The Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra

How does technology and traditionalism have been getting on lately? Leaving aside Robert Murdoch’s ongoing battle with search engines so that print media will retain its inherent force and exclusivity, I think that the year was a good one in terms of bringing together ends that might always have been deemed as too opposite. Of course, it was the year of social media (“unfriend” was voted the word of the year by the Oxford University Press), and it was a year in which we saw Twitter crowned as the supplest way to spread news – the plane landing in the River Hudson, the elections in Iran…

And where does music stand in all this? Obviously, social media has modified the way people promote and market music. I just don’t think that CDs and physical music would become a thing of the past anytime soon (look here), but there is a clearly new portion of music consumers that grows exponentially, and that is already colossal (IE, young people taken as a whole). And now, a new development has taken place when it comes to the actual performing of music. Continue reading

PureSolo.com – Play, Record & Share Your Favorite Tunes

PureSolo

Name: PureSolo
URL: http://www.puresolo.com

This site made me think of the day Elvis was discovered. As you probably know, he had gone to some recording studio to put down a song for her mother’s birthday, and the producer immediately singled him out during the recording. The thing is, if a system like Pure Solo had existed back then Elvis Presley might never had been. Shiver me timbers!

You see, what PureSolo enables anybody to do is to play and record a song online, and then put it about by sharing the resulting file over the WWW (including Facebook and its networking compadres). Continue reading

All Guitar Chords – For All Aspiring Guitar Heroes

Name: All Guitar Chords
URL: http://www.all-guitar-chords.com

Looking back at the resources for musicians and music lovers I have covered so far I realize that I have not featured a single one that teaches people how to play an instrument. There is a good reason for that – I believe that playing an instrument (any instrument) is something innate. Still, a helping hand does not go amiss, and the site I am reviewing now is as good as any other to these effects.

In this particular case, it all revolves around guitar chords and scales. More than 200 of the former and 80 of the latter are featured for you to start emulating David Gilmour. Well, maybe not, but these are enough chords to play any song within the repertoire of The Kinks, The Jam or The Who. Continue reading

We Love Festivals – A Social Network For Festival Goers

WeLoveFestivalsjpg

Name: We Love Festivals
URL: http://www.welovefestivals.com
There are many social networks that are aimed at music lovers, and many are a bit similar for my liking. This particular one, on the other hand, did really catch my glance. Not because the basic premise is revolutionary or anything like that, but only because I found it incredibly useful.

You see, this particular networking site is aimed at festival goers. Here, they can meet up with other people keen on attending such events, chat until they run out of breath, and share media recorded at the festivals they have attended. Continue reading

Kisstunes – Record Songs Online And Share Them With Everybody

Kisstunes

Name: Kisstunes

URL: http://www.kisstunes.com

This website offers a very practical solution for musicians everywhere, namely the ability to compose using the computer’s keys as if they were making up a couple of octaves. That is:

KeyboardKissTunes

Not only that, you can record the finished piece and send it to friends easily. An account must be created to these effects, but that comes at no cost and it is dealt with smoothly. Continue reading