Blog

Wheels Up for Germany

2012-01-22T08:38:00Z

Heading to Germany for a week of meetings and Ethnographic study. So many places to go. So little time to do it all.

Wheels Up for LAX

2012-01-12T13:53:05Z

Heading to Los Angeles

On the early Virgin America flight out to LAX. Two days of meetings. Two days of really listening and discovering how and where my team and I can improve a lot of existing applications that yearn to be overhauled from a user experience perspective.

It's always exciting to start new, really big projects like this. I wonder where we land at the end of it all. But for now, landing at LAX will be a good start.

Stylish Guitar Case

2011-12-27T02:21:29Z

Julee surprised me with a MONO Case M80 Bass Guitar case for Christmas. MONO Case is a company that truly understands design. And I am not talking about just the drop dead looks that their cases and accessories. They use design to solve problems — reducing snapped headstocks and how to disperse energy away from the guitar when the case is dropped. Do take the time to check out the pedigree on MONO's fine designs. Company founder Daniel Kushner is a drummer and IDEO alum.

Some may look at the price and think it is pretty steep for a soft-sided case. These are hybrid cases. They offer nearly the same protection as a hard-shell case are but are extremely light and offer many nice touches for musicians on the move. Guitar Player Magazine said it best: "Damn, MONO cases are friggin' cool! With a NASA-meets-REI aesthetic, they also ride the line between a hard case and a gig bag."

They look like they could take a lot of road abuse. Time will tell. But I'll be sporting some style in the mean time.

M80 Bass Guitar Case by MONO Case

Pampered Fender American Standard Precision Bass

Letters to Santa

2011-12-23T19:26:21Z

Nothing says Christmas like watermelonPerhaps nothing has revealed as much about the personalities of our progeny as their recent letters to Santa. Obviously, their ages reveal the need for dictation. Why that should include pink watermelon stationery shall remain one of the great mysteries of the ages. The personalized touches of crayon add to the unique perspective they have of the holiday.

For posterity, a cataloging of the requests is in order.

Jenna: Flowers (pink, yellow, red, green), balloons (blue), doll as big as Jenna, Grandma to come to Jenna's house and Uncle Eric too.

Jason: Star War lego kind, guns (5 kind), 15 light sabers, lego sets, Transformers.

And with that I give you the résumés of a bona fide sweetie pie and a criminal mastermind wanted by federal marshals.

Silent Rehearsal

2011-12-19T03:47:56Z

Nothing is more beautiful than personal headphone mixes while playing in a band. As cool as the new JamHub setup is, I would still admit that we are getting the hang of it. Much more work is still needed on overall levels and particularly the sound and level of guitar patches. But the old adage is true. Once you go in-ears, you never go back. Here are a few scenes from our third JamHub rehearsal in my media room.

Scenes of Silence

Progress

2011-12-09T20:43:01Z

Things are progressing as they should.

Architecture in Kansas City

2011-11-29T19:43:31Z

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I got the chance to explore a little more of Kansas City than I have on my previous three trips. I was pretty impressed with the sheer amount of things to do, the music scene and venues, and as seen below, a very rich and diverse representation of architecture.

Here are just a few of the buildings I shot with my iPhone. More photos will surely follow after another trip in a warmer season.

Just a small sample of Kansas City Architecture

Alesis DM8 Pro

2011-11-28T22:14:44Z

It can be hard these days for a band to rehearse given noise ordinances, sensitive neighbors, or even the tissue paper thin walls in the average American apartment. That is why I have convinced my band to take the plunge and rehearse silently. Part of the equation of rehearsing silently, is taming acoustic drums which can really be tough to do. A bass drum is built to be heard at a distance. Just the laws of physics at work.

And nothing tames the sound of drums quite like going electronic. It is still too early to write a definitive review of my new Alesis DM8 Pro Kit but I will be making updates to how the whole silent rehearsal thing is going.

So far, so good. The kit is a lot of fun, has less of the annoying things that many electronic drum kits suffer from and yet still suffers from a few bummers. Like the hi-hat. It is very hard to mimic a real hi-hat. But this one is still very functional. I also wish both cymbals were 3-zone (edge, bow, and bell) instead of just the ride. But they are both choke able, so that is a good thing. Here is a good run down of features and and a sense of sound quality from the sound module. The second video below is a little more thorough.

Set up was not very difficult at all. Especially with all the help I received as seen below.

Daddy's Little Drum Techs

11-11-11

2011-11-11T16:02:54Z

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...

Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?

Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.

Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

Marty DiBergi: I don't know.

Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.

Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

Marty DiBergi: Why don't you make ten a little louder, make that the top number and make that a little louder?

Nigel Tufnel: [pauses] These go to eleven.

Separated at Birth?

2011-11-11T04:25:27Z

I'm a news junkie. And sometimes I just can't help myself.