Cool video.
Author: ericdano
Polymath, musician, awesome.
Sheet Of The Week – Float On (Modest Mouse)
Modest Mouse’s hit.
Float On by Modest Mouse for Eb Instruments (73.8 KiB, 126 hits)
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Float On by Modest Mouse for Bb Instruments (74.5 KiB, 76 hits)
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Logitech Wireless Boombox
I was in need of a portable speaker for teaching and what not. There are SOO many iPhone/iPod/iPad accessories out there, what one to get?
I decided to get the Logitech Wireless Boombox. It has proven that it performs really really well for me. You can pair it wirelessly (bluetooth) to 8 different devices. In theory that works, but it’s a little flakey in my usage of it. My iOS devices frequently forget or can’t connect to it. Luckily it’s really easy to pair it back up again. Or you can use the included adapter cable to run the audio out of your device into the Boombox. Supposedly the sound isn’t as degraded as it is over bluetooth. I didn’t really notice anything between a wired or wireless audio connection.
The Logitech Wireless Boombox has a built in rechargeable battery. It doesn’t add much weight to the device, and supposedly it lasts about 6 hours. Haven’t tested that. Though the sound quality is quite different when running on the battery. The bass goes away, and the overall sound level drops. When the Boombox is plugged into the AC adapter, it sounds AMAZING for it’s size. Great bass, loud, and generally kicking ass. On battery? Meh….it’s OK…..not great, but do-able.
Could you practice with this? Yes, if it is plugged in. Otherwise, it might not really cut it if you are playing some loud sax or something, but you really want it plugged in all the time because it just sounds a lot better. Almost night and day better.
If you are looking for a portable speaker thing, consider this. The wireless one and the one with the dock are essentially the same thing, except the one with the dock is $20 more (and I think last year’s model).
Mighty Bright Orchestra Light
Inspired by David Valdez’s glowing review of it, I’ll put in my two cents on this light.
If you are looking for a portable, BRIGHT light for your music stand, get this. It is amazing. I’ve been using this for a few months, and I have nothing be good things to say about it. It comes with a case, AC Adapter, and 3 AA batteries. All for about $42 on Amazon.
100,000 hours of life in the LEDs. Comes with batteries, which last something like 20 hours, and a AC adapter with a really long cord. And it’s cheap?
Get it. Now. Click. Buy. Ship. Enjoy.
A What?
*sigh* I feel old. I still think that going to old record stores is a great thing. You can still walk out with hours of music for $10 or less. And perhaps find an artist who’s works never made it to the digital era. Plus, I refuse to buy new or used CDs. They are STILL the same price they were in the 80s if not more. Pure greed on the RIAA’s part.
Make Your Own Repair Kit
There are a couple of places online that will sell you a more complete repair kit, but what about if you just want stuff to repair stuff on the fly? Like an emergency kit?
Mr. Pimentel put together a good toolkit for fixing stuff on the go. As in NOT replacing pads or springs.
I think it’s really valuable to be able to do a few small repairs on woodwind instruments. As a doubler, I’ve found it to be a financial necessity—I can’t afford to run to the repair shop every time some little thing needs tweaking on one of my instruments—and it’s a great way to get to know your instruments better. (I do still make sure my instruments visit a real professional on a regular basis.)
Good tool list generally, though I’d put some strips of cardboard (to make wedges and what not) in there for propping open keys or mechs to allow easier fixing.
Sheet Of The Week – Every Breath You Take (The Police)
Has to be one of my favorite songs.
Every Breath You Take by The Police for Eb Instruments (103.0 KiB, 343 hits)
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Every Breath You Take by The Police for Bb Instruments (103.6 KiB, 196 hits)
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NAMM 2012
There are a lot of interesting things announced at the NAMM show. Here are some of the ones I thought were interesting.
Behringer Pad-housing USB mixers
iPad plus mixer? YES!
Premium 32-Input 4/2-Bus Mixer with iPAD Docking Station, XENYX Mic Preamps & Compressors, KLARK TEKNIK Multi-FX Processor, Wireless Option and USB/Audio Interface
Technological Innovation, Seamless Integration The Apple iPad has opened a Pandora’s Box of opportunity for musicians. The iX docking station will send signal both two and from your iPad with a wide range of routing options. Tap into the hundreds of music apps including our own FX Processor that lets you dig deeper into your mic with top-notch EQs, studio-quality compressors and reverbs, plus a spectrum analyzer. With a wide variety to choose from in the app store, you can record to Garage Band, tune and monitor your rig through the room analyzer mic input, and more. The opportunities are endless.
Sounds cool to me.
Wait, another iPad mixer thing……but from Mackie?
With 16 boutique-quality Onyx mic preamps and the performance of 24bit Cirrus Logic® AD/DA converters, you have unparalleled sound quality. Seamless wired to wireless iPad control means you can mix from anywhere in the venue. This gives you the mobile freedom to control not only the mix, but powerful plug-ins like EQ, dynamics, effects and more. The sleek DL1608 even supports up to 10 iPad devices. Forget bulky consoles and racks of gear. The power is at your fingertips.
Wait, wasn’t the iPad just a fad? Hmm…..
Thunderbolt accessories??
Apollo offers compatibility with Intel’s new Thunderbolt technology, as found on the newest iMacs, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and next-generation PCs.
Available via a user-installable dual-port Thunderbolt I/O Option Card (sold separately), Thunderbolt provides lower latency, reduced audio buffer size, improved performance, and greater UAD plug-in instances versus FireWire. And because Thunderbolt offers many times the bandwith of FireWire, it allows music producers to connect numerous devices in series with the Apollo interface — including hard drives, processors, and additional computer monitors — all with fast, flawless performance.
Symphony 64 | Thunderbolt
64 Channel Thunderbolt connection for Apogee Symphony I/O
Connect Symphony I/O to any Thunderbolt™ equipped Mac for true Thunderbolt compatibility and performance. Symphony | 64 Thunderbolt will also connect X-Symphony equipped AD-16X, DA-16X, Rosetta 800 and Rosetta 200 converters to Thunderbolt Macs.
James Morrison
All I have to say is WOW. Great playing. Never heard of that instrument brand or James Morrison….but kudos on an excellent video and great playing.
Behind the scenes
Yes, We Were Down Protesting SOPA & PIPA (and a US Government that is Deaf)
Jazz-Sax was down protesting SOPA & PIPA. Two bills that were funded by the entertainment industry. It’s amazing how if you pay a Senator or a Congress person lots of money, they can agree on a Bill and fast track it through to get voted on. Can anyone say “Special Interests”? Why are we continually electing people like Feinstein, Boxer, Pelosi, McCain, etc who do not do the bidding of the people? Anyone remember the NDAA bill that was passed that allows indefinite detentions of citizens. That is even more outrageous. Ugh. Change? I don’t see it Mr. Obama, Congress (both parties). I see a government that is strictly looking to keep itself in power. Look at the wealth of these people in Washington (or in politics in general). It is disgusting.
Be warned, the SOPA bill is not dead. It has been delayed while Congress is off on “retreat” for two weeks before they start campaigning to get elected again. Disgusting. So the internet will probably again have a blackout day. You have been warned.
For further reading on all the stupid pieces of legislation happening in Congress:
PandoDaily – Forget SOPA, Hollywood Already Had a Field Day with the Justice System
Consumerist – Jeff Jarvis Weighs In: SOPA “Changes The Architecture Of Our Greatest Tool Of Speech
Consumerist – Google Breaks Down SOPA Opposition By The Numbers
Consumerist – Consumerist Is Against SOPA/PIPA And That’s All We’re Writing About Today
Stop The US Congress and Senate – Stop PIPA and SOPA
Wednesday is a protest day here in the USA because our Congress, with their heads up their asses again, are trying to pass two pieces of legislation. One seems to be shelved as of this writing (SOPA), but the other one, PIPA is very very much alive. PIPA could cause sites like Soundcloud, Tumblr, and many others (including this one) to be taken down. Educate yourself on these flawed pieces of law that our inept Congress is trying to pass. And write your Congress person.
UPDATE: Seems the SOPA bill has been moved to next month, NOT because of the public opinion about it, but because all the Senators and House Members are going on vacation again before they try to go out and get elected again. PIPA is supposedly moving ahead full steam. It is disgusting.
Bravo to Craigslist.org, and WordPress.com for participating in the blackout.
Sheet Of The Week – You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)
Taylor Swift song. Not sure whom writes all her stuff, or whatever, but they are polished and catchy even though the lyrics (which I didn’t put in because….ugh) are like wacky. Like what exactly is a Cheer Squad? Is that like a Cheer Leading thing? Is that what they call it in the “South”? Like how we in the USA call Math MATH and in English they call it Maths.
You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift for Eb Instruments (77.0 KiB, 234 hits)
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You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift for Bb Instruments (84.3 KiB, 104 hits)
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Articulation Study from Apollon Marie-Rose Barret
I was digging through my archive of Finale files, and there is this gem in there. I think I got it when I was a member of the IDRS. It’s good for Oboe and/or Saxophone.
Barret 12 Articulation Studies (153.0 KiB, 153 hits)
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Barret 12 Articulation Studies (iPad formatted) (159.4 KiB, 40 hits)
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Sheet Of The Week – Talking To The Moon (Bruno Mars)
I dunno, I don’t really see the appeal of his singing style. I like the song though.
Talking To The Moon by Bruno Mars for Eb Instruments (93.4 KiB, 303 hits)
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Talking To The Moon by Bruno Mars for Bb Instruments (96.7 KiB, 160 hits)
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Top 10 Albums Of 2011
There are a LOT of sites that are posting top 10 albums of the year. I thought I’d post my favorites. In no particular order. There were a lot I left out….:-(
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band – That’s How We Roll iTunes,amazon. Duh….obviously.
Christian McBride Big Band – The Good Feeling iTunes,amazon. Love that there are more Big Bands starting up and sounding amazing other than the already amazing Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band.
Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook iTunes,amazon. Latin jazz music is awesome, and Miguel is the master of it. Great album.
John Escreet – The Age We Live In iTunes,Amazon Great album with Dave Binney.
Captain Black Big Band – Captain Black Big Band iTunes Another Big Band? Yep.
Tony Bennett – The Best Of The Improv Recordings iTunes,Amazon Haven’t really been a fan of Tony’s. I generally thought his singing was too commercial, to….scripted? Not these recordings. More like Sinatra….which is good.
Omer Avital Quintet – Live at Smalls iTunes,Amazon Great, tight group.
Scott Hamilton & Dusko Goykovich – Tight But Loose iTunes,Amazon I never tire of listening to Scott Hamilton. He is in the top of my favorite tenor players.
Richard Cheese – Live At The Royal Wedding iTunes,Amazon Need a Weird Al jazz person? Except not PC? Then Richard Cheese is your man.
Ken Peplowski – In Search of… iTunes,Amazon Clarinet and saxophone played awesome? Yup. Peplowski is great.