Piano to me, is one of the most honest versatile instruments in a songwriter's arsenal. For me, I have an upright piano in the studio where I teach so between guitar lessons, i get to jam out on the keys and express myself. The smooth nature of it, it just calms me. It really sooths my heart when it's heavy or when i feel a certain strong emotion.
Sometimes i like to take the lyrics and chord structure to a song and just reinvent it. Then I listen to the way the writer originally heard it in their own mind and see how close or far I was to their rendition. It's a really fun way to find the melody in your life and find your own original songs and riffs.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
INTRODUCING: Solo Guitarist & Brilliant Composer Arielle
One of the most SOULFUL guitarists I have ever had the privilege to listen to in my life.
Committed Music extends a warm heart-felt welcome to Arielle Schwartz who will endlessly blow our minds and win our hearts. It feels like a wierd Wayne's World moment where they time warp and make those "de do do dow" sound effects to make it more real! hahah!!!!!!
This is a testament to how one person can radically make a positive and measurable change towards greatness for hundreds of people, just by doing what their heart tells them to do!
I KNOW MY FEMALE GUITAR STUDENTS WILL DEFINITELY ENJOY HER WORDS AND THOUGHTS ON MUSIC AND PERSEVERANCE.
WITH LOVE,
Troy
Committed Music extends a warm heart-felt welcome to Arielle Schwartz who will endlessly blow our minds and win our hearts. It feels like a wierd Wayne's World moment where they time warp and make those "de do do dow" sound effects to make it more real! hahah!!!!!!
This is a testament to how one person can radically make a positive and measurable change towards greatness for hundreds of people, just by doing what their heart tells them to do!
I KNOW MY FEMALE GUITAR STUDENTS WILL DEFINITELY ENJOY HER WORDS AND THOUGHTS ON MUSIC AND PERSEVERANCE.
WITH LOVE,
Troy
Monday, November 29, 2010
Indaba Music (THERE'S MORE TO JUST "MUSIC") !READ ON!
This website has been called the "Linked In" for Musicians! .//CHECK 'EM OUT//.
Get Discovered on Indaba Music from Indaba Music on Vimeo.
Get Discovered on Indaba Music from Indaba Music on Vimeo.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
FREE Les Paul MOVIE on www.HULU.com!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.hulu.com/les-paul-chasing-sound
Follow the link to watch the journey of a man who was involved in some amazing things, not to mention a really awesome guitarist. His life will inspire you to create and find the music that you love as well as the tunes in your mind that you've yet to compose.Les was also a true INNOVATOR, in every sense of the word.
PLAY ON! :o)
Follow the link to watch the journey of a man who was involved in some amazing things, not to mention a really awesome guitarist. His life will inspire you to create and find the music that you love as well as the tunes in your mind that you've yet to compose.Les was also a true INNOVATOR, in every sense of the word.
PLAY ON! :o)
Friday, November 26, 2010
UNLV Makes News with Avid iNEWS (from www.AVID.com)
The new Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies has become one of the most noteworthy buildings on the UNLV campus. But it’s not just because of its stylish, ultra-modern architecture. Part of what is making news throughout the Las Vegas community is its state-of-the-art news production technology—Avid iNEWS.
The new journalism school has come a long way in a relatively short time. Previously housed in a building where the studios had not been remodeled since 1965, out of date equipment was demanding almost constant repair and prohibiting the necessary movement from tape-based to file-based workflows. Now, the recent installation of the iNEWS system is already having a profound impact on everything the school does, from production to core teaching precepts.
“We’re using iNEWS for everything,” confirms Laurie Fruth, General Manager, UNLV TV and Assistant Director, School of Journalism and Media Studies. “We are producing and approving stories, creating a rundown every day, floating stories, getting a video ID for all the outside elements…basically adapting iNEWS to whatever we need.”
Serving as the hub of news generation, the iNEWS installation has had a significant impact on both the school itself and the larger Las Vegas community. Calls come in almost daily from parties who want to use the facility to produce news programming of their own.
Sitting on a Gold Mine
“We’re pretty sure we’re sitting on a gold mine here,” Laurie enthuses, “so much so that we’re actually struggling with what we can do legally now as an educational institution built with state and donor funds.”
The school’s newly-acquired newsroom capabilities have substantially reshaped both teaching methodology and curriculum, providing the ability to leverage media for multiple purposes. For instance, they now have the ability to shoot footage for a programmed television show and reformat it into a news story that appears as part of a newscast.
The school begins teaching iNEWS in basic production classes, then re-introduces it in editing classes. By the time they get to news courses, journalism students have a strong understanding of, and background in, the technology and its application. This exposure to iNEWS is essential for preparing students for careers in journalism. As Laurie explains, “providing as much of a real-world experience as possible, we enable graduates to walk into a TV station, sit down and know what to do and how to do it.”
Going to the Future of Broadcasting ... and Beyond
Keeping everyone in the production chain fully connected today, iNEWS is slated to help the facility go beyond producing newcasts and engage audiences across a variety of channels, including television, radio, web, and mobile.
When planning for the facility began six years ago, Facebook and Twitter had nowhere near the presence they do today. Understanding that change was the name of the game, though, the facility was never viewed as a static site, but rather an evolving environment highly responsive to both the news production market and its underlying technology. Within the next six months, the school plans to use Active Content Manager to link iNEWS directly to other systems that enable multi-platform publishing.
“It’s definitely on our horizon,” comments Laurie. “Even though we’re not there yet, the web is the first thing we want to do. From there, we’ll probably move on to mobile or whatever other media comes along the way. The good news is that now, we have the technology and workflows necessary to provide on-demand content for all different kinds of purposes. We can showcase and stream certain programs, and populate webcasts from our core news assets,“ Laurie explains.
A Foregone Conclusion
When it came time to decide on a technology provider, the decision was practically a foregone conclusion. In fact, no other newsroom computer systems were ever in contention. Before the new School of Journalism and Media Studies facility was even conceived, the school had always used Avid. Despite administration pressure to consider alternatives, school staff wanted a solution that was familiar and reliable. “Plus,” says Laurie, “I wanted an integrated process that could take us seamlessly from ingest to playout, and I knew we were only going to get that with the iNEWS solution.”
Partly due to the heightened expectations of university administrators eager to use the new facility, the first semester’s work load has increased three-fold. Even the dean has his own show at this point. All this augurs well for the future of iNEWS at UNLV.
Where the School of Journalism and Media Studies news class once had 9 to 10 students, during the first semester in their new facility with new iNEWS systems, their enrollment tripled. The facility has been featured in a newspaper article, on television, and “people are paying attention to us now that didn’t pay attention before,” Laurie comments. While it’s still too early to say exactly where the attention and publicity will lead, it’s clear that the new School of Journalism and Media Studies is making the kind of news iNEWS was ultimately created to produce.
The new journalism school has come a long way in a relatively short time. Previously housed in a building where the studios had not been remodeled since 1965, out of date equipment was demanding almost constant repair and prohibiting the necessary movement from tape-based to file-based workflows. Now, the recent installation of the iNEWS system is already having a profound impact on everything the school does, from production to core teaching precepts.
“We’re using iNEWS for everything,” confirms Laurie Fruth, General Manager, UNLV TV and Assistant Director, School of Journalism and Media Studies. “We are producing and approving stories, creating a rundown every day, floating stories, getting a video ID for all the outside elements…basically adapting iNEWS to whatever we need.”
Serving as the hub of news generation, the iNEWS installation has had a significant impact on both the school itself and the larger Las Vegas community. Calls come in almost daily from parties who want to use the facility to produce news programming of their own.
Sitting on a Gold Mine
“We’re pretty sure we’re sitting on a gold mine here,” Laurie enthuses, “so much so that we’re actually struggling with what we can do legally now as an educational institution built with state and donor funds.”
The school’s newly-acquired newsroom capabilities have substantially reshaped both teaching methodology and curriculum, providing the ability to leverage media for multiple purposes. For instance, they now have the ability to shoot footage for a programmed television show and reformat it into a news story that appears as part of a newscast.
The school begins teaching iNEWS in basic production classes, then re-introduces it in editing classes. By the time they get to news courses, journalism students have a strong understanding of, and background in, the technology and its application. This exposure to iNEWS is essential for preparing students for careers in journalism. As Laurie explains, “providing as much of a real-world experience as possible, we enable graduates to walk into a TV station, sit down and know what to do and how to do it.”
Going to the Future of Broadcasting ... and Beyond
Keeping everyone in the production chain fully connected today, iNEWS is slated to help the facility go beyond producing newcasts and engage audiences across a variety of channels, including television, radio, web, and mobile.
When planning for the facility began six years ago, Facebook and Twitter had nowhere near the presence they do today. Understanding that change was the name of the game, though, the facility was never viewed as a static site, but rather an evolving environment highly responsive to both the news production market and its underlying technology. Within the next six months, the school plans to use Active Content Manager to link iNEWS directly to other systems that enable multi-platform publishing.
“It’s definitely on our horizon,” comments Laurie. “Even though we’re not there yet, the web is the first thing we want to do. From there, we’ll probably move on to mobile or whatever other media comes along the way. The good news is that now, we have the technology and workflows necessary to provide on-demand content for all different kinds of purposes. We can showcase and stream certain programs, and populate webcasts from our core news assets,“ Laurie explains.
A Foregone Conclusion
When it came time to decide on a technology provider, the decision was practically a foregone conclusion. In fact, no other newsroom computer systems were ever in contention. Before the new School of Journalism and Media Studies facility was even conceived, the school had always used Avid. Despite administration pressure to consider alternatives, school staff wanted a solution that was familiar and reliable. “Plus,” says Laurie, “I wanted an integrated process that could take us seamlessly from ingest to playout, and I knew we were only going to get that with the iNEWS solution.”
Partly due to the heightened expectations of university administrators eager to use the new facility, the first semester’s work load has increased three-fold. Even the dean has his own show at this point. All this augurs well for the future of iNEWS at UNLV.
Where the School of Journalism and Media Studies news class once had 9 to 10 students, during the first semester in their new facility with new iNEWS systems, their enrollment tripled. The facility has been featured in a newspaper article, on television, and “people are paying attention to us now that didn’t pay attention before,” Laurie comments. While it’s still too early to say exactly where the attention and publicity will lead, it’s clear that the new School of Journalism and Media Studies is making the kind of news iNEWS was ultimately created to produce.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
How Long Should a Guitarist's Breaks During Practice BE?
Just like a song that you fall in love with, this is one of the ways that you can gain the upper hand on practicing by fully digesting and loving a song for what it is. Sweat at finding the next few notes or a better rhythm for your new song. If it needs something different, you can't ignore those feelings.
Just like working out - you can't work out your triceps 6 days in a row - so don't try to over analyze your new song that you're writing or a cover that you're practicing for a performance. Take a break from it and play something you know by heart. Play a cover song. Heck, play anything else. Sometimes, I even watch TV while I mess around on the fretboard to let my mind cool off/down. Your brain NEEDS that!
MOVING ON: Just like studying for a test or in a certain subject, you'll need to take a break 10 minutes to every 1 hour of writing. There should be a rule like that when in the studio recording too. Especially if it's after you've recorded you demo in the home studio and now you're in one that has more gear that half your house is worth.
As someone writes a new song, there's a certain kind of magic that happens. And when we're prepared - the red recording light is ON. That, my friends - is the best thing next to getting a video of your hands and what the doing on the guitar. That's why i practice while recording live. I just try to lose myself; forget the red light ISN'T beaming at me like a laser from star trek. heheh.
So I want you all to video and/or audio record yourselves practicing. If you have the video capability - you gotta do it!!! You owe it to yourself. Plus, when you think about it - it's almost like a time capsule for your "future eyes and ears".
It would be so nice to see videos of me playing my original songs i wrote back from 1998 to 2004, before i first went into a professional studio September 2004 before going to Iraq. If someone were to approach me with those videos and high quality audio along with it, I'd gladly pay thousands of dollars. The cost would be great, but the worth would be greater.
My three-piece hard rock band was named GEORGIA BURNING. Partly named that one, for the state we lived in and two, for the desire we had to express ourselves. It’s said that “Neccesity is the mother of all invention”. As soon as I found out that I was going to Iraq, the clock was against us and we were even more determined to annotate our hearts onto CD.
So...for a little over a thousand dollars, my 2 best buds and I got to solidify a 6 song EP for life. We'll always cherish that time and point in our lives, not to mention - the songs - those awesome songs! AHHHH. Memory Lane is such a nicely paved road. :o)
Follow this link to check out some GB songs:
www.myspace.com/georgiaburning
Just like working out - you can't work out your triceps 6 days in a row - so don't try to over analyze your new song that you're writing or a cover that you're practicing for a performance. Take a break from it and play something you know by heart. Play a cover song. Heck, play anything else. Sometimes, I even watch TV while I mess around on the fretboard to let my mind cool off/down. Your brain NEEDS that!
MOVING ON: Just like studying for a test or in a certain subject, you'll need to take a break 10 minutes to every 1 hour of writing. There should be a rule like that when in the studio recording too. Especially if it's after you've recorded you demo in the home studio and now you're in one that has more gear that half your house is worth.
As someone writes a new song, there's a certain kind of magic that happens. And when we're prepared - the red recording light is ON. That, my friends - is the best thing next to getting a video of your hands and what the doing on the guitar. That's why i practice while recording live. I just try to lose myself; forget the red light ISN'T beaming at me like a laser from star trek. heheh.
So I want you all to video and/or audio record yourselves practicing. If you have the video capability - you gotta do it!!! You owe it to yourself. Plus, when you think about it - it's almost like a time capsule for your "future eyes and ears".
It would be so nice to see videos of me playing my original songs i wrote back from 1998 to 2004, before i first went into a professional studio September 2004 before going to Iraq. If someone were to approach me with those videos and high quality audio along with it, I'd gladly pay thousands of dollars. The cost would be great, but the worth would be greater.
My three-piece hard rock band was named GEORGIA BURNING. Partly named that one, for the state we lived in and two, for the desire we had to express ourselves. It’s said that “Neccesity is the mother of all invention”. As soon as I found out that I was going to Iraq, the clock was against us and we were even more determined to annotate our hearts onto CD.
So...for a little over a thousand dollars, my 2 best buds and I got to solidify a 6 song EP for life. We'll always cherish that time and point in our lives, not to mention - the songs - those awesome songs! AHHHH. Memory Lane is such a nicely paved road. :o)
Follow this link to check out some GB songs:
www.myspace.com/georgiaburning
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