#Aaron 'Heatbox' Heaton

[jules-has-notes]

2014 Sing-Off tour

For the first time since the start of the series, The Sing-Off tapped into their deep pool of talented groups and took a few of them on the road in early 2014. Season 4 winners Home Free were joined by 4th and 5th place groups The Filharmonic and VoicePlay for a 6-week whirlwind tour across the contiguous U.S. They were joined at most shows by other past Sing-Off competitors and/or professional a cappella groups.

In addition to the rotating roster of guests, there were a couple surprise cast changes. Emoni Wilkins from Ten took over for Honey Larochelle with VoicePlay. And with Adam Rupp on paternity leave for the first half of the tour, Home Free recruited Aaron "Heatbox" Heaton to fill in on percussion.

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Rehearsals

All three groups worked on their individual sets before arriving in chilly upstate New York, but then they had just two days of intensive rehearsals to learn, relearn, and refine elements of the full show before they hit the road.

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Performances

The program for the shows was a nice mix of fan-favorite pieces from the competition, established material from the groups' repertoires, and new songs. All of the tour dates were professionally recorded, but no official compilation of the full show has been released publicly, so I've done my best to reconstruct the setlists and find the best quality recordings available.

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Group opener

Fun. medley — "Some Nights" / "We Are Young" / "Carry On" (7 March 2014 — Atlantic City, NJ)

What better way to kick off the tour shows than with the medley that started the television season? And with just three groups instead of all ten, some different singers got a chance to take the lead.

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The Filharmonic set

"This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan (1 March — Philadelphia, PA)

"Treasure" by Bruno Mars (7 March 2014 — Atlantic City, NJ)

"I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith (7 March 2014 — Atlantic City, NJ)

"It's Gonna Be Me" by the Backstreet Boys (1 March — Philadelphia, PA)

"One More Night" by Maroon 5 (7 March 2014 — Atlantic City, NJ)

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sing-off — VoicePlay vs. The Filharmonic — "Bye Bye Bye" by *NSYNC (8 March 2014 — Mohegan Sun casino in CT)

VoicePlay's first brush with elimination during the competition came in the very first episode. For the tour, The Filharmonic stepped into the Princeton Footnotes' spot to create a 6-on-6 battle-style performance as a transition between their sets.

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VoicePlay set

"Love On Top" by Beyoncé (20 February — Boston, MA)

"Can't Believe It" by Flo Rida, feat. Pitbull (7 March — Atlantic City, NJ)

Road Trip medley (20 February — Boston, MA)

A Crimpella medley (7 March — Atlantic City, NJ)

"Don't Speak" by No Doubt (20 February — Boston, MA)

"Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry (7 March — Atlantic City, NJ)

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sing-off — VoicePlay vs. Home Free — "Survivor" by Destiny's Child (8 March 2014 — Mohegan Sun casino in CT)

Since neither VoicePlay or Home Free were in danger during episode 4 of The Sing-Off, they used the arrangements they'd prepared to make a very fun music video. The tour producers liked it, too, so they used it as part of the transition between the two groups.

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The (Extra) Ultimate Beat-Off (29 March 2014 — Hollywood, CA)

The beatboxers from all three groups teamed up in an incredible demonstration of vocal percussion and sound effects. On the final night of the tour, Heatbox — Home Free's sub for the first couple weeks during Adam's paternity leave — rejoined Layne, Niko, and Adam for an extra entertaining four-man jam session.

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sing-off — The Filharmonic vs. Home Free — "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins (9 March — Amherst, NY (U. of Buffalo))

During episode 5 of the competition, all of the remaining groups were paired off for ultimate sing-off battles. Home Free and The Filharmonic teamed up to create a performance so delightful that they had to include it in the tour shows.

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Home Free set

"Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line (15 March — Chicago, IL)

"Colder Weather" by Zac Brown Band (20 March — Milwaukee, WI)

"Your Man" by Josh Turner (8 March 2014 — Mohegan Sun casino in CT)

"Wake Me Up" by Avicii (20 February — Boston, MA)

Guilty Pleasures medley (8 March 2014 — Mohegan Sun casino in CT) ** with Heatbox's guilty pleasure (20 February — Boston, MA)

"Life Is A Highway" by Rascal Flatts (27 March — San Francisco, CA)

"Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash (29 March 2014 — Hollywood, CA)

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Group closer

"Please Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna / "Wanna Be Starting Something" by Michael Jackson (29 March 2014 — Hollywood, CA)

Since they had the two main groups who performed it on the show, the arrangers took the final section of the opening medley from the Party Anthems episode and reconfigured it for the tour. By expanding the sample in the original song, they added some audience participation to create an even bigger finish.

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Encore

"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen (27 March — San Francisco, CA)

After the high of the closing number, the groups eased the audience down to earth by bringing things back to basics. No microphones, no amplification of any kind. Just seventeen talented voices.

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Backstage & travel time

Like a lot of jobs in the performing arts, singers are often in a situation of hurry-up-and-wait. That can lead to downtime shenanigans.

And, of course, everyone wanted to look as good as they sounded.

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Downtime fun & other work

The tour schedule was fairly packed, but some folks did manage to get in some sight-seeing and extra curricular outings on their few days off.

Not to mention working on other projects during their free time.

And, of course, they had to keep their singing engines fueled by sampling the local cuisine.

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If you've made all the way through this monster of a post, all I can say is…

…and I hope you enjoyed it.

[game-refraction]

Heatbox Games’ ROBOTS IN THE WILD released on Steam Early Access

Developed by one-man studio Heatbox Games, Robots In The Wild has players build an impenetrable “robot fortress” to survive raids from fierce monsters (who come out only at night) and endure against deadly natural disasters.

Not long ago, Robots lived in peace on a massive mothership … until one day, they were hit by a gigantic asteroid scattering their Blocks (and more importantly, their <HEARTS>) across the galaxy. Since these are the most precious Robots of them all, it’s important that you keep them safe!

Build your Robo-fortress by rotating and strategically placing falling Blocks. Connect Blocks in different formations to build Robots, such as:

PewPewBot, which shoots lasers out of its mouth

LampBot, who lights up the darkest nights

DwellingBot, an essential Bot that produces four BatteryBots that deliver sweet power to your other Robots

(Make sure to keep everything connected through the Blocks power grid, since even the most energy efficient Robots still need a clear path to a BatteryBot.)

The Monsters are incredibly dangerous and come in many different forms. Some have many mouths, others explode on contact, and a few even stand on each other’s heads! Some are so massive that they can swallow your base up in one bite. Hurry up and get those defenses ready — because hungry alien Monsters wait for no man, woman or Robot. While Earth’s creatures like to sleep when it’s dark outside, these Monsters like to go “bump” in the night! You’d better build some LampBots; otherwise, you’re not going to see anything after the sun sets …

“Robots In the Wild is a game about building sweet Robot Citadels and running them efficiently. Crash landing on an alien world would be hard enough, but these ‘bots have to face hungry monsters … and enough natural disasters to fry any mainframe!” – Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton, CEO Heatbox Games

The following features have been added since the game has been Greenlit:

New boss fight

Gamepad support

More bonus challenge planets

Simulator mode: Create your own planets!

KEY FEATURES (core game)

Drop Blocks to build Robots and pathways, forming an interconnected fortress.

Build fun combinations of Robots to automate simple tasks.

Overcome the forces of nature from quicksand to volcanoes.

Use your Robots to outmaneuver and outmuscle a wide variety of intergalactic Monsters.

All sound effects and voices in Robots In The Wild were created and voiced by lead developer and professional beatboxer, Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton!  http://www.heatboxllc.com/media.asp

PRICING & AVAILABILITY

Robots In The Wild is now available on Steam Early Access for $9.99. The game is compatible with Windows and Mac.

Steam URL: http://store.steampowered.com/app/501270

Heatbox Games’ ROBOTS IN THE WILD released on Steam Early Access was originally published on Game-Refraction

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — Kiss From a Rose by Emoni

Many of the competitors from the fourth season of The Sing-Off were eager to keep working together after filming ended. Since Emoni appeared on VoicePlay's "Collide" album, they returned the favor by backing her up on this song for her own collaborative album.

Details:

title: Kiss From a Rose (feat. VoicePlay)

original performer: Seal

written by: Seal

release date: 6 June 2014

My favorite bits:

those gorgeous, swelling chords under Emoni's smooth scatting in the intro

the soft harmonic runs in the transition from the first verse to the chorus

the heartbeat-like rhythm of Layne's percussion

Eli's soulful melody and riffs in the second verse

Emoni's syncopation on ♫ "Did you know that when it snows" ♫

the fun audio panning starting with Earl's soaring lines in the bridge (Listen with headphones for the full effect.)

the mid-line hand-offs of the lyrics from Emoni to the boys in the final chorus

Trivia:

In addition to VoicePlay, Emoni also collaborated with vocal percussionist Aaron "Heatbox" Heaton, and VJ Rosales from The Filharmonic for other tracks on the album.

Emoni had previously collaborated with fellow Sing-Off season 4 alumni AcoUstiKats earlier in the year for their cover of Pitbull and Kesha's "Timber".

[game-refraction]

ROBOTS IN THE WILD hitting Steam Early Access Feb. 15 - Build your very own fortress to save vulnerable robot

Not long ago, Robots lived in peace on a massive mothership … until one day, they were hit by a gigantic asteroid scattering their Blocks (and more importantly, their <HEARTS>) across the galaxy. Since these are the most precious Robots of them all, it’s important that you keep them safe …

Build your robo-fortress by rotating and strategically placing falling Blocks using a Tetris-like ecosystem. Connect Blocks in different formations to build Robots, such as:

PewPewBot, which shoots lasers out of its mouth

LampBot, who lights up the darkest nights

DwellingBot, an essential Bot that produces four BatteryBots that deliver sweet power to your other Robots

… and many more!

There are even Robots that build Blocks to build other Robots! Make sure to keep everything connected through the Blocks power grid — because even the most energy efficient Robots still need a clear path for a BatteryBot.

The Monsters are incredibly dangerous and come in many different forms. Some have many mouths, and others explode on contact. There are even Monsters that stand on each other’s heads! Some are so massive that they can swallow your base up in one bite! Hurry up and get those defenses ready … because hungry alien Monsters wait for no man, woman or Robot. While Earth’s creatures like to sleep when it’s dark outside, these Monsters like to go “bump” in the night! You’d better build some LampBots; otherwise, you’re not going to see anything after the sun sets.

The following features have been added since the game has been Greenlit:

New boss fight

Gamepad support

More bonus challenge planets

Simulator mode: Create your own planets!

KEY FEATURES (core game)

Drop Blocks to build Robots and pathways, forming an interconnected fortress.

Overcome the forces of nature from quicksand to volcanoes.

Use your Robots to outmaneuver and outmuscle a wide variety of intergalactic Monsters.

Build fun combinations of Robots to automate simple tasks.

All sound effects and voices in Robots In The Wild were created and voiced by lead developer and CEO, Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton.

AVAILABILITY

Robots In The Wild will hit Steam Early Access just short of two weeks (Wednesday, February 15) for $7.99 — a 20% discount off the $9.99 retail price. The sale will end on Tuesday, February 21.  The game is compatible with Windows and Mac.

Steam URL:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/501270

About Heatbox Games

Heatbox Games was founded by Minneapolis beatboxer and game developer Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton. He has been developing Robots In The Wild by himself for the last four years — usually in between gigs on planes, vans, bullet trains, and in hotel rooms. Sticking to his roots, Heatbox made all of the SFX with his mouth! Robots In The Wild is his first commercial game. To learn more about Heatbox and Robots In The Wild, please visit http://www.heatboxllc.com and http://www.robots-in-the-wild.com.

ROBOTS IN THE WILD hitting Steam Early Access Feb. 15 – Build your very own fortress to save vulnerable robot was originally published on Game-Refraction