Entries tagged with “music” from O'Reilly Digital Media Blog

It's Halloween again, and what better way to set the mood than with a new soundscape album from Mark Greenfield, aka Darwin Chamber? Thanks to intelligent, computer-aided composition, it's much more immersive than the standard serving of ghost moans, melodramatic laughter, and werewolf howls.

Here's a clever Web service: Find a CD or DVD online, click the Paper Case link, and it will print the cover image and details. Then you fold the paper, tuck your disc inside, and slide the package into a binder, saving lots of space.

Ok, it’s been 11 months since I’ve written in this blog. But guess what? I’m a new dad! If that isn’t life changing enough I’m not sure what is; except the following techno tale I have to tell. Through a strange intersection of factors, I was personally involved with a pretty interesting audio experiment, digital or otherwise. Let me crank...

The third annual Bay Area Maker Faire is this weekend, and looks to be a truly inspiring event. Maker Faire combines art, science, recycling, and entertainment in a hands-on setting that celebrates the inventive spirit. I was there last night for a pre-show gathering of exhibitors (my family and I will be performing our homemade Japanese storycard dramas throughout the...

Macs have always been a favorite with musicians and audio engineers, and at this year's Musikmesse Frankfurt, the world's biggest trade show for musical instruments, studio technology, and accessories, you could literally see them everywhere.

While tracking down some cool songs I heard on the Space Music podcast, I found Kahvi.org, a huge collection of free electronic music in MP3 and (mostly) Ogg Vorbis format.

Sometimes the best way to overcome annoyances is to embrace them and make them your own. To protest the way rampant commercialism has corrupted Christmas carols, O'Reilly author Michael W. Dean recorded "God Rest Ye Merry Bonzo." This "perverted Xmas music" mates a drum loop from Led Zep's "Bonzo" Bonham with vocals, bass, sleigh bells (!), and an e-mailed guitar...

I feel a little like Bob Moog today — or maybe Adolphe Sax. While Googling for one of my articles, I discovered a musical instrument called the Battino: You play it by whacking a wooden ball with a hammer, causing the ball to tumble across some pegs and strike a bell. "The balls make a pleasing clickety-clack sound as they...

Darwin Chamber, whose "3D" soundscapes I recommended last year (see interview), is back with a new Halloween underscore. I just received his new album 3D Halloween Sound FX (Collectors' Edition) via iTunes gift certificate, which is a cool way to do promotion. (Now if only the e-mail were accompanied by the sound of the mail cart that used to set...

When I recently reviewed Sequel, Steinberg's entry-level music production software, I was seriously impressed by the quality of the musical content that ships with it. If you wish to try out Sequel yourself, you can do so now, as Steinberg is offering a downloadable trial version of the software. For obvious reasons, the trial version offers only a limited subset...

The "Kings of Karaoke" Back in the early days of music technology, there came to pass the big divide between “fresh” live music and “canned” music. Of course what we are talking about is recorded music, which has been elevated to such a fine art in these digital days.  But the big divide still exists as to the difference...

I was speaking with an artist manager colleague of mine the other day. This esteemed colleague has represented the likes of Alanis Morissette, LeAnn Rimes, and Collective Soul among many others. He's a sharp guy. We were discussing how historically, recording artists frequently lost the rights to their master sound recordings (known as "masters") when they signed recording contracts with...

Despite plunging CD sales and a sour stock performance, Warner Music Group chairman Edgar Bronfman, Jr. displayed strong optimism during an interview last Wednesday. "This decline is steeper than we expected, but in some ways it means we'll get to the bottom faster -- and after that there's growth," Bronfman said during a discussion on CNBC. That's one way of...

Paul McCartney turns 65 tomorrow (June 18th), and his creative output and youthful enthusiasm doesn't seem to have been dimmed by age. His new CD "Memory Almost Full", marks his 21st solo delivery in a 37-year solo career. In a partnership with Starbucks' new label, the CD (which has been out nearly two weeks now) is pushing sales of nearly...

There are several big Reunion tours taking place this Summer (including The Police, Genesis, and the Smashing Pumpkins); these are bands who have sold many millions of albums each, and who have a cadre of hungry fans around the world eager to experience the magic once again. I'm one of them. I don't know about you, but when I go...

Arguably the biggest concert company in the US (if not the globe), Live Nation, recently announced that they've launched a new online service called Live Nation TV. This new initiative features a vast collection of performances from a large number of venues, including the more intimate House of Blues clubs (which Live Nation purchased last Fall). Hundreds of performance clips...

If you're a frequent user of the free Pandora music service, as I am, you've noticed their powerful web interface has been updated. Along with the update are two new announcements providing users access to Pandora's large music database, and your musical preferences, on the road and in the home....

One of my clients, PassAlong Networks, offers a very robust platform for independent artists called Speakerheart. PassAlong is all about creating new digital media services that empower the connection between artists and their fans (can you tell why they're a client of mine? ;) ). While the major labels are working to figure out what comes next in their evolution,...

In retrospect, it was so easy. Last week I got a mysterious e-mail saying, Our host just had a birthday (perhaps a BIG one, I'm not sure) and was "lamenting" according to [his wife], that there was no celebration. She asked us not to bring gifts, but Chris and I have an idea: when we all sing him the surprise...

The man of the hour in my book at the moment (and actually for a number of years now) is my friend and colleague Terry McBride, Founder & CEO of Nettwerk-- an artist-centric, forward thinking artist management firm that also houses a label and a publishing arm for its artists. Terry is an artist advocate; we are cut from the...