‘How the web has changed the way we buy music’ designed by Mark Hooson

[via inspiredm.com]

[Mark Hooson is a music fanatic, loves web culture and writes for the money team at Moneysupermarket.com about how to purchase credit cards, debt and savings.]

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From the same guys under Audiotool. This is Nudge. “iNudge is a virtual-instrument widget designed for self-expressive online music making & sharing.” Play it here.

• Select 1 of 8 different Sound Patterns from the small Matrixes icons on the right.
• Use your mouse to draw notes on each 16 Step Matrix.
• Adjust the volume of the iNudge.
• Click MORE for advanced adjustment abilities.
• Get & Share allows you to Send Mail, Get Link, Get Embed code or Spread in communities.
• Use the Feedback Forum to tell us what you think, leave your comments or make suggestions.
• Check out MOST LISTENED and NEWEST iNudges below!

[via socks-studio.com]

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This guitar could transform your playing, but there are strings attached

Back in 1950, the first commandment of electric guitar manufacture was set in stone: thou shalt have six strings. While most luthiers obeyed, others have since broken protocol, to the delight of more adventurous players and the disgust of old-school purists.

If you frowned on the seven-string boom of the early Noughties, then you’ll probably hate Schecter’s new Damien Elite 8. Not only does it feature the bowel-emptying low B much loved by Korn and the gang, it also has a tectonic-plate-quaking eighth string that’s thicker than an industrial cable.

Eight stringers do have real benefits, with jazz cats (Charlie Hunter) and metal bands (Meshuggah/Deftones) all taking advantage of the added melodic range. But make no mistake: this is the most esoteric guitar we’ve seen in ages.

read more on musicradar.com

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Roland UK have announced their 2010 UK Cakewalk demo tour, taking place across this fair isle from October to December. Attendees will witness Sonar specialist Luke Edwards putting Cakewalk’s powerful PC DAW and associated hardware through their paces, and all for an entry fee of nothing, zip, nada.

Here are the dates and venues:

October 14: Red Dog Music, Edinburgh (0131 229 8211)
October 16: PMT, Salford (0161 877 6262)
October 23: PMT, Birmingham (0121 359 5003)
November 6: PMT, Leeds (0113 242 6601)
November 13: GG Digital, Glasgow (0141 552 3402)
November 20: PMT, Norwich (01603 666891)
December 4: Nevada Music, Portsmouth (0239 231 3090)
December 11: Dawsons, Reading (0118 958 1321)

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This recorder packs 24-bit recording with built-in stereo mics into a package smaller than an energy bar. The DR-03 records to microSD media, and a 2GB card is included to start capturing audio right away.

The DR-03 features playback functions like looping and Variable Speed Audition to slow down music without changing the pitch. It’s designed for low handling noise when recording handheld during concerts or interviews.

The DR-03 is available now from select retailers for a street price less $100.

Find out more about the DR-03.

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[via synthtopia]

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Based on its acclaimed line of instrument trainers, TASCAM’s GB-10 is the ultimate tool for guitar and bass players to learn and record new music. Load up the SD card with your MP3 collection, then loop and slow down licks without changing the pitch. Plug into the 1/4″ input to play along through amp modeling, reverb and other effects. The GB-10 even records your music with an overdub mode to build up arrangements.

The GB-10 includes a 2GB SD card for loading in your music collection. Variable Speed Audition allows musicians to independently change the speed and pitch of MP3 or WAV playback. The tabletop design is perfect for practicing almost anywhere. A tuner and metronome are also built-in for precision playback, and a footswitch input allows hands-free control.

The TASCAM GB-10 is the ideal practice tool for musicians of any skill level to build their technique.

find out more on www.tascam.com/products/trainer

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“Heartbeat Hip-Hop” (DOD Vol. 16) is flesh-and-blood drumming that’ll make your songs and projects bump with a human Hip-Hop sound. It offers 800+ drum loops and single hits in 15 Song Sets® played by a real, live drummer. In a style dominated by programming, Heartbeat Hip-Hop adds a soulful pulse to the beat that can’t be matched by synthetically produced drums.

Heartbeat Hip-Hop features world-class drummer, Eric Valentine, who has toured with superstar artists such as Erykah Badu, Stevie Wonder, Patti Labelle, Dionne Warwick, Steve Lukather (Toto) and more. Having worked with some of the most sampled artists on Hip-Hop tracks, Eric came with it on the drums, bringing you tight snares, crips kicks, and the chill high-hats for you to chop up, loop, and blend into your beat creations. Download now! Or select shipped on disc.

Features
800+ loops and single hits in 15 deep Song Sets® • 24-BIT Acid WAVs, 16-BiT Acid WAVs or Apple Loops (REX coming in Oct) • Optional $49.95 upgrade to 24-Bit Multitrack WAV, $49.95 (Read more here.) • 100+ multi-velocity single hit drum samples (snares, kick, toms, cymbals, etc.) • High-end 44.1K mix • Royalty-free (like all our volumes) • Patented organization • For disc orders, 24-Bit WAVs, Apple Loops and Multitrack discs are DVD data discs. 16-Bit WAV disc is a data CD.

Each of the previews in the preview player above were made with about 5 loops. Use the next track button (next to the play button) or blue scroll button at right two scroll through all 15 Song Sets.

SKU: dodv16hiphop

List Price: $39.95

Price: $39.95

Get it on drumsondemand.com

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This is by no means an authoritative list of online booking tools. In fact, it may be missing a few players in the field. Duncan Freeman, the founder of Band Metrics and Indie Music Tech, published this list over the weekend. It’s a great overview of the many sites available though. I’m left to assume that there’s a demand for these tools and that some artists are finding them useful. Otherwise, a new tool wouldn’t be created every other day.

10 Resources That May Help Artists Book More Gigs:

1. GigMasters (booking platform for artists and talent buyers)
2. GigMaven (free and easy-to-use booking website for musicians; currently available in NY, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, Austin, Phoenix and Ohio)
3. Gigwish (influence venues, promoters and booking agents by enabling an artist’s fans and their local music scene to vote for them)
4. G2.fm (an online booking community where bands and musicians connect with venues by sharing their music)
5. Live Music Machine (get booked anywhere for any type of live music event, as well as getting booked directly from MySpace)

Red the next five on hypebot.com

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The 70th Anniversary John Lennon Imagine Model,  J-160VS and the John Lennon Museum J-160E Model

Seventy years after his birth and three decades after his untimely passing, John Lennon’s message of peace continues to touch the masses, and his songs still resonate in the hearts and minds of fans around the world. At the request of Yoko Ono, Gibson Guitar is proud to offer three 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E acoustic guitars to celebrate the legacy of this extraordinary artist. Accordingly, only a very limited number of these handmade acoustics will ever be available.

In 1962, John Lennon was still an up-and-coming artist, and though one of two main singer/songwriters at the heart of The Beatles, was scraping by on the little money the band was bringing in at that time. For his first quality American acoustic/electric guitar, Lennon had his sights set on a new Gibson J-160E – the problem was, he didn’t have the money to buy it. With the aid of a co-signed purchase from Beatles manager Brian Epstein (who also co-signed for bandmate George Harrison’s J-160E), Lennon made the guitar his own, and put it straight to the business of making rock and roll history. Recreated by the luthiers at Gibson’s Montana acoustic guitar facility in period-perfect detail, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon models are available in three distinct versions to represent the instrument at three periods in Lennon’s life and career. The first, finished in Vintage Sunburst and limited to 500 guitars, represents the guitar as it was when Lennon first acquired it and used it on several famous Beatles recordings from 1963 to ’64, including Please Please Me, With The Beatles and A Hard Day’s Night.

The second is a stunning Custom Shop “Imagine” model in a Soft White finish personally requested by Yoko Ono to reflect the sentiment of John’s life and music during the recording of Imagine. And the third is the model as it is today, on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, with a thin, natural finish and Lennon’s famous “John and Yoko” caricature sketches, representing the appearance of the guitar during the famous Lennon-Ono “Bed-In” peace protests of 1969.

The custom shop’s second and third renditions are limited to 70 guitars each, one for every year since John’s birth in 1940, and both include a special 70th Anniversary Certificate personally signed by Yoko Ono and sent to the final purchaser by Certified Mail. As for construction, each version is an accurate rendition of the J-160E of 1962, a guitar originally released in 1954 as one of the world’s first successful “electro-acoustic” guitars, with built-in pickup and electronics and ready to hit the stage for the professional performing musician. Beloved by Lennon, and kept close throughout his too-short life, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E is a guitar every Beatles fan will want to make their own.

find out more on Gibson Website

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