Open Airwaves

So I moved... what am I up to?

2010-03-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick rundown:
- Still doing freelance graphic and web work.
- Working full time as graphic designer at a local sign & graphics shop.
- Playing in a very cool pop punk / hardcore band, Fabulous Under Fire with some of my favorite people. Looking to play shows by June. BTW the band name is awesome. Thank you.
-Writing a lot of music, and recording demos in my office. Such a joy.
- I've started doodling again. It's relaxing, but not as satisfying as creating bigger art pieces. Maybe I should make a large piece out of doodles.

Top Christmas Albums

2009-12-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick post. Christmas is coming up soon, and the malls and big box stores are all in competition with each other to play the most horrendously annoying Christmas music imaginable. For instance, I've heard that Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas Is You" song pretty much every time I stepped foot out of my house this past month. In fact for many years (not surprisingly, the years I spent working retail) I could not stand any type of Christmas music.

Even though having bastardized pop versions of Christmas classics forced into your ears while you're out shopping or eating isn't cool, when you're at home trimming the tree you should definitely have some good Christmas music playing. So here are some of my favorite albums.

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
Johnny Mathis - Christmas Is...
The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
A Dave Brubeck Christmas
Bing Crosby - White Christmas

A special nod to Christmas With the Chipmunks because I loved it as a kid.

Packing Up and Moving Out

2009-12-07T16:41:00.000-08:00

Well, looks like this blogs going to be taking a little bit of a break. No I'm not lazy... well yes, yes I am, compared to some. However this is all due to the fact that I am moving away from one of the cultural centers of the country, Las Vegas (sarcasm), to another one, the San Francisco bay area (seriously). That, combined with holiday plans, are putting all of my creative pursuits more or less on hold for a while. So I'll be back in the new year with more topics of interest, wonder and magic.

Note: The picture above is an entry I made for a photo-manipulation contest at Worth1000.com. Awesome site. They continuously hold contests for photography, photo-manipulation, creative writing, and a bunch of other cool creative things. This entry, titled 'Fetch!', placed pretty well.

Open Airwaves Update

2009-11-15T10:13:00.001-08:00

I've been out for a while. Spent a week in the San Francisco bay area for the Ghost and the City CD release (They already have 5 new songs in the works! No rest. Ash and I will be hashing those out some more in the near future for sure.). While I was out there, I even got to jam with some good old buddies. Since I've been back I have been fighting some sort of cold/allergies. Either way it was bad and today is the first day in a while I actually feel pretty good.

Been designing several logos for a wide range of businesses lately. I'd like to be getting more big contracts, but lately it's been logos, business cards, one page websites, and simple photo manipulation. The upside is that I'm getting busier just doing those types of projects. Logo design is definitely one of my favorite types of design. Here's some recent examples of my work.

Other than that, I am excited to be collaborating with one of my favorite people ever, Ryan Reynoso - vocalist of Divided and Left of Christ, on a new Black Sabbath-inspired song I am writing. He is laying down vocals and with any luck I'll be able to take a listen soon. Depending on how crazy we get, maybe we'll find someone to record real drums on the song (I used Acoustica Beatcraft to sequence the drum parts). I will definitely be updating about that collaboration as it develops.

Hopefully the coming months will be full of growth.

Ghost and the City CD Release Show

2009-11-03T12:39:00.001-08:00

Ghost and the City CD Release Show
Bottom of the Hill
San Francisco, CA 11/6/09 - 8:30PM
with Battlehooch and Picture Atlantic

Ash, one of my oldest friends, has put his heart, soul, and sanity into this album for the past two years. It has come out amazing, and I recommend everyone purchase it through iTunes (available now) or through the band (release to coincide with the CD release show). With its thick arrangements, it is the type of album Cursive could come out with if Tim Kasher didn't care so much about being a too-hip-to-be-hip folk rocker. Ash has taken blues, jazz, and rock from the 50's to 70's and put it all into one of the emotionally heaviest collection of songs I've heard. Like I said in a previous post, I had my own small part in creating this album, jamming with Ash in the early stages with him on guitar/piano and me on drums/guitar, as well as working out some vocal melodies. It's incredible to see how much the songs have grown since those jam sessions. Also, I've done some design work for the band along with some friends from our old crew - Oliver Dooley and Chris Chan.

So buy the album. Check out some tracks and more info on the band HERE first.

This is Why I Can't Have Nice Things

2009-10-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

A (depressing) list of every piece of musical equipment I've had (that I can think of) that has either been lost, never returned, or flat out stolen.

(2) ESP/LTD EC-1000 guitars
(3) Boss TU-2 Tuner pedals
(1) Boss BD-2 Blues Driver pedal
(1) Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor Pedal
(1) BBE Sonic Maximizer
(1) nylon string acoustic guitar
(1) steel string acoustic guitar
(6) microphone boom stands
(8) various dynamic microphones
(1) Casio keyboard
(1000) guitar and mic cables

*sigh* Take care of the things that make you happy.

A World of Session Musicians

2009-10-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

My buddy Jeff just turned me on to this free songwriting/recording social networking site called IndabaMusic.com. Although I haven't used it yet (just signed up this morning!) I am very interested in how it works. It's basically a place for songwriters and musicians to come together to write and record songs over the internet. You get a profile to show the others what you do and what you are into. There apparently is web-based recording software, which helps keep the process simple by allowing all musicians involved to record inside the same session. Much easier than one guy recording into their own software on their computer, exporting to .WAV, and FTP or emailing the file for the other person to place into their software. It looks like IndabaMusic also runs song contests and other fun community projects.

I want to try a few experiments with this website. I want to record a song I already have written with my friends (in other states) with this site, and also try to come up with something from scratch with complete strangers I meet on the site. That way I can see how the site affects my workflow in a normal songwriting situation, and also what comes out if I throw a guitar riff out into the world for others to build on.

Hopefully I'll have time to work on both of those ideas in the coming weeks. I'll have updates as they come, and if all goes well, I'll have songs to share as well! If you are a musician and want to check out IndabaMusic, try it out and add me as a friend! I'm not sure we'll be as successful as The Postal Service or Meshuggah (popular bands that wrote their albums by email or post) but it should be fun.

Find me on IndabaMusic.com:
openairwaves@gmail.com

Got an Original Thought?

2009-10-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

This past week driving around Las Vegas, I was reminded multiple times of one of my personal least favorite marketing blunders; ripping off the 'got milk?' tagline. The California Milk Processor Board started running the 'got milk?' campaign in 1993 ( let's see... 15 years ago). It immediately boosted sales of milk. It is such a successful campaign, that they still use it in advertising (magazine ads mostly).

Of course, on the downside it was so simple and clever that it was easy for others to take the idea and bastardize it with whatever they wanted. Almost immediately after the 'got milk?' ads came on the air, people were walking around with shirts or bumper stickers saying things like 'got Jesus?' and 'got boobs?'. More recently they have said 'got hope?' and 'got MILF?'. WTF? Who would wear that last one?

The absolute worst part of it is when other businesses try to do this AS THEIR OWN MARKETING CAMPAIGN. This week alone I saw 'got braces?' on an orthodontist's office window and 'got crabs?' on a bus stop advertising a seafood buffet. I am pretty upset that people are content marketing themselves like that... ripping off a 15 year old dairy ad. There is no way ANYONE thinks 'got ______?' is still clever, and yet there it is - before my eyes.

Business owners need to understand the message they put across in their ads will define the first impression most of their potential new customers will get of their business. And just because 'got milk?' worked so well for milk, doesn't mean you have any right to take a stab at it. Advertising doesn't have to be completely original to work, just don't make it wholly unoriginal. BTW, no disrespect to the 'got milk?' campaign. That was genius and I loved the commercials as a kid.

Top Ten Guitar Solos

2009-10-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Just a fun list for the guitar geeks out there - not really a top ten list, that just sounded right for the post title. I'm actually posting this list in honor of the release of Brutal Legend for the XBOX 360.

I play a bit of guitar, but really don't have the chops to play lead or to solo. Once I learned I could write my own songs on guitar at the age of 15, I lost interest in becoming totally proficient at it as an instrument and instead only used it as a vessel for songwriting. I often played guitar in bands, but always as a rhythm player. Looking back now, I wish I had spent more time woodshedding - practicing scales and technique. Well the good part about a hobby like guitar is you can do it your entire life, so I can always start now.

At any rate, when I first picked up the guitar I did have some guitar gods, as they are called. Here's a list of some of my favorite guitarists and good examples of their guitar solos in no particular order. I think these are all great examples of creative guitar playing that takes real musical creative talent, not just tons of practice.

Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne) - 'No More Tears'
Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix Experience) - 'Hey Joe'
Kirk Hammett (Metallica) - 'One'
Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) - 'The Evil That Men Do'
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) - 'Comfortably Numb'
Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne) - 'Crazy Train'
George Harrison (The Beatles) - 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'
Jake E. Lee (Ozzy Osbourne) - 'Bark at the Moon'
Dave Murray & Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) - 'Fear of the Dark'
Dimebag Darrell Abbott (Pantera) - 'Drag the Waters'

Of course this isn't an end-all list, just solos that shaped my tastes in guitar playing and music in general. And yes, Ozzy has worked with some of the greatest guitar players ever haha. If you like guitar solos, go ahead and throw some suggestions of some great ones out there. And seriously, at least download the Brutal Legend demo; it is hilarious.

Open Airwaves - Our Mission and the New Header

2009-10-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hey! Look up and you will see a brand new header representing the Open Airwaves blog. It depicts a piano with a radio tower rising out of its soundboard, emitting a signal of stylized swirls and musical notation. I chose the piano because it is the most versatile musical instrument and therefore a representation of creating anything, the tower represents the name 'open airwaves', and the design shows the spread of creative thought.

And that's what this blog is all about; creative pursuits being shared with the world in the hopes that we all will learn more from each other. So thank you for taking time to read this blog. I encourage you to subscribe, and also to turn anything posted here into a discussion so that we can make this a forum for creativity of all kinds.

-Jonathan

Anyone can now post comments! Up until a few days ago it was restricted to registered users only. So join in the discussion!

Purple Death From Above

2009-10-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I take my drawings past the sketch phase. This piece is one such occasion. Here's the original sketch and the final piece. Full sized prints (24"x30") are available for purchase if you would like one - just let me know. Enjoy! (You can view a larger image by clicking on the thumbnail)

Edit: There was something very wrong with my composition so I have changed it, including changing the overall size to 24"x36"

My First Attempt at Film

2009-10-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here's an afternoon film project I did with my friend Jeff. He acted, and I directed and worked the camera. This was essentially a way for us to learn basic filming and editing techniques (learn by doing!) but we find it hilarious and we hope other people do as well. Enjoy!

Credit Where Credit is Due?

2009-10-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

With the entire record industry going through a metamorphosis, recording artists and labels alike are trying to determine where the industry will be in the future, and how music will be sold and distributed. Services and sites such as iTunes and Rhapsody are leaders in downloadable music. Instead of going to the local record store or big box retailer, more and more people are downloading entire albums in MP3 format. The pervasive thought is that the music is just going to end up on an iPod or computer anyways. Recently, even I finally gave in and I have gone from buying CDs to exclusively buying digital downloads online.

My qualm with this new distribution of music (and my main point here) is the lack of album art and credits. When you download an album, you are lucky to get a thumbnail of the album's cover art and pretty much never get to see the full packaging as imagined by the artist/creative team. You miss out on the full experience of putting a record on and, while listening, thumbing through the artwork, the lyrics, band thanks, and album credits - not to mention the fun of actually going to a record store, one of my true joys. For me personally, this need is largely quenched because I still enjoy buying records. You know, vinyl. I'm sure I'll post on that subject later.

My real question is this: With so much music being bought without art and liner notes, how is that affecting the reputations and perhaps even careers of the people who worked on the record? I'm talking about the producer, the engineers, and even the songwriters.

I grew up buying CDs as both a music lover and a musician. Reading through the liner notes of my favorite albums, I developed a mental list of producers/labels/musicians/recording studios/etc. that I'd love to work with. The liner notes were my way of connecting with the record and how it was made. Nowadays, I rarely know the names of the musicians in the band I'm listening to.

So, is it still important to give credit to the people that worked on an album? If so, how could that be better accomplished than it is now?

Great Things are Coming

2009-09-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

I just got the mastered copy of an album I (in small part) helped create and develop, and I am very excited that in about a month it will be released. One of my best friends ever has put his heart and soul into this album for the past two years. I couldn't be more proud, and pleased to be a part of it. Updates to come (CD release show, how to get the album, etc.).

The Best Fight Song Ever

2009-09-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Throughout cinematic history, music has been one of the most defining characteristics in creating the desired mood a film is conveying, and therefore can greatly help or hinder the way a piece of film is perceived by its audience.

Well, when the highlighted theme of the film is "kickin' ass", there are a few standout examples. The Rocky series is probably as famous for it's music as it's films. They use Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger' as well as 'Gonna Fly Now', better known as the 'Theme From Rocky' composed by Bill Conti. The more memorable the fight song, the more memorable the fight.

For my money, it will never get better than The Karate Kid's final scene. I can't listen to Joe Esposito's 'You're the Best' without wanting to crane kick someone IN THE FACE. What a ridiculously perfect combination of self-confidence coaching, a melody that will never never ever leave your brain, and a driving rhythm with super tasty synthesized horns.

City Lights in Stereo Demos

2009-09-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

My band here in Las Vegas, City Lights in Stereo, recently came out to Open Airwaves Studio A (the facetiously-named room next to my bedroom). Pictured at left is Josh - drums and at right is John - vocals/guitar. I play bass. We recorded 3 songs in a matter of hours using my meager recording setup. Too few mics and a weak DAW and audio interface. But free is free, and we are happy with the results.

If you care to take a listen, go on down to our MySpace and check out the tracks. If you like them and would like .mp3 versions to have, we are giving them out as free demos and I would love to email you the songs. Just let me know.

And yes, that's a homemade Comeback Kid poster in the studio. Limited run of 1 haha!

Homemade Kick Drum Subkick Mic

2009-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

So I've been building a microphone for the past several days as a fun project. I just tried it out for the first time and I am getting some really great low frequencies that are filling out the sub-bass kick drum sound that my other mics can't pick up. The best part: although similar mics that are mass-produced (Yamaha Subkick) cost $300-400, I was able to build mine for $20. Here's a quick rundown on the process. Disclaimer - I'm not handy, so I don't do things "correctly" and I don't have tons of tools. Heck, I'm not much of an audio technology guy either. I think I have a good ear, but technical things commonly make my head spin. If you want more info, ask and I'll try to answer.

Items:
8" speaker - $7 at Goodwill
Concrete Form Tube - $7 at Home Depot
Female XLR Connection - $3 at Fry's
Zip-Ties - $3 at Home Depot
Mic Stand Connection / Mic Clip Piece - had one lying around
Speaker Wire - had some around
Spray Paint - my brother always has spray paint, he mods computer cases
Grille Cloth - my gf let me cut up some old nylons - not necessary, but made it anyways

Tools:
Boxcutter, Drill and Bits, Super Glue, Soldering Gun, Measuring Tape,

Rundown:
The idea here is that dynamic mics and speakers are very similar in principle, except mics turn sound into electrical signal, and speakers turn electrical signal into sound. So what I made out of an 8" speaker is a microphone with an 8" diaphragm.

I could've kept the speaker in the speaker box I took it from, attached it to a mic cable, and pointed it at a kick drum and be done but i wanted more versatility. I made a housing that can connect to a mic stand so I can fine-tune the mic placement. Most people make their housing out of a 10" or 12" drum shell. I couldn't find one cheap so I made mine out of two layers of 10" diameter concrete form tube. I cut two pieces 5" deep and put one inside the other and superglued them together. I used an 8" speaker (the Yamaha Subkick uses a 6.5", some people use 10", 12" or even 2-4" speakers - i dunno what's best). The speaker is suspended inside the housing by zip-ties. I figured out where I was going to drill holes in the housing for zip-ties as well as for the XLR connector and mic stand connector. I drilled the holes, put on some paint, put everything in place, ran and tightened up the zip ties, and most of the physical work was done.

My wiring is simple. There are a lot of opinions on how to do the wiring on the internet, but I followed the advice of people who actually said they made their own. Basically I went positive to positive and negative to negative. Thats + (speaker) goes to pin 2 on the XLR, and - (speaker) goes to pin 3 on XLR. Solder em' up. That's all I did and it works fine. I run the mic cable directly to my preamp and the signal is nice and strong. I also read you can attach the shield wire (if your speaker cable has one) to pin 1 on the XLR, but i used regular-ass speaker cable without a shield wire.

You'll notice everything is connected to the housing by zip-ties - even the XLR jack. That is due to a) aesthetics (I think it looks cool) and b) it's what I had. I used super glue as well where applicable.

This mic will pick up only the lowest frequencies, so needless to say, use it in conjuction with a "regular" kick drum mic. And of course, watch out for phase issues as you'll now have two mics on the same source.

Definitely a fun project.

It's Rough in the Streets

2009-09-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

What I wouldn't do for some decent recording gear. Right now doing demos in my house (Open Airwaves Studio A haha), I use Acoustica Beatcraft for drums - save as .WAV - import into Audacity - record guitars/bass/keys/vocals through a Line6 TonePort into Audacity. It is far from ideal, and I'm missing out on the benefits of using a real workstation and audio interface. Not to mention the horrendous tenth of a second lag I'm experiencing between the TonePort and Audacity. It's gross that I have to nudge the newly recorded audio track to line up with the rest of the tracks after recording.

I've been looking over different DAWs and interfaces and such, but I'm still not sure what would fit my needs best at a price I could reasonably afford. There's a newer Focusrite interface with 'famous' preamp models on 2 of its 8 preamps. I've been watching videos on the new DAW from PreSonus, StudioOne. It looks easy and fairly powerful. I'm looking for suggestions from other hobby musicians that are creating quality recordings.

Blindside

2009-08-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

Exit Concerts put on a huge free show this Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center (the arena at UNLV) dubbed Lost Vegas. Sonny from POD MC'd, Metal Mulisha did a freestyle demo outside, and a few artists including pro skater Lance Mountain showed their art. The main attractions were the bands that played; Head (from Korn, now solo), Blindside, and headliner Flyleaf.

We really only came to see Blindside, as the other bands aren't really my thing, musically. Blindside did not disappoint and dove into their set with Caught a Glimpse, the intro track to their 2002 album Silence. They rolled through newer material and some more off of Silence, and closed with an amazing extended version of About a Burning Fire, off the album of the same name. The energy was incredible, and seeing Blindside live again finally after over a decade was completely satisfying.

Their show at Lost Vegas was one of only two U.S. dates this year, so what luck to be living in Las Vegas. They are staying in the U.S. for a while, however, and that is the real exciting news. Starting in September, Blindside are going to be recording their new album with Howard Benson in Los Angeles.

Their MySpace states: "Last year we had a band-meeting about the future of the band. We decided that either we: a) quit b) make the best album of our career. The result of 5 years of Blindside writing new music will be surfaced in early 2010." That's all I need to know.

Welcome to Open Airwaves

2009-08-25T17:52:00.001-07:00

Hello! thought this would be a good place to write anything I wanted to about music, design, and all of my creative pursuits. I'm a composer, musician, hobby recording engineer, graphic designer/illustrator/web developer so the creative process is something I love to discuss and be around. I encourage anything written here to turn into discussion. Thanks for stopping by!