Looking Back at 2010

The New Year is always a time of reflection. What went well the last year? What could have been better? This is where many New Year’s resolutions come from. Not only is the New Year starting you off with a clean slate but it’s a good reason to find things you can do improve on years past. In the spirit of reflection I took a little time to look at what our most popular blog posts from the last year in hopes of finding a little bit of insight into what we should work on or write about in the year to come.

1. Change the speed of video clips in VideoPad
   
2. Practice audio transcription files now available
   
3. NCH Software iPhone Software Update, see all the NCH Software iPhone apps
   
4. Make a Glee Music Mash Up with MixPad
   
5. Record audio playing through your computer
   
6. WavePad recognized as top mac audio editing software
   
7. Zulu virtual DJ Software now avaialable for Mac
   
8. The Secret Life of Tone Generator Software
   
9. Complete transcription quickly and easily with FastFox word expansion software
   
10. Radio World User report on BroadWave streaming Audio server software
    
11. PitchPerfect Guitar Tuning Software Now an iPhone App
    
12. WavePad Audio Editor Software Now available as an iPhone App
    
13. FTC Bans Unsolicited robocalls
    
14. MixPad Multitrack audio recording and mixing software now available for Mac
    
15. New Sound Effect Library Added to WavePad Sound Editor
    
16. Create unique sounds with MixPad and WavePad Audio Software
    
17. TempoPerfect metronome software is now also an iPhone App
    
18. Internet Use in the Office and Cyberslacking is costing employers millions
    
19. A movie maker solution for Windows 7—Videopad
    
20. CardWorks new free business card designer software
    

What I take from this is that not only are our big announcements such as the addition of the sound effect library and adding speed control into VideoPad important, but that our readers like to see more about how software is being used by other people in interesting and creative ways. There also seem to be a fair amount of Mac users looking for software solutions who will be pleased to hear that we are going to continue to bring more of our popular software over to the Mac platform. We are also going to continue to try to write about a breadth of different software topics. If there is anything in particular you would like to hear about, let us know.

Do More With Audio - Blog Carnival October 4, 2010

I recently saw a great example of someone doing something just a little bit off the cuff with music and audio in this wonderful video: Violin Hip-Hop. The video is of two guys, one playing the violin and another mixing it up as a DJ, and is well worth a watch. Not only is it entertaining, but it is an a fun example of combining different musical styles and playing with all kinds of audio by making a mashup of hip hop and violin, which is traditionally more classical. When it comes to audio, the sky is the limit, and traditions aren't written in stone so why not do something new and make it your own.

Here are this editions entries to Do More with Audio:


Steve presents Tutorials | NI Massive synth patches & tutorials posted at NI Massive synth patches & tutorials Synth patches and tutorials for Native Instruments Massive.

Mike Vogt presents Top 10 Wedding Songs of All-Time posted at Christian Colleges Online.

vic mori presents How to Convert Mono MP3 to Stereo posted at Multimedia Software Tips.

Naomi Seldin presents 10 Rock Stars Who Went to an Ivy League School posted at Online Colleges and Universities Education Database.

peterselby7 presents Purchase your Digital Audio Speakers, Plans and factory direct speaker posted at Home Speaker Blog, saying, "Home Theater and Speaker building information for the beginner, intermediate and advanced enthusiast. Learn more about how home audio works."

mmrz presents Are There Copyrights On Downloaded Music? posted at Free Ipod Songs, saying, "Copyrights for downloaded music."

Jordy Clements presents loom Weaves Omaha posted at Omaha Arts and Culture, saying, "Loom: a hand-operated or power-driven apparatus for weaving fabrics. Or loom: one of Omaha's most respected dance parties. With the recent White Party, and the upcoming loom Weaves the Joslyn Sculpture Garden, we talked with loom's DJ Brent Crampton."

Carol Vertz presents 10 Most Popular Bar Songs of All-Time posted at Liberal Arts Colleges.

Corrine Smith presents 10 Must-See Fall Music Festivals posted at General Studies Degree.

Tom,C. presents Turtle Beach Wireless Review - Rating the Ear Force X31 Wireless Headset Audio posted at Shopping-and-Product-Reviews:Electronics Articles from EzineArticles.com, saying, "A review of the Turtle Beach X31 Wireless Gaming Headset"

You might also be interested in:

• An Audio Swiss Army Knife
  
• A look at Software for Musicians
  
• What you need to know about copying or editing someone else’s music
  
• Be the DJ at Your Next Party
  
• Zulu DJ Software Gets the Gold
  

That concludes this edition. Be sure to Submit your audio article to the next edition.

Do More with Audio - Blog Carnival August 2, 2010

Welcome to the August 2, 2010 edition of Do More with Audio.


Jack Josey presents How to Sound Like a Pro When Podcasting posted at Audio Production Advice.

How To Record Better Bass posted at podcomplex.

Mike Ross presents The 12 Greatest Costumed Rock Bands Ever posted at Star Costumes Blog, saying, "Rock and Roll has had its share of larger than life characters. Some were born with an innate charisma that just demanded attention. Other artists fully embraced rock and roll’s shared sense of rebellion and theater to create new personas through costume."

Phil Lopez presents Top 10 Christian Hymns of All-Time posted at Christian Colleges and Universities.

Collecting Vinyl Records posted at Recording Video.

peterselby7 presents Jun 30, Used Audio Cables, a great way to save. The Best Speaker Wire and Audio Cable posted at Home Speaker Blog.

You might also be interested in:

• Make your own Glee Music Mash-up
  
• Digitize Your Vinyl Record Collection
  
• PitchPerfect Guitar Tuning Software for Musicians Now Available for the iPhone
  
• TempoPerfect Metronome Software is Now an iPhone App
  
• Zulu Virtual DJ Software New Mac Version
  

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Do More With Audio using our carnival submission form.

Make your own Glee Music Mash-up

It isn't very often that I get caught up in popular mainstream televisions shows, but I have to admit that I have been completely hooked by Glee. I have really enjoyed watching this weekly musical. Waiting for the next season is going to leave a gap in my weekly entertainment that I can only hope the reruns will satisfy, but with no new episodes, maybe I will take a little time and attempt to put together my own music mash-up and mix two songs together with MixPad audio mixing software. I'm under no delusions that it will be as easy to make one seamless song out of two as they make it appear on the TV show--but with a whole summer of waiting for season two ahead, I think it might be a fun project for when the storm clouds come out. Even if the rainy days are few and far between, there should be plenty of time to get the hang of mixing two songs together.

Here are a few tips to get you started after you have chosen the songs that you want to use in your mash-up:

• It can be helpful to have the vocals separated from the instrumental music. Try searching for a cappella versions of your songs. If you can't find a cappella versions, try using WavePad to help you extract the voice, but note this can be a time consuming step to get it right.
  
• Load all of your clips in MixPad. MixPad can import audio from a wide range of formats and even extract audio from video files, so you don't need to worry about converting your audio files first.
  
• You may need to adjust the pitch of one of your two songs to get them into the same key.
  
• Adjust the tempo of one of your songs to match the other for a common beat throughout your arrangement.
  
• Use a drum sample of one of the songs to make a tempo grid marking the beat for your mix and help you place samples of your two songs.
  

If any of you have put together your own musical mash-ups I'd love to hear the tracks you have put together. And if you have any tips on mixing tracks together, please share what you have learned.