Music

  • Here’s a List of Fun iPhone Apps Worth Using

    I wanted to create a list of the coolest iPhone apps. However, cool doesn't necessarily mean useful. Instead, this is a list of the applications that I use most.

    This week I'm listing the lighter and more fun iPhone apps.  Here is the link to the list the business and productivity apps that I use most.

    I limited myself to the top two applications per category.  Hope you find some cool stuff in here.

    Social Media

    Food & Fun Finders

    090913 iPhone Apps

    Games: Strategy

    Games: Puzzle

    Games: Pattern Matching

    Games: Text

    Music

    Photo Fun

    Health & Fitness

    Relaxation

    Sports News

    Shopping

    Even if you don't have an iPhone, check-out the links to see what is available.  I am amazed at how much of my computing and basic research are now done on a Smartphone.

    That's it for now.  Let me know if I forgot your favorite or you found something worth sharing.

  • Timeless

    Listen to the clever word-play in this Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye duet and you'll hear the seeds from which a bunch of modern music sprouted from …

    If this doesn't make you feel better after you watch it, please contact me and I will send the fun police by your house!

    (hat tip to Perro Grande)

    Click here for more Louis Armstrong music videos.

  • Timeless

    Listen to the clever word-play in this Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye duet and you'll hear the seeds from which a bunch of modern music sprouted from …

    If this doesn't make you feel better after you watch it, please contact me and I will send the fun police by your house!

    (hat tip to Perro Grande)

    Click here for more Louis Armstrong music videos.

  • So Bad, It’s Good

    Microsoft has a new product that people use to create a new genre of really bad music.  I have to admit that I enjoy it, even though it's like watching a train wreck.

    Microsoft just released Songsmith, a product where you sing the words as best you can, and its software supplies computer-matched musical accompaniment. The truth is that it probably has some pretty advanced technology.

    It has become trendy to take a vintage rock video, strip out the instruments, and then let Songsmith process the classic song in "unexpected" ways.  So, if you want to hear the Police's song, Roxanne, differently than you had before … Songsmith is the right tool for that job.

    To make things worse (or better) Microsoft's promotional video for Songsmith is so bad that it is painful to watch.  It is so campy I suspect it was done intentionally to generate buzz. You've got to see it to believe it.

    Here is the direct link. 

    For the record, I'm a fan of Microsoft.  It may not be a popular
    position to take, but I like and use lots of their software.  They come
    up with many innovative things.  The ad, above, may not be their best
    effort. So watch and listen for yourself?

    Here is the result of Songsmith processing the classic Police song, Roxanne.

    Remember, you get to choose lots of options, like tempo, style, and instruments.  So, someone wanted it to sound like this.  Still, it speaks for itself, doesn't it?  Here is the direct link.

    Here's one with a slightly better result … Oasis' Wonderwall.

    Here is the direct link.

    Here are a few other links worth checking.  Remember, real music sounds better when this stops.

  • So Bad, It’s Good

    Microsoft has a new product that people use to create a new genre of really bad music.  I have to admit that I enjoy it, even though it's like watching a train wreck.

    Microsoft just released Songsmith, a product where you sing the words as best you can, and its software supplies computer-matched musical accompaniment. The truth is that it probably has some pretty advanced technology.

    It has become trendy to take a vintage rock video, strip out the instruments, and then let Songsmith process the classic song in "unexpected" ways.  So, if you want to hear the Police's song, Roxanne, differently than you had before … Songsmith is the right tool for that job.

    To make things worse (or better) Microsoft's promotional video for Songsmith is so bad that it is painful to watch.  It is so campy I suspect it was done intentionally to generate buzz. You've got to see it to believe it.

    Here is the direct link. 

    For the record, I'm a fan of Microsoft.  It may not be a popular
    position to take, but I like and use lots of their software.  They come
    up with many innovative things.  The ad, above, may not be their best
    effort. So watch and listen for yourself?

    Here is the result of Songsmith processing the classic Police song, Roxanne.

    Remember, you get to choose lots of options, like tempo, style, and instruments.  So, someone wanted it to sound like this.  Still, it speaks for itself, doesn't it?  Here is the direct link.

    Here's one with a slightly better result … Oasis' Wonderwall.

    Here is the direct link.

    Here are a few other links worth checking.  Remember, real music sounds better when this stops.

  • Resonant Chamber

    This Animusic video is mesmerizing.  The animation is better than what you find in many video games and adds something to the music, which is pretty good in-and-of itself. 

    The video was not animated by humans.  Instead, the studio that created this video invented an animation engine that analyzes the notes in a piece of music and the engine's algorithms animate from there.

    Fascinating; check-it-out for yourself.

    Here is a direct link to the video on YouTube.  Animusic has their own YouTube Channel.

  • Resonant Chamber

    This Animusic video is mesmerizing.  The animation is better than what you find in many video games and adds something to the music, which is pretty good in-and-of itself. 

    The video was not animated by humans.  Instead, the studio that created this video invented an animation engine that analyzes the notes in a piece of music and the engine's algorithms animate from there.

    Fascinating; check-it-out for yourself.

    Here is a direct link to the video on YouTube.  Animusic has their own YouTube Channel.

  • “Stand By Me” Music Video from the Playing for Change: Peace Through Music Project

    I saw this and thought it was worth sharing.  It is a video of different musicians, around the globe, combining their talents to create a worthwhile version of of the classic "Stand By Me". 

    Here is the direct link to the video.

    "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" isn't really a documentary as much as a global concert film, recorded on the streets of New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, Tibet and elsewhere.  The filmmakers (Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls) traveled across the globe, finding musicians to record versions of "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" by themselves, and without any of the individual musicians ever having met each other. The finished project combines these performances to create an a "music video" of these artists playing together on these
    inspirational songs, as well as playing their own music.

    The purpose of the project is to help impoverished people in the areas visited, and to show how music brings people together regardless of their cultural differences.  Find out more at Playing For Change.

  • “Stand By Me” Music Video from the Playing for Change: Peace Through Music Project

    I saw this and thought it was worth sharing.  It is a video of different musicians, around the globe, combining their talents to create a worthwhile version of of the classic "Stand By Me". 

    Here is the direct link to the video.

    "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" isn't really a documentary as much as a global concert film, recorded on the streets of New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, Tibet and elsewhere.  The filmmakers (Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls) traveled across the globe, finding musicians to record versions of "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" by themselves, and without any of the individual musicians ever having met each other. The finished project combines these performances to create an a "music video" of these artists playing together on these
    inspirational songs, as well as playing their own music.

    The purpose of the project is to help impoverished people in the areas visited, and to show how music brings people together regardless of their cultural differences.  Find out more at Playing For Change.

  • Tune-Up Your iTunes Music Collection, Automatically

    For years I took my music collection for granted. I ripped many of my
    old CDs to disk, and simply allowed the computer to save the
    information anyway it chose to. Over time, it became clear that there were
    mistakes, missing information and, in general … a mess.

    After several limited attempts to clean my collection manually, I
    started looking for a better way. I certainly found something that
    worked for me. It's called Tune-Up.

    080919 iTunes Tune-Up Service
    Tune-up is a software add-on designed to clean your iTunes music collection. For me, that means fixing and standardizing the artist, album, song titles, and other data that helps me find the right music for my mood. I also appreciate how well it finds and updates cover art for songs and albums.

    Tune-Up accomplishes a lot of its magic by connecting to various data services (like Gracenote's MusicID).  While Tune-Up does most of the heavy lifting, I appreciate that it
    allows me to have the final say. It's very easy to accept its
    suggestions; yet, I still have the ability to ignore or override it
    based on how I want my music categorized.

    There's also feature that recognizes the song you're playing and displays other relevant information, like related concert dates in your area, links to videos by the artist, and recommendations about other songs or albums you might like.

    Bottom line:  This tool saved me a lot of time and works better than the other tools I've tried.

    If you don't use iTunes, or just want to check-out another good alternative, you can also look at MediaMonkey. And if you want a clean your music collection by finding duplicate tracks or to clean-out entries where you deleted or moved the actual music file, I recommend looking at Marklesoft's Dupe Eliminator.