It’s pretty clear, if a company’s business model is based on providing music then the people making that music should be fairly compensated. I don’t care if you are Spotify, Pandora, YouTube or NBC. Isn’t the whole argument against evil record companies that they exploit artists without fair compensation?
Please support the cause for artist’s fair pay!!
Click here to help

The best prices on Waves plug ins ever, up to 80% off for Black Friday through the weekend!! Now is the time to pick up that bundle you’ve been saving up for.
Plus they are giving away free the One Knob Louder plug in all weekend in exchange for your email address. Here’s the link:

http://www.waves.com/lp/black-friday/louder.html?ref=nl

As expected their servers are swamped I’m still waiting for my confirmation email. We’ll see how long it takes. I can only imagine how many requests they must be trying to handle right now!

Special guests just announced for tomorrows Groove Collective show at Brooklyn Bowl: Vinia Mojica (of Jungle Bros, Mary J Blige, Pete Rock etc…fame and of course who sang on the Groove Collective song “Lift Off”), DJ Jazzy Nice and Malik “Dionysos” Burke of The Real Live Show!

I’ve recently joined the Waves audio plugin Street Team. If your not familiar with Waves plugins then you probably haven’t been involved in professional audio production for the past dozen or so years. I suppose with the plethora of audio plug ins out there it’s possible not to have found them if your relatively new to the scene but, Waves are, I dare say, pretty much an industry standard for the pro market. They are found in most professional studios and mastering facilities and now in many live rigs too. In recent years they not only have become a bit more competitive with their pricing but have also finally moved away from the iLock dongle system which have both made Waves a much more appealing option for smaller facilities and personal studios like my own. I recently upgraded to the latest V9 upgrade and it really has become so much easier to install update and authorize. I am really happy about that. I’ve had the Platinum collection for a few years now and have added a few Waves plugins to my collection on top of that. Waves offer a high standard of sonic quality, system stability and support that set it apart from many plug ins out there.

So what exactly is the “Waves Street Team”?…good question…well, in the name of full disclosure we do get some percs but not a lot and we’re definitely not paid but since I’m a happy user of Waves and love talking gear and tech I figured why not? The group of us that have become part of the team (about 15) all come from different backgrounds with a wide range experiences and I happen to be the only drummer in the bunch so, that has been broadly designated as my area of expertise though I have been working in production of all kinds for many years…many before there were plugins and DAWs! So, if you have any
questions about Waves plug ins specifically or production in general I’d be happy to help as far as I can. I hope to write a few tips or ideas here soon if I can climb my way out of the seemingly endless pile of tasks sessions and of course, chores that are never finished.
Until then….

New York is so great sometimes…Awesome free shows I couldn’t even imagine just down the block from us at the East River Bandshell…

EVENT LINK

Lyricist Lounge 20 Year Anniversary Featuring:

DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock

8.22.2012 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm |

SummerStage celebrates the 20th anniversary of the acclaimed hip-hop brand, Lyricist Lounge. A respected part of hip-hop music and culture, Lyricist Lounge has hosted hundreds of live showcases featuring the best up and coming talent while acting as a career platform for many of today’s superstars. Lyricist Lounge hosts a night featuring two legendary DJs battling it out for turntable supremacy.

Christopher Edward Martin, better known by his stage name DJ Premier (also known as Preem, Premo, or Primo for short) is a producer and DJ and is the instrumental half of hip-hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru. DJ Premier recognized as one of hip-hop’s most important track masters his style is aggressive and raw. About.com ranked him #1 on their “Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers” list and Rolling Stone identified DJ Premier as arguably “hip-hop’s greatest producer of all time.” DJ Premier’s production has appeared on many of hip-hop’s most important records: Nas’ Illmatic, the Notorious B.I.G’s Ready to Die, Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and numerous others.

Pete Rock, also known as Soul Brother #1 and The Chocolate Boy Wunda, is a producer, DJ and rapper and is one half of the critically acclaimed group, Pete Rock & CL Smooth. He has arguably pioneered the fusing of jazz, funk and soul into hip-hop as well as laid down the blueprint for beautiful soulful productions in hip-hop. About.com ranked him #3 on their “Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers” list. Pete Rock’s production has appeared on many of hip-hop’s most important records: Heavy D’s Peaceful Journey, Nas’ Illmatic, and Kanye West/Jay-Z’s Watch The Throne to name a few.

**Two Boots will be providing concessions during select events at East River Park. In addition to their unique, cornmeal-crusted, Cajun-Italian style pizzas, they will also be offering an assortment of delicious craft brews from breweries across the country.

One of my pieces of music was used in this anti-fracking ad. I strongly support this cause. The power industry is trying to push this through without proper safety testing of their methods as well as creating the next false real estate bubble. People are being told they’re sitting on gold mines…all on speculation…and those people in turn are supporting this dangerous unregulated technique of exploiting our natural resources that potentially will pollute everyone’s water. The companies won’t reveal the chemicals used in their cocktail, that is pumped by the tons into the ground, enough to fracture the earth to release the natural gas, on the grounds of it being a trade secret….yeah, I want that in my water…. nothing good can come of this.