About Me


Rob Crowston I'm an award winning multimedia producer with a background, and it turns out a foreground in print, radio, television, and advertising. A sound engineer, producer, writer and voice-over artist. You've heard my work in many radio and TV spots, documentaries, corporate videos, audio walking tours and on-line. I've been an instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, an instructor at Langara Community College. These days, I teach creative multimedia production to young people at the Wachiay Friendship Centre ( WaMM - www.wachiaymultimedia.com ) Along with all that other stuff, I live happily with my wife Shelley McGaw and our dog, Molly in the little community of Courtenay on Vancouver Island. My passions lie in high-end audio, deep in the heart of the Hi-Fi jungle and I care about music, recording, film, fiction and art. I'm fascinated by architecture, design, technology and their impact on our society and our culture.

Showing category "Social Comment" (Show all posts)

True Confessions

Posted by Rob Crowston on Friday, March 23, 2018, In : Social Comment 


Let's start with a confession: I am afraid of a few things. Things like rats, snakes and I'm really, really afraid of the Dentist. That's funny 'cause I wake up next to a gal who trundles off to a Dentist's Office every morning and worse, discusses her day with me at days end. I shiver and quake through most of these chats and clearly see her subtle disfavour of my cowardice. To add insult to injury, a whole cast of her McGaw clan work in the field and LOVE to 'talk shop' at any and every fam...


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Vinyl - Hard to Kill

Posted by Rob Crowston on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, In : Social Comment 


Vinyl. Impossible to spell. As a matter of fact, even spelling bee winners cringe at the thought of the word, but it's not just hard to spell, it's hard to kill.

There's been dozens of music delivery formats put out there - 78's and 45's and reel to reel and 8 track, cassettes and MD discs, CD's and MP3's... plus a whole mess of other attempts to get us to buy music. Did you know that Miles Davis's 'Kind of Blue' has been released in every single delivery format that has ever been pushed on...


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End of Joke, Laugh Here

Posted by Rob Crowston on Sunday, May 4, 2014, In : Social Comment 

The other night I was at a schmooz for a new media company. They were
launching an internet product that they hoped might be the next big thing. Cool
technology, big dollars, forward thinking – all the hype, all the right buzz words.
Lots of people milling about, some old friends in the biz, some newbies and the
usual hangers on and wanna bees you always seem to find at these things.
 
At one point I found myself standing in line, engaged in conversation with a small
group and one of the fel...
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Why I Love Craigslist

Posted by Rob Crowston on Thursday, February 9, 2012, In : Social Comment 

Craigslist Ad:

We are a small & casual restaurant in downtown Vancouver and we are looking for solo musicians to play in our restaurant to promote their work and sell their CD. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a nightly event if we get positive response. More Jazz, Rock, & smooth type music, around the world and mixed cultural music. Are you interested to promote your work? Please reply back ASAP.

A Musician's Reply:

Happy New Year! I am a mus...


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You didn't think...

Posted by Rob Crowston on Monday, August 23, 2010, In : Social Comment 

When I was a little boy and got into trouble, my Dad would work the ‘discussion’ regarding my latest less than brilliant move, around to a point where invariably I would have to say ” I didn’t think…” hoping to add something like “…the window would be in the way”, or that “…the sink would overflow”, or “…the deck would catch fire”, but he of course wo...


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Today I found this:

Posted by Rob Crowston on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, In : Social Comment 
Has it really been so long? So long since I had anything to say, to pass on, to contribute? Sadly, thus is so. Perhaps I might might kick start my sorry ass with these fine words I encountered just a few moments ago:

Dr. King once said:

"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve from all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggres...

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Friends, the Gift That Keeps on Giving

Posted by Rob Crowston on Wednesday, December 24, 2008, In : Social Comment 
This morning,  Christmas eve morning, I received this lovely note from my friend Candace. She's one of the voices that I really like to work with. She's versatile, funny, takes direction well, works hard when she's in the booth and as a voice over artist, I always know that my clients will be thrilled with the end results.

So on to this e--mail I received, and one that I believe in.

Season's Greetings Everyone!
 
I wanted to wish everyone the best of the holiday season and as we say in my fam...

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The Little Engine that Could

Posted by Rob Crowston on Wednesday, December 10, 2008, In : Social Comment 
When I was little, very little, I really did have the storybook about the ‘Little Engine that Could’.  There was a record too, a 45, it was yellow, called ‘Little by Little' - the song was about taking on a challenge and having the stuff to at least try something. Then there was a train set that my parents surprised the Hell out of me with as a Christmas present one year… and my Dad hadn’t gone to the local toy store and picked out one of those boring boxed sets, he’d gone to the ...
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Guitar Hero?

Posted by Rob Crowston on Tuesday, November 25, 2008, In : Social Comment 
I am a recording engineer, I have always made my living rotating knobs, pushing faders and moving microphones. Long ago, in my radio days, I was the Production Manager of a major market station. These guys had money, times were good and I had a supportive Chief Engineer ( the solder kind of engineer ) who let me have real and meaningful input into the design of our production facilities. Thanks Jack!

We were moving from an ancient facility built in the 50's across the pond to a brand new purp...
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