Are you tired of synching all of your music files accross multiple devices?  I know I am.  I buy a CD so I can listen to music on my stereo.  I then rip it to my PC so I can listen while I work.  I may then add the music to my phone or mp3 player so I can listen whilst I’m on the move.

This is actually quite time consuming, and there are also issues with memory and storage.  What if there was another way?  Maybe there is, but I don’t know it.

I do have an idea though, one that makes me wish I was a software developer.  Imagine that your music is stored on your PC/Mac, all in one place.  As long as you have a big enough hard drive you can have as much music as you like.  You have probably done this already.

So whats so great about this?  Well, what if you could somehow connect to all your stored music from other devices such as your mobile, mp3 player etc.  I know that ipods especially have a large memory these days but there is still the issue of transferring data.

Obviously this would be dependent on bandwidth etc but how amazing would it be to simply login to some account via your mobile device and have all of your music at your finger tips.  I can’t count the number of times that I’ve regretted not putting a certain album on my phone while I’m travelling somewhere.

Someone, somewhere, create this now, please…

The other day I was looking for something in my attic and I came accross a box that hadn’t been opened since we moved about a year ago.

Inside it I found somewhere around 200 CD singles.  Most of which I’d collected over my late teens.  There are one or two embarrassing moments in there but the memories that came flooding back were overwhelming.

These are things that I really had put to the back of my mind.  I found bands that I had completely forgotten about, bands that didn’t exist anymore etc etc.

It just took me back to when I was 17 and was trying to outdo all my mates by having the most and rarest CD’s, and I did find some real rarieties.  They might not be worth much but to me they are worth everything, I can’t believe that I’ve let them sit up there unplayed for this long.

I really feel that the younger mp3 generation are missing out on all of this, after all, how collectable can digital files be?

It’s been a while but Lou Barlow has posted a new entry on his website.

He’s been out on tour for a long time with two bands.  Man, I can’t even manage one right now.  He’s also been working on his new record.

Anyway, go enjoy the wonderful world of Lou Barlow.

Whilst I should’ve been working today I came up with a plan for what I’m actually going to do. It’s a kind of 2 part thing.

By the last week of August/first week of September I am going to release a 3 song Ep.  It will be available exclusively from my website as a high quality mp3 download.

Once that is done I will begin work on an album (hopefully 10 tracks) that will be realsed (hopefully) the end of November/beginning of December.

More details for both projects will follow as things develop.  I’d better get started.

I’ve been reading a few articles recently regarding songwriting.  Obviously the net being what it is there is a lifetime of reading available.

So far, I’ve found the most relevent source to my situation to be this site and in particular this article, which is what this post is based on.

I thought I’d share some of the tips that I thought were useful.

Part 1

The first step to writing a song is inspiration.  This can come at anytime but in order to be a productive songwriter you need to be able to mine this as much as possible.

• Writing as soon as you wake up in the morning can be effective as you are still in touch with your creative subconcious.  In other words your brain isn’t awake enough yet to critise your work.  The same applies for late at night when you start to get tired again.
• If you’re really stuck then give yourself some time to do something else, or nothing at all if you wish.  Whatever takes you out of the situation.

Part 2

Now you’ve got to do it.

• Lowering your expectations is a good thing.  All artists make mistakes.  If you listen hard enough to your favourite records you’ll find mistakes there too, but theres still something magic about them.  Music is about feeling and expression. Turn off that inner critic.
• What are your goals for the song.  Is it just something silly?  Is it a demo?  Are you planning to release it?  You need to think about how you can achieve these things.

Part 3

You’ve got to enjoy it.  I know artists like to take their work seriously but you need to have fun too.  Write a silly song every now and then, no one has to hear it do they?

So there you have it.  Some adivce that will help you mine your creativity.  Just remember not every song you write will be your best, thats ok, because the more you write the better you’ll get and the more you’ll learn.