Before creating any of the Growler programs, I composed and produced music for clients - songs, program themes, promos, ads, documentaries. I have a recording studio and the tools that enable me to apply very sophisticated techniques to the production of music and audio. It is very common in the tv world to use 100+ sound elements, plus multiple tracks of music on a 30 second commercial. But, unfortunately, the application of this high a level of audio production is never used on childrens' audio programs.

       When my children were born, as I searched the marketplace on their behalf, I made a very disappointing discovery. Despite the rapid advances in the recording technologies, very little of it was evident in programs for kids. That's when I committed to creating our two storytelling series, The Growler Tapes (Classic Series) and Growler Radio. The idea was to use the power of the new technologies to manipulate both music and sound to tell stories more impactfully. I wanted to create stories that were listening experiences - audiodrama - performed rather than narrated, in an audio rich context.

       Now, after many years of fine tuning the techniques that make Growlers unique, Baby Growlers is finally ready. It's a music series for kids 2-6 that is innovative in the ways that distinguish all Growler programs: intelligent content, nontraditional thinking, and very high production standards. In this series, it's all in the music. I know that children respond to music of all kinds. But music that specifically speaks to children does so by showing them that they are connected to what they are hearing. Baby Growlers does this, not by limiting the vocabulary, but by expanding the audio palette to include a world that they are already familiar with - sounds. Each cd is packed with songs subversively written from a kid's point of view, sung by our unusual characters, and produced with an eclectic potpouri of instruments. On each cd, I make an effort to introduce a few songs in which animals and sounds are used as surrogates for instruments. You can always expect at least one dinosaur event, and there's always a musical mystery. It's all adds up to a fun musical experience like no other. My goal with Baby Growlers is to get kids dancing, laughing, thinking, and especially, listening carefully.

The Voices of Growlerville

       If you're familiar with Growlers, you know that the voices of the main characters are unusual. One of the many unique features of these programs is character presentation. We have a cast that represents a widely varied citizenry, from the tiny Mother Huhu to the huge Growler Fred. Their voices are a concoction of human vocal talent and elegant processing, which results in the truly unique characters that populate Growlerville. Here is more information on these characters: The Huhu's Who's Who.

       Also, throughout the Baby Growler series I introduce the use of animals as musical voices. Some of you may be wondering how I get my animals to sing both rhythmically and in tune. The answer is one you've no doubt heard before. It's practice, practice, practice. Sampling technology helps a little, but certain individual animals are naturals at voicing. As we all know, luck always plays a role in the distribution of talent. Finding the talented ones is the key. We're proud of our animals, including The Ducks, Moo, Divine Bovine, The Famous Pigs, Dude & The Kitties, The Goose Cadets, Of Course, The Frogs, Big George & Moscow, Chicken Little & the Squawkers, etc. They all rock!