The Brit Awards 2012 – Pictures and winners list

Tuesday night saw the 2012 Brit awards take place at the O2 in London.

View photos from the awards.

View a complete list of 2012 Brit Awards winners.

The night didn’t go without some unexpected drama, such as Critics Choice winner Emeli Sande not being able to give an acceptance speech, Adele making a rather upsetting gesture after her acceptance speech was cut short and One Direction upsetting Capital FM bosses by thanking Radio One.

 

New EP by Jimmy Barock

The new EP of Jimmy Barock, called “We used to build wings at night”, is now available to listen to trough Dying Giraffe Recordings!

Jimmy Barock finished their EP together after a long period of hard work. The Band went through beautiful but tough times.

Jimmy Barock’s music can be described as explosive, with an emphasis on songs. Both singers sing their lyrics as a swordfight. Tongues as weapons, perhabs even of mass destruction.

Jimmy Barock transfroms simple popsongs in melodious torrents a la the Lapse, Karate and Face Tomorrow. Their shows are an explosive, chaotic expererience. It’s all about energy.

They performed with big international acts like Therapy?, and you will know them by the Trail of dead and Aerogramme. They also did a tour in the UK and finished this period with a sold out gig in the famous Vera (NL) together with the well known band Mono.

Click here to listen to their new 6 tracks.

Top Music Industry A&R Opens Door to New Hip Hop Producers.

Veteran A&R Mike Heron, consultant to Interscope Records, Def Jam, Rawkus Records & more has partnered with Bangin-Beats.com to find the next generation of powerhouse Hip Hop producers. Producers can now submit music for the current project, champion rapper Joell Ortiz.

Submitting tracks offers an unparalleled rare opportunity to work with one of the most talked about rappers in underground music.
Poised for success, this Brooklyn, NY native rolls with the punches as some of the industry’s hottest producers and tastemakers co-sign & contribute to his upcoming project, The Total Package, Vol. 1.

Artists featured on the current release include; Kool G Rap, Black Rob, Nate Dogg, Tony Touch, Noreaga, Jay-Z, Novel, Royal Flush, B-Real of Cypress Hill & more, Hosted by Big Mike.

Production is handled by chart toppers such as Alchemist, Ayatollah, Beatnuts, Ghetto Pros, Red Spyda, Roots & more -From Kay Slay to Tony Touch to Whoo Kid to Stretch Armstrong, among others, who began featuring Joell on his NY radio show alongside future stars like 50 Cent, Juelz Santana & Red Spyda… This “modern day Pun” STAYS in heavy rotation with top DJs.
Other notable Industry Co-signs include The Tim Westwood show, Future Flavors with DJ Marley Marl and Pete Rock & promos for the Wake Up Show with Sway and Tech.

Joell has been Bestowed with the honorable Chairmans Choice award in XXL Magazine (2/04),  Unsigned Hype in the Source Magazine (3/04), and recently secured a spot on EA Sports’ NBA live 2005 by being crowned champion at the EA Sports/Arista Records rap battle, hosted by Jermaine Dupri and judged by Swiss Beats, Lil Kim and Big Tigga.

For additional information, demo tracks, and music submissions, visit www.Bangin-Beats.com

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Bangin-Beats.com, established in 1996, is a proven industry tastemaker in critical sound design, providing drum & FX libraries to some of the music industry’s top producers, with more than 80 soundware products in the vein of Hip Hop.

New teenage female artist Sammy Witness

Sammy Witness is a sixteen year old girl, who has been writing and performing music for the last four years. Sammy is separating her self from the pack by not only writing her own music, but delivering it based on the music and not her appearance. Sammy Witness will also separate her self from the mainstream image by giving twenty percent of her profits from the CD to a non profit foundation dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence.

For more info or to get involved, check out the official website at www.sammywitness.com.

The Black Eyed Peas And Their Love For India

The fantastic Black Eyed Peas told the press last week that one of their must-visit places is India.

Wil.I.Am said “Collectively, we have agreed that we all want to visit India at some point for all the beauty and colour it has to offer. Especially see the Taj Mahal in Agra.”

“It’s beautiful. Enchanting. Made for the lover.”

“We should actually write a song about it. It’ll be awesome.”

CDSTANDS.COM Announces an alternative to framing a CD and hanging it on a wall

CDstands.com, a division of CDreview.com, is planning to revolutionize the way that CD collectors, music fans, artists, and other people in the music world display a favorite CD by releasing a clever little product called the TROPHY CD STAND.

CDstands.com, a division of CDreview.com, is planning to revolutionize the way that CD collectors, music fans, artists, and other people in the music world display a favorite CD by releasing a clever little product called the TROPHY CD STAND.
The TROPHY CD STAND offers an alternative to framing a CD and hanging it on the wall. It’s a product that displays a CD, along with the CD cover, like a trophy. This easily allows anyone to show off a CD by displaying it on a bookcase, dresser, mantle, or desktop.

Scott Clark, President of CDstands.com, stated: “When an artist completes a CD project, it is important for that artist to take at least one CD and display it in order to celebrate his or her accomplishment. When a music fan gets an autographed CD, that CD is no longer just a CD, it is a piece of the fan’s history and there should be an easy way to display that CD without having to frame it. Because of this, we created CDstands.com”.

The TROPHY CD STAND is perfect for an artist, record store, promoter, or label doing a CD release party or an autograph session. Selling Trophy CD Stands to fans is not only an easy way to generate income, it’s also a smart way to make sure that a specific CD is not just put away with other CDs. Here a CD will be displayed out in the open for people to see and talk about so it keeps the buzz live.

The TROPHY CD STAND can also be used to turn heads as a promotional item or reward those that have worked on a CD project.

CDstands.com is based in Hamilton, New Jersey. The company’s product is available through its website at www.cdstands.com. For phone orders, call 609-689-1711.

For more information on CDstands.com, please visit CDstands.com

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CDstands.com
(609) 689-1711
press@cdstands.com
http://www.cdstands.com
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MELANIE C BELIEVES SHE HAS ALWAYS TAKEN MUSIC MORE SERIOUSLY

13 March 2003 1432SST – 0800GMT

MELANIE C BELIEVES SHE HAS ALWAYS TAKEN MUSIC MORE SERIOUSLY

Spice Girl Melanie C believes she has always taken singing more seriously than her former bandmates. Melanie is resisting attempts to get the Spice Girls back together while she concentrates on her solo career highlighting the fact she was always more focused on her singing voice.

Melanie C says, “I took things more seriously thaneveryone else because singing was more important to me. I was the only one who put her voice before other things. “I’ve always looked after my voice because I take my singing seriously. That’s why I’ve never smoked, I always warm up, I don’t go out and I don’t drink when I’m singing. I want to be a great singer and sing for the rest of my life.”

News compiled by Spice Girls Asia News TeamGet all the latest Spice Girls news and information from Spice Girls Asia where we give you the Asian Insights Into The Spice Girls.

http://www.spicegirlsasia.cjb.net

2003 Grammy Award Winners

Congratulations to the following artists who all won Grammy’s at this years 45th Award Ceremony hosted at Maddison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday night:

Record Of The Year: Don’t Know Why – Norah Jones

Song Of The Year: Don’t Know Why – Norah Jones

Best New Artist: Norah Jones

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal: No Doubt

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: Norah Jones

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals: The Game Of Love – Santana & Michelle Branch

Best Pop Instrumental Album: Just Chillin’ – Norman Brown

Best Pop Vocal Album: Come Away With Me – Norah Jones

Best Dance Recording: Days Go By – Dirty Vegas

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Playin’ With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues – Tony Bennett

Best Female Rock Vocal Performance – Steve McQueen/Sheryl Crow

Best Short Form Music Video – Without Me – Eminem

Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical – Hella Good (Roger Sanchez Remix Main) – Roger Sanchez, remixer (No Doubt)

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group – The Whole World – OutKast Featuring Killer Mike

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – Dilemma – Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance – U Don’t Have To Call – Usher

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – He Think I Don’t Know – Mary J. Blige

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – Your Body Is A Wonderland – John Mayer

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal – In My Place – Coldplay

Best Rock Song – The Rising – Bruce Springsteen

Best Rock Album – The Rising – Bruce Springsteen

Best Alternative Music Album – A Rush Of Blood To The Head – Coldplay

Best R&B Album – Voyage To India – India.Arie

Best Contemporary R&B Album – Ashanti – Ashanti

Best Country Album – Home – Dixie Chicks

New recording web site and book now available

A new book has recently been published which I am sure will be of interest to Pop-Music readers. The book is entitled Sound Recording Advice, and it simplifies the process of establishing a home recording studio. Please let your readers know about this book! In addition, a web site has been launched at www.soundrecordingadvice.com which gives plenty of free advice on how to configure a home recording studio. The web site and the book are all about education, which is one of the main things you are about.

A technical expert has finally simplified the confusing process of buying recording equipment and setting up a home recording studio for hobby or business purposes. John J. Volanski, an electrical and audio engineer, has written a new book entitled Sound Recording Advice to help guide neophytes and even those with some audio recording background in the set up and operation of a home recording studio. The book was released late in 2002 and is being published by Pacific Beach Publishing.The art of making quality recordings goes far beyond plugging a microphone into a tape deck and pushing the RECORD button. Adding confusion to the process, technology has now provided more ways than ever to record audio: multi-track cassette decks, multi-track reel-to-reel decks, multi-track MiniDisc recorders, multi-track disk-based and tape-based digital recorders, and even home computers with audio interface cards. If you add to that a bewildering array of digital and analog mixers, power conditioners, reverb and echo signal processors, equalizers, enhancers, synthesizers, samplers, amp and speaker modelers, and products to tame unruly acoustics, then you have a nearly vertical learning curve for any musician or hobbyist interested in recording audio at home.

Despite the daunting challenge, more and more people are now interested in making their own audio recordings at home rather than paying for time in a professional recording studio. These interested people include high school, college and private music students, singing groups, bands of all types interested in making demo recordings to interest record companies, individuals wanting to record advertising jingles or other commercial material, people developing slide shows or multimedia shows with audio content, authors recording audiobooks, and the hobbyists who simply enjoy recording their own musical creations at home.

The popularity of home computers has also fueled the interest in home recording. With new wideband networking available in the form of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and Cable Modems, more and more people are trading recordings over the Internet. Properly configured home computers can now be used to record and mix multi-track audio (and video), send and received compressed audio over the Internet, and act as desktop music jukeboxes. Of course, with this increased technical flexibility comes an intimidating array of alphabet soup such as AES/EBU, CD-RW, DAT, DAW, dB, EIN, EMI, EQ, ESD, IEEE-1394, MIDI, MP3, MOV, PCM, RFI, SCMS, SMPTE, S/PDIF and USB. What does all this stuff mean? What do I do if I just want to record music as quickly and inexpensively as possible? WHERE DO I START? HELP!

The reason that John J. Volanski wrote the book Sound Recording Advice is to help people get started recording their own music at home. The book is a thorough yet simplified guide on how to overcome the steep learning curve of setting up a home recording studio. It reads easily and covers all aspects of recording including power, ground, acoustics, studio layout and furniture, what new and used equipment to buy and where to buy it for lowest prices, how to record various instruments and then mix, bounce tracks and generate a master recording. The 336-page book also includes hundreds of other important tips, including info on how to make and modify some of your own equipment and troubleshoot studio problems.

John J. Volanski is an electrical engineer with additional training in audio engineering. He has operated his own home studio for over 20 years where he has gained expertise in how to set up and operate a home recording studio. He has done technical writing during most of his professional career, including writing articles for Electronic Musician and Avionics magazines. As part of his professional engineering career, he has designed and developed many electrical and audio systems concerned with avionics, Virtual Reality (including a patented motion-base VR system), commercial entertainment, and surveillance.

Sound Recording Advice can be purchased ($19.95) from the author’s web site: http://www.soundrecordingadvice.com. It is also available by check or money order from Pacific Beach Publishing, P.O. Box 90471, San Diego, CA, 92169. The book is also available from better bookstores (through wholesaler Baker & Taylor and Partners Book Distributing) or online from Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com).

Here is what people are saying about Sound Recording Advice:

‘Not surprisingly, musicians ask a lot of questions about setting up home studios. So, when someone comes up with a book that sorts it all out, handles the subject with an informed, do-it-yourself, hands-on mentality, covers all of the main bases with loads of tips and detail thrown in, and emphasizes getting the biggest bang for your buck – well, we can only applaud. Overall, this book succeeds in doing what the author set out to do. It is a highly useful guide and reference for studio setup, designed to be easily understood even by beginners and those without a technical background. It will get you off to a solid start in setting up your studio (or improving your current setup), and it can prevent you from investing a lot of time and money in the wrong equipment and in creating technically bad recordings. Those savings alone are worth far more than the price of the book.’

James A. Putnam & Dennis L. Trunk, Musician’s Tech Central (music and recording web site resource), www.musicianstechcentral.com

‘Sound Recording Advice by John J. Volanski $19.95 (336 pages) Copyright 2003. This is available from Pacific Beach Publishing www.johnvolanski.com, bookstores, and Amazon, etc… Lots of great

information in this volume. The author is not afraid on using specific

models and brands as examples, and the references to websites scattered

throughout the book is worth the admission price.’

Richard Paulsen, Technical Support, BEHRINGER USA, www.behringer.com

‘Congratulations on a very well written piece of work. I think you have truly nailed down what it means to “do things on a budget.” I have already recommended your book to a few people. BTW – I’m glad you summarized the links in your book on your website. LOTS of great information.’

Jeff D. Szymanski, Chief Acoustical Engineer, Auralex Acoustics, www.auralex.com

‘This is an excellent book for those of us who enjoy producing music out of our own homes. It could easily work well as a text or a reference for a college music technology class. The author has exhaustively covered the waterfront when it comes to understanding and doing home studio recording. This book is especially valuable when it makes suggestions about the equipment composition one should use for different budget levels. No serious recording musician should be without this extremely complete reference and how-to book. It is filled with tips, shortcuts, and valuable hints. As an example, a paragraph about burning one’s own CDs was easily worth the cost of the book. We rated it five hearts.’

Bob Spear, Publisher and Chief Reviewer, Heartland Reviews, http://www.heartlandreviews.com

‘Congratulations! I am really impressed. Your style is very close to what mine would be if I wrote a book. It is perfectly placed on the ladder of technical depth. In short, I like your work very much.’

Dr. Robert Lackey, Professor of Electrical and Audio Engineering, Ohio State University

‘As I was poring over the usual batch of letters we receive here at Tape Op, I realized that a lot of our question-laden readers would do well to read a book about recording with a real basic, straight-up approach. John Volanski recently wrote and self-published just such a book, and it’s called Sound Recording Advice. All the information is presented very clearly, with simple, logical real-world options for the low to medium budget home recordist. There’s great info on buying new and used gear, recommendations for studio setups at different price points, some simple DIY projects…just about everything you need for reference when recording at home. I wish this book was around 10 years ago, because it would have saved me a lot of time.’

Larry Crane, Editor, Tape Op Magazine, www.tapeop.com

‘Established semi-pro performers and amateurs interested in expanding their recording horizons to the home arena will love Sound Recording Advice, author Volanski’s tour-de-force, A-Z reference for the home recording artist.

Packed within is advice on electronic studio equipment (basics galore), studio layout and furniture (discussion of everything acoustic), modifying equipment (adding power switches, headphone jacks, master faders), capturing sound recordings (miking, mixing and mastering), and tool choices ‘S plus miscellaneous thoughts on media backup, rubber cleaners, home studio security and insurance. It’s a keeper: Solo stars in the making and garage bands everywhere will sing a joyous tune for Volanski’s excellent effort.’ (Sound Recording Advice was awarded ‘Honorable Mention’ status.)

The Boox Review, http://www.thebooxreview.com/roundup.htm

‘When you are producing and especially recording music in your own home studio it can be a bit hard to find the right kind of advice. And this book written by John J. Volanski is a real source of the right kind of advice. I have read the book with great interest and it kept me reading till the end. Much advice on how to construct your home studio is available in the book. I really advise anybody who works around the studio to get hold of this book – -.. it only costs $19.95. Which is a very low price for a book like this. More than 300 pages of information about how to set up a studio that works. This book will certainly satisfy your need for knowledge about how to set things up in a right way. Great material!’

Studiofreaks (music & synthesizer web site), Belgium. (www.studiofreaks.com)

‘Sound Recording Advice reads very easily. Perfect for the non-technical musician. I had heard many of these technical terms before, now I know what they mean!’

Mitch Wilson, leader of the band No Knife

‘A bang-up job! I have learned a lot from it. No struggle at all to follow you. Very smooth writing style. Congrats are definitely in order!!’

Kirk Gramcko, musician and home studio owner

‘If you have the space (and a bit of spare dosh), starting up a home studio is not only rewarding but a creative and ear-opening experience. The main advantage to starting up a home studio is that it allows the individual to go it alone – without the need to rely upon dodgy sound engineers, over-priced studios, angsty producers and a wealth of other pitfalls and problems. It also means there is no necessity need to “get signed”. At atoms we are all for the “do-it-yourself”, “avoid the middleman” approach and long for the day when the music we buy isn’t just the product of a company whose only concern is making money. Going solo allows a more creative flow and lets face it; everyone enjoys twiddling with nobs and pushing buttons. But starting up such a studio is not without it’s difficulties which is why J J Volanski’s book “Sound Recording Advice” seems to be something of a minor Godsend…’

atoms, UK music e-zine, http://natural-studio.co.uk/atoms

‘Here we have two great educational books I feel are excellent! While Building Pro Audio Loudspeaker Enclosures by Jeffrey A. Forsburg will be of interest for those of you DIY folks whole find joy in designing and building your own loudspeakers, Sound Recording Advice For the Home Recording Studio by John J. Volanski covers many facets that concern not just recording studios. This book has good information on various recording formats (CD, DAT, reel-to-reel, etc.) power distribution, cabling, and also basic system recommendations and much more. While the system recommendations are for recording studio owners, the chapters concerning studio layout and modifying equipment should more than make up for the content that may not be directly geared towards high-end home audio reproduction. Furthermore, this book will give a good glimpse to those who are not familiar with the techniques in capturing and recording sound.’

Steven R. Rochlin, www.enjoythemusic.com (web site for Audiophiles)

‘Even though the title centers on recording sound and music from within

ones home, over half the book covers topics important to all audio

enthusiasts. The author covers the pros and cons of different recording equipment like tape decks, DAT, Reel-to-reel, and many others. Practical advice is given on how to store and rack the equipment and running of the cables.

The author writes in a very knowledgeable fashion and it is evident that he has a great deal of knowledge to share. Listed within the book are dozen of web sites where products can be purchased. For example, at one point he recommends using snap-on noise filters for cables, but instead of paying $18 at an electronics store, the author gives a web site and part number where they can be purchased for $1.50. There is even a mention of Smarthome in a section on security for the home recording studio and equipment. Overall, this book succeeds in doing what the author set out to do. It is a highly useful guide and reference for studio setup, designed to be easily understood even by beginners and those without a technical background. It will get you off to a solid start in setting up your studio (or improving your current setup), and it can prevent you from investing a lot of time and money in the wrong equipment and in creating technically bad recordings. Those savings alone are worth far more than the price of the book.

Conclusion

The book is well written. The only comment I would have for its

improvement would be for more diagrams and photos. The first 100 pages

are a little short in this department, but the author makes up for it with great writing without being too technical.’

John Lockyer, Sr. Technical Advisor, Smarthome, Inc., www.smarthome.com