Somebody to Love - Queen (Isolated Vocals)

It's about time that I share an isolated vocals track from of the greats - Freddie Mercury. The song "Somebody to Love" from the album "A Day at the Races", isn't exactly a favorite Queen song of mine, but it does show the highlights of Queen in their prime, and Freddie's amazing vocals, along with the backing vocals. But besides that, I honestly like to call Freddie one of the best vocalists of all time.

Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm (Isolated Drums)

Today's video comes from the UK indie band "Arctic Monkeys". As the opening track, and first single from the album "Favourite Worst Nightmare" this track features a very intense tom-heavy beat played by drummer Matt Helders, who also happens to take up the duty of vocals on the track "D is for Dangerous".

Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Isolated Guitar Solo)

Today's video is honestly a southern rock staple in terms of classic rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" is one of their most iconic ballads, if not only for it's length, but it's many solos in the song.

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (Isolated Bass)

Today's video is another funky bass riff from the 70's. Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" was originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, and this song features Marvin Gaye's bass player, and regular funk bass player James Jamerson playing the bass on this track. He also played bass on 4 other tracks on the album, and a b-side released on a single.

Rio by Duran Duran (Isolated Bass)

Today's video is from an 80s hit single from the band "Duran Duran". Most know them from their hit "Hungry Like the Wolf", but this track was another hit single, whose album shares the same name as this song. This song features a really funky bassline which I could picture in an episode of Miami Vice.

Dear Prudence - The Beatles (Isolated Drums)

Today's video shows the isolated drum track for the Beatles song "Dear Prudence". This track was recorded in August, and released in November, as a part of the "White Album", as the second track. Instead of Ringo Starr performing the drum track on this song, Paul McCartney takes his place. The reason for this is because Ringo Starr had temporarily quit the band, but after making up, he came back to finish recording the album. This song and "Back in the USSR" are the only two songs in which Ringo Starr don't play drums on.

Something About You - Boston (Isolated Vocals)

I consider Boston's self-titled debut album to be one of the best Classic Rock albums of all time, in my opinion. A lot of this album is honestly perfect in my opinion. All of the instruments sound energetic and pure, and considering this was all recorded in a home recording studio in the 70s, that is one hell of a feat. This video shows singer Brad Delp's isolated vocal track to the song "Something About You"

Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who (Isolated Drums)

This video shows the isolated drum track for one of The Who's most iconic songs, "Won't Get Fooled Again". Keith Moon's drumming here, in my opinion, is very tight, but it also sounds very good in my opinion, and his kit sounds very good. I can't really find a way to describe the kick, but it sounds a little too dampened in my opinion. But that doesn't destroy the quality of the track itself, as I think it sounds pretty great.

The Day of the Doctor - My thoughts (MAJOR SPOILER WARNING)

So after a few years of speculation, teasing, an amazing trailer, and last week's overload of Doctor Who programs and such, we have finally been able to say "I've seen the 50th Anniversary special". But, I do have a couple things to say about the special myself. I do like the chemestry of John Hurt, and Matt Smith and David Tennant, and his return to Doctor Who was totally well recieved. But there were a couple issues with continuity that honestly didn't sit well with me, to be honest. If anything, this didn't really feel like a 50th anniversary special, save for the fact that we had an AMAZING cameo from the great Tom Baker, which sort of made up for that aspect of the special for a little while, but my main problem, is that the special mostly relied on stock footage, and random props to acknowaldge the 50th Anniversary, which in my opinion, is just bull.

But besides that, I find that the special was good, despite the flaws I've stated. I mean, it's still gonna take a rewatch or two for me to fully understand the special, and see my thoughts on it. But from what I do remember of the special, it was pure genius.

The Posies - This time, with more vintage concert footage!

Posies frontman/frontman/guitarist/keys player Ken Stringfellow recently posted a video from 1996, of a vintage Posies concert, where the band looks a bit more youthful, and shows off their then new lineup, consisting of drummer Brian Young and bassist Joe Skyward. This footage shows the band during a tour probably promoting their album "Amazing Disgrace". Not only that, but the footage also gives us a clip of "Big Star" founders Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens performing with the band. This has to do with the show being held in Memphis, where Big Star was formed, and the fact that Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer were both members of "Big Star" at the time.

Deep Purple - Highway Star (Isolated Bass and Drums)

This piece comes from Deep Purple's album "Machine Head". This features both the drummer and bassist's parts soloed out, and while the instrument bleed still shows up, it kind of gives the sound sort of a roomy feel to it, sort of like the instruments are sort of there, but they're sort of not, like ghost instrumentation, if you will.

Maximo Park announce 5th album, and a premiere a song

UK Indie-Rock band "Maximo Park" are honestly one of my all time favorite bands, after finding out about them through the "Rock Band" game, (Which before Spotify, Twitter, and Youtube, was my one way to check out bands I've never heard of.) and they're a band which I've been following for a long time now. The band has announced today on their Facebook and other social media accounts, that they would be releasing a new album in February, titled "Too Much Information".

But that's not all the band has given us today. The band has also unviled the first song off the album, entitled "Brain Cells". It's a different kind of take from Maximo Park's usual sound, while keeping Paul Smith's reverb'd vocals, but oddly enough, getting rid of their usual indie rock sound that they usually keep around. Knowing the band, we'd expect more from the album, than just one song, and Maximo Park sure doesn't seem like the band to dissapoint their fans.

Another Doctor is back? But who?

A while back, I blogged about a rumor involving Peter Davison coming back to Doctor Who for the show's 50th Anniversary as the 5th Doctor. While there hasn't been news of that, another Doctor has returned to the show's 50th anniversary, but for one minisode only. "The Night of the Doctor" shows Paul McGann's incarnation of the Doctor in a new outfit and haircut trying to save somebody's life, costing his 8th incarnation in the process. This minisode is mostly to cut some loose ties to the 8th Doctor's story. In his one-off special, Paul McGann's 8th incarnation appeared for one show only, and when the show came back in 2005, we saw a new face for the Doctor, meaning there was no regeneration scene for Paul's Doctor! While it was his only televised appearance, save for this, McGann still went on to play the 8th Doctor in a series of audio specials by "Big Finish". (He even names his companions from the Big Finish serials, making his adventures officially canon! This special also sets the mood as to how John Hurt's incarnation of the Doctor, here called "The War Doctor", came to be.

Teaser Trailer for "Maleficent" released.

Now, I'm not big on film adaptions, or remakes, but I am a Disney fan myself. While I haven't seen the original Sleeping Beauty film, I can say that I am a bit interested in the reboot about the movie's iconic villain Maleficent. The teaser shows a narration from somebody who appears to be Sleeping Beauty herself, Auora talking about her encounters with the villain, as Maleficent shows herself. Now, I honestly think that a movie about the villain themselves, instead of the main character. Granted, it's been done by Wicked before, but that seems to be a bit of an unfair comparison, since Wicked was a musical that portrayed the Wicked Witch as a different person, and was a bit lighthearted. This movie shows the dark side of Maleficent, and could be a very interesting take on the character.

A Day in the Life - Isolated Bass and Drums

This isolated track is another Beatles gem from their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. This features Paul and Ringo's signature instrumentation as it was recorded together on the same track. (The Beatles: Rock Band tried to isolate the bass and drums from each other, to horrible effect.) What I like about Ringo's drums on this is how he does his own sort of improv in the first bit of the song, with his fills, as the second half does sort of a peppy beat, with some shaker bleeding into the mix, probably since it's a percussion track in itself.

And now all Whovians can all die happy....

Last Saturday, the BBC released what all Doctor Who fans had hoped for - The original trailer for the 50th Anniversary special shown at Comic Con back in July. The trailer shows David Tennant and Matt Smith in action as their incarnations of the Doctor, with clips of John Hurt's mysterious incarnation. Billie Piper also shows up again in her "Rose Tyler" role, and it also seems that the 10th and 11th Doctors seem to get along pretty well, which isn't surprising considering their personalities.

Eddie Van Halen's isolated guitar solo from "Beat It"

Ok, so Eddie Van Halen, and Michael Jackson are probably both an unlikely pair, but they are both musical greats, so it'd be somewhat fitting, but a bit unfitting, that they would record together, but they did. This guitar track is from Michael's famous song Beat It. Eddie had recorded a guitar solo for the song, as I have linked here, but he did it free of charge. The only thing that sucks is that he couldn't appear in the music video, due to issues with his record label, but he did go on tour with Michael to play the song in person.

Queen - Get Down, Make Love (Isolated Drums)

Now, this is probably one of Queen's lesser known songs, which kinda surprises me really, as all Queen, is great Queen. (Or, at least, in my opinion.) But anyway, Get Down, Make Love is the 7th track off of the album "News of the World" and while it's not as dynamic as their other songs, I really do like the sort of jam session that the song gives away.

"Rain" by the Beatles - The Original Recording!

I always love how the Beatles came up with interesting ways to record their music, and this is no exception, although it is something very minor. The song "Rain" was recorded with guitars and drums first, and then the bass and vocals were layed down, but not before the guitar and drums track had to be slowed down at half-speed! Honestly, I think this is an interesting take on the song, and I think it's one of Ringo's best takes as a drummer, in my opinion.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary plot revealed!

The anniversary is almost here, and we already have our plot for the 50th anniversary, which seehs the return of the 10th Doctor and companion Rose Tyler. The BBC revealed the plot today, which you can read here:

“In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.”


Not only that, but there also 2 minisodes to be aired before the special itself, one already titled "The Last Day". My hopes for the minisode? We get to see Paul McGann's Doctor finally regenerate!

Vital Signs (Isolated Rhythm Section)

And speaking of amazing prog bands, we have the band "Rush". Neil Peart and Geddy Lee's instrumentation go along well, with Peart's iconic drumming, and Geddy's iconic bass sound, the two go very well aside together, as this in studio video, along with the multitracks (That aren't exactly fully isolated, due to the way it was recorded, with the band together in the same room, with mics all over the place. It's only fair there'd be a fair amount of bleed, sadly.) from the Rock Band games.

Roundabout (Isolated Bass)

Now, I'm not really much of a big bass man myself, despite taking lessons for it at one point, but I gotta admit that this is probably one of the best bass tracks to learn as a bassist, in my opinion. From the band "Yes", bassist Chris Squire recorded this bass track for the song "Roundabout" off the album "Fragile." Besides a few other songs, I haven't heard much of Yes's catalog, but I do know that there are more of their multitracks somewhere around the internet through the "Jammit" app. While you can't download it without the app itself, it is worth it just to hear some of the isolated instruments on their own.

All Apologies - Nirvana (Isolated Drums)

Yesterday I had blogged about the mixing process of "Nevermind" and "In Utero", two of Nirvana's albums. Well, I have the isolated drum track to "All Apologies", one of Nirvana's well known singles from "In Utero", and it features Dave Grohl on the drums. Now, I really like the sound of the drums on this album due to how lo-fi it sounds. The kick mic seems to be mixed to get a boomy, yet decent sound that I love. But it seems to overpower the other mics, giving the drums sort of an interesting sound to them. Something powerful, yet lo-fi.

What if the Nirvana albums were switched around?

Nirvana was a very huge grunge band in the 90s, and you could even debate that they were the Grunge band of the 90s. Now, I'm not usually one to debate that, but what I will say that Kurt Cobain was a great songwriter and musician. Somebody on Youtube had found multitracks for their song "Very Ape" and got an idea. What if he had mixed a song from their last album (In Utero.) in the style of the album before (Nevermind.) The answer? This. Granted, it's only a minute long, but it gives a good idea of what we could've expected if "In Utero" came before the famous "Nevermind".

A trailer is here....but is it what we hoped?

Well, we finally have an official trailer for the 50th Anniversary special of Doctor Who...but is it what we hoped? Not exactly. Many Whovians were hoping for something akin to the trailer shown at Comic-Con, but that sadly is not what we got. Instead, we got something that actually celebrates the show's 50th in a creative way. Using photos of past Doctors and companions, the trailer glides past moments from each Doctor's episodes, or serials, showing each Doctor, and plenty of easter eggs for each and every Whovian to pick apart. (If I listed them, we'd be here all day.) While it's not the trailer we were expecting, all I have seen from the Whovians were positive reactions, and honestly, I can't blame them. I think it was a creative, and genius attempt at a tribute to the show's 50 years.

"You've Got To Laugh" - Nik Kershaw

A while back, I had posted about Nik Kershaw's most recent album, "Ei8ht" and I had said I had planned to check out more of his material, and while I've kept my promise, I would have to say the results have totally blown me away. This isn't something you would usually hear from a fan of an 80s pop artist, but I honestly prefer Nik's later albums compared to his earlier work. Songs like "All About You" and "Promises, Promises" (The latter features a barely audible Imogen Heap on backing vocals, who later became famous through her song "Hide and Seek". Go ahead. Look it up and you'll have an "Oh, that song!" moment.) have some of the best melodies I have heard, and "All About You" has a chorus that can be repetitive, but I actually like how dynamic it sounds. Other highlights from the album include "Oh, You Beautiful Thing", "Old House", and "Loud, Confident & Wrong" (Which honestly wouldn't sound out of place in a mid/late-90s radio station. Just add some turntable scratches, and a lo-fi drum loop, and you'd have a hit. But why mess with something that already is perfect the way it is?)

"395" - Sonja Van Hamel

Sonja Van Hamel is a singer-songwriter from Amsterdam, and it feels to me that the unknow talent always seems to be the best talent. Her song 395, from her album "Transcendental Man" is the song (Besides the next song, "The Roman Empire") that got me interested into checking out her other work, and I totally was not dissapointed. Her sound has sort of a "happy-go-lucky" feel, and in this video, her "Draw Clips", seem to have a story to tell in each of her songs performed at her concerts.

Well, it's not a trailer, but it's still something....

Ok, sorry for the lack of excitement in that title, but still, I am pretty happy to announce that promo pics for the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who, entitled "Day of the Doctor" have been released. The one posted above me shows Matt Smith (11th Doctor), David Tennant (10th Doctor), and John Hurt (An unknown incarnation of the Doctor) together in the 11th Doctor's TARDIS. The pictures were first released in a copy of SFX magazine revealing details about the special itself. It wasn't until yesterday until the BBC had officially released better quality photos of the ones leaked. There are more below.

The rhythm of Dream Theater

Now, I'm not really much of a metal fan, but I do feel like this had to be shared. Now, Dream Theater are a really good band, and a lot of their fans love to hear their isolated instruments. I have found a video of the isolated bass and drums of their song "Panic Attack". It's nice how bassist John Myung and drummer Mike Portnoy's instrumentation play together flawlessly.

Another companion announced for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary

"OK Magazine" has accidentally let word out that another Doctor Who companion will be returning for the 50th Anniversary Special "Day of the Doctor". Comedian/Actress Catherine Tate has been said to make an appearance as her character "Donna Noble", who appeared in a Christmas special in 2006, and returned as as a companion in 2008. Her and David Tennant, who is returning to the special as the 10th Doctor, are also on good terms, remaining friends and even starring in a stage play version of "Much Ado about Nothing". My only concern is how they will bring Donna Noble back to the show. Considering her tragic exit, (I'm not gonna give it away.) it'd probably have to be a past version of her, instead of the Donna Noble in the present day.

"Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" - Sunshine Superman

Now, I'm all for local talent, but I've recently stumbled onto a band that has really blown me away. The name of the band is called "Sunshine Superman" (I'm not really sure if they've gotten the name from the Donovan song, but it wouldn't surprise me.) and they are a 3-piece band from Philadelphia, PA. The video I have linked is of their newest song "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand", and from the looks of their Twitter, (I've contacted them a couple times.) they plan on releasing a song at least every month. Needless to say, I'm hooked.

Something Old, Yet Something New...

Now it's a rare occasion when artists can still keep their sound that have made fans love them, (But that doesn't mean they're not good! Change is good!) but that's not the case for former Beatle Paul McCartney, and he does it very well. A song from his upcoming album, has been released recently, entitled "New", and it only just now has come to my attention. If it weren't for the drums, (Maybe have them sound a little less modern, probably giving it a sound similar to the ones on his "Wings" records.) I really would've thought a song like this would've come out around his time with the band "Wings". It really makes me feel that no matter what, even after the loss of Lennon and Harrison, the sound of the Beatles is still alive, and will always be.

A coffee shop tantrum gone too far?

No...not really. But what we did get was, in my opinion, a very hilarious, and crazy publicity stunt. The video I have linked shows a publicity stunt for the upcoming remake of the 70s horror film "Carrie". This video involves a very elaborate prank involving actors, special effects, and some very unsuspecting (And terrified) customers. The outcome? Very satisfying.

How about a little (shameless) self promotion?

So, by now, many of you (Well, the people who read this blog. So we'll scale that down to my classmates in my Media Class, and my teacher.) who read this blog know that I'm a musician. I'm a drummer and I've also taken up the keyboard just recently. I've taken keyboard lessons at the School of Rock in Fort Washington over this past year (*insert Jack Black joke here*. Go ahead, I've heard plenty of them this weekend.) and also, while doing that, I've also participated in concerts. My second concert, the one I've performed in on the video I have linked, was the 80s College Radio show. In this video, I perform "Begin the Begin" by REM with a couple of my friends. (Besides this, I've played keys and drums on a couple others.) I also plan on performing in the next show, one for the winter season, with music from The Doors. Hopefully, this time around, I get to show some more of my skills on keys. :)

In My Life - The Beatles (Acapella Version)

On one of my last few blog posts, I shared the 4 track recording for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and that had a bit of Beatles vocals in it, but I want to share, at the moment, one of my all time favorite Beatles tracks. From their Rubber Soul album, (A very underrated one, I would say.) this song is written by John Lennon and Paul McCarteney. Vocals are performed by the duo, with John Lennon providing lead vocals (That were also double tracked.) and Paul performing backup. Now, I'd have to say this would have to be on of my recently overplayed Beatles tracks, if not for the amazing melody and lyrics. I think it's a very underrated track, to say the least.

Doctor Who....around the world!

So, I'd say it's a pretty amazing year to be a "Whovian", if you ask me. First, it's the 50th anniversary of the show itself, and it's announced a former Doctor and his companion are returning for the special, and now, word has been announced that the special will be shown around the planet! TV stations in 75 countries have agreed to air the 50th Anniversary special, entitled "Day of the Doctor" simultaneously. In addition to this, the special will also be shown in cinemas in the UK in 3D, and 2D.

My thoughts? This is a genius idea! Now, I feel that Doctor Who is not really that well of a known show, but it's starting to get in the peak of it's popularity with audiences in the teenage and adult demographic. I've even seen plenty of Doctor Who merchandise, and I really think that broadcasting this at the same time in many of countries is a brilliant idea, but may be a little confusing, since here in America, it may be broadcast in the daytime, or in Australia, in the early morning for example. I think that while it's a brilliant idea, it could be a little hectic.

Rare concert footage from the Posies...dating all the way back to 90s!

Now, if you asked anybody who grew up listening to bands like Nirvana who the Posies were, they probably wouldn't know. But if you asked that same question to somebody who lived in Seattle, they'd probably know. The Posies were a semi-big power pop group from the 90s (Well, they're still making music, their most recent album released in 2010.) consisting of singer-songwriters and guitarists Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer. They went through many line-up changes, and different sounds thorughout the years, but they still happen to be one of my all-time favorite bands ever.

This video was posted by former band member Arthur "Rick" Roberts. This video is from the release party of their second album, and their major label debut "Dear 23". Now, for a band like this, who doesn't have that much rare footage from their early days, (And in my opinion, their prime moments.) this is actually very interesting to see older footage, and compare how young the band is, and how much their sound has changed. In my opinion, I feel this band should've gotten more recognition, and I really think their music still holds up great after over 25 years of thwe band being together.

Deconstructing the Beatles: Sgt. Peppers's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Ok, so it's obvious that I love the history behind recording music, but I also love the Beatles. So it's really not that big of a surprise that the two go together pretty well. Now, a lot of their songs have been leaked through the Beatles: Rock Band video game, (God bless the developers of Rock Band who thought it was a great idea to use multi-tracks for the game.) but this is from what I'm aware of, leaked from the 4-track master tape of the song itself. Now, there are two parts to this song, and the second part (With a Little Help From My Friends) would start by having the first part of the song (Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band) fade into that.

But what I really love, was how this ended up recorded. You see, multi-track recording was still very limited, and the Beatles actually did something very interesting with the recording of this song. Instead of just a single 4-track recorder, they used two 4-track recorders. This was done by using the first  4-track recorder to record the basic tracks (Guitar, bass and drums.) and the vocal tracks. (Lead and harmony.) Then the master tape would be moved to the second 4 track so that there, it could be mixed, and there was another track for recording additional instruments, in this case, the guitar solos, and the horns.

Kayne and Kimmel; The Twitter feud.

Night-time talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and famous rapper Kanye West are at it on Twitter. Well, it's not so much a feud, as it is Kimmel cracking jokes, and Kanye reacting. Kanye got offended over a parody of his interview on the BBC, involving a child actor re-enacting Kanye's interview. This apparently drove Kanye over the edge, and caused him to tweet several....inappropriate things about Jimmy. So how did he react? In the video I have posted above me,  Jimmy talks about the Twitter feud, and talks about his reactions to them, even sharing what happened before the show. And yes, it's hilarious.

Disney Parks changing rules on disability perks

Ok, so I'm a huge fan of the Disney Parks, as a lot of my classmates have figured. I have a bunch of shirts that I wear frequently that even show it! But today, I found out about something that, as somebody with Aspergers Syndrome, is deeply dissapointed by.

After getting calls of abuse of it's Guest Assistance Card (People have claimed to have disabilities using it, but really haven't.), both Disneyland and the Walt Disney World resort have announced that they will instead use a card given to families of people with disabilities that will give them a time to come back later, and have them wait in a short line, instead of having them moved to the front of the line when a GAC is shown to a cast member.

Now, like I said, as somebody with Aspergers Syndrome, I am just angered by this decision.  I am prone to anxiety attacks easily, and if I'm stuck in a long line for a certain period of time, I can have anxiety attacks. It's worse if I have a dinner reservation at a certain time. Now, imagine if it was somebody with a family member who has down syndrome, a form of Autism, or even a family member in a mobile wheelchair who takes their time to get to the ride. It would cause even more stress to their vacation, and things would be hectic. If Disney actually goes through with this plan, I can say that there will be many unhappy customers who may lose their business, this, sadly, includes me.

IOS7: My thoughts

Ok, I know I'm about a week late to this, but I *finally* converted my iPhone to the brand new IOS7 engine, and so far, my reaction to it has to be mixed. I mean, I like how sleek it looks, and it does take some time to get used to, but it kinda gets a little too confusing to handle after a bit. But what I do like is how there are some convenient apps built in, like if I pull up with my finger on the bottom of the screen, I get a little board with a couple icons. While I can't really tell what exactly is on there, I can see another way to pull up the camera app, and a flashlight app, which I find very useful, since it's honestly better than having to go into the app store and buying a flashlight app there.

So, yeah, I am impressed, but it's gonna take some time to get used to the phone's updates, and different layouts at times. But I like it. :)

Pulse by Reveller (Song Find of the Day)

My friend (Well...more-so acquaintance, since we've only talked a couple times.) Ken Stringfellow of Posies/REM/Big Star fame recently spread news about a single for dutch band "Reveller" he had mixed. Hearing him post about the band on his Facebook/blog got me a bit interested in checking them out, and so I checked out their recent single "Pulse."

What did I think of it? Well, I think it's a good tune, with very great sounding guitars (They remind me a bit of "It's Never Been Like That-era" Phoenix, which is one of my favorite albums.) and the drums have a nice sound. They have a great dry sound, and the melody and lyrics, but what I really love is the music video.

Ok, just hear me out: I know it's kind of weird to see a pop-rock song together with a music video showing children in the middle of warzones, both real and staged, but this has a meaning to it. The band is sponsoring a charity called "War Child", to help children stuck in the middle of wars, and give them the comfort and safety that they need and deserve. For each download the single gets, the money given to the band will be donated to the foundation, and I think that it's a very great cause. So if you like this song, and you'd like to download it (I doubt anybody reads this, let alone even cares.) I'd advise you to do, and help donate to the charity. It'd really mean a lot, and would help a very great cause.

And now for something better.....

Ok, so after that horrid video I posted on Friday, I just had to find something superior to post on here. So I found a video by the acapella group "Cimorelli", a group of sisters who not only perform acapella covers, but they also have several EPs out already, and are even on a major label! In this video, they cover the song "Royals" by Lordi, and even though I haven't heard the original yet, they really do it justice. Do these girls have a bright future ahead of them? Yes. Are they cute? Yes.

I'm sorry, what?

Ok, so imagine if a combination of One Direction, a European pop-star, PSY, and a children's entertainer were put in the same room, and forced to write a song together. You'd get this. Just....wow. It's just....well...how do I describe it? Well, I'll put it this way: If I thought Gangnam Style was annoying, this is gonna be a lot worse. I dread the fact that this'll become a fad in the future, and everywhere I go, I'll be hearing "A RING DING DING DING DINGA DING. WHAT'S A FOX SAY?" for the next few months. I really weep for our generation....

The Best of Bonham: A Look at the Isolated Drum Tracks

One could consider John Bonham, of Led Zeppelin, to be one of the greatest rock drummers of all time. Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me. For me, a drummer is somebody who glues the song together with their timing and steady beat, but I do love a drummer who throws in a couple good fills. Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Dave Grohl. Those are a few good ones, and some of my favorites. But Bonahm? I think that he had some very good ideas for his drums, and a long time ago, I found some of his isolated drum tracks from many studio sessions of Led Zeppelin albums.

We'll start with "Whole Lotta Love" from "Led Zeppelin II". The full studio multitracks (About 8 or so) for a couple songs were leaked thanks to a bootleg CD of the making of the album. One thing that I should note, is that you can hear the guitar and bass tracks in the intro, and faintly in certain parts of the song. Well, that's because all instruments were recorded together. Not in the same room exactly, but in different rooms, so that each instrument could be seperated enough to feature not so much bleed as heard. Yes, you can hear it faintly, when the drums are playing, but it was good enough for the time this was recorded.

But enough about instrument bleed, let's talk about Bonham's drumming for a second. While I listen to this, I think I can figure out how this was recorded. I can hear the kick very clearly, and the snare as well, so I think this used about 3-4 mics at a maximum for kick, snare, and the overhead mic. One thing I also find pretty interesting about this drum track, is that somewhere around the 3:45-4:00 mark, you can hear somebody - presumably Bonham yelling over the drums faintly. I like that, and it also shows how differently these were recorded in the 60's-70's. But I think that Bonham puts a very good beat to the song. It's not very boomy or special, just a simple beat that goes along very well.

The second, and final song that I'll look at is "All My Love", from their 1979 album "In Through the Out Door". This of course is one of their later albums, and it maintains a really, and I mean really great sound. I'm guessing it was around this time they started to experiment with more drum microphones, because the toms sound a bit louder than on the last track. But what I really love about this drum track is how great it sounds for something recorded in the late 70s/early 80s. Besides the synth track in the beginning, and Bonham's grunting over the drum track, which is still faint, it's pretty well recorded. I also love that loud, boomy, reverb that each drum gives off. The kick sounds very powerful, and I think it may be the microphone's placement that helped with that. (While most bands now and then would put a microphone inside the kick drum, Led Zeppelin seems to record with it outside of the kick drum, but pointing towards the drum skin. I don't know if this is a picture from the recording of said album, but it does sound like this was how it was recorded as shown in the picture.)

But in my opinion, I would say that Bonham was a very interesting drummer, and he'd come up with some very interesting beats for his time, and some of them are pretty iconic for drummers who happen to be fans of the classic rock genre, including me!

Another Doctor for the 50th? But Who?

Could another Doctor be returning for the 50th Anniversary special of Doctor Who? Last week, Peter Davison, who played the 5th incarnation of the Doctor, has confirmed himself to be making an appearence in the special. A few days before he let it slip, he had mentioned having a script personally sent to him with his name on it. Although, this may have to do with the fact that David Tennant, who is returning as the 10th Doctor, is also married to Peter's daughter Georgia Moffat, who also had a guest role in Doctor Who - as the 10th Doctor's daughter. (Crazy, huh?)

But this wouldn't be Peter's first time returning to the show itself. He had returned to the show twice before. Bother were for charity specials aired by the BBC, including one where Peter Davison's Doctor met David Tennant's incarnation in the 10th Doctor's TARDIS! But this also begs the question - Will we see other incarnations of the Doctor, old and new, show up later on? The 50th isn't too far away, and there's still a bit more news to come, so only time will tell....

This is why I love being an audio/music nerd....

If you're somebody like me, who practically lives through music, you'd probably be amazing with the whole deal behind how music comes together. For me, part of the reason I love music so much is the recording process. I love breaking down stems (AKA the seperated instruments) leaked on the internet from Guitar Hero/Rock band games and listening to how songs were recorded, and how each instrument sounds seperated. and to have an entire webshow based off of the recording process is just downright fantastic!

Shaking Through is a web-show hosted in my hometown (And current home) of Philadelphia, PA that brings in local or national artists to record a song and show how it's made. The show takes place at the Miner Street Recording studio, and host/owner Brian McTear helps out with mixing, and also hosts the show. And not only that, but if you are a follower of the show, or it's newsletter, when corresponding episodes are released, (As of writing, the most recent episode shows the band "Hop Along" recording their most recent song.) the mixed and unmixed stems for the song performed on the show are released so we can not only break down the song bit by bit, but we can take a look at our own mixes to test out our skills at mixing, and also gain practice.

If you ask me, I totally encourage shows like this, especially if they also involve audience participation, and help bands get more exposure, and of course, let me break down songs I like track by track.

Death Hoaxes? Really?!

Just recently, a death hoax was started about the international pop-rock singer "Adele". Earlier this week, news was spread on Facebook of Adele's "death", and many of her fans were shocked, and at a loss of words. Where did this come from? A Facebook page, with the name "RIP Adele" had posted this:

"At about 11 a.m ET on Saturday, our beloved singer Adele had passed away. Adele was born on May 5th, 1988 in London. She will be missed, but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy by commenting and liking on this page."

So that's right. This whole thing was a total hoax just for likes and attention. A celebrity's death, let alone anybody's death, is not something to joke about, or fake for attention. That and it's very obvious that this was a hoax. How could you believe somebody has died from such a lazily written statement from the one above coming from an unofficial Facebook page, when in reality, it would've came from an actual press release? I'm not mad at the people who believed this, as I'd be upset at anybody's death, and I understand how it happened. But who I am mad at is the people who started such a nasty rumor. If you ask me, I think that they should be permanently banned from Facebook. (This includes being IP banned, to make sure they can never use it  on their computer, or from their IP address.)

Things I've Heard Lately: "Ei8ht" by Nik Kershaw

Many are not too familiar with Nik Kershaw's music, but from my varied tastes (I'm a total pop-rock/classic rock/power pop junkie. With the occasional alternative thrown in. But during the summer, I stumbled onto the work of Nik Kershaw. Starting with his album "The Riddle", (I heard the title track around 2 years ago, and I'm honestly still kicking myself for not listening to his other work any sooner.) I slowly grew to enjoy it, and I find it to be a very great album, and while it does have the cheesy 80s sound, it still somewhat holds up. After trying to find his other stuff on Spotify, (I found a "re-recording" of his #1 hit "Wouldn't It Be Good", but it seems very off, almost like a cover. Besides, the original is a thousand times better.)

I happened to check out his most recent album, "Ei8ht" (It's supposed to be, of course, his 8th album. And no, I did not spell it that way.)  and I will say, it did not dissapoint me at all. I mean, it's still got the 80s sound to it, but a lot of his songs have a very good sound to them. It's a sound that I rarely hear, but when I do, I enjoy it. It seems to be a cross between 80s Rock,, and Power Pop, two things which I love dearly. There are a lot of great songs on this album. My favorites would have to be "These Tears" and "Runaway", which I feel should've been singles as well, paired with "You're the Best" and "The Sky's the Limit" (The Sky's the Limit is a very good song, but the lyrics at times feel like something off of a children's album. That's really not good.) But I would not only reccommend this album, but I'd also reccommend Nik's other work, especially "The Riddle". I have yet to listen to his other work, but I plan on doing so in the near future, as I have a feeling he could be another one of my all time favorite artists....

JK Rowling announces "Harry Potter" spinoff film series.

Now I'm going to admit something I may get some flack for: I have never in my life read a Harry Potter book, nor have I seen any of the films, despite having a couple friends who are fans of it. But today, something was announced that's so big for the movie, and the nerd industry, that I had to blog about it. J.K Rowling herself has announced plans to make her screenwriting debut with a film series based on the book "Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them", which by seeing the "Property of Harry Potter" sticker on the cover, proves this is a spinoff of the movie and book series itself. Here is what J.K had to say:

"Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.

"The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway."

No release date or production date has been announced, and it is too early to tell who has been casted - if anybody has been casted at all - but this begs an important question: What do the fans think? Well, a lot of them have been taking the news well, but don't expect to see Harry or his friends anywhere in the film series, as from what I've heard, this movie takes place in New York, a good 70 years before Harry's adventures begin!

My last Doctor Who post for now, I swear!

Ok, seriously. I really think somehow, Steven Moffat and the BBC must of stumbled onto my blog, and realized how bad they're screwing over fans, and now they're caving in. Either that, or it's just sheer luck. Anyway, what you see above you is the poster for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary, entitled "The Day of the Doctor". The poster shows Matt Smith's 11th Doctor (The one with the fringe and bowtie.) and David Tennant's 10th Doctor (The one on the right in the brown suit and, unlike past episodes, not so ruffled hair.) facing each other's backs, while in the center of the poster, we see John Hurt's unknown incarnation of the Doctor (Many believe it's an incarnation between the 8th and 9th Doctor's regenerations, between the show's second hiatus starting in 1996.) walking away from what seems to be an explosion including the show's most iconic monster, the "Dalek". (On the far right, just look closely at the the gold robot that seems to look like a pepper shaker.

Maybe, with my luck, we'll hopefully get a trailer tonight? Or this weekend maybe? who knows? We still have a bit of a wait to go.

Good Timing? Hmm...

So here's something crazy: The day after I write a story talking about my thoughts on how the trailer for the 50th Anniversary hasn't been released yet, we do get some info on the 50th Anniversary released! Granted it isn't a trailer, or a promotional picture for the 50th Anniversary released, (The one linked above is from the first read-through of the special capturing David Tennant, Jenna Louse Coleman, Matt Smith, and guest star for the episode Joanna Page.) but for fans like me, it's still something special. The title of the episode, which was announced by the BBC today, is confirmed to be "The Day of the Doctor". As mentioned by me yesterday, the episode features former Doctor David Tennant, and actress Billie Piper returning as the 10th Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler alongside the 11th Doctor and current companion Clara Oswald, played by Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman.

And that isn't all the BBC has planned for the show's 50th anniversary. In the UK, the BBC will be airing a documentary based on the creation of the series, directed by Mark Gatiss. The film, entitled "An Adventure In Space In Time" will show a dramatization on how the show was created, and filmed with first Doctor William Hartnell. (Portrayed in this movie by William Bradley.) And on the BBC America channel in, well, America, near the end of each month, they have aired "Revisited" specials, where former cast members look at past Doctors, and also show a serial from said Doctor. The last one shown was in August, showing the 8th Doctor's first, and only, adventure in his 1996 TV movie.

Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary: An Overview, and My Thoughts on the Trailer

Ok, so it should be clear that I'm a huge fan of the British Sci-Fi television show "Doctor Who" The thing is...not too many people that I know don't really know what Doctor Who is. In the easiest way I can possibly explain, since the show get's confusing at times, I'll say this: The show is about an alien humanoid who goes by the name of "The Doctor". He is of the "Time Lord" race, which as the name should tell you, involves Time Travel. This is where the show's iconic time travel machine, also know as the TARDIS, (Time and Relative Dimension In Space) comes in. Taking the shape of a police box, the Doctor usually travels with a companion (In the classic series, it was both male and female companions, or sometimes just male or female. For the new series, the standard seemed to be a female companion, though for Seasons 6 and the first half of Season 7, it was husband and wife duo Amy and Rory Pond-Williams.)

The show first aired on November 23rd, 1963 - 50 years ago! The show's first Doctor was played by actor William Hartnell, and when Hartnell's health was starting to decline, he had decided to leave the show, but the show needed a way to continue. But somehow, somebody got a creative idea for the show. Why not have the Doctor facing death, and have him cheat it by turning into another man? In William Hartnell's last episode, the episode ended with the Doctor, in his last moments suddenly changing into the Second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton. And this went on for many more Doctors, with the show now on it's 11th Doctor! (Played by Matt Smith)

Now that the show is for it's 50th Anniversary, there's something special planned for the celebration. For a special movie-length episode of Doctor Who, Fan-Favorites David Tennant and Billie Piper (Who played both the 10th Doctor and companion Rose Tyler, both my favorites in the series.) will join Matt Smith's Doctor and his current companion Clara Oswald (Played by Jenna Louise Coleman) and John Hurt (You may remember him from the famous sci-fi movie Alien, where he was the victim of the infamous chest bursting alien scene.) as an unknown, never before seen, or mentioned incarnation of the Doctor. (Many believe that he fills the gap between the 8th Doctor, and the 9th Doctor's regeneration. After the 8th Doctor's first and only appearance in a 1996 attempt to revive the show for American audiences, which failed due to bad ratings. The show wasn't revived again until 2005, with the 9th Doctor, not showing the 8th Doctor's regeneration into the 9th.)

Now one thing I have to mention is the lack of publicity for the Anniversary Special. There's been plenty of interviews for the special between John Hurt, David Tennant and Matt Smith, but for some reason, we don't have a trailer for the special. But here's the thing: There was a trailer for the 50th Anniversary showed by certain fans at the San Diego Comic Con in July by current show-runner Steven Moffat, but Moffat has refused to show the trailer to fans outside of the convention. This, not surprisingly, has caused an outcry between many fans, all over the world. My thoughts on the situation? I find this completely understandable. I'm upset about this, because it seems to be discriminating against fans of the series who couldn't even afford to go to the convention, or the Doctor Who panel where this was shown. Not only that, but this was shown only in America, and not in the UK, where most of the show's fan-base seems to be. I think it's very unfair to exclude a fan-base in a country where the show even started. If it wasn't for them, where would this show be? Now, I'm hoping that we do get a trailer soon, but maybe Steven Moffat is waiting to surprise the fans with the lack of a trailer to excite them for the adventure that's to come? Who knows? Only time will tell...

One of my favorite mixes, and how it came to be.

Move On - Vikki Hewitt

I've only been working on mixing for only a short period of time, but as a musician, and somebody who's a fan of the pop-rock genre, I really enjoy my mix of this song. The first time I heard it, I found the unmixed stems on Mixoff.org (A place for recording engineers/recording artists to upload their unmixed stems and have others take a shot at their mixes. Songs are usually recorded unmixed, and they sound sound really lod, and really dry, and that's not good. Mixing is where we take those tracks and use effects/compression/EQing/etc on a Digital Audio Workstation (In my case, I use Mixcraft 6.) to make them sound good enough to release them as a single, or on a CD, or on the Internet. Even for my own music, I have to do the same.), and thought to myself "Hmm...this sounds a little lifeless. Why not add some life to it?". And that's exactly what I did. And while I still had very little knowledge of mixing at the time, and while I'm still learning about it, I really think that I did this song justice.

In my head, I really wanted to give this song sort of a live feeling to it, sort of like an intimate concert that's going on right in front of you, and you can hear and feel everything. On nearly every track, I added reverb (In other words, I've added an echo to each track.) to the bass track and each drum mic. (How drums are recorded is very interesting, and probably one of my favorite things as a musician to do is to research on recording techniques, and how songs and instruments were recorded in the past. Each drum on the kit gets a microphone, and there's two overhead mics on the left and right side of the drum placed a few feet above the drums/cymbals, either pointing down, or parallel each other. I only put the reverb on the Kick and Snare tracks, and since the drum track had no Tom mic, (Well...it did, but it was a trigger mic that sounded terrible, and trigger mics are usually used so they can be replaced with a drum sample, which I find pointless, especially since you can use a tom mic, or even the overhead track!) I had to replace the tom mic with a virtual instrument version of a Tom, which I think was a good replacement.

The only thing I regret is not knowing proper knowledge of compression at the time, since it would've helped in making the piano/vocals tracks sound louder/quieter in some parts, without it sounding off in the recording, as I think this whole mix is 95%  natural, and in my opinion, my best mix to date.

An Introduction....

Hello everybody, and welcome to my Blog. I am Tyler Green, and I am a student in Mr. Scott's Multimedia Design Class at Wordsworth Academy. I live in Philadelphia, PA, and I am 16 years old. I'm going to use this blog to share my thoughts on personal things, music I like, shows and movies I watched recently that I enjoyed, etc. I also am a musician who plays both drums and keys, and I have a Soundcloud account containing said music. If you are curious to see it, here it is.