Graham English Geek Feed

Blog Update

Graham English — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:04:48 +0000

The blog has been asking for some love for a while now. I’ve had several projects requiring long and intense attention and I’m happy to say that she’s back on my list of high priorities.

First, here’s some of what I’ve been up to.

I completed my Songwriting Master Certificate with Berklee College of Music!
I laid down some jazz/funk keys on Field Trip‘s album, There’s Shag On Jupiter.
I redesigned Logic Studio Training.
I launched a new site, Stomp Box Guru.
I toured Sweden with Field Trip. Wow!
I got not one, but two Boston Terriers, Miles and Ella.

I also spent more time than Kim Kardashian’s marriage updating the code on this blog.

The next list will only be interesting to the web geeks out there.

The blog is now HTML5. I started with HTML5 Boilerplate and used Blueprint CSS for the framework. I used Blueprint CSS for the previous design too. I’m not 100% HTML5, I’m not using article or section tags, but those are simple upgrades. I learned a ton during the process. The boilerplate is a great resource.
I replaced all background images with CSS and fallback images for people who aren’t Browser Happy. I’m even using a cutting edge radial gradient in the header.
I’ve socialized it more extensively with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+.
I removed a bunch of wasteful features and code to improve page speed.
I made the text larger. I didn’t go quite as large as is recommended, but I split the difference and recognize now that it was entirely too small at 12px.
I switched from Feedblitz to Aweber for email blog subscriptions.
I added a Gigs calendar page using GigPress.
There’s a lot of credit to go around here. Buttons, Gradients, Typography, I could go on and on. If you’re curious how I did something, please ask in the comments.

I’ll be importing my Feedblitz subscribers into Aweber so be on the lookout for a confirmation email with the subject: Please confirm your email address with Graham English.

I’m excited for what’s to come. I’ve got tunes, transcriptions, reviews, tutorials on songwriting, musicianship, and the mac, contests, and a lot more planned for the new year!

If you’re not currently subscribed, now would be a good time.

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Open Letter From OK Go, Regarding Non-Embeddable YouTube Videos

Graham English — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:54:04 +0000

The catch: the software that pays out those tiny sums doesn’t pay if a video is embedded. This means our label doesn’t get their hard-won share of the pie if our video is played on your blog, so (surprise, surprise) they won’t let us be on your blog. And, voilá: four years after we posted our first homemade videos to YouTube and they spread across the globe faster than swine flu, making our bassist’s glasses recognizable to 70-year-olds in Wichita and 5-year-olds in Seoul and eventually turning a tidy little profit for EMI, we’re – unbelievably – stuck in the position of arguing with our own label about the merits of having our videos be easily shared. It’s like the world has gone backwards.

Link: Open Letter From OK Go, regarding non-embeddable YouTube videos

via BoingBoing

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Brian Eno On The End Of An Era

Graham English — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:50:23 +0000

I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a while were lucky. There is no reason why anyone should have made so much money from selling records except that everything was right for this period of time. I always knew it would run out sooner or later. It couldn’t last, and now it’s running out. I don’t particularly care that it is and like the way things are going. The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you’d be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history’s moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it.

Brian Eno in his studio. Photograph: Harry Borden

Link: On gospel, Abba and the death of the record: an audience with Brian Eno

via The Music Industry Report

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The Decade In Loudness

Graham English — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:39:16 +0000

Robert Siegel talks with two guests about how recorded music has changed in the past decade. First, mastering engineer Bob Ludwig explains how recordings have gotten louder and worse. Then Robert talks Andrew Oxenham, a professor in the Psychology department at the University of Minnesota, about how the ubiquity of MP3’s has changed what we hear.

Link: The Decade In Loudness

Christopher Clark’s PDF: A Visual History of Loudness

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The Decade In Music: How Musicians Create

Graham English — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:27:08 +0000

How has technology changed the relationship between musicians and their fans? While major record labels still struggle to grasp the power of the MP3, artists, including Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes, have embraced and even found creative solutions around file-sharing.

Link: The Decade In Music: How Musicians Create

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Virtual Composer Creates New Music

Graham English — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:45:16 +0000

There’s a mysterious new composer on the classical music scene. Her name? Emily Howell. But no one’s ever seen her in person. The reason? She’s a computer program created by David Cope, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Host Guy Raz speaks with Cope about his creation and gets a sneak peek at Emily’s first record, which hits stores next spring.

Link: Virtual Composer Creates New Music

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My Favorite Audio Sites

Graham English — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:32:43 +0000

A friend recently asked me for the list of feeds I read to keep up with the audio world because I’m always sending him the coolest stuff. Until now, I’ve kept it a closely guarded secret. But I figured we could collaborate and you could share some of your favorite audio sites in the comments.

These are the feeds, not the actual sites. I don’t have time to visit 30 or 50 sites on a daily basis. But with the site feed, all the information comes directly to me in my inbox. If you’re not organizing and managing the content you’re interested in with Google Reader or a similar feed reader, you’re really missing out. There’s awesome power in the aggregation of information.

In no particular order:

Also, you can subscribe to my Google Reader Shared Items here.

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Celemony Presents Melodyne Editor… Again [NAMM 2009 Highlights]

Graham English — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:36:27 +0000

Quite some time ago Celemony made a huge buzz among musicians and non-musicians alike with their Direct Note Access technology. I discovered it in the Delicious Popular Feed of all places. Anyway, I forgot all about it until today.

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M-Audio Axiom Pro Series [NAMM 2009 Highlights]

Graham English — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:07:04 +0000

I’ve been looking for a 49-key controller to fill the gap between my Korg nanoKEY and Keystation Pro 88. Best feature…

HyperControl automatically maps the keyboard’s 65 controls to commonly accessed parameters in digital audio workstations including Pro Tools®, Cubase, Logic and Reason*, as well as software instruments.

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Native Instruments Maschine [NAMM 2009 Highlights]

Graham English — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:55:37 +0000

A brand new hardware/software groove production studio. Covered in depth by Create Digital Music. I’ll be picking one up when it drops in April.

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