Greg Mein

The first one comes to mind for me is Love Hurts. I've heard older versions of it but I don't even recall who originally did it and don't have time to look it up now. The Nazareth version is amazing to my ears.

Muskrat Love for sure.

And/or extremely time consuming. I've been away from my older MBP/Presonus SL1642/Digital Performer and other software/plugin recording system for a couple years and recently tried to rekindle that relationship. There's no point in even starting unless you've got several uninterrupted hours to get things updated, renew leases, restore/find old passwords let alone try to remember how the hardware and software operates! I have newer gear that I could/should be using but I'd been clinging onto that setup because it was the last 17" MBP and had the expresscard slot for the UAD Solo Laptop thingie.

I saw them also recently, I believe it was late last year. Mick Jones was with them and they billed it as having a symphony orchestra backing them. The band was great and it all sounded real good although the symphony was kind of buried on stage behind them and none of those players seemed to be "featured" or took any solos, in fact, they seemed hard to hear and almost appeared to be an afterthought.

I'm a lot less enthused about going to concerts these days with the super cramped seating, drunks/methheads in front and/or behind. So I haven't seen many shows this year but Don Felder was one I didn't want to miss. It was at a smaller, more intimate venue with great acoustics and not a bad seat in the house (a stage I've actually performed on myself). He's high among my favorite guitarist list with his fabulously tasty Eagles licks and the band he'd assembled was absolutely amazing. I was also stunned by how good the vocals and harmonies were, they were tight and you could tell they'd all been rehearsing diligently. He stayed at the front of the stage signing autographs for quite a while after the show.

I wonder if self driving cars will have problems with the 20 question word quiz at gas pumps?

I've always wanted to like Live but I've always seemed to run into a snag with it. Since I never did much with it I've stalled out at ver. 8 but I've had it going back a couple versions before that. There was a point when I had a little time while being keyboardist in the busy band I was in that I attempted to switch over to using Live from DP but I ran into a setup problem the details of which I don't recall. Time, as always, became tight again and I defaulted back to DP which does all I need and so much more. Later when I got the gig as keyboardist for a rock show with the symphony orchestra I needed some multi-sampling. Again I thought I'd give Live a shot but alas, to get the functionality I needed I would have had to upgrade my standard version. I already had Reason which would do what I needed so I just went with that!

We didn't make the ride over this year. It's a fabulous event and we had a great time in 2018 while also getting some good deals on some nice gear. We did have trouble getting in on the bikes however. The two lane road for getting in was backed way up and you can't sit in stopped traffic on a Harley. It was a bit tricky lane-splitting our way in but we made it. A few years earlier when I was there we didn't have that problem, they had some space set aside for motorcycle parking.

At this point I fall firmly into the hobbyist category where I rarely get great value out of the music software I buy or upgrade, sometimes not using it for months or almost never. I often upgrade with the best intention that I'll get real busy with it soon and then weeks or months go by while I'm procrastinating or more often, busy with other things. The thought of paying for a subscription to any of this would be the end of it for me and it's possible I'd go back to using some type of multi-track hardware recorder (I might even get more done!). It's what happened with Quicken. I was happy using it to keep track of my finances and then upgrading when upgrades became available but then they suddenly switched to this subscription model and I held back. I created an Excel spreadsheet that morphed into being fairly advanced and flexible with automated and detailed formulas and pretty soon I had no need for Quicken while also learning a great deal about spreadsheet programming.

We rode the Harleys to Gearfest last year but Friday was a travel day and I think that was the only day you had a presentation. It's a blast but we won't make it this year. I have browsed through those amp sims but I haven't used them for any actual recording. For a number of years most of my sequencer work has revolved around creating sounds, samples and sequences to use with bands. I have a backlog of songs of my own I'd like to get busy on and I would probably incorporate some of DP's amp sims, there are some good sounds there.

I'll stick with DP which I've been using since ver 5 although I must admit I've not done much of my own music making in a long while. I switched to DP shortly after I decided to try using computers at live gigs. Up until that time I'd mostly used Cakewalk/Sonar on PC's. When I tried taking that on live shows it quickly became a pain in the ass. The Windows Toshiba laptop was real picky about where and when things got plugged in and I spent precious setup time rebooting and messing with the computer. Influenced by magazines and forums I purchased a Mac Powerbook and DP5 and after some time spent getting up to speed that proved to be a much more efficient live setup. Through numerous upgrades I continued to use DP right up until last September when the band I'd been with for four years finally found and got my replacement up to speed. It was a long process as I'd given notice clear back in February. Number two for me is definitely Reason. The Adapted version came with some interface I bought years ago. I just couldn't get enough of it and have been on that upgrade train ever since. I "rewired' it into DP for sampling on live gigs and even used samples I created in NN19 when I played with the rock band at the "Ultimate Rock Hits Show" with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra in January 2018. I haven't done anything to speak of with computer music since getting out of the band but lately the desire to get back into it has been strong. My performing life is pretty simple and fun now, my wife and I formed a duo and have done a couple gigs with a few more upcoming. She plays keys, flute, mandolin and the EWI5000 I bought her for her birthday in 2018 while I play guitar and keys. I've recently begun to re-enlist DP in the hopes of creating some backing tracks I can play from the sequencer in the Korg Krome I'm using.

I could be way off base, the article is rather vague, but I got the impression they intended for chord progressions, instrumentation, melodies, etc. to change within the framework of songs according to a persons feelings or mood perhaps somehow using AI. Seems like it would be quite a feat.

Short version: SSS started on AOL in the mid-90s (I was one of the members!); then, when AOL's braintrust decided it didn't want forums any more, this site was created in 1999/2000 - spearheaded by Craig - by the group that owned a bunch of magazines (CMP) to host SSS and a bunch of other new forums created for this purpose. Their mags ( Keyboard, Guitar Player, Bass Player, Surround Professional and EQ) all got forums, as did a few luminaries like George Massenburg and Roger Nichols (see MPN ARCHIVES). Craig picked me to run Keyboard's forum, which I still do. SSS moved to HC in 2005. Long story there...a lot of it had to do with the fact that CMP really had no idea what they had here. Bottom line: without Craig, this entire site/these communities would probably not exist. We could not be happier to have him back home. dB There's no doubt it takes a lot of effort to keep forums going and I've found them invaluable over the years so I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved, a big thank you!!

I wouldn't even mention mine except that the story is slightly funny. My wife bought my little "MobileSpec" bluetooth earbuds at the airport for me while we were between flights without even knowing they were bluetooth. So of course I couldn't use them on the plane as was the intention but I do now occasionally use them with my MBP. They're simple and work fine for just standard youtube type listening although you can't get further than a couple feet away from the computer before the signal is lost.

I've had a similar sentiment for quite a while now, the music business returning to vaudeville type of thing. I don't speculate much about whether it's good or bad which is easy for me since it's primarily been a fun hobby although I've made some decent lunch money playing in cover bands. It's been fascinating to watch the amazing changes that have occurred in my lifetime. Whatever happens I'll always feel fortunate that I'd learned to play and continue to enjoy that immensely.

"A decade from now, music will be custom tailored for each listener..." Brief article with no real details. https://www.techspot.com/news/80509-decade-now-music-custom-tailored-each-listener.html

What's more appropriate than Get Back? [video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wboz-_KKVg4

Well, I've been to the forum here a number of times over the years mostly to discuss keyboards. I'd heard that SSS had been here before but I don't recall being aware of it at the time, perhaps it was even before I was signed up.