Sweet Surrender CD - Buy While Downtown Corvallis

Thanks to these local Corvallis retailers for carrying my latest CD, Sweet Surrender:

• Gracewinds Music
• Grass Roots Books & Music
• Happy Trails Records

So...when you're out and about in downtown Corvallis, perhaps looking for some music, stop by and do some shopping...hint, hint!

Rob

Graters of the Lost Carp - Movie Debut

CORVALLIS -- "Graters of the Lost Carp," Wednesday, 8 p.m. Nov. 18, 2009, Beit Am, Mid-Willamette Jewish Community Center, 625 N.W. 36th St., Corvallis. The world premiere of the action-packed (yet nonviolent) 30-minute film, "The Adventures of Israel Stein, Gastronomical Archaeologist." Written and directed by Mike Aronson and performed by Beit Am members; music by local composer Rob Birdwell. Admission: $5 suggested donation, $10 per family. Information: 753-0067

All This Stuff - multi-mix demo using Silverlight

Cut to the chase - click this link to view the working version first pass of my 8-track mixer.  

Now read on and you'll know what I'm talking about...

I have a bunch of tunes from the last year or so that I'll probably mix down soon and just be done with them.  Using sophisticated mixers like SONAR and notation tools like Finale, and distilling it all down to a somewhat static "stereo" mix can be a bit of a let down (to me at least).  Why are we trapped in the world of stereo? (And I'm not talking 5.1 Dolby stuff here, but rather the general status quo of the consumer stereo mix for the last 50 years or so.)

What if music listeners could do more than turn up their volume - what if they could mute the lead vocal? What if they could listen in on all the background vocals and/or horn lines?  I know, there are ramifications to this.  But consider live performances - what if our portable music players could tap into the main mixing console (broadcasting openly to those interested "listeners") and interact with live performances with our own portable mixers?  Raising the level of the guitar, focusing in on the horn section....what if?  

Well, here's my first experiment with multi-track playback...using Silverlight.

The tune is mine and called "All This Stuff" - but rather than a stereo mix, you can play around with any of the 8 channels of this mix.

I plan on adding more features to the 8 track mixer console.  And 8 probably is enough, at least for me.  Audio levels, panning, muting - not a bad start.  Soloing and being able to save a mix would be nice features and they will come.

If you click the "red" button (looks like a record button) you'll see a window listing the details of the track data.  You can even modify it.  In theory, a collaborative group of musicians could pop their mp3 links into the editor and it would stream in.

Naturally, a way to do this sans little or no effort is the goal.  Again, what if...