Interview: Chris Limbrick

Today we will be discussing something a little different than our usual topics.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Limbrick this week. Chris is a Full Sail alumnus who is currently making a living creating websites for various business owners throughout the East Coast. He has made a number of websites now. He says that he has had some “wonderful clients” including various Orlando nightclubs, print companies out of New Jersey, and other small businesses throughout the East Coast. He even did the website for a Historical Collection Center in Virginia that focuses on archives from the Civil War.

When Chris has a potential client who wants a new website he finds out what they are looking for and what the website needs to focus on. They brainstorm together. Chris always has creative input on the websites and likes to add extras that are useful to the client such as social media icons, audio widgets, sliding banners, etc.

The negotiation comes in at pricing. Some clients are accepting of the starting price and some need it adjusted for their budget. What Chris does to make sure he makes profit is learn what their budget is and negotiate the website from there. Chris does a great job and getting a client to buy as much as possible. He likes to show his clients a mock version of their site without all the extras and explains to his clients why they are important. This way they spend more money on the extras and get a better website at the same time. This is a great example of using objective criteria to your advantage.

Another tactic of Chris’s is the dangerous “free meal”.  He likes to buy the client’s beverage or meal when they go out for a lunch meeting.

Mr. Limbrick’s people skills and negotiation tactics are what help make his business a success.

Changes & Opportunities

There have been some changes in the development of music; however, along with change can come opportunity. Today we’re going to discuss the demise of Activision’s Guitar Hero, new opportunities, and we’ll take a look at a fun interactive video.

Recently, there was a formal statement that Guitar Hero games would no longer be created by Activision. To put it simply, they felt it was getting redundant and often wondered, “What’s next?” More Rockband games may continue to be created and will sell well due to its reputation but it won’t change the fact that the market has gotten repetitive and uncreative as they allow you to buy more and more songs. The only thing to look forward to is motion censor control, which seems inevitable at this point.

Here is an example of what motion censor controlled music could be like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHTi8EBKNAQ

Despite the demise of Guitar Hero, there is an opportunity here to try something new – maybe Activision could begin designing apps for the iPhone or iPad (as they have been leaders in interactive music for the last few years). I believe that a lot of these game/audio/video companies need to explore the world of apps and innovative interactivity.

Now, let’s get interactive…

Though I normally talk about music being interactive, here is an interactive music video by the Arcade Fire (Grammy Winners, Album of the Year).

http://www.beonlineb.com/

In the past we have looked at videos where you can adjust the music but this is a video where you simply adjust the video. Interactive Music Videos can become a whole new market on its own (especially with the help of the iPad/iPhone). It remains surprising why more videos like this are not produced. However, as more interesting entertainment is demanded, more interactive audio/video will be produced. These fun music videos and customizable songs are the beginning of something new.

Sites:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/sing+blues+over+Guitar+Hero+demise/4276306/story.html

Your Handy Dandy… Music Platform!

As I’ve mentioned over and over again, interactive music is the something that is continuing to grow in interest and will be a huge for of music in the not so distant future (thanks to smart phones, the iPad, etc.).

I recently read a small article where The Echo Nest encourages people to create interactive music application… however, what they creates is on a whole other level that what I usually talk about. In fact, it blew me away.

The Echo Nest creates interactive music applications, amongst other things. They recently created a music platform that has a large number of abilities and is all around the ultimate music tool. To put it simply, it breaks down music piece by piece.

A little bit about their business:

They are funded by Angel investors (three of which are co-founders of MIT Media Lab), Argos Management and Commonwealth Capital Ventures.

The Echo Nest has won the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant four times – a big accomplishment for a small cause.

Here is exactly what this music platform does (automatically):

It constantly analyzed music – everything from audio to blogs, reviews, etc. It wants to know exactly how the world sees every artist, their albums, and their music.

It listens to the music – it breaks down everything about the song: tempo, instrumentation, time signatures, accents, harmony, keys. It learns how to understand all the simple ways that musicians talk about these song attributes.

It learns about all the trends – it analyzes the internet user’s “music behavior”. It learns who is talking about what artists and what songs have been downloaded and streamed. It distinctly knows what fans think.

In completely honesty, this is absolute genius by my opinion. Every musician wants a tool that can break down every song and tell you everything you want to know about it. However, the only downside here is how much gathered information is too much? Echo Nest needs to make sure they are maintaining people’s privacy. That always becomes something of controversy.

…but when all is said and done, this is a major advancement and another step forward into an innovative future.

AES: Audio Engineering Society

We're taking a different turn today and we're going to focus more on the Audio Industry, recent news, and primarily discussing Game Audio.

Today, I will be speaking about the Audio Engineering Society. A couple months ago they had completed their elections for the new 2010-2011 officers, with Jan Abildgaard Pedersen being elected President.

Now, there are a lot of different sections to my industry: different people doing different things. The Music Industry is taking a lot of hits right now, primarily because of illegal downloading. They have been doing more marketing through live music and merchandise, along with the help of iTunes’ bonus tracks and pre-order packages. However, at the same time, the Game Industry is thriving and because of this the Game Audio Industry is thriving.

Quality audio for video games is a must. There was a time when 8-bit, computer generated audio was acceptable but we are in the 21^st century and you can’t play “Call of Duty: Black Ops” or “Halo: Reach” with 8-bit audio (however, some bloggers believe there could still be a use for low-bit audio for phones, Wi-Fi, etc.). Games today have full quality, lossless audio and pay well to those who design it.

After reading a blog about the Game Audio/Music Composition industry, I learned quite a bit about finding work and the two career paths that one can take.

In New York, a couple years ago, the AES’ 127^th convention was held. They discussed the latest achievements in Game Audio and Music Composition through a number of various workshops. Also, there was a lot of attention that focused on interactive music [something that I’ve been known to have interest in].

There are usually two options if you pursue a career in Game Audio. You can either be an Audio Programmer or a Sound Designer. Most of these jobs are found through studio websites, Game Industry forums, and the all-powerful networking. As a Programmer, it is often necessary to have a Bachelors degree but as a Sound Designer, you may not need a degree at all (though it helps). With Sound Design, you start as an intern (like in any studio) and work your way up.

The Fall... or The Future?

On December 25, 2010, The Fall was released over the internet. The Fall is a full length album recorded by the Gorillaz. Why is this album so important? Because it is the first full length album to be recorded and released by a mainstream artist.

The Fall is a fifteen track album that was recorded while the Gorillaz were on tour. Damon Albarn (founder) recorded the album with the use of twenty applications. A number of songs were named after the cities in which they had been recorded in.

The importance of this is that it continue to prove my point. There was a time when touring was part of the year and recording was the rest. Now that has changed. The two can go hand in hand. With the use of the iPad, anyone is able to write music whenever they want.

It had been predicted that more and more known artists will begin to experiment with the iPad and use it as part of their recording process. We will see how this new & fast way of making music will progress over the coming years. The iPad will most likely be the way that we get a lot of things done: not just recording albums.

The iPad is not nearly as developed and evolved as it is meant to be, but it has already begun to change the way we live our lives. 

An Apple A Day...

Apple is working with Major Labels is start creating Interactive Albums for consumers (supposedly working with EMI, Sony, Warner, Universal). They're rumored to be putting together lyric sheets, arts, etc. As I always say, interactive albums may one day become the norm.

This is the best way to begin increasing album sales, which is their goal. Some believe that this will be ill-fated however it is more likely that this move with bring a positive change to the industry.

The truth is that people need a reason to buy an album right now. Anyone can download Transmission on their mac and begin torrenting rapidly. So interactive albums will probably be the best way to raise album sales.

However this needs to come to the point that songs can be custom. Being able to customize your favorite tunes will definitely raise album sales.

If you want to know more about these ideas then you should check out my first blog: The Future of Music.
It goes into much more detail of these ideas.


http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/apples_cocktail_to_inspire_better_bands.php

The iPad: Music to My Ears

Friends, Bloggers, Viewers, lend me your ears!

The future is upon us and I have said it before: anyone can be a producer these days. Do you have an iPad? Well, if you do, then you can be a producer too. It's honestly as easy as downloading a few applications. That’s right: the iPad is releasing a bundle of new music production applications.

The first app is a basic synthesizer/keyboard. It works via midi and comes with 40 built in instruments. This synth is also capable of recording samples. This is great for anyone starting up his or her own home studio. On top of all of this… the synth can record directly into Garage-Band and Logic. So you will be able to plug the iPad synth right into your MacBook Pro and record it into your Apple DAW (Logic/Garage-Band). It can also be connected into other mixers as well. All of this for only one dollar!

Now, our next app is StudioTrack. This one is a little bit pricier. I’m just kidding… it’s forty dollars. StudioTrack is a multi-track recorder exclusive to the iPad. It also has a metronome, dynamic/time-based effects, 16/44.1 recording, and even Wi-Fi syncing so that you will be able to import your tracks to any software that supports Wav. You are able to record 8 tracks at once. You are able to mix the tracks and bounce your mix as well. You can bounce from one track to the other. So you are not limited to only 8 tracks. Every channel has an effects rack also which makes this all the more enjoyable. The effects are an EQ, compressor, reverb, and delay.

There are more new iPad applications for music production/creation here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/194194/ipad_music_production_apps_music_meets_multitouch.html

Enjoy.

Here’s a little bit of interesting information. Damon Albarn from the Gorillaz and Blur has been recording the next Gorillaz album exclusively on the iPad. He hopes to release it before Christmas. Whether you know the music or not, I advise you to listen to the album. This is a big step in the industry.