Upgrades: Bossjock & Irig

So after 10 Episodes of Insomnia Radio Canada I've started to research how to make the podcast better.   Currently I'm working on a slightly older PC, using audacity to record and edit and a Labtec C-324 headset/microphone.   I have an android tablet and an Iphone 4.  (I'm due for a phone upgrade likely this summer, and have been contemplating the Iphone 5, or the 4S depending on what I can get for upgrade.  I know for sure I need more memory as my current phone does not have enough with all the photo apps I have).

Recently on a discussion list someone brought up Bossjock.  Had anyone used it?   This lead me back to the IRig.  Which when I first saw adds for it I thought it was a neat piece of equipment but had no real use for it.

Prices
iRig sells for around $39.99
iRig Mix is $99.99
iRig Mic cast is $39.99
iRig Mic is $59.99
iRig MIDI is $69.99
The Bossjock app is $9.99 in Canada

I don't think the prices are outrageous for the quality of the equipment.  I know several local shops that carry the equipment so getting my hands on it would not be that hard.

So for those of you reading, I would love some feedback.  Do you use any of the equipment?   If not, what do you use and would you recommend it?  I would likely be upgrading in steps and continue using what equipment I have until I had everything I need.  

I know how I have things set up now I likely would not have a live show (or at least not one that runs so smoothly as the ones I do listen to).  And eventually I might want to try my hand at a live show.

Links for equipment listed in this blog
IRig
iRig Mix
iRig Mic cast
iRig Mic
Bossjock

Insomnia Radio Canada Show #3

Show #3

Persist
Songs: Can you, Take
http://www.thebandpersist.com/
Upcoming show October 26th in Guelph
Persist are based out of Guelph Ontario
They say that they are a 21st century rock band
K.C. Lee - vocals
Jerry Stro - Drums
Z (zed) - Rhythm guitars & vocals
Christian - guitar & vocals
KJ - bass & vocals

Scott McCord and the Bonafide Truth
Songs: Gotta Be Something, This Heart is on Fire
http://scottmccordmusic.com/
blues/jazz band
Scott McCord – lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Simon Craig – electric guitar
Charlie James – bass
Bryan Humphreys – drums, vocals
Todd Porter – baritone and tenor saxophones, vocals
Steve Dyte – trumpet
Christian Overton – trombone
David Atkinson – keyboards, vocals

The Caretakers
Songs: Oh Banyarwanda (ban-you-wanna), Solitary Man
http://www.thecaretakers.ca/
From Hamilton Ontario
Roots, Folk-Country Rock/Alternative Country, Adult Alternative, Americana
Newest album was released in september 2012
Jeffrey C. Martin | Vocals, acoustic guitar
Lena Montecalvo | Vocals, tambourine, percussion
Mike Trebilcock | Lead guitar, banjo, harmonica, ukulele, mandolin
Carrie Ashworth | Bass
Dave Simpson | Drums
Barry Mac | Slide guitar
Kim Deschamps | Pedal steel
Jesse O’Brien | Piano, organ
Matt Coleman | Fiddle, violin
Norm Van Bergen | 12-string guitar


Capitol 6
Songs: Cold Ride, Autumn in the Wind
http://capitolsix.tumblr.com/
http://capitol6.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/capitol6band
debut LP Pretty Lost was released in June of 2012
side project of Malcolm Jack
From Canada’s West Coast, Vancouver BC
Formed in 2011


Ali Bartlette
Songs: Alright by Me, Lay Me Down
From Hamilton Ontario
http://www.reverbnation.com/alibartlett
les cooper contributor
Ali says: the value of music is in the creating of music because it's a mindful process that wakes me up and animates my life with clarity and balance
alright by me:  is probably my favourite song because it has the most meaning attached to it for myself.  Its about a broken heart before its been broken....and about the complicated parts of love.  It's about that part of yourself that can't love but that is in love at the same time.  and regrets and is sentimental about the present before it's even become the past.
lay me down:  is just a love song.  i wrote the tune in the basement of a friends house as a joke and then turned it into what it is today with much cleaned up lyrics which had been greatly influenced by my great love at the time....and the farm where we stayed.


Larissa
Song: D.T.N.A. featuring Koala-T
http://www.reverbnation.com/larissacurrah
Currently from Stratford Ontario

Larissa Currah is a singer and musician originally from Tavistock, Ontario, but now resides in Stratford, Ontario. At a young age, Larissa was exposed to country music artists like Randy Travis and Shania Twain, which is where her love affair with music began.

Larissa started singing competitively at the age of 5 in local music festivals and has been awarded several prizes and recognitions for her vocal talent. Over the years, Larissa has also been involved in community theater and school productions of various musicals.

In 2000, Larissa was a semi-finalist in a local talent competition Youth Talent Search, where she performed at the Western Fair in London, Ontario. Larissa also auditioned for Canadian Idol at the London auditions in 2005 at the age of six-teen.

In 2011, Larissa collaborated with GAME Records artists BC and Conway of GAME Nation, N/A and Koala-t of D.A.B., and Nukky Grissom on the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's award winning season song "Show Time". The Stratford Shakespeare Festival and GAME Records were awarded a Bronze CMA (Canadian Marketing Award) for promotion under the Not-For-Profit, Fundraising, Public Service category.

Currently, Larissa is in the studio working on her own material set for a summer 2012 release. (delayed)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The original plan for the show was one show a month.  Why only one a month?  Because this is a hobby, and for fun, and work and other things need to come first.  However as I have had to put school on hold for a semester or two, I currently have a bit more free time.  So, my plan of monthly shows has turned into a bi-weekly show.  This will likely change again as I either find full time work or head back to the school.

On the good news side of things, I have been asked back to our local public school to help out the new music teacher.  Something I had been doing (for two years) after getting my layoff from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.  I was doing the job of an assistant music teacher, working mostly with the students who were learning to play flute and clarinet. I couldn't continue helping out when I started back to College, but with that being on hold it's something I'm looking forward to once again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you're a Canadain musica/band and would like to submit your track, I prefer MP3 and you can email them to chris  at  insomniaradio  dot  net

Insomnia Radio Canada

That's right folks!  Insomnia Radio Canada ! Yes, I have joined the IR family and will be doing my own regional show.  The plan is to have a monthly one hour show featuring all Canadian content.   Though down the road I reserve the right to consider doing the show more often.


When's the first show?   Well, being as I've picked up a cold that has killed my voice for the past 12+ hours, I'll be recording it as soon as I can get it back.  In the mean time, soon as I have my college homework done (setting up 4 Vm's (windows web and mail server & an ex client, and then two database servers - to specks for the class), I will be seeing what music I have, and searching for some more!



Canadian Musicians and Bands can submit their music to me via: chris at insomniaradio dot net

In the mean time, check out The Justin Wayne Show and see what content I provided there.

Podcasting Tools?

Okay, this is more of a bunch of questions... directed towards other podcasters.

What tools do you use?   What would you recommend?   What tools would you tell others to avoid?

We currently only Have windows based PC's in our house.   No mac, no linux.  (I know I know....)....

I'm not having any big issues finding music....  I'm on Jamendo, Soundcloud and reverbnation.  I listen to other podcasts.


So far I've been keeping it small...  5 to 10 songs most times when I do stuff for Justin Wayne's show.  I've been using my Iphone voice memo to record vocal bits.   It was all I had starting out.

I'm trying to explore all options before settling on any decision.   It's not like I have a time limit and have to start this today!

Start my Own Podcast????

I've been guest hosting on The Justin Wayne Show now for, um, how long?   I know I've done several shows, and I can say that I'm rather enjoying this.  I've been motivated not just as a host but as a musician to seek out more new music.  I've found some rather amazing bands, and quite a few are local.  

I've had a few people ask me if and or when I would be starting my own show.   

Should I ?

Where do I start?  I have no clue what the next step should be!  

Help?

I'd love to hear from other podcasters on where/how you got started and any advice or suggestions you might have for me should I choose to go forward and start my own show.

Show 166

So I'm a little behind on blogging about the content I've put together for the Justin Wayne Show.   I'm still not getting a lot of feedback about what I'm doing.... Thankfully I feel comfortable with what I have put together.  Creative Criticism is always nice to get though!

So, Show 166 is up and you can listen to it.  I got this one done just pre holidays.  Just over one hour of independent Canadian Music.  Yes, that right folks, everything I submitted for this show was Canadian.

So first up I played Three Tracks by Heather Dale.   Prodigal Son from the album May Queen, Mordred's Lullaby from the album Trial of Lancelot, and then Mountain from the album Gabriel Hounds.   I've known Heather now for about 15 or so years.  Heather had made quite a career for herself writing and recording music.  There's so much I could say about Heather, but I think her music can speak for itself.  I've been lucky enough to sing along with Heather at SCA events and even have her play and sing at my wedding.    If you enjoy her music, get in touch with her.  She does house concerts while on tour, and those are always a treat to be at.

 The first two songs I selected because they have become two of my favorites.  They're both based on Arthurian Legends.   Heather does quite a bit of research when she's writing these types of songs.

 Next up I play some more songs by a Guelph band, Persist.  KC even did a little bumper for the show!  Thanks KC!   So the songs I played were The Daze and Can You.  

Persist are playing August 25th at Club 77 (77 King William St Hamilton.) $10 at the door. CD release show also featuring West Memphis Suicide & D.I.R.T. the ultimate in Alice in Chains.  Yes this time around I WILL be at the show.  Doors open at 9pm, and I already have my tickets.  Can't wait to see all three bands!

I have hope that at some point in time after the show that I'll get an interview out of these guys.  (hint hint)

Up next was another band I had played previously.   Chasing Eidolon.   When I first played them, they did tell me that they had not written anything new yet, but were going to be working on new songs.  Well thank you guys for not disappointing me!  The day before I put everything together for the show I stumbled upon their new Song Supernova!   What a thrill for me to find a new song.   Their music stays in the play list that I use for my 8 hour shifts at work.

So first I played You Can't Have Everything, then Set Me Free and finished off with the new song Supernova.   Theses guys have some talent and I can't wait to see what else they come up with!  

Next I played a new band that I discovered a week or so before show 166.   Breaching Vista.  So I thought, what the heck, let's play two of their songs.   Nervous, and W5.  Not sure what everyone else thinks of them, but I enjoyed the entire album I found.

So following up something new I played two more bands.  Both ones I had played before.  

No One Hears Me and Falling Into You by GLO.  GLO are from Montreal.  I missed out on their last Toronto Concert and they have told me they will be playing another show out this way.  Hopefully I manage to catch that one.

And Closing out the show with style, I played two more songs by Two Crown King ! I played Please Believe Me and what now appears to be a favorite for both Justin and myself, We Get Down.  Two Crown King is still on tour and they have dates and locations listed on their web site.  They have a show in Kitchener coming up soon that I hope to make.

And that wrapped up just over an hour of great Canadian music.   I went on holiday after this show, and now I think I need to catch up, track down more music (or hopefully have some bands start sending me some) and get back into the swing of things.

Mix Tape: Show 165

So this week, I think it was an extra one for me, but we did something a little different.   I tossed Justin a few tracks to add to the show.  Essentially Justin and I did a mix tape.  Below is who I sent in.

Title	Album	Artist
This week’s Chrismix with Chris from Canada
Birdy’s Last Flight	Ruins	The Seventh Alchemy
Ruins	Ruins	The Seventh Alchemy
Breathe	Listen	Tryad
Listen	Listen	Tryad
My World	Season One	WE ARE FM
Press Record	Season One	WE ARE FM
Fake Your art and die	Little Egg	Heifervescent
The house that leaves you always wanting more	Little Egg	Heifervescent

The Seventh Alchemy is a solo project of Pedro from Fresh Body Shop.
Seventh Alchemy on Facebook
Seventh Alchemy on Jamendo
Seventh Alchemy on MySpace

Tryad is from the USA.  They are an online electro-pop musical collaboration that was founded in 2005.  They publish all their music under a creative commons license allowing sharing, remixing and use in videos and free commercial distribution.   I've been listening to them for about 3 years now.
Tryad Home Page
Tryad on Facebook
Tryad on MySpace
Tryad on Twitter

We Are FM was a new discovery the week of the show.  They're from the Netherlands!
We Are FM on Facebook
We Are FM on Jamendo

And lastly I played some tracks by Heifervescent.   I discovered them through The Bugcast.  They're from the UK, and it's a solo project of Andy Doran who writes, performs and produces each track!
Heifervescent Home Page
Heifervescent on Jamendo

Not bad for something I threw together in a few hours.

Is Podcasting infectious?

So over the past 3 years I have been very content to listen to podcasts and occasionally send in a recommendation here and there.  Then a chance to guest host came up.  So I figured why not?   Well, that was about 6 weeks ago, and now 3 podcasts in I think I'm rather hooked.  I've only gotten feedback from Justin so far, so I have no idea how the rest of the world thinks of the songs I've picked out or any of the talky bits....   For me it's still strange to hear my own voice.

I love discovering new bands, even if they're only new to me.  Connecting with the artists and getting to ask them questions about their music is a bonus!  Music was the one class I really enjoyed all through high school.  Not only did I take the instrumental music classes, but the vocal ones too.   I was lucky to have sever very supportive music teachers through the years, which may be part of the reason I leaned to play a bit on several instruments.   And I think this support through those years may be part of what has lead me to where I am now, supporting other musicians.

I still play, but mostly just for my own enjoyment.   Mostly just piano and flute now but I have that itch to learn something new....

But I think so long as there is a way for me to guest host for now, that will do.   I don't currently have the means to do my own show.  (I'm currently working with an iphone and a PC laptop)....

It is fun, and so long as it remains fun, I'll keep doing it.

Show 162: The Justin Wayne Show, with a Canadian take over (one hour 25 min into the show)

I wasn't able to be in the chat room tonight.... so hopefully someone out there who listened in will give me some feedback!  


Did you like the tracks I selected?
Do you want me to talk more about the bands? The music? My opinions on what was played?


So the list from tonight....


First up was Tenpenny Joke.   I selected their song Black Satellite.  Tenpenny Joke come to you from Australia! I first heard this band on The Bugcast

http://www.tenpennyjoke.com/

http://www.myspace.com/tenpennyjoke

http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/351845/tenpenny-joke

Second came burning Shapes, and their song Drop.  The band is from the Kent/Surrey/Sussex region.

The band is: Toby (lead vocals, guitar), Dave (vocals, bass),  Andy (vocals, MPC, keys) , and Steve (drums).  Their debut single "Drop" arrived in July 2011.

http://www.myspace.com/burningshapes

http://soundcloud.com/burningshapes

https://www.facebook.com/burningshapes

Third was Antarhes with Summer Wind.  Antarhes are from France, and they first formed in 2003.

http://www.metal-archives.com/band/view/id/86750

http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/852/antarhes

http://www.myspace.com/antarhes

Fourth was The Monster Brothers, and their song Babylon Bridges. The Monster Brothers are from Switzerland.  The band is made up of: Jason Temple: vocals, keys & ipad, Alex Bolonte: guitar, Paolo Gianinazzi: guitar, Nicole Regazzoni: Bass, Gionate Brunel: Drums, and Desiree Albicker: Violin.

http://www.themonsterbrothers.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Monster-Brothers/130287497029566

http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/372880/the-monster-brothers

Fifth I played Bronze and the song was Next Victim. The band consists of: Bailey who does vocals, & guitar, Chris on lead guitar, Joaquin on drums & vocals, and Steve on bass guitar.

http://www.jamendo.com/en/list/a41649/bronze

http://www.bandbronze.com/

Sixth was a new find.  Ronney Cary, and from his solo album Red for Ronny I chose Nobody's Sweetheart.
This is from his solo album, but he's also part of two other bands.  Ronney is from Minnesota USA.

http://www.myspace.com/ronnycary

http://twitter.com/#!/ronnycary

http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/360410/ronny-cary

http://www.last.fm/music/Ronny+Cary

The last two tracks I played last as they were local (Canadian) talent.


So the Seventh track was a band from Guelph Ontario, Persist.  They dropped me off 7 tracks, which was wonderful, and I chose Take.  (I think I may play more of their music on another show, down the road at some point).
The band consist of: K.C Lee on Vocals, Z on  Guitar, Christian on Guitar, K.J on Bass, and Jerry Stro on Drums.
The band hopes to have some gigs to play at this summer.  


And Last up was GLO.  Great band from Montreal!  I chose their single from their new album, Don't Believe.  Their first album, On The Outside was released March 29th, 2011.  With their single from the new album being released January 12 2012.  And the entire album (No One Hears Me) being releeased in April of 2012!
The band GLO is currently on tour, and will be playing in Toronto on June 21st 2012 at 8pm at Lee's Palace!

http://www.glo-music.com/home.php

http://www.myspace.com/glotheband

http://www.butterfliesradio.com/blog/2012/03/28/glo-guests-on-twitter-tuesday-live-27th-march-2012/

If you want to drop off a track to me to review here on the blog, or play on the podcast you can send them to: creativlycls at gmail dot com

Podcasting

Up until about 3 years ago I had never listened to a podcast.  Never.  I know, shocking.   I started with The Bugcast.   Got hooked.  Then discovered Darkcompass.  Loved Rowley's voice.  Got hooked even more.   Then started listening to other shows.   Nick Tann's  Is This Thing On, Graham Holland's It's A Frog's Life, Made in The UK, Insomnia Radio.   Even started listening to Butterflies Radio.  Everyone featuring so much great talent.

Being the music junkie I am ( I play mostly.... Flute, Bodhran, Recorder, Tin whistle, a bit of Clarinet, sax, french horn (just very basics), Trumpet, Piano, and currently trying to learn drums), supporting other musicians who were trying to peruse their dreams was a no brainer for me.   When I was laid off from my job in December of 2009 I did some volunteer work.  I helped out in the local public school, helping the music teacher with his grade 7 & 8 instrumental music class.  I really enjoyed it and wish that somehow I could have gotten into teacher college and become a music teacher.

Mostly I listened and tweeted at first.   Then I started surfing Jamendo looking for music to recommend to the hosts.  And Now, curating/guest hosting on The Justin Wayne show seems to be the next somewhat natural step in my musical journey.

I'm enjoying what seems to be my bi-weekly stints on Justin's show.

But it leaves me thinking of the next step.  And where will that take me?