To the Music Industry

About a year ago, I sent this out to various label managers, music blogs, and music news sites. I got a surprisingly underwhelming response. I doubt that the response would be any greater now, but I still feel the need to repost this, as there’s been no change from where I’m sitting.

To the Music Industry:

As a person with physical challenges, I am no longer able to enjoy the physical formats that music is available in. By default, the only way that I am able to pick and choose my own music without assistance is by having digital versions. One thing that is seriously lacking when I purchase music for download is access to liner notes and production information. I am extremely grateful when a label/artist is sensitive enough to make available all of the information that comes with the physical release of an album in the format of a PDF.

Although it was quite some time ago, when I was growing up, I was a huge fan of music, obviously. I learned the most about musicians, engineers, producers, writers, cover art designers etc. from reading the liner notes/production notes that were always included in albums. All of that knowledge and information contributed to my perspective on music and later on allowed me to work as a used media buyer at one of the best independent record stores in the country. I often wonder if newer generations are even exposed to the information about the groups that they listen to, especially if they are purchasing downloads. And there is obviously a whole population of music lovers that are physically challenged and have no access to the information of the music that they are listening to. It is extremely difficult for some of us to turn pages.

It may be financial or too much work to include a full PDF of information when somebody purchases a downloadable full length album, but somehow I doubt that in speaking to one or two people about the cost.

Getting the information on music that I’ve been listening to since I have been quadriplegic has been more of a challenge than I ever expected. But I had an experience recently that encouraged me to write this.
I bought the most recent Erykah Badu album and finally she included a full artwork and liner notes PDF. It was the first time that I was able to see exactly who she collaborated with. That being said, her previous album did not include a PDF of the booklet and I was dying to find out who these extra voices I was hearing were on the record and who were the musicians. After getting the new record, I was all of a sudden able to research everyone else that contributed to the project. This led me on an awesome journey of discovery that I had not experienced since being exposed to the music label/collective, anticon. So, thanks to those liner notes I was able to finally discover The solo work of Georgia Anne Muldrow,Sa-Ra, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and others of the extremely fruitful Los Angeles R&B/soul/hip-hop/eccentric/beat making scene.

I was also fully exposed to the Athens,Georgia band, Method Actors. a recent reissue of all of their work was just released with great liner notes. Having all of my PDF digital booklets all on my iPad and iPhone always gives me access to the reference material while listening to music. I love that and I bet others do too or at least would love it if given the opportunity.

So please, consider including PDF artwork for your digital versions of releases. You put so much effort and love into it. Why not make it available to everyone who is purchasing the music? With the information available, it is extremely easy way for people to dig deeper. Shouldn’t we dig a little deeper?

My preferred music making iPad apps.

I have the first-generation iPad and the main reason that I purchased it  was because I could see its potential and how I could use it in ways I haven’t been able to make music previously, except for the iPhone, which was too small for most of my purposes.

TouchAble- I really don’t know how I would have been able to complete the first Ableton course without this and also SoundPrismPro. although, I do have a few issues with TouchAble, like only Wi-Fi  core MIDI network connection and no resizing of the music keyboard. But, as far as triggering clips and scenes, I think it’s really super. SoundPrismPro has recently become my go to App for playing chords. This application, in addition to using Wi-Fi midi, also uses the camera connection kit and MIDI interfaces to hardwire into the computer. The latency was too great for me when trying it with Wi-Fi. There is a regular version called SoundPrism, which I believe may still be free for a limited time. The free version does not have MIDI capability, but there are four or five built-in sounds and it will give you an idea of the interface.

I’ve also been messing around with StepPolyArp. This one is specifically MIDI only. It does not produce any sound on its own. It can, however, control any MIDI instrument along with software instruments. It uses Wi-Fi, the camera connection kit, or the unmentionable DSMidiWi-Fi.

I also use PianistPro for iPad. It features three different ways to play, including scale piano, which only features the notes that you need for the particular song you’re working on. This app has the most options out of any of the aforementioned apps, as far as connection is concerned. It can use the camera connection kit, the line 6 MIDI mobilizer, OSC connection, and two different kinds of Wi-Fi.

I have no experience with TouchOSC. I hear nothing but complaints and headaches about setting it up. Just today I received an e-mail from a colleague who lives in Berlin and has been in Ableton user for quite a while. It is rumored that Ableton is working on incorporating OSC natively. It was up on his suggestion that I should wait before getting into OSC.

I believe that, when it’s released, the Alesis iO Dock, will be a total game changer. It looks like an amazing interface, and something that we’ve all been hoping for as musicians with iPads.

Here are some other iPad apps that I like to play with natively.  I know that some of them have MIDI capability, but I have not incorporated that.

Reactable

nanoloop

synthpond

bleep!BOX  this one is also available as a VST/AU plug-in.  I just got it, so I haven’t used it in Ableton yet. It’s my understanding that one can transfer files from the iPad to the plug-in.

moog filtatron