Blog of Jon Wright

What on earth is Elton John talking about when he says the internet is killing music. If anything the internet is helping music escape from the straight jacket that it was in before.

Ok i agree with him when he say's people should do less blogging, but that's an entirely different argument.

Saying the internet is bad for music is like saying having hundreds of TV channels is bad for TV. Sure there's a lot more crap TV around, but there's also more choice.

And it might just be me, but i thought the 80's was the worse ever period for music. The 90's were not that cool either. I think if anything the internet has broken the stranglehold that record companies had over its audience. Radio stations churning out the same junk as if on permanent loop, young talented bands being overlooked by record companies because they didn't fit the profile.

Now thanks to the internet we have YouTube, internet radio, forums like MySpace where bands like Symphony X and Dream Theatre can connect with their audience and still sell out world-wide tours even after twenty years. Thanks to iTunes we don't have to be charged £13.99 for a compilation CD full of dross. Now we can pick what we want from that CD and download it for pence.

The downside of course is music piracy, but your never going to get rid of that. For me it was the record companies resistance and reluctance to embrace the internet in the first place that helped caused part of that problem (remember Naptster).

As a musician i had to drive around and advertise for like minded musicians at great expense and disappointment. I don't live in London so the choice was never there for me which consequently forced me into buying a computer and building my own small studio so i could keep on writing and producing tunes. These day's i can collaborate and chat with musicians all over the world and as a result my playing ability and musical palette have extended threefold.

Perhaps the privileged musicians who had success in the 80's and 90's are not making as much wonga as they did in the past. But for us musicians that were no so lucky or didn't fit the profile, things have never been better.

Many years ago when Garageband was in its early stages of development i wrote many an article about it and even some tutorials before i lost interest.

Many years later after i got rid of my 24 track recording studio and all the hardware to go with it, i started playing around with this app to see if it had evolved into something worth using. I have to say that i am stunned by the quality of the samples and software instruments and its ease of use.

When i think how i used to tie myself in knots trying to get to grips with MOTU's Digital Performer which is a great product by the way, but for me its just too feature rich and complex. Add 24 channels of ADAT through a Mackie desk and various racks of reverb, noise gates etc..and by the time you have the whole thing set up you can't be bothered to be creative. 

In the early days i just used to plug my fuzz box and old drum machine through a Yamaha MT8 X 8 track tape recorder, again a doddle to use, and get creative. 

Now coupled with my original Pod from Line 6, my Gordon Smith and a few midi samples i am back enjoying writing little ditties again. One project i have been doing lately is some Black Sabbath tribute work. Neon Knights (click on link to listen) is the first track on Heaven & Hell and is a nice up tempo number which i have replicated using Garageband. The track took no time to do, i just simply found a midi sample of the song on the net, imported into Garageband by dragging into the main window, tweaked about with the notes, plugged my guitar directly into Garageband via my Pod and that's it. Simple, effective and does the job nicely.

What i'd really like to do now is collaborate with other Mac using musicians and do some garageband file swopping creating a few tracks for fun. If your interested drop me an email at jonwright[@]mac.com

Just got the latest CD and Bonus DVD of the long awaited Symphony X album "Paradise Lost".

What can i say other than it is without doubt the most awesome piece of metal genius on the planet. Well worth the four year, or was it five, year wait.

This album is The Divine Wings of Tragedy, V and The Odyssey all rolled into one and from early impressions seems more of a band effort as the songs vary so much.

I was already chomping at the bit to catch a glimpse of them at Wembley Arena supporting Dream Theatre, who were awesome at the Newcastle City Hall a couple of weeks ago, now i just can't contain the excitement.

Early picks from the Album are Set The World On Fire, Paradise Lost and of course Serpent's Kiss which has been getting great reviews on the bands MySpace site at www.myspace.com/officialsymphonyx

Have you heard the latest Symphony X album, what do you think and will you be taking in any UK dates?