The Bass Geek

And it goes beyond the gratuitous use of clip art in the source article.

40% of UK folks surveyed can’t name a legal music download site. The tagline about only knowing about Amazon and iTunes doesn’t bother me too much – people have resources to get on those services with little effort, so your recordings can be in the same store as the big boys. But almost have of the surveyed can’t even get that far?

If they can’t name it, they aren’t using it. And that doesn’t translate into purchased physical copies, either. Change is inevitable, I suppose, but would a little haste be such a bad thing?

The fans can connect directly with artists now – hell, how hard would it be to just ASK where the music is available for purchase? I’m sure they’d be more than happy to let the fans know?

I’m getting a little more time to practice (courtesy of my soon-returning-practice-schedule-containing notebooks and some Meshell Ndegeocello bass line transcriptions), which also means that I’m getting a little more time to play around with Record as both a recording program and as a virtual amp. The program hasn’t surpassed the Ampeg as my amp of choice, but the SansAmp into the program gets a credible sound. Also helping me get a credible sound are some good video tutorials from the Propellerhead folks – I’m really enjoying the short, focused topics both the company and their product specialist provides.

Sure, I’m still not recording anything longer than your average ringtone, but it’s a little easier. Plus, I’ve got a patch that turns my bass and a random mic into a nice vocoder. And it’s better than listening to the new version of “We Are The World.”

A bunch of sources point to Apple releasing a cloud-based music service in conjunction with their established iTunes store. Not only would you get the streaming tracks, but you’d also get the ability to back up your music library to “the cloud” and listen from Internet-enabled devices.

This has been tried already, of course, by mp3.com. The results were brutal lawsuits and a shutdown of the “music locker” service. But times have changed, different companies have felt financial downturns that make this seem like a better option, and now the possibility is there to make it happen. Like Spotify and MOG have already made it happen. Although not as well as they could have – Spotify is Europe-only at this point, and I personally let my subscription to MOG lapse because I was a little frustrated by incomplete listing of albums (although the overall selection was pretty good).

So it’s not like Apple is breaking any ground here. It’s just that the ground has shifted under the music industry and the technology has finally caught up. If they’re going to back up my entire library and make it available to me, wonderful. How much is it going to cost, and what will you do with the tracks I ripped from CD? Otherwise, there’s Simplify. The task here isn’t breaking new ground – it’s making what’s available work easily.

I do like what’s available for indie artists now, though. Tunecore + iTunes streaming = trackable plays and maybe some royalties out of the whole thing. Very streamlined and effective. I wonder what the cut will be?

Between Apple buying LaLa and MOG making their $5-a-month debut last week, streaming music enjoyed a brighter spotlight in recent news reports. The question of whether iTunes will stream purchased music (kinda like Netflix over computers and Xboxes) is intriguing, except that you still have to be near a network connection to use it (and 3G doesn’t necessarily count – still not ubiquitous enough and drains the batteries something fierce). Ultimately, though, I like the idea of the concept if it adheres to some basic tenets:

1. Sound quality – streaming from high-quality audio files is the only way to go. Sure, if the network slows down and causes problems, it doesn’t matter. But take every precaution on the service side to make it reliable and usable for all.
2. Amazing and complete selecton – this means all tracks from available albums; if you bother to get one, get them all.
3. Metadata – more than artist, track, and album; give me the liner notes. You’re on the Internet, after all.

I want to see how the LaLa acquisition works for iTunes, but I get the feeling it’s still some time away from being truly realized. Enough time to make some good decisions and get it done the right way, hopefully.

MOG’s $5-for-everything music service went live today, and I managed to score a free month to see what I think about it. So far, they’ve done some things right:

• Decent selection from the majors, which will please a lot of folks
• Uncomplicated interface – easy to use
• Slider on the radio feature that you can use to give you tracks from a single artist or include other artists in varying degrees
• You can pause tracks
• You’re not limited in plays of songs, and you can save playlists
• Works with Chrome – I was expecting problems there

However, it still has some downsides:

• Occasional drops or stoppages
• Only certain tracks on some albums – if you’re paying for the service and negotiating the rights, get everything, please
• Do NOT put Limp Bizkit in my Living Colour radio stream. EVER. EVER. EVER.

I’ve only had a few hours with this, so some of these things might shake out later. But that last point must be addressed now. Posthaste.

Last weekend in Chicago provided some fruitful bass moments, including the following instances:

• A fantastic show from Mehsell Ndegeocello – The Old Town School of Folk Music was a wonderfully intimate venue for the show, and Ndegeocello responded with some amazing songs. Highlights included a delicate bass-and-guitar reading of “Talk To Me” from her debut album, her covers of “Dirty Mind” and “Love You Down,” and aggressive takes on material from her new album “Devil’s Halo.” I caught the second of two sets, and I can only think the first set warmed her band up for an exceptional second effort.
• A magnificently brutal show from Mastodon and Dethklok at the Aragon Ballroom – The bands seemed to respond to that night’s videotaping of the shows to put on a singular display of force and precision. Mastodon played their latest album front to back and then tossed in some of their later material. Dethklok balanced their songs with the requisite animated skits to create a multi-layered experience. It was metal that was at once expertly played and self-aware of some of the cliches in the genre. They didn’t take it too seriously – they just went out and played it well.
• The purchases of a new Bass Blogger distortion pedal and a Nordstrand MusicMan pickup – The pedal has an unfortunate name, but I can’t argue with the fuzz sound I get out of it. And I’ll report back on the pickup once it’s installed in my Stingray, but I’m looking forward to some really good things. Bass Club Chicago was a great host and let me try a few pedals before deciding the Bass Blogger was the pedal for me. Thanks, folks!
• Not quite a bass moment, but the Propellerheads Producer’s Conference was a good time and a valuable way to pick up some tricks and tips on using Record.

Aside from a creepy hotel, the whole trip was a smashing success. Now to get back to playing with the new toys.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm.

So this weekend is supposed to be a “bass-cation” for me – concerts in Chicago from Meshell Ndegeocello and Mastodon/Dethklok, with a visit to Dusty Groove and Bass Club Chicago inbetween. Just found out, however, that Propellerheads is throwing a Producer’s conference this Saturday as well, and it could fit well into my schedule. Have any readers been to one of these before, and can you tell me if it’s worth the time and effort? It’s going to be a busy weekend in any case, but this looks like it could be a lot of fun.

The new IMN podcast is up and running – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm.

This past weekend involved two Playboy Psychonauts gigs, and I took the opportunity to work the Electro-Harmonix BassBalls pedal back into the lineup. I bought it quite a few years ago and never really found a good place for it, as the Q-Tron I used had more versatility. The sound and distortion fits well in the retro vibe of this band, though, so I’m keeping it in the gig bag. One listener last night called it the audio version of “Satyricon,” and I can’t think of a better reason to keep using it.