Recording. Among other things. Music and audio.
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This movie produced by Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters should be viewed by every aspiring musician/"producer"/engineer. There are things here that can only be explained by the people who etched their mark in the history of music.
There is something to be said for performance. Interaction between musicians. Grohl keeps mentioning the human element. It's so true. When people are playing off of each others vibe there is something in the air that you have to experience. It's not tangible but it's real. If you've ever been in a small club with a band that just mesh so well together. Their performance is so good you wish you had a bottle to capture it so that you could experience it again and again. That is what Sound City is about.
There's something else. There is the Neve console. No ordinary console. This is one of 4 in the world. I've had the privilege of having touched one but unfortunately, as my mentor said it, I was unable to appreciate it at the time. He was right. Now having heard and compared Neve pres and eqs to other more current products, I wish I had been able to spend more time with that desk.
They take the time to isolate the drums in the video. They do sound so sweet. You would be hard pressed to get that sound out of another console. Not without some work would it come. That console and two inch tape. It's a magic formula that could not be easily attained.
But, these are not the only components to the Sound City vibe. It was the producers who made the atmosphere and the musicians who performed their music together in that sound stage.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against technology. I think it's great that the average joe can go into his bedroom and "produce" a song with almost zero budget. Let's face it. 95% of those kids don't buy their software. They steal it. Never the less, just about anyone can cut and paste a song together these days. The problem I have with that is that it's sterile.
Where is the talent? Put that kid in front of a piano, a drum kit, give him a trumpet, a mandolin and what can they do? Is their talent there?
I'm getting tired of it. The internet is full of snoops and infiltrators. Does anyone respect your privacy anymore? I'm talking about those add ons, extensions, toolbars, information harvesters that install on your computer when you are not paying attention.
The internet is rife with these pests. It used to be that there were options. You used to be able to deselect an install or deny acceptance of a term of service so that a particular software would not get installed onto your computer with your intended software. Not so much anymore. Many freeware downloads force you to install these malware. They claim it's not malware but I consider it malware. If it installs on my system without my permission, it's unwelcome.
I realize that freware may come at a price. There are chances you take. Some companies offer an option to donate, which I am more than willing to do if I find the software useful. And, I have in the past for software that I have felt was exceptional. The problem is that there are companies out there who are taking what otherwise is freeware and attaching them to installers which have these kinds of malware.
Software like Spybot Search and Destroy, Hamster Free Video Converter among others. DO NOT DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE FROM ANYONE OTHER THAN THE DEVELOPER. I realize this should be second nature but even CNet(previously download.com) has these malware on their site. It's frustrating to say the least.
I'm talking specifically of:
Babylon (translator)
Whitesmoke
Mystart
I know that there are others and these are growing. The internet is turning into a minefield of spyware and malware. Be alert! I have loaded sites which automatically try to make you save a file that you may not have even clicked on. Don't click save. Don't click ok. Sure anyone doing so would be stupid right? No, it can happen and I am pretty diligent about keeping my computer clean.
These extensions can be extremely difficult to get rid of and if you are using Google Chrome, good luck. Chrome doesn't have about:config (a deep configuration profile that you can access via the address bar of FireFox). Even more difficult to remove in Internet explorer.
Educate yourself and stay alert. Some very innocent looking sites can have these kinds of malware.
It's been a while but life has gotten in the way.....or life has taken place and the things in the way had to move over.
I went to watch the screening of Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day. The show was sold out at the Scotiabank Theater in Downtown Vancouver. The Blu Ray will be out soon but I had to see this on the big screen.
Essentially it's just concert footage of "Led Zeppelin's" performance in 2007 in tribute to the late Ahmet Ertegun: founder of Atlantic Records. Almost the original Lineup consisting of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham's son, Jason.
I have never seen Led Zeppelin live but I've always wanted to. You know that if they were to tour today with that lineup, it would be thousands of dollars for nosebleeds. This was my one chance to see them up close and personal via the big screen.
I've seen The Song Remains the Same but this was so much better. Just concert footage. No extras. At least not in the theater. The picture is crystal clear and in many ways it's far better than I could ever hope to experience in a real concert. So much detail that I would never be able to see from a seat in the bleachers or from the floor for that matter.
Performance wise, I swear they are in better shape musically than they have been in a very long time. Not since the early eighties when Page was doing his thing with The Firm and Plant had his own band. True, Plant couldn't hit those high notes as easily anymore but his technique was impeccable.
Admittedly, Page has lost a bit of edge. It took him a little while to warm up. His playing was a bit stiff at first. Attributed to arthritis I would have to assume but once he got warmed up, he was unstoppable. There were a few points where he was blatantly out of key but he slipped back in just fine. This wasn't a jazz "out". They were mistakes but dealt with skillfully. Professionally.
Jones was and is an amazing musician. It's hard to imagine how Zep would sound without him. Not just his bass playing but his keys and mandolin. He's an incredible multi-instrumentalist. The movie just cements this fact. There would be a large hole in the sound without him. It just made me appreciate him even more.
Jason's not his dad. He doesn't pull off those super fast triplets like his dad. He cheats using a double bass pedal. Nevertheless. His father would be proud. He's a worthy substitute.
You'll have to watch the movie yourself to really appreciate how good they really are as a band.
What was really interesting was the showing. For the first twenty minutes of the show, the volume was really low. I mean we were whispering and it was louder than the sound of the movie. People were complaining. Every few minutes there was the chanting of Turn It Up!
Eventually they stopped the film and the manager came out and tried his best to explain to us that they had the sound cranked and that the quality of the digital file was just bad. That's right, Jimmy Page(producer) and John Paul Jones(producer) who had a cumulative career spanning nearly eighty years were able to produce this fantastic movie but were not able to make it loud enough. "The audio quality is just bad" said the manager. What?
Then the audience started chiming in on what they thought the problem was. Some guy behind us saying that they didn't master it properly. Yeah, what would John Paul Jones know about mastering? He's only been producing for the past three decades. What would he know.
There was obviously something wrong with the speaker system. I had the suspicion that they had a problem with the surround sound. There was no sound from the side and rear speakers and the sub woofers were out as well. I looked over at my wife and said "when they get the surround sound going the volume will be back".
The manager was very apologetic and offered everyone two movie passes but they would continue to play the rest of the film. About thirty people left the theater. After about ten minutes into the show, the volume was suddenly dramatically louder, there was sound from the concert audience behind us and reverb from the sides. Surround sound was back up and all was good. Now, I'm not saying that I was dead right but I don't think I was far off.
That all being said, I have to question if it was a mistake at all. The movie passes don't cost the theater anything. In fact, if we do come back for a movie, we'll be paying the outrageous prices for popcorn and drinks. I mean that's almost the same as the price of the movie! Popcorn and a drink is nearly eleven dollars.
Was it a mistake? If so, someone got fired that night. If not, smart marketing.
Great band. These guys were an anomaly. At a time when people were getting pigeon holed into "styles" out comes Fishbone. They weren't black enough for the blacks. They weren't quite punk or ska and they weren't metal. But somehow they incorporated all of those things and more.
What struck me though was their "discovery". I don't even remember who it was that caught the show and signed them. Yeah I suppose I could rewind but at this point, I just want to maintain my focus on this. They started talking about how everyone in the music industry was scoping the scene looking to sign the bands that the kids were into.
To get to the point, where has that ideal gone? The one and possibly only good thing about big record companies is that they were a filter. They sifted out the tripe and found the music that really hit home. The music that mattered to people. They developed that. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. But at the least, they took the time to try and filter out the dregs.
That's gone now. Now it's up to us to sift out the crap to find something decent and new. There's the odd thing you'll find on youtube but it's few and far in between. I have bought a cd from a guy on the tube. It's rare but it happens. But the work is tiresome. I find myself relying on word of mouth but often it's touch and go.
I welcome the home studio revolution but I long for the days when a band would build it's fan base on merit instead of "likes" on a youtube page. There's too much crap out there. Fine. Can we put the control in the hands of smaller indie labels? Can we forget the big boys but still keep some sort of filter?
There's Candyrat . Is there an indie label for Rock? Metal? Jazz? World? We need that.
Watching Studio In Session. I've passed by this show so many times. I don't know why. I wish more people would watch this to see what a real band with real musicians is like. Not some dude on a laptop with loops and a sequencer. People who practice and are tight when they play together. It's not something you can get from a program. It's personal, communal.
I appreciate that there is something to be said for a well programmed techno dance tune but it's not about music. Listen to the radio and you can pretty well substitute lyrics song to song and they will fit. When you are in a band, you're not confined to the box. Maybe it's a symptom of the genre but 99% of dance tunes don't stray far from a very generic formula. There might be a few variations but you can almost anticipate how each song will progress.
With a band, you're not bound to that. Just the fact that you're dealing with a group of people makes the possibilities so much more vast. Everybody hears things in different ways. When you get a bunch of people with different ideas together, some real magic can happen.....if they can get along on anything. Sometimes the conflict foments creativity.
I know some people find organic music boring. Is it the music or is it the listener? Are you really listening? Are you bored because you're not hearing what you expect to hear in the format that you want to hear it? sometimes you just need to listen a little deeper. A good song can take time to develop. Sometimes there's some background to give. Some time needed for the story to build up.
A band is the ultimate human interaction that is not sexual. It's people feeding off of each other's vibe and paying it back. That can be a very sweet thing.
A sequencer plays everything back perfect but it only plays things back one way. Sure there are programs like Ableton's Live! that allow you to do some very limited improvisation but it's not like you're playing every note. You're triggering sequences or loops. You can't make one trigger more expressive than another really. Not like you can with any manual instrument. And let's face it, one "DJ" on stage setting off triggers isn't really a performance. It's Aural masturbation.
I got an email from my ISP the other day saying that one of my computers was being used to do a denial of service attack. Apparently somebody managed to hack into one of my computers and use it to attack someone else's server or whatever. The strange thing about it was that they were using an old virus. Really old. Something that had been dealt with may service packs ago in XP. I'm on Windows 7 x 64 now.
Strange. It kind of made sense. I suspected that my laptop had been hit by a virus I couldn't figure out why my laptop drive was 95% full. So I had to do some serious work just to get my laptop useable again. That was before I got the email from Telus. It took me a good day just to get the hundreds of gigs of gibberish off of that hard drive. It was painful.
So the next logical thing to do was to scan for viruses. I did and found nothing. Shortly after that was when I got the email from Telus. They gave me a whack of links to try and clean my computers from any infection. I scanned both of my computers with every tool they suggested and found nothing. Seriously. Not a single thing.
I figured I was good. I emailed Telus back and told them that the problem had been dealt with. A few days go by and I get another email from Telus telling me that my IP was suspected of doing another denial of service attack! What? So I go through another day of scanning and updating and nothing. I changed all my passwords for everything. I change the settings on my router and hope that that settles it. Maybe someone was using my wirless to do the DOS attack.
I walk into my bedroom and look over at my old laptop. Man I had to get rid of that thing. I set it up to see if I could find a way to make it useful. At the least for the kids to surf on. I tried Damn Small Linux, Lubuntu, Windows 2000 and finally settled back with Windows XP. I took the thing into the living room and opened it up. Lo and behold it was running. I had no idea. That thing had been on probably a good month or so. I didn't even realize it. No wonder neither my desktop nor my new laptop scanned positive for viruses. They were clean! And, the issue with my new laptop? It seems my old laptop was being used to attack my new laptop. HUH? That's just weird. I used DBan to flatten the hard drive and finally pitched that thing into the recycle depot.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Avid
are ditching the 003 line. The Digi interfaces are being dropped. No
more support. If you own a Digi, it's time to sell or you can wait for
the next thing. The next thing you say? Yeah. I know this is going to
cause an uproar when it get's released. We've seen the video. Here it
is:
"This is a prototype" but it exists. They could put it out this year but
for now they are pushing the Native cards. I'm not saying there is
anything wrong with the Native cards. They are a nice bit of hardware. I
don't know if they are the holy grail for home studios that Avid claim
that they are but they do offer some nice interfaces and then there's
HDX and compatibility with their future 64 bit release(finally).
What I fear is that in the very near future there will be this new TB
interface which will not only be as close to latency free as an external
peripheral could possibly be but, I suspect that this new interface
will very likely be able to run both Pro Tools as well as PT HDX. It's also highly likely that this interface will have built in DSP a la UA's Apollo.
I have a strong suspicion that the Apollo is in fact a fore gleam of
the new interface if they did not take part in the development
altogether.
In fact, I can't help but think that the next iteration of Pro Tools
will be further unbound. What do I mean? It's very likely that you will
be able to buy Pro Tools ....let's call it "11" or HDX1. Yes. Just like
Steinberg have Cubase and Cubase Studio or more like Nuendo
and Cubase. HD 10 as it is will run without their hardware. That's right.
You can run HD 10 on any machine so long as you have the license on an
iLok. So, it just stands to reason.
I know a lot of people were saying before Pro Tools 9 that Avid would
never let go of that grasp. They would never unleash their software from
their hardware but there it is now. Ever since Pro Tools 9 they have
given you the choice. I think they are trying to do this in baby steps.
It's kind of retarded but I can understand their reasoning.
Let's face it. The world of media production is full of snobs. Not the
least of whom are Pro Tools certified engineers. I'm not talking about
anyone in specific but I can tell you that the air at those Avid
presentations is thick. Thick with testosterone and knowitallism.
They've got to let them down easy or they will be choked. They're gonna
be choked anyway but at least this will lessen the blow.
I wanted to go on about how they are leaving the Digi owners in the
lurch but that just seems petty. Why bother continuing development and
support for an interface that has never worked all that great in the
first place if they're just going to dump it in the next year? They've
got to get those upgrade dollars somehow.
Nothing against the Digi interfaces either. They are really nice units.
It's the drivers that really suck. If they could just get those drivers
up to par, they would sell a lot more units. I was on the verge of
buying one the other day.
Anyway. Just trying to stir the pot a bit. Maybe create some discussion.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
As a Pro Tools 9 User, I just want to express my disgust at Avid's
push for Pro Tools 10/HDX. It has been just over a year since I bought
Pro Tools 9 and at around 9 months later Pro Tools 10 came out. The
upgrade cost being $300 for standard and $999 for HDX. Fine. There are
some nice upgrades for Pro Tools since they went "open".
What
upsets me is the fact that there was no amnesty for those of us who had
just forked over the for the very new version 9. They offered a month of
leeway. And, it's not even that. The fact is that PT 9 has some glaring
issues with it. It is far from stable. You need only visit the DUC to
see that. PT 10 only fixes some of the more apparent issues that should
be dealt with in a CS update. Many of the "new" features have been
available in MANY other DAWs for a long time now. Let's face it. 32 bit
float has been around since at least '99. I had 32 bit float with Cubase
VST 32.
But, the worst of it is the push. Pro Tools 10 adds some
long sought after features. I went to the HDX presentation here in
Vancouver BC, Canada. One statement that came up quite a bit was
"finally, after ten years". Seriously? It took ten years to resolve
issues?
"Support for Legacy hardware". Well what they're not
saying is that this is the last version of Pro Tools to support the
Accel cards. From here on in it will cost you yet another upgrade to HDX
cards. In which case, why bother to upgrade to 10 at all? If you want
continued support, you will have to buy into a whole new system. There
is no other option.
And, if you want the upgrade, you WILL have
to pay for it. Either directly or via the support package. The support
package is $600 and good for one year of extended tech support. This
gives you the free upgrade, if it gets released before your support term
is up. Of course, if your support plan ends before the release, you end
up paying for the upgrade. Which means you've pretty well paid full
price by this time. What a racket!
Sure, I'm whining.
I
just bought Sonar X1 Producer upgrade for $99. It was over 10 gigs of
download. Many, many tools and sound libraries included. 64 bit float.
They are about to release version D which is a free update with, get
this, added functionality. That's right, this is the fourth update this
year which is ADDING features and it's free.
To boot, I have yet to experience an error other than my own lack of experience with the program.
End of rant.
Here's some highlights of Sonar X1 Producer Expanded and Production Suite:
Somebody's been smoking a bit too much. Check out this article in Canada dot com. Pot half-full: 50 per cent drop in Vancouver Island marijuana cropThey "estimate" that a single plant can yield "up to two pounds" (my those are large plants) and that "amounts to about 100 joints". Huh? Let's do the math here. Say 2 large joints per gram, 28 grams per ounce, 16 ounces per pound that's 448 grams. Well that's more than 100 joints isn't it? That's more like 896 very large joints. I don't use or condone the use of pot but someone's math is way off here. Okay. You got me. I've smoked my fair share in the very distant past.
This is gonna be a bit harsh. Maybe I'm off my head for thinking this. Or, maybe it's just time that someone stood up for the average consumer once again.
Every cell phone has a unique IMEI and Serial number. With the combination of these two number they KNOW where and when the cell is used again. You may get it blacklisted from your current provider BUT, once it's unlocked, they can use it at any other provider. And, now you have to either buy a new phone from them at retail, buy a new phone and pay a penalty including renewing your contract or you have to search craigslist for a new phone. This is WRONG! They are profiting from your misfortune. A blacklisted phone should be blacklisted globally or at the very least regionally. There is no reason at all that a blacklisted phone should be available for use by any other provider unless license is given.
With legitimate software and many hardware items that are computer related, you have to transfer license in order to maintain any sort of support. That means downloading updates or generally using a software or hardware that is registered to someone else.
With a car you have to transfer license in order to legally insure it. This isn't something new. It's inconvenient but wouldn't you be happy to know that you could find your phone simply because someone tried to use it. Wouldn't it be nice if any incentive to steal your phone went out the window because they can't profit from it unless it's pieced out into parts? Hey, I'd even pay a fee to recover my phone. Wouldn't you? Why aren't these provisions already made?
Someone is profiting from theft. That is ILLEGAL. They call a person who buys stolen goods a fence. So, what do you call a person who benefits from the sale of stolen goods? A thief or indirectly, an accomplice The cell phone companies are accomplices to crime. They need to be brought to justice.
Let's help each other out to change this. Recovery of stolen goods is a NECESSARY service that should be provided WITHOUT QUESTION. Especially since it would be so simple to incorporate into an existing database.
Do you have a beef with the cell companies regarding a stolen phone? I want to hear about it. The more the better.
Perhaps it is time for a class action law suit. I'm dead serious. These corporations are taking advantage of us. Not because we are stupid but because they think that we are. And, they think that we don't have to cahones to speak up about it.
Need I say more? Seriously. Who signed this guy? Does he have an uncle in the music industry? He's a no talent hack. His songs are mediocre at best. I thought we got past that with Jewel. Even Jewel had one good song. Even if she didn't write it as it's credited.
Come on. You know that Jewel didn't write that song don't you? You've probably seen this before but here it is again:
Okay. So we know that Jewel didn't write that song from her own experience. We can tell that just from listening to her other songs. Prime example:
Alright. Sorry to put you through that. "You stood in the doorway besides some comment on the weather". Yeah. Classic. No. Not at all. Sappy. Not even poetic. Whiny. It just lends itself to butchered mockery.
Getting back to Bruno Mars and idiotic Lyrics: The Lazy Song? Marry You? It's high school drama? Even then, there are better writers in most high schools. Better song writers. Better musicians. Seriously. You don't have to go further than youtube.
Not a one of them over 20. The singer couldn't be 18. These kids are not only good musicians, they write intelligent lyrics.
The Pop world needs to get a clue. Stop dumbing down the music. Stop force feeding feces to the masses. They don't enjoy it because they like it. They simply have no choice. There are no other options. Musicianship is trivial to these music execs. It's all about the numbers.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not all shred head. I firmly believe there is crap in all genres. Here's another high school band but something about them screams POSER! This should make you laugh out loud and maybe puke in you throat just a bit.
Truth be told, they're a pretty decent band but that video. UGH! It's a stinky ball of cheese.
Alright. Maybe I'm a little choked because my iPhone is gone.......again. I mean, this is the second time in 6 months. I'm seriously pissed off. It's not just that it's inconvenient. It's entirely unnecessary. Every cell phone has an IME number and a serial number. If I call in my iPhone stolen that should automatically go to a national or at the least, regional list so that anyone trying to hook up that phone will be nailed right away. Unlocked or not. If the IME and serial number are on the list, they shouldn't be able to activate it. PERIOD.
But, you and I know this isn't going to happen. Why? Because, the cell companies make a killing off of people replacing their lost and stolen phones. Why does everything have to be a cash grab? Why cant good service and quality products be the draw?
No. Instead they profit from the misfortune of people and the dishonesty of others. Because, they could turn the phone in to a lost and found or return it to a Rogers store but that brings them nothing but a clean conscience. Instead they take it to some dusty little shop to get it unlocked, then sell it for cheap. Hey, they can even turn an iphone in to an Apple store and they will "fix" it for them so they can use it again. Thanks Apple. You guys rock.
To the person who stole my phone: I hope you get a severe case of genital herpes, complicated by a severe case of syphilis. May you have gonorrhea so severe that only by peeing your pants would you dare to urinate.
Less than a week after getting my wife an iPhone 3G, it was stolen. Here's what I've learned. Neither AT&T nor Apple care that your phone was stolen. AT&T will not black list the IMEI or SIM, meaning that whoever stole the phone can go right down to AT&T and get the phone switched over to their account with ZERO questions asked.
Apple will not black list the serial number and will allow it to be registered with iTunes, just by plugging it into the computer.
Even if you deactivate your phone service, the iPhone (either model) basically becomes a fully functional iPod Touch.
Condoning theft is a strong accusation, but it would be simple for either AT&T or Apple to brick the phone. Furthermore they refuse to offer insurance on the iPhone (far more expensive phones are insurable) which begs the question why? I'll tell you why, because AT&T get a new customer with the stolen phone locked into a two year contract, the theft victim has to continue paying for two years with no option but to pay full market price ($499 USD) to replace their phone AND get locked into another two year contract. Luckily you can drop the 3G data plan at will, and luckily we still have her old Motorola RAZR. Otherwise, we'd be out of luck and spending at least $150 USD on the most basic of phones.
The rotten cherry on top of this crap cake story is that I bought the phone with my Corporate American Express Card since that's the card I have on file with AT&T to pay my bill with. American Express offers a great service called Buyers Protection that covers you from damage or theft in the first 90 days. It's complimentary service available on every American Express Card...EXCEPT the Corporate Card. Nice.
I've given both Apple and AT&T a lot of my hard earned money and they flat out don't care. I honestly think "iPhone Theft" is viewed as another revenue stream for them."
I went to a short presentation today regarding the use of social media to promote your band.
The host was our local Chris Brandt . Previously of Music BC.
There was a lot to be said, twitter was mentioned along with facebook, youtube, wikipedia.
The core idea was that you need to promote yourself in as many places as possible in order to gain the attention of passersby. Nothing really new here I suppose. It's common sense but sometimes we need someone else to clue us in to what should be common sense but slipped under our radar.
It's not just the people you know but the people they know and so on. The web is called the web for a reason. It branches out and connects to sites that may not be entirely related to your promo but if you can catch the eyes of onlookers.
The cool thing about twitter is that there's the retweet button. Great that others can tweet your posts and broadcast your ideas well beyond your current network. That's awesome.
Similarly there's facebook by which you can tell your friends and if they like or post a comment on your profile, every one in their network will see it. Cool. Facebook has other things. Paid advertising et al.
There's really no way that I could possibly summarize all the topics discussed. Unfortunately, this time I didn't bring my laptop nor even a piece of paper to write on.(Funny. I had three pens in my pocket). All my notes were mental.
All this being said, I still think there is a downside to the social networking. A lot of people think that social networking is like a silver bullet. There's no magic here. The truth is the bottom line is still the bottom line. If you have a good band and write good music, it's going to get someone's attention. Promoting it is good but make sure the material is up to par in the first place.
The downfall of the information age is that ANYONE can promote themselves as a musician. That's great but then again some of the people out there make me sick to my stomach. The fact that some of these people are getting famous for what they do floors me. A few examples were brought out. Particularly this kid:
Granted, good for him that he's made a name for himself.........for what? Lip syncing? This is the example of promotion that we should look to?
The point however is well taken. If you have the right promo, you can sell anything. And, love it or hate it that kid has millions of hits. He even got 50cent to drop in on one of his videos. Now I personally could care less if 50came to my door asking to use the bathroom but he's famous and now this kid is famous.
Dissecting that just a little further, where did the kid get all those hits? He had to have a fanbase to begin with. So, where did all those fans find out about him? Well, he put the name of the song up in his title.
Which brings us to another subject, covers. Covers? Why not? 80% of Led Zeppelin's first album was covers. Does anyone think less of them because of that? Okay, maybe some of you do. The point though is that you have to draw the crowd first. People have to get a taster if they are to decide whether or not the rest of your product(Yes I said product) is something they would be interested in.
This kid and others like him are an anomaly though. There's lots of talented people out there doing covers and not all of them are getting the attention they deserve.
Speaking of Zeppelin, let's take a look at Virtual Zeppelin:
Yup. A paltry 30000 hits. Ok, 30 thousand hits is nothing to shake a stick at but in comparison to millions it's paltry.
So as much as there is good reason to use social media, the web is full of idiots. Did I say that out loud? I'm not trying to be a jerk. It just goes to show where people put there money these days. It's not about talent. It's about what's trending? That's what twitter is about. Trends.
When people search for music on youtube, they're not looking for Zeppelin or ELP, they're looking for what's hot now. If you want to get hit's you need to cover contemporary music and that means hip hop too. It's the only way you're going to draw traffic for your originals.
Opinions? You can rail me for this post. That's ok.
There's a movie out there called Pontypool. Have you seen it? It's a sleeper. Never really got any play in the theaters. I've watched it a couple of times now. It's a bit scary to be honest. Not because the movie is actually scary but the concept is scary.
I don't think this movie was ever meant to be taken straight up. It's a metaphor.
The plot of the story is based around a virus that is spread through speech. The whole movie occurs inside a radio station. Talk about a low budget. There may have been two or three camera positions used throughout the entire film. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. Still there's little need for effects in the movie. It's entirely story based. CONCEPT!
At any rate the virus spreads quickly through words. Specifically the English language. The virus causes people to become unduly violent. Soon mobs are roaming the streets infecting everyone. Now maybe the idea that a virus could be contained within speech is a bit far fetched but I don't think that's what the writer was getting at.
The analogy is plain enough. Ideas spread like a virus. The right words, spoken in the right manner to the right people can spread and cause people to do things they would otherwise never do. A more direct "translation" of the Zombie movie.
Zombie movies in themselves were a metaphor. Zombie movies became very popular during the late 60s. The Vietnam war. The Assassination of JFK. The explosion of mind altering drugs. People were learning to challenge the authorities. Some people were beginning to realize that not everything we are told is true. The people can be made to work toward a unified goal that is not necessarily in our better interest.
"it is when we understand the word that the virus takes hold. And, once it takes hold it copies itself.".
Do zombies exist? Maybe. I know that there are places in the world where peaceful people are being persecuted because their beliefs are not contemporary. It happens more often than you think.
There is nothing wrong with asking questions. Ask questions about the questions.
Is there truth? As sure as you will fall off the roof if you jump, there is truth. Finding it is another thing altogether.
Where are we going? I wonder how anyone could possibly make money in the music industry these days. It seems someone is making money. How are the big boys surviving? It's something that's just picking at my brain. Are they actually selling mp3s? It's mind boggling. Torrents aren't going away.
There are two genres that are maintaining any kind of CD sales. Country and Metal. The rest of the people seem be reliant on mp3s. That doesn't really leave much room for sales. Most people would rather steal their music than pay for it. It's really not funny. How do they get on without a physical product?
From my personal observation, there is more than just the music. Pop culture relies on the image to such a great extent. There is no respect for the artist anymore. The only real thing driving sales is people's desire to emulate their idols. Endorsement deals just like in sports. Wearing the right cloths on video. That seems to be where it's at for the new generation. So how does anyone expect to break into that racket?
Prime example, Pomlamoose. They started out with adsense I'm sure but that soon led to Ads for Toyota. Is this where music is going?
If that's the case then, I dare say music isn't going anywhere. It's regressing. Giving in to the "Man". Never have the words rung so true for me: "Rock and Roll is dead". Long live Rock and Roll? How? You can't make money at it anymore. Not without selling out. Rock and Roll has fallen into the very pit of corruption that it professes to rebel against. They're all sell outs. Endorsements for strings, software, hardware, clothes. That used to be a side deal. Now it is the deal. There is no more music industry. Just another vehicle for sales and the promotion of consumerism.
So you want to make it big? Don't count on it. Shape your product. Get your image in line. Define your clothing line. Even tattered can be mass produced these days. The holes in the jeans don't mean anything anymore. It used to be that the clothes are what you could afford. The holes were a result of being over worn.
Even guitars come new as "road worn". What a joke! What happened to integrity? What happened to the school of hard knocks? They sold that school. When the machine discovered that it was saleable, they bought it, wrapped it in a tattered package and marketed it to the masses.
If you already bought into the 3d TV with glasses thing, don't say I didn't tell you so. Toshiba will have a glasses free 3D TV. That's right glasses free. That means that all those people who spent their thousands of dollars for a 3D capable TV AND glasses/transmitter along with a 3D capable Blu Ray player are already behind the times.
Thanks Sony! You guys rock!
Do you feel ripped off? I do. I don't even own a 3D TV and I feel like I've been taken to the cleaners. Where do they get off raking the public over the coals like this? How can this be legal? It's not like they never knew it was coming. They knew it but they sold last years tech to everyone anyway. BASTARDS!
There are times when it pays to be the last one to upgrade. Times like this, when you realize that something better is on the horizon. We're not talking about a long wait here either. According to Toshiba the new TVs will be available by the fourth quarter of 2011.
I finally found time to drop by Nimbus.They sent out an invite to an open house for the school that they run there. This is a working studio mind you. Bands go there to record. Recently Lillix finished Tigerlily there. Garth Richardson was at the door to greet guests. Bob Ezrin wasn't about or if he was, I didn't get to meet him. Seeing Kevin again was really cool. This is a guy who is just made for inspiring people.
The thing about these guys and all of the staff there that stood out is their lack of ego. There was nothing to prove here. They don't need to prove anything. The proof is in the pudding so to speak. But, more than that. They seemed to show a respect for everyone in that we have a common desire. To produce music. To be involved with music and the creative process in some way. The air is charged with a drive to reach for something better. Something that has yet to be achieved.
Kevin to the time to personally show myself and a few other guys around. We got as far as their Studio A sound room when Kevin's drive took over. Talking openly about why they put this school together. I'm sure there is the financial proponent. That goes without saying. But, there was something else. Something that they were striving for that goes ignored at most schools. Not just media schools but schools in general.
There is something missing in recording schools that has been resulting in a loss in the music industry all together: a desire to produce a high quality product. To capture the moment as it happens. To entice the listener to join in on the groove as it happened there in the studio.
There were many analogies. One that stands out for me is this: Imagine you find a band with a great vocalist. The next Freddy Mercury and a band as tight as Queen had ever been. Imagine them going to record an album and nailing every cut. Now imagine that the engineer beatmaps and autotunes the whole project. That is the state of the music industry. People are so bought into the technology that they wouldn't know a good thing if they heard it. Even if they did hear it, they would "fix" it beyond all recognition.
The drive is toward something else. Something that we have yet to see. The music industry is changing. Power is in the hands of the musicians again but where do you take it? How do you control that power? How do you focus that energy so that it doesn't burn out before it has a chance to start a fire?
No one made claims to have an answer. Their goal was not to provide one. The goal is give tools so that a person could "hit the ground running". Not just a head start but a resume and a plan. There were no claims to have anyone in a job by the time they were finished. Only that they would have the tools to be prepared to work. Credit on a project. An understanding of the laws involved. Experience taught by Award winning producers and industry professionals.
Most of these "schools" are run by former students. Unfortunately it's true. Do they work in the industry? Sure they do. They teach at Full Sale.
The format is also different. A maximum of 6 students. No classrooms. They are always either in the studio or on a music workstation. The goal being to teach real world skills. The purpose being not to teach you how to plan your strategy but to have your business strategy plotted and your promotion material ready, complete with a resume and recording credits.
When I first started learning from Kevin he was fighting for this same ideal. At that time fifteen years ago it was already obvious where the music industry was headed. He talked about it at length but still nobody seemed to see it coming until it hit us. The degradation of these schools into nothing more than cash flow generators was a large part of that. Suddenly people were being processed and given certificates regardless of whether they learned anything or not. The technology has made cheaters of most people. There's no longer a standard to be measured against. If you can't get it right, fix it in the mix. Atotune, beatmap, sample and assemble the best notes into something resembling a song.
They're striving for something better than that. Maybe, they're on to something. Normally, I like to bash recording schools. There might be something different here. Maybe there is hope for music. Maybe there is something better than what we're hearing on the radio yet to come.
The first new 2d movie I saw was in IMax. It was an undersea thing. Very cool. So real, you wondered how you could be there without drowning.
I'm all for 3D movies. I think they are great. Some of the latest releases have been awesome. UP!, Despicable Me, Iron Man. These were great in the theater.
When I found out that they were bringing 3D to the home, I have to be honest, I thought it was a bit of a gimmick to sell more TVs. Well, that opinion hasn't changed. The TVs aren't that expensive in comparison to the later LCDs but then there's all the other hardware you need to buy. A 3D capable Blue Ray player and the glasses.
What got me going on this is that when you go to a theater, do they fit a new screen just for the 3D movies? No, it's the same screen and the glasses they give you are cheap plastic.
3D TV on the other hand uses an electronic set of glasses. Yup, those glasses are electronic and receive a signal from the TV. But, wait. If the screens in the theaters don't need to be replaced why do our TVs need to be replaced in order to playback 3D TV? There's a good question.
The movies at the theater use polarized projection. How they do this is beyond me but, really it's beside the point. The screen is no different so, it makes sense that they should be able to replicate it on an LCD TV.
No, they decided to opt for a totally different tech for 3D TV. These operate via a shutter system. The glasses have a refresh rate that syncs with the TV's refresh rate.
Bottom line is, it's a cash grab. Why can't they just make technology that lasts? Do they have to keep us on the upgrade path? I remember the old RCA that we had from the late 70's. We had that thing well into the 80's. It must have been a good 10 years before it finally died on us. It was a huge 21" screen.
If you are a home recording enthusiast or even a professional recording engineer, this news is for you.
HELL HAS FROZEN OVER! YES! LED ZEPPELIN ARE NOW BACK TOGETHER AND ARE ASKING ONE OF YOU TO RECORD THEIR NEXT ALBUM!! That and ProTools is now available for any Core Audio or ASIO compatible interface.
Okay, okay, I lied. Led Zeppelin aren't together and they're not looking for you to record their next album. On the other hand it looks as though ProTools is now compatible with any Core Audio or ASIO interface. YES! Even ProTools HD Native!
Don't believe me? Check this out. Under Hardware Interface Support, sub heading- Third Party.
Looky there. Now there is an obvious mistake as there is no way that ProTools HD would be available to third party hardware and not HD Native. They got these switched.
Errors aside. This is HUGE news. It is very unlikely that I will buy a full boxed version of ProTools 9 but I might be convinced to get a replacement for my current MBox along with a copy of PT9. That would be ok.
And for all of you people who have been waiting so freakin' long.........A D C!
FINALLY!
For AVID this is a breakthrough. Yes it is! For the rest of the audio world, it's ten years late. Still, better late than never.
More Details.
And of course, there is video.
So to get back to the other threads that I posted in the past. Yes the ones complaining that AVID was and is ripping off it's customers by forcing them to buy HD units, knowing full well that they would become obsolete. Well. Thousands of dollars has now been reduced to $629us for FULL ProTools 9. Yeah. Sorry guys. We know you bought our hardware in trust.
I don't want to bash them. I really think this is a GREAT move. Yes, I am very excited about this. But, that thing with the HD "blowout" was a bit low.
Now does that mean that you can buy Pro Tools for your current interface? HELL NO!
What is this? Some sort of democracy? No no no me droogs. We are still bound to the man. In the form of a ProTools Native Core. Yes! Another PCIe interface which relies now upon the power of your cpu! This is better? I suppose, there is more potential.
The Good.
Prices start at $3500 for a Native Core PCIe card AND an HD interface. Okay this is much better than the potential $7000 or more I would have spent on an HD1 Setup.
Which brings us to...........
The Really Bad.
What does this mean for all of the recent purchasers of HD 1, 2, 3 systems? Will support start to dwindle for the old HD's. Do we even need to ask that question? I'm so glad I never bought into the hype.
