Week 4 EOC: Iphone App

Would it be awesome if there was an app that for musicians in which you would sing, hum, or beat box a melody and this app would convert this vocal recording into a drum beat or piano. Whatever instrument you wanted because sometime us musicians come up with great little melodies but don't have anyway to put it down so we don't forget by the time you get home. There are a few app out there that have similar to my idea but most need another device. For instance, AmpliTube for the iPhone is for recording guitar tracks and vocal tracks but it doesn't really convert the actually recording to another instrument using pitch and rhythm detection software. "Play, practice and record anytime, anywhere with world-class guitar and bass tones, vocal effects and production tools along with a full portable studio. AmpliTube 2 gives you incredibly realistic tones and effects, plus full recording and processing capabilities in a powerful mobile app, all from the leaders in analog gear modeling software for professional recording studios." (http://ikmultimedia.com/amplitubeiphone/features/)
There are also apps that do vocal processing such as auto-tune which is something that the app that I would like to create. An app that works of the auto-tune technology which was pretty big and I have myself is the I am T-Pain app. It is real fun to just mess around and record normal conversations and play them back after it's been auto-tuned. The app was developed by Smule which has created a great product. "Smule is a premier developer of interactive sonic applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Smule's applications, including Ocarina, Leaf Trombone World Stage and Sonic Lighter, have been described as "magical", "addictive" and "instant classics" and have topped numerous iPhone app top-10 lists." (http://iamtpain.smule.com/) I've actually come across an app that does translate sounds and beats you record into beat-boxing sounds. I have seen a bunch of apps that do guitar, vocal, and drum synth recording but not actually translating the sound into a beat. "bChamp will recognizes three beatbox sounds: Snare (say “k” as in “cabbage”), Kickdrum (say “b” as in “bogus”), Hi-Hat (say “t” sound with your teeth closed). When you make those sounds into the microphone, they will be translated into dfferent drum-like sounds. You can also adjust the pitch of your beats by using the app’s interface to change the pitch. bChamp’s app includes some visual graffiti effects."  (http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/11/bchamp-the-iphone-app-that-beatboxes-for-you/) This app is definitely a steal for only .99 cent and it is awesome. I am going to go check it out tonight. Maybe if I can integrate all of these great ideas into one, I can have a million dollar app in my hands.

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

“One thing that all of the Millennials have in common is their utter fluency and comfort with digital technology. They don’t just embrace technology, it’s a way of life.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, Pg. 17) This is definitely true in 100% form of my generation of “Millennials”. The “Millennials” are defined as the group born between 1977 and 2000. We all fixed into you new technologies like our phones, iPods, or laptops and yet technology is always growing and reinventing itself but the generation I have grown up adapts quick and easy. “A recent study found that 91 percent of Millennials are on the Web, making up 32 percent of all U.S. Internet users.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, Pg. 17) I am always emerging myself in the internet, whether it would be Facebook or online browsing. We also have a total purchasing power of 733 billion dollars, making up a larger target market since we spend carelessly not like our predecessors such as the Baby boomers and Generation X. I also fall into some of the demographic characteristics of the Generation X such as the latchkey kids. I was with my mother, which was a single-parent, and she worked all day. I’d come home after school with my brothers and we would take care of each other while she was off making the cash; which was totally fine though. I also appreciate my experiences a lot more than materialistic view on life; such as the X Gen. We all share certain traits of each demographic in a way but the Millennial category fits my description at 80% accuracy.

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

There are plenty of businesses and products out there that make good money for a good cause such as TOM shoes and Live-strong. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of charitable products would be the “I <3 BOOBIES” bracelets and t-shirts. Those bracelets hit real big when I was in high school and caused a big ruckus throughout the staff and teachers, but they all brought in a good profit for breast cancer research. The NFL now has footballs and special pink jerseys that you can purchase and profits are donated to Breast cancer research as well. I have even seen football players on the field wearing the pink gloves; it sends a great message to the audience (http://www.nflshop.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3821290). Even benefit concerts are real big and raise millions of dollars for people in need; these are probably my favorite type of charitable event. The first concert was "The Concert for Bangladesh which headlined such artists as George Harrison and Eric Clapton and made $243,418.51. One of the biggest benefit concerts ever was the LIVE AID which headlined over 30 acts including Queen, Led Zeppelin, U2, Elton John, and Eric Clapton. This benefit show was broadcasted simultaneously in Wembley Stadium, London and the John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia; which had a total global audience of 1.9 billion via satellite.  This show alone brought in 283.6 million dollars for the Ethiopian famine. It amazes me to see all these very successful and rich musicians to go out of their way and conduct such a tremendous concert for zero profit for themselves, other than the feeling of giving. It’s quite inspiring and one day I hope to be a part of one, either if it’s attending one or even managing it.

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

In the ongoing-never-ending console wars, it might seem that the Wii is on top because they have the highest sales with over 53 million. I believe that all is changing now that Apple, Droid, any other games are in the system, and they definitely take the star in a BCG analysis. “Plenty of iPhone programmers whine about their failure to strike it rich in the App Store, but Tap Tap Revenge developer Tapulous can’t complain. The maker of the popular rhythm game reported sales nearing $1 million per month.” (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/iphone-game-developer-reports-1m-in-sales-per-month/) Those numbers are quite amazing if you think about it because Tap Tap is a .99 cent purchase and that’s only one single game; imagine the other 10,000 games in the app store. All the portable game systems, such as PSP and the DS, are definitely the dog of the bunch. “Sales of the handheld dropped to 1.2 million units for the quarter, down from 3 million during the same period in FY 2009, a decrease of 50 percent.'(http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/29/sony-sees-modest-ps3-growth-dramatic-decline-in-psp-sales-in-q2/) Even though their sales ‘were’ pretty high, they just falling away from us now because of the rise of the Ipad and Ipod Touch. The question mark is a pretty iffy one. It could either be computer games or online video games. “According to the software giant, it has now sold 55 million Xbox 360 units worldwide since the device's launch in 2005. Perhaps most importantly, sales are ‘accelerating,’ Microsoft said, and in the first four months of 2011, Xbox 360 sales were up 29 percent compared to the same period in 2010.” (http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-21539_7-20068641-10391702.html) So hands down, the Xbox 360 is the cash cow. With the release of Kinect and it’s the remodeled console, this revitalized Microsoft’s Xbox 360. It was also priced cheaper than the original model and had much more features in to too. They’ve been pulling the high dosage of cash but iPod games have a greater demand which puts them on top.  

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

Going up with music all around me, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the field. I was just expecting to work in the music industry because I’ve been playing guitar and bass for over 7 years and that's all I knew but learned the other side of audio. I’ve studied music theory throughout my years but also do post production and on-location sound as well. Attending The Art Institute of Las Vegas currently to help broaden my view on audio and build skills that will better me now and in the future. I have a few current projects of mixing a few music tracks. I specialize in music production and a working for live sound as well. Mixing music or post production is what I have the most fun with because there are so many different ways you approach this and improve each mix. I am also an expert Foley artist and do great ADR work as well.  Foley is also another passion of mine and sound design. I am keeping my mind open to a project that I can possible work on in the audio industry because they will only help me grow. Technology is always becoming more advanced and is evolving how the audio industry. Any experience that has to do with sound is what I’m looking for. I am always striving to better myself and making the best productions I can.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

The best customer service I’ve ever had and the only good experience I had was when I bought my first bass guitar from Sam Ash.  I have been drooling over this one bass guitar for years and finally got the cash to buy it so I went on the hunt around Las Vegas to see if any music departments carried the product. Guitar Center and a few other places didn’t have it in stock. So I swung buy Sam Ash one day and saw that one bass I wanted except it wasn’t the same body finish in which I wanted so I got super bummed and thought I’d never figure out where to get this bass. When I was leaving, I decided to ask the front desk receptionist if they were going to be getting any new shipments of this particular bass I want and she said “ No, but if you to, we can set up a special order and have the finish and number of strings you wanted for no extra charge. We will just call you up in about 2 weeks when it gets here and you can pick it up.” I was so stoked that I bought it right away, but 2 weeks went by and I didn’t get any phone call so I decided to swing by and see if it was there but the manager told me that they had a delay since it was being shipped from Korea and gave me 10% discount and waved the shipping and handling fees. That was probably the nicest thing any company has ever done for me and was the only good customer service I’ve had. That experience definitely made me a loyal customer and has been shopping there ever since.