The iPod is one of Apple’s most successful products. The latest iPod is available in 30 or 60 GB models and is capable of playing video. The iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Computer. Devices in the iPod family are made around a central scroll wheel (except for the iPod shuffle) and provide a simple user interface. The full and half-sized models store media on a built-in hard drive, while the smaller iPod shuffle uses flash memory. Like many digital audio players, iPods can serve as external data storage devices when connected to a computer.

Nowadays in USA, Europe and in the Middle East Apple computer Inc. offers its iPod line of digital music players and all the necessary accessories for Macintosh and Windows users. Since its first appearance in the Middle East this digital music player is becoming more and more popular and its sales are growing up. The iPod is a portable digital music player made by Apple computer Inc., the characteristic feature of which is its Click Wheel that combines a touch-sensitive wheel with several push buttons for one-handed navigation. In October 2005, in the Middle East the Apple Company produced an iPod containing a 2.5-inch color screen that could show album artwork and photos and play video, containing music videos, video pod casts, amateur films, short films and TV shows. Also the iPod line consists of a 30-gigabyte model containing up to 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos or 75 hours of video, and a 60-gigabyte model containing up to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos or 150 hours of video.

The iPod presents Apple’s Auto-Sync technology that can automatically download digital music, podcasts, photos, audio books, home films, music videos, short films and television shows onto the iPod. Besides, it keeps it in a modern working state no matter whenever it is connected to a Macintosh or Windows computer using universal serial bus (USB). The iPod also features Shuffle Songs, which randomly plays songs in a selected playlist or across the entire library. All iPods work with the Company’s iTunes digital music management software on either a Macintosh or Windows computer. The iPod’s other capabilities include data storage, calendar and contact information possibility, as well as a number of games. The Apple Company Inc. has also entered into unions with most automobile manufacturers to offer an integration of the iPod in some automobiles.

In September 2005, the Company introduced iPod nano in the Middle East, a flash-memory based digital music player. The iPod nano is available in either a 2GB model holding up to 500 songs or 25,000 photos, or a 4GB model holding up to 1,000 songs or 25,000 photos. The iPod nano, which weighs as little as 1.5 ounces and is 27 inches thin, features a color screen and the Company’s patent pending Click Wheel. In January 2005, the Company introduced iPod shuffle in the Middle East, a flash-memory based digital music player, which is based on iPod’s characteristic feature that selects songs from the user’s music library or playlists in a random way. iPod shuffle works with iTunes and its patent-pending AutoFill feature that automatically selects songs to fill iPod shuffle from a user’s music library on their computer. iPod shuffle can also be used as a portable USB flash drive with up to 1GB of storage space. It is available in a 512MB model holding up to 120 songs and a 1GB model holding up to 240 songs.

As of July 2006, the lineup consists of the 5th generation iPod with a video player; the iPod nano with a color screen; and the iPod shuffle. All three models were released in 2005. Discontinued versions include two generations of the iPod mini and four generations of the full-sized iPod. The software that is used for transferring music, photos and videos is called iTunes. As a music jukebox application, iTunes stores a comprehensive library of the user’s music on their computer and can play, burn and rip music from a CD. The most recent version of iTunes has video organization features. The iPod is currently the world’s best-selling digital audio player, and its worldwide mainstream adoption makes it one of the most popular consumer brands. Some of Apple’s design choices and proprietary actions have however led to criticism and legal battles. It is important to note that since the first introduction of the iPod in the Middle East the number of its consumers is growing owing to its innovations and the appearance of the iPod nano and the iPod shuffle. The Apple Company Inc. is spreading much faster in the Middle East than somewhere else. If we compare sale figures in the Middle East to the world we will find out that iPod line of digital music players dominates and its number of sales makes the third part of all sales.

Besides, Arab Business Machine that markets Apple’s products in the Middle East will have a major presence at GITEX 2005. Located at Hall 4, visitors to the Apple booth will have the opportunity to learn more about computing and entertainment technology from Apple. The company will be showcasing everything from the iPod range to iLife and XServe. The exhibit will also have the latest iMacs and iBooks on display, providing GITEX visitors with an opportunity to get a feel for Apple’s products. “We will also be releasing the market’s most powerful iPod Speaker/Dock, Altec Lansing’s New inMotion iM7 Portable Speaker System at GITEX 2005. The success of the growing iPod range in the Middle East will be continued by the new Altec Lansing speaker dock will definitely catch the attention of iPod users and music fans across the region,” said Elias Abou-Rustom of ABM.

Are you planning to set up a music studio at home? Well, it is not as difficult to pull off as you might think. True, the number of equipments found scattered around the studio floor of a professional can look rather intimidating to a beginner. However, you will not need that much equipment to start recording your own music tracks.

So, what is needed to set up a beginner’s music studio?

First things first, make a checklist from the items given below. These are the equipments that you must have in your studio if you plan to do digital audio recording of any kind. It may be a tad expensive, but it will be very difficult to pull off a good work without these basic components. Here are the equipments that you simply cannot work without:

1. Microphones: Well, of course these are amongst the most important equipments in your starter setup. After all, how are you supposed to sing the vocals without a microphone? When you purchase one, make sure that it is compatible with digital audio equipment like amplifiers, and sound mixers. Besides, make sure what type of microphone you will need. If you are going to use acoustic guitars and similar high frequency music equipment, invest in a condenser microphone. Otherwise, a dynamic microphone will be cheaper and get you by.

2. Pre-amplifiers: These will help in amplifying the sound of the vocalist’s voice, automatically suppressing some of the background noises in the process. These are your second most important equipments after the microphones. High quality pre-amps can be real wallet-burners though, so keep your budget in mind when shopping for one.

3. Sound cards: You must have one of these if you wish to record music digitally. Go for a low priced one if you are a genius at using audio mixing software. However, if you are not that sure about using audio manipulating software, then it is best to go for the expensive varieties.

4. Computer: Well, of course, you will need a computer with sound cards and audio editing software installed, in order to digitally master the audio tracks you create. Besides, a computer makes the task of remixing a song a snap. However, if you do not wish to edit your own tracks in any way, then simply investing in a hard disk recorder will get the job done, for the time being. Remember though, you will have to live with the noises and disturbances in the background of your audio tracks.

5. Monitor speakers: No, these are not related to monitors that allow you to see what is happening in a computer. Monitor speakers allow you to listen to audio streams and spot discrepancies easily. Some experienced sound mixing professionals claim that they can get the job done with headphones, but it is more difficult to pull off without really good experience in the field.

6. Room acoustics: This is perhaps the most neglected part of an audio recording setup, even by some professionals. However, spending time and money over designing the inside structure of a proper studio is a worthwhile investment. Try not to skimp on this if you wish to do some serious audio recording in future.

These are the bare bone components of a music studio. A good home studio is a genuine asset for any budding musician. Build yours today, and start creating magic using your talent and skills.

Buying rights to songs for the promotion of commercial products has become more and more popular. It is so common now that it is difficult to hear a song you used to enjoy for the sake of the song and not think of a product. And this is just what advertisers want to happen for you.

What songs are being used with what products? Can you recall any? Maybe it has become subliminal already for you as well. Here are a few songs and the companies that are using them:

•    ”Dream On” by Aerosmith – Buick
•    ”Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin – Cadilac
•    ”Beyond The Sea” by Bobby Darin – Carnival Cruises
•    ”Melissa” by The Allman Brothers – Cingular/AT&T Wireless
•    ”Happy Together” by The Turtles – Clinique
•    ”Coconut” by Harry Nilsson – Coca-Cola with Lime
•    ”Love Train” by The O’Jays – Coors
•    ”Ain’t That A Shame” by Fats Domino – Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
•    ”You Sexy thing” by Hot Chocolate – Dr. Pepper
•    ”Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake Your Booty by KC and The Sunshine Band – Fidelity Investments

The list goes on. On the flip side of the coin, we also hear artists using brand names of products in their music. How about Janis Joplin’s song Mercedes Benz or Paul Simon singing about his Kodachrome. Today, if an artist is using a namebrand, you can be sure they have been paid to insert the product name into their song. Companies will go so far as to advertise for selling space in lyrics to advertisers.

What are some other products or trade names mentioned by artists? Here are a few:
•    Cornflake Girl – Tori Amos
•    Corona and Lime – Shwayze
•    Little Red Corvette – Prince
•    Life In Technicolor- Coldplay
•    Poprocks and Rock – Green Day
•    Volvo Driving Soccer Mom- Everclear
•    My Adidas – Run DMC
•    Maybellene – Chuck Berry
•    Red Barchetta – Rush
•    Louboutins – Jennifer Lopez

For a company to use an artist’s song they must purchase the music rights. Some companies will re-record a song as the rights are then cheaper. Re-recording the song leaves you recalling the song somewhere in your mind but maybe it just quite isn’t the same. Some companies that rerecorded songs make a parody of it. For instance Burger King remixed the song “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy. Some companies just re-record music such as Buick with Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good”.

Music is not limited to selling products of course. There are many films and television shows that love to use music to either promote nostalgia or emphasize a feeling. How many of you can hear the Beatles song Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and not think of the TV show Life Goes On? Likewise, many films and production companies make songs popular and mainstream after putting them into their movies or these companies even hire artists to write songs specifically for their productions. The movie Top Gun had composers write the song Danger Zone and then sought out artists to perform it. Originally they asked Bryan Adams then Toto, but ultimately they went with Kenny Loggins. The song went on to be on the Billboard Hot 100.

Advertisers want to invoke emotion as do film producers, so what better way than to use music. Likewise, artists want to strike emotional cords and sometimes that involves the products of our lives. Both can often go hand-in-hand whether we like it or not.

The “diarrhea” of “an awful lot of” contemporary “pop, rap & rock” music (but not all!)

Do you know what happens when you live on a diet of processed entrees and fast food? When never a fresh fruit or vegetable passes your lips and your fiber count is measured in “mgs” instead of grams? You guessed it: that horrible “D” word. Also known in medical circles as IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) –

So what’s up with the computer spew of 75% of many contemporary popular artists? They, say the song is dead; well who killed it? Was it the independent label music movement? Certainly NOT! Was it rap, punk, or grunge or whatever? I’d say, could be. Was it Madonna who first put the crack in “The Wall” of song composing and instrument playing that earlier generations so carefully began brick by brick? I don’t know — for you, but for me, it’s been a downhill ride since 1984.

I was one, well, that was at “the roots of rock” sort of speak (thanks to an older sister who took me to the Fillmore East in New York City at age 14) – I was naïve enough to ask about that “funny smelling smoke” and those funny looking cigarettes; I later thanked her, for I saw “Santana” live there when their second album (Black Magic Woman) hadn’t even hit the shelves.

I saw PINK FLOYD at that venue a year later when they were still called: The Pink Floyd and they had an opening act play before they came out (i.e. later when fame hit: Pink Floyd ALWAYS played alone because of their massive WALL of speakers and equipment.)

I saw bands in New York City that are now relics: Procol Harum, Jethro Tull’s first incarnation, YES, Bob Dylan WITH “The Band”!! – even Black Sabbath after their 1st LP; and, “Mott the Hoople” touring their FIRST LP. (Remember them? –an LP is an old vinyl record that was played on a turntable. YOU didn’t “use the turntable to scratch! – And they made crackling and popping sounds. LONG LIVE THE CD! And the mp3 too) But, I digress…

So where is this blog heading?

Today you can record and cut a CD in your bedroom. Then, (IF you have enough friends and a gig someplace – or JUST USE U-Tube) you can SELL CDs to YOUR FANS, if you can GET ENOUGH, you’ll even make money; MAYBE! It can all be done on your HOME Computer. And why, because YOU are a musician? “Frankly NOT my dear” as Gable used to say. (Gable who? say the younger readers?) It’s all virtual marketing after that…

In case you’re still naïve as to how IT is done – that so many of today’s artists may not need to know almost anything about music, let alone, spend years playing an instrument or singing – and yet get on the “Virtual Airwaves” and even end up on the Today show spot, along with the “singing babies” that periodically appear on the internet sites and on “You-Tube”. Well it doesn’t even take “RC’s” [read Record Companies] Perhaps just a shrewd “Boomer or GenX” Mom/Dad Manager)… Yep, it’s “Performance Now” and there’s very little music to worry those Artists about. The RC’s can still get their cut and have absolutely NO REASON to complain!!! – About the “Indie and Virtual Music artists” wrecking their profit.

THEY helped “build the beast” they fear everyday (and I hope it does eat their Creator like a type of “Cannibal Baby” gone wild).

And “they” profit everyday by the existence of a youth-culture fueled “Music” industry who’s “Heart & Soul” is made up of the “clinking, clacking, metallic empty banging” of a musical palette of sounds that is “as Soul-LESS” as the heart of the “King Beast” himself (you know that Devil “Sam” who is lurking behind everybody’s dream of a “musical-career “Garden of Eden”) –

As for those “Singing Babies” and “Parading Sex-Toy Imagery of “Twelve-year+ something” girly-woman – parading across the video screens of Virtual and TV America (every so often) THEY, and those nice Boomer+ parents, are just hoping a couple will spell “C.A.S.H.” BIG TIME! – This is of course, once their product “Goes Viral…”

And so many of u“You-tubers,” (particularly) the older viewers will be “fooled-again” – having, (in anemic mental-lapses) forgotten the “Anthem of YOUR Youth: “We Won’t Be Fooled Again” (Who?); and, all those “smashing guitars” instead of “Smashing ‘those damn’ Pumpkins” (now Geriatric!)…

All BECAUSE “U” don’t have the “dog-damn” SOFTWARE that I just have to throw in the garbage! (I made a resolve NOT to swear lately, I don’t want to break my will just yet) – nothing against “dog’s really! – Though I am sort-of “one of those cat-guys”…Please don’t message my email, I LOVE animals with four-legs and some with two. (It’s spiders and insects with multiple legs that have been giving me the creeps lately, but then I live in a “real FOREST”…

It came in MARCH: The last “music equipment purchase I knew I was going to be able to make for quite sometime unless, – MY CD goes “Viral” – (highly unlikely as I don’t own a Video camera or even a digital camera) It will be tough to get on YOU-Tube or even MySpace Music with my “old-fashioned music-making way” (and so MUCH profitless Work – not to mention that! – Unpaid labor, hardly worth it) – but that’s aside the point:

In March (as I said), I bought a $100 desktop “plastic” 2-octave Midi Controller” keyboard with my last savings, (2 octaves means that it only has 25 black & white piano-looking keys) and along with that came (from this decptive “kraut” company) the: “Virtual Music Starter Desktop Composing Package” (a VMSDCP (!)) complete with 50 of the “Latest” Digital Virtual Sounds and Samples (your DVSS’s!) that I thought my music was lacking(?!) – Or perhaps, I had a series of “faithless” self-doubts and collapse of my initial musical resolve formed so long ago in those many long hours and days behind “My Old Black & White”…But again, I digress:

So although the keyboard will be minimally useful at my computer desktop for editing and notation work, those wonderfully and cleverly named (and they really are!) modern sound samples have yet to be able to even be tested out with this “rat-like” maze of a software package! “They” (the Kraut Company) sent me for my $100 apparently a bunch of “demo-software” that ‘They” never even paid for – unfortunately you can’t do much with it! – If only after loading the .dll files I could hear the damn things on a reliable basis. But yes, I do like the names: i.e. Delay Lama, B-Assault, AManalogWar, etc – endlessly creative really!

So when I finally got a few to sound after much frustration the musical use was questionable, (for me I mean); unless you are purposely avoiding any musical references. But most of all, there was this “ambience of artificiality about them all” – This is the “so called musical world” we are abandoning our youth to, (I philosophically reflected, as I endlessly clicked and re-clicked the samples with my mouse trying to get them to sound). “This is a world where a real guitar or piano is mostly a “prop” –

Somehow every sound seemed to me the equivalent of “those frozen-processed entrees” Once in a while, a nice touch to a busy life and schedule; eat them regularly and “disease” is sure to get deeply-rooted with time.

OK so I’m not too fond of today’s musical sound palette, but it’s not just that:

The “composing software and the music software” that is the foundation of so much of the rock and pop that even comes out of the big studios today is not something that “miffs me” (believe me, I AM NOT that “old fashioned” I just like old 40’s movies). I understand it only too well; way back in the 1980’s when many of today’s young artists where still their “daddy’s sperm” beginning that long swim up their “mother’s canal”, I spent untold hours hunched over then “modern synthesizers” creating such effects and sounds; BUT by myself, with only the good old tech manual and use of dials, filters, oscillators… and so forth.

Today’s gig>>> You no longer compose music (especially from “your musical soul”) you download and merge the “pre-found” clips and beats included in the package. A “Soulless” and “Joyless” process in my opinion BUT not necessarily an instant, easy one. The “Result”? Everything you create has this “virtual stamp” on it and sounds like every other “voice in the box.” True, you shape it but hardly worth the learning curve to me.

As (the) PINK FLOYD predicted way back in ’74 with their song: “Welcome to the Machine” ) from the album: “Wish You Were Here” the machine is now as a voice and its soul is in the “box” even if you try to musically think “outside the box”…And believe me: I loved MY PINK FLOYD… and English bands in particular. Their foresight is now come to pass (meaning: it is now true in reality what was fantasy in their lyrics)…“Welcome to the Digital Soul”>>>

So from the “soul-less” world of contemporary modern desktop composing, I now fondly bid you adieu… I and “my lonely soul” like a musical Henry Thoreau at some far-away “Walden Pond” on a frontier far from the “modern world” return to my “Digital Piano” that at least has 88 “real-action” keys and perhaps later tonight to “My Old Black & White” (still resting peacefully in my kitchen foyer). I played the theme to my song: My Old Black & White on it the other day, she sounded pretty good considering “she” hasn’t been tuned since my then 86-year-old piano tuner died (I think in 2002).

My old black and white, Greets me with silence, every night.
And whenever I walk through that door;
She’s been my friend now since ‘74
She’s still my old black & white
And though her keys no longer shine so bright,
She’s kept me company (through) many a lonely night.
She’s still my old black & white

I posed for the above picture the day of a concert I played for over 35 people in a log cabin, called “The Music Shed” in Cummington, Mass., A nice open-air mountain town of New England.

I was 30 then and I remember it as passing as briefly as a “summer day” in New England. The last year my body would be unmarred by “the needles of dialysis” and the ensuing struggle of the next twenty years of poverty and struggle to keep myself faithful to my chosen goal and commitment: to learn to play a REAL PIANO. I thought it was just the beginning of long and fruitful career doing this; but I hadn’t seen my latest blood reports….

It was a glorious June Day in the New England mountains and I played a grand piano, very well indeed…

My bio is where you can read more about my music and find links to listen and purchase my CDs: August Ocean Overture, and In Memory Only

Music has always been a huge part of human lives. It is sang to us when we are babies as lullabies; it is used to help us remember important things while we are growing up, like the alphabet song; and music is used to help us celebrate and commemorate important events in our lives such as weddings and funerals. Because of the popularity of music, it is no surprise that there are more and more uses for music in films and other media outlets. Production music libraries have come into being for the sole purpose of providing music to producers in these venues.

Production music libraries are licensed to provide music for those consumers who want or need music for soundtrack scores, television, radio and other public outlets. A big plus for the production music libraries is that they own all of the copyrights to the music contained within their libraries, allowing them to license it without the permission of the composers. This allows media producers to purchase music at a reasonable price, making the libraries very convenient indeed.

The range of music that is available in production music libraries enables consumers the ability to find multiple types of music within a single library. This prevents a consumer from searching several libraries for the songs that are needed for a single project. The libraries also can vary in size with some having only a few hundred tracks to others that have several thousand tracks available to producers and consumers alike.

The music in production music libraries is also extremely affordable. There are packages that allow consumers to purchase a few songs to packages that allow producers to purchase a multitude of songs. Having different packages available, makes it a very worthwhile expense when one is trying to save money on production costs.

Production music libraries are a great way for television and film producers to obtain the music that they require for the musical scores. They are also great venues for producers to find music that are in the media outlets, such as the radio. That music is available at reasonable rates, making it very affordable to purchase both large numbers of songs and only a few at a time. Most of the libraries have a large number of tracks, making it easy for the consumer or producer to find and purchase all of the songs that they need for their project.