OpenDNS is really very good. I’ve been using it for over a month now and it’s improved my internet usage no end, making it faster, safer and more convenient. It’s very simple to utilise as all you do is put 2 nameserver DNS numbers into your computers Internet preferences and Router settings. The DNS numbers are: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 You can also make your own shortcut to sites, for example “discuss” instead of “http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa”

Using OpenDNS makes us safer from phishing attacks and block unwanted websites, particularly useful for those who have children using the internet at home. You can block types of sites or named sites. But to learn more, go to OpenDNS and signup, it’s FREE!!

Bean is a FREE, yes free, Word Processor for Mac OSX. It opens quickly and has a clean and usable user interface. Very handy when you want something a bit less basic than TextEdit but not so bloated as Microsoft Word or even Pages. It’s rich in features. Get more information and download it from www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

Follow BBC Save Our Sounds on Twitter and visit Kate Arkless Gray’s Diary and contribute to the preservation of endangered sounds. Visit British Library’s Archival Sound Recordings and listen to a host of interesting sounds. If you have an iPhone, use AudioBoo or another recording system. Details on where to send sounds to and Terms & Conditions can be viewed at BBC World Service - News - Send us your sounds!

Please support: Playing For Change | Peace Through Music

Some years ago, I think it was 1993, I bought this intriguing Illuminated Manuscript Book in the second-hand bookstore opposite the Ironbridge in Shropshire. It contains beautifully handwritten “Solos & Duetts for Cornet a Pistons” with the name Thomas Booth - Burton On Trent. You may see scans of the first few pages here and see a PDF
It looks as though it was written in the second half of the 19th Century and contains popular tunes of the day. When I get some time, I intend to make an edition. I would be very grateful if anyone knows of Thomas Booth in Burton On Trent.

We took friends to hear Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, the bansuri master. I’d heard Rakesh with Hariji in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh performing in an unforgettable all night rag concert. Rakesh played so very well in comfortable English country surroundings by Salisbury Cathedral on the banks of the River Avon. The Salisbury Festival 2009 presentation was entitled Music For Mind And Spirit and included a performance by the large English Hindustani classical ensemble Tarang
I’m glad I managed to record the last 4 minutes of the performance with AudioBoo on my iPhone which held many of the audience spellbound.

Tags: bansuri, audioboo, iphone

Another in I’m A PC - I’m a Mac series. A virtual New York Times cover. These ads just get better and better.

I’m enjoying MusicTech Focus - a series of popular “in-depth guide(s) for the creative musician” written and compiled by MusicTech Magazine’s mastering experts. A little pricey at £8.99, but then they do include DVDs of files and examples. They’ll be a useful set of guides for students of music technology but no substitute for hands on experience. They’ll probably have a limited shelf life as they’re dependent on application versions available today.

My first AudioBoo (actually a water recording I made a while back and played through my monitors) recorded into AudioBoo on the iPhone. This iPhone App enables ‘boos’ to be recorded on the iPhone then shared on AudioBoo and can also be linked to your Twitter and Facebook. It can also give GPS location. An account with AudioBoo is easy to set up and free (so far) and can also embedded, as here:

Stand By Me

playingforchange.com - From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music", comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently.
Thanks Tony for bringing this to my attention.

8 Compact Discs containing 320 kbps MP3 - An interesting and wonderful new release from Nimbus Records, the Complete 104 Symphonies of Joseph Haydn played by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra conducted by Adam Fischer and recorded by Nimbus in the Haydnsaal in Esterhazy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria from 1987-2001. There are some real gems in this cycle. I was surprised by the concertino content within the symphonies, flute solos, violin duets and more. His symphonies are full of surprises and a delight to hear. Some very comic moments too.
I bought this from The Collectors Corner in Salisbury for £22. The performances and recording standard is VERY wonderful. Highly recommended.

I've got to an age where I've started revisiting things that I did in my past, this track, a cover version of We Love You by the Rolling Stones, featured a string arrangement and Eddie Reader, it was mixed and released and I didn't get to hear it back in 1984. I heard it when I put the strings on, but not the final version until I tracked down a copy in The Netherlands. I transcribed it in a hurry from a pretty bad turntable and cartridge, if someone can offer a better transcription, I'd really appreciate it. If you know how to get hold of a master, let me know please.

More track info from discogs: here

Why “Recidivism”? - see Recidivism - Wikipeadia
Well, it’s to do with Repeat Offending. For some unknown reason, an awful habit has been promoted in music making for far too long, that is, not doing the repeats even when the composer asks us to. It’s prevalent in “classical” training, or rather I would say an “incomplete” training and also because some examination boards - see ABRSM Rules, require candidates NOT to do the repeats, against the composer’s wishes.
In all other music forms, it would be impossible NOT to repeat sections, imagine popular songs with only one instance of a CHORUS! The repeat gives the us an opportunity to reassess the music, to shed a new light on something that has gone before, to find another angle and reflection on the text. To me, in asking pupils not to Repeat is like robbing them of a wonderful opportunity and a crucial skill - that of flexible interpretation. In SONATA FORM, which is the classical form most music of the classical era is subject to, the exposition is repeated, to not do this, unbalances the structure.
Please: Always do the repeats and relish the opportunity. If it’s a bind to do so, then you’re in the wrong job.

The Microsoft Research Songsmith site proclaims, “Everyone has a song inside...” and releases an application called Songsmith to enable these songs to be made and heard. It’s only natural to compare this with GarageBand, the iLife application for Mac OSX, but, as ever, when we compare Apple and Microsoft, it’s not a like for like comparison. Songsmith seems to have a very linear workflow. The user picks a style and can modify this with a slider for mood and a drum groove starts, Songsmith then ‘listens’ to the user singing and guesses a ‘harmonisation’ of the impromptu melody. It has to been seen and heard to be believed. Personally, I think it’s simply awful and wholly uninformed from a musical perspective, BUT, if it does help people gain access to music making then that’s surely a good thing.
January 23rd Update: Some amusing results are now posted on YouTube - use this search

This iKEY Plus from iKEY-audio.com looks like a great budget entry level device for recording digital audio.

2008 was the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Probably the second most important document for the future of humanity. Musicians are uniting to protest silently at the use of music in torture. Reprieve and the Musicians Union are the promoters of Zero dB a website containing the silent protests against this appalling and cruel torture. Please add your silent protest.