CMPE Media

Taking a closer look at digital camera options

admin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Many camera manufacturers would like you to believe that the greater the megapixel number the better the camera. While this statement is true in one sense, it should not be the only criteria for selecting a digital camera. Here are a few key tips to understanding and comparing digital camera options.

First, the quality of the glass between the scene and the camera-s sensor is the most important factor when selecting a digital camera. Always choose the highest quality lens you can afford. Digital SLR’s are a high-end option, but compact cameras have this option as well. Look close at the camera-s lens and if it has a name different from the camera’s manufacturer then it is probably a very high quality lens.

Next, consider the options you are going to use. If you plan to share your photos on the internet or make small prints then you do not need a 20MP camera. Look for options like 10x optical zoom as this is better than digital zoom. See what preset scene options and function controls are available, and do they match the situations you like to take pictures of. Decide how well the camera matches your needs before buying.

Funky-fresh DJing tips

admin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Disc jockeys often have a day job on the side. The day job helps them keep their DJ business in operation or gives them something to do when the freelnace disc jockey jobs are few and far between. Entertainment often suffers during an economic downturn. The proffesional who goes out to parties, weddings and other forms of entertainment may not be able to do much about the state of the economy. He can give himself a competitive edge by making sure that he keeps his music and style fresh.The full explanation can be found at http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebkaraoke/San-Francisco/prweb8476805.htm He may not want to keep it Funky-fresh, but that is his own choice.

Tips for making sure that your style stays fresh often means keeping up with the latest trends in music. Club-goers and people who go to bars are often younger. They do not need to know much about older music. The DJ himself needs to keep up with the crowd to which he plays his music. By staying up on the latest, trends, styles and artists, a DJ can make sure that he gives the people who hire him exactly what they want. A DJ, like anyone else in business for himself, has to understand what his customers want. If he cannot manage to find out what his customers want, he may not stay in the business for long.

The best-looking new Blu-rays

admin — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Are looking for the best picture possible for your favorite film that you have been dying to see? Do you want to get the best viewing experience possible for years to come? Do you have a high definition television and want to enjoy the true meaning of what high definition means? Why not check out all the benefits of a blu-ray movie instead of the standard definition ones that have been around for years?

Blu-ray offers you the best possible viewing experience for your brand new movie that you have been waiting to see. It gives you a crisp, clear color and picture like you could never have imagined possible. Not to mention the sound quality on blu-ray movies is far superior compared to a regular DVD. You are going to get surround sound like you wouldn’t believe since they are only going to give you the best of the best for your new blu-ray movie.

Once you have enjoyed the experience of a blu-ray movie you won’t want to go back to regular DVD movies. Nothing can take the place of a blu-ray movie when it comes to sound and picture quality. Pick yours up today and see what blu-ray can do for you.

The best new gifts for home theater enthusiasts

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Ok, so you are looking for the perfect gift for the home theatre enthusiast ? Well, in today’s market you have many choices.

How about the latest in 3D projectors? There are several brands that will make you feel like you are in the movie, or better yet make the movie feel like it is in your living room!!! Just remember when buying a 3D projector-you will need glasses, so try to find one that comes with.

Any home theatre enthusiast will appreciate a great sorround sound speaker system. What a thrill to not just hear the sounds of your films, but to almost feel them coming at you from every direction. Your choices are endless, in price range and style-some are even wireless.

No home theatre system is complete without a universal remote control. With all your pieces of electronic equipment who wants to have to use a separate remote for each? A good univeral remote will work all of your equipment, and be much easier to keep track of!

Finally, why not give your home theatre enthusiast the gift of ambience? Transform their living room into what feels like a real theatre with the addition of movie posters and mermorabilia. Easily found on the internet or novelty shops these affordable pieces will make a theatre room feel like a cinema.

The country’s most historic recording studios

admin — Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

While modern technology is advancing to the point that up and coming artists and musicians can record from home and produce viable music and tracks, recording studios are still not obsolete. Some of the most historically significant recording studios are located in the United States and have produced some of the greatest music and musicians of all time. While Los Angeles, on the West Coast, and New York, on the East Coast, have had the largest studio presence historically and in modern times, there are many more recording studios throughout the country that are historically substantial.
Sunset Sound/ The Record Plant
Both of these studios are located in or near Los Angeles, California. Sunset Sound Recorders is located on Sunset Blvd. and is one of the most widely used and respected sound recording facilities in the country. Many artists have recorded here, including the Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin. The California outlet of The Record Plant has produced music by various artists including Fleetwood Mac, but the studio’s New York location is much more prolific.
The Record Plant
New York’s Record Plant has produced albums and hits from some of the most famous musicians of modern times. The Record Plant also has two locations in California that are somewhat less famous. While New York’s location closed in the 1980′s, it is still known as one of the country’s most legendary recording studios. From Jimi Hendrix to the Velvet Underground, many notable musicians have used this studio to produce some of their most famous music.
Sun Studio
Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee is known as the “birthplace of rock & roll”. Some of the most famous rock musicians have recorded here, including Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Currently, this recording studio is a notable tourist location and also serves as a recording studio to famous artists. Recent artists such as Ringo Starr and John Mellencamp have recorded at the studio.
Hitsville U.S.A. / Chess Records
Hitsville U.S.A. was the first office of Motown Records. Located in Detroit, Michigan, the studio is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. Hitsville produced such artists as the Funk Brothers, Marvin Gaye, and the Jackson Five. Chess Records was founded in 1950 in Chicago, Illinois and produced a good deal of early blues, soul, and R&B music. Artists such as Chuck Berry and Etta James found their beginnings here. Now, the location previously held by Chess Records houses the building for a large Blues related charity foundation.

Audio mixing equipment all producers should have

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

If you’re going to mix live audio for your band, a church service, or any entertainment venue, there are a few pieces of equipment you cannot do without.

The first thing to get is a good set of headphones. Don’t use the cheap kind that came with your mp3 player. Get a good set that blocks outside noise. You need to be able to hear true sound to mix accurately.

You will also need an audio mixer. This will allow you to take multiple signal inputs from live instruments or a digital source, adjust their volume and pitch, add special effects, and output them into a single source that feeds into an amplifier or mixing device. According to the size of your operation, an amp and stage monitors will be needed. If you want to be fancy, get a decibel counter.

If you will be recording live audio, you will need a CD player and burner. Alternatively, you can record onto a computer and save the file digitally, but you will need a good audio mixing program that you can easily work with.

With the right technology you can mix wonderfully. This equipment will help you get the job done.

Nashville readies next generation of stars

www.cmpemedia.com — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:32:55 +0000

It’s never been easy breaking into the record business, but when you live in a cultural hotspot like Nashville, Tennessee, it sure helps. Two years ago, aspiring Tennessee songwriters were gifted with another advantage: the “Partners in Craft” program at Middle Tennessee State University. This program partners MTSU commercial songwriting majors with mentors in the publishing and recording industry. These mentors include members from Sony, EMI, Carnival Music, Universal Music Publishing, Warner-Chappell, and more, some of whom are MTSU alumni. PIC is itself a partnership between MTSU’s Recording Industry department and the Nashville ASCAP office.ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) includes Nashville as its own genre on its website, along with jazz, pop/rock, rhythm & soul, and more. Nashville reciprocated in 1989 by declaring February 13 (the day before Valentine’s Day) as ASCAP Day. The office already offers songwriting workshops for those who apply, but the PIC program has been a whole different kind of success. In just two years, 53 students have joined, ten students either have or have had internships, and graduate Eric Paslay is close to signing a major-label contract.

New music technology for would-be DJs

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:35:52 +0000

The story of Last.fm seems like every start-up’s fairy-tale dream: a bunch of music fans start up a personalized radio and social media network in a small East London office. It catches on worldwide. Then, the site is bought out by CBS. When Last.fm dropped its coveted on-demand music streaming service in April 2010, though, spectators worried that CBS was running the service into the ground. Now, a new partnership with music technology developer MXP4 has them back in the newsand could be changing the way the online radio industry works.MXP4 produces audio-mixing software which lets people manipulate their favorite songs by adding instruments, stripping away backing music, or blending songs together. The technology is now available on the websites of licensed artists and on MXP4′s website. Record execs believe this could be the key to reintroducing or repackaging artists’ back catalogues. Last.fm also believes the technology will have a positive financial effect. They hope that the brands which promote on the site will use the technology in their ads. This will let users mix any music used in the promotions.The partnership with Last.fm may be more exciting for MXP4 than for Last.fm, as it’s the first time MXP4 has licensed its technology for commercial use. Previously, a free MXP4 app was released for K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag,” the World Cup theme song. The developers are hoping to attract more record labels to their product, and are also in talks with Spotify and other online music distribution outlets. As the face of the music industry changes, it will be interesting to see how users react to increased interactivity. Perhaps it will inspire a new generation of music mash-up artists, but will it allow record labels to compete with the alternative (and sometimes illegal) modes of music sharing? Only time will tell.

Veteran broadcaster Tom Leykis launches new online initiative

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:28:26 +0000

For radio music fans who feel the waters have grown stale in recent years, there is now light on the horizon. You won’t hear it on the FM dial, though: “New Normal Music” is currently an online-only initiative, though it was started by radio veteran Tom Leykis. Leykis promises to bring a wealth of experience to the venture, and says the show will highlight artists not normally played on Modern Rock stations, starting with a continuous stream of 50,000 songs less than a year old.Leykis has been involved with radio since he was 14 years old, when he served as a fill-in host for Long Island station WBAB. He contributed to talk radio shows in the late 1970s and became the host of the long-running and often controversial talk show The Tom Leykis Show in 1994. The show ended in 2009, and Leykis began a weekly program called The Tasting Room focusing on the high-class lifestyle.The manifesto currently up on the website reveals Leykis’s signature style, lambasting the ages of many popular artists like Rivers Cuomo of Weezer (40), Tom Delonge of Blink-182 (34), and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (47). While acknowledging the contributions of these artists, Leykis insists that radio stations cannot truly take a chance on exciting new artists, and is dedicated to changing that via the web.”New Normal Music” will be available on all major devices, including the iPad, iPhone and Droid as well as home computers. The site will also take requests and offers audio quality which Leykis claims is higher than any radio station. It will be interesting to see if and how radio stations take Leykis up on his implicit challenge, but if you’re interested, make sure to tune to “New Normal Music” when it launches July 1.

U. S. Cellular to debut four new phones

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:22:47 +0000

With the recent release of the new iPhone 4, U.S. Cellular has stepped up its game and announced the unveiling of FOUR new phones later this year, starting with the Samsung Acclaim on July 9, followed by the HTC Desire in early August. The LG Banter Touch, featuring an ergonomic slide-out keyboard, will arrive in October along with the fourth device.All four devices run on the Android operating system, developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. The first device, the Acclaim, is a U.S. Cellular exclusive and also features a 3.2-inch touch screen and keyboard. The Acclaim also boasts a 3-megapixel camera and, of course, Wi-Fi functionality.The HTC Desire has a 3.7-inch display and a powerful 1 GHz Qualcomm processor. The makers encourage personalization with a variety of widgets for sports, news, entertainment, and more. Small enhancements like the “Leap” function, which allows you to jump easily between any of the 7 panels on the Home Screen, and a “polite ringer”, which dials down the volume when you pick up the phone, could also win fans.The Android system also gives these devices access to a variety of Google apps, and the phones come preloaded with U. S. Cellular’s own applications, including City ID and Tone Room Deluxe. More than 70,000 other apps are available in the Android Market.The Blackberry flip smartphone will release later this year along with the Blackberry Bold, and the LG Banter Touch comes in October. It’s too early to tell how these devices will attract consumers, but U.S. Cellular seems to have big goals for the rest of 2010. In the competitive market of today, it will be interesting to see how they can back them up.