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Rock Band to Real Band

I have been playing the hell out of Rock Band 2.  I very much enjoy it as it’s quite fun and challenging.  I’m also willing to bet that games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are helping the music industry quite a bit as most likely people are getting exposed to music they have never considered before (I know I have been)..  But what might me more important is that people are getting exposed to the notion of making music..

In an era where school music programs are on the decline (or completely gone) I can’t think of anything more important for the music industry as a whole than getting kids interested and/or hooked at an early age..  This is the perfect venue!

They just need to bridge the realism gap..   Rock Band (and guitar hero, band hero, etc..) are great games, but they aren’t realistic at all..  For the guitar and bass you are producing notes by strumming a single piece of plastic and pushing one or multiples of 5 buttons..  As you graduate through the difficulty levels things get harder in that the waterfall of Chiclets come faster and the fingerings are more difficult, but you don’t actually progress towards being able to play a real instrument..

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The Sonic Infusion

My music tastes range far and wide, but when it comes to some tunes to play in the background while working I find that good techno, house, or trance serve me the best.  I can really get into a groove when listening to this music..  Oddly enough it helps me focus on my work and blocks out the distractions nicely..   My productivity probably triples when I can code to the beats..

Typically I would listen to some Classic or Vocal Trance on DI.FM (Digitally Imported Radio) a service I happily pay for because it did such a good job of keeping me focused on my work.  A while back I stumbled across the Sonic Infusion while browsing the podcasts available on iTunes and I’ve been hooked..

The Sonic Infusion is a free podcast put out (about once a month) by Spencer Gordon consisting of skillfully mixed and current Progressive, House and Trance music from all over the world ranging in length from 1 to 3 hours..  And it’s great!  At this point I have listened to all 120 episodes and he is only getting better..  What blows me away is that he does this for free..  He puts it out there solely to promote his and the other artists’ work, and is completely worth the listen.  The quality is high enough that if he put CD’s out there I bet people would buy them..

I realize this post is a shameless plug, and as such not something I typically do.. But man its worth it..  This guy is great as is the product he puts out..  I listen to one of his episodes (randomly) every day just to get into the groove and help me focus on my work.. (Which is in all likelihood completely NOT what he had in mind.. hehe  Hey it works for me!!)  Give it a listen, and to Spencer I say thanks man..

You can check it out here:  The Sonic Infusion or by going to http://www.thesonicinfusion.com/

So I haven’t updated my blog in a while because all my spare time has been spent playing Rockband 2.. It’s like crack.. They put subliminal messages in the video’s to make you want to play it day and night!!

The best part is that my wife has been playing it too.. And even more surprising is she likes playing drums!!   That actually came as a shock to me.. I expected her to enjoy guitar or bass.. I never thought she’d like the drums because frankly they are the hardest part..

But she loves it so we play together and do fairly well..Good times!!

Now they just need to add a lot more Journey songs.. They only have 2?!  TWO!!!  *sigh*  More!  I want more damnit.. hehe

Good game.. I highly recommend it..

Electric Violin

So I had said previously that my musical talent ended pretty much at the ability to play the radio, and that I hated that..  I wrote that entry back in July of ’08 and I still hate it..

I have been looking around for ideas of what to play and am still undecided.. I have a nice piano so my investment there at this point would be only time, but I am not interested in it — it still doesn’t inspire me..  I still like the idea of the Chapman stick but the cost is just unreasonable and frankly the alternative is not as pretty (yes that matters) not to mention they have horrible business tactics which I don’t appreciate..

I thought about getting a guitar and may still do that as there’s a ton of info out there for free as well as an awesome assortment of equipment.. So baring anything else.. I’ll do that.. I can get a guitar on the cheap and I have 4 or 5 friends that have offered to loan me an instrument..

Having said that, of late a coworker of mine has gotten me interested in learning the violin or viola..   Plus I have done a lot of looking online and I have to admit they look fun..  The concept of an electric violin appeals to me.. hehe

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Sony DR-BT21G

In 1994 Jaap Haartsen and Sven Mattisson has a stroke of genius when they invented the personal area networking (PAN) protocol known today as Bluetooth for Ericsson phones.   By the year 2000 it was pretty widely known that Bluetooth was something hot!  A lot of major companies jumped on to the Bluetooth Special Interests Group with the intent of developing some really neat technology..  And ever since I heard about the protocol I immediately though, “they need headphones that use those!!”..

Well set the way forward machine to 2009 and I FINALLY have a set of stereo headphones that use the Bluetooth protocol!  Yay!   I know they have actually been out for over a year but it took me this long to find a pair that I thought would be worth having, AND I had a device that would actually support it.

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