Hoopla". We added a cowbell and a baritone sax to enhance the groove in the second verse to really get things going. You can review all the new rehearsal tracks at the WYSIWYG website by selecting the submenu "Performance Materials" under "The Work" menu.


Preparing for an audition? WTH...download our public domain Sheet Music for "Hoopla" and use SOUNDCLOUD to rehearse your part. Good Luck!

Friday, February 21, 2020

Rehearsal track for "ONLY THE LONELY"

Here's our latest rehearsal track for "Only the lonely". We've added a bridge where Denise reminisces visiting the Latin Quarter in Paris with her husband Ron, but the scene quickly deteriorates as she comes back to reality. You can review all the new rehearsal tracks at the WYSIWYG website by selecting the submenu "Performance Materials" under "The Work" menu.


Preparing for an audition? WTH...now you can download our public domain Sheet Music for "Only the Lonely" and use SOUNDCLOUD to rehearse your part. Good Luck!

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Rehearsal Track for "ALL MEN WANT IS SEX"

We've been enhancing the musical accompaniment for WYSIWYG lately and we'd like to provide a professional audio track for every song in the performance package in the near future, go to the WYSIWYG website for the new materials.


Preparing for an audition? WTH...download our public domain Sheet Music for "ALL MEN WANT IS SEX" and use SOUNDCLOUD to rehearse your part. Good Luck!

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Using the Insta360 One X while Skiing in Breckenridge

The Insta360 One X is a nice supplement for your next ski trip. It's really easy to put the One X (or any 360° camera) on a selfie stick and capture footage of your ski partner and frame it up in Premiere using the GoPro keyframe effects add-in. There's several bullet time examples using a string to swing the camera included too. I suggest using Google Earth to find a ski in/out facility with access to a remote place to fly your drone for a nice aerial photo to start and end your video and WTH... just use VideoPad to add a title and a sound track.



Friday, December 06, 2019

Blossoms of Light Virtual Tour at Denver Botanic Garden

This year I had the opportunity to shoot a 360 video at Blossoms of Lights in the Denver Botanic Garden. I mounted an Insta 360 1X on a selfie stick and walked the tour. It was hit or miss since I was shooting lots of static photos too; in any case, WTH...I know I could get smoother, higher quality footage mounting the camera on a drone and shooting in cinematic mode, but I would need to coordinate with the Gardens on something like that.

Apple iPhones require a 360° plugin like VLC.


Tuesday, November 19, 2019

DJI Aerial Photography Academy Training Course Gathering

I couldn't help accepting an invitation to attend the 2019 DJI Aerial Photography Academy training course in Denver this week. It was hosted by two former DJI employees and they did a nice job of delivering the inside scoop on the drone industry (past and present), as well as, insight on the tips and tricks professional photographers are using to get the most out of the technology.

DJI Denver course Sold Out Embassy Suite DJI course Denver training center
I would recommend this course for anyone interested in Aerial Photography using DJI products. They discussed the in and outs related to; government regulations and guidelines, business opportunities and best practices, as well as, how to get the best results using the plethora of hardware and software tools out there to make it all happen. WTH...it was nice to sit with people from all walks of life and hear the different ways they were using the technology.

DJI photography course training materials April Alsup DJI training Certificate


Thursday, October 24, 2019

Shooting 360° videos and framing in post production

I've been experimenting with 360° videos lately. In an earlier post I showed an interactive 360° video using the Ricoh Theta SC mounted on top of a drone. It's 4K, but I think the overall quality suffers a bit due to capturing the entire sphere. The Insta360 One X camera is 5K, but it has similar quality issues. The Ricoh Theta Z1 has a 1" sensor, so WTH...perhaps I'll see if I can get my hands on it.

In any event, it was pretty easy to capture footage with the Insta360 One X on a selfie stick and frame the results in post using Premiere and the GoPro keyframe plugin. Think of it as 360° video that you can frame from any angle on the sphere in post processing.



Thursday, October 10, 2019

2019 Colorado Fall Foliage

I couldn't resist shooting one more day of Fall foliage around Clear Creek, Georgetown and Quanella Pass. All the leaves drop off this time of year and it's so hard to get around after the first snow storm, but WTH...it's Colorado, it'll be 70° by the weekend!



Thursday, September 26, 2019

Mounting a 360 degree camera on a drone

I've been experimenting with shots using a 360 degree camera (Theta SC) mounted on a drone (Mavic 2 Pro). There's some issues, but WTH...it's new functionality and it goes with the territory; in any case, just click and drag your mouse over the video to explore the video. My guess is we'll start seeing more of this sort of thing.

Apple iPhones require a 360° plugin like VLC.


Wednesday, September 04, 2019

Adventure United Kingdom

I spent a little over a week in the United Kingdom this Summer, WTH...you have to get out and see new places and make new friends every once in a while. I arrived in Edinburgh from Munich for the last weekend of EIF and Fringe and stayed at the University. It was rocking and certainly a must do for all theatre enthusiasts. After three days of taking in the festivities it was off to Derbyshire to visit the area my ancestors came from and then to Liverpool for some Beatle nostalgia.

April Alsup at Edinburgh Fringe

April Alsup in Alsop en la Dale April Alsup in Massacre Cave on Eigg
Next stop was the Isle of Eigg. I've been writing songs about this place for several years now and visiting the island did not disappoint me. I made new friends from Ayr, met Charlie and Maggie, explored Massacre Cave and even took a run on the "Singing Sands" of Laig Bay. It was really a great experience.

Saturday, August 31, 2019

EIF and Fringe 2019, That's a wrap!

I traveled across the the pond to experience EIF and Fringe this year. The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) is an annual event of performing arts in Scotland. I saw three shows and took in the night walk too. It was nice meeting some of the creative folks for the festival. The shows here are innovative and WTH...let's figure out how to get WYSIWYG here. 😊


Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Adventure Deutschland

I spent a week in Deutschland this August with old friends. WTH...It's important to get out and actually live life once in a while. My dad had an expression, "live to work?", "work to live?"; in any case, I have a close friend in Augsburg and he is always ready to take on another adventure. After seeing some local sites around Bavaria we traveled north to Leipzig and Dessau in old East Germany. It was great visiting the area and catching up.

April Alsup in Leipzig

April Alsup in Augsburg


Friday, August 09, 2019

Creating an online newsroom using a green screen

Putting together the newsroom for an online TV channel with limited resources can be challenging, but WTH...I've been working with green screens for decades and I'm familiar with the plethora of hardware and software needed to make it happen. Fortunately, my apartment has high ceilings.
I think the question and answer format simplifies the process and allows us to quickly develop a script for each episode. In most cases, our work flow consists of capturing each part separately and bringing it all together in post. Here's our first ReThink Baptist TV episode: The Soul Box Project.