Welcome to Dexterous Productions.com
We are a local Portland company doing business since 2005. We specialize in live sound and recording services for bands, parties, weddings, and numerous organizations. We can help your band sound great on stage and off, we can help you with sound at an event when it counts the most, and now we even offer video services. Please click the booking link at the top of the page and email us or call 541-913-5601 if you have any questions or would like a price quote for a live event, recording, or even a PA rental. Thank you for visiting our site!
News
June 9th, 2008
This episode was huge for us. The number of views this video got in the first few days was pretty impressive. As far as sound goes, I was beat by the time soundcheck rolled around and I wish I had a bit more energy to get the drums dialed in a bit more and get a better room sound. We decided it would be best to run an in ear mix for this shoot so we could cut down on both the gear we had to pack and overall sound during the shoot. This worked fairly well and we’ll be doing more of this in the future. We are considering even moving to an aviom mix to expedite any monitor mixing that might hold us up. Go to www.aviom.com for more info on their product. Clem does good work all around so he made up for most of this in the mix. Dirty Mittens is a fun group of kids, a good snapshot of Portland Indy for sure.
Audio Credits
mixed by Clem Abercrombie in Chicago, IL
recorded by James Jacobsen
Don’t wait another day to sign up for thepennyjam.com’s weekly newsletter. You’ll get the info on the current week’s video and stay in the know by finding out what we’ve got lined up for next week.
June 1st, 2008
oregonlive.com: The Penny Jam, The Grokkers, and Ninkasi Brewing make Oregonian Living!
On may 31st The Grokkers played a free show at the Green Dragon to promote their new penny jam video and ninkasi sponsorship. John Foyston, the local brewmaster writer, covered the event quite nicely in the Saturday edition of the Oregonian’s Living section. Check it out Here!.
May 30th, 2008
This was one of the most fun episodes that we have done to date for sure. We had a great time at the green dragon and I would invite everyone to check it out. During the recording I had planned to get a real tight sound by close miking everything until Clem found a great reverb chamber near the back of the room. This changed my whole look at the video and we changed its feel quite a bit. Matt did a pretty good job on the mix by making the sound huge.
Audio Credits
mixed by Matt Huiskamp
recorded by Clem Abercrombie, James Jacobsen, and Matt Huiskamp
May 25th, 2008
commissionersam.com: Aesetic Junkies Video on Sam Adams Website!
The Penny Jam has been trying to promote both local business and music since its beginning. As the weather begins to turn the corner this summer we have found some great outdoor locations to shoot some videos. One of these is the Aesetic Junkies shoot we did under the St. Johns Bridge. The city thought we did a good enough job and wanted to promote what we are doing. Thanks Portland!
May 16th, 2008
localcut.wweek.com: Dykeritz Video makes local cut!
This is the second time the penny jam has made meet made the local cut (WW’s online music blog). We are very proud od this and the Video as well.
May 13th, 2008
thepennyjam.com: episode VII uploaded
Dykeritz performing “Big Drapes” @ The Grass Hut
This is the most dynamic penny jam we have done without a doubt. As far as sound goes there wasn’t a whole lot of work to do. We focused on getting a great sound on the drums as they were the only analog instrument in the band. Much thanks to Matt as he chopped up some of the tracks and cleaned them up and did a swell good on the mix. Overall this episode may be the best one we have done to date.
Audio Credits
mixed by Matt Huiskamp
recorded by Clem Abercrombie, James Jacobsen, and Matt Huiskamp
New Album In Stores July 8th
May 7th, 2008
Penny Jam Vol 1 Viewing @ Holocene : JULY 2nd!
THE PENNY JAM VOL 1
Come celebrate with us and watch the completion of the the first ten episodes of the Penny Jam at Holocene. Volume one contains such bands as: The Morals, Dikeritz, Magic Johnson, Dirty Mittens, and many more. There will be an hour long viewing and performances from special guests (some of which will be penny jammers). Help us show Portland that we deserve a consistent and well behaved weekly video podcast. If you act now I’ll give you a free hug at Holocene!
Don’t wait another day to sign up for thepennyjam.com’s weekly newsletter. You’ll get the info on the current week’s video and stay in the know by finding out what we’ve got lined up for next week.
May 4th, 2008
thepennyjam.com: episode VI uploaded
The Ascetic Junkies performing “Gone Shooting” @ St. Johns Bridge
The Ascetic Junkies were a pleasure to work with even in the rain, wind, and snow as we found ourselves that grey day. Clem made the decision to use one microphone (Matt’s Groves Tube Omni Condensor) as it paid off. The band has a style all its own and I wouldn’t be suprised to see them find sucess in Portland elsewhere.
Audio Credits
mixed by Clemeth Abercrombie
recorded by Clem Abercrombie, James Jacobsen, and Matt Huiskamp
April 24th, 2008
thepennyjam.com: episode V uploaded
The Morals performing “Call Me” @ The Bipartisian Cafe
Election season is in full swing and The Morals are the perfect voice to tell you to VOTE! This episode is simple: one guitar and one voice. We did pretty good with the sound this one. Tell me what you think.
Audio Credits
mixed and recorded by James Jacobsen
April 21th, 2008
localcut.wweek.com: Penny Jam makes local cut!
After the penny jam’s 4th episode (Magic Johnson @ The Dollar Saver) Willamette Week’s local cut took notice of its quality craft and content. Make sure to read the story.
April 18th, 2008
thepennyjam.com: episode IV uploaded
Magic Johnson performing “Pasu Su Mecha” and “Aver Que” @ The Dollar Scholar
Magic Johnson was an interesting band to both listen to and record. Their sound, although like many others, is still quite uniqice. Their presentation is full of energy, relentless attack, crashing cymbals, and o yea - spanish wisdom! Their one two punch combo is enough to get a crowd rowdy for sure.
Audio Credits
mixed and recorded by James Jacobsen
April 8th, 2008
Pitchfork.tv: Pitchfork creates new music video site
There is a large gap in quality between internet sources such as youtube and what could be referred to as MTV quality (at least back when they played music videos). A few video hosting sites such as vimeo.com have sprung up, in response to this large quality gap. These sites allow HD quality material to arrive at your computer with no extra cost to the user or creator. With the emergence of sites such as pitchfork.tv and even Oregon’s own opbmusic.org, quality music video content will grow and flourish on the internet. Pitchfork’s new music video site aims to do many of the same things as the pennyjam.com They both strive to offer quality bands, music, and overall content but they differ in one important area. The penny jam places bands in unique locations which lends itself to a native’s view of Portland music- it’s everywhere. If I had a dime for every basement show I heard about, I might have a couple extra clams in my pocket (hey, that’s a lot of shows). Besides, the penny jam’s main goal is to publicize portland bands and businesses. Bands, business, and the penny jam all growing together, what could be better? All said, Portland is not everywhere and pitchfork.tv is a great leap toward quality music content on the internet.
James
dexpro
Pitchfork.tv Takes a Stab at Music Videos
Sensing a gap between MTV’s cheesy reality shows and YouTube’s labyrinth of pixelized musical treasures, music tastemaker Pitchfork Media plans to launch a video section Monday that will showcase live performances and other original content.
The video selections won’t include the news and reviews that have made Pitchfork so widely read. Rather than meting out ratings, Pitchfork.tv will serve up band interviews, music videos and even feature-length films at higher quality than is standard online.
“There are a lot of people doing really cool stuff with music and video on the web, but in terms of clean, crisp audio and video recordings, there’s really nothing out there,” said Ryan Schreiber, Pitchfork’s founder and editor-in-chief. “[We’re] really documenting the music that we like and that we feel is vital.”
With more than 60 sessions in the can, Pitchfork.tv will launch with original sessions from Man Man, Liars, A Place to Bury Stangers, The Thermals, Jay Reatard and others. Utilizing a mobile 16-track Pro Tools setup and at least three high-end cameras, the operation is shaping up to be the Peel Sessions of online video…
Read the rest of the story @ Wired.com
April 1st, 2008
thepennyjam.com: episode III uploaded
Chris Boone performing “Stalker Girl” and “Ball and Chain” @ Loprinzi’s Gym
I have to say I don’t think I ever pictured myself recording a band in a gym, but a gym it was and a great one at that. Chris Boone and company attempt what other Portland bands are beginning to see as a reoccurring theme in local music: the reemergence of the steel guitar. Packing a Standup Bass as well, they provided us with a taste of good old local Americana. I have to say I could not stop thinking about Jesse Ventura the whole time I was there, I guess that’s normal though.
Audio Credits
mixed and recorded by James Jacobsen
March 25th, 2008
thepennyjam.com: episode II uploaded
The Good Ship Astoria performing “Tried so hard” @ Crazy Karl’s Rug and Furniture Store
I have little doubt that this episode of the penny jam will go down as one of my all time favorites. The Good Ship Astoria are simply good people and quite simply that is an ingredient for good music. I never knew it but the backroom of a furniture store can be one of the most intimate places in the world under the right circumstances. The song, “Tried so Hard” is stripped down and quite formulaic in a way that gets right to the point. Most importantly there is nothing to do but confront this song’s argument. Honestly, listen for yourself!
Audio Credits
mixed and recorded by James Jacobsen
March 11th, 2008
thepennyjam.com: episode I uploaded
Canoe performing “Audrey and Eli” @ the Monochrome Gallery
What can I say Canoe is a great band with a great chance of being even better, their music speaks for itself. The gallery was quite fitting for their style and we couldn’t have planned our first penny jam much better. Thanks to Clem for all the help and the support.
Audio Credits
mixed by Clemeth Abercrombie
recorded by Clem Abercrombie and James Jacobsen
Feb 15th, 2008
Coming this March Dexterous Productions, in collaboration with New Medicine Design and Sean Whiteman, will be bringing you the penny jam - portland music everywhere. Every week a new local band will be filmed and recorded at various Portland locations and businesses. The goal of the site is promote both local music and businesses all over town. The idea is along the same lines sites like Burn to Shine or The Takeaway shows. Look for a new show every week!