HIVE Is Alive:
The custom foot controller, HIVE, that I’ve been chatting about in the past couple of months, has finally been completed!
Months of thinking about design and functionality are finally over. The longest bit was the construction of the casing. Despite a quote of a 1 week turnaround, it ended up being 7 weeks.
Once the case was in my hands there were three days of soldering the internal wiring and a late night session of a little rewiring of the LED lights.
Add an additional three days of reading manuals and figuring out how to code the brain of the unit to be able to work the software I’ll be using in conjunction with it. And voilà – HIVE is alive!
What Is HIVE:
The plain and simple is that its a midi foot controller. With 11 buttons and two real time controllers. The real genius is the computer monitor that gives real time visual feedback of what the computer is doing. It was inspired by the Chewie Monsta. However this is much more versatile in application.
Pure speculation on my part that is. Ed Sheeran’s pedal only deals with looping as far as I know.
I will be using HIVE for my live performances for solo acoustic and full band events.
In the not so distant future I’ll be posting videos of how it works and how I’ll be using it. Until then… stay musical!
Another Open Letter For Apple
Dear Apple & Taylor Swift,
A kind thank you goes out to Eddy Cue for taking swift action (pun intended), or rather reaction to the open letters from Taylor Swift and many other artists in regard to Apple about Apple Music and their non payment of royalties to artists during the trial phase of an account.
Here’s his three tweet response to Taylor Swift and Indie Musicians:
“@cue: Apple will always make sure that artist are paid #iTunes#AppleMusic
@cue: #AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period
@cue: We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple”
Eddy / Apple Music obviously felt more of a sting from Taylor Swift than they did from musicians like me. For that, I am happy to have Taylor speak up about something all musicians should be more vocal about.
Personally I don’t allow my music to be on services that pay no royalty at all. While I can understand why others aren’t happy with Spotify’s freemium model – I actually like it. I’m very interested in seeing how Apple Music can differentiate itself from the herd and build a product people want to use.
In referencing what I tweeted last night: Thank you Apple, Apple Music @cue and Taylor Swift for Thinking Different. I appreciate that a company can see the forrest for the trees and make good for the very art they’re attempting to build their platform with. If only all the other services did the same thing. I only support those that do. However the streaming landscape pans out, I will have my music on the services that properly compensate artists and people use and pay for. That you can count on.
Thank you for reading this, supporting my music and I hope see you in the streaming future!
Jody
Open Letter To Apple & Apple Music:
That’s right Apple Music, time to listen up from the trenches.
Think Different
&
Do the right thing.
Dear Apple & Apple Music,
I’ve been using your products for a long time. I’ve enjoyed every computer, iPhone, and iPad that I have had in my possession. I’ve defended your business on many an occasion whether it be on price or about your software. In doing so, I’m quite sure that I have helped your business grow to the behemoth that it is now – the richest corporation in the world.
I have purchased and I still purchase your products to create the music I put into the world. I respect your business and it should be compensated appropriately – even when you purchase a company I had an endorsement with (Emagic) and you in-turn disband their endorsements. I still buy those products I use to create the music you need for your service.
I was excited when I helped CD Baby create the path for artists to be a part of iTunes. Which I saw as a way to level the playing field between those signed on major labels and those who opted to avoid them.
However, the recent news of your Apple Music streaming service has me befuddled.
How can the richest corporation that once heralded the arts and their creators, especially music, now drive a stake through our hearts? Seriously. Apple & Apple Music, asking those of us without major label deals to forego royalties for 3 months is OUTRAGEOUS. Its reprehensible. To put it mildly its thievery. The humor is Taylor Swift, an artist who could actually weather this type of “lull” in her income, has also stood up in solidarity about this injustice.
Mind you Apple & Apple Music, I’m a massive proponent for streaming. Its where music is going, I fully understand it and welcome it with open arms. But what I do not understand, is how you can place such a burden on the very people that create the content you need to make your streaming business actually work. At least Spotify pays on their “freemium” model, and pays quite well.
Apple, Apple Music, or more directly Tim Cook/Eddie Cue, unless you’re going to start giving me computers, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches for free 3 month trials and subsequent lower payment rates – I see no plausible reason why I, or any of my colleagues, should give you the labors of hard work to promote your business for free. That’s bad business. Its bad enough that you won’t allow non-signed artists to get promotion on the iTunes store [nor likely in Apple Music either]. Its bad enough that you won’t allow us to sign our own small labels directly with you (forcing us to use 3rd parties to distribute our catalogs to you at additional cost to us and introducing more middle men into the system). Treating us like 3rd world citizens despite the fact that non-signed music represents more than ⅔ of your catalog over the major labels is, what I call, classism at the expense of art.
This is what I [and I’m sure many of my fellow musicians who do believe in streaming] would ask of you: Think Different and Do The Right Thing Apple Music.
What is “Do The Right Thing Apple Music” you might ask?
Simple: Pay us our paltry royalty for every stream regardless of the 3 month trials you’re offering. Hell, right now you’re getting a discounted royalty rate as it is; as has been set by Congress. Paying us (writers, publishers, producers, artists) out of the billions in your hoard of cash reserves should not be a problem for you. While at the same time it will prove to your customers that you have a service worth paying for because our musical art is there and properly compensated.
So I ask you to Think Different, Apple Music… and do the RIGHT thing.
Moving Into The Lead
There’s a little event coming up called the Utah Music Awards. My single Touch has been entered into the process for Best Pop Song and for Best Music Video. There’s an ancillary award called the Audience Choice Award. Currently Touch, as I write this post, has been moving into the lead. But there’s a hot contender that is moving up fast.
Awards events can be a massive boost to the ego, or they can be a massive drain on the ego. I’ve won in the past for my song Falling In. That was a such a cool feeling. I’ve also been in the prelim rounds of the Grammys. I’d really like to make it out of the prelims and into the nominations round.
There’s an awful lot of work that goes into making people aware of the music being voted on. I’ve got a couple of friends that have won Grammys and its essentially becomes a full time job sending out the music, making friendships, calling in favors, and generally asking people to look out for your music – then vote on it. A lot of moving parts that have to coordinate.
Utah Music Awards Audience Choice Vote Here
Hit the link, throw a vote on it and help boost my ego a little bit. I’ll be a sour Jedi Knight, ala Anakin, if I lose to a cover song from a two year old movie.
Developing A Midi Foot Controller
In an effort to create a better live performance experience, I’m developing a midi foot controller. One that is more simple and more advanced than any other I’ve researched on the market.
Why? Well, I caught a glimpse of Ed Sheeran playing live and found that his rig is a customized device that is fairly large. Initially I went looking for ones on the market that I could twist to my will. The common problem is they’re generally too simple or way too complex. None of them actually show you the computer’s screen that you’re connected to. Most are made of thin materials and plastic, meaning they’re not super durable.
I had an old midi controller for a traditional guitar rig that I have of normal hardware like an amp, power amp, effects racks, etc. I connected it up to the computer to see if it would communicate correctly with the software I’m going to be using in a laptop. What I discovered was disappointing. It could do a few things, but not everything, despite being a very advanced midi controller. Oh well.
Next Step:
A couple of months ago I started sketching (using Paper by FiftyThree) on my iPad for a pedal board that would do what I wanted it to do.
Then I picked up a 20″ x 30″ piece of foam board. I started poking holes and tracing things out to make a bit more sense. My next sketch became this:
I mentioned my endeavor to a buddy of mine at lunch and how I was looking to find a fabricator that could make the casing. That sent me on a long journey. I learned about metals and how they get cut and/or welded. The original company I went to sent me on an excursion. First I needed a version of my design in a file format I had never heard of, dxf. Then he could give me an estimate. I called my sister and asked if she had heard of that format because she’s an architect. Sure enough she had and asked me to send her my drawings. A week and a couple of lengthy screenshare sessions later – she sent a dxf of the design that was improved upon initial vision.
I went back to the builders to get an estimate. Then he sent me on another journey to ask about powder coating. I ended up talking to about 8 different manufacturers. None of whom could do the case from front to back. Everyone had one thing they did and charged a lot for. So I went back to the first company and said: Let’s go with it. They responded, sorry – our cutter won’t do aluminum because it screws up their machines. I wanted aluminum because it would be strong a light.
Another round of hunting and I found a company that could do it from start to finish. And to make things even cooler, the guy rendered my case into a 3rd model.
And gave me a much better quote than all the previous people, by a long shot. Then came more questions and in the process of talking about it, he had additional ideas to help improve the design of my foot controller from a builders/welders standpoint. To which my sister agreed. The next rendition was:
At this point I was ready to say – let’s do this.
Story of the foot controller will continue in the next block post.
Songs For The Kardashians
In the midst of the hubbub about my single Touch I was hired to write a couple of songs for the Kardashians. Yes, a friend of mine texted me saying they needed some music for the show. I thought what the hell, it’ll be interesting to add some fuel to the fire that is the Kardashians. Plus what could it hurt?
What a life they lead right? Antics. Strange connections. A father going for a sex change. There’s a real view into a family right?
If you’re a fan of Keeping Up With The Kardashians do my a favor and keep an eye out for episodes that may have my name in the credits. It would be fun to get some screen shots of that. Kinda like the first movie I had a song in where my name was scrolling up the screen. My girlfriend at the time worked for a movie theater. She actually got me a frame from the movie with my name in it. Cool right?
Stay tuned, more good stuff coming.
The official lyric video for Touch (feat. Jacarri) is now available. You can see it hear now!
Touch (feat. Jacarri) Lyric Video [Explicit]
Lyrics for the song are here!
This was quite a process to arrange. Very weird feeling to have someone writing all over your body. Praise the higher powers that a sharpie wasn’t accidentally switched out for the special skin ink style pen that was used. This took about 4 hours or more to complete the filming of. Having to pick out body parts to write on and then making sure the naked bits that seem to offend so many Americans weren’t in the frame during shooting. Whew. What a process.
Enjoy this unique way of getting the lyrics from Touch (feat. Jacarri)!
Watch directly on YouTube.
The official lyric video for Touch (feat. Jacarri) is now available. You can see it hear now!
Touch (feat. Jacarri) Lyric Video
Lyrics for the song are here!
This was quite a process to arrange. Very weird feeling to have someone writing all over your body. Praise the higher powers that a sharpie wasn’t accidentally switched out for the special skin ink style pen that was used. This took about 4 hours or more to complete the filming of. Having to pick out body parts to write on and then making sure the naked bits that seem to offend so many Americans weren’t in the frame during shooting. Whew. What a process.
Enjoy this unique way of getting the lyrics from Touch (feat. Jacarri)!
Watch directly on YouTube.
Sometimes the best laid plans don’t go as envisioned. I was hoping that the label and the distributor would get both versions of Touch released in due time that all services would have it on launch day. Maybe that’s only reserved for the big boys and girls like Taylor Swift or Imagine Dragons. We all start somewhere right?
What am I referencing? Spotify.
Spotify Plan
Yes, I’m an advocate for Spotify, and other streaming services that are on the up and up for paying artists. Today marks the day that Spotify got one of the versions of Touch on their site. A week late from the actual release. Apparently they windowed themselves with their own plan. So far it’s only the explicit version that has reached the Spotify service. Better late than never. Though now I wonder if Spotify’s plan to wait another week to release the ‘clean’ version of Touch. Who knows?
If you’re a Spotify user I apologize for the delay, it was out of my hands. Hopefully you’ll be into sending the song out to all your friends and Spotify network.
My next step is working on getting into Rhapsody’s hands. I’m very interested in the new plan they’ve got going with Twitter. Instant audio cards that can be shared on Twitter without the need for a Rhapsody account, and somehow we artists still get paid. Someone finally cracked the nut on making music a more sociable sharing event via Twitter. Makes me wonder if Spotify will follow suit.
Time will tell.
Enjoy Touch on Spotify!
Making good on the threat of a new look to the website, Touch is here. As of 12:01 this a.m. I’ve spotted Touch being available on iTunes and Amazon. I’m told Spotify, and other sites should be live with it today. As should the video be on VEVO / YouTube sometime later today.
Touch Is Here
As soon as I find out the link for Spotify & VEVO, I’ll be linking more places of where Touch is on the Touch page. There will be updates occurring throughout the day and the next day or so as all the links become available to me. Kinda weird launching a song on a specific day and then still having to wait to see it go live like everyone else.
My desire is when the next single launches, they all are able to coordinate their times. We can all wish right?
Another launch today is episode one of Inside The Recording Studio also launches today. Meaning, you can now start the journey of how Touch got recorded, piece by piece.
p.s. – stay tuned because in the not too distant future I’ll be announcing how you could win something extremely cool via a geocache hunt.