|
Another month ...more adventure LIVE
(en vivo)
Did
the most amazing live performance at Sunderland Football Club's Stadium of Light
on Friday 22nd February. It was for a most worthwhile cause -
The
Wilberforce Project.
Making
a difference feels great!
in the works: The BLoG that many of you have been anticipating exposé, baby! It's going to be in my next issue ...watch this space [conflicted about whether to call it Gonnif With (the) Wind ...or perhaps The Royal Scamster] - suggestions welcome ;-) If you are relatively new to this list, or don't get to my MySpace haunt, then you might be missing some pretty lively discussions on my BloGspace there. But for your immediate reading enjoyment, I have included below the latest BLoG which is enjoying some pretty darned intelligent participation. DOWNLOADING MUSIC - all you ever wanted to know! There is a certain pride many engineers and producers take in the preparation of a final audio CD product - we work so hard to ensure that the frequencies of one instrument don't step on the toes of another, so that the whole soundscape fits together ...like the colors in a beautiful painting ...or a fine tapestry. We take great pains, listening to the final mix in mono, stereo, on big speakers, little speakers, earphones, in good (& bad) automobile CD players ...and once we're satisfied that our QA (quality assurance) testing shows us that our efforts have succeeded - then we feel that we've fulfilled our commitment. We want you the listener to hear it as close as possible to the way we heard it. So when you go out and buy a CD (or order it online), you get the beautiful, complete spectrum of sounds. Not so with downloading mp3s. How
does that work? Here's a somewhat exaggerated analogy: I just watched a newscast on Sky News, where the reporter was live in Nairobi - and her report was sent via broadband. Why? Well, there wasn't a sophisticated satellite link-up available, so the fastest way to get the info to us was indeed via broadband. So in terms of immediacy - better that than nothing. The trade-off is the quality of what we the viewers get on the other end. The images were often terribly pixilated - I mean big squares on that screen. Compression does that. You could certainly understand what you were seeing, it just wasn't that good! As we get further into the interactive aspect of our discussion BLoG, I'll show you some images - of the spectral differences between a sound track in full frequency (from a CD), and the same sound snippet once converted to an mp3. You will see how much frequency content (represented by color) is missing in those mp3s. But that's for later... Hey,
while we're on the topic of mp3s... although slightly askew (so what's new?!)
Check out the image that prompted a bit of
What say ye, my fellow artistes? Let me hear your thoughts! And I'm just as eager to hear from our audiences - those folks who actually buy music. Funny enough, it's almost two different camps, as most musicians (whether prepared to admit it or not), are typically not as prone to buying music as are their counterparts (read: audiences). Is there really the notion of entitlement to all recorded music? Entitlement to get all one's music for free? And if so, let me ask you this: How do you expect the artists who lovingly craft this music to pay their bills? to buy new recording gear? ...instruments? (You know I'm not talking about established mega-stars - it's the artists trying to work their way up who suffer most from losing royalties.) Many of you/us have jobs in various sectors of the economy, which yield a weekly paycheck, enabling you to go out and buy that cool new iPod (or whatever your musical toy of choice is) without a second thought. Professional musicians need income too - live performances and sales of recorded product are the main two income streams for us. The live performance situation is abysmal; most young budding musical professionals are taken advantage of by venue owners ...like you wouldn't believe ...because it's a buyer's market. Clive the Club-owner says: 'Hey, if you don't want to play this gig for a hundred bucks, I got plenty of bands out there who will ...so take it or leave it.' Nice, huh? So that leaves just sales from recordings, doesn't it? I really can't wait to get your feedback on this. Then there's the issue of the little do-hickey:
I've just sent an email to SnoCap, asking them why I've seen practically no sales from the above 'jukebox'. Fact of the matter is I get more e-sales in a couple of weeks from iTunes than I've made in the year plus that I've had this widget sitting on my MySpace page, and there's one sitting on my website too. Almost nada. [Stay tuned - I'll post their reply as soon as it comes in.] Musicians: Do you use SnoCap? Is it a successful sales medium for you? Let's discuss. (a private message if you'd rather not be public about it)... I just can't help but wonder about the possibilities of shall we say ...accounting faults? I mean, could it be this much of a dud? Music Buyers: Do you buy music tracks from SnoCap? If not, please tell us why not. Is it because you don't want to open up yet another music download account? If you have bought a bunch of my tunes from it, by all means let me know. Y'know? So have a think, and start typing when you're ready. I'm expecting a lively dialogue. Click here for the full interactive discussion Other
recommended reading on my MySpace Blog pages: -- and hey, don't hesitate to forward this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy the read -- audio and visual I can't begin to tell you how delighted I am at the results of the Holiday Season's purchases of the two images below, first made available in December. If you'd like to own one (or both) of these fine prints, I am holding over the special sale of both CDs and photographs for another month! So don't wait another moment. Click here to take advantage of the CD and photo offer.
These
images were made in 1975, using my
If
downloading music is your thing, click your favorite
www.elliott-randall.com/
www.myspace.com/elliottrandall and finally, my personal endorsements: TuneCore
Fighting SPAM - As the plague reaches even more epic proportions, I've found an ideal solution. It's called SpamArrest. Try it free - click below.
Masthead images by Richard E. Aaron rockpix.com Copyright (c) 2008 ELZ Music
|
