A new CBC Radio 3 website

http://radio3.cbc.ca

Loving it.  Awesome streaming web radio.  Homegrown Canadian music.  Furthermore:

* Personalized member pages. Add a bio, images, links & web preferences, plus display your favourite music & playlists!   

* Create, edit, share & manage unlimited on-demand playlists.   

* Select & listen to genre-based streaming radio stations. If you want all hip hop, all the time -- no problem. Same goes for rock, pop & electronic.

OSX maintenance

Check out this great, free, program for macs called ONYX.  It takes care of many of the regular (and lesser known) housekeeping tasks which should be performed on your Mac.  Repair permissions, clear caches, verify disks and preference files, etc. etc.

This one gets an A+ from me.  Oh, and of course, don't forget to back up!

Protect your ears. Wear earplugs and turn down your ipod.

For the love of Pete, wear earplugs in loud situations. I can't stress this enough. Musicians put their ears in danger almost every day, often for prolonged periods. Sooner or later, this exposure will cause hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in your ears). Hearing damage is permanent.

Sometimes I hear people say, "I hate earplugs! I can't hear the music while I'm playing."

Well, if you hate the sound of foam earplugs when you're playing, invest in some custom molded plugs. They sound better and are more comfortable. They cost between $150-$200. Too expensive for you? Please. Ten years from now, when you can't hear the person sitting across the dinner table, you'll be pretty upset that you cheaped out on your OWN EARS and bought some shoes and a stomp box instead.

Here are some pointers:

1. Get off your high horse.
   
2. Get a supply of foam earplugs, and keep a pair in your bag or pocket when you leave the house. Spread them around in your jacket pockets. You'll never know when you need them; I often end up in loud situations by accident. If it feels too loud, it IS too loud. Don't be ashamed to wear them. Think of the alternative: embarrassment and depression because you can't hear your friends and family when they speak to you.
   
3. Buy custom earplugs, whether you think you can afford them or not. If you're a professional musician, you can't afford NOT to have them. Use a credit card. Ask mom and dad. Your concert experiences will be SO much more pleasurable and your ears won't be ringing when you go to sleep.
   
4. Turn down your headphones when you're in the subway or on the bus. Better yet, wear earplugs. Drowning out the loud trains with loud music compounds the problem. If you really enjoy listening while you commute, a pair of noise-reducing headphones is a must, otherwise your volume is too high. The ambient noise is canceled out, allowing you to listen at lower, more reasonable levels. Shop around for different manufacturers. There are good models that cost under $150.
   
5. Don't set your cell phone volume to 10. Set it to 5 and find a quieter place to talk. Use the speakerphone when you can. Switch ears!
   
6. Read this. Then book an appointment with audiologist to have your hearing tested, and earplugs fitted.
7. Pat yourself on the back, eh?

Check out 4:07 in this video. For the love of Pete!

Brush up on your theory

Scales, scales, scales. Does it bring back old memories? Remember when your Royal Conservatory slave driver made you practice up and down the keyboard, until you were blue in the face? What about your theory rudiments? Key signatures. Scales. Chords. Transposing. Remember doing your theory homework, wishing you were playing road hockey instead? I do. But now I'm glad I stayed in. I'm glad my parents made me sit there and do it. I remember a lot of things from those days. But many years of not practicing have made me rusty. I can't read or write like I used to. Sight reading is lost on me.

It's not too late for people like us. We can brush up. We can go through our old workbooks and scales.

I recently picked up a copy of the same text I used as a kid. The big difference is that now it matters. It's going to help me read, understand, compose, and most importantly, communicate. It's a daunting 300 pages of written exercises. My goal is to finish it by year end. Wish me luck!

Stream the new Wilco album, pre-release.

http://wilcoworld.net/discs/thealbum/

Thanks to my friend Evan at Outside Music for the heads up.