Music and Musical Gear

IK Multimedia Brings iGrand Piano to iPhone!

Music Diary

IK Multimedia Brings iGrand Piano to iPhone!

I’ve already written about the release of iGrand Piano for iPad, and I’ll have my review coming soon … but now you can get the same excellent sounds for the iPhone and iPod Touch! IK Multimedia has just released iGrand Piano for iPhone in the app store for $19.99! Here is what IK has to say: IK Multimedia – the leader in mobile music-creation apps and accessories for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – is proud to announce the release of iGrand Piano for iPhone and iPod touch, a concert quality, highly playable, and extremely expressive app, offering 17 gorgeous…

Slacker App for Windows 8 Launched and Will Livestream ABC Election 2012 Coverage

News & Features

Slacker App for Windows 8 Launched and Will Livestream ABC Election 2012 Coverage

For those individuals like me who have just started using the latest Microsoft OS incarnation that is Windows 8 on their PCs, Slacker announced the official launch of their music service supporting Windows 8. The free Slacker app is designed such that it takes advantage of the new tiling and UI aspects of Windows 8, multitasking, and even the Share charm feature. In Windows 8, apps like Slacker don’t flip to the “old” Windows 7-style desktop but are integrated into the Windows 8 UI, providing a fluid, seamless experience, particularly if you’ve set up Windows 8 with a Microsoft Live…

Rock Radio Dies Again in NYC

Gear Bits

Rock Radio Dies Again in NYC

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… Sadly, it looks like rock fans in the New York area have been fooled twice. Just a few short months ago, rock radio returned to the area, but apparently there wasn’t much interest. Instead of rock ‘n roll, 101.9 has gone from playing music to {sob} playing sports talk radio! From The Top 22: The rumors were true: New Rock 101.9 was never in it for the long haul as investors apparently want out. CBS snaps it up at a fire sale price to make for an FM home for legendary…

One of Five Albums (yep, 20%) Sold Last Week Was Taylor Swift's 'Red'

Music Diary, News & Features

One of Five Albums (yep, 20%) Sold Last Week Was Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’

Last year I was very vocal about calling shenanigans over the way Lady Gaga used a $0.99 ‘giveaway’ on Amazon.com to basically game her way to ‘selling’ over 1 million albums. It has been documented ad nauseam that the ‘record industry of old’ is dead, but that execs at the three remaining majors try to continue pushing their hand-crafted ‘stars’ and product … to ever shrinking annual sales. This week we get the exception that proves the rule – Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’ sold ~1.21 million copies, the most in a single week since Eminem in 2002. First some background. Every…

Cool Video of James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince on Stage in 1983!

Gear Bits, News & Features

Cool Video of James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince on Stage in 1983!

Sometimes when checking out yet another random ‘list of stuff’ you will find a gem … and here is yet another cool video as a result! It is a 1983 James Brown performance, in which he calls Michael Jackson to the stage and later Prince. Michael and Prince are still reaching the height of their powers, whereas elder statesman JB was about to have his last big hit with ‘Living in America’ the following year. Regardless, it is a magical moment captured on film of sketchy quality, but definitely worth watching! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hPK12SymqeQ Source: BuzzFeed

Google Music Will Get 'Match' Capabilities

Music Diary, News & Features

Google Music Will Get ‘Match’ Capabilities

Google has a huge blog post here related to their product announcements On November 13, we’re bringing music on Google Play to Europe. Those of you in the U.K, France, Germany, Italy and Spain will be able to purchase music from the Google Play store and add up to 20,000 songs—for free—from your existing collection to the cloud for streaming to your Android devices or web browser. We’re also launching our new matching feature to streamline the process of uploading your personal music to Google Play. We’ll scan your music collection and any song we match against the Google Play…

End of an Era - The Final Jazz Session Episode Airs Today

Music Diary, News & Features

End of an Era – The Final Jazz Session Episode Airs Today

As Judie has always said when recruiting for new writers at Gear Diary – blogging is not something you do for the money; it is all about the love – love of product, technology, sharing and interacting. All you hope for is to cover costs. Now imagine that instead of blogging you ran a jazz interview podcast that required frequent trips to New York City and other locations, attendance at clubs, festivals and concerts, and so on. Suddenly the costs start to spiral out of control. That is what Jason Crane discovered as he launched ‘The Jazz Session’, the jazz…

Keeping Trick or Treaters Away from Your Home while Scaring Your Kids in the Days of Yore!

Editorials

Keeping Trick or Treaters Away from Your Home while Scaring Your Kids in the Days of Yore!

What you see before you, gentle reader, is an instrument of torture, a 33 1/2 RPM record euphemistically titled “The language and music of the Wolves – narrated by Robert Redford”, circa 1971. Ostensibly a product of environmental awareness and respect for Nature, it was an excellent tool for acquainting modern America with wolves, which had been nearly hunted to extinction in the lower 48 states. Robert Redford explains and enlightens listeners about the wolf and its habits, raising awareness of the plight of these magnificent creatures. This is all well and good, except for one problem: there is a Side…

Asgeir and Mo - 'Danza de Andalucia' CD Review

Music Diary, Reviews

Asgeir and Mo – ‘Danza de Andalucia’ CD Review

Asgeir & Mo – Danza de Andalucia I have been fortunate to see many great artists perform live, several of whom have sadly left us since that time. Thirty years ago I attended a concert of the trio John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola and Paco de Lucia performing ‘flamenco fusion’ on acoustic guitars from their ‘Passion, Grace and Fire’ recording. A few years later I was lucky to see a performance featuring jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli, who was part of the legendary ‘Hot Club of France’ recordings with Django Reinhardt. Their music was a sort of ‘gypsy swing fusion’ blending jazz…

iRig Keys Now Shipping, Review Coming Soon!

Music Diary, News & Features

iRig Keys Now Shipping, Review Coming Soon!

Today IK Multimedia announced that they were shipping the iRig Keys, their first entry into the hardware controller world. Building on their growing base of experience with iOS-based music accessories, IK is positioning as a mobile controller for your tablet or laptop that provides a solid range of functionality while also easily fitting in your backpack – and with the durability to stand up to life in a backpack! Even better, today my iRig Keys arrived for review, and will be working to get my review of the new hardware and iGrand Piano for iPad out as soon as possible. Because…

FL Studio for Android Coming in 2013 (Maybe), Developer Posts Update Video

Gear Bits, Music Diary, News & Features

FL Studio for Android Coming in 2013 (Maybe), Developer Posts Update Video

I have been very vocal about what I see as the shortcomings of Android tablets, with one in particular getting my ire: audio latency issues and the lack of a ‘core audio’ solution that makes the entire Android platform totally useless for people trying to make music of any reasonable quality. Sure there are a few apps out there – but they are all base-level crap. Sorry, but at best they are work-arounds that are inelegant, or perhaps work on one or two hardware platforms, but in general I don’t report on specific Android music apps for a very simple…

Libratone Zipp AirPlay Speaker Review

Reviews

Libratone Zipp AirPlay Speaker Review

Last week I offered a first look and video of the Libratone Zipp. The airplay speaker fuses European aesthetics with Cupertinian technology. The round speaker works fine at home, but it also runs on battery power so you can take it on the go. Libratone, who already offered two different speakers designed for home use has now made a speaker that is ready to, as they put it, “Leave the House”. From Libratone: Share your music anywhere, anytime! Libratone Zipp is an easy-to-use, wireless sound system wrapped in changeable Italian wool. Stream your favourite tunes with PlayDirect™ and AirPlay technology, directly…

Watch Ellie Goulding 'Live' Streaming Concert on a 24-Hour Loop!

Music Diary

Watch Ellie Goulding ‘Live’ Streaming Concert on a 24-Hour Loop!

In an interesting change from normal livestreams or recorded video, Ellie Goulding is streaming her concert from The Troubadour in Los Angeles, recorded on October 16th. It is being made available to view on YouTube via LoveLiveTV, starting at 8PM EST and repeating for the next 24 hours. If you are a fan of her music, definitely check this out! Check it out here starting at 8PM EST!

Cool Video Shows 40+ Minutes of Seldom-Recorded Jazz Legend Lennie Tristano

Music Diary

Cool Video Shows 40+ Minutes of Seldom-Recorded Jazz Legend Lennie Tristano

There is an old truth and a new truth that struck me as I watched and listened to this amazing clip of pianist Lennie Tristano: the old truth is that reality is not described solely by what is best known or most popular … and the new truth is that there are many hidden gems to be uncovered on YouTube. Lennie Tristano is one of those artists that too few folks know about, and he even gets left out in mentions of ‘deep cuts’ innovators. Everyone knows Miles and Bird and Satchmo and Trane and Duke … some know Mingus…

IK Multimedia Puts the 'Grand' in Mobile Piano with new iGrand Piano for iPad!

Music Diary, News & Features

IK Multimedia Puts the ‘Grand’ in Mobile Piano with new iGrand Piano for iPad!

Back in the early 1990s I remember checking out one of the incredible new sampled piano instruments at E.U. Wurlitzer in Boston. It was also really expensive, but as the salesperson noted – if you need the incredible sound quality and attention to detail, it is well worth it … but if you are OK with piano sounds on your other sample playback synths, there is no price that will make sense. That was something I loved about the Kurzweil K2000 – it had an incredible (to me) sampled piano but didn’t break the bank. Fast forward twenty years and…

Check Out the New Apple iPod Commercial 'Bounce'

Music Diary, News & Features

Check Out the New Apple iPod Commercial ‘Bounce’

Apple’s latest ad is for their now-shipping updated iPod line, which has the simple description: Every iPod now in color. The commercial is about the cool and colorful iPod new line-up and offers seamless transitions between the Touch, Nano and Shuffle accompanied by a funky song. It is a positive, good-feeling commercial. Some things (good and bad) not mentioned in the video: + The 5th gen iPod Touch is the most ‘iPhone-like’ version yet. – The iPod Touch STILL doesn’t contain a GPS + The Nano is incredibly small and has a 2.5″ screen – But you have to load the Nano…

Wolfgang's Vault As Membership-Only Site; Have You Joined? Will You?

Music Diary

Wolfgang’s Vault As Membership-Only Site; Have You Joined? Will You?

I have always loved Wolfgang’s Vault – great classic music, and more recently loads of video content as well. We have written about the site several times here before, including 2011’s introduction of video content. But as more and more content – requiring more and more bandwidth – came online, I had wondered how the largely ad and merchandise supported site would survive. The answer: it couldn’t. Ads, merchandise and downloads alone were not enough. Back in early August I got an email from Wolfgang’s Vault that said: Hey Music Fans, we are thrilled to announce that we’ll be launching…

Celebrating 50 Years Since the First Beatles Single!

Music Diary

Celebrating 50 Years Since the First Beatles Single!

Growing up and buying our first music in the wake of the Beatles break-up and with my brother a huge fan, I developed quite an in-depth knowledge of their music and history and enjoy their stuff to this day. My preference has always been their ‘middle years’ of Revolver and Rubber Soul, but over time I have appreciated everything they did. It is hard to think that they started 50 years ago. As noted at the Guardian UK, today marks the 50th anniversary of that release. Here is a bit of what they said: Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ newly appointed…

Check Out This Cool Video of Roy Clark and Joe Pass Playing the Music of Hank Williams!

Gear Bits, Music Diary

Check Out This Cool Video of Roy Clark and Joe Pass Playing the Music of Hank Williams!

When I think of Roy Clark, I think first of Hee Haw, but also know that he is an amazing guitarist. Joe Pass is recognized as one of the all time greatest guitarists. In 1994, just before Pass died, the two teamed up to record a selection of music by Country legend Hank Williams. The results were a jazzy-country mix that showed off the great songs, and highlighted two excellent guitarists who played very well together and a rhythm section who could handle the cool stylistic mix. Check out the video! And if you let it play to the end…

Vinyl Re-Visions Looks at Steve Reich's Different Trains (Classical, 1988)

Music Diary, Reviews

Vinyl Re-Visions Looks at Steve Reich’s Different Trains (Classical, 1988)

Steve Reich – Different Trains / Electric Counterpoint There are a few pieces of music that absolutely stop me in my tracks; that no matter my mood or intent, if these come on I will listen without fail or interruption. One is Miles Davis’ song Bitches Brew from the album of the same name … another is Steve Reich’s composition Different Trains. This music is amazing on a number of levels that I will describe later, but it also has an emotional pull, as it integrates Reich’s experience as a Jew in America with family in Europe and his thoughts…