DMCA coming to Canada – Stop iT NOW!

Recent reports coming out of Ottawa are pointing to an upcoming DMCA law for Canadians. As if the US version isn’t bad enough. At least they had an excuse – They nothing to base or compare their implementation of DMCA. It is now almost 10 years old and has done nothing to improve the state of affairs for all involved. Piracy is still rampant, limitations on legitimate purchases, headaches for programmers and the general public.
Canada at least – has a US version to use for comparison and can draw the successes and failures from it, however they are not going to bother.
if YOU bother to take notice of those “you can make a difference” ads and campaigns, then you should get involved.

This effects us all (internet, music, movies, and even us bloggers!)

We need to call and write to our local politicians!

Thanks to Michael Geist for the scoop on this!

Link

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I now rule at life, and it’s all thanks to Guitar Hero

So yesturday morning I was browsing the web and saw that Guitar Hero II had finally arrived on my beloved Xbox 360. After reading some reviews, watching some videos, and taking occasional 7.36 minute breaks for viewing some adult-rated content, I decided to pickup a copy. I went down after work to my local FutureShop and managed to snag the last one. ‘Lucky’, I thought to myself as I dropped 99 dollars. I had no idea how lucky I was about to become.

After arriving home I immediately plugged in my new Gibson X-Plorer and went through the tutorials. Awesome. Having never played a Guitar Hero before this was all very new to me but after completing the 2 basic training tutorials, I was hooked. Now it was time to start the career. My very first song was to be Surrender by Cheap Trick… I powered through it on easy and was eager to move on to the next. The songs get progressively more challenging adding quicker rifts and tighter chord changes as you move through. If you’ve never played a Guitar Hero, the concept is very simple. You have a small plastic guitar with 5 coulored buttons at the top of the neck. These represent different notes. To play a note you must press down the corresponding button, and then flick the strum bar either down or up. On top of basic notes you can play chords, which are two or more buttons pressed down. These notes and chords can also be sustained in which you flick once, but continue to hold down the button for the continuation of the line that comes down your screen. More advanced techniques include hammer-ons and pull-offs, which really help with a quicker section in the song (they basically allow you to strum once then change your fingering on the buttons) I believe these last for 6-7 notes. Other gameplay features include the Star Power Meter and your rock meter. I’m not going to take the time to explain these because you will learn about them when you buy the game… and you will buy this game. Read more

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Remixology: Trent Reznor pushes fans to be creative with Garageband

Musicians are an intricate breed. Their population is comprised of many minds and many egos. From the days of Lars Ulrich hunting down Napster to Chuck D promoting online distribution of music, we will continue to see an evolution of music delivery for the next decade.

On April 2005, one of music’s technologically forward-thinking individuals revolutionized how a fan can interact with the music they listen to. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails released the single “The Hand That Feeds” in a multi-track Garageband format. Fans were able to download the 80mb dmg file to their Mac computers and remix the song as if they were at the helm of NIN’s studio console. All the tracks that were necessary to make a successful remix were provided: guitars, percussion, vocals, backup vocals, ambient sounds and synths.

A nice little letter comes enclosed with the files stating:
“Change the tempo. Add new loops. Chop up the vocals. Turn me into a woman. Replay the guitar. Anything you’d like. I gave this to my crew and band to test out and all work effectively stopped for a while – it’s fun to mess around with. I’ve now heard a country version of the track as well as an abstract Latin interpretation (thanks, Leo). There are some copyright issues involved, so read the notice that pops up. Giving this away is an experiment. I’m interested to see what comes of it, what issues are raised and what the results are.”

You can’t help but feel a part of the creative process as you work with the files and perform your own mash-up. You can’t help but think “holy shit this is cool stuff.” You can’t help but think this is a band who wants their fans to feel like they are a part of the music they listen to.

I’m not the worlds largest fan of NIN, but I definitely like a handful of their songs. I’ve really started to get into them as of late, appreciating the composition and technology that goes behind the music. This just took me one step deeper into their music as I loaded up the song within Logic Pro and started toying with it.

If you’re not a fan and you have some audio tools, download this and just see what you can come up with. Heck, if you don’t like NIN because you think Trent’s voice sucks, replace his with a new vox track – maybe your own!

Here’s to technology and becoming a part of what you listen to.

Update: Check www.nin.com to download the new single Survivalism in many different multitrack formats for your remix enjoyment!

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RUSH – Canadian Rock Heroes return!

I don’t often take the time to write about something that I like – for fear of being impartial of sounding biased, however I’ll make an exception. All Canadian musicians, have no doubt heard of these Canadian heroes. Not only for their squeeky clean images, and careers spanning over three decade, but also for their hardships. RUSH is a band not known for flashy shows or theatrics, but more for their amazing songwriting ability and pure progressive rock talent.  30 years and counting, members of the Order of Canada, politically correct and always perfectly polished, RUSH are the symbol of a pure rock band that need not rely on a show, or distractions to get their message across.  IN 2000, the band experienced a potential end to their careers when Neil Peart lost his entire family, first his daughter to a car accident, and then a year later, lost his wife to cancer.

Neil then began a journey of discovery and mourning. Always known as a prolific writer, and one of the most popular poets of modern day rock music. Neil wrote a book called Ghost Rider, the book took you along on his inner journey, as well as on the highways. The journey – travelling 18,000 kilometers from Canada to South America. Neil pondered life and of course the future of RUSH. All of us fans were deeply saddened by his loss, and could wholehearedly agree with Neil’s decision to move on with his life and leave the band be. Knowing that this power trio were family foremost, then friends, no one would blame him, and they would have most likely expected Neil to move on. Geddy Lee and ALex Lifeson, the other members of RUSH lost family members as well.

During that phase, I personally met my childhood hero – Geddy Lee. I won a contest from Q107 in Toronto to meet Geddy Lee at the radio station  to help promote his solo album. I shook his hand, and thanked him for giving me so many challenges over the years – to copy his songs and play them just like him. He was a very mild mannered fellow, and was very personable. I brought my daughter along, although she had never heard of RUSH – she was 12 or so, I thought it was an opportunity for her to meet someone famous. Geddy signed a postcard for her, and gave her an autograph. Very cool!

5 years had passed and the world thought… that RUSH was done. Geddy and Alex both releasd solo albums and side projects. That is more than we could have expected as fans, until RUSH announced a reunion, an a NEW album! Although it seemed like a long time, it was soon evident that RUSH were back with a fury! They released RUSH in RIO, a documentary and a concert following them through their reunion Tour, then R30, a 30th anniversary collection of videos, concerts and interviews – and a world tour, and Rush Replay – a rerelease of their first three concerts, along with sone 18 hours of new unreleased footage.

Today, RUSH announced an upcoming tour for their new album Snakes and Arrows. You can listen to the debut single called farcry on their website.

Thank you RUSH for persevering!  I’ll see you in Toronto!

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Darth Vader’s is falling apart…result is radical looking and gnarly sounding music gear.

A few weeks ago I went to the Moog Store (www.moogaudio.com) and purchased what I swear fell of Darth Vader’s chestplate before he was burned on Endor. It’s called the Korg Kaoss Pad 3. It’s got a bunch of knobs, some sliders, some inputs and outputs, and then it has a touch sensitive pad that lights up with red LEDs. It’s pretty rad. You can connect it to your computer via usb, or you can have it attached to your recording rig (I have it hooked up to Ableton Live and Logic Pro right now) or your turntables to get some ridiculously awesome sounds. Hell, if you were the guitarist for MUSE you would even have one installed in your guitar to get ridiculously awesome sounds on stage live.

If you want to see what the KP3 is capable of, check out all the vids on youtube and be prepared to see some neat-o type of stuff.

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=kp3+kaoss

If you’re looking to make a costume for Halloween next year and the only piece you are missing is the chest plate for the Sith Lord, then go blow $400CDN on this piece of kit.

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Pick a time and place for ye who hath faith.

Ah music.  Here are some hilarious associations to try if you like music.

It’s really silly/scary/disturbing/good procrastination to: 

• Stare at an anologue clock and listen to The Terminater 2 theme.
• Stare at a picture of a kitten and listen to the theme from Indiana Jones.
• Stare at a picture of Baggio kicking the ball over the net in the ’94 World Cup while listening to the ET Theme.
• Get in a pitch black room and listen to the them from The Shining.
• Read through old birthday cards, listening to Lasiurus from the Batman Begins Soundtrack, while in some sort of Yoga position.
• Stare at a picture of Bruce Lee… while listening to the theme from Dragon – The Bruce Lee Story.
• Walk through a field with tall grass while listening to Now We Are Free from the Gladiator Soundtrack.

Gotta find new ones.  I yearn to expand my vocabulary.

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Incubated in Ireland

I sometimes seek out strange music. In my mind there’s a time and place for every piece written. Like some QOTSA when you’re ripping around in a car or Bitches Brew when you’re doing some late night studying.

A number of months ago I trying look up some musicians off of a dirtbike video and stumbled across the title “Windowlicker” by Aphex Twin. It was taking a little bit to download so I went and looked it up on the web. Richard James is the man behind the music and he’s from England (born in Ireland). Apparently his music is all kept analogue until the last step to throw it on a CD. This gives maximum sound quality and range of pitches.

I have a strong belief that if you like a song right away, you’ll get bored with it right away. It’s the more complex tunes that take more time to appreciate. It took me some time to get my head into music by the likes of Thornley, QOTSA, Rachmaninoff, and Carl Orff. They kinda hit you with more than you can handle and can make you grimmace and you leave it… but eventually curiousity ensues.. and if you have the guts, you’ll come back and give it a second, third, and fourth chance. Like food, musical taste is acquired… not implanted in DNA.

Now if you can, bit by bit, let this music into you.. let the notes really rush through your veins.. then you have no choice but to be in the head-space of the artist that wrote it. And to me, that’s as good as visiting a new country, or throwing yourself out of an airplane. This song will leave you wide awake. And what’s more, because of the insane sound quality, I find the experience very different from stereo to stereo. Throw it in your car, play it at home, then put it on your ipod. Every way’s a different rush.

So that’s my latest – Tear your head open with Windowlicker, by Aphex Twin.

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