John Lennon was murdered 27 years ago tonight. On December 8, 1980, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate the loss of such a gifted and talented artist. Some 27 years on, I am. Aside from Kurt Cobain, a puzzle piece of my generation, musically, there was no other person I admired more than John Lennon.

My only connection to John Lennon in the physical world is an autographed thank you card, signed by Yoko Ono, I received way back in high school. I sent a letter and some money for purchase of flowers in his memory. I received a thank you card, and I can’t remember if I received the money back. I am pretty sure she did send the money back. For some reason, the card was ripped, and all that is left is a portion of the card where she signed it.

Boy, does this album ever sound good. This is the perfect time to listen to this album. A good album is like a book; stimulating your sense of sound, as well your sense of perception and state of mind. The remastered CD sounds brilliant, so crisp and fluid.

Sounds of Silence was recorded in December 1965 at CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California. The album was produced by Bob Johnston.

Where have all the good albums gone?

Today I quietly ventured out of my seclusion to secure a copy of the long over-due DVD release of Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged. The DVD is being released 14 years after it was recorded live in New York. Click here to read all about it.

Read the full article »

With iTunes 7.5 and the new iPhone software 1.1.2, MakeiPhoneRingtone works again! And the best part, it’s FREE! What this software does is automate the process of adding your songs (no longer than 40.04 seconds) into the iTunes ringtones folder, thus making them available for use on your iPhone when you sync it.

The program will take your AAC file, send it to your iTunes Music sub-folder “Ringtones,” and add it to your ringtone playlist. The only thing you have to do is make the ringtone. I use Sound Studio 3 to cut my songs.

Read the full article »

Kurt Cobain would have been 40 on February 20, 2007. When I saw that, I had to go and make sure there wasn’t a typo. 40? What? It seemed like yesterday he was just 27, having ended his life by his own hand. I don’t know where the time went, and I don’t even want to go back and figure it out.

With music having such a big part of my life, Kurt Cobain was a breath of fresh air back in 1993. 1993 was the first year I found my own music. Up until then, I had my father’s music, which was great, but I finally had something for myself. I had something I found. So, some 13 years later, it’s hard to go back and relive those few moments of pleasure I had with Nirvana and Cobain. It was too short. Too quick.

I had just received my first computer back in March, 1994. Sadly, within a month, I was reading news article after article of Kurt Cobain’s death. I saved a bunch of them, along with some pictures. These are the oldest files I have. I’ve saved them all these years, from computer to computer. I have included one such article.

Read the full article »

Thanks to a new feature of iPhoto, I can now share my high resolution album art easily with the rest of the world. Photocasting allows me to share my entire library via RSS feed. And if you are lucky enough to be on a Mac, you can subscribe to my photocast, and view my album just as if it were yours, updated in real-time.

Click here to view the RSS feed. You can use any RSS reader or web browser capable of using RSS feeds, such as Firefox or Safari.

It’s in.. and it’s BAD!!!!! (bad as in GOOD)

After the one hour installation, I finally started her up. The cool XSKey (connected via USB port) allows use on more than one Mac, but only one Mac at a time. Simply unplug it and plug it into another Mac. Brilliant!

I’m going to be watching my 7+ hours of tutorials starting tonight; night school as it were. It’s way too early to give my impressions of this massive software, but the box it came in weighed like 20 pounds– all manuals! That gives you an idea of how spectacular this software is.

More to come…

After many years of Tascam hardware-based recording, I’m moving to a software solution– well, with a little hardware too! This is going to be a really big change that is going to take weeks, even months to get through.

After buying a 24″ iMac this week, I decided that I would enjoy recording/mixing/mastering much more on a Mac:) And since Apple offers a great audio production tool, Logic Pro, my choice was made that much easier.

Read the full article »

In the continuation of a long-running arms race, both Apple Computer and Microsoft have seen their music protection technologies come under fire in recent days. — News.com

In the past month, separate programs have emerged to strip away the digital rights management (DRM) tools that the two technology giants use to protect music from unauthorized duplication. One of the programs counteracts Microsoft’s Windows Media DRM, while the other targets Apple’s FairPlay.

Read the full article »

What a delight it was finding both Boston CDs when I got back home Wednesday. These are the remastered versions, done personally by Tom Scholz, the leader, visionary and driving force behind Boston.

Right from the start, you can hear the deep lows and bottom end that were lacking in the original CD releases 20 years ago. The music now sounds just as good as it did back in 1976, when Boston’s debut and self-titled album hit the store shelves.

The guitar now jumps out at you, and sounds much more prominent, as opposed to the original EQ’d CD mix. The original mix had all but the last remnants of the bottom end gone. These new remasters bring them back.

To say I’m happy is an under-statement. These new CDs will kick the ass of just about any artist out there today. Try and find a more driving, rocking guitar section. These releases easily get 5 stars from me. Don’t take my word for it though, listen for yourself. The album is in parenthesis.

• More Than A Feeling (Boston - 1976)
• Rock & Roll Band (Boston - 1976)
• Don’t Look Back (Don’t Look Back - 1978)