Decided to do some massive MapQuesting before I head out to Seattle this Tuesday. Since I'm far from my iTunes, I thought perhaps I would check out whatever became of Pandora.com. Lo and behold, it's received a massive face lift! She's hot, really hot.

If you're not familiar with the site, I HIGHLY suggest you give it a spin. It was started by a Stanford graduate as part of a technological venture called the Music Genome Project.

"The Music Genome Project, created in January 2000, is an effort founded by Tim Westergren, a 1988 graduate from Stanford University and spearheaded by a group of musicians and technicians to 'capture the essence of music at the fundamental level' by using over 400 attributes to describe songs." (from wiki)

One of the results of the research project was pandora.com. It's a site that houses thousands of songs that users can rate according to the 400 attributes created by the research effort. What's the result? A custom radio station specially tailored to your tastes. On top of that, it is, hands down, the perfect way to find new music that caters to your favorite genre styles.

I recall its original launch. The site was fairly rudimentary and had poor music selection. In addition the recommendations were completely off the wall. Thanks to a few with perseverance and love for the program, the site started to roll. Now it has a great selection, and, typically, its recommendations are perfectly tuned to what the user's hoping to hear.

There was a short while, however, that it seemed like the site would go the same way as epitonic.com (another music database site). Lack of funding and poor marketing seemed to me, at least, to be forcing the site under, as I hadn't seen any changes to the site for well over a year. Happy to say, however, upon my most recent visit today, it would seem the site's alive and well. The redesigned the package bumper to bumper, with a brand new interface that works brilliantly with the system.

The bittersweet side, however, is that the site does feature quite a few ads. Ultimately I think this is a good thing. The site is so dynamic and intuitive, I want every effort to be made to keep it around. In that same vein of efforts, they now have hardware (radios and portable devices) that can play your custom stations. Overall, I think pandora's in for a bright future.

Sorry, iTunes, but I'm going to be spending a bit more time with someone else.

Labels: music, online application, pandora, technology, web, web2.0

Cherry coke zero, a Tombstone Pizza, and channel surfing. Not exactly my idea of a meaningful night, but, I did stumble upon an interesting find. Showtime was playing a documentary I've been wanting to see ever since I did a Digital Music project on the subject back during my senior year of college. The documentary is moog, a clever peek into the history and importance of one of the most widely used electronic synthesizers.
The documentary as a documentary is a bit cumbersome with some very improvised and, in many ways, awkward interview moments with artists and inventors alike. Not to mention the very creator of the device, Robert Moog, isn't the most eloquent of gentlemen, often times pausing mid-sentence creating unnerving silences. Nonetheless, to hear his stories of conceptualizing such a device and then see the lasting impact it's had on music today was genuine and compelling.

Check out wiki for a complete download on the Moog and read just how much the many electronic sounds of our favorite tunes today were directly inspired or even still created by the device. I was first turned on to the instrument during a Mates of State concert in High School. Kori Gardner (the young lady) plays on a Moog synthesizer teamed with vintage Yamaha keys and pulls out some amazing sounds. If you haven't checked out the band do so.

After doing a bit of research I realized many of my favorite bands used the device, or at least something directly related to it. The documentary touches on this too, as it does a few artist spotlights, my favorite being one on Stereolab, and amazing band from the UK and well worth a listen.

Not surprisingly, the documentary's soundtrack is completely Moog. I'm considering picking it up, as some of the melodies were fantastically dynamic and experimental. I often times found myself more focused on that then the documentary itself. The song at the closing credits is phenomenal. I tried digging it up for this post, but no dice.

I did dig something else up, which is equally as entertaining, but perhaps a bit more comical. Robert Moog began his career by building his own theremins. What's a theremin you ask? Well it's only the oldest and perhaps coolest electronic synthesizers out there! Think about running your fingers through open air and blank space and pulling out electronic audio with a wide range of pitches, notes, and personalities. For an idea of what I mean, check out the video below!

Labels: electronic, moog, music, synthesizers, theremin