tobyMac

So I finally got to see Tim perform live this past weekend with tobyMac. They came through Des Moines a year or two ago, but I couldn't make the show for some reason or another. Luckily, I was able to make it this time around.

Even though I play in the praise band every Sunday at church, I'm still more of a hard rock/heavy metal guy. I must say though, they rocked the house pretty good. It was kind of weird seeing a friend from high school on stage, and then signing autographs and taking pictures. Tim did a great job, and the band as a whole put on an entertaining show.

Anyway, here are some video clips. I recorded these with my Canon still camera, so the video quality is not the best and the audio quality is horrible. It's a long video, so it may take a bit to load.



Here is a better quality live recording of their song Boomin'. There are also several other videos on YouTube.





Good show.

ps - For an even better, in depth review of the Portable Sounds Tour, check out Carl's blog, One Pilgram's Progress. It's great to see others enjoyed the show as well.

PreSonus Inspire GT

So, I purchased a PreSonus Inspire GT firewire recording box to mess around with a few days ago, and I must say that I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. I'm still learning how to use the multi-track recroding software that it comes with, Cubase, but it seems to be a pretty good software package. The Inspire ships with Cubase LE, so it's got some restrictions as compared to the full-blown version, but it seems to do what I want for the most part. It also comes with a multitude of guitar effect plugins and a few drum machine apps that are fun. I'm really looking forward to finally recording some of the guitar riffs that I've been messing around with for years!

Here's one of the first riffs I recorded: (Audio clip removed. If you really want to hear it, just ask.)

Not sure if it will ever become a full-fledged song, or just stay a quick little doodle -- I'm just glad it finally got recorded before it disappeared into the ether. :-)

UPDATE: The day internet radio DIES

Internet radio receives a stay of execution -- sort of...

"The day internet radio DIES" has been pushed back a month to July 15, 2007 following the publication of the Copyright Royalty Board's (CRB) "Final Determination of Rates and Terms" in the May 1, 2007 Federal Register. The CRB ruling states that webcaster's first payments are due 45 days after the end of the month in which the "final" determination is published (Sec. 380.4(c)), which results in the July 15, 2007 date.

House Resolution 2060, The Internet Radio Equality Act (H.R. 2060), which is currently under review by the Energy and Commerce Committee, has gained significant steam since it's April 26 introduction by Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Don Manzullo (R-IL) in the House of Representatives. Strong support for the proposed legislation has has emerged over the last few weeks, with 41 current co-sponsors to the bill (31 D, 10 R). The bill would nullify the March 2, 2007 CRB ruling for increased royalty rates, and apply a more mutually beneficial and economically feasible rate structure. In addition, the bill would unify the royalty standards between internet radio, satellite radio, cable radio, and jukeboxes. It appears that unification with terrestrial radio royalty requirements is not addressed specifically.

The sponsor of the bill, Jay Inslee (D-WA) is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, which oversees "Interstate and foreign telecommunications including, but not limited to all telecommunication and information transmission by broadcast, radio, wire, microwave, satellite, or other mode; and, Homeland security-related aspects of the foregoing, including cybersecurity."

Contact your representative and urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 2060, The Internet Radio Equality Act, and help save internet radio!

The day internet radio DIES - Part II

The following is a continuation of my blog entry entitled: May 15, 2007 -- The day internet radio DIES.

Another aspect of the Copyright Royalty Board proposed fee schedule that deserves mentioning is that it continues the unbelievable disconnect in royalty payments between terrestrial stations and internet/satellite radio (at least as far as I can tell). Ever wonder why your favorite FM station, with all the backing of a mega-conglomerate like ClearChannel, doesn't offer an online stream? I know I've thought about it before (the local ClearChannel rock station here does not offer such a service). The (likely) answer: It's because as soon as they cross over to streaming their station online, they are required to pay additional royalties that they are not obligated to pay as terrestrial stations. That's right -- internet radio stations are actually required to pay royalties beyond those that terrestrial stations are required to pay. Now tell me that makes sense.

I'm sure that the additional royalties are not the only factor driving the decision not to stream online for these FM stations, but it's got to be a major player at the very least. And don't tell me they lack the capital to purchase the necessary equipment to get a stream off the ground. If Joe Blow the internet radio hobbiest can stream his favorite Led Zeppelin tunes at 192 kbps mp3 using his P.O.S. home computer and COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE, then certainly a ClearChannel owned FM station can find a way to afford to simulcast their terrestrial signal. In the end, I've got to think that the additional royalties make venturing into online streaming significantly less attractive to terrestrial radio.

As noted above, the gap in royalty payment requirements between terrestrial and internet radio is unfortunately a continuation of the status-quo. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which was built upon the Digital Performance Rights in Sound Recordings Act of 1995, says that internet radio stations have to pay performance royalties on songs played, in addition to composer royalties on those songs. Terrestrial radio stations pay composer royalties, but are not obligated to pay performance royalties. Why, you ask? Because of the long-established rationale that recognizes record labels benefit from the promotional value of songs played on terrestrial stations. In essence, the logic is that the promotional value to record labels offsets any performance royalties that would be due. So why is it that internet radio is not afforded the same rationale??? If anything, internet radio provides more promotional value for a wider artist-base than terrestrial radio. It just doesn't make sense. Unfortunately, the CRB ruling set to go into affect May 15, 2007 not only increases the royalty fee schedule, it also appears that it fails to address this disconnect.

I'll admit that I do not know exactly how the fee schedule is setup for the composer royalties terrestrial stations must pay. Perhaps they are somewhat inflated to try and balance with the total royalties paid by internet stations, I don't know. But from the reading I've done, it doesn't appear to be this way.

May 15, 2007 -- The day internet radio DIES

For more information on the CRB ruling, please visit the following sites:

SaveNetRadio Coalition
Small Webcaster Community Iniatitive
International Webcasting Coalition
Save Webcasting dot org

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

An alternate title for this post could be "Can an old dog overcome certain bad habits and learn how to do things the right way?"

The unfortunate truth of the matter is this post could refer to any one of my many bad habits, but the one in particular I'm referring to is not as far reaching or have as numerous (if any) life altering implications as my other wayward practices. It's still something I've been thinking about trying to rectify. So what exactly am I eluding to? I'd really love to take guitar lessons. Yes, guitar lessons. You were probably expecting something more profound, but that's it. Really.

Being a self-taught player going on 12 years now, I think I would really enjoy getting some "formal" training. Overall, I think my technique is mediocre at best, and could definitely stand to be tweaked for the better. Solo improvisation and general music theory are definitely where I need the most help, as I have basically zero skills in those areas. I feel fairly comfortable with my ability in the rhythm guitar role -- although I'm sure I've taught myself some bad habits, and surely have much to learn even in that regard.

Specifically, my interests currently lie within the acoustic realm of guitar playing, and have been pointed in that direction for many years now. I started off playing rock/metal tunes on electric guitar, but got bored quickly (c. 1998) and decided to purchase an accoustic-electric. I've been hooked ever since. For me, it just seemed like a natural progression as my (uh-hum) skills improved. In particular, the technique and complexity of classical guitar intrigues and amazes me, and is the "stretch goal" (read, pipe-dream) of my long, drawn-out guitar education.

Why do I even care to improve my playing abilities? Well, there are several factors involved here, but it's primarily just due to my enjoyment of playing guitar and music in general, in combination with a bit of perfectionism (or perhaps more aptly put, non-mediocre-ism). Add in the fact that every Sunday I play in the praise band at my church, and it only increases my longing to improve. In fact, our practice this evening is what spurred on this post.

Plus guitar players get all the chicks. Wait a minute, I'm already married. Damn, I missed the boat on that one! :-p