The newest record Nice Cuts is now available for delivery. Nice Cuts is something of a ‘greatest hit’s package containing fourteen songs from the six studio releases as voted on by you the fans. In addition, there are two new songs ‘Start’ and ‘Detroit’ which are sure to please. You can check out music samples,explore lyric sheets, and purchase the album and digital downloads here.

Well, the web re-design I mentioned in the last post is fairly well done and is now ‘live’. Thanks to all who gave help to get ‘er done.

Fairly in that we think we’ve gotten it to look and function consistently. We’re still working on getting all the bugs out in the ‘accessibility’ aspect. As I said last time,  that is important to me and we’ll keep at it until it’s right for as many people as possible given my budget (a number somewhere between zero and 10 bucks.)

That’s said, if you happen to notice any misspellings, misbehaviours, annoyances and straight up bugs, please do let us know ASAP. We’ll give a free digital download of any song you like for every genuine problem.

We are particularly interested to hear from Mac users using Safari. The previous design was a real loser in this regard with it’s heavy reliance on Windows-centric fonts. We use Windows and Firefox here and it’s just not possible to test every page on every platform. Just like […]

Over the next few weeks things may look a bit funky on the JCHMusic web site. And not necessarily in a good way. But, like that peasant who got turned into a newt in Monty Python’s Holy Grail? It’ll get better.

The reason for all the transmogrification is that I’m converting the site over to be ‘standards compliant’. That means that all the pages will function as the governing bodies of the almighty interweb intend. (You can get more info on what those ‘standards’ are here, but I must warn you; it’s about as interesting for the layperson as watching paint dry.

In any case, the benefits of this re-design will be:
1. Much faster response–even if you’re still using dial-up (boy am I sorry for you.)
2. A much more consistent look in all desktop browsers.
3. Reasonable presentation in all those new-fangled smartphones, Zunes and iPods.
4. Section 508 compliance.

That last one has a certain relevance for me and is the main reason I’m putting us all through this.

About 18 months ago […]

This is meant as a central filing cabinets for more thoughts I have on the whole production business, including DIY vs. ‘pro studio’, ‘live vs. loops’ and various ‘how do you do that’ techniques that people ask about from time to time. I want to come back here and flesh these out as time permits.

If you’re looking for a link to the post on playing techniques. It’s here

But First A Sub-Rant On ‘Loops Vs. Real’
I almost never use ‘loops’ or MIDI ‘patterns’. I’m either thrilled or annoyed when people tell me my stuff sounds ‘mechanical’, but a lot of the time I want it to do that so I guess I’m doing OK. The only exception is for moments of intentional ‘sound design’. For example, I’ve become quite a devotee of ‘scratching’ so that sort of thing shows up here and there (eg. ‘Power’ on Beautiful Sounds.) But I never quantise, auto-tune, comp, loop, step-record otherwise ‘patch together’ sounds. If I can’t physically play it, I […]

This is the official video for the second single from Beautiful Sounds. It’s a tender love song. Or at least as ‘tender’ as I get these days. 😉

What’s It All About, Mr. Natural?
Again, asking about the whole ‘plot’ thing? OK.

The song is about written to a hesitant lover–something I know a bit about. After one reaches a certain age and ‘been around the block’ a few times, one is naturally reticent to believe in happy ever afters. But most of the people I’ve met want to believe in that stuff. The song is about how we may have to actually talk ourselves into making that leap, even though it’s what we want.

The whole business with the airplanes came to me as fitting all the honking and push/pull at the beginning of the song. I spent many years running from one airport to another, always in a rush and the quick cuts seemed as if they’d be built into the song from […]