Jim Martin

Learn and Master Guitar with Steve Krenz

2008-07-27T15:29:00Z

Last week I decided to pick up a new electric guitar. I've played piano since I was younger, but I've alway had an itch to play the guitar. I decided it's never ever to late to learn something, so I decided it was time to get equiped with a new guitar. I did quite a bit of research on beginner guitars and everyone highly recommended a Squire (Fender) Bullet . Squire is part of Fender and they are made in China. This is one heck of a guitar for $99. I couldn't be happier. Once setup...(read more)

Play Free Bird!

2008-06-02T14:37:00Z

No matter where you go to listen to music there is always at least one person in the crowd that yells "Play Free Bird"! Here is my contribution. [VIDEO]...(read more)

Piano Recital

2008-05-11T04:14:00Z

Today I participated in my second piano recital. My first recital was last year and it was shortly after I started taking lessons. This recital marks a little over a year since I started taking lessons with my current piano teacher. I will say this, I don't think it ever gets easy to perform in front of people. I was really well prepared, but still, when I sat behind the piano in the quiet building my heart was pounding and I was very nervous. After about the first measure my nerves calmed down...(read more)

Silverlight Video Upload Application

2008-03-30T20:14:01Z

After doing a lot of digging around on the Internet about Microsoft's free silverlight hosting service I realized that it was quite complicated to use if you just wanted to host a video. It took me a long time to figure out that in fact it does support just hosting videos without the need for all the .js files and xaml. Here is a post from Tim Sneath with instructions on uploading a video. The method of video/application uploading described in Tim's post is used by Microsoft so that with...(read more)

Graffiti Silverlight Video Plug-In

2008-03-30T19:08:00Z

I decided to create a plug-in for graffiti to allow for silverlight videos within graffiti posts. This plug-in supports Microsoft's free streaming service as well as just placing the .wmv on your own server. It is one graffiti.silverlight.video.dll and you just drop it in the bin of your graffiti web site. Here is how it works: Drop the graffiti.silverlight.video.dll into your bin and you will then see in your plug-in's location the option to enable or disable the plug. Once you enable the...(read more)

ipMIDI Sending MIDI over LAN

2008-03-25T03:50:00Z

MIDI was first proposed in 1981 out of the need to standardize a form of communication between electronic instruments. 1983 saw the publishing of the MIDI specification 1.0. Today MIDI plays an important role in all musical applications and is used every day as the conduit between electronic instruments and music production systems. Up until fairly recently the only way to send and receive MIDI data between instruments and the PC was through an audio interface with MIDI or a dedicated MIDI interface...(read more)

Now With Photos

2008-03-21T21:52:00Z

Click here to view some pictures of my play room aka home studio. I finally got around to setting up some photo galleries in flickr so I decided to add them to my blog. I'm using the silverlight graffiti plug-in that Kevin talks about in his post here . I'm also using Rich's flickr side bar widget ....(read more)

VIDEO: Let It Be

2008-03-14T05:28:00Z

This is another quick little sample video using EastWest Quantum Leap Pianos . In this video I'm playing "Let It Be" on my Yamaha S90ES triggering the samples of the Bechstein in Quantum Leap Pianos . Stream Video...(read more)

VIDEO: Playing EWQL Piano

2008-03-12T07:50:00Z

Well the much anticipated piano sample library of 2008 EastWest Quantum Leap Pianos shipped last week. This library is absolutely amazing! This sample library consists of 35 DVDs of samples from 4 different high dollar pianos. You can read more about it here . I created a quick demo video where I'm improvising using this library. The specific piano samples in this video are from the Steinway. Enjoy!...(read more)

Connecting Multiple Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs)

2008-03-09T17:39:41Z

The term DAW , or Digital Audio Workstation , is just a fancy name for a computer that is optimized in both software and hardware to be used in the production of music/audio. There really isn't that big of a difference between a DAW and the standard home computer. The differences usually come down to configuration and hardware choices. In my home studio I have two DAWs both of which I built custom so that I could have the utmost control over all the critical components. I found that while today...(read more)

Help a fallen soldier

2007-12-14T18:15:00Z

I recieved an email from my Sister-in-law this morning about the son of a friend of hers and I wanted to post it here in hopes of reaching others that might be able to help. Here is the email: Hi Everyone, I wanted to reach out to you regarding my realtor’s son that was killed in Iraq just before Thanksgiving. He was a 2 nd Lt. in the Army and felt called to leave his corporate job to serve his country. He left behind his parents, a fiancé and 3 siblings. In tribute to him, his mother is sending...(read more)

VIDEO: Linus & Lucy

2007-11-21T07:45:00Z

Here is a little video clip of me playing the holiday classic Linus & Lucy. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and don't forget to give thanks to our troops! Stream Video View Video Format: wmv Duration: 1:21...(read more)

Zune Tag in Community Server

2007-11-16T22:33:00Z

Now with live Zune stats in the side bar. I also updated my facebook to include my zune tag. Pretty cool little addition to the new zune....(read more)

Zune 2.0

2007-11-12T17:33:00Z

The new zune launches tomorrow and I'm excited. I've had the first generation zune since it launched a year ago and I've been extremely happy with it. 1st gen zunes will get the new 2nd gen firmware with the launch tomorrow and if you buy a new 2nd gen zune online you can choose from one of twenty seven different artist engravings and up to 4 lines of custom text all for free. At first I was like, "ok, that is kind of cool", but then I took a look at the available engravings...(read more)

Congrats

2007-11-12T16:17:00Z

Dad, congratulations on your new venture . I'm very excited for you and I know you will do great! Even though you didn't tell me until yesterday I forgive you :) I know you're going to miss Cisco, but sometimes stepping out of the comfort zone can be a great thing. I'm proud of you, you're a great man!...(read more)