Fresh eyes (and ears) on journalism

Today, British multimedia journalist and blogger Adam Westbrook launches a new series called Fresh Eyes on Journalism. His idea was to ask several people active in disparate fields to talk about the future of journalism. My contribution, about music and journalism, was posted today. Enjoy!

A year in the life

This month marks the one-year anniversary for this odd little blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed stopping by half as much as I’ve enjoyed writing and linking.

If you’re new around here, MusicForMedia exists to explore the creation and use of music, especially in multimedia platforms like video and interactive web applications. And because I’m a Beatles freak, I find time to work in some Fab Four content pretty regularly. (And last year’s developments in Beatledom made that quite easy!).

We started small last January, with a bare handful of readers those first few days. But I’m happy to say that a few more people started dropping by. By year’s end more we had more than 75,000 visits.

The most popular post, by far, was my piece on the anniversary of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album, which itself attracted more than 35,000 views. The post included the memories of Beatles’ Grammy-winning sound engineer, Geoff Emerick. I used the piece to argue that Abbey Road was the finest pop/rock album ever made.

Drawing a combined 10,000 views were two posts about the release of the remastered versions of the Beatles catalog.

Also popular was my initial post about my song, “Copy Editor’s Lament (The Layoff Song).” The power-pop ditty laments the state of print journalism today through the eyes of a laid-off copy editor. (You can see the recent video here.) Also, my reviews of music products by Cakewalk, IK Multimedia and other companies drew significant traffic.

So what lies ahead in the new year?

Well I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the latest news on music and its uses. I’ll continue to review products that can help you create or manipulate music and audio. I’ll share occasional tales about my own music-making adventures. And, of course, I will continue to write about the Beatles, as there’s no shame in revisiting the world’s best popular music now and again.

What would you like to read about in 2010?

10 tips on how to record voice

MusFormation.com has shared a list of 10 things you should know about recording vocals.

Although this list is focused on musical vocals, a lot of it still applies to voiceover recording. Enjoy!

Who is this Christopher Ave character?

Are you new around here?

I thought I’d take a moment to introduce myself to anyone who recently stumbled on this blog, to reveal who is behind this oddball mix of multimedia tips, music musings and Beatles trivia.

I’m Christopher Ave. Nice to meet you.

I’m a musician who creates original tunes for clients and for pleasure through my side business, Music for Media Productions. I have delivered tracks for videos, multimedia projects and radio commercials. I produce a podcast for Wealth Magazine, and I’m recording and producing some music for other artists. A couple of my own “pop” tunes are available on iTunes, Amazon, Lala and elsewhere. I periodically perform around the St. Louis area, where I live. And I play guitar in a worship band at my church, The Journey.

If you’re a journalist, you may have heard one of my songs, “Copy Editor’s Lament (The Layoff Song),” my commentary on the news industry and on copy editors in particular. And yes, there’s a video:

I’m also an incurable Beatles fan who has had the pleasure to have written about the group. I especially enjoyed the few times I’ve gotten to speak with the band’s balance engineer, Geoff Emerick, a supremely decent fellow, and I’ve talked to several authors who have studied and written about the group extensively.

On the journalism front, I direct political and government coverage for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and its website, STLtoday.com, including supervision of our bureaus in Washington and the state capitals of Missouri and Illinois. I have been a fulltime professional journalist since 1987 and have worked for newspapers in New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Florida and Missouri. I’ve also written about music technology over the past several years, including reviewing some products that help musicians record their masterpieces.

So what’s this blog all about? What I’m trying to do here is write about the creation and use of music, especially in multimedia platforms. If you design web pages, record music, create television advertisements or just listen closely to music, I hope you’ll find something interesting around here. If you have any questions, suggestions or complaints, hit me up right here!

Ten tips for using music in multimedia

Music is an all too frequently overlooked facet of multimedia production, says Eric Maierson of MediaStorm. I especially appreciate this tip:

Music should not be used as simply background sound. It’s an integral part of multimedia, as important at times as your images, narration, or video. Effective music editing creates a rhythm, a call and response, with your other media sources.

It’s great advice, so read it now!

Quick – and cheap -tips for better recording

Here’s a solid list of recording tips from Craig Anderton, noted author, recordist and all-around good guy who has some cool ideas about how to get the most out of your recordings.

Cakewalk gearing up to tackle the Mac market?

Here’s a seemingly inconsequential announcement from Cakewalk, the music software/hardware company. I’ve already written about the excellent new V-Studio 100 mobile production studio; now comes word that Cakewalk has released Mac drivers for it as well as the company’s new MIDI and audio interfaces.

Why is this worth mentioning?

Well, Cakewalk has been a PC-only company since its inception. Is this move a precursor to Cakewalk jumping into the Mac-compatible software market? If so, that sets up a battle of the titans among Cakewalk’s flagship Sonar, Pro Tools and Logic. As a Cakewalk loyalist, I know who I’m rooting for…..

Updated tutorials for Audacity

Here is Mindy McAdams’ excellent lesson plan on learning Audacity, the No. 1 free audio editing program. Check it out – and thanks Mindy!

Sneak peek at new version of Cakewalk’s Sonar

Here is a preview of the as-yet-to-be-released Sonar 9. The incredible recording/mixing/production suite has long been the heart of my studio, and I can’t wait to see what features are included in the new version. The clues so far seem to suggest it will be more efficient AND more robust – a nice combination in anyone’s book.

Cheat sheets for multimedia and web producers

Mark S. Luckie has another great post up at 10,000 Words with more than 20 time-saving tips on such crucial programs as Audacity and Pro Tools. Thanks Mark! Also, see Mindy McAdams’ Audacity tips here.