c4e1 bliptronic 5000 led synthesizer
For only $50, this cool little synthesizer will inspire any musician. You can tweak the sounds and infinitely change the pattern it plays. Then link a bunch together. Too cool! Definitely on my list.
Watch the video:
Tutorials for music on the web | 8BarLoop
I’ve started a site for tutorials about music on the web called 8BarLoop. It will help you get your music on your website or blog, stream your music, sell your music, and more. Please let me know if you find it useful, and any tutorials you’d like to see on there.
And then here are a few random links that I think are worth mentioning:
47 Sites Every Recording Musician Should Visit – Just a great collection of links
Studio Noize – Recording – Production – Tips – Reviews and Mostly Chatter
hypebot.com – Music. Technology. The new music business.
I’ve used CDBaby.com for years to sell my albums, then to get on iTunes. I’ve used them less in the last few years as a I don’t really make albums anymore, but check into their artist resources area once in a while. Some how I’d missed the podcast they started. I’ve listened to a few this week and it’s great. A few talking heads but also some great discussion about DIY music creation, marketing and promotion. Check it out.
Percussion Lab
This is one of my favorite types of posts. An old friend named Praveen Sharma did a radio show in college called Precussion Lab. We met because he booked me to be on it, and I booked him to play my weekly here in New York City. Then Percussion Lab became a 24/7 streaming internet radio station. There were live peformances, regular shows, and lots of streaming music. A few years ago, he moved to the city, and has recently redesigned the site (with Sougwen Chung) to feature more mixes their “collective” likes. Basically they’re extending their excellent taste into selecting mixes for you. The site is beautiful, easy to use and full of great content. Go spend hours on PercussionLab.com.
Helping spread good music is so easy because you love it, but it’s also so important. This is what the web is for. I look forward to what Praveen comes up with next.
8tracks - A simple way to share an online mix
I first heard about 8tracks.com at a music tech meet-up when founder David Porter presented it. I’ll admit I was nervous about presenting DubFiler that night, so didn’t realize how cool it was. Months later Tony Zeoli from Net Mix Media put me in touch with David and I started digging into it.
Remember making mixtapes for your crush in the 8th grade? Or mix CD’s for those of you a bit younger? 8Tracks.com is the next generation. Make a mix onlne with songs from the library or upload yr own. Add a picture and a description. Then share it with friends or the boy yre crushing on. It’s a simple concept, but a really cool site.
Why’s it relevent to us? I made a mix featuring UK Funky tracks, including a couple of my own. Within a day I got a handful of comments and 11 listens. People were checking it out who are not my usual audience, and I’d yet to start “friending” people. It’s an active community of music lovers so it’s another great place to promote your music and the music you love. And word is they’re working on some features just for DJ’s.
Go make a mix and send it to me! I’ll add it to the DubFiler Facebook page.
Dollar Van Demos
This has just blown me away. There’s a van line called Black Street Van Line for neighborhoods where New York City public transport lets you down. They run a route from downtown Brooklyn (near Fulton Steet Mall) to Kings Plaza in Queens. Joe Revitte, with a background in indie film but inspired by live, ‘real’ videos on the web, realized this was a great stage to feature musicians and performers. So he started Dollar Van Demos.
About once a month Joe and his team pile into the van and along the route they pick up an artist to be featured. They run an instrumental of the artists’ music and film them performing. A few takes, some straightforward editing and Joe posts the performance online. It promotes the artist, the van line, and a community on the fringes, yet absolutely part of the foundation, of NYC. This is another great example of taking your art and doing something different to promote yourself and the people around you. Huge respect to Dollar Van Demos.
PSP's Nitro Filter VST
PSP, makers of the amazing Vintage Warmer VST plug-in, are offering their Nitro Filter VST plug-in for $10.
Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim
When I first left college, I worked in a cubicle farm, in a basement with no windows, for two years. It was a real eye opener, and I’ve worked hard never to work in a cubicle again. It’s mostly worked, but I’m still not sitting at home working on beats as I’d like.
As musicians and aspiring rockstar DJ’s, we all dream of leaving our day jobs (yes, I still have a day job, too). It always feels scary, and most of the time seems unobtainable. Fuck that.
Escape from Cubicle Nation, by Pamela Slim, starts with the psychology behind leaving your job. Why do you want to leave? Are you ready for it? Are your friends and family ready for it? (it’s a weird question but surprisingly real.)
Once you’ve made your peace, it helps you look at what kind of business to start and what it might take. You want to be a jetsetting DJ, but how do you actually make your money? That’s sort of the important part. And will you need money to get started (Can you really become a DJ using those same old Gemini’s?). Should you incorporate your label? Does your band have a tribe that will help you succeed? (by the way, complete digression, but watch that video about tribes. Amazing.)
The book next talks about the different things it takes to run a business. Just like throwing a party or having a gig, just because you do it doesn’t mean people will show up. So you need to understand marketing more than just handing out flyers. You want mentors more than talking to a poster of Kurt Cobain.
And don’t forget health insurance, organization and money. All these topics are touched upon.
I’m a big reader of books that inspire, and books that teach. This book does both. It aspires to give you both the tools and the courage to escape the cubicle, the day job and to become independent. It’s a great book for getting you thinking, and there are enough excerpts and links to helping you get started. It’s fairly corporate and business oriented for musicians, and I hoped for more detail on some of the bigger topics. But each topic really does warrant it’s own book, and that’s where more research and yr real desire to succeed comes in. Maybe the first question is … do you have what it takes?
Jayou - Badman producer!
The SubDivision (@subdivision) crew in Pittsburgh, PA first played me some tunes from Jayou when I played there this summer. His tunes on a system knock you over. Most of his tunes fall roughly under the dubstep moniker, but his basses are often electo, and he teases you with bits of breaks, bassline, house and other craziness. I’m definitely a fan and I’ve been in touch with him via email and IM – he’s in Manchester, UK. Most recently he passed me a 4×4 banger with more bass lines than Bootsy Collins and the man was good enough to let me give it away for free!
Jayou -Beans & Rice (320 MP3)
Download (right click and “Save as…”)
To stay up on his maneuvers, send an e-mail to jayou0@googlemail.com with the subject ‘Mailing List’ and keep checking the Jayou mySpace for tunes and gigs.
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