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January 27 Gaming PandoraAlthough I was excited when Pandora began to provide classical selections, I was quickly disillusioned. The biggest problem is that classical pieces don't break down nicely into radio sound-play excerpts. When I hear a movement from a symphony, concerto, or other suite, I usually long to hear the rest. It is not equivalent to different tracks on an album. The situation seems to have improved but I find that I am spending more time on other stations on my Pandora Custom Stations list. That's Pink Floyd?Occasionally it is very difficult for me to establish a genre on a Pandora station. I first learned this when I set out to create a David Bowie station. All I learned was how much David Bowie material there was that I didn't like. I woke up to Bowie, as it were, with Ziggy Stardust. I obtained a few other albums and I Bowie perform on the Serious Moonlight Tour at the Carrier Dome. So there is a Bowie sub-genre that is what works for me. I despaired of training Pandora to find the spot for me and I haven't visited that station in some time. Another station worked quite differently for me. I am also a Pink Floyd fan. There is also Pink Floyd that I don't like. I now have my station trained to play practically every version of Another Brick in the Wall they have recorded. That's great, although I would really like more on the Distant Sound of Thunder groove. No, the problem with my Pink Floyd station is that Pandora keeps suggesting songs by other artists that I do like but that I don't associate with Pink Floyd at all. I can see what might be the connection, but the associations are not what puts me in a Pink Floyd state of mind. Billy Joel, Steve Perry, Tom Petty, and Genesis just don't fit for me. Pandora allows a selection to be moved to a different station. That was a problem. I liked these non-Pink suggestions, but I didn't have a station that was always appropriate but I didn't want to lose the recommendation. Finding Classic Album Rock ... My Number, at LastSo far, I have solved my problem in having Pinkness on the Pink Floyd channel with two smart moves. First, I added some artists to my Pink Floyd station that I figured would give me more-likely Pandora Picks. The first artists that I added are Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, and Yes. You might be starting to see my warped musical background at this point. Secondly, and this is a terrible disclosure, I created a Classic Album Rock station. That title doesn't work with Pandora, so I created an REO Speedwagon station (really) and renamed it to Classic Album Rock. Pandora does a kind of training by playing a song from the selected artist. I gave "Can't Fight This Feeling" a thumbs up. Next, Pandora offers a different artist that has a strong genre match. I gave Boston's "More Than a Feeling" another thumbs up. So far I have not put one selection on the Thumbs-down list. Here is the subsequent play list that Pandora offered up:
Wow, it's like listening to Philadelphia's WMMR in the 60s and, later, to Brother Weez in Rochester, without the commercials and the chatter. What a win for a peaceful Sunday noon while I prepare to take my OLPC XO-1 out to play. I wonder when I'll hear from Foreigner and Jethro Tull. D'ya think Motown is unlikely? Heh. I hate to confess that Pandora now has my number. January 12 Uncensored JukeboxFriday's Uncensored Jukebox: What Tunes Do You Really Like? Well, Ed Bott has done it to me again. Ailing after the Consumer Electronics Show, Ed is soothing his self with random selections of his favorite music downloads. It wasn't until he asked for Random 20 Play Lists last November that I even knew that Windows Media Player would shuffle play through an entire set of songs. Within the past week I figured out that I could do the same with a group of songs all having the same ratings (1 to 5 stars). Now Ed wants to know what's in there. I don't have that many five-start tracks in my collection, and I have not been attentive to providing my own ratings. To select a random 10, I used the 4-star ratings (mostly not my personal ones) of all of my Windows Media Player tracks. This is what I ended up with in my first ten:
Ed Bott added a Van Morrison recording of St. James Infirmary as a bonus at the end of his list. I have always loved that song, and I didn't have it by any performer. The Van Morrison version is not available on Amazon MP3, but I found several others. These are the ones that appealed to me at least enough to download the single:
I've heard Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, and Artie Shaw versions. I also learned that the song is traditional, with the Irving Mills lyrics/arrangement apparently registered under the pseudonym Joe Primrose. As my bonus selection, here's a fascinating session with some people rarely seen on stage together:
The performance was apparently on June 5, 1986 at Storyville Hall in New Orleans. Recognizable personages include Paul Shaffer, Ron Wood, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, and Carl Perkins. Best of all, we get to see accomplished artists doing what they love. (Perkins and Lewis figure in The Million Dollar Quarter, a theatrical production that I've seen performed twice. Now I'm waiting for the movie.) November 20 At Last
The first thing I looked for when I tried out Pandora was classical music. A search for Beethoven only found popular-music references and no source for Ludwig himself. That changed today. Now I get to create my B-Greats station (once I rename the one above), and load up on Bach, Beethoven, Brahms (and yes, Berlioz, but I think not Bartok). This could completely change my on-line listening habits. I wonder. November 07 My Random 20 PlaylistUntil I saw Ed Bott's Random 20 challenge, I didn't realize that I could shuffle through my complete digital music collection using Windows Media Player. [Tip: open your library to "Songs," click "Shuffle" in the player control, then click "Play," switch to the Now Playing and watch them go by. If you have "Show List Pane" set you can see the list of randomized selections in the right sidebar of the Media Player Window.] Here are the first 20 selections that came up, with my commentary as I listened to them and checked to see what they were.
Well, I added three tracks to make up for the duplicates and the pod casts. I have three lessons from this experience:
Playing out with
October 24 "I Want My MP3, ... I Want My MP3, ..."Think back ...Do you remember six-pack weekends on your favorite album rock station? You're driving and there's a marvelous long cut that you love and you're waiting for the end of the pack to here the announcer say who performed and what the titles are. I first heard Jukebox Hero that way, driving late one Sunday on the Thomas E. Dewey, returning to Rochester from Philadelphia. [Hey, I liked it! You don't have to.] You didn't catch the identification of a tune? So you called the station and they actually told you what they had played? (Who knew from playlists and why they have them back then). Now flash forward to Internet Radio and and all of the broadcast stations with Internet streams. You can hear content from anywhere on the planet, such as one of my favorites Radio L'Olgiata (32kbps stream in Media Player here: I love the funky station jingles) or one of Rick Segal's favorites, The Wave (great 64kbps stream). Nostalgia for the PastOnce upon a time (three years ago, an Internet generation) there was a wonderful service called MSN Radio Plus that provided radio streams in my Windows Media Player. There were no collisions with my browser and I could keep the player completely separate and nestled at the bottom of my screen. Better yet, the album art for every tune showed up in my player along with an option to purchase downloads of single tracks, full albums, and also explore other work of that artist and of others that I also like. It was wonderful. The $12.95 annual Radio Plus subscription was nominal. I accumulated a fair amount of licensed content that works on all of my household computers and my plays-for-sure Sansa player too. The scheme for sharing licenses on up to 5 machines works perfectly. Back to the PresentMicrosoft recidivism struck at the end of 2006. MSN Radio Plus vanished, the ability to purchase easily from the connected MSN Music disappeared. The only alternatives that worked within Media Player were cumbersome systems like Urge and Real's Rhapsody (with their own player), all at greater cost and, for me, less convenience, especially for the equivalent of radio that let me purchase downloads on impulse without other costs and purchase nagging. There was (and still is) integration with other Internet radio streams, but they don't integrate with convenient purchase sources and many services are scary with their intrusiveness and animated GIFs. Ick. Whatever Department-of-Justice wariness led to this exit, the alternatives were more expensive, less functional, and careless of whose computer they were running on. Sometimes the success of a Microsoft venture for some consumers is because the competition sucks. Somebody listened to the complaints. No one seemed to bother checking with the satisfied customers. A New Dawn?Now I listen to Pandora for free. I was led there by the MSN Pandora arrangement. I stopped using that URL when MSN removed the option to open the separate mini-player. What I really want: Pandora operating inside my Media Player in the Now Playing window. Then I want to be able to click to their artist, track, and album information in a way that lets me (by preference setting) click through to Amazon.com's MP3 (256kb!) listings where I can quickly make a purchase and roam around further while the radio plays on. I want this to be friction-free and without too many clicks to the point of purchase. If I could marry Pandora smoothly to the Amazon MP3 service and its downloader, that would work. I bought DRM-protected downloads this way, why would I resist MP3s the same way? Bring back my past! What Others Are SayingRick Segal: So Close and Yet. The Post Money Value (web log), 2007-10-22. "This seems obvious: You are listening to a radio station and you like a song. You want it." Segal points out how much distance there is between hearing a song and being able to purchase your own copy. These posts reminded me that I have had this pent-up blog urge since I started using Amazon MP3 downloads. Here it is. [The recommendation for 94.7 the Wave is one that I've added to my favorites. I do have a weakness for modest doses of smooth jazz and the Wave does it well. The station site is not as ugly and frenetic as some.] Rick Segal: Peter White - I Have Your Forty Bucks. The Post Money Value (web log), 2007-10-22. "I believe that if there was a single, simple, friction free way for people (like moi) to pay for stuff, like songs, we'd do it." Rick notices how few ways there are to pay for downloaded music when you want to, and how much friction there is in making music available in a form that works when it is wanted. [With this much focus on Peter White, I had to find out who he is. Peter White music is available on Amazon MP3. It is the kind of new-age guitar and backing that Vicki can't stand (along with most smooth jazz). I am more inclined but I didn't tip over for Peter White. I purchased some rich blues compilations though.] Listening to: Ten Years After, Live at the Filmore East, in Windows Media Player, via Amazon MP3. KTWFM Smooth Jazz (in my browser), Radio L'Olgiata (Internet playlist into Media Player) October 14 The Last Solo Instrument You'll Ever Need?
On September 30, we took the Argosy Cruises Jazz Brunch voyage featuring Michael Powers. This was the occasion of my sister-in-laws birthday and I fancied the presence of a jazz combo as a nice addition, but not particularly special. That was, until Michael Powers started playing. I knew there was no pianist, and I couldn't figure out where the keyboard player was hiding -- the grand piano in the boat's lounge was covered and serving the combo as a coat rack. When the horns started, I figured this was some new form of jazz karaoke until Michael held up his amazing instrument and said "that's me." You can see that his guitar is unusual, but the sounds are interesting too.
Listening to how much fun Michael Powers was having with this instrument, and how convenient it was for this small performance setting, I experienced serious geek envy (though not enough that I have mastered any instrument). The variety and creativity that is available, along with the clear enjoyment of the combo, led us to plan our New Years Eve celebration where Powers will be performing. I am puzzled by the different ways you must learn to finger the instrument to provide appropriate sound patterns depending on the choice of synthesis off of the guitar pickups. It is very impressive and looks to be a lot of fun. The power of this solo instrument is amazing, although it is richer to have accompanists rather than attempt a one-man-band (except in your own basement or garage, of course). As much as I marvel at how much digital and synthesized music instruments have advanced, there remains a great deal to appreciate in ensembles of acoustic instruments and the fascinating mixtures that are possible, as this reminded me today: Hip Hop Violin (via Doc Searls via Scobleizer).
We enjoyed the two-hour cruise, the music, and the great company so much that, beside planning to reconvene on New Years Eve, Vicki and I finally planned to take an Alaskan Cruise in Spring 2008. Listening to: Peter Green, Supernatural - An Anthology followed by The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers, all on Windows Media Player via Amazon MP3. |
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