I had a burst of creative energy last weekend and put together a couple new music demos of progressions that have been in my head, and occasionally been plinked on my guitar, for awhile now. Check ‘em out. The new ones are Fade and Rising. I would like feedback as I develop these songs — so feel free to leave comments (on this post is fine), constructive critique, etc. Keep in mind that the purpose of demos like these are simply to give an idea of what the music might sound like. They are undeveloped, and currently do not include little niceties like vocals, musical bridges, intros, cool finishes, etc.

Amazon.com has finally debuted their new iTunes competition: AmazonMP3. Well, okay, it’s not the most creative name, but I am impressed thus far with the product offering:

• MP3’s encoded at 256 kbps – yes, that’s good. We like high-fidelity sound.
• DRM-free – translation: no copy protection, so you are free to put it on whatever device you wish
• 89 cents per song – for more than half of the catalog, and slightly more for other songs. I saw some that were 99 cents. That’s still way cheaper than iTunes’ $1.30 per song for DRM-free MP3’s

I downloaded a couple songs today and it was smooth as butter. The only sticky point for me was that I had mixed emotions about the downloader applet. I like it better than iTunes as far as it’s simplicity, but I can’t help but feel like it is not necessary. Anytime I have to install a program (or applet) on my computer for something as simple as downloading a music file, I feel like there is something wrong with the picture. Less is more!

That aside, I will be using Amazon to download my mp3’s. Thank you, Amazon, for listening to my consumer voice and giving me what I want: DRM free MP3’s at a reasonable price. Apple, please take note. Amen.

I would love to hear what you think so far of a song I am writing and recording. Download the mp3 here and feel free to leave public comments or send me a private message – any constructive criticism is wanted and welcomed.

As you may or may not already know, I have been playing the guitar, writing & recording music for about twelve years now. Most of my work hitherto has been acoustic guitar stuff akin to Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket fame. I am also handy with an electric guitar and bass, and have more recently begun writing songs in the modern rock genre. My interest in audio engineering has been a long, slow progression – as I have come to find that the fine art of recording and mixing music is actually incredibly difficult to master (pun intended). Recently I’ve been working on writing and recording a new song that I have entitled Pwnd, stemming from my geek roots as a casual player of the game World of Warcraft. No vocals tracks have been recorded yet, so it’s just music as of now. Also, it has not been mixed yet so the sound is still raw. But please check out the “in progress” demo track, and give me your feedback on it.