What's new in Music Collaboration

There has never been a time when music collaboration has been so easy. In the privacy of your own home. You don't have to lug your gear anywhere. I wish we always had this.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Origins of Rock-Ike Turner

I honestly don't know what to do with this SOB. Born and raised in Clarksdale Mississippi. The same home town of Muddy Waters, Jackie Brenston, Johnny O'Neil, Son House, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Eddie Boyd. Where Hwy 49 and 61 meet. The legendary "crossroads" where blues musicians meet the Devil. At 20 years old, his band recorded a song called "Rocket 88" Considered to be the first rock and roll song. The credits were messed up a little and the song was named to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. A legendary feud began between Ike and Jackie at that time. It was Ike's Band.

The high energy of the song set the stage for everything that came after. If you thought Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis started Rock. They actually rode in on the coattails of this 1951 song. I can't give Ike the enthusiastic praise I would like to because of how he treated Tina Turner. What do I do? She was a driven singer, but she was driven out to the edge by him.

Ike Turner was there at the very beginning. He may very well have started the sound of Rock as we know it today. Someone once said Rock and Roll is a vicious game. Ike Turner was the Ty Cobb of music.

Here's a little more History: http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/brenstonturner.htm

Monday, October 10, 2011

Gibson Rally - We Stand With Gibson

I hope you have all heard about it by now, but just in case. On August 24,2011, the US Department of Fish and Wildlife, raided Gibson. They took $500,000 worth of wood. It's just the stuff used to make Guitar necks. Practically, shutting out the company and putting 500 taxpayers out of work. To date, no charges have been laid for any crime the US Department is willing to admit to.

I don't usually get political on this site. I would have preferred to stay on the fun-side here. However, this cannot be ignored. Remember August 24, 2011. A day that will live in infamy. A day when the US government attacked Music Collaboration with a SWAT team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAE4UDcEByA&feature=digest_refresh_mon

Gibson Rally - We Stand With Gibson - Les Paul

Les Paul
Born June 9, 1915
Died August 13, 2009 @ 94, Pneumonia
I can't help but wonder what he would have thought about all this. Born undoubtedly while his Dad was fighting WW1. He was basically a guitar player and music producer. He had lively debates with Buddy Holly in the sound booth. He developed the Gibson Les Paul guitar which bears his name. He changed music.

For the US government to attack Gibson is like defecating on the bases at a baseball game or taking grandmothers apple pie and shoving it her face. How could they do it?

I live in a town where the Mayor ripped out a baseball field, three months before a general election. He lost badly. It's a little early but let's remember August 24, 2011


Saturday, October 08, 2011

Ike and Tina Turner

I have had a rare treat lately. I went to a Dollar store for a light activity at lunch last week. I was thumbing through the CD rack. Mostly it junk,of course but I thought you never know. I found this double CD set with a white cover that simply said Ike and Tina Turner. No real name on the album. A couple of pictures of them. The name of the company that released the album appears to be legit. I just wanted something new and different for my car when I drive to work.

I was totally blown away. It turns out it was copies of original recordings. Early 60's Motown I believe. The recording was clean. The effects were quaint, some almost funny. I suspect they might have actually built the devices with there own hands. Very little delay. Perhaps only natural reverb. Cable strings on the guitars. Simple Drum kit. And Tina Turner's voice.

I never really understood before. The legend of Motown. It was her, Tina Turner. That voice and production was Rock. It made Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Louis sound quaint. There was never anything like it before and little since. You could put it up against anyone and they would have a tough time competing. It set the stage for everything that came after. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. There hasn't been a woman's voice like that since either. Many have tried, lots were successful. However, a new golden age of a woman Rocker has not come again yet.

I never heard any of these songs before. That was my rare treat.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

A History of Country Music

A History Of Country Music


Musicians have been playing fiddle music in the Appalachians for years, but it wasn't until 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee that the first country music recording deal was signed. In this year, Victor Records signed Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.

Jimmie Rodgers was born in Meridian Mississippi, in 1897. Originally he worked on the railroads until his ill health got the better of him and it was only during this time that he followed his earlier love of entertaining. In 1927 he heard that Victor Records were setting up a portable recording studio and made his way there. He was immediately signed and continued recording and playing music until he died in 1933.

He was one of the very first musicians to be added to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 along with Hank Williams and Fred Rose. On the same day as Jimmie Rodgers signed with Victor Records, so did the Carter Family, who would become one of the most famous country music bands of all time. They remained with Victor Records until 1936. Not even divorce could separate the band though and they continued to record with Decca until 1939. Things started to hit a rough patch at this stage and despite signing for Universal and eventually Victor Records again, the band split in 1941.

It is widely acknowledged that that big day in 1927 was the introduction of country music to the rest of the country. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family were met with huge critical acclaim and became incredibly popular helping to sell a great many records. Country music singers and bands of today will often talk about the Carter Family or Jimmie Rodgers as being their major influence and with very good reason.








Friday, April 08, 2011

http://www.jammm.in

http://www.jammm.in

Jammm.in asked me for a little plug so here goes. It is a simple Music Collaboration site. Not a lot of hype. Just people that want to play and create music. They seem to have been working on their site quite a bit lately and if I'm not mistaken they have improved their server. It's quicker. I'm not sure what country it is from but I think it is eastern. It's active with many fresh uploads per week. They haven't really specialized into genres so you have to pick and choose yourself. If you are looking for a simple Music Collaboration site it might be worth a look.

Jeff

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Someone looking for a good Music Collaboration site

Hi Jason,
Sorry I took so long getting back to you. www.kompos.com has had a consistently high rating over the last few years. There are lots of good ones. It was my ambition to keep track of them. Group interest in rating them has not really been there and I don't think it is necessary. Look for ones that have recent posts and genres that you prefer. Some have them all, some are more specialized, some just didn't have the interest in certain genres. Their server is important, You want a fast, rock solid, server. If they are slow or have crashing problems they are just no fun. Real time Jamming is so close we can taste it. However, there are still lots of problems with it. Software compatibility, Actual distance, it works better if you are within a few hundred miles. The endless stream of spybots and malware slow everything down. I have to do hours of maintenance every few days and I'm getting really tired of it, but it is the nature of the beast. If you find a Music Collaboration site that has a slick utility for real time jamming onsite, let me know.

Jeff

Friday, February 25, 2011

Old Guitar Strings

I have recently started playing with one of those rare breed of guitar players, a recluse. He has been playing guitar for years. He has rarely played with anyone else. He never practiced with a drum machine before. He never used delay for a microphone before. He is very good although being self-taught his theory is all over the place and incomplete. Each new song he learns is a subjective adventure for him and I enjoy watching his excitement as he learns new techniques.

He told me he had had his electric guitar for seven years. I looked at it and played it for a minute. It too obviously needed new strings. I didn't want to offend or embarrass him but I couldn't stand to see him playing on those old strings so on my next trip to the music store I picked up a set of strings, $4.00. Next time I saw him I handed him the package, He says: "What's this". I was taken aback by the statement. The guy had been playing for seven years and didn't even recognize a package of guitar strings.

I know I must be very tactful with a rare individual like this. However, let's gently encourage all of our guitar playing friends with this habit to put on new strings, every 30 hours or so of playing time. They got their moneys worth out of those strings. It is just taking away from their enjoyment of the instrument using those dull thud strings. It gives you a reason to go to the music store and look around. Keep up with new things, maybe meet another musician. It's win,win,win.

My friend, Be happy and get some new strings.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

New Site

Hi Everyone,

We have a new Music Collaboration. They just asked for submission.
http://www.collaborationkingdom.com
They have some new upgrades they have been working on for the past few months. It seems to have some professional functions.

Good luck.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Music news

Hi everyone,

www.sonomawireworks.com has a very cool new adapter that plugs into your wireless phone. You could send vocals or guitar or anything else that will go through a 1/4in phono plug. It's hard to believe those 1/4in phono plugs are still in use. However, I know from personal experience that they are highly reliable and that is probably the reason. Anyone who prefers to use a wireless phone connection for their Music Collaboration might be interested.

http://fjam.zapto.org---https://sites.google.com/site/fjatestsite/home
fjam.zapto.org has started using google website hosting. I am a little familiar with this google app. Their Music Collaboration site seems very functional and active. I know that google webhosting is very secure and there is plenty of storage. It's a bold thing to use this type of webhosting for something as dynamic as a Music Collaboration site, but it obviously works pretty well. If anyone is having trouble with the cost of webhosting your site, you might want to consider it.

Jeff

Disabled List News

Hi everyone,
It's been a while since I went through the main list. As usual, there were some casualties.
www.slykatt.com
www.lumbertwig-online.org
www.cocompose.net
www.tunerooms.com

Several others have moved on to other genres of the world and are not likely to be back. They include:
esession.com-Seems to be a musical job bank.
37signals.com-Seems to be a internet marketing site.
artistcollaboration.com-Is for artists of paint and picture.
simplexmax.com-is a website development site
They have been removed from the disabled list. Good luck to these old friends in their new Apps.

Jeff

Saturday, January 15, 2011

http://www.songbloom.com

Here's a new one I just found. They don't need my help. They are only seven behind us on the first page of a google search. They are in most ways a regular collaboration site. The interesting thing about them is the site was setup to produce songs for sale.

That's a good idea. The best, most fun part of music collaboration without the soul strangling business side of things. This could work.