We're two musicians/film composers whose first names begin with J. We've served as composers, musicians, recording engineers, film music mixers, and, sometimes, music directors/supervisors for over 25 documentary and feature films. Some of the films we’ve worked on have received major awards, and Judy earned an Emmy for one of her documentary scores. We're also co-founding members of the alt-folk-rock band, The Horse Flies, and the indie rock band, Boy with a Fish, with whom we’ve done a lot of touring and have recorded 10 albums, some with a major label.
We love working on all kinds of films, but we especially appreciate films that address important social justice issues. We think film-making is vitally important in these deeply conflicted, challenging times. As a result, we’re committed to doing at least some social justice projects FOR FREE OR VERY LOW COST, as our schedule allows. If you’re working on an issue-driven film and feel you can’t afford music composed specifically for your project, please read on and consider getting in touch.
Documentaries we’ve worked on (for PBS and others), have focused on such topics as: the racial/racist history of a state park in North Carolina; the history of deaf culture and related civil/human rights struggles; increasingly limited access to women’s reproductive health clinics and services, especially for low income women of color; the damaging effects of and alternatives to hydrofracking for natural gas; water quality and other environmental issues in the salmon tributaries of Western British Columbia; the unique and complicated racial and multiethnic history of a small city in North Carolina that made a major contribution to the struggle for freedom from slavery during the U.S. Civil War; saving the Lakota language; reclaiming the Cayuhoga river from environmental degradation; the harmful effects of climate change for the indigenous Yup’ik and their way of life; prescription drug abuse; the life and work of Frederick Law Olmsted and his efforts to democratize access to nature in urban spaces; the life and work of artist/naturalist John James Audubon; The War of 1812; Thomas Jefferson; and more.
Feature films we've scored star such actors as: Bruce Dern, Martin Sheen, Genevieve Bujold, Jacqueline Bisset, Annet Mahendru, Kris Kristofferson, Michael J. Fox, Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Ernie Hudson, Jerry O’Connell, Marin Hinkle, Luis Guzmán, Treat Williams, Gordon Clapp, Carrie Snodgrass, Jean Louisa Kelly, Nicole Shalhoub, Jessica Hecht, and Diane Guerrero.
A documentary we scored recently, On the Divide, had its premiere in the highly selective documentary category of the Tribeca Film Festival, June 2021 (https://tribecafilm.com/films/on-the-divide-2021), and was broadcast nationally as part of the PBS program, POV, in April 2022 (http://www.pbs.org/pov/onthedivide). It has also been an official selection and received a number of awards at film festivals across the U.S. and in Europe. A film we scored simultaneously with On the Divide, a feature film, Jack London’s Martin Eden, premiered as part of the Nantucket Film Festival, June 2021, and has been an official selection at a number of festivals, including the Woods Hole Film Festival and the Boston Film Festival, where it received the Best Picture and Best Director awards.
For more about our filmscoring and other work, please visit the Credits page. To hear examples, go to the Music page.
We can do everything from creating, recording, and mixing new/original music for all or part of a film, to providing/altering/editing any of our existing music and recordings (if we own the publishing rights, which in most cases we do), to finding and licensing appropriate (and sometimes free) music recorded by others, and more. We have relationships with lots of great musicians, and we have an extensive library of sampled and synthesized sounds. This allows us to work with a wide range of sounds and styles. We've created scores with elements of traditional/Americana, rock, classical, electronic, atmospheric soundscapes, world percussion, mallet instruments, urban beats, and jazz. While we can complete a project from our two home studios, if there's interest and budget allows, we have easy access to two excellent local studios with large live rooms and top-level gear and engineers (Pyramid Sound and Electric Wilburland). We’re also happy to help in any other ways we can – e.g., mixing and/or preparing/editing already recorded/mixed music for inclusion in a film mix, consulting, etc. No project is too large or small. We love doing the work and collaborating with others on projects that can make a difference.
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BIO
Judy plays violin, viola, piano and other keyboards, and is skilled with music composition software (e.g., Digital Performer, Pro Tools, Sibelius, etc.) and a long list of good digital sound sources. She has recorded and toured with Natalie Merchant, received an Emmy for one of her documentary film scores, and earned a music degree from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.
Jeff plays acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, and other instruments. He also has an extensive library of software sound sources and does composing, audio recording, and mixing using Pro Tools and Apogee converters, vintage and modern microphones (Neumann, AKG, Schoeps, Royer, Beyer, Peluso, Sennheiser…), high-quality mic preamps, other outboard studio gear, and lots of great plugins. He writes songs and film music, sings, creates atmospheric soundscapes, and has had songs and music used by film director Oliver Stone (in Any Given Sunday), Natalie Merchant, MTV's Rock the Vote, the band Fiery Furnaces, and others.
As co-founding members of the The Horse Flies and Boy with a Fish, we've toured in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and have recorded 10 albums, some with a major label. We've long combined the old and new in sound, aesthetic, and production techniques, both in our bands and filmscore work.
Writing about The Horse Flies, Rolling Stone said: "They churn out swirling, addictive songs, blending tradition with invention." Melody Maker in London: "The textures are a blend of the ancient and the ultra-modern. Realism coexists with surrealism, and synthetics and acoustics are interwoven. A record of dark brilliance." The Boston Herald: "Brilliantly peculiar ...new music with gnarled and twisted roots." The LA Times: "The film is an evocative, painstaking period piece enhanced stunningly by a spare, pulsating score by The Horse Flies." (from a review of Where the Rivers Flow North). And Time Out magazine in London: "Music that hypnotizes, disturbs and drags up all the images of David Lynch's movies you might or might not have seen."
Writing about Judy’s playing, critics have used such words as: "powerful," "haunting," "impressive," "rousing," "intense," "gorgeous," "sepia-toned," "stirring," and "beautiful." Describing Jeff’s songwriting, reviewers have said: "very intelligent, very original material" ... "deceptive simplicity that aches with a lethal combination of nostalgia and regret" … "observational tales of loneliness that carry beneath them a sense of deep emotional attachment making their bittersweet protagonists all the more poignant," ... "quirky and poetic."
Also, in 2020 we produced an album, Spider Tales, for a young musician, Jake Blount, who we think is incredibly talented and creative as well as a great human being and activist. We’re excited for him that it’s gotten exceptionally good reviews and coverage, including in many 2020 year-end lists and in such places as: Rolling Stone, NPR, No Depression, Billboard, Paste, The Guardian, Broadway World, and Strings Magazine.
Thanks for reading all this…
Judy Hyman & Jeff Claus
Email: clausjeff60@gmail.com or judy@judyhyman.com
Phone: 607-277-7025
www.judyhyman.com
www.thehorseflies.com
www.boywithafish.com
www.facebook.com/J2-Film-Music